The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 189

—————
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 189
I glanced at Pee So-won before approaching Captain Hong and accepting the arrest warrant.
“Yes, sir.”
Even if it couldn’t be helped, ever since I learned that Captain Hong had colluded with Baek Hee-ryeong to cover up the Busan incident, I found him uncomfortable.
On top of that, now I had to investigate the Busan incident that Captain Hong was involved in as well, making it all the more awkward.
“Wow! There’s our baby of the team!”
Whether Byeon Gu-do knew my feelings or not, he carelessly ruffled my hair without any sense of propriety.
“S-stop it!”
When I cried out, Byeon Gu-do paused for a moment before immediately messing up my hair again.
“S-stop it!”
This guy, seriously.
I suppressed the urge to kick Byeon Gu-do away and desperately appealed for help from Ma Deok-ho.
But Ma Deok-ho, far from helping me—
“People are making a fuss saying the two of you are dating.”
He showed me a YouTube video of the parliamentary hearing while saying this.
For reference, the titles of those videos were roughly like this:
The Chief’s Revelation! Hunter Investigation Unit Officers Who Caught Choi Jun-gu Off Guard
S-Rank Kwon Ik-seong Directly Confronting A-Rank
Did You Know About the Chief’s Revelation Beforehand? Parking Lot Meeting
Where did that parking lot footage even come from—
The Cooperation of Two Hunter Investigation Unit Officers, Something’s Not Right?
How did they capture and zoom in on the scene at the end of the National Assembly TV footage where I was supporting Ik-seong’s head?
“Oh. Then perhaps the menu you were contemplating back then was….”
Ham I-na said something incomprehensible while looking at Kwon Ik-seong.
Kwon Ik-seong responded with an AI-like smile.
“It seems like an inappropriate conversation to have at a gathering to commend the achievements of Lee Yu-ji. Particularly, such rumors between a male superior and female subordinate could be considered sexual harassment.”
At this remark that seemed to lower the temperature in the Public Investigation Division by a degree, everyone fell silent.
While everyone kept their mouths shut, Pee So-won opened hers.
“…Well, yes, let’s say that. We’re interrogating Choi Jun-gu anyway, but don’t we get a reward for catching Yulia Kim?”
At Pee So-won’s words, I finally widened my eyes.
‘That’s right! Incentives!’
By the way, most of the S-rank byproducts found in the Fabergé dungeon had been attributed to Pee So-won after appraisal—
‘Among the byproducts, the eggs are the most important. Let’s split them. There are 5 total that have been appraised. You get 3, I get 2.’
We decided to split them.
‘The 4th one is perhaps….’
‘Perhaps what.’
‘I thought you might not have any thoughts on it. I was just muttering to myself!’
Ha ha ha.
There’s no way I could complain about splitting byproducts worth tens of billions with her.
In fact, since Pee So-won was officially credited with clearing that dungeon, I was already grateful to be getting 3 of them.
‘Two of them I have a use for, so keep that in mind.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Ugh. That’s genuinely terrifying.
But with just three of them, I was already set to acquire an apartment in Seoul.
‘Pay off the mortgage legally, and move into a bigger place all in one go!’
But if they were to add an incentive on top of this…?
‘I won’t let this opportunity slip away.’
I clenched my fist tightly and looked at Captain Hong.
“The incentive will definitely come through. Yulia Kim’s arrest will hit the news soon. Since we caught an S-rank criminal, Interpol’s Hunter Investigation Unit from South America will probably send investigators too. Apparently, they’ve been conducting their own investigation related to Yulia Kim?”
Interpol’s South American Hunter Investigation Unit.
They’re a gathering of people incomparably stronger than the Hunter Investigation Unit.
The strongest hunter across all six continents—no, across the American continent—is stationed there.
No matter how much hunters are said to be obsessed with money and fame, Awakened ones are still human.
And among those Awakened, there are people who live with a single mission: to capture villains.
One of them is—
[If villain hunters develop misguided ideologies, they could become a threat reminiscent of a third world war. We live believing we are fighting for the very survival of humanity.]
A world-class S-rank hunter police officer.
Ocean.
Without revealing his nationality or name, he dismantled Shallow, a massive international villain organization, and said this in an interview afterward.
[Hunters are precious resources for humanity. Much like nuclear fuel. But if you want to know what nuclear weapons have done, just look at Hiroshima or Chernobyl.]
That was truly an impressive interview….
“Once that news breaks, all of you will receive a presidential commendation. The entire Public Investigation Division.”
“What? All of us?”
Park Min-bae seemed the most surprised. He tilted his head and spoke.
“I don’t think I did much of anything.”
“Come on. You came to rescue us, didn’t you? And you immediately recognized the Pocket Dimension Item.”
At my words, Park Min-bae coughed awkwardly and looked at me.
“Well, I suppose so.”
“Of course.”
Without Park Min-bae, this investigation wouldn’t have progressed in the first place.
Moreover—
‘This presidential commendation seems to have some political significance.’
The reason they’re giving us a presidential commendation for eliminating international criminals while Choi Jun-gu’s charges haven’t been fully revealed yet.
‘It means Baek Hee-ryeong is politically backing us.’
Of course, that would make it easier to crack Choi Jun-gu open.
But I don’t like it when civil servants keep getting caught up in these political lines….
My goal was to walk a long, thin path without any backing….
“Combined with the commendation and the incentive, each person will get about a billion won.”
A billion won!
I covered my mouth with one hand and raised the other in disbelief.
“Um, well…”
“Yeah, what?”
“Do I have to break wooden boards there too?”
“…Would you do it if I told you to?”
“If I had to?”
For a billion won? I’d sell my soul.

