The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 27

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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 027

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“Hey, rookie. Remember that favor I asked you for yesterday? That thing…”
“Yes! I just sent it, the CCTV footage!”
“Oh? Um… thanks…”
Pee So-won sighed quietly as she listened to Lee Yu-ji and Byeon Gu-do’s conversation.
Ever since Captain Hong left, Lee Yu-ji had been like this the whole time.
How should I put it…
“Senior, how about that Chinese restaurant next door for lunch today?”
“Sounds good. I’ll have the spicy seafood noodle soup.”
Pee So-won watched Lee Yu-ji approaching with an invisible tail wagging furiously, utterly dumbfounded.
“What will you have, Team Leader?”
Look at him, all excited like that.
The bruises on Lee Yu-ji’s nose and lips were still vivid and clear.
She deliberately didn’t get treatment at the medical office?
When Pee So-won told her to get treatment beforehand, she only then realized she hadn’t thought of it and laughed sheepishly.
Pee So-won was the first to see the footage of Lee Yu-ji being brutally attacked by Lamia at the illegal fighting arena.
Other hunters would let out horrific screams just from touching the cage, but Lee Yu-ji endured ten full minutes of torture being pressed against the cage wall and seared by Lamia’s tail without letting out a single scream.
Even as blood burst from her nose and mouth, she merely gripped Lamia’s venomous tail barb and waited for her opportunity.
‘Crazy bastard.’
The words escaped Pee So-won’s lips involuntarily as she watched.
‘A mad dog has joined Team 5.’
Pee So-won recalled something someone had said while she looked at herself, covered in mud from rolling around with the criminal during their joint operation.
…Did that person look at me the same way?
Pee So-won briefly entertained that thought before answering curtly.
“Why are we taking lunch orders at 10 in the morning?”
“Hehe, is that so? I guess it’s because our rookie is someone we can be proud of no matter where we show her off…”
Watching Lee Yu-ji scratch the back of her head as if embarrassed, Pee So-won’s brow furrowed.
It wasn’t the three hundred million—it was that word “our” that got to her?
“That word ‘our’…”
“I know. You’re just saying it as a formality. After all, we’re one team. Team 5.”
Lee Yu-ji pointed at the whiteboard with a tone that suggested she hadn’t understood at all that it was just a formality.
“I even raised our performance. Of course, that…”
Seeing Pee So-won’s cold gaze, Lee Yu-ji spoke in a dejected voice.
“…doesn’t sit well with you.”
Byeon Gu-do, sensing the air between Pee So-won and Lee Yu-ji suddenly turn frigid, interjected.
“Come on. Still, thanks to our rookie, Team 5’s allowance increased, and well, the case allocation did go up too, but compared to Team 1, they’re pretty minor cases. Nothing like the Funny Powder incident.”
“The Funny Powder incident? What about it?”
Lee Yu-ji asked, and Byeon Gu-do answered.
“Getting mixed up with Funny Powder is a headache. The kids who mess with that stuff have eyes that are completely unhinged. They go completely insane and there’s no telling what kind of trouble they’ll cause.”
Ah.
I recalled Kang Il-yeon’s state when she’d fallen into an uncontrollable condition due to the illegal dungeon’s byproducts, and I understood.
I also found myself remembering what Funny Powder had been like in the original work.
In the meantime, Pee So-won stood up from her seat and spoke.
“Lee Yu-ji, you’re benched from cases for a while. For now, you’re just feeding Ruru.”
“Excuse me?”
“…?”
After the bewildered Lee Yu-ji, the next person to show confusion was Ma Deok-ho.
The MZ-generation investigator who’s always staring at cat photos.
I knew he enjoyed going to the kennel, so I was about to yield to him.
Besides—
‘I want to be cool too! I want to slap handcuffs on people! I want to do stuff like that!’
I had desires.
“With a face like that, how are you going anywhere? You’re staying cooped up in the office until that face heals completely.”
But Pee So-won was firm.

