The Civil Servant Who Conceals Her Power Is Too Good at Possession Chapter 66

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There are moments when intuition transcends reason.

 

Even when he does not activate the skill, the ‘Concentration’ skill affects his five senses, draining his mana little by little every time.

 

At times, he felt that possessing such a skill was a curse.

 

Kwon Ikseong’s awakening had come at a very young age. 

 

Sixth grade of elementary school. 

 

Because such an early awakening made him an irregular, he became a subject of special management by the government.

 

His awakening was kept strictly confidential from the public, and his family tried their best to raise him as normally as possible.

 

‘I made sure to say during PE class that you always run slower than the others and that your heart hurts, so you can skip soccer time.’ 

 

‘I want to play soccer too….’

 

When he grumbled, his father would grin and stroke his hair.

 

‘Let’s play all you want with Dad after I get off work.’

 

A kind father.

 

A mother who smiled warmly while looking at that father. 

 

The truth of that picture-perfect, harmonious family was quickly exposed.

 

‘Hello…?’

 

The scent of that perfume came from his father’s secretary.

 

The heavy scent of perfume that had been on his father’s jacket a few days ago. 

 

The expensive perfume listed on a receipt his father had dropped from his wallet even before that.

 

And above all, the date printed on it was his mother’s birthday.

 

‘Dad, did you go to this Noona that day? You said you had a hiking club gathering that day.’ 

 

When he learned of his father’s lies.

 

When he was the very first to notice the corruption of a teacher he respected. 

 

When he kept seeing through the hypocrisy of his close friends.

 

‘If it weren’t for you, this never would have happened. Couldn’t you have trusted your father a little more? Because of you, the whole family is suffering like this!’

 

And when he saw their unapologetic attitudes.

 

‘It’s filthy.’ 

 

A loathing for humanity seethed within him.

 

A weariness of the world set in. 

 

No matter how good a person seemed, everyone ultimately had a rock bottom. 

 

Once he sees that bottom—once the money, desire, and social standing filling that person vanish—he can already anticipate what they will truly look like.

 

That is… 

 

It felt as if he already knew that person’s future.

 

Can one love a world that is destined for total destruction?

 

He didn’t know.

 

Some people would love the world regardless, but at least in his case, it wasn’t so. 

 

Kwon Ikseong lived surrounded by those who harbored ruin within them.

 

Ironically for him, the method to endure that life was to become an ‘investigator.’ 

 

To continuously save a world he knew was destined for ruin.

 

No matter how kind someone appears, there is a wicked part to them; everyone has a rock bottom.

 

Even when that point choked him, he executed wrongdoers and rescued victims. 

 

He didn’t know the reason.

 

It wasn’t that he felt a sense of accomplishment in his work.

 

Mister Hunter. Thank you for saving me.

 

Even when he received a letter written in crooked handwriting.

 

[I lived thanks to Investigator Kwon Ikseong.]

 

Even when he watched interviews with survivors.

 

His heart remained merely still.

 

That person, and that child too, likely harbor some kind of ‘ruin’ inside.

 

A filthy, hideous side that would be more than enough to perfectly destroy themselves and everything around them.

 

While thinking such thoughts, only one force drove him.

 

Just because.

 

Just because it was the right thing to do.

 

Just because it was correct.

 

There is no world where great good ultimately defeats great evil.

 

He knew that too. 

 

People thought he was practicing justice, but in his mind, he had no interest in something as grand as justice.

 

He simply didn’t want to go insane.

 

He simply didn’t want to descend into the abyss with the thought that since everyone is in the mire, it would be fine to sink even deeper.

 

‘What your dad said, he only said it because he was angry. Your mom and dad splitting up is not your fault. It’s your dad’s fault. You’re a good person, Ikseong. You are—’ 

 

His mother’s words, which could never be finished, came to mind.

 

Whether what remained at the end was resentment or something else, he could not know.

 

He wasn’t even curious.

 

As if clutching a desperate lifeline, he clung to the task of catching criminals.

 

At the end of that clinging, what was it that he wanted to see?

 

What he wanted to see while looking at the faces of those countless criminals.

 

‘I’m sorry.’

 

Did he want to see a face saying those words with absolute sincerity?

 

Did he want to know that there are humans who kneel before a victim and truly repent?

 

And so—

 

‘You’re a guy who can’t trust anyone.’

 

Did he want to deny his father’s words? 

 

But his father’s words were gradually realized, like a prophecy in a Greek tragedy.

 

By his very self, who was bound to those words. 

 

He investigated without trusting anyone and thus reached his current position.

 

And yet—

 

‘But still, you trust them. Other people. Without fail.’ 

 

He had heard those words in an unexpected place.

 

Round eyes, and a somewhat gentle impression that brought a puppy to mind.

 

Unlike her face, which didn’t seem to suit the profession of an investigator, Lee Yuji had once even entered the athletes’ village.

 

That woman had said those words to him.

 

And now, that woman was before his eyes.

 

“…Investigator Lee Yuji.”

 

“Yes… Yes…? Yes… Ye-Yes…?” 

 

Investigator Lee Yuji, who had been to the infirmary after suddenly fainting, sat before him, fidgeting with her fingers and avoiding his gaze.

 

This was the behavior of someone hiding something, visible to anyone, even those without his exceptional intuition.

 

And she was currently in a completely broken state, as if she were terrible at hiding things. 

 

“That… uh…? Uh? Uh… um… W-Why… am I wearing a ring?