The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 40

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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 040
And so Pee So-won was driving an electric vehicle down the national highway.
The gamer, who knew the weakest point in the vehicle checkpoint line, drove toward it, and whenever police cars or investigator vehicles gave chase, Pee So-won handled them herself.
Bang!
Whoooosh—
Screeeech—
She knew that one bullet meant a hundred pages of incident reports.
Captain Hong, who belatedly realized the situation, was calling frantically, but she ignored him, while Byeon Gu-do and Ma Deok-ho provided cover for her.
[The distance is closing.]
[In 28 minutes, we’re planning to shoot it down with a drone. These crazy bastards.]
All three shared a single resolve.
Save him.
Team 5’s youngest member.
That clumsy kid who saved all of Team 5 from a catastrophic explosion on his first day of work.
[Isn’t this… not very investigator-like of us?]
Ma Deok-ho spoke with uncharacteristic sentiment. Byeon Gu-do chuckled and replied.
[When have we ever been investigator-like?]
[…You’re right.]
Quick acceptance.
As Bus 316 drew closer, Pee So-won moved to the driver’s seat and brought the vehicle to a halt herself.
Screeeech—
Unlike the smooth autonomous driving, the aggressive handling made the tires shriek.
Pee So-won didn’t particularly care, slinging spent cartridges over her shoulder as she exited from the passenger seat with a rifle in hand.
“The people in there are already dead anyway. So just come out.”
She looked at Lee Yu-ji inside Bus 316 through the rifle sight.
That vacant expression.
Han Su-eop.
Even though this face was completely different from her previous partner, she inexplicably found herself thinking of Han Su-eop in that moment.
‘Partner.’
The moment Han Su-eop had called her that.
And then she shifted her aim through the sight’s reticle toward the front door of the speeding vehicle.
Just before holding her breath, Lee Yu-ji’s voice came through.
[Team Leader. Whatever you’re about to do, this doesn’t seem right! I’m passing through at 100 kilometers per hour right now!]
Pee So-won answered with an expressionless face.
“Partner.”
[Pardon?]
“Call me partner in times like this.”
She held her breath and fired at the front door of Bus 316 speeding toward her at 100 kilometers per hour.
Bang!
With the familiar sound of gunfire, the door panel of Bus 316 flew off.

