The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 269

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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 269

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Thus began our luxurious captivity.
We had free access to the minibar and room service.
Of course, we couldn’t receive the room service directly ourselves—Ocean and Johnny handled that for us.
Pee So-won spoke while raiding the minibar for alcohol.
“Don’t drink any of that.”
“…As if I would.”
I wasn’t about to give her another chance to catch me off guard during late-night study sessions.
Pee So-won chuckled and picked up a bottle of whiskey, speaking casually.
“Are you doing better now?”
“…”
So many people checking in on how I’m doing.
“Yes, well…”
“You seem like you’re pretending to be fine when you’re really not.”
“That’s not quite the case.”
Pee So-won clicked her tongue and stood up from her seat.
She pressed her finger firmly against my forehead as she spoke.
“Kwon Ik-seong is someone whose thoughts are completely unreadable, but you… you’re subtly unreadable too.”
Which was worse, I wondered.
“Still, people often find that if you keep pretending to be fine, you actually become fine. So if that’s what you want to do, go ahead.”
It was just as Pee So-won said this.
Someone knocked on my door.
“Yes?”
It was Ocean.
“Team Leader Pee’s room has been cleaned. You may rest now.”
“Cleaned” wasn’t referring to actual physical cleaning.
‘It must mean using items to detect other items and setting up protective measures for us.’
“Okay~”
Pee So-won answered casually and left the room, speaking to me as she went.
“Get some rest. Really.”
“…Yes.”
As I nodded, Ocean entered the room.
“This room also needs to be ‘cleaned.'”
“Ah. Yes.”
I was about to stand up from the sofa when Ocean spoke to me.
Ocean asked me a question.
“Are you Investigator Kwon Ik-seong’s lover?”
“…?”
He just barges in like this.
And what’s this about a girlfriend?
“Ah, ah, no, that’s not it?”
“Yes.”
Ocean paused for a moment in thought, then nodded.
Similar to Kwon Ik-seong, but like an AI with a bit more emotional depth, I’d say.
But the fact that he’d guessed the relationship between me and Kwon Ik-seong—
“Could it be that you possess an ability similar to Team Leader Kwon’s?”
‘Inference’.
So that’s Ocean’s ability.
At my words, Ocean stared at me for a moment.
“Ah, asking about a Hunter’s skill is impolite. I apologize….”
“It could be said to be similar or completely different. Investigator Kwon Ik-seong comprehensively judges all information, while I can perceive others’ emotions. Through colors or smells, for instance.”
Colors? Smells?
I furrowed my brow.
“So it’s a mental-type ability, then.”
“If I had to classify it, yes.”
Ocean stared at me once more.
“Are you displeased?”
“Pardon?”
“Because I said I could perceive Investigator Lee Yu-ji’s emotions.”
“Oh, no. I hadn’t thought that far. It’s just….”
I rolled my eyes.
So there’s no point in lying here, is there?
‘Then—’
“I was thinking how similar you two are. You’ve both had it rough. Being able to quickly sense others’ emotions and states—it doesn’t seem to be as good as one might think.”
Might as well be honest.
At my words, Ocean’s expression became subtle.
I laughed awkwardly at that and spoke.
“A lie detector test… did I pass?”
At that, Ocean let out a soft laugh.
Oh. So the humanoid does use facial muscles.
“I don’t directly detect lies. People’s psychological states differ when they lie. Some feel fear, some feel tension, but others feel pleasure.”
“Pleasure?”
“Because some people feel joy in deceiving others.”
“What kind of person would…”
“Like my father.”
“…So he exists….”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Then Ocean let out another soft laugh.
“Investigator Lee Yu-ji certainly has quite varied emotions.”
“Haha. Is that so? Then what about other people’s emotions…?”
“Investigator Pee So-won’s emotions are rather pale in color, and Investigator Kwon Ik-seong’s are…”
Almost nonexistent.
That’s what I was thinking.
“Simple.”
“Simple?”
That was an unexpected answer.
Kwon Ik-seong has so many thoughts.
As if reading my mind, Ocean spoke.
