The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 171

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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 171
Kwon Ik-seong and Choi Woo-jin stood facing each other, their postures tense and confrontational.
Pee So-won—
‘She’s looking at me like I’m squeezed between them, wondering what I’m going to do.’
What is this, some kind of four-way entanglement?
I spoke in frustration at the fact that none of these people were taking me seriously.
One of them harbors guilt toward me, and the other has some affection but says he has no intention of developing things beyond investigator and subject….
‘Pee So-won is just a lunatic.’
“In my opinion….”
“Don’t think. Let’s just arrest Choi Woo-jin here and make him spill everything to Choi Woo-jin. He’s Choi Jun-gu’s grandson after all. Why not use that position to expose all of his grandfather’s secrets? Huh?”
Pee So-won presented what she considered a ‘reasonably’ simple method.
Wow.
Impressive. A lunatic who leaks from the inside leaks from the outside too!
“That would be one approach.”
Kwon Ik-seong agreed with her.
You didn’t leak from the inside!
Why are you like this!
I shouted to calm down this mess.
“Wait, just a moment!”
Fortunately, Pee So-won, who looked ready to arrest Choi Woo-jin right then and there, stopped in her tracks.
All three of them looked at me.
Only then did I catch my breath and speak.
“There might be a simpler and easier method…? Well, it doesn’t seem easy, but I think there might be a more certain approach!”
“What. What method.”
I looked at Choi Woo-jin.
“This does require your help, though….”
“Right? I knew we should just take that bastard down—”
“You have sources regarding the Hunter Association, don’t you?”
At my question, Choi Woo-jin’s expression became enigmatic.
The original story’s timeline had been accelerated slightly.
By now, Choi Woo-jin should have possessed considerable sources regarding Choi Jun-gu’s corruption.
However, he had remained silent because revealing them too hastily might cause Choi Jun-gu to cover up even more crimes, and the ‘dots’ and ‘lines’ connected to the still-living Choi Jun-gu could still move.
Knowing this and speaking of it, Choi Woo-jin had no way to evade.
He answered with some hesitation.
“What makes you think I’d have something like that?”
“There’s no solid evidence, but just suspicions. That’s why you can’t rashly strike at Choi Jun-gu’s head, and you might face backlash, so you must be holding evidence regarding those kinds of matters.”
At my words, Choi Woo-jin smiled faintly.
“Every time I feel it—”
Choi Woo-jin lowered his head slightly to look at me.
For some reason, I felt a chill run down my spine, and even though it wasn’t that close a distance, I instinctively retreated and hid halfway behind Ik-seong.
“Why are you pretending to be slow-witted?”
Because I need to survive, you bastard.
And I’m naturally a bit slow anyway!
Choi Woo-jin stared at my silence and furrowed his brow deeply.
“What happens if you hand it over? The Hunter Management Bureau Chief isn’t even on your side—do you think the Director will move?”
At the mention of “Director,” Pee So-won flinched. What was that about…?
“Even if the Heonsu Bureau moves on its own, it won’t summon the Daeyang Guild Master for investigation. The Hunter Association survived by cutting off Bureau Chief Choi Se-a. Either way, they can’t touch the main body.”
At Choi Woo-jin’s words, I narrowed my eyes.
“You know one thing but miss two others.”
“…What?”
“We civil servants always have a season we must be vigilant about. That season is October, when the weather turns crisp. I get terrified just smelling fallen leaves.”
“…What are you talking about?”
Pee So-won beside me spoke as if she found it absurd.
But I was serious!
“Because during that period, a storm of blood always blows from the Municipal Office through all public institutions.”
“…”
Only Kwon Ik-seong seemed to catch on to something, closing his mouth and watching me.
“Every single person wearing a badge in this world waits for this season. A season to proudly announce before the people: We saved money! We spent it! A season for us civil servants to show how much we saved and how wisely we spent it over the year so we can prepare the budget for next year! In other words, the Thanksgiving of the civil service world!”
“Hey. Just do the first verse.”
