The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 285

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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 285
“Why… why are you doing this?”
Mother answered my question.
“Because I don’t want you to die.”
“Then what about the other people? The others…”
“If there’s a chance next time, I’ll try to save them.”
At Baek Hee-ryeong’s words, I grimaced.
“Next time? What next time? Me and…”
If only Mother survives, where does the next moment exist?
What would even be there after that?
If this world collapses and only the two of us survive—
‘What could we possibly do?’
All those words circled inside my mouth.
I didn’t know where to even begin.
That’s when it happened.
“…ha.”
A bitter laugh burst from Pee So-won’s lips.
With her split lips and bloodstains on her face, Pee So-won looked up at Lieutenant Cheon.
Every time she did, the gun barrel touched her temple.
“Did you hear what your superior just said?”
Pee So-won asked with an incredulous expression.
But Lieutenant Cheon only stared at Baek Hee-ryeong with a hardened face.
“According to the Abyss Orb, you can only take one person out.”
I understood what Pee So-won was doing.
“Then at least your superior or you should be the one to leave, right? Your superior is the President of South Korea, after all?”
Pee So-won was trying to persuade Lieutenant Cheon.
And I understood why she was doing it.
She wasn’t trying to leave this place herself.
The Abyss Orb—an item that could only take one person out.
If it had to be used, Pee So-won would not choose herself as the one to leave.
Nor would she choose me.
She would send out the weakest and most useless person among all those trapped here.
Because that was the most important principle of an investigator.
But I knew Pee So-won’s persuasion would not work on Lieutenant Cheon.
“Not questioning a superior’s orders is a soldier’s virtue.”
Lieutenant Cheon was someone who had remained silent before everyone’s certain death during the Jeong-an City incident.
Solely because it was the President’s order.
“Don’t you realize you’ll die too if you can’t escape from here?”
Still.
Even so.
I looked at Lieutenant Cheon.
“That’s likely the case.”
Lieutenant Cheon answered without hesitation.
“If we can’t seal this, the Dungeon will expand beyond our capacity to handle it. There will be massive casualties.”
“We’ve already established a perimeter lockdown, according to the report.”
Lieutenant Cheon gestured with his chin toward a watch engraved with a plum blossom pattern, which appeared to connect to the outside of the Dungeon.
Throughout this exchange, the gun barrel aimed at Pee So-won never wavered.
There were no openings.
Damn it.
“…How long do you think that perimeter lockdown will hold?”
I looked at Baek Hee-ryeong.
“If an EX-rank Dungeon expands endlessly, it’ll consume the entire United States. In that scenario, do you really think I’ll be safe just by leaving?”
“Yeah. I think you will.”
Baek Hee-ryeong smiled gently.
She spoke in a low voice.
“You know about the ‘Fragment.’ You can do anything.”
No way.
“You could close the Dungeon, save everyone you want to save, create any world you desire. All of it.”
“…!”
Was she telling me to use the Fragment of twisted causality?
Just like that?
Even though she’d warned me not to use it, said that using it could cause everything to unravel—
Then…
“That’s a lie.”
I glared at Baek Hee-ryeong.
Baek Hee-ryeong studied me quietly before finally speaking.
“Yeah. It’s a lie. When you arrive at Geunjeongjeon Hall, a bunker with a shelter will be waiting for you. An EX-rank bunker—each nation has one. It wouldn’t do for the leaders of each country to die.”
“So you’re planning to lock me away there.”
I was at a loss for words.
She was telling me she’d lock me away so casually, yet she believed I’d naturally follow her orders.
The reason was probably—
“You and the Deputy Director have a strong bond, don’t you? That’s how partners are. Especially a combination of a rookie and a seasoned investigator.”
Baek Hee-ryeong said this while looking at Pee So-won.
Pee So-won, who was once Baek Hee-ryeong’s partner, and who was once a greenhorn.
“You wouldn’t want to lose someone like that.”
That’s how she knew.
How much I wouldn’t want to lose Pee So-won.
“Wow… that’s really impressive.”
I let out a hollow laugh as I looked at Baek Hee-ryeong.
“Someone once asked my mother why she kept working as an investigator. Do you know what her answer was?”
“….”
“‘My daughter wants me to keep being a police officer. She says it’s cool.’ That was it. People are so simple, aren’t they? Sometimes, just by not losing your dignity, life itself becomes magnificent.”
I spoke those words while looking at Baek Hee-ryeong.
Baek Hee-ryeong’s brow furrowed.
“Lee Yu-ji….”
“But now Mother isn’t magnificent anymore. Not in the slightest.”
With that, I turned away.
The streets of New York, covered in pitch-black tentacled monsters, and the jagged skyscrapers jutting upward came into view all at once.
I didn’t hesitate for even a moment.
I had done this many times before.
Most of the time, it was because I no longer wanted to live.
It was because this world no longer held any meaning for me.
But this time was different.
I threw myself down beneath the reinforced steel structure.
“Lee Yu-ji!”
“Lee Yu-ji!”
The voices of Baek Hee-ryeong and Pee So-won echoed out.
But I was already soaring through the void.
I understand the hearts of those who fall.
Even as they rush toward their end, they always yearn.
To never touch the ground.
And so perhaps the act of falling itself was a longing for life.
And right now, I was certain—I had no intention of ending this life.
Your body is my body, my body is my body (EX)
Before my body could touch the black liquid, I activated the skill.

* * *
When I opened my eyes, I saw a dilapidated room.
A cramped space so small that placing just one computer desk filled it completely.
The worn-out mattress beside it seemed to reveal everything about that person’s life.
Someone for whom there existed far more important things than eating and sleeping.
[The protagonist is incredibly strong.]
[The protagonist must stand out the most.]
[Only then does the story become interesting. Only then….]
That person looked at me.
The figure in a shabby t-shirt and pajama pants had nothing where a face should have been—only a pitch-black void.
[The story can continue this way.]
I felt an overwhelming pressure, as though I might be sucked into that void.
My breath caught in my throat.
It was no ordinary void.
If I listened carefully, I could hear screams echoing from within, and if I stared long enough, some distant, hazy memory seemed to surface….
Such a void.
[But what if the story becomes boring? That’s not my fault, is it?]
The void drew closer to me.
I wanted to back away, but I couldn’t.
In an instant, I was seized by that void’s hand—that sticky, black hand.
[That’s the protagonist’s fault.]
As the void approached, something flashed rapidly from within it.
It wasn’t visual information.
It was text.
An old building with a weathered window that creaked every time it opened.
The Hunter Investigation Unit Building, where the stale sweat of investigators permeated every corner, and discarded instant ramen containers jutted out from between documents.
I breathed in the scent of that place with all my might and spoke in a crisp voice.
“Hello! I’m Lee Yu-ji, a newly assigned investigator to the Hunter Investigation Department 5th Team!”
And the moment I bowed my head, a sudden realization struck me like lightning.
I’d heard the term “Hunter Investigation Unit” somewhere before. And it seemed like it was from a novel…?
“Damn it.”
I cursed without thinking.
Countless characters flooded through my mind.
Characters that had written out my life—
Moving incredibly fast.
“What is this.”
This is—
[What do you think? I think a story that starts this way might be interesting too. As for you….]
The pitch-black pupils looked at me and tilted their head curiously.
[Would you like to become the protagonist?]

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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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