Ah, more precisely, he read my emotion.
The emotion of bewilderment.
“We don’t lack emotions. We’ve simply developed in a way that doesn’t express them well.”
“Why…?”
“Because other people dislike it.”
My body stiffened at Ocean’s words.
Sometime ago… Kwon Ik-seong said something similar.
“People dislike those who read their minds. They find it unpleasant. And we…”
Ocean’s eyes grew clouded.
I could see the color of his emotion as well.
A murky, deep crimson.
“We can even perceive such emotions.”
I realized something from those words.
Could it be—
“You said Team Leader Kwon’s emotions are simple, right?”
“Yes.”
“So Team Leader Kwon’s emotions are self-hatred?”
“…”
The AI’s answer was—
“Yes.”
Correct.
So that righteous man had been living every moment hating himself.
“And when he makes contact with Investigator Lee Yu-ji, that emotion intensifies.”
“What? Why?”
“Because he has affection for Investigator Lee Yu-ji.”
Affection?
What does having affection have to do with self-hatred?
“The more a person desires to receive affection from someone they care for, the more they scrutinize themselves, don’t they? Whether they are worthy of receiving that affection.”
“…!”
I recalled the gentle touch of Kwon Ik-seong’s hand holding mine.
Every time that happened, I found Kwon Ik-seong’s expression unreadable.
His face contradicted the affection brimming in his eyes—why did his words and actions move in the opposite direction?
But Kwon Ik-seong examined himself every time he drew closer to me, and as a result, he grew to hate himself even more.
That Kwon Ik-seong had—
“…a human side to him.”
“…Is that where your conclusion leads?”
“Yes. He’s quite human, actually.”
Maybe even a little cute?
His heart and actions pulling in different directions.
The rigid, stoic favorite I’d admired seemed to leap off the page.
And in an unexpectedly endearing way, at that.
My heart began to race again.
Different from the first time I saw Kwon Ik-seong.
But at the same time, an uncomfortable feeling lingered.
“Why are you telling me this? Is it because you hate Team Leader Kwon and want to throw ash on his personal relationships…?”
“That’s not it.”
Ocean sighed as he met my suspicious gaze.
People always looked at me that way sometimes.
As if I were hopeless.
Like an uncontrollable large dog!
“I carry some guilt toward Kwon Ik-seong. It would be better for you to hear the reason from him directly. If I tell you, it would be disrespectful to him. But what’s certain is—”
Kwon Ik-seong.
A very subtle choice of words.
I couldn’t tell if it was because of the translator Ocean was using or if Ocean actually spoke that way.
Besides, in the United States, people call their brothers by their names too.
But what was certain was that the form of address had changed slightly.
Ocean looked directly at me and spoke.
“I know that Kwon Ik-seong likes you, and I’ve come to understand that this has become a destructive force for him.”
A destructive force.
That phrase made me tense slightly.
“But do you have such feelings for Kwon Ik-seong as well? Investigator Lee Yu-ji….”
Ocean tilted his head.
“You’re someone whose emotions are so varied that you don’t even understand your own feelings.”

* * *
The next morning.
Kwon Ik-seong woke at six o’clock, as he always did.
It was the result of adjusting his body to Eastern United States time.
He hastily arranged his bedding and checked his physical condition.
Nothing seemed amiss.
He checked the room’s state as well.
Nothing seemed amiss.
Everything was normal.
With that thought, he rose from the bed, but someone opened his door without knocking, sliding it open with a soft creak.
It was Lee Yu-ji, beaming with a radiant smile.
“…?”
“You wake up at six, just like they said! It’s really true?”
“Ah. Yes.”
But why was she here….
“Let’s go on a coffee date!”
Lee Yu-ji clutched a cross necklace in her hand and shook it gently, whispering softly.
“Let’s escape together without telling anyone.”
Into Kwon Ik-seong’s otherwise unremarkable day, something extraordinarily strange had just occurred.

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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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