The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 60
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
A Civil Servant Who Hides His Strength Is Exceptionally Good at Possession – Episode 060
“What happens if it explodes?”
When I asked, Pee So-won answered simply.
“If the detonator is on top, anyone who opens it dies anyway. I checked that first.”
Now that she mentioned it, all the blast damage on the gift box was indeed from the top.
Choi Woo-jin’s aim was insane, seriously.
Wait, is it even okay to be receiving live ammunition in the office like this?
Ugh, I need to be extra nice to him from now on.
‘That’s terrifying…’
I thought this while staring at the screen.
Then Choi Woo-jin’s fox character pulled down his sunglasses, looked at us, widened his eyes, and smiled.
Our Team Leader Pee really does have a nasty temperament.
It’s not a bomb, so open it carefully.
Well then, bye~
At the same time, the screen went pitch black.
Silence fell among the team members.
In that quiet moment, I was the first to move, approaching the gift box.
“Whoa there. Do you know what’s inside that?”
Byeon Gu-do tried to stop me.
Ma Deok-ho had a similar expression.
But I answered calmly.
“If they intended to blow us all up, they would have just made it detonate immediately. The person who left this here has easy internal access—someone who could place something like this without anyone noticing.”
At my words, Byeon Gu-do and Ma Deok-ho closed their mouths. They understood.
“…He really knows how to talk in these situations…”
Byeon Gu-do muttered.
Then Team Leader Pee moved.
She walked toward the gift box while instructing Ma Deok-ho.
“Get me all the building’s CCTV footage. Thirty minutes before and after from now. And this…”
She frowned while looking down at the interior of the gift box, which was already torn to shreds and hardly needed to be opened.
Soon she reached in and pulled out what was inside.
It was—
Small pills. Several colorful capsule-shaped pills wrapped in a pouch.
“…Call the Appraisal Team.”
The appraisal results came back quickly.
“These are Lamia skin fragments. The capsules wrapping them are items too.”
At the mention of Lamia skin fragments, Pee So-won looked at me. A subtle expression crossed her face.
“What kind of items?”
“When consumed, they burrow directly into the internal organs. And then dissolve inside.”
Han Ji-hyeok, an employee of the Appraisal Team with the Eyes of Appraisal, spoke.
Appraisal Team 1
Han Ji-hyeok
I’ve heard that name before.
This person is the youngest hunter in the Equipment Management Team—the one who kept mentioning the Special Team in the group chat.
He’s been sending me an uncomfortably intense gaze since earlier.
‘Team 5 took complete control of the investigation. The Special Team is definitely being formed!’
Why does it feel like I can hear those thoughts echoing in my ears?
Must be auditory hallucinations.
I can’t fathom why the youngest from the Appraisal Team showed up here in the first place—
‘If I had to guess, since the Equipment Management Team is in complete chaos right now, the youngest might have been the only one who could be dispatched to Team 5 without issues.’
Cha Jeon-hyeok’s interrogation will take place in an hour.
Which means the Equipment Management Team must be in a state of emergency.
A superior being arrested due to internal whistleblowing in a civil service organization—
‘Just imagining it sends chills down my spine.’
Inside, everyone would be scheming to protect their positions, mobilizing every connection to gather information, and engaging in hushed conversations disguised as smoke breaks and coffee runs.
‘The internal messenger must be on fire.’
It was while I was thinking such things.
“So Lamia skin is effective even when processed into internal organs?”
Han Ji-hyeok answered Byeon Gu-do’s question with a sharp, energetic tone.
“That likely depends on the Lamia’s grade. Actually, I learned today for the first time that Lamia skin could be processed into powder form like this. If needed, I can bring an A-grade appraisal kit right away and—”
“No. That won’t be necessary.”
Pee So-won cut off Han Ji-hyeok as if the situation was already fully understood.
Lamia skin that could control people.
And a capsule that dissolves inside the body.
Those two things alone explained everything.
Yeo Hyeong-se’s suspicious death.
If Yeo Hyeong-se had taken this pill twenty-four hours ago, CCTV and dashcams would have been useless. It made sense that there was no trace of the item inside the vehicle.
‘The trace of the item remained deep within Yeo Hyeong-se’s body.’
Had I not read the special side story, I too would have believed Yeo Hyeong-se’s death was simply caused by some external motive—particularly coercion.
Yet no matter how much I investigated Yeo Hyeong-se’s surroundings, no motive emerged that would justify her willingness to die.
Because of that, the special side story concluded this case as—
‘…Yeo Hyeong-se’s suicide note could only be seen as written without any external pressure.’
That was how it had been wrapped up.
