The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 257

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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 257

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“How is that even possible?”
Watching Lee Yu-ji’s expression turn ashen, Baek Hee-ryeong wished she could disappear somewhere.
The life I’ve lived.
Countless variables flashed through my mind.
What should I say here?
A lie?
The truth?
You, who were virtuous and could never turn away from others’ suffering—what choice would you inevitably make if you heard my words?
Baek Hee-ryeong gazed at Lee Yu-ji’s tears and briefly unclenched her fist beneath the desk, then clenched it again.
“My abilities as a Regressor haven’t disappeared.”
Baek Hee-ryeong answered matter-of-factly.
It was a response stripped down to the bare minimum.
At those words, Lee Yu-ji’s face contorted.
“Then surely….”
Lee Yu-ji hesitated for a moment before speaking to Baek Hee-ryeong.
“Have you been repeating regressions, Mr. President?”
The distant tone of her words made Baek Hee-ryeong flinch.
But—
‘To you right now, I’m merely this much of an existence.’
There’s nothing I can do about it.
Baek Hee-ryeong accepted that bitter truth and spoke.
“Yes. I’ve continued repeating regressions even when I wasn’t the protagonist. Even after Choi Woo-jin became the protagonist, I continued living my life as a Regressor.”
“But….”
Choi Woo-jin regressed after Han Seong-ye’s death was confirmed.
If that’s the case—
“Something twisted for my regression. For instance—”
Baek Hee-ryeong gazed at the artifact Lee Yu-ji was holding.
“Causality itself.”
“…!”
“Inside that are the disaster prevention bills that ‘Baek Hee-ryeong’ had proposed. I suspect, Investigator Lee Yu-ji….”
Baek Hee-ryeong referred to Lee Yu-ji as ‘Investigator’ and furrowed her brow.
However, Lee Yu-ji’s expression didn’t change.
“Just. Tell me.”
At Lee Yu-ji’s words, Baek Hee-ryeong gave a small nod.
“When Investigator Lee Yu-ji sees it, you’ll think it’s strange. I thought so too when I saw it. Since it’s now an item under Investigator Lee Yu-ji’s possession, please verify it.”
Strange?
Lee Yu-ji hesitated at those words before opening the artifact—no, the black file folder that had been shelved in the National Assembly’s library archives.
□National Disaster Management Research Institute Establishment and Operation Act
Proposal Rationale and Key Contents
Recently, deaths and disappearances from anomalous Dungeon Breaks have been increasing, yet the existing Hunter Management Office and Hunter Investigation Unit, even in collaboration with the National Institute of Scientific Investigation, lack the capacity for in-depth research on this matter.
Therefore,
□Establish a national-level Disaster Management Research Institute to study the types of Magical Stones that trigger anomalous Dungeons
□Manage rare Magical Stones through the institute to prevent specific groups from possessing them
Up to this point, it was information I already knew.
□Conduct rapid investigations related to missing persons and verify connection relationships with other worlds
Prevent specific groups from profiting through Magical Stones, and conduct research on the existence of unique skills such as regression and possession to enhance national capabilities.
Regression and possession?
I froze at that section.
I could understand why they called it traces of twisted causality.
So that meant—
“Baek Hee-ryeong knew about the existence of regressors and possessors?”
Baek Hee-ryeong nodded at my question.
“She must have. And perhaps—”
Baek Hee-ryeong furrowed her brow.
“She might have been another protagonist of this world. This world may have kept greedily demanding protagonists. So every time the protagonist changed, causality twisted, and the world created monster-like beings from the traces of that twisted causality. People like me and Choi Woo-jin.”
“…!”
Baek Hee-ryeong spoke words she had pondered for a very long time, watching me frozen in shock.
“And if my suspicion is correct—”
I didn’t know how you would react if you heard this.
