The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 150

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Civil Servant Who Hides His Strength Is Exceptionally Good at Possession – Episode 150
“…It’s half-serious, half-joking. There’s no need to be so rigid about it.”
When Baek Hee-ryeong laughed, I laughed a beat too late.
“Ah, I see. Half-serious, half-joking, I understand…. Hahahahahaha.”
In truth, it wasn’t funny at all. Half of it was serious, after all!
“Really, this sort of thing should be handled after the investigation wraps up and the Heonsu Bureau gets settled, but I was a bit hasty, wasn’t I?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Being hasty isn’t the problem.
There’s a reason I can’t become a soldier, you see?
“I got impatient without realizing it. Even though I knew this wasn’t something that could be rushed—”
Baek Hee-ryeong’s eyes sparkled with light.
“I thought maybe we couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.”
At those words, I clenched my fist.
This opportunity—I couldn’t afford to miss it.
I couldn’t let innocent citizens and investigators get hurt because of Choi Jun-gu anymore.
‘Like my mother and father.’
Or—
‘Like Han Su-eop.’
“Let’s discuss this again later. Please think it over more carefully, Inspector Lee Yu-ji.”
“Huh? Ah… Yes.”
Ugh.
In corporate terms, another tea time appointment with the chairman had just been scheduled.
‘I’m going to lose my mind.’
I spoke while managing my expression as best I could.
“Understood.”
“And….”
Baek Hee-ryeong pulled out a small sticker from her pocket.
It was a gold-foil sticker with a phoenix pattern.
Like those electromagnetic wave-blocking stickers that were trendy once—
“It’s a device that lets you call a nearby Black Agent from the special forces, but only once, when you need it.”
This is an item, then.
“Why are you giving this to me….”
“Inspector Lee Yu-ji always seems to be in the middle of dangerous crime scenes.”
‘Well, that’s true, but….’
The dangerous crime scenes I find myself in are usually ones I can’t tell others about.
For instance, diving alone into the middle of a smuggling dungeon, discovering a hidden dungeon and having a conversation with the Sacred Tree, or needing to enter the Fabergé Dungeon within three weeks….
So I’m not sure if I’ll ever have a use for something like this.
“Without question or hesitation, our Black Agent will be summoned once to help Inspector Lee Yu-ji. Even if it’s something illegal. I won’t even hear a report about it. That’s the privilege of the person who holds this sticker.”
What?
This is incredibly good, isn’t it?
You’re saying you’ll help without asking questions or making a fuss? Even with illegal matters?
‘And you won’t even report it to Baek Hee-ryeong…’
That’s probably some kind of political mechanism.
At the national level, there are times when illegal actions must be taken, but if we report everything to the President and get approval each time, it could later become a political liability for them.
And in doing so, we might miss genuinely critical military operations.
I think this sticker exists for that purpose—
“This is far too precious. I couldn’t possibly accept it.”
She’s giving this to me?
But Baek Hee-ryeong’s answer was quite simple.
“Let’s call it fortune without reason. Just as there exists misfortune without cause in this world, there must also be fortune without cause. And I’m genuinely grateful to you, Inspector Lee Yu-ji.”
Surprisingly, sincerity was evident in Baek Hee-ryeong’s expression.
“For saving so many lives. And for surviving.”
A Tier-1 President.
An elected official who must move the hearts of tens of millions to survive.
In short, someone who’s maxed out in social skills and politics.
How much of what such a person says should I actually believe?
Despite my confusion, Baek Hee-ryeong’s words oddly didn’t feel like lies.
Which made it all the more confusing.
That’s when it happened.
“Oh, and in case you didn’t know yet… the estimated value of the mana stones mined from the Jeong-an City Dungeon and recovered into the national treasury is 300 billion won.”
“…?”
“That’s actually a bargain. For this. Of course, performance bonuses will be paid as well.”
“Ah, then I’ll gladly accept it!”
300 billion won?
Then this really is a steal.
I quickly attached the sticker Baek Hee-ryeong gave me to the inside of my smart watch.

