The Civil Servant Who Conceals Her Power Is Too Good at Possession Chapter 64

“What do you mean, you didn’t know? You were caught on camera pulling an envelope out of your pocket and checking it the moment you got in your car!”

 

At the Team 3 Leader’s words, Byeon Gudo retorted with an aggrieved expression.

 

“I’m telling you, I thought they were sweet potatoes! They always give me sweet potatoes……”

 

The Team 3 Leader let out a snicker.

 

“How heartwarming. Exchanging sweet potatoes with criminals, hmm?”

 

He then held up a sweet potato inside an evidence bag labeled with a tag and spoke.

 

“You mean this? The ones those grandmothers dug up one by one and gave to you every time they went in and out of illegal dungeons. We appraised it, and it turns out it’s a dungeon byproduct. Worth a full 200,000 won.”

 

That was the problem.

 

It wasn’t just a sweet potato; it was closer to an item farmed from an illegal dungeon.

 

And with an amount like that, it was undeniably bribery.

 

‘Even if we weren’t HIB but just regular civil servants, this would be a dead-to-rights violation of the Kim Youngran Act, you idiot.’

 

I pressed my hand to my forehead.

 

Even without this issue, Lee Yugyeom had already contacted me yesterday regarding the Cha Jeonhyeok incident.

 

Unlike other problems, the sight of Cha Jeonhyeok falling from the seventh floor wasn’t something the HIB could simply cover up internally.

 

‘Because there were witnesses.’

 

The HIB building wasn’t exactly in the middle of nowhere; it was in the heart of downtown Seoul, so many people saw it.

 

Some had even filmed the scene and posted it on social media.

 

Because of that, Unit Chief Hong Jaegyeol had no choice but to give a nationwide briefing that evening to explain the situation.

 

[Unit Chief Cha Jeonhyeok of the Equipment Management appears to have made an extreme choice due to a mental-type item, but the attempt failed, and he is currently being treated at a healer hospital.]

 

Of course, thanks to that, the black propaganda against Kwon Ikseong was perfectly resolved.

 

Hong Jaegyeol was subtly skilled with his words.

 

[The HIB investigation team discovered these circumstances in advance and was investigating the accident while doubting the credibility of Cha Jeonhyeok’s statements. In particular, considering that Cha Jeonhyeok made remarks pointing to the investigation team as the culprit while under the influence of the mental-type item—]

 

Hong Jaegyeol’s gaze during moments like this was very proficient and seasoned.

 

Like a hawk that never let its prey escape.

 

‘Usually, he just seems like a meddlesome middle-aged man.’

 

[This can only be interpreted as a criminal force attempting to cause internal division within the HIB. The HIB is an organization established to protect the safety of citizens. Attacking the HIB is an act that threatens the safety of the citizens of the Republic of Korea. I am warning you. Whoever this criminal force may be, they will pay a just price for this incident. And I promise you. The HIB will personally eradicate that criminal force.]

 

Shall I be honest?

 

It was actually quite cool.

 

I hated admitting that I felt a sense of admiration for a materialistic man like Hong Jaegyeol.

 

‘That man, he definitely had a script prepared for that.’

 

It was certain that the man was perfectly specialized for the world of civil servants.

 

Anyway, after that interview, public opinion regarding the abolition of the HIB vanished instantly.

 

It was only natural.

 

Although Hong Jaegyeol didn’t mention it directly, it was easy to guess that the “internal division” referred to targeting the HIB’s star player, Kwon Ikseong.

 

And this kind of attack actually functioned to drastically boost Kwon Ikseong’s reputation.

 

Petition to Urge the Cessation of the Investigation into Investigator Kwon Ikseong

 

Even on the Presidential Office’s civil petition site, such a petition had surpassed ten thousand signatures in a flash.

 

‘Hong Jaegyeol, that slippery snake….’

 

He had successfully brought Kwon Ikseong back to life.

 

Well, thanks to that, I was certainly out of danger from drowning. 

 

The problem was—

 

‘Now that public opinion has flipped, it looks like the Hunter Association’s eyes have flipped too.’

 

Taking advantage of the moment when all attention was focused on Kwon Ikseong, the Hunter Administration Bureau had attacked Team 5.

 

It wasn’t an unpredictable attack.

 

‘Though I didn’t expect them to go as far as completely cutting off Byeon Gudo’s head?’

 

No matter how much the Hunter Investigation Bureau claimed to be an independent body, the Hunter Administration Bureau was effectively its superior organization.

