The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 165

—————
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 165
“So even here, it all comes down to bureaucracy….”
After Byeon Gu-do finished vomiting spectacularly and I took a blow to the back of my head from Kwon Ik-seong, we were transported to a Russian military base along with the other investigators.
Though I felt tension about undergoing intense interrogation for the commotion we’d caused in foreign waters, the Russian soldiers seemed surprisingly indifferent to us.
A military healer with what I could only describe as dead fish eyes came out to check our health conditions and gave us a disgustingly foul-tasting potion.
When Park Min-bae drank the potion and Byeon Gu-do started to retch again, he tilted his head and spoke.
“It doesn’t seem particularly necessary to consume it.”
“Why didn’t you say so! I already drank it! Why didn’t you tell me earlier! Bleeegh!”
“It’s just a fatigue recovery potion.”
“Damn it! You did that on purpose. You deliberately waited so long….”
He seems like the type who naturally speaks slowly, like a turtle.
I swallowed those words and quietly set down the potion I was about to drink.
Truth be told, ever since escaping the cold, my legs had been aching a bit, but I couldn’t risk damaging my stomach trying to fix my legs.
Besides, once I get back to Seoul, I’ll visit a Healer Hospital anyway.
And similarly, I observed the Russian soldiers conversing with our special forces commander, their eyes equally vacant.
The special forces commander in question here was…
“The aircraft will arrive at the base in about three hours. Since it needs to appear as a civilian airliner, it seems it will take quite a while.”
Surprisingly, it was Kang Han-geul.
He wasn’t a vice-captain anymore, but there was no other way to address him.
He wore a black protective suit that enveloped his entire body, entirely different from his appearance as a vice-captain, and there wasn’t a single identification mark that revealed his rank or name.
“Given that you caused quite an incident in Russian territorial waters, the presidential office has stepped in for emergency mediation to prevent this from becoming a diplomatic dispute.”
Kang Han-geul spoke while deliberately studying me carefully.
Ugh.
I was right not to join the special forces when Baek Hee-ryeong suggested it.
If I had, I’d be working with this guy.
The greatest weakness of civil servants is that neither I nor they ever get fired.
“Well, more than that, the Russians were probably concerned about damaging their international image. After all, Russian criminal organizations were capturing Koreans and conducting human sacrifices, weren’t they?”
But if their team had a mad dog, our team had a rabid beast that bit indiscriminately.
Pee So-won looked at Kang Han-geul with a crooked expression and spoke.
Pee So-won stood up from her seat and took a confrontational stance facing Kang Han-geul.
“If this becomes international news, Russia—already struggling with poor management of criminal hunters—will have a headache, and our Number One, knowing that, must have extracted something as compensation from Russia, right?”
Number One.
As she said this, Pee So-won extended her index finger and pointed at the sky.
She was referring to Baek Hee-ryeong.
Pee So-won pulled up one corner of her mouth and glared at Kang Han-geul.
“If that’s the case, shouldn’t you be awarding us a presidential commendation instead of saying we caused an accident…?”
“I believe that commendation was already taken by the youngest member of your team.”
Kang Han-geul said this while gesturing toward me with his chin.
“Me? When did I ever….”
Could this guy also know about the special forces thing?
I scrunched my face and turned my head away.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Byeon Gu-do, who had been rinsing his mouth vigorously, asked without reading the room.
I pretended not to hear and turned to Kang Han-geul instead.
“What about Yulia Kim and her associates? We’re taking custody of them, right?”
Yulia Kim and her gang were all swallowed by the humpback whale and similarly handed over to a Korean vessel.
However, once Russian military and police arrived, there was no proper channel to inquire about those bastards’ whereabouts.
“That is… in principle, we should make a formal handover request through Interpol…”
“Should, but?”
I flared my nostrils and opened my eyes wide at Kang Han-geul.
Didn’t Russia just say they were in a disadvantageous position? Huh?
“…Yes, well. We’ll take custody of them.”
Kang Han-geul nodded with tired eyes.
Looking at him now, this guy is unmistakably a civil servant.
There’s something fundamentally wrong with a civil servant having eyes like that.
But right now, setting aside whether he’s a civil servant or not, I clenched my fists tightly.
‘I need a pocket dimension item. Something like a magical pouch that lets the user summon whatever’s inside whenever they want.’
I recalled what Yulia Kim had said.
A pocket dimension item.
This time, I can finally uncover the channels those lunatics were dealing through.
And—
‘The truth about Mother and Father’s deaths.’
This isn’t just about seeking revenge for Mother and Father.
Things are unfolding strangely.
The more I dig into Lee Yu-ji’s life, the more deeply Choi Woo-jin and Choi Jun-gu are connected to my own.
There are far too many stories hidden that weren’t in the original work.
And eventually, I became a ‘major supporting character in a world destined to collapse.’
Even this popped up.
