The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 209

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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 209

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I encountered the military hospital’s Healer once again.
That exhausted face. The face of someone who had surrendered their very soul.
‘An old acquaintance, then.’
It was the same face I’d seen when Kwon Ik-seong collapsed in the Hearing Room.
“You’re back again?”
The Healer looked at me with a subtly irritated expression, as if dealing with someone who had lost all sense.
“I told you not to overexert yourself back then, didn’t I? You should be receiving healing treatments regularly.”
“Well… it’s just that we’ve been quite busy with work.”
“Yes. There’s no one who isn’t busy. That’s just modern life.”
I turned my head away from the Healer’s irritating gaze.
‘Why does this sting so much when I’m not even the patient…’
I remembered being scolded by the team doctor back during my national team days.
“The injured area appears to have been exposed to mana. Have you had any recent direct exposure to mana?”
Before I could answer, Kang Han-geul spoke first.
“We entered a location within the dungeon where strong mana flows.”
Strong mana.
The moment I heard those words, I recalled the mist near the Sky Orphanage sign.
The process of escaping from that place was rather peculiar.
‘There’s an emergency stairwell.’
What kind of dungeon has an emergency stairwell?
I thought, but it really did exist.
An emergency stairwell.
Walking past the sign that read ‘Sky Orphanage’, a massive building suddenly appeared.
‘Could it be…’
‘That’s correct. The orphanage building.’
So the orphanage building really did remain intact?
I’d seen before how the surrounding environment and flora mutated due to mana’s influence when a Dungeon Break occurred.
The Zelkova Tree and the Sacred Tree were examples of that.
But a building itself transforming into a dungeon…
‘I’ve never heard of that.’
When the abandoned apartment in Jeong-an City became a dungeon, it wasn’t so much that the apartment itself became a dungeon, but rather a dungeon formed beneath it.
In any case, Kang Han-geul guided me, carrying Kwon Ik-seong on my back, to the emergency stairwell attached to the outer wall of that massive building.
‘This is a place managed by priests, and since I’m in charge today, you don’t need to worry.’
‘I see, Priest.’
I bowed respectfully, playing along.
Then Kang Han-geul’s expression cracked as if a fissure had formed across his forehead.
‘Don’t you think a soldier and a priest make a rather poor combination?’
“Let’s head up.”
“Yes.”
I should stop teasing him.
“There’s a river flowing below called the Cheon-do River. We process various water supplies there and discharge them, which flows in a form like the Tan Stream.”
I climbed the emergency stairwell and gazed at the river visible below the railing.
The Cheon-do River.
“Actually, I was planning to dump Kim Seong-cheol into that river.”
Is a person a garbage bag? To be dumped?
“…That extreme….”
“The number of people who committed suicide because of Kim Seong-cheol exceeds twenty. The money Kim Seong-cheol swindled and brought to the Hunter Church amounts to hundreds of billions. Many families died together in double suicides.”
Oh. Should I dump him right now then?
“Still, just in case, let’s take him with us for now….”
I spoke while looking at Kim Seong-cheol’s legs draped over Kang Han-geul’s left shoulder like a garbage bag.
“But then, that Cheon-do River….”
“It makes all living and non-living things disappear. We don’t know the exact mechanism, and we had samples collected and examined by forensics, but they said it has the same composition as groundwater. It seems to lose its original properties the moment this dungeon is exited.”
How suspicious.
Especially considering this place bears traces of twisted causality.
And that water from the Cheon-do River, once it leaves here, is sold as a potion called the Water of Salvation that supposedly awakens people.
Of course, the number of humans awakened that way is zero.
“As if that would work.”
Once someone became an Awakened One, they possessed a stronger body than ordinary people, extended lifespan, and above all, easy access to expensive energy sources like Magical Stones and byproducts—so the yearning for Awakened Ones in this world wasn’t merely enthusiastic but fanatical.
That’s why some conglomerate chairmen deliberately kept magical items nearby, and Gangnam parents had their children drink the “body fragments” of Awakened Ones, claiming it was a secret method to become Awakened, only to be reported for child abuse.
“Ugh.”
Regardless, many people wanted to become Awakened Ones, but naturally, awakening occurred without any causality whatsoever—completely random.
