The Civil Servant Who Conceals Her Power Is Too Good at Possession Chapter 36

At my words, Ikseong gently scratched my chin with his finger.

 

Mmm… It feels so good…

 

…Wait, no it doesn’t!

 

Get a grip! You’re a human!

 

“Good girl. Our Yuji.”

 

“…Yes, I’m a good girl.”

 

Even knowing it was a hallucination, Ikseong’s smile was too beautiful.

 

There were even flowers blooming all around him, and I thought I could smell a fragrance—wait, no. I smell something delicious. 

 

‘The smell of sundae…’

 

For a moment, I actually wished Ikseong would become my master, but I quickly had to snap out of it.

 

‘And to do that, I need to execute the second part of my plan—’

 

It was then.

 

[Athlete Lee Yu-ji, representative of the Republic of Korea, please step forward.] 

 

On the straight stretch of the national highway.

 

A spotlight shone on one side.

 

Behind were five rings drawn, and a rolled-up cloth fell from above and unfurled.

 

The Taegeukgi.

 

A lie.

 

This is a lie.

 

“Congratulations, Senior.”

 

At that moment, someone patted my back.

‘I’m planning to tell them myself. For sure.’

Just from the feel of those calluses, I could tell who it was.

 

No, I could feel it.

 

I wanted to look to my side, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn my eyes.

 

“The Asian Games gold medal, Senior finally gets to wear it around her neck. Next time, it’s my turn. You better be nervous.”

 

If I slowly turned my gaze, there—

 

‘I’m planning to tell them myself. For sure.’ 

 

‘That child’ was there.

 

A pale white face, beads of sweat on her tightly tied hair, sparse eyebrows, yet distinct, clear eyes in contrast.

 

Everything was exactly the same.

 

She had never once smiled for me like that until the very end.

 

Her eyes had been full of resentment towards me.

 

A lie.

 

A lie like this is too cruel.

 

‘That child’ was even wearing a silver medal around her neck.

 

And she was handing me the gold medal.

 

“Your celebratory treat is obviously beef at the place just ahead, right?”

 

“…Seonah.”

 

I was smiling without realizing it, when…

 

Craaash!

 

I ended up crashing the bus into the guardrail.

 

The bus lurched violently.

 

“F*ck!”

 

I cursed loudly without realizing it.

 

Seo Gilsoo’s gruff voice popped out.

 

Time remaining: 06:31

 

I snapped back to my senses.

 

The Taegeukgi was still fluttering in front of my eyes, and I was wearing a martial arts uniform with a gold medal hanging from my neck.

 

Above all, ‘that child’s’ hand was resting on my shoulder.

 

That child.

 

Seonyi.

 

But this was a national highway.

 

Honestly, with my ruined five senses, I couldn’t possibly understand how this was happening.

 

But I just had to accept it.

 

‘I have a competition soon… I got mad at my mom this morning because she didn’t wake me up… I shouldn’t have been so angry…’

 

When I looked in the rearview mirror, that arts school student who had been shedding tears like chicken droppings was playing the violin in the back. 

 

With a face full of rapture.

 

If I don’t overcome this, I’ll lose that child.

 

Just like that time I lost Seonyi.

 

“Seonah.”

 

I quietly grabbed the hand resting on my shoulder.

 

“There’s something I want to say. If I make it out of here alive, I’ll definitely tell you myself. I promise.”

 

Gritting my teeth, I pulled that hand away.

 

Then, this time, Kwon Ikseong’s voice and the voice of the Olympic organizing committee buzzed in my ears simultaneously.

 

“Welcome to Happy Land.”

 

[Welcome. This is Happy World. It’s Happy World. Please receive your gold medal here.]

 

Shut up. You b*stards!

 

I gritted my teeth and shouted inwardly.

 

‘Focus’.

 

The moment I shouted that, the Taegeukgi vanished from before my eyes.

 

Ikseong’s voice, Seonyi’s voice, my gold medal, and my uniform all gradually faded away.

 

Seo Gilsoo’s face overlapped in the side mirror in front of me.

 

As I began to break out of the illusion, I felt like I was going to plunge into depression, much like people who abruptly stopped taking Funny Powder, but fortunately, other things rushed in much faster.

 

The condition of the rattling bus.

 

The loud laughter of the people.

 

The groaning driver.

 

In an instant, countless senses began to awaken.

 

Even the letters written on a sign far away came into my sight.

 

It was as if I had developed a ‘Sixth Sense.’

 

As if I had discovered a sixth finger or a third arm I never knew I had. 

 

Suddenly, I was able to feel those sensations.

 

And the more I focused on those senses, the closer I got back to reality, exactly as it was.

 

This was Kwon Ikseong’s hidden skill.

 

‘Focus’.

 

The individual skills of a Hunter are kept strictly confidential.

 

Within the Hunter Investigation Bureau, they can share each other’s skills if needed for an investigation, but even that is prohibited for B-rank and above.

