The Civil Servant Who Conceals Her Power Is Too Good at Possession Chapter 3

I knew Team 5 was a dead-end assignment, but was it really this bad?

 

If this man was the “mole” who planted the bomb, he must have nerves of steel. 

 

Feeling dumbfounded, I tapped Byeon Gudo on the shoulder. 

 

Byeon Gudo flinched and hurriedly covered his screen.

 

“W-What. What is it. Did the captain come in?”

 

“…….”

 

“What? There’s no one here.”

 

“Excuse me… when is the Team Leader coming in?”

 

“Why are you looking for the Team Leader?”

 

Why was I looking for him?

 

Because I need to find the bomb so I can stay alive. And in turn, you’d stay alive, and I’d stay alive.

 

No, putting that aside—today’s my first day. Shouldn’t there be someone to hand over work? Don’t places like the Violent Crimes Unit usually have morning briefings or something?

 

“Aha… I can’t discard any of these… which one should I play….” 

 

Byeon Gudo muttered while staring back at the screen, then spoke to me.

 

“The Team Leader doesn’t usually come into the office.”

 

“Excuse me? Then how do we do our work?”

 

At my question, Byeon Gudo took his hand off the mouse cursor and slowly looked at me.

 

“Why would we do work?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Don’t worry. Most of the cases assigned to our team get ‘handled’ by the team leader.”

 

I looked at the number written on the whiteboard on the wall.

 

This month’s performance: 0 cases

 

It seemed like “handling it” didn’t exactly mean “solving it.”

 

“So, if you’re bored, go do some self-improvement or something. Or maybe clean the office. Ah, seriously…. Which one do I throw away…. I’m running out of time.” 

 

I’d already cleaned the office earlier.

 

I’d searched thoroughly, just in case there were any suspicious boxes, but all that turned up were dried-up ramen noodles from who-knows-when, a pair of socks of unknown origin, and—

 

‘Why is there a mushroom growing out of a file folder?’

 

It was a mushroom.

 

In fact, when I reached out to throw the mushroom away, a message appeared. 

 

You have harvested a ‘Mushroom Grown from Funny Powder Spores’!

 

Item ‘Mushroom Grown from Funny Powder Spores’ (Tap for details)

 

Huh? I’ve seen this in the novel before.

 

– Eating it improves your mood and makes you speak only the truth.

– Additional effects are added when heated.

 

‘As expected, it really is that mushroom.’

 

A mushroom that only grows under very specific conditions.

 

I recalled it grows in environments so filthy that humans find it hard to live in, with humidity levels that breed mold…. 

 

‘Just how little cleaning do you have to do for this to grow?’

 

I carefully picked the mushroom up with two fingers and tucked it into my pocket.

 

If I found the mole, feeding it to them to force a confession wouldn’t be a bad idea.

 

‘So, who on earth is the mole…?’

 

I spoke toward Byeon Gudo, who looked far too idle to be a spy. 

 

“The Seven of Clover.”

 

“What?”

 

“Discard the Seven of Clover. It’s the first card out, isn’t it?”

 

“Huh…? Oh. You’re right?”

 

Byeon Gu-do’s eyes went wide as he looked at the screen. 

 

After discarding the seven, the card he flipped was—another seven.

 

“It’s a double!”

 

Byeon Gudo’s eyes grew even larger. 

 

Cards poured in from the other players, and in an instant, his victory was decided.

 

He turned to me with a grin.

 

“Oh, rookie~ you know your way around Go-Stop, don’t you?” 

 

Of course I am.

 

‘Do you have any idea how many civil petitioners I played Go-Stop with every time I went on home visits…?’

 

That was when it happened.

 

‘Byun Gudo’ Favorability has increased by 5.

 

When favorability increases, the afterimage left by possession becomes stronger.

 

…?

 

After possession?

 

I’ve already “possessed” this body, so what “possession” is it talking about? And what’s an afterimage? 

 

Wait.

 

Could it be……?

 

‘Status window.’

 

Before remembering the possession, I’d been F-rank with not a single skill.

