The Civil Servant Who Conceals Her Power Is Too Good at Possession Chapter 53

My illegal(?) funds now total 21,000 gold.

 

About 2.1 billion won in Korean currency.

 

Gulp.

 

It’s an amount that makes my mouth water just hearing about it, but I decided to invest it for the future.

 

Of course, it’s an amount that would allow me to quit the HIB right now, head down to the countryside, and join the FIRE movement, but the problem lies in the fact that I was a civil servant.

 

As I’ve said before, it is only natural for an investigation to be launched if a civil servant suddenly comes into such a large sum of money after retirement!

 

Besides, in the process of solving various cases, my existence has now been engraved in the minds of the Hunter Association, the Hunter Administration Bureau, and perhaps even the higher-ups.

 

‘…There’s no way I can retire easily.’

 

If that was the case, I figured I’d rather invest in Kang Ilyeon, a production-class hunter. 

 

Another reason was this damn quest.

 

This quest kept looking down on me as a ‘nameless extra,’ and whenever I did something, it threatened me with various forms of death as a failure penalty.

 

If I wanted to keep my life, staying attached to the HIB might not be enough. 

 

‘When more difficult quests appear in the future, item power could be crucial.’

 

For example, just like how I needed the bubble gum mask to avoid the Funny Powder.

 

“But, Noona.”

 

“Ye—yes…?”

 

Why do I get goosebumps whenever Kang Ilyeon calls me ‘Noona’?

 

Kang Ilyeon sat in the workshop I had provided for him and looked back at me.

 

Thanks to that, the light from the head lantern Kang Ilyeon was wearing poured intensely into my eyes.

 

When I squinted, Kang Ilyeon turned off the head lantern as if he had just realized it.

 

“Why are you helping me, Noona?”

 

Helping him? Isn’t it obvious that I’m using him?

 

I shrugged, thinking that to myself.

 

“I didn’t help you though?”

 

“…”

 

At my words, Kang Ilyeon remained silent for a moment like a programmer who had encountered difficult-to-interpret C language, before speaking.

 

As if he were changing his input keywords.

 

“…You even acted as my guardian when I registered my business.”

 

“Ah. I did, didn’t I? Since Wolyeon is also a minor, he couldn’t be your guardian. Right?”

 

And I take a portion of the profits from here anyway.

 

I need to recover my hard-earned investment!

 

“And when Wolyeon caused trouble last time, you came straight to the teacher’s office.”

 

Ah. That.

 

That happened yesterday evening.

 

After that soul-draining meal ended, Ikseong had ‘ordered’ me to leave work early.

 

‘Please head home first.’

 

‘Pardon? But the rest of the interrogation…’ 

 

‘I’ll wrap that up.’

 

‘No. I’ll stay until the end—’

 

The moment I tried to say something, Ikseong reached out his finger and lightly touched the area under my eye.

 

Then, he frowned as if surprised by his own action. 

 

‘I’m sorry.’

 

‘No. Well. There’s nothing to be sorry about…’

 

What is this? It’s making my heart flutter too much!

 

I can’t help but think all the way to great-grandchildren at this rate! 

 

Even if I’ve recognized that the character I only thought of as text is a real person, my favorite is still my favorite. 

 

I can’t stop my heart from pounding.

 

‘An investigator must not stand before a criminal looking like that.’ 

 

However, his following words calmed my mind a little.

 

‘Because criminals will always try to exploit their opponent’s weaknesses whenever they can.’

 

Only then did I realize how I must look.  

 

‘I ended up crying at the mention of my parents.’

 

I shouldn’t have done that, but for some reason, I couldn’t hold it back at that moment.

 

‘So let’s call it a day.’

 

He said simply and sent me home.

 

And that’s when I received a phone call.

 

From Yugyeom’s homeroom teacher.

 

‘What, did Lee Yugyeom place first in the entire school again or something?’

 

I picked up the phone thinking that, but the homeroom teacher talked about Kang Wolyeon instead of Yugyeom.

 

[Um… I’m calling because you’re registered as the guardian. Wolyeon got into a bit of a dispute with the other kids in class, and I’m not sure how to handle this…]

 

Yugyeom’s homeroom teacher’s character was roughly like this:

 

A typically nice but incompetent public school teacher.

 

Because he is such a person, he probably accepted Kang Wolyeon and Kang Ilyeon—who had transferred after being swept up in a major incident—simply because it had been discussed with the chairman.