 

That’s because a Hunter’s skill is a crucial asset to them.

 

But I knew about that skill of Kwon Ikseong’s.

 

That his exceptional five senses, rapid deduction and decision-making, and meticulous memory all stemmed from this skill.

 

Other people thought it was just the perk of having high intelligence stats or natural talent, and while that played a part, it was this ‘Focus’ skill that further amplified his talents.

 

A skill that allows one to focus entirely on whatever they want to focus on.

 

Hearing the explanation makes it sound like a useless skill, but it is surprisingly omnipotent.

 

According to the description in the novel, ‘Focus’ is a skill that awakens all the functions of the brain; when using physical abilities, it can maximize muscle movement, and when needing to use one’s head, it can utilize all the information one possesses.

 

It was inevitably the optimal skill for an investigator.

 

‘There’s a reason why the regressor Choi Woojin acknowledged him as the only formidable investigator.’

 

I was able to bring this skill of Kwon Ikseong’s with me by possessing him.

 

‘I couldn’t get any information about the mole, but I definitely got this.’

 

In the first place, borrowing the consciousness of an A-rank Hunter for 10 minutes was a huge gamble.

 

Thanks to having a mental-type skill, Kwon Ikseong wasn’t easily swayed by any illusion.

 

But well, my skill was EX-rank.

 

However, I did try my best to be careful with how I acted so that Kwon Ikseong wouldn’t feel any sense of déjà vu when he regained consciousness…

 

‘If I got caught, it can’t be helped.’

 

Because no matter how smart Kwon Ikseong is, he wouldn’t suspect me, a low-ranking investigator with no skills.

 

Thanks to the A-rank skill I had acquired, I felt the illusions fading and attempted to stop the bus for now.

 

However, no matter how hard I pressed the brake, it wouldn’t go down.

 

‘Why?’

 

A scene like this never appeared in the novel. 

 

But through my toes, and through a faint sound, I could feel it.

 

Screeech— Screeech—

 

This ominous sound.

 

‘The brake shaft is broken.’

 

I could hear the sound of shell casings rolling on the floor.

 

It seemed that either the brake shaft was hit when Seo Gilsu shot the driver’s thigh earlier, or a problem occurred when he was firing his gun wildly.

 

‘Argh!’

 

I always feel this way, but my luck is absolutely terrible!

 

It can’t be helped.

 

While narrowly dodging the oncoming cars on the national highway using the reflexes I gained from Kwon Ikseong’s skill, I shifted the gear into neutral.

 

‘Oh, it feels like a car chase scene.’

 

That’s kinda cool…!

 

…That’s not what’s important right now!

 

‘It’s useless! The speed isn’t decreasing at all!’

 

Shifting to P was obviously out of the question.

 

I switched it to 1st gear, but the gear shift wouldn’t work either.

 

“Hehehehehe…”

 

I let out a faint laugh through Seo Gilsoo’s body.

 

Even in the midst of all this, it was hard to stop myself from laughing.

 

Even with Kwon Ikseong’s skill, consuming this much Funny Powder will make you giggle no matter what.

 

“The terrorist is driving! honk! Honk! Honk! Everyone’s f*cked! Bwahahahahahaha!”

 

Right now, the fishy, metallic scent of explosives tickled my nose.

 

The source of the smell was from inside the clothes Seo Gilsoo was wearing.

 

I could recognize it immediately because it was similar to the smell I had caught when I possessed Senior Lulu.

 

Seo Gilsoo is currently wearing a bomb vest.

 

‘…So Kwon Ikseong smells things like this every single day.’

 

At the same time I thought that his job must be more exhausting than I imagined, the sweet smile Kwon Ikseong gave Lulu came to mind.

 

…Is it some kind of camaraderie?

 

Whatever it is.

 

Right now, this vehicle was hurtling toward the Wonmi Magic Stone Power Plant at 100 km/h.

 

Fortunately, there were fewer and fewer cars around, perhaps because they were controlling the traffic, but the problem was—

 

Time remaining: 05:04

 

I don’t have much possession time left!

 

I tied the steering wheel with the shoelaces I had untied in advance.

 

So it would be as fixed in place as possible.

 

And the moment I tried to stand up—

 

Smack!

 

My face flashed and I saw stars.

 

My body lost its balance.

 

In that instant, my left foot stepped forward on its own.

 

My right foot spread shoulder-width apart.

 

My fists were lightly clenched.   

 

In front of me, having instinctively taken a sparring stance, was my original body, Lee Yuji.

 

And my original body’s foot was raised straight up to execute a front kick.

 

Right there.

 

To be precise— 

 

As ‘there’—which the original me doesn’t have—was struck, no more laughter could come out of my mouth. 

 

“Keuh-heuk!”

 

I mean, I was the one who ordered her to do it, but… This hurts way too much!