Congratulations! You’ve become the new title ‘The Protagonist’s Supporter’ and ‘Your Body Is My Body, My Body Is My Body’ has been upgraded!
The affinity window disappears!
With the enhancement of your possession ability, you can now maximize the target’s abilities regardless of affinity!
Various Quests are unlocked through the new title’s effects.
Maximize? I’m not sure what ‘maximize’ really means, but—
‘It’s definitely good.’
But good is good—
‘A world destined to collapse’? What’s that supposed to mean?
And the Protagonist’s Supporter?
‘It sounds like a title that’ll get me killed if I don’t help Choi Woo-jin.’
This is ominous, very ominous.
And most ominous of all—
I quietly observed Kwon Ik-seong from across the table, contacting Heon Su-guk.
‘Choi Woo-jin is a Gamer.’
The moment I became Choi Woo-jin’s ally, I’d carelessly exposed his identity all by myself.
Damn.
Should I tell Choi Woo-jin about this?
And if I do? What exactly would he do about it?
I couldn’t give Ik-seong a straight answer and just let the conversation fizzle out.
‘I’ll take your silence as confirmation.’
But that was essentially the same as answering.
It was right then that I was tearing at my hair.
“Does your head hurt? Did you hit it after all?”
Pee So-won said this, looking at me.
I quickly put my hand down and shook my head.
“No.”
“Go to the Healer Hospital first when you get to Seoul.”
“I… but…”
I hunched my shoulders and gestured to Pee So-won.
Then Pee So-won scrunched her face and leaned closer to me.
I asked her quietly.
“Our weapons aren’t prohibited from being brought into the military base, right?”
“That’s right. They did a full body search earlier.”
“Then why didn’t you bring it? The rifle!”
I spoke louder than intended, then quickly glanced around and lowered my voice.
“What are you trying to do now…”
“A rifle?”
“Yes. The one you had in the Maze. You’ve been carrying it around lately.”
“Ah… that one. You mean the one I got from Choi Se-a?”
“Yes.”
Pee So-won’s expression became subtle.
“I just threw it away.”
“You threw it away?”
Why would she do that? That’s a weapon worth anywhere from thousands to hundreds of millions of won.
Heon Su-guk would absolutely never resupply something like that.
“I didn’t need it anymore.”
Pee So-won scratched her chin.
“Why didn’t you just give it to me then?”
I’m confident I could’ve sold it well! Really!
“A gun exists to protect something, so when there’s nothing left to protect, there’s no need for the gun anymore.”
“Huh?”
It was right when I scrunched my face.
Pee So-won covered my mouth with an annoyed expression and sat down beside me.
Soon after, Kang Han-geul approached us with documents in hand.
He pulled over a nearby chair, sat down, and asked us a question.
“Let’s just get a brief overview of the incident before the plane arrives. We’ve already heard from Investigator Byeon Gu-do and Investigator Ma Deok-ho, so we only need to hear from Investigator Pee So-won and Investigator Lee Yu-ji. There will be a formal investigation separately, so just answer the questions simply.”
What is this?
We’re investigators, yet I feel like we’re the ones being investigated.
Strange, isn’t it?
“Well, let’s start with the simplest part. We’ve already collected the S-rank dungeon byproducts on our end.”
S-rank dungeon byproducts.
It was probably Fabergé’s egg and the jewels embedded in it.
Byeon Gu-do had been looking gloomy the whole time.
Those things are incredibly expensive, so the taxes on them will be astronomical. Ugh.
‘Hide it well.’
“Who was responsible for defeating the S-rank monster? According to the Hunter Special Act, the party that ultimately defeats the boss monster holds primary ownership rights to the byproducts.”
“Oh. Ah. Um. That’s….”
I looked at Pee So-won.
Suddenly, sweat dripped down my spine.
Come to think of it, from Pee So-won’s perspective, it would look like my hand suddenly moved and shot Fabergé.
That’s way too strange, isn’t it?
Of course, the military would want to investigate further, and if they do—
“I precisely sniped it with my rifle.”
“…?”
Pee So-won said that while looking at me.
She gave me a faint smile and spoke.
“You saw it, right? My marksmanship.”
The fingers of Pee So-won’s hand resting on my shoulder moved with the fluidity of playing piano.
It felt like Morse code.
‘Answer quickly that I’m right, you bastard.’
A status window appeared before my bewildered eyes.
Quest ‘An Investigator’s Greatest Asset, Cooperation (D)’
-Kwon Ik-seong and Pee So-won, who have learned your identity. Arrange a meal with these two, Choi Woo-jin, and yourself! These four will make excellent partners!
-Completion Reward: Funny Spore Cultivation Kit
…?
Learn what?
I looked at Pee So-won’s smiling face and laughed awkwardly.
“Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. I saw it. Our Team Leader’s marksmanship. Top. Notch.”
I even made a thumbs-up with my trembling hands.

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