* * *
And so, once again—
“Senior Ruru…. Hello?”
Around the time lunch was ending.
I stood in front of the kennel.
Pee So-won, Byeon Gu-do, and I had eaten jjajangmyeon and jjamppong, and Ma Deok-ho, the MZ investigator, had gone out saying he’d grab a salad.
‘Ugh, I really….’
I’m envious.
I want to have that kind of boldness too.
Even as I think such things, I’m a coward who faithfully follows Pee So-won’s orders and comes to feed Ruru.
I need to be obedient for a while at least. I’ve got 300 million won now after all….
‘Hehe… I need to pay off my apartment loan.’
I’m thrilled. Money that came about legally, no less.
Then a window appeared before my eyes.
Ruru’s favorability has increased by 10!
How did she know I brought sundae specially….
I faithfully pulled Ruru out of the kennel and lavished affection on her, petting her chin and belly enthusiastically.
‘You’re the only one at the Heonsu Department who loves me like this.’
Of course, it’s conditional love, given that I can feel her sneakily snatching the sundae from my pocket.
“Well, well. So you’re the famous new recruit from Team 5?”
Then, a voice called out from behind me.
I turned around to see a new security guard greeting me. I received his greeting while keeping my face turned toward Ruru.
“Ah, ye… hello… uh… sir….”
“Taekwondo! I did a bit of taekwondo when I was younger too, and wow… it’s impressive, right? I’ve watched those videos of yours.”
Videos?
“But both of you are from Team 5, so it seems you ate separately?”
“Pardon? Both of us?”
As I asked back, the Security Guard gestured with his chin toward the flower bed beside the fence that ran around the kennel.
There I could see the back of a man crouching down. A headset was wrapped around his neck.
I could tell who it was.
‘He’d probably hate it if I pretended to recognize him….’
However, the newly arrived Security Guard seemed rather lacking in social awareness.
“Over here! We have another Team 5 member!”
As the Security Guard called out, Ma Deok-ho turned his head sharply to look at me.
Surprisingly, his expression was quite gentle.
A pleasant look I was seeing for the first time.
“Woof! Woof woof!”
Ruru bounded toward him.
Then, as if familiar with him, Ruru was about to flip over on his belly in front of Ma Deok-ho when he noticed something and sniffed at it.
Though I wasn’t keen on it, I followed Senior Ruru and approached Ma Deok-ho’s side. Otherwise, the Security Guard seemed like he’d keep talking.
“Kittens?”
In front of Ma Deok-ho, four kittens were curled up sleeping in the flower bed. They were sleeping with their faces rubbing against each other’s backs and rear ends, as if….
“Like donuts….”
I found myself drawn into the sight without realizing it.
That was when it happened.
“Bagels.”
Ma Deok-ho said in a quiet voice.
“…Pardon?”
“They look like bagels.”
Wow. This is the first time I’ve heard him speak in complete sentences like this.
“I don’t see much difference between the two…”
“Bagels are a bit rounder and fluffier….”
“Ah, I see….”
I decided to pretend to accept it. Since lunch break would be ending soon, I could just get up from here, say I was going to the restroom, and head back inside….
It was while I was thinking that.
Ma Deok-ho suddenly pulled something out of his pocket and held it out to me.
It looked like bruise cream from a pharmacy and a bandage with a cat drawn on it.
Could it be…. He bought this while going out for salad?
“Team Leader Pee worries about his team members getting hurt.”
Then he said something unexpected.
“He worries?”
Worries. Not dislikes.
Isn’t that an odd way to phrase it?
“Back when Captain Hong was Team 1’s Team Leader, while conducting a joint investigation with Team 1, Team Leader Pee’s partner died.”
“…!”
I felt like I’d just stumbled upon some massive secret.
“They built up impressive results, so Captain Hong, Equipment Manager Cha Jeon-hyeok, and Team Leader Pee all got promoted back then….”
Ma Deok-ho glanced at my lips and bridge of my nose before speaking.
“…Results aren’t everything, though.”
Results aren’t everything.
That statement hit me in a strangely profound way.
I’d been risking my life working, but to Team Leader Pee So-won, I hadn’t been a nuisance—
‘I’d been frightening.’
I was sitting there dazed, as if I’d been struck from behind, when Ma Deok-ho muttered something.
“Yeah, I wonder where Blackie went?”
While stroking a kitten, Ma Deok-ho continued muttering.
What is this?
“Are you… having a conversation?”
“Yes.”
Try having a conversation like that with people for once.
I was watching, thinking this was someone who preferred animals to people, when Ma Deok-ho muttered while looking at a cat that had been sleeping peacefully.
“Ah, no good. If you keep throwing up, that’s not healthy.”
The moment he finished speaking, the cat opened its eyes and immediately began retching up what it had eaten into the flower bed.
‘…Wait? That’s not conversation—it’s like he’s reading their minds…?’
As I looked at Ma Deok-ho’s profile with that thought, he seemed to sense my gaze and answered.
“Animal Communicator.”
“Pardon?”
“My skill is communicating with animals.”
In that moment.
A chill ran down my spine as I recalled my past self possessing Ruru.
So this guy, could he possibly—
Ma Deok-ho, patting the back of the cat that had finished retching, spoke without even looking at me or changing his expression.
“But why did you lie when we caught that terrorist? I’ve always been curious about that.”
Damn it.

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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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