The Civil Servant Who Conceals Her Power Is Too Good at Possession Chapter 17

* * *

 

“You’ve all heard that we have a transfer student joining our class today, right?”

 

A boy stood beside the homeroom teacher of Class 5, who was positioned at the podium.

 

With a cynical expression and a bandage stuck to his face, the boy’s name tag was currently blank.

 

His uniform, too, was different from those worn by the students seated in the classroom.

 

“Alright~ then it’s time for introductions.”

 

“Hey. Take care of me. My name’s Kang Wolyeon.”

 

He didn’t even bother taking his hands out of his pockets while introducing himself, yet the teacher merely scratched the back of his neck and said nothing.

 

The teacher pointed to the empty seat next to class president Lee Yugyeom, who had just stepped out.

 

“Wolyeon, sit over there. The student next to you is our class president, so if you need anything, ask him for help.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Kang Wolyeon gave a slight nod and sat down.

 

With his sharp gaze and facial scars that seemed to hint at some complicated history, none of the surrounding children dared to speak to him even after the teacher had left.

 

It was a relief.

 

Right now, Kang Wolyeon felt as though he wanted to punch anyone who touched him and just walk straight into a hunter detention center. 

 

‘You’re saying it was you who got me released…?’

 

The day Kang Wolyeon was released, his twin brother had come to visit him at the holding cell.

 

As always, he looked vaguely anxious, sitting in front of him and gauging his reaction.

 

‘A female investigator came to me and asked me to help you. She said you were being held unfairly.’

 

‘Are you talking about a Hunter Investigation Bureau investigator right now? None of those b*stards would help us! You know that. We tried to report things so many times, and every single time…….’

 

‘That woman is different!’

 

Kang Ilyeon.

 

It was the first time that fool had raised his voice at him.

 

The guy who usually just hovered with his spirit broken, saying he was sorry or babbling about how he would ‘die in his place’ instead…….

 

Perhaps realizing this himself, Kang Il-yeon clamped his hand over his mouth as soon as he shouted, but it was already too late.

 

‘That woman…?’

 

Kang Wolyeon began pressing him for answers.

 

And before long, he figured out who the woman was that had entangled Kang Ilyeon.

 

‘Lee Yuji.’

 

The investigator who had arrested him.

 

A youthful face, an impression that seemed slightly slow or naive.

 

And yet—

 

‘There was something sly about her.’

 

That woman had already known about his brother.

 

And absurdly strong, too.

 

The place she had hit him still throbbed.

 

‘That woman approached us on purpose. She’s plotting something.’

 

‘…It doesn’t matter.’

 

It happened again. 

 

Once again, Kang Ilyeon answered while looking him straight in the eyes. 

 

‘There hasn’t been a single person who approached us without an ulterior motive. Not the Chairman, not that strange man—none of them.’

 

‘The “Gamer” is—’

 

It was the moment Kang Wol-yeon was about to argue back.

 

Kang Ilyeon’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Kang Wolyeon. 

 

‘She said she’d put you and me in the same school. She said she wants me to be able to attend school!’

 

‘What?’

 

‘She said it’s a school with a dormitory, so there’s nothing to worry about. And Yuji-nim is… really strong.’

 

Yuji-nim?

 

At that honorific, Kang Wolyeon’s brow twitched.

 

It sounded too similar to the way Kang Ilyeon used to say Chairman-nim.

 

‘You, did that woman make you eat that “medicine” the Chairman used to give you again?’

 

‘No? It’s not like that….’

 

That was when Kang Wolyeon noticed the dog-shaped keyring attached to Kang Ilyeon’s bag.

 

‘What’s that? You said you’d never enter subspace again, so why make something like that?’

 

When Kang Wolyeon tried to snatch the keyring, Kang Ilyeon quickly hid it.

 

Anger flared.

 

That bastard—what was he hiding from him?

 

‘Ah, I’ve got something to do… I’ll come again next time, Wolyeon. No—let’s meet at school. Yuji-nim said we have to redo my birth registration and everything first, so it’ll take some time before I can transfer.’

 

Kang Ilyeon seemed about to leave in a hurry, then suddenly stopped and said to Kang Wolyeon,

 

‘Yuji-nim is… really not a bad person. She did hit me a little, though…….’

 

Kang Ilyeon smiled faintly, eyes shining.

 

Kang Wolyeon’s mood twisted.

 

‘Strangely enough, I don’t get seriously hurt?’

 

Because it was true.

 

Just like when he’d been hit by Lee Yuji.

 

It hurt like hell, yet strangely, nothing broke.

 

The scars on his face were already healing quickly.

 

Was that what they called strength control? That kind of thing…

 

‘Against an A-rank like me?’

 

Then what was she—a ranked hunter?

 

‘When we entered the sub-dimension, there were plenty of weapons, but she never once reached for one. It really felt like she came to save us. Wolyeon, don’t worry too much! I’ll earn even more money before we become adults! I’ll buy you everything you want to have and all the food you want to eat, even more than when we were under the Chairman!’

 

‘Who told you to—’

 

Who told you to do that?

 

Kang Wolyeon bit his lip instead of finishing the sentence.

 

After Kang Ilyeon left behind words he couldn’t fully understand and walked away, Kang Wolyeon felt miserable all day.

 

It wasn’t just that his brother seemed to have slipped a new leash around his neck with another strange woman.

 

It was because, on the face of the brother leaving that day, there had been something like pure anticipation for the first time.

 

And he hadn’t seen that in far too long.

 

That was what angered him.

 

For a long time, the two of them had been one.

 

Even if they were unhappy, even if they were miserable, it didn’t matter because they had each other.

