The Civil Servant Who Conceals Her Power Is Too Good at Possession Chapter 42

“Exactly.”

 

At Kwon Ikseong’s brief answer, Hong Jaegyeol replied as if he were flabbergasted.

 

[What?]

 

“But were you really planning to shoot it down with a drone? Bus 316?”

 

Saying that, Kwon Ikseong looked at Lee Yuji in Bus 316, and the people behind her.

 

[That’s… I was going to stall for time somehow…]

 

“Chief.”

 

[Huh?]

 

“Please turn a blind eye to Team Leader Pi passing the traffic control line. I asked her to do it.”

 

Kwon Ikseong said with an emotionless face.

 

Hong Jaegyeol replied as if he found it absurd.

 

[Oh, please. As if you would ever do that.]

 

“Let’s just say that’s how it happened. I’ll take the pay cut and the disciplinary action. You don’t want the plan to shoot down a bus with drones leaked to the outside anyway, do you?” 

 

A heavy silence fell.

 

Hong Jaegyeol replied in a low voice.

 

[Are you blackmailing me? Why? Are you trying to do everything you haven’t done before today? Why don’t you strip off your clothes and dance while you’re at it?]

 

Kwon Ikseong rubbed his eyes as if he were tired and answered calmly.

 

“I’ll try that later if the opportunity arises.”

 

He cut off communication with Chief Hong and spoke to the helicopter pilot.

 

“We will land on the nearest building’s roof. The situation is over.”

 

“Has it been resolved well?”

 

“Yes. It’s been resolved well.”

 

“Okay!”

 

The voice of the pilot wearing a headset came through the headset.

 

Kwon Ikseong asked the pilot.

 

“…Why did you help with the flight?”

 

In effect, this was aiding in an act of insubordination.

 

It was a perfect excuse to get disciplined together, and if there had been any casualties or a helicopter crash, immense responsibility would follow.

 

Even so, the helicopter pilot had responded to Kwon Ikseong’s request for help.

 

To be precise, it was a request made through Ham Ina.

 

“Wasn’t it authorized?”

 

The helicopter pilot feigned ignorance.

 

“You know it wasn’t.”

 

“…The special forces member Team Leader Kwon helped during that bank robbery incident a while ago. That brat is my son.”

 

Kwon Ikseong made an expression as if trying to recall the memory.

 

Seeing Kwon Ikseong’s expression, the pilot chuckled.

 

“You don’t even remember, do you? There must be more than one or two people Team Leader Kwon has saved.”

 

“…”

 

He really couldn’t remember.

 

“So that’s why. I heard there’s a rookie investigator desperately trying to save people down there.”

 

The pilot glanced down at the bus still speeding along the national highway.

 

“…Team Leader Kwon was quite the greenhorn back then too, right?”

 

At the word ‘greenhorn’, Kwon Ikseong chuckled.

 

“You can just say I threatened you at gunpoint for this.” 

 

Kwon Ikseong said to both the youngest of the Equipment Management Team and the pilot.

 

At that, the pilot said,

 

“Why go that far? I told you, I thought it was authorized.”

 

At the pilot’s words, the youngest immediately nodded.

 

“I thought so too…!”

 

If they claimed they were forced into an unauthorized dispatch by Kwon Ikseong’s threats, Kwon Ikseong’s disciplinary action would be heavier, but the two of them wouldn’t face any discipline.

 

However, if they lied and said they thought it was an authorized dispatch, Kwon Ikseong’s disciplinary action would be lighter, but the two of them would have to be called before the disciplinary committee for failing to confirm the authorization.

 

Kwon Ikseong didn’t like that, so he opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again.

 

“Thank you. I will definitely repay you later.”

 

For him, who absolutely never caused trouble for others or incurred debts to be repaid, this was unprecedented.

 

‘To think I’d be doing Team Leader Kwon a favor…!’