In that sense, it could be called equal.
No matter how much money one had, they couldn’t become Awakened without the system’s selection, and even someone drowning in debt could achieve social elevation the moment an A-rank awakening manifested.
Perhaps that’s why some people came to believe awakening was divine selection, and thus salvation.
“That’s how people end up joining the Hunter Church….”
Deep in their hearts, they harbored a desire to save their own lives through awakening.
The Water of Salvation was precisely the product that touched that desire perfectly.
So if the Cheon-do River is that kind of river—
“What exactly is that mist?”
At my question, Kang Han-geul glanced at the Healer.
He couldn’t speak about it in front of outsiders.
The Healer spoke as if he had no particular interest in accessing such troublesome state secrets.
“There don’t seem to be any addiction symptoms. It looks like just some minor internal injuries from impact. For the next month, refrain from using your skills. Rest. Rest. Rest. Rest.”
The Healer glared at me while repeating the word “rest” several times.
“Why do you keep…?”
I’m not at fault, detective… or rather, doctor.
“From now on, I’ll give you potions in pill form, so take them for a month.”
“Um… but does that mean I can’t use skills at all? For a whole month?”
At my question, the Healer was about to leave when he sighed and turned back around.
“Why?”
Those eyes that promised death if I said anything stupid.
“…Well, I’ll try my best to stop him.”
I doubt Ik-seong would listen even if I tried to stop him!
“Look, if you really want to end your life prematurely, then by all means, feel free to use your skills. Sure! Haha!”
…This guy just looked like a tired Healer, but there’s a glint of madness in his eyes, isn’t there?
After he left, I asked Kang Han-geul.
“Who is that guy?”
“Just a military doctor whose personality got worse from dealing with Special Forces at the military hospital… or something like that.”
“…I think I understand.”
If I had to deal with people like you whose bodies get cut up and regenerate constantly, my personality would deteriorate too.
“That fog is mana-generated fog, as you probably suspected. The mysterious thing about that fog is that it numbs people’s senses.”
As expected.
My assumption was correct—the fog was why we couldn’t see ahead.
But ‘senses’?
“But we only had our vision blocked?”
“There’s an item that uses that fog, and the believers call it the ‘Whip of Original Sin.'”
Whip of Original Sin.
Water of Salvation.
The names are quite literal…
“We haven’t discovered how it works, but it comes in this small cotton form—”
Kang Han-geul pulled a small piece of cotton from his pocket.
“When you ingest it, all five senses are blocked, putting you in a state like a vegetative patient. Of course, unlike a vegetative patient, consciousness remains, but sensation is gone. It’s also impossible to move your muscles.”
What? That’s terrifying.
I furrowed my brow, remembering how Kim Seong-cheol suddenly went limp.
“An item like that must be incredibly expensive. Do the priests carry one each?”
“Not one each. They carry countless numbers of them.”
Countless numbers…?
Items of that caliber?
“And the important thing is that when all these items are brought outside and analyzed, none of them register mana signatures. They only work inside that Dungeon Interior.”
This must be another result of twisted causality or something.
I furrowed my brow thinking that.
Kang Han-geul, watching my profile, opened his mouth.
“Well then, shall we do the take?”
“Pardon?”
“Give and take. Since I gave, I should receive something in return.”
At Kang Han-geul’s words, I made an ‘ah’ sound and looked up at him.
‘That guy had a rather unusual skill.’
He was curious about the information I had regarding Seol Ok-gyun.
I was opening my mouth to respond to his words.
The door to the room where Kwon Ik-seong lay opened, and a familiar voice reached my ears.
“Ah, I only have five minutes. If you don’t mind, shall we talk on my private jet?”
Standing before the door was Baek Hee-ryeong, a watch adorning her wrist.
Ah, that’s right.
This is a government facility… or rather, it isn’t!
“A private jet?”
“Yes. I have a schedule for an inspection, but it’s classified so I can’t discuss the exact details… We were discussing matters related to the Hunter Church, correct?”
As Baek Hee-ryeong spoke, she glanced at Kang Han-geul.
Kang Han-geul sprang to his feet and saluted sharply as he responded.
“Yes, ma’am!”
…This bastard.
So respectful to his superior?

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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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