The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 164

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

A Civil Servant Who Hides His Strength Is Exceptionally Good at Possession – Episode 164

* * *
[A humpback whale has leaped from the sea! In Partizansk, Russia, a small coastal village, the appearance of a humpback whale is extremely rare. The villagers have this to say about it.]
[While we’ve seen whales further north, this is the first time a whale has appeared in our village! Everyone is amazed by it. Some are delighted, saying the humpback whale will bring good fortune.]
[Meanwhile, scientists discuss the possibility that climate anomalies have caused ocean currents to shift, changing the humpback whale’s habitat or causing them confusion.]
“Wow… that’s amazing…!”
Kang Min-joo, who had been watching YouTube, broke into a childlike smile.
Seeing this, Kang Won-yeon sat down beside Kang Min-joo and spoke with an air of annoyance.
“It’s not even our country. Why are you so captivated by something like that? I thought you only knew how to watch cosmetics and stuff all day.”
At Kang Won-yeon’s words, Kang Min-joo scrunched up her face and replied.
“I’m more diligent than someone like you who skips school and cram academy all the time to run around. Where exactly do you keep going…?”
Kang Min-joo, annoyed with Kang Won-yeon, suddenly grabbed his bag, and when several medicine pouches spilled out, she saw them.
“…?”
XX Psychiatry Clinic
“What. So what.”
Kang Won-yeon picked it up casually and spoke.
“Me and Il-yeon both go there.”
Kang Won-yeon grinned and said.
“We both awakened when we were young and were raised by our adoptive father… no, some crazy bastard. For criminal purposes. We’re lunatics, basically.”
Kang Won-yeon tore open one medicine pouch and swallowed the pills along with the cola beside him.
“You’re taking medicine with cola…?”
“People do it on YouTube too, right? Saying violent awakeners will destroy the world.”
“…Who says that?”
Kang Min-joo’s face hardened.
“I saw comments on the Hunter Investigation Unit videos. It’s somewhat true, I guess. That’s why Lee Yu-ji unnie goes through so much hardship. The Hunter Association, big guilds—they’re all rotten.”
“That’s not hardship.”
Kang Min-joo looked up at Kang Won-yeon.
With a rather serious gaze.
“Lee Yu-ji unnie does work that society desperately needs. And… unnie is an awakener too. I’m an awakener as well. But we haven’t hurt or harmed anyone. It’s the people who cause damage and pain to others—awakeners or not—who are in the wrong.”
Watching Kang Min-joo’s serious face, Kang Won-yeon rolled his eyes.
“Huh… is that so?”
“That’s right.”
Kang Min-joo spoke curtly and picked up the pencil case and notebook that had fallen from Kang Won-yeon’s bag, placing them back inside.
Even the mismatched rabbit keychain.
“But you have that skill too, right? That psychic-type skill you use on those people? Are you still using it now?”
“…No?”
Kang Min-joo looked at Kang Won-yeon incredulously.
“I’ve never used that skill of my own volition. Father… he sometimes tells me to try it, so I’ve used it at party venues and such.”
It was when Kang Min-joo’s face darkened.
With a jingling sound, the workshop door swung open.
The one who rushed in was Lee Yu-gyeom.
The moment Kang Min-joo saw him, her face brightened.
“Yu-gyeom. I saw something—a humpback whale that size in Russia….”
“Sorry, but I need to catch a taxi right now. I got permission from my homeroom teacher and snuck out during evening study. I’m taking some cash from here. Tell your brother I said thanks.”
Lee Yu-gyeom spoke to Kang Won-yeon.
At the word “brother,” Kang Won-yeon’s face twisted slightly, but she gestured in understanding.
“Where are you going?”
Kang Won-yeon asked, watching Lee Yu-gyeom gather some cash.
“To Lee Yu-ji’s company.”
Fury blazed through Lee Yu-gyeom’s eyes as his face grew urgent.

