The Civil Servant Who Conceals Her Power Is Too Good at Possession Chapter 26

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Article link 🔗 “HIB, Narrowly Escapes Abolition Crisis”

 

Narrowly escapes??? What kind of trash wording is that?

 

There aren’t even that many articles about Kevin Choi. Unbelievable.

 

The next morning.

 

I commuted while slowly reading through the unread messages piling up in the HIB newcomers’ group chat. 

 

To be honest, my body was so stiff I wanted to take the day off, but if I went to work and got treated by the infirmary healer, it would be free… 

 

‘Of course, I can’t use my annual leave at a critical time like this!’

 

My precious paid leave!

 

There’s a specific purpose I’ve been saving my precious leave for.

 

I need time to spend my illegally obtained 700 million won!

 

Investigator Lee Yuji is coming in today, right?

 

Besides, looking at the messages from my colleagues searching for me, I felt that if I didn’t show up, my absence would become the talk of the office in its own way. 

 

Is it really true that Investigator Lee Yuji caught Kevin Choi? Was there some secret task force in Team 5 or something?

 

Then how much would the reward money even be…….

 

There were messages laced with a bit of jealousy and envy going back and forth among them.

 

Some tried to fish for information, others speculated that maybe I had some internal connections I didn’t even know about—but

 

For some reason, Ham Ina from Team 1 firmly stepped in and said this.

 

As far as I know, she conducted the investigation independently out of a sense of duty. She risked her life. I heard she nearly died.

 

Is that information from Investigation Team 1?

 

I can’t say anything more.

 

Thanks to Ham Ina cutting it off at the right moment, the atmosphere somehow turned solemn, and before long, the topic shifted elsewhere.

 

So we don’t have to look into reemployment anymore, right?

 

It seems like the abolition talk around the Unit has died down, whether in politics or among higher-ups. No matter how much Daeyoung tries to control the media, a murder case has too much impact, so they probably won’t be able to touch the investigation for a while.

 

It was a message from the youngest member of the support team.

 

I didn’t know the internal atmosphere perfectly, but it was clear that public opinion had flipped. 

 

No matter how strong the Daeyoung Guild’s influence was, or how popular the theory that the HIB was useless had been, a murder case was too powerful. 

 

And the tablet PC contained the murder scenes exactly as they were.

 

Videos of the participants being brutally slaughtered by monsters while the VIPs and general spectators chuckled and enjoyed it. 

 

This was Team Leader Pi Sowon’s reaction after seeing that footage.

 

‘F*ck.’ 

 

Simple and intuitive.

 

For reference, instead of stating that he felt as if he had been possessed regarding the act of emailing the footage from the tablet PC to Team Leader Pi Sowon, the host testified that he couldn’t endure the weight of his conscience.

 

He had chosen his side after seeing how the situation was unfolding.

 

Thanks to that, no evidence remained that I had used a skill.

 

However, I thought I might have to write a letter of apology for participating in the illegal fight—

 

“So what you’re saying is, our youngest member—no, no. Investigator Lee Yuji—initiated the investigation after noticing monsters being distributed through a subspace, wondered where they were being used, made inquiries, and then personally went undercover into the illegal arena. Right?”

 

“Yes. That’s correct.”

 

It kind of feels like this is just… being glossed over?

 

When I arrived at work, Chief Hong Jaegyeol had come to Team 5 and was waiting for me.

 

Pi Sowon looked even more tired than usual, and neither Ma Deokho nor Byeon Gudo had arrived yet.

 

“Whoo! The rising star of the HIB! The next Kwon Ikseong! The star has entered!” 

 

…Excuse me?

 

I stood there awkwardly, debating whether I should sit at my desk or not. 

 

Meanwhile, Ma Deokho walked in exactly at nine, sat down, and put on his headset.

 

He didn’t even seem to have any intention of greeting the chief. Truly a textbook MZ human.

 

Byeon Gudo came in even later, offering all sorts of excuses while fawning over Hong Jaegyeol.

 

Even while watching the state of Team 5—which was no better than five minutes to chaos—Hong Jaegyeol just kept laughing.

 

He even went so far as to package my participation in the illegal fight as “proactive investigation” and “undercover investigation.”