 

Trying hard to ignore the youngest of the Equipment Management Team, who was looking at him with sparkling eyes and such an expression, Kwon Ikseong took off his headset.

 

Then, he left his final words for Lee Yuji over the communication equipment.

 

“I wish you luck until the end. Investigator Lee Yuji.”

 

[Yeeeeees, sir!]

 

Lee Yuji left a somewhat clumsy reply and ended the communication.

 

She’ll… do fine.

 

Thinking that, he threw all the communication equipment connected to Gamer out of the helicopter.

 

The helicopter soon changed its course and lowered a ladder over the roof of the nearest building.

 

Climbing down the ladder with one hand, Kwon Ikseong took out a secure phone from one of his pockets.

 

That phone, where everything was encrypted, was communication equipment he carried just in case. 

 

And the person who contacted him through that communication equipment was—

 

[The IP trace is complete. The arrest team is on their way there. But the location is in Seoul?]

 

It was Park Minbae. The youngest employee with a forward head posture from Support Team 3.

 

When Kwon Ikseong requested the CCTV footage from Park Minbae, he had also asked him to set up the secure phone in case of wiretapping.

 

And while constantly talking with Gamer, he had asked Park Minbae through this secure phone to trace Gamer’s location.

 

[It’s the basement of a building in Bangbae-dong. The arrest team has already entered. Huh?]

 

It was then.

 

A puzzled groan escaped Park Minbae.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

[Ah, sh*t…]

 

Even a small curse.

 

Soon, Park Minbae spoke as if he were at a loss.

 

[The basement building in Bangbae-dong. It was an internet cafe. And when they went to the computer matching the IP address, they said an elementary school student was sitting there.]

 

“Hah.”

 

Kwon Ikseong’s hand, which was holding the building’s emergency exit door, stopped.

 

He let out a scoffing laugh.

 

And at that moment.

 

Zzzzt—

 

A loud radio interference sound rang in his ears.

 

[It seems the IP was rerouted… I’ll try again…]

 

[Investigator Kwon Ikseong. What are you doing right now?]

 

[I’ll find out…]

 

[Some people are working this hard to save lives, while you’re busy investigating someone’s location behind their back. That’s not very nice.]

 

And intermittently, a voice altered by a voice modulator chimed in.

 

Kwon Ikseong’s forehead wrinkled.

 

This is definitely a secure phone—

 

‘It’s been hacked.’

 

And by Gamer, no less.

 

And he had lost Gamer again this time.

 

He pushed open the emergency exit door.

 

It was originally a locked door, but tearing off an iron door was nothing to him.

 

[It seems you’ve lost to me again this time. Team Leader Kwon Ikseong?]

 

Listening to his words, Kwon Ikseong asked quietly.

 

“What is it that you really want?”

 

Holding onto the stair railing, Kwon Ikseong’s eyes narrowed.

 

He was genuinely curious.

 

Why someone who was just a criminal would try to save people, and above all—

 

“Why did you try to save Lee Yuji?”

 

Lee Yuji.

 

Why on earth was he treating Lee Yuji so ‘amicably’?

 

At the same time, why did he know Lee Yuji?

 

[My hobby is being chased. But it’s a problem if the people chasing me disappear. But the public opinion of the Hunter Investigation Bureau has been bad lately. If you’re curious, Investigator Kwon Ikseong, you should search up portal news or something~ There’s a lot of hate for the Bureau there.]

 

—So he saved Lee Yuji. Hoping Lee Yuji would play the role of the ‘hero’ of the Hunter Investigation Bureau.

 

He had said something like that earlier.

 

Something along the lines of Lee Yuji being necessary to maintain the Bureau’s face.

 

Anyone could tell he meant to use Lee Yuji to save the Hunter Investigation Bureau, but Kwon Ikseong’s judgment was a bit different.

 

“Lies.”

 

Kwon Ikseong’s face was calm and serene. His voice echoed in the dark emergency stairwell.