Naturally, this conclusion made Kwon Ik-seong’s position even worse, and Cha Jeon-hyeok’s subsequent testimony drove the final nail in the coffin.
But now another possibility had opened up.
‘An involuntary death caused by Lamia skin and a fabricated suicide note.’
At that moment, I quietly presented one more possibility.
“Isn’t Team Leader Cha Jeon-hyeok’s interrogation happening in an hour? Then could Team Leader Cha also possibly…”
At my words, Pee So-won’s eyes sharpened.
“Team Leader Cha Jeon-hyeok?”
“Yes?”
“Cha Jeon-hyeok is a suspect. Watch what you say.”
“Ah. Yes, understood.”
Ever since Pee So-won obtained investigative authority, something about her had definitely changed.
I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why.
Pee So-won asked Han Ji-hyeok a question.
“Is there any way to detect this in a living person?”
Han Ji-hyeok shook his head with a genuinely regretful expression.
Pee So-won wore a contemplative face.
I mentioned the embargo on this matter to Han Ji-hyeok.
“What you saw in the 5th Team Office today cannot be disclosed outside. The same applies to other team members.”
“Of course!”
Han Ji-hyeok spoke with solemn determination, his nostrils even flaring.
…There’s no need to be that serious about it.
He even thrust something at me with a meaningful expression.
“This is special-issue equipment that I brought out. These are special restraints—if you use them to bind a criminal to an investigator, they can’t leave a 1.5-meter radius. Since they’re special-issue, not just anyone can have them, right?”
…I see… so that’s how it is.
But wouldn’t giving me something like this cause problems?
“The team atmosphere has been so gloomy lately. I slipped an approval document in among other paperwork, and it just got auto-approved.”
A clever maneuver indeed.
And probably the reason was—
“Don’t forget about me.”
Han Ji-hyeok pressed a pair of rings—the special restraints—firmly into both my hands, his eyes pleading.
He’d already begun walking the tightrope, sensing the crisis that the team might be disbanded—
‘But I’m the newest member, you know?’
I even turned down the Special Team!
I have a feeling I’ve backed the wrong horse.
Still, I nodded to him with a faint smile, as if I knew something.
“Don’t worry.”
…The team won’t be disbanded.
Probably…?
“Since we don’t know what reckless moves Cha Jeon-hyeok might pull, let’s reset the interrogation room. Youngest of the Appraisal Team?”
That was when.
Pee So-won, having finished her deliberation, gestured to Han Ji-hyeok.
“Let’s help us out.”
“Ah… Yes? Yes!”
Han Ji-hyeok nodded like a loyal Doberman.
* * *
And so, moments later.
Cha Jeon-hyeok’s interrogation room was completed in a manner reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter’s prison cell.
The window was reinforced with powerful magical restraints, and all objects that could serve as sharp weapons were removed. His handcuffs were also rechecked.
Cha Jeon-hyeok’s expression upon seeing this was one of utter disbelief.
“What is this? Am I some serial killer? I’m a hunter with only an Appraisal skill. You know that, and yet you’re really going too far, Pee So-won.”
Even though he had consumed Lamia flesh, its effects had not yet manifested.
The terrifying aspect of mental manipulation through Lamia flesh was that the victim remained unaware they were being controlled.
And above all, right now Cha Jeon-hyeok—
‘didn’t know what was revealed in Yeo Hyeong-se’s suicide note.’
So his current strategy was this.
“…My wife is a bit unwell. So I just did what Park Seung-su told me to do. He said he’d give me some points… Yeah. I made a mistake. I know that. But I didn’t think it would lead to something like this. Who could have known that bastard had a bomb?”
Playing the victim while—
“Team Leader Pee So-won. Or rather, So-won. You know our wife well too.”
Appealing to emotion.
A face filled with sincerity.
Cha Jeon-hyeok’s eyes glistening with tears.
I watched as Pee So-won’s lips trembled as she gazed at his face.
‘This feels ominous…?’
And predictably, her next action was—
Crash!
Pee So-won immediately kicked over the desk.
“Ugh!”
The moment Cha Jeon-hyeok was struck by the desk against his ribs and fell, Pee So-won vaulted over the overturned desk and pressed a revolver—already emptied of all magical bullets—against his temple as she spoke.
“Your wife? Yeah, I know her well. Director Kang Min-yeong of the Hunter Management Office who bought us meals and asked us to protect the nation. And you’re going to tarnish Director’s name with behavior like that? Hey, you bastard. Just die here, leave no skin or name behind, and don’t even qualify for recycling—just burn as regular trash.”
…I knew this would happen.
Pee So-won had completely exploded.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————