The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 25

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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 025

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“What is your stance on the controversy surrounding the Hunter Investigation Unit’s coercive investigation?”
“The Hunter Association has stated that this was a reckless move by the Hunter Investigation Unit, which is caught up in abolition theories, to boost its performance. Do you have anything to say in response?”
In front of the National Assembly.
Surrounded by numerous reporters, Kwon Ik-seong quietly climbed the steps.
His expression remained characteristically expressionless, making it difficult to discern his true feelings.
“I heard you previously belonged to the Hunter Management Office and transferred positions. Was it a form of demotion?”
Even when a reporter posed a question completely unrelated to the matter at hand—one that was entirely personal and even bordered on a personal attack—Kwon Ik-seong’s expression did not change.
He simply stood in the lobby of the hearing room and bowed politely alongside Captain Hong, the investigation team leader of the Hunter Investigation Unit, before entering.
As soon as the two took their seats, the hearing began.
Captain Hong spoke in a low voice.
“Is it really so difficult to answer questions sincerely and earnestly?”
It was a reproach directed at Kwon Ik-seong, who had not uttered a single word even at the impromptu photo line in front of the lobby. But Kwon Ik-seong’s response was simple.
“I thought there was a possibility I might not answer sincerely and earnestly.”
….
This composed lunatic.
Captain Hong thought this to himself while offering a faint smile toward the congressmen.
Of course, none of the congressmen returned his greeting.
In the current political landscape, both the ruling and opposition parties were thoroughly under the influence of the Hunter Association.
It was inevitable. Since hunters, monsters, and dungeons appeared, the nation had entered a new era.
Monster byproducts and mana stones brought by hunters had replaced oil, and the number of skilled hunters a nation possessed had become its military strength.
The sudden dungeons that occasionally collapsed roads, railways, and national infrastructure were a sore subject.
The nation increasingly needed the help of hunters, and hunters had risen to a status worthy of being called a new class.
The Hunter Association was the organization that represented the interests of these hunters.
The congressmen’s swift opening of this hearing the moment Kwon Ik-seong summoned Kevin Choi for investigation was in this context.
Choi Jun-gu, the master of the Great Empire Guild, had been serving as the Hunter Association chairman for forty years, and Kevin Choi was the grandson he cherished most.
‘The face of someone ready to bite hard and prove their loyalty….’
Captain Hong felt conflicted as he observed the congressmen’s faces.
The powerful Hunter Association was the organization that most sharply opposed the Hunter Investigation Unit.
It could be called a natural conflict of interests between the subject of investigation and the investigating agency—
‘But no matter what, the playing field is tilted far too much.’
As Captain Hong was thinking this.
One congressman who had most forcefully advocated for abolishing the Hunter Investigation Unit took the microphone.
“I have a question for Investigator Kwon Ik-seong.”
“Yes.”
“Investigator Kwon Ik-seong, I understand you arrested numerous suspects who used subspaces during the investigation of the illegal weapons trafficking case in Geumho-dong. And among those arrested, there was also a suspect who is still a minor, correct?”
“Rather than a suspect, we’ve been treating them as a victim….”
“This is not your time to speak, Investigator Kwon. This is my time to speak. Do you understand?”
A typical nitpicking rhetorical tactic.
Captain Hong’s brow furrowed.
Kwon Ik-seong spoke without changing his expression.
“I initially thought it was a question since you said you’d ask, sir. Going forward, should I refrain from answering questions altogether?”
There it was.
His trademark eccentric streak.
He pointed out the other’s mistakes with such deadpan delivery, devoid of any sarcasm, that it only made his words more infuriating.
Captain Hong barely managed to suppress a hollow laugh at his blunt tone.
All of this was happening during a live broadcast.
The opposing congressman seemed aware of this, briefly showing his anger before quickly composing himself.
“You may answer once I’ve finished speaking.”
“….”
Kwon Ik-seong listened to the congressman with an expressionless face and his back perfectly straight, as if acknowledging the instruction.
What followed were words and sentences designed to attack the Hunter Investigation Unit and, particularly, Kwon Ik-seong for summoning Kevin Choi.