 

Right now, Gamer was making excuses.

 

Because—

 

“On the contrary, Investigator Lee Yuji dying on the bus would have made her a hero. Since you kindly secured all the video footage. That’s probably what the higher-ups wanted, too.”

 

That’s why they didn’t authorize the operation.

 

Because they knew that if he went down, he would save at least Lee Yuji if push came to shove.

 

But rather than saving ‘only’ Lee Yuji, it would be more beneficial to the Hunter Investigation Bureau if Lee Yuji died along with everyone else.

 

Of course, they might have also calculated that they didn’t want to lose the manpower known as Kwon Ikseong, and didn’t want to take the blame for carrying out an unreasonable operation—

 

Even though pulling out just one investigator wouldn’t have been that difficult, they didn’t do it. The higher-ups.

 

[So you went out of your way to save Lee Yuji alone? Out of a sense of justice?]

 

Then, Gamer asked a question in return.

 

[Confronting the organization’s corruption head-on? Or perhaps you have other motives?]

 

Despite the teasing tone, Kwon Ikseong’s expression remained unchanged.

 

“Is this a game where if I answer, you answer too?”

 

[Will you answer if I say yes?]

 

“…”

 

Kwon Ikseong seemed to think for a moment before opening his mouth.

 

As always, his expression gave no hint of his inner thoughts.

 

“Because I couldn’t trust Lee Yuji. She always acts unpredictably.”

 

At his answer, Gamer laughed.

 

[Isn’t that absent from the investigator’s manual? Investigators must always trust their colleagues, right?]

 

The reason he couldn’t trust Lee Yuji.

 

The reason why Lee Yuji was an exception for him, who had trusted even Ham Ina, an investigator who had made a mistake, as a colleague.

 

Kwon Ikseong had no answer for that.

 

“…Let’s stick to exchanging one answer at a time.”

 

At Kwon Ikseong’s words, Gamer remained silent for a moment this time.

 

Soon, Gamer spoke.

 

[Okay. Fine. Then I’ll tell you the real reason. The real reason I saved Lee Yuji.]

 

Lee Yuji.

 

At that word, Kwon Ikseong’s eyebrows shot up.

 

It was a term of address that felt somewhat intimate. He always politely called other Hunter Investigation Bureau investigators ‘Investigator’, so why was Lee Yuji an exception?

 

[I hate the thought of Investigator Lee Yuji dying.]

 

Hate.

 

An emotional word.

 

Kwon Ikseong began to analyze each of Gamer’s words as if profiling him.

 

[I want her to live.]

 

Kwon Ikseong’s skill was activated.

 

‘Focus.’

 

He felt every tone, word choice, and pitch of Gamer’s voice. 

 

No matter how much the voice is altered, one cannot control the unconscious details such as where pauses are placed or which words are chosen.

 

[Maybe I want to play with her more. Or…]

 

And in Gamer’s voice…

 

It was ridiculous, but…

 

Rarely, there was emotion behind it.

 

Otherwise, there was no way he would uniquely provide so much emotional information this time out of all his numerous crimes.

 

[Maybe I just want to play with Lee Yuji more.]

 

Feeling himself becoming agitated by that fact, Kwon Ikseong suppressed himself as much as possible and asked.

 

“…Are you saying you even have feelings for Investigator Lee Yuji?”

 

[Feelings, huh. If people usually say that for this kind of thing…]

 

Gamer laughed softly.

 

[You can call it that.]

 

The moment he heard those words.

 

His intuition, instincts, senses, and cognition became the warp and weft, weaving a single pattern.

 

All deductions that were difficult for others to verify in this short time were verified, and many hypotheses among them were proven false.

 

The single most probable one among them.

 

Therefore, his conclusion was this:

 

‘Gamer is near Lee Yuji.’ 

 

A strange light flickered in Kwon Ikseong’s eyes.