The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 52

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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 052

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“May I ask what led you to that conclusion?”
At Lee Yu-ji’s question, Kwon Ik-seong hesitated for a moment.
[To like someone. That’s how people usually say it… so it’s fine to say it that way.]
That sentence was the first thing that came to mind in response to her question, but personally, something else bothered me more.
[I don’t want Investigator Lee Yu-ji to die.]
[I wish she had lived.]
I wish she had lived.
Why had he reacted to such a simple answer when asked why he helped Lee Yu-ji?
He knew the answer.
Because he felt the same way.
Because he didn’t want Investigator Lee Yu-ji to die, and he wished she had lived.
People call Kwon Ik-seong a good person.
But he didn’t evaluate himself that way.
And the few people who knew him very well didn’t call him a good person either.
‘You’re not good—you’re righteous. There’s an enormous gap between the two.’
That’s what Pee So-won had said after going through this incident.
‘Is there anything you care about besides implementing justice? What benefit do you gain from saving Lee Yu-ji? Doesn’t it help society’s justice in any way at all?’
Pee So-won spoke as though she was very dissatisfied with Kwon Ik-seong for dispatching the helicopter, even though she herself had risked her life to save Lee Yu-ji.
And the reason was—
‘Don’t you dare lay a finger on our maknae.’
‘….’
‘It won’t work trying to poach her to your team. She’s my partner.’
She was afraid Lee Yu-ji would be taken from her.
Absurdly enough.
‘I’ve never thought such a thing.’
‘…Then why did you go to such lengths?’
Kwon Ik-seong couldn’t answer the follow-up question.
Recalling his conversation with Pee So-won, Kwon Ik-seong gazed at Lee Yu-ji, who sat there like a frightened large dog.
A large dog.
Every time Kwon Ik-seong saw Lee Yu-ji, he thought of something like a retriever.
Though Lee Yu-ji wasn’t particularly large, she seemed distant from small dogs for some reason.
Despite possessing tremendous skill, she didn’t step forward—resembling a large dog that knows its own size and remains still even when a small dog snaps at it.
The way her expressions showed easily on her face.
The way she liked people.
The way she rushed forward faster than anyone when danger struck.
Perhaps that was why.
When dealing with her, unlike with others… my heart grows weak.
“I have some information I’ve gathered.”
“What is it….”
Watching her fidget, I felt as though an imaginary tail drooped behind me.
But I couldn’t afford to let my resolve weaken any further.
With that thought, I pressed forward with my questioning.
“Has there been any man approaching you recently, even if not a romantic partner?”
“Team Leader Kwon…?”
Lee Yu-ji pointed at me with wide, innocent eyes.
I almost smiled again but caught myself, suppressing it as I spoke.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a woman. Even a friend you’ve become close to recently would suffice. If anyone has grown closer to you since joining the Heonsu Department, they’re worth suspecting.”
“There’s no one like that. Well… Ji Won-gil exists, but we don’t contact each other that frequently.”
“Then who is the person you meet most often?”
“Uh… well….”
The person I meet most often?
Lee Yu-ji paused briefly before speaking.
“Team Leader Pee So-won?”
At Lee Yu-ji’s answer, Kwon Ik-seong’s expression twisted slightly.
Why, why.
I said women were fine too.
“…I meant someone you don’t meet out of work obligation.”
“…There’s no one.”
“A friend—”
“There’s no one.”
“Family—”
“My parents have both passed away, and I have a younger brother who lives near his school. I haven’t seen him in several months.”
“….”
Kwon Ik-seong’s expression twisted a bit more.
“Do you really not have a single friend?”
At words that stung for some reason, Lee Yu-ji’s face transformed like an angry puppy’s.
As I always think—her expressions are truly transparent.
“Why… do I absolutely have to have friends? I do just fine on my own! And how many friends do you have, Team Leader?”
“….”
Silence descended upon the interrogation room.
Kwon Ik-seong asked with an expression of resignation.
“Then why did you board Bus 316?”
This question came later than I expected.
This question.
Lee Yu-ji delivered her prepared answer.
She had prepared an answer for this question from the start.
“My parents’ columbarium is near there. I wanted to stop by briefly at dawn.”
I naturally checked the Bus 316 route map as well.
And I confirmed that my parents’ columbarium was located along the bus’s path.
It wasn’t a route I normally took when visiting the columbarium, but that didn’t matter.
“In the early morning… you say?”
The follow-up question was one I’d anticipated.
“I haven’t been able to go even once since joining the Heonsu Department. I wanted to show my parents that I’d become a police officer. Well, a Heonsu Department investigator isn’t exactly a police officer, but it’s similar enough….”
Since I’d deliberately stopped by the columbarium on the way, my alibi was airtight.
It wasn’t likely anyone would suspect me that much, but it was necessary to be thorough.
Because people like Choi Woo-jin, or the Gamer, or this original protagonist, could be unnecessarily persistent.
Anyway, the original protagonist has taken an “interest” in her.
That the interest was romantic in nature was purely Team Leader Kwon Ik-seong’s misunderstanding, but the mere fact that Choi Woo-jin—a regressor—had taken interest in her made my nerves stand on edge.
If that regressor Choi Woo-jin happened to notice her “skill”—
‘That madman would probably light up like a beacon trying to use me.’
As her thoughts grew complicated with that realization, Kwon Ik-seong, seeing her expression, seemed to interpret it differently and spoke.
“Did your parents wish for Investigator Lee Yu-ji to become a police officer?”
“Well… not exactly. They just wanted me to do what I wanted to do.”
What I’d wanted to do back then was taekwondo—a fact I swallowed back down.
“But both of them were police officers. I did mention once that if I ever quit training, I might become a police officer or something like that. So it was just….”
There had been times when I really wanted to quit training.
“They must be proud.”
That was when Kwon Ik-seong suddenly fixed his gaze on her and spoke.
“There’s no reason they wouldn’t be proud.”
“….”
“You’ve grown so well.”
Looking into Kwon Ik-seong’s quiet, composed eyes as he gazed at her, Lee Yu-ji found herself holding her breath without realizing it.
“Investigator Lee Yu-ji is a good person. Better than any of us.”
A tingling sensation spread through her fingertips.
How to describe it….
It was somehow different from the feeling of watching a favorite character in a novel.
“You once told me that I must trust others. I don’t agree with that. But Investigator Lee Yu-ji. You are someone who must save others.”
She felt the area beneath her eyes grow hot without realizing it.
The sincerity of a person made of bone and flesh and blood, not mere letters on a page.
In the moment his words pierced through her ears, she felt an emotion similar to pride wash over her.
But it was something slightly more than just pride….
Slightly more….
“…Would they really be proud of me? Really….”
Lee Yu-ji spoke in a trembling voice.
This emotion was too intense.
Without realizing it, she lowered her head.
A tear fell onto her knee with a soft sound.
“I wish that were the case.”

