The Civil Servant Who Conceals Her Power Is Too Good at Possession Chapter 1

Silence hung heavy in the interrogation room. Kwon Ikseong set the documents down.

 

Even that small sound made Lee Yuji flinch, her shoulders tensing as she kept a cautious eye on him. 

 

Kwon Ikseong’s hardened expression showed no sign of softening, even as he looked at the servile smile plastered across Lee Yuji’s face.  

 

“…So, are you saying that Investigator Lee Yuji solved all of these cases through possession?” 

 

“W-What are you talking about? Ah, it’s almost lunchtime! I’m in charge of meals for our team, so… I don’t know if you know this, but our team doesn’t have a meal budget, so we always play go-stop to scrape together money…”

 

Lee Yuji tried to escape the situation with some awkward acting, but her body froze at the words that tumbled out of Kwon Ikseong’s mouth the next moment. 

 

“The illegal underground fighting ring case in Cheonho-dong.”

 

Kwon Ik-seong read down the lines written in the documents with indifferent eyes. 

 

“The Geumho-dong weapons smuggling investigation.”

 

“….”

 

“The bus terror incident in the city center.”

 

“….”

 

“And even the bomb disposal inside the Hunter Investigation Bureau building.” 

 

“Excuse me! I wasn’t the one who disposed of that!”

 

Lee Yuji straightened the shoulders she’d been hunching and spoke boldly.

 

However, Kwon Ikseong’s response was simple.

 

“Yes. You only found it. I’ll correct myself. Bomb discovery.”

 

There was absolutely no way out.

 

Realizing that fact, dark clouds gathered over Lee Yuji’s face.

 

Looking at her dejected expression, Kwon Ikseong was reminded of a Golden Retriever with its tail and ears drooping. 

 

…He’d thought she looked familiar for a reason.

 

“Well, you see… what happened was….”

 

“Civil servants are subject to punishment if they fail to report a re-awakening.” 

 

“Are you saying you’re going to report me?”

 

She was so desperate that the end of Lee Yuji’s voice cracked.

 

“I’m saying it’s a possibility.”

 

Kwon Ikseong’s indifferent face gleamed under the light.

 

‘Ikseong’s face even shines under these dim interrogation room lights…’

 

Looking at that face, Lee Yuji found herself admiring it inwardly without realizing.

 

Back when Lee Yuji had been reading this ‘novel,’ Kwon Ikseong had been her favorite character.

 

A civil servant hunter.

 

Rank 3.

 

And on top of that, a strict adherent to principles.

 

‘And now I’m really reaping the benefits of that!’

 

Right now, Kwon Ikseong was saying none other than that he would report her. 

 

“Still, there’s the bond we’ve built while Team 1 and Team 5 have been working together…… I helped you out a lot, didn’t I? The Geumho-dong case that almost went to Team 5—I pushed it over to Team 1!”

 

An awkward smile rose to Lee Yuji’s face.

 

She lowered her voice and continued in the same secretive tone used by countless criminals who had passed through this interrogation room.

 

“I’ll keep helping you behind the scenes, so if you could just keep this a secret for me….”

 

“You mean the fact that Hunter Lee Yuji is a possessor?”

 

At the word possessor, Lee Yuji’s shoulders twitched.

 

‘I’m screwed…’

 

“It’s an interesting skill. In my estimation, Hunter Lee Yu-ji’s ‘Possession’ skill is at least A-rank… No, I’ve judged that it might be even higher than that. Am I wrong?” 

 

Cold sweat ran down Lee Yuji’s back.

 

No wonder—her skill was—

 

Your Body is My Body, My Body is My Body (EX)

 

Not A-rank, not S-rank, but EX…….

 

An unclassified rank.

 

For someone publicly known as an F-rank, this was a rank she absolutely should not have! 

 

“And you’re asking me to keep a secret that big? By trading performance records, no less?” 

 

“R-Right……?”

 

Lee Yuji replied weakly, her face crumpling.

 

The lack of strength in her answer was because she knew Kwon Ikseong’s original personality.

 

In the ‘novel,’ Kwon Ikseong, a main supporting character, was a meticulous man of principles.

 

Even bad laws are still laws.

 

One must distinguish between the means and the methods. 

 

A man who fit those lines perfectly.

 

There was no way someone like that would agree to trade performance….

 

“Very well.”

 

…Oh, he would?

 

Lee Yuji asked with a blank expression. 

 

“You’re agreeing?”