 

“How did you see monsters being illegally distributed through a subspace and think that far ahead? Your brain, seriously… this brain….”

 

Hong Jaegyeol wiggled his fingers near my temple as he spoke.

 

“So. Smart. Brilliant.”

 

“Haha… Thank you…!”

 

There was no reason for me to refuse such framing.  

 

In fact, I had even worried that if my connection with that damn Manager Gil was discovered, I might face disciplinary action for my past participation in illegal dungeon raids. 

 

“Ah, but that Manager Chief Gil guy. He’s a nasty one, huh?”

 

“……!”

 

So it wasn’t just going to slide by after all…!

 

As I grew flustered, Chief Hong continued. 

 

“There are stories that he ran illegal raids, too. Hmm? Because of that…….” 

 

He braced a hand against my desk and looked up at me.

 

Unlike his friendly smile, his gaze was sharp.

 

“…There were a constant stream of victim hunters who participated without knowing it was illegal. It seems Hunter Ji Wongil was one of those cases, too.”

 

He gave a small wink.

 

So right now…

 

‘He’s saying they’ve decided to cover up my participation in illegal raids by treating it as an incident where I was a “victim hunter who didn’t know it was illegal”?’ 

 

I swallowed hard before finally managing to speak.

 

“Then Hunter Ji Wongil….” 

 

“He’s not injured, and he’ll probably just undergo questioning as a witness, but there’s no particular charge. We’ve secured a statement that he participated in the illegal fight to assist your proactive investigation, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

 

Is it just my imagination, or does that sound like “we guided him to make that statement”…?

 

I began to feel a little bit of fear toward Hong Jae-gyeol, who had previously seemed like just an uncle happy to have landed a blow against the HIB abolitionists. 

 

“On the contrary, I’ve already spoken well to the Hunter Management Administration, so it’ll be easier for him when he starts work there.”

 

So he knew all along that Ji Wongil was set to join the Hunter Management Administration.

 

Chief Hong had judged that there was nothing bad about holding a weakness over an employee of the Agency that the HIB belonged to. 

 

‘…Mom… Dad… Everyone here is scary.’

 

“His circumstances didn’t look great, so I talked to the higher-ups and had his start date moved up. That way he can get the Hunter Management Administration loan right away.”

 

In any case, it was fortunate.

 

Because the matter was handled so quickly, the chance to collect the prize money for the fight as Ji Wongil’s share was gone, but it ended up being a better result for him anyway.

 

His future only exists if his debt issues are resolved within the legal system. 

 

The multiple missed calls from him last night were probably about this.

 

‘I was so exhausted I passed out and couldn’t answer….’

 

If he’s starting at the Hunter Management Administration soon, we’ll run into each other eventually.

 

A Grade 4 civil servant, no less.

 

‘I’m jealous….’

 

Just as I was thinking that, Hong Jaegyeol brought up the most important topic.

 

“Oh, right! I almost forgot. The reward money.”

 

“Oh, the reward?”

 

I tried to sound casual, but this was what I had been waiting for the most.

 

He said I’d get a reward every time I boosted my performance!

 

Since this was a pretty big case, wouldn’t I get a bit more than before? Maybe eighty million?

 

Just as that thought crossed my mind.

 

“I reached an agreement with the higher-ups for two ‘big ones,’ but if you want more, let me know.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

What, they’re only giving twenty million?

 

Even if you think about it, fifteen murder cases should count as fifteen performance credits—

 

“…Two hundred million feels a bit light, right? We should at least push for three hundred million.”

 

…Oh. Not twenty million. Two hundred million.

 

And now it’s up to three hundred.

 

I felt a surge of loyalty burning in my heart as I bowed deeply to Chief Hong.

 

“I will dedicate my life to the HIB!”

 

At the thought of three hundred million legally deposited into my account, my body snapped to a perfect right angle.

 

“Was she always like this?”

 

As Hong Jaegyeol patted my shoulder with a puzzled look, Pi Sowon answered.

 

“Yes. Well. You could say she’s our youngest member—one we’d be embarrassed to show anywhere.”

 

Our youngest member.

 

It was the first time I had heard that title from Pi Sowon.