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And a few days later.
Cha Jeon-hyeok, the Equipment Management Team leader, began undergoing investigation at the Heonsu Department as a suspect.
I had worried that the National Assembly or media would tear into the internal corruption of the Heonsu Department, but somehow this matter was quietly buried and forgotten.
‘Of course. The Great Empire Guild and Hunter Association must have pulled strings.’
However, as the AC Company representative’s misconduct was sensationalized in the news, public opinion regarding Ham I-na, who had nearly been socially ruined, reversed course.
Comments
-So the items were defective from the start? Shouldn’t all delivery companies undergo a full investigation?
└Manufacturing-affiliated hunters always profit off national supply contracts. It’s a persistent problem.
While I found the rapidly shifting public opinion somewhat absurd, there was something far more important.
Delivery Company Open Bidding
An open bidding announcement posted on the official Heonsu Department website!
I pointed at that post and told Kang Il-yeon.
“This! We’re doing this!”
Hadn’t I invested so much money into Kang Il-yeon all this time precisely for this moment?
My precious 1 billion won!
All of it went here.
【Sunshine and Moonlight Workshop】.
Looking at Kang Il-yeon’s workshop, packed with all manner of experimental specimens, I clenched my fists tightly.
I had contracted this workshop and even registered it as a business using my own money!
And that wasn’t all. I had procured every single material that could be legally obtained to satisfy all of Kang Il-yeon’s experimental aspirations!
‘This time, I’ll finally reap what I’ve sown!’
“Me? Why?”
Of course, Kang Il-yeon’s expression wasn’t particularly pleased.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to buy materials for your next experiment? Wasn’t it worth 100 million won?”
But the power of money was magnificent.
“…I’ll do 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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