* * *
Captain Hong called only me and Pee So-won into the investigation room separately.
The pretext was that he had a report to receive about the Fabergé dungeon, but the real reason—which we both knew—was something else entirely.
“The higher-ups decided to lift the embargo on the magic stones Yulia Kim was trading. They said they’d report to the UN about magic stones that create gates and dungeons.”
Captain Hong spoke in a serious voice while looking at me.
“Our youngest personally uncovered all of this and reported it directly to the higher-ups, I hear?”
“…How did you…”
“The chief secretary mentioned it while setting a date for the presidential commendation. He said the President wants to ask your intentions again—since you started this, wouldn’t it be good if you corrected it yourself?”
“Corrected it, you mean…”
Captain Hong hesitated briefly before responding to my words.
“He wants you to speak about those magic stones at the UN Security Council. The ambassador to the UN suggested it after hearing this, apparently. Well, that’s probably just political phrasing.”
“…!”
Pee So-won spoke before I could even answer.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“What isn’t?”
“Do you not know how many people have been shot trying to speak about Hunters at the UN Security Council?”
She was right.
The UN Security Council had discussed various measures to address the growing problem of awakened criminal activity worldwide.
But each time, the proposer or scheduled speaker was assassinated.
Most were ruled suspicious deaths, and the perpetrators were never identified.
‘There was only suspicion that they all died from skill usage.’
“Twelve of them.”
“You know that and you’re still sending our youngest into danger…!”
“Why? This isn’t the first time I’ve sent my colleagues into danger.”
At Captain Hong’s words, Pee So-won clenched her teeth.
I watched her fists tremble and placed my hand on her shoulder.
‘Please, calm down…’
“You heard it too.”
Captain Hong spoke to me while observing my actions.
“Yeah… well…”
“I’m pathetic, aren’t I? Using my own people as human shields because of external circumstances.”
I didn’t respond.
Because he was right.
What Captain Hong had done was indeed wrong. Even if it was the lesser of two evils.
“I have no intention of pushing you to go speak at the UN Security Council. It’s entirely your choice. However, if this matter is resolved at the Security Council, it’s also true that we could more efficiently investigate cases where scoundrels like Yulia Kim and Choi Jun-gu kill people and brazenly play heroes, or hide in the shadows to enjoy money and power. You decide for yourself. I’m just relaying information, and the choice is yours. And….”
Captain Hong looked me in the eye and spoke.
“I’m sorry. That your parents got caught up in this matter. My contribution to it was significant.”
The moment I heard those words, I let out a sigh.
Again.
Instead of those villains like Choi Jun-gu and Yulia Kim, we apologize to each other and resent each other.
As if….
‘You’re a promising prospect, so you’ll be fine! I’m not…. I… I just have to….’
Just like back then.
I asked Captain Hong.
“You don’t have to break boards at the UN Security Council, right?”
“….”
“Really?”
Seeing the bewildered expression on Captain Hong’s face, I spoke.
“Then I’ll do it. Tell me the date.”

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