At Pee So-won’s words, I raised my finger and gestured for silence.
This is the climax, you know.
“…October is precisely the budget resolution and National Assembly audit season.”
“So…what?”
Choi Woo-jin asked in a somewhat flustered voice, and I answered.
“National Assembly audits don’t necessarily require evidence, and summons are possible even without it. And if you throw bait during this period, the ruling party members who’ve been at odds with the Hunter Association lately will love it.”
The ruling party had consistently aligned with Baek Hee-ryeong, arguing that they must prevent hunters’ power from growing stronger.
In truth, some of those bastards in the ruling party already had connections to the Hunter Association, but after experiencing various incidents starting with the Incheon mayor’s arrest, even they were probably ignoring the Hunter Association’s calls these days.
In short—
At least for now, we have quite a few allies in the National Assembly.
Even if Choi Jun-gu is called to the National Assembly audit, we’ll just pretend to beat him up for now while burying things appropriately—
‘That’s enough for us.’
“Just give me one source. The biggest one among them. I’ll send it straight to the congressional offices. It’s even better if the Hunter Management Bureau Chief is involved.”
Then Kwon Ik-seong called out to me.
“Investigator Lee Yu-ji.”
“Yes.”
“If what you’re trying to do is fabricate a false confession from Choi Jun-gu, not only would Investigator Lee Yu-ji be in danger, but it might not be very useful either.”
“…”
“A confession without supporting evidence only holds weight when there’s corroboration from others or supplementary evidence. That means you’d have to lie twice or fabricate false evidence. If Choi Jun-gu makes a move in the meantime—”
“I’d be in danger. I know.”
I nodded in acknowledgment.
I looked up quietly at Kwon Ik-seong’s kind eyes.
Where does that courage come from—the ability to never lose one’s goodness in any situation?
As a civil servant, I had lived with the thought that my work held no meaning. But when I saw Kwon Ik-seong in this novel, I wondered.
Could such a person really exist?
Someone who acts according to conviction rather than seeking meaning.
And yet, I had finally met such a person.
I learned that there are people who act before they question.
So this is what such a person looks like. This is the expression they wear. Even someone like this—
‘has emotions.’
So now the time has come to show them that righteous conviction always prevails.
I looked at Pee So-won’s worried face.
A world where good people don’t die.
And furthermore—
I looked at Choi Woo-jin.
A world where the wicked are punished.
I opened my mouth.
“I will never be in danger. Because the target isn’t Choi Jun-gu.”
I won’t possess Choi Jun-gu that day.
Because—
I just received this notification.
Quest ‘An Investigator’s Greatest Virtue, Cooperation (D)’ has been completed! Rewards have arrived! Check your pocket!
Hahaha.
There was something I overlooked.
I don’t actually have to eat a meal?
-Arrange a meal where Kwon Ik-seong and Pee So-won, who learned your identity, Choi Woo-jin, and you all eat together! These four will become good partners!
I just needed to arrange a meal!
I smiled brightly and secretly fingered the pocket containing the Funny Powder Spore Growing Kit, hidden from the three.
Just this alone triggers a window like this.
Item ‘Funny Powder Spore Growing Kit’ (Grade Undetermined)
-Contains Funny Powder spores.
-Be careful as inhalation may cause hallucinations!
-Usage Instructions:
1. Scatter the spores in a place where sunlight rarely reaches and where mold already thrives.
2. Once the mushroom head takes root and becomes visible, transfer it to a pot and cultivate it.
3. Continue growing it in dirty environments, and it will grow faster when fed what Funny Powder spores prefer (curses, harsh language, foul words).
…But you know.
What’s the difference between curses, harsh language, and foul words?
They’re all the same thing!
Regardless—
“I’ll make the Hunter Management Bureau Chief speak the truth. A truth only he knows, that we don’t.”
I’ll raise them well and feed them to the bad guys. Definitely.
I added this while looking at Kwon Ik-seong.
“And I’ll make that confession gain validity through the confessions of others.”

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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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