 

This was because the Hunter Administration Bureau held a certain amount of authority over the HIB’s personnel appointments.

 

The HIB had been consistently arguing that they should be independent, but—

 

‘The ones blocking that are the Yeouido men who’ve been well-fed by the Hunter Association.’

 

Thus, the Hunter Administration Bureau decided to actively utilize that personnel authority.

 

Even if it was an accident, it was true that our team failed to prevent a suspect’s sudden action during an investigation, and above all else…….

 

‘The stunt that man pulled was just too big.’

 

I lowered my head and looked toward Byeon Gudo, who was frantically ruffling his hair.

 

What was the point of regretting it now…?

 

Byeon Gudo, who had been in charge of illegal dungeon investigations, had excluded several suspects from the list of targets in exchange for receiving items farmed from dungeons, such as ‘sweet potatoes,’ ‘wild greens,’ and ‘pumpkin leaves.’

 

And Ma Deokho, having noticed this, used it to force Byeon Gudo into stalking Park Seungsoo.

 

That was why Ma Deokho’s expression was also looking like death right now.

 

How did I know all this?

 

Because I saw it in the ‘Special Side Story.’

 

What that damn Special Side Story showed included Byeon Gudo’s corruption.

 

However, because I moved too hastily to prevent my own death, I hadn’t expected the corruption to explode quite like…….

 

‘Wait, I did.’

 

I glanced subtly toward the office entrance.

 

‘I think it’s about time…?’

 

It was just as I thought that.

 

“Hey, get out of the way!”

 

“I’m telling you, I have documents to submit!”

 

“Then I will personally…”

 

“Uh-huh…! Are you just touching me now because I’m an old lady? This is sexual harassment! Sexual harassment!”

 

“A-Ah, no…… it’s not like that!”

 

“Oh my goodness! The security guard is touching and pinching a helpless old grandmother however he likes!”

 

“When did I pinch you, grandmother!” 

 

At the office entrance, about five or six grandmothers wearing sun visors and floral work pants, all with the same white permed hair, were seen pushing past the guards with pickaxes in hand.

 

‘The time has come.’

 

I looked at the majestic army of grandmothers with a satisfied face.

 

Byeon Gudo’s face soured the moment he saw them.

 

“Grandmothers, what are you doing here?” 

 

Byeon Gudo scurried over to them and spoke in a low voice.

 

“Listen, you might get investigated because of the illegal dungeon issue! Don’t do this and turn back now! Get out of here, shoo, shoo.”

 

Despite his urgent voice, the grandmothers’ attitude did not change.

 

Instead, one grandmother wearing a bright red sun visor adjusted it like a commander’s hat, glared at the Team 3 Leader who was standing with his weight on one leg, and spoke.

 

“I’ve been tryin’ to contact the investigation team since yesterday, but there was no answer, so I came myself. That fellow named Hong Jaegyeol or whatever seems busy and told me to ask the investigation team, but none of ‘em would answer. But lookin’ at you, you must be the team leader.”

 

The grandmother pointed her pickaxe at the ID badge hanging around the Team 3 Leader’s neck.

 

How should I put it….

 

‘It’s intimidating.’

 

The Team 3 Leader must have felt something similar, as he flinched and covered his badge.

 

At the same time, thanks to the unconsciousness raised under the influence of a Confucian nation where respect for elders is alive and well, the Team 3 Leader’s attitude became polite.

 

“Uh, grandmothers… I don’t know what this is about, but…”

 

“We came to submit this!”

 

Then, from behind the grandmother who seemed to be the leader, a grandmother in a green sun visor abruptly thrust a document forward.

 

And that document was this:

 

Disability Registration Card

 

“They said if we have this, we can’t be detained as suspects. That, what was it…… the Hunter Management Special Act…”

 

Seeing the grandmother in the green sun visor rolling her eyes as she struggled to remember, I made a gesture.

 

I held up three fingers on my right hand and one on my left.

 

“Right! Article 3, Clause 1! A hunter registered with a disability is not treated as an awakened person as long as they do not have physical enhancement abilities, and thus is excluded from the targets of hunter management.”

 

Having said that, the grandmother in the green sun visor gave me a secretive wink.

 

She seemed to be saying, ‘I did well, right?’— 

 

‘It’s Article 30, Clause 1, actually.’

 

Well… you did great!

 

I gave them a subtle thumbs-up below my waist.

 

The timing was artistic, wouldn’t you say? Haha.