* * *
A single gunshot sent the door flying clean off.
Not a single shard of glass came through the opening.
She’d hit the latch mechanism perfectly.
The ejected side door slammed into the guardrail.
‘Wow. So that’s how you do it.’
She’d shot the door off a vehicle traveling at 100 kilometers per hour with a handgun.
Feeling the wind rush in from the side, I gasped in disbelief.
‘Is she even human?’
Without a single change in expression, Pee So-won kicked open the passenger door of the electric vehicle in the distance.
It was remarkable enough that she shot the bus’s front door clean off, but kicking open an electric vehicle’s door was equally impressive.
Everything about this is insane!
This crazy woman!
[Jump out. I’ll catch you. After that, just drive this vehicle as far from the explosion point as possible.]
Her thinking is absolutely unhinged!
[…Is this being done with the Higher-ups’ authorization?]
Kwon Ik-seong spoke in a heavy voice, finally grasping the situation. Pee So-won scoffed in response.
[The Higher-ups? Those bastards plan to shoot this bus down with a drone to stop it. Why would I ask permission from those insane fools? Those monkey-brained idiots are beyond reasoning.]
[This is far too dangerous.]
[What? You got a better idea? Should I just let Lee Yu-ji get torn to shreds down there too? Either way, we’re all dead. At least I need to save Lee Yu-ji.]
I agree completely.
The Gamer’s text appeared on the bus’s display screen.
It became clear that the Gamer was involved in all of this.
But why is the Gamer trying to save me?
This wasn’t the kind of choice that existed in the original story.
[If Investigator Lee Yu-ji doesn’t survive, the Heonsu Department’s reputation will be damaged, won’t it?]
Then the Gamer spoke.
Only then did I realize why I was included in Choi Woo-jin’s—the Gamer’s—plan.
Choi Woo-jin suspected to some degree that this terrorist attack was orchestrated at the Hunter Association level.
After the scheme to dismantle the Heonsu Department through parliamentary hearings failed, if this bus attack resulted in massive civilian casualties, public opinion toward the Heonsu Department would turn negative.
But currently, the Heonsu Department still held ‘value’ for Choi Woo-jin.
So to save such a Heonsu Department, someone needed to be a ‘hero.’
For instance, it had always been the capable hunter Kwon Ik-seong who prevented crises at the Heonsu Department.
This incident too required a hero.
“I’m suddenly curious about something. Was it you who leaked the CCTV footage during the Team 5 terrorist attack…?”
When I asked, the display screen went silent.
Then small text appeared.
Maybe?
…So it was you.
I realized when Choi Woo-jin had started perceiving me as nothing more than a tool.
The moment I stopped the terrorist attack.
From that point on, Choi Woo-jin had already recognized me for what I was.
And in this incident, he’s trying to keep Lee Yu-ji alive—the “hero” who desperately fought the criminal and won.
‘And to do that, Choi Woo-jin has already secured the CCTV evidence.’
Ugh! Living quietly as a nameless extra is really exhausting!
[If you have time to chat, shut your mouth and get out here now, Lee Yu-ji.]
Just then, Pee So-won urged me on.
Bus 316 was already about to pass Pee So-won’s vehicle.
Pee So-won got into her car and pulled up right behind Bus 316.
She was telling me to throw myself through the open side door.
[Get out before I just shoot you, seriously!]
Along with words fitting for a psychopath, Pee So-won aimed at me as if she meant it.
Terrifying, really!
But Kwon Ik-seong seemed to have different thoughts.
[If the bomb’s radius is 5 kilometers, Bus 316 already has the Majeongseok Power Plant within range. Even if we escape the bomb’s radius, if the Majeongseok Power Plant triggers a chain explosion, we can’t escape that.]
That’s a smart point.
And besides, I’ll be shot if I don’t complete the Quest, right?
Wait, now that I think about it, why shooting? Shouldn’t it be explosion?
During the Team 5 terrorist incident, the penalty was definitely explosion.
The Gamer countered Kwon Ik-seong’s words.
[I put some heavy-duty armor in that car. It’s exactly for two people. It should be able to withstand quite a bit.]
[And “quite a bit” means precisely how much?]
Kwon Ik-seong’s tone sharpened.
[Captain Pee So-won. We cannot trust the words of a criminal. Rather, please wait just a bit longer. I will go myself.]
Huh?
I furrowed my brow at those words.
“How are you planning to get here?”
[I’ll request a helicopter and go with a bomb disposal expert. As someone who can use the ‘Eye of Emotion’ skill.]
At Kwon Ik-seong’s words, Pee So-won let out a hollow laugh.
[Like the higher-ups would ever approve that. Helicopter flight authorization, and a D-Rank or higher Hunter from the Equipment Management Team. You’re just trying to escalate this situation. And you’re the type to wait endlessly for it.]
[….]
Kwon Ik-seong had no response.
But I just gazed at the Majeongseok Power Plant drawing steadily closer, regardless.
‘There seem to be too many people watching for me to execute my plan as intended….’
Well, what can I do?
I can’t die like this.
Besides—
“Min-jeong! I missed you! Why are you only coming to find Dad now…. Hahahaha!”
“Mom! I told you I’d definitely get the scholarship to study in Germany after winning first place in the competition! Look! I kept my promise, didn’t I?”
I exhaled deeply, feeling the cheerful laughter of civilians echoing from behind me.
There were far too many civilians aboard this bus.
With that thought, I glanced toward Pee So-won.
Her eyes blazed with a message: either get off, or I’ll shoot you dead myself.
“Partner.”
[What?]
“You told me to call you partner….”
I spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Since we’re partners, please trust me just this once. Let me handle it.”
[Handle what?]
“Bomb defusal.”
Before Pee So-won could respond, I secured the steering wheel with my shoelaces once more, then approached the unconscious Seo Gil-su.
Beneath Seo Gil-su’s loosened collar lay a bomb vest.
An incredibly complex network of wires wrapped around his vest in countless configurations.
All the same black color.
Visually, there was no way to distinguish them.
Even with Kwon Ik-seong’s Focus skill, I couldn’t detect anything by scent or sensation.
Only the ‘Eye of Emotion’—a Crafting-class Hunter’s skill—could differentiate them.
Which wire to cut to defuse the bomb.
And I—
I activated the skill.
‘Eye of Emotion.’
I possessed that skill.
All thanks to that cigarette-smoking man who kidnapped Ma Deok-ho’s cat!

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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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