 

In other words, complete trash.

 

But my status window now was—

 

Name: Lee Yuji (F)

 

Title: Extra Possessor (Hidden) (NEW!)

 

Unique Skill: Your Body Is My Body, My Body Is My Body (EX) (NEW!)

 

Skill Slot 1: Slot not yet unlocked.

 

Skill Slot 2: Slot not yet unlocked.

 

!Status Ailment! Time Remaining Until ‘Death by Explosion’: 02:03:33

 

…!

 

I got an EX-rank skill!

 

An EX-rank skill.

 

While having even a single S-rank skill is enough to make one a top-tier ranker in Korea, my skill was judged as “Unranked.” 

 

Should I quit being a civil servant about to be blown up and make it big as a Korean ranker?

 

Hunt monsters, shoot commercials like the famous ranker Kang Sehan, pay off my 200 million won debt—

 

Then I noticed the small text next to the skill section.

 

(Tap for details)

 

Ah, right.

 

I should at least check what the skill does.

 

Wearing a satisfied smile, I tapped the detailed description.

 

Detailed Description: ‘Your Body Is My Body, My Body Is My Body’ (EX)

 

– You can possess living beings within a 10 m radius. You can control the possessed target for 10 minutes.

– During possession, you can give simple behavioral directives to your original body.

– Cooldown: 24 hours

 

An EX-rank possession skill—there are endless ways to use it, right?

 

Possess a banker and transfer 200 million won into my account.

 

Possess the president and give Investigator Lee Yuji a special promotion.

 

…Like hell!

 

‘No matter how I look at it, there’s no legal way to use this to my advantage!’

 

It’s awkward to use for killing monsters.

 

However, that didn’t mean this skill was completely useless. 

 

‘If I possess the person who planted the bomb, I can disarm it immediately.’

 

Then I can avoid death by explosion and my second death.

 

The problem was the cooldown on this skill. 

 

If it’s a skill that can only be used once every 24 hours, that means I can only use it once before the explosion. 

 

Which means—even without knowing the bomb’s location—I need to narrow down the suspect list to someone I’m sure about.

 

Wait.

 

I had ‘that,’ didn’t I?

 

I smiled at Byeon Gudo, whose favorability toward me had just gone up slightly.

 

“Um… while cleaning the office, I saw that managing the detection dog is our team’s duty?”

 

I pointed to the whiteboard.

 

Feed detection dog Lulu.

 

A single lonely line written under “Important Tasks.”

 

I pointed at it and said.

 

“I really like dogs. Could I handle the dog-feeding duties before the Team Leader arrives?” 

 

That was when it happened.

 

‘Ma Deokho’ Favorability has increased by 10.

 

…?

 

Ma Deokho’s favorability went up—even though he’d been sitting still the whole time.

 

What was that about? 

 

* * * 

 

Ten minutes later.

 

Pet food

 

Dog food—Varirara

 

I stood in the backyard of the Hunter Investigation Unit building, holding a sack of kibble.

 

More precisely, in front of a large iron cage with a sign that read “Lulu.”

 

Hunter Investigation Unit Team 5

Lulu

 

“…So you’re my direct senior?”

 

When I held out my hand, a golden retriever with shimmering gold fur burst out through the slightly opened kennel door, tail wagging.

 

A detection dog for Funny Powder and explosives.

 

At the HIB, detection dogs were stationed to sniff out “Funny Powder,” which is classified as a hallucinogen among dungeon byproducts, as well as bombs made from mana stone dust. 

 

“You must be the new investigator for Team 5. It’s changed again.” 

 

The security guard smiled as he looked at Lulu.

 

I returned an awkward smile at his words, “changed again.”

 

“Yes. It changed again.”

 

Lulu’s Favorability increases by 10.

 

Lulu’s Favorability increases by 10.

 

Watching Lulu’s favorability skyrocket just from pouring food into the bowl, I recalled the skill description.

 

– You can possess living beings within a 10 m radius.

 

It definitely said “living beings,” not “people,” right?

 

And my senior here can smell bombs.