 

From what I gathered, the dispute was actually closer to being started by the other side.

 

Lee Yugyeom

 

Those guys kept picking fights. Kang Wolyeon gives off a bit of a delinquent vibe, you know. Even though he’s not like that on the inside.

 

Not like that on the inside…?

 

How would you know that?

 

That question rose to the tip of my tongue, but I calmly read Lee Yugyeom’s message.

 

So they tried to do some power play? Or whatever? And tripped Kang Wolyeon, but—

 

Oh, boy.

 

The result was obvious.

 

Instead of falling, Kang Wolyeon completely shattered the shin of the guy who tripped him.

 

‘He probably didn’t feel a thing.’ 

 

Of course not. He’s an A-rank hunter. 

 

However, the parents of the student with the broken shin showed up the next day and caused a scene. 

 

Asking if he hadn’t intentionally kicked their son. 

 

‘It’s a very ambiguous situation.’

 

If he were an ordinary person, there’s no way he could break someone’s shinbone unless he kicked them with all his might.

 

‘In fact, even then, it’s practically impossible…’

 

So, to prove that Kang Wolyeon had no intent, I’d have to reveal that he was an Awakened, but that would definitely make Kang Wolyeon—who was already an outsider in class—even more of an outsider.  

 

Although Kang Wolyeon’s incident was quite famous, Jeongmun High and the current school were far enough apart that he had hidden his identity well so far. 

 

In such a situation, announcing that he is an Awakener would be a ‘why bother?’ move.

 

In that case, there is only one way to handle this.

 

“You said ‘Noona.’ Wolyeon’s Noona.” 

 

Kang Ilyeon said, staring intently at me.

 

That was true.

 

I had introduced myself as Kang Wolyeon’s older cousin.

 

In front of the self-proclaimed ‘victim’ and his parents, I revealed that I worked at the HIB, and said that although we were cousins, we lived together.

 

“…That’s due to adult circumstances.”

 

“Is it because Lee Yugyeom is the class president and first in the whole school?”

 

…You know well.

 

I smacked my lips looking at the genius producer Kang Ilyeon, who had seemed ignorant of the ways of the world.

 

That’s right. Actually, those around them had already testified that the self-proclaimed victim had tripped Kang Wolyeon, so it wasn’t really a situation that warranted convening a School Violence Committee.

 

Still, if those parents insisted on going out of their way to file a police report, Kang Wolyeon’s Awakener status could be revealed, potentially causing problems for her personal information registered in the ‘Protection Program.’

 

At times like this, you have to wrap things up simply.

 

‘Did you say your name was Cheolhyeon? Haha. I heard you go to the same academy as Yugyeom—’

 

I was just mooching off the power of the school’s top student.

 

‘I should tell Yugyeom that you, him, and Wolyeon should get along well from now on.’

 

Without even asking for Lee Yugyeom’s opinion.

 

And as soon as I finished speaking, the look in Cheolhyeon’s parents’ eyes changed a little.

 

Because Lee Yugyeom’s reputation was well-known even at the academy.

 

A student heavily favored to enter a prestigious university, competing on a national level.

 

There is a strange stereotype widespread in Korean society that getting close to someone like Lee Yugyeom will lead to something good.

 

The so-called ‘make friends with the smart kid’ disease.

 

That was how the matter was resolved.

 

“Are you really going to be our Noona? Then?” 

 

“Uh-huh…?”  

 

I hadn’t thought about it that deeply.

 

If I don’t answer carefully, am I going to end up with two more younger brothers?

 

Thinking about the situation where the villains in the novel became my younger brothers, I soon replied.

 

“Should I, then?”

 

That’s pretty reassuring, isn’t it…?

 

It was when Kang Ilyeon’s face was being dyed with an unreadable expression at my answer.

 

Ding.

 

A notification popped up with a cheerful ring.

 

Lee Yugyeom

 

Video link🔗

 

You’re really causing a huge scene everywhere.

 

And the title of the video led by the link Lee Yugyeom sent was this:

 

[I Tried on the Bubble Gum Mask from the Viral Video: Review-Love You’s Honest Review Part 23]

 

The number of views for this video… had already surpassed 2 million.

 

And in that video, the  Workshop was being mentioned.

 

Comments

 

-Wow. They say that workshop is run by a 19-year-old production Hunter. Crazy. Isn’t that an insanely overpowered talent?