 

We’re unhappy together.

 

In this unhappiness, we are one.

 

But…

 

If one of them were to step out of that—

 

Kang Wolyeon’s thoughts were tangled in a dozen different directions when a message popped up on his phone.

 

Gamer

 

I heard you were released from the HIB^^ Should Uncle buy you some tofu? It would be nice to eat it with your brother; when would be a good time?

 

…While staring at the message from the encrypted private account, someone gently pressed a hand onto Kang Wolyeon’s shoulder.

 

“…?”

 

When he turned his head, a model-student-looking face was there.

 

It was his deskmate.

 

The name…

 

‘Lee Yugyeom.’

 

Reading the name tag, Kang Wolyeon frowned.

 

“First period is math.”

 

“…?”

 

At the absurd remark, Kang Wolyeon’s expression darkened.

 

Lee Yugyeom continued,

 

“I guess no one told you while I stepped out for a bit. During class, phones are banned. And textbooks are shared between desk partners.”

 

With an indifferent face, Lee Yugyeom opened the math textbook and placed it between them.

 

Unbelievable.

 

Did this kid think he was going to study?

 

Even the homeroom teacher hadn’t looked kindly upon him—a hunter who transferred after causing trouble at his previous school.

 

And now this model-student-looking guy cutting in out of nowhere—what was he, some champion of justice?

 

“I heard from my sister. Minors under protective measures, hunter.”

 

Lee Yugyeom spoke in a low voice, audible only to him.

 

Only then did Kang Wolyeon realize the face overlapping with Yugyeom’s features.

 

The features resembled hers, but the overall impression was completely different—that’s why he hadn’t noticed.

 

“She asked me to…… take care of you? I don’t know what exactly I’m supposed to be taking care of, though……. For now, let’s just have class during class time.” 

 

Kang Wolyeon’s face crumpled.

 

That strange woman—what was she plotting now…!

 

“You’re that woman’s younger brother?”

 

“…Don’t say that so loud. She’s an embarrassing sister to show off anywhere.”

 

…?

 

Didn’t those words sound a bit strange just now?

 

While he was pondering that—

 

“She said those scars were from her hitting you? For a hunter, you’re really……”

 

Lee Yugyeom looked him over with an ambiguous expression.

 

“…weak, aren’t you? My sister’s F-rank. And you got beaten up by her….”

 

F-rank?

 

That strength was F-rank?

 

As Kang Wolyeon stood confused,

 

Lee Yugyeom gave a short sigh and slid a new bandage toward him.

 

“Don’t worry. From what I’ve seen, even low-rank hunters get jobs. I’ll… help you with studying.”

 

What was this nonsense?

 

At this point, the siblings were both equally insane.

 

* * *

 

The HIB building.

 

After finishing all the paperwork, I ended a phone call with my eyes bloodshot.

 

[Are you crazy? You’re causing trouble there again? Why? You want to become an outcast again just like at the athlete’s village? Do you know how hard it was to get that job…….]

 

I shuddered, recalling Lee Yugyeom’s nagging, which rivaled a mother-in-law’s.

 

He’s my younger brother, but it’s nearly impossible to refute anything he says.

 

‘He’s always right.’

 

In any case.

 

Between wrapping up the Kang Wolyeon case and transferring both Kang Wolyeon and Kang Ilyeon to the same school, I’d barely slept while handling endless paperwork.

 

At least with a D-rank body, I could endure sleep deprivation better than an ordinary person—

 

‘Spending five days without a wink of sleep just to inquire and get answers from all those institutions was too much.’

 

Still, thanks to that, I secured a new deal with Kang Ilyeon.

 

You could say I found a way to legally assetize my 500 million won—well, 400 million after spending 100 million on that water gun.

 

The business I proposed to Kang Ilyeon was essentially modeled after the lifestyle item venture he would later establish in the original story after separating from Choi Woojin—‘Saengsaeng Market.’

 

After Kang Wolyeon’s death, the reformed Kang Ilyeon became a creator focused on lifestyle items rather than weapons, vowed to become a new man. 

 

So my plan was simply to move his future forward a little and hitch a ride on it.

 

And as for Kang Wolyeon—

 

‘You’re the class president, so help him out so he doesn’t go too far astray! There was school violence at his previous school.’

 

…I roughly left that request with my brother.

 

He may have been a villain in the original story, but don’t even villains deserve a chance?

 

He’s still a minor.

 

I’m not an S-rank like Choi Woojin, and I don’t know what the best choice for this world is.

 

I’m just a civil servant, so I simply chose to use the rules of this society to protect a minor hunter.

 

…The protection program for the minor hunter against the respondent will go into effect starting today. Thank you for your hard work, Investigator. It’s the first time I’ve seen a civil servant so devoted…

 

I closed the email window filled with praise and stood up.

 

Now I should head home—

 

“Are you done playing around?”

 

That’s when I heard the sudden voice of our psychopath team leader.

 

“You haven’t left yet?”

 

At my question, Pi Sowon stared at me with her usual dark circles hanging almost to her cheeks before speaking.

 

“I saw that you seemed to be doing useless things during work hours instead of the work you were supposed to do, so I was watching to see how long you’d keep at it.” 

 

“….”

 

Mom! Dad! I really hate that psychopath!

 

And that psychopath pulled out a perfect move to torment me five minutes before quitting time.

 

“Ah, right. Team Leader Kwon said earlier that he has a task for you and told you to come over to Team 1, and I told him you’d be there at 6:00.”

 

Six is in five minutes!

 

“It’s for the suspect Choi Woojin’s summons interrogation.”

 

Another psycho was waiting for me at clock-out time!