Interrogation pressure, intimidation of minors, forced investigation, inflating performance metrics—the list went on.
Yet Kwon Ik-seong kept his composure, listening to every word as if honoring his promise to wait until the congressman finished speaking.
And then it happened.
Captain Hong’s smartwatch buzzed.
He stood up and immediately left for the hallway. The chairman tried to stop him.
“Where are you going?”
“My apologies, Chairman. Under civil service law, the Hunter Investigation Unit must respond to emergency calls under any circumstances.”
The congressmen’s expressions showed their displeasure at Captain Hong’s words.
But it didn’t matter. Their real target was Kwon Ik-seong, not Captain Hong anyway.
The investigator with direct responsibility for this matter, and the one public opinion had crowned as the most popular investigator in the Hunter Investigation Unit due to his consistently strong performance metrics.
While Captain Hong was away, they didn’t even give Kwon Ik-seong a chance to respond before tearing into him relentlessly.
“So! Team 1’s recent performance has been declining, so you decided to stir things up by targeting a big shot, didn’t you?”
“I’m not sure what you mean by the term ‘big shot.'”
“Is there anyone here who doesn’t know Kevin Choi?”
“I wasn’t aware that celebrity and ‘big shot’ were synonymous, sir. I’ll check a dictionary.”
“…!”
Of course, Kwon Ik-seong didn’t yield easily.
And then, the door opened and Captain Hong returned to his seat.
With a somewhat excited expression, Captain Hong showed Kwon Ik-seong his phone screen beneath the desk.
A slight crack appeared in Kwon Ik-seong’s expression as he looked at the screen.
“Do you know how many hunter personnel resources loyal to our nation have been lost this year alone? American mega-guilds are throwing hundreds of millions to poach our domestic talent, yet we’re wasting A-rank hunters on civil servants inflating their performance metrics….”
“Now, now, your speaking time is up. Investigator Kwon Ik-seong, please respond.”
The chairman cut off the congressman’s increasingly heated remarks. The chairman activated the red light on Kwon Ik-seong’s microphone.
Kwon Ik-seong opened his mouth.
“Esteemed congressmen. I have new information to share with you.”
“How is that relevant to the matter at hand….”
The congressman who had spoken first sneered.
“There is a matter. We’ve just uncovered new criminal facts about Kevin Choi—or rather, Kevin.”
“What?”
The hearing room began to grow chaotic.
“In the subspace discovered at the illegal weapons trafficking site in Geumho-dong, evidence has emerged of illegally distributing monsters and operating an unlawful fighting arena by gathering hunters—”
“Do you have evidence? If you spread fake news right now, in front of the entire nation watching this live broadcast from the National Assembly….”
Kwon Ik-seong held up his phone screen toward the camera broadcasting to the National Assembly TV channel in response to the congressman’s words.
There was a photograph of a woman and Kevin Choi in handcuffs with an angry expression on his face.
Notably, the woman was bleeding profusely from her nose and mouth.
“A Hunter Investigation Unit investigator arrested him as a perpetrator caught in the act, and he is currently under investigation. We have also secured decisive evidence, and in the evidence footage….”
An expression rarely appeared on Kwon Ik-seong’s face.
An expression of disgust.
“…it has been revealed that at least fifteen hunters died during the illegal fights. From this moment forward, hunter Kevin’s status is being changed from an accomplice in the Geumho-dong illegal weapons trafficking case to a murder suspect, and all investigation procedures will be briefed by the Hunter Investigation Unit.”
Kwon Ik-seong stood up after saying that.
Captain Hong deliberately stood up a beat late, buttoning his jacket with a somewhat arrogant demeanor.
“Uh, where are you going?”
Kwon Ik-seong tilted his head in response to the speaker’s words.
“As I just mentioned, Hunter Investigation Unit investigators must respond to summons under civil servant law in any circumstance. All Hunter Investigation Unit personnel have just been called right now.”
A flat and disagreeable tone as if asking how they didn’t know that.
At that tone, all the congressmen wearing badges in the chamber failed to maintain their composure.
The two men bowed respectfully to the speaker and the congressmen, then left the hearing room without hesitation.
And naturally, this entire situation was being broadcast on National Assembly TV, with the entire nation watching.
The number of live comments exploded, and one comment quickly passed by.
Comment
-Isn’t that woman in the photo just now the Taekwondo Girl?

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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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