* * *
Baek Hee-ryeong smiled faintly at Lee Yu-ji’s swift change in demeanor.
As if on cue, the Chief Secretary knocked.
“Come in.”
The Chief Secretary entered and relayed information we all already knew.
“Captain Hong from the Hunter Investigation Bureau is waiting for you.”
‘That bastard… he knows everything and deliberately steered me this way…’
Lee Yu-ji looked at Gu Jae-yong with an uncomfortable expression.
“Yes. I’ll head to Maehwadang shortly. Please prepare a meal there. Investigator Lee Yu-ji, you should join us for dinner as well.”
“Ah, yes.”
It was a meal she couldn’t refuse.
It was just as Lee Yu-ji was laughing awkwardly.
Baek Hee-ryeong pointed to the songpyeon in front of her and spoke to the Chief Secretary.
“Ah… and please pack more of these rice cakes when you go. I heard he enjoys them.”
“Ah, well…”
Lee Yu-ji’s face contorted, and the Chief Secretary responded with a bewildered expression.
“Understood.”
“Oh, you don’t have to… Thank you so much…”
With her voice trailing off, Lee Yu-ji fled from the room.
Watching her go, the Chief Secretary chuckled and spoke.
“She seems like quite a unique person.”
“Doesn’t she?”
Baek Hee-ryeong did not smile.
Seeing this, the Chief Secretary furrowed his brow.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to see her directly? I thought you might even bestow a Presidential Commendation, but you said the timing wasn’t right.”
A Presidential Commendation.
That had been a proposal from the ruling party leadership.
At this moment when the Hunter Investigation Bureau was proving its worth, they suggested awarding Presidential Commendations to the three star players—Pee So-won, Lee Yu-ji, and Kwon Ik-seong.
It was a form of political maneuver.
Since it was an opportunity to pass the Hunter restriction bills pending in the National Assembly, the proposal had come through back channels.
But Baek Hee-ryeong had declined, saying the timing wasn’t right. The Chief Secretary was subtly probing about this.
Baek Hee-ryeong understood what Gu Jae-yong was concerned about.
It was common for politicians who became president to fail to push through necessary policies because of their approval ratings.
That’s why power was frightening.
‘Still—’
“Not now. It’s dangerous for Investigator Lee Yu-ji to receive any more attention.”
“If individuals gain fame before the Hunter Investigation Bureau establishes itself, they’ll become targets of political maneuvering—”
“No, that’s not it.”
Baek Hee-ryeong gazed quietly at the songpyeon Lee Yu-ji had left behind as she spoke.
“Hunter Lee Yu-ji possesses hidden strength. I don’t know what it is, but it’s a skill of quite a high grade.”
Gu Jae-yong’s eyes widened at Baek Hee-ryeong’s words.
That was right.
Baek Hee-ryeong, the politician who had kept hunters in check since her days as opposition leader.
Baek Hee-ryeong’s secret that no one knew.
It was the fact that she herself was an Awakened One.
“The fact that even the President’s eyes couldn’t detect it—”
“Means it’s a skill that surpasses my rank.”
An S-rank Appraisal-type ability user.
Though she had never told anyone, she was one of South Korea’s most elite S-rank hunters.
And likely the only S-rank hunter in South Korea who wasn’t registered with the Hunter Association.
“That’s why I need more time to observe.”
At Baek Hee-ryeong’s words, Gu Jae-yong clenched his fists.
A skill that even an S-rank Appraisal-type couldn’t detect.
It meant Lee Yu-ji might be an EX-rank hunter.
And such an EX-rank hunter—
‘Is in the Heonsu Bureau.’
Lee Yu-ji was far more extraordinary than he had thought.
In every way.

* * *
“….”
“….”
“….”
“….”
“How long are you going to keep that up?”
Pee So-won tossed a piece of gum toward me.
I caught the flying gum in my mouth and glared at Pee So-won with narrowed eyes.
“Alright, nice catch.”
“…Hmph.”
When I let out a small snort, Pee So-won furrowed her brow.
“Ugh.”
“What?”
“You’ve been pouting ever since yesterday. Your lips are sticking out like crazy.”
“My lips aren’t sticking out.”
I tucked my lips as far into my mouth as I could.
Seeing that, Pee So-won grimaced.
“Stop it. I couldn’t help it either. That matter is classified.”
At the word “that,” Pee So-won lowered her voice.
“Still, how can partners do that to each other? Selling out your own partner like this!”
“Let’s talk about it later. I’ll buy you sashimi.”
“And you think after eating that, where else would it get sold?”
“Huh? This punk really….”
Exasperating.
I glared at Pee So-won, who had cut her other side into a short cut to match the burnt side of her hair.
‘Damn it…. If I hadn’t risked my life to save her back then, I really wouldn’t forgive her for this.’
For reference, we were currently sitting inside a car parked in front of an apartment in the East Sea.
An old, quiet apartment with a view of the sea.
‘It’s all a den of smugglers.’
Byeon Gu-do and Ma Deok-ho, who had slipped through the rows of smugglers being dragged out in handcuffs, approached us.
I still had my mouth hanging open, though I was pushing it in as much as possible, and opened the passenger window for Byeon Gu-do.
I was already thinking I’d hear the usual complaints—that this time there were only small fry, that we’d found nothing—when—
“This watch came from Russia, or so it appears. We’ll need to have it appraised, but—”
Byeon Gu-do pulled out a pocket watch from his hand.
As he did, he glanced at Ma Deok-ho, who had a seagull perched on his shoulder.
Ma Deok-ho spoke.
“The person wearing this watch was seen using what’s estimated to be an S-rank skill. This watch—”
When Byeon Gu-do opened the lid, the seagull beside Ma Deok-ho moved the watch’s minute and hour hands with its beak.
In that instant, the small wounds on Byeon Gu-do’s face vanished.
As if they had never existed in the first place.
“It appears to only rewind time for the target.”
The moment Byeon Gu-do finished speaking, my eyes caught an ornate egg engraved in relief on the pocket watch’s lid, along with lettering.
Fabergé

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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