* * *
“Ugh, uuuuugh!”
I turned my head away from Byeon Gu-do, who was vomiting from seasickness, my legs trembling uncontrollably.
Even wrapped in a sky-blue blanket, my body shook violently.
Someone pressed warm water into my hands.
It was Kwon Ik-seong.
“They said there are no physical abnormalities, but since Russian public healers are lower-ranked, you’ll need a re-examination from a higher-ranked healer. Let’s arrange entry as quickly as possible and head straight to the Healer Hospital in Seoul.”
“We don’t have to go right away….”
I accepted the warm water and my body shuddered.
I was freezing.
Thanks to that insane Ma Deok-ho, we were swallowed by the humpback whale and spat out into a specific coastal region—whether from its mouth or stomach, I couldn’t tell.
Where the whale that had expelled us disappeared, a Korean naval vessel equipped with coast guard personnel was waiting as if on cue.
A rescue boat pulled us out, and on the deck—
“How did you possibly get here so fast—”
There were investigators from the Public Investigation Division, including Kwon Ik-seong.
“We were already moving toward the Russian coast. We couldn’t use air transport easily, so we used a dungeon with an exit on the Russian side.”
“Why couldn’t you use air transport?”
When I asked, Kwon Ik-seong sat beside me.
He draped his jacket over my still-trembling body.
“No, it’s fine….”
“I’m not cold.”
Right. This man wouldn’t be cold.
I stopped protesting.
“Thank you.”
“We haven’t reported this undercover operation to Director Captain Hong.”
“What? But you already knew about the investigation….”
Only then did the realization hit me like a blow to the back of my head.
Now that I thought about it, there’s no way Captain Hong, the man who was just celebrating that the Hunter Investigation Unit became the Hunter Investigation Bureau, would have simply watched us conduct such a dangerous undercover operation alone! No matter how classified it was!
‘Why didn’t Pee So-won call the support unit….’
I had followed along, pleased that I could clear the dungeon alone.
Ugh.
“If you had known, you wouldn’t have given permission, would you…?”
“Probably not.”
Kwon Ik-seong said that while looking at me.
Why are you looking at me so intently?
When my favorite person looks at me like that, it feels strange.
“Even in a situation like this, do I look pretty to you…?”
Maybe he’s looking at me like that because he likes me?
“That wasn’t what I was thinking just now—”
“Ah, yes.”
“I do think you’re pretty.”
What is this.
This… statement that’s romantic yet not romantic.
Because there was no change in Kwon Ik-seong’s lake-like expression or his words, the feeling was peculiar.
“I received help from the Gamer when coming here.”
“Oh. Ah. Oh. The Gamer.”
Ah, that’s right.
That bastard… could have been watching me.
Since that’s Choi Woo-jin’s ability.
It wasn’t particularly surprising, but I pretended to be as shocked as possible.
“Wow. Um. What. Um. Location tracking….”
“You don’t seem very surprised.”
“How could I not be? Me? I was really shocked?”
Sweat suddenly dripped down my spine, but I answered quickly.
“I was startled! Something like that in this world!”
“…How exactly….”
Kwon Ik-seong made an expression as if he was about to say something like ‘is that how you survive in this harsh world,’ but then changed the subject.
“I’ve organized the deductions so far.”
“What….”
“Weren’t you trying to discover the Gamer’s identity through a fake romance?”
“Ah… yes.”
That’s right.
That’s why the interrogation room feeding started.
I thought I had become Ruru. Always feeding me whenever it was time.
“I was going to tell you later because you looked cold, but I thought this quiet moment with just the two of us would only come now—”
Kwon Ik-seong wrapped another blanket around me beneath the outer coat I was wearing.
His touch was so tender that I almost became another Ruru.
At least—
“Is the Gamer’s true identity Choi Woo-jin?”
…Until Kwon Ik-seong said this.
“Excuse me?”
I remained frozen, looking up at Kwon Ik-seong who stood close to me.
Who was it that said this? A possession novelist’s life is a romance from afar, but a thriller up close.
“Investigator Lee Yu-ji’s circle of acquaintances is quite narrow. So there weren’t many candidates to narrow down.”
“But I do have that friend!”
I protested as much as I could, but it was futile.
“However, among them, nearly everyone tries to protect Investigator Lee Yu-ji… so it was difficult to filter out suspects using only emotional reasoning.”
Kwon Ik-seong looked down at me with his characteristic expressionless eyes.
Those lake-like eyes seemed to mesmerize me for a moment.
“Tracking the Gamer’s location is meaningless. The Gamer steals our ears and eyes through incomprehensible methods. An incredible ability. It must be S-rank. But what does the Gamer intend to do with that ability?”
“….”
“To dominate the world? To commit evil deeds for personal gain? That wasn’t it.”
“…That….”
“Or to eliminate evil while turning a blind eye to minor wrongs? Do they want to be some kind of righteous outlaw? If so, why would they need Investigator Lee Yu-ji? I thought about it for a long time.”
“Listen….”
I suddenly reached out to cover Kwon Ik-seong’s mouth.
It was an impulsive action.
Instead of stopping me, Kwon Ik-seong continued speaking.
Through the gaps between my fingers.
“The Gamer doesn’t just have feelings for Investigator Lee Yu-ji, but considers her an important figure in achieving their goals. So they’re someone who knows about Investigator Lee Yu-ji’s parents’ circumstances, who knows the connection between the Daeyang Guild and that situation, and who possesses that information.”
I couldn’t deny any of the words flowing from between his lips, so I raised my hand.
Not to cover his mouth, but to cover my own face.
“I saw it too. Officer Han Seong-ye’s case file. The fact that she once saved someone.”
“….”
“Then there’s only one possible conclusion to this reasoning.”
Kwon Ik-seong calmly lowered my hand.
I couldn’t tell what expression my revealed face held.
I could only see Kwon Ik-seong’s eyes observing me carefully.
“Choi Woo-jin is the Gamer.”

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