She recalled me falling before her.
Beyond the apartment window, she recalled me soaring upward over the streetlights spread like the Milky Way.
At that moment, she thought she would gladly give up this entire world if only she could return you to the ground where she stood.
Baek Hee-ryeong spoke with that thought.
“This world has continuously destroyed itself. Whenever new protagonists appeared, it tormented them in some way.”
But at some point, Baek Hee-ryeong came to understand.
You, that child, my most precious thing,
cannot exist without this world.
Never.
“Seol Ok-gyun is one of those figures who appeared that way too. Definitely. Throughout the six lives I’ve lived, Seol Ok-gyun has never expanded his influence this far.”
My eyes widened at those words.
Six lives meant—
Han Seong-ye’s life that I knew of, the 3rd.
And Choi Woo-jin’s life, the 2nd.
Then the remaining one was….
“The sixth one means—”
“It’s your life after you reawakened.”
“…!”
Then could it be—
“That’s right. I used the traces of twisted causality to awaken you as an Awakened One. Han Su-eop was created because of that. At least, that’s my hypothesis. Whenever someone alters the world’s settings, causality inevitably becomes twisted again. That’s why something called world fractures exists.”
Han Su-eop was created because of me?
Lee Yu-ji’s brow furrowed.
Han Su-eop’s life trajectory matched Han Seong-ye’s remarkably.
That’s why Lee Yu-ji had thought that Han Su-eop was created in the place where the ‘protagonist’ Han Seong-ye disappeared.
As if this world had hastily stitched together a ragged causality.
But it turned out to be the result of using an artifact.
If that were the case, this artifact was an object that caused serious side effects.
“You used it knowing that?”
To Lee Yu-ji’s question, Han Seong-ye spoke uncertainly.
“No. I didn’t know back then.”
“….”
“But even if I had known, nothing would have changed. I searched for the artifact again despite knowing the side effects. There was a researcher involved in the bill draft that Baek Hee-ryeong created. And I used the artifact once more.”
That was my sixth life.
That was Baek Hee-ryeong’s life—no, Han Seong-ye’s life that kept me alive until this very moment.
Lee Yu-ji’s mind grew complicated.
“Why….”
I wanted to ask why she went to such lengths.
But Baek Hee-ryeong easily read the words that remained stuck in my throat.
“Because you wouldn’t stay still. You had no intention of living for yourself alone. You would suffer from your inability to save Seon-i and die—”
Baek Hee-ryeong’s face contorted.
Baek Hee-ryeong reached out her hand toward Lee Yu-ji.
As Baek Hee-ryeong’s fingertips touched the back of my hand, my hand flinched away.
It felt as though I was pushing her away, and Baek Hee-ryeong’s chest ached.
Yet even that brief contact was enough to send a thrill through her entire body—it was that joyful.
“Or you would enter the Hunter Investigation Unit saying you’d become a police officer and die there.”
So what?
Lee Yu-ji became afraid of what lay at the end of this story.
Lee Yu-ji quietly gazed down at Baek Hee-ryeong’s hand extended toward her.
That hand with one finger crushed, yet unaware of the pain.
“I used another trace of twisted causality. Because I hoped you would re-awaken.”
Baek Hee-ryeong spoke matter-of-factly.
“You have a possession skill…?”
Baek Hee-ryeong gazed quietly at Lee Yu-ji.
“I have eyes that can see the world’s settings. Yu-ji. That’s how I know.”
Baek Hee-ryeong slowly withdrew the hand she had extended to Lee Yu-ji back to her side.
“You don’t belong to this world—”
Baek Hee-ryeong saw the letters floating above Lee Yu-ji’s head even at this very moment.
【Possessor of This World】
“You’re from somewhere else.”
Lee Yu-ji’s eyes widened.
Baek Hee-ryeong’s face contorted.
“So there was only one thing I wanted. In this world that keeps falling apart every time—”
Tears finally spilled from Baek Hee-ryeong’s eyes.
“To get you out of here.”

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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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