 

“Instead, let’s change the conditions slightly.” 

 

“I’ll do whatever you ask—”

 

“Transfer to Team 1.”

 

Oh. That’s amazing.

 

Is he scouting me?

 

Does that mean I can finally get out of this damned Team 5……!

 

“…Ah, that’s something I can agree to any—.”

 

For some reason, the faces of the Team 5 members flashed through her mind.

 

The faces of the Team 5 crew, who were troublemakers and always heard they were dead last in performance.

 

‘Why am I having this kind of life-flashing-before-my-eyes moment…?’

 

It was then, as Lee Yuji stood there confused.

 

Both of their phones began ringing at the same time.

 

And then someone flung the interrogation room door open.

 

“Team Leader! The computers in the Hunter Investigation Bureau building are—.”

 

Both of them stood up.

 

The quicker to react was Kwon Ikseong.

 

As Lee Yuji followed him out on a run, her eyes were filled with countless monitors throughout the Hunter Investigation Bureau, all displaying the same screen.

 

Kwon Ikseong asked the team member who had opened the interrogation room door.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“A message from ‘Gamer.’ We’re currently decrypting the cipher, but it’s probably….”

 

The team member glanced toward Investigator Lee Yuji.

 

“…related to Investigator Lee Yuji.”

 

What is that…?

 

Letting out a hollow laugh, Lee Yuji read the message displayed identically across the monitors.

 

Lee Yuji, you’re the reason (Lee Yuji) for my life♡

 

…Damn it.

 

Is that rhyme for real?

 

If you raise Hunter Lee Yuji’s salary, I’ll give you one hint about my identity.

 

“The higher-ups are currently devising a way to raise Hunter Lee Yuji’s salary…”

 

Listening to those words, Lee Yuji ruffled her hair frantically. 

 

Does that make any sense?

 

The identity of that hacker known as ‘Gamer,’ as far as she knew…

 

‘The original protagonist—and the one criminal Kwon Ikseong failed to catch.’

 

…Choi Woojin.

 

Lee Yuji looked over at Kwon Ik-seong’s shoulder with a tearful face. 

 

“I told you, didn’t I? That ‘Gamer’ was targeting you.”

 

Was this the kind of “targeting” he meant?! 

 

How did I end up getting recruited by an elite investigator from inside the novel, and receiving dad-joke-level messages from the original protagonist?

 

Status Effect ‘An unnamed extra in a crime novel must die’ is now active! 

 

‘I just wanted to stop this damn status effect….’

 

And on top of that, judging by what Captain Hong from the Violent Crimes—no, the Hunter Investigation Unit—said……

 

“The higher-ups say that if Investigator Lee Yu-ji just catches the Gamer, they’ll promote her to Rank 3.” 

 

…A Rank 3 civil servant?

 

In my past life I was Rank 9, and now I’m jumping up six whole ranks!

 

Well, of course, Hunters are treated as special civil servants, so you can’t compare them directly to the pay ranks of general civil servants, but still…! 

 

Lee Yuji’s inner civil servant couldn’t help but light up.

 

‘Rank 3…!’

 

She felt like she was about to lose her mind over promotion. All the achievements she’d built up so far flashed before her eyes. Along with the days she’d struggled to earn them.

 

“I’ll do it! I’ll catch him with everything I’ve got! Gamer, no matter what, I’ll grab him with my own hands and throw him behind bars!”

 

…And so, before she knew it, Lee Yuji found herself vowing to capture the original protagonist with her own hands.

 

And all of this had started on her very first day of work.

 

* * * 

 

An old building with dilapidated windows that made a creaking sound every time they were opened.

 

The Hunter Investigation Bureau building, where the thick scent of investigators’ sweat lingered everywhere and discarded cup ramen containers popped out from between documents. 

 

I took a deep breath of that scent and spoke in a clear, bright voice. 

 

“Hello! I’m Lee Yuji, a rookie investigator newly assigned to Hunter Investigation Unit Team 5!”

 

And the moment I bowed my head.

 

A realization struck my mind like a bolt of lightning. 

 

I’d heard the term ‘Hunter Investigation Unit’ somewhere before.

 

And that somewhere was… probably inside a novel?

 

Those Hunter Investigation Bureau b*stards…… did they fail again?

 

Then this was the world of the novel I’d read in my previous life.

 

And only now, at twenty-four years old as Lee Yuji, did I realize that I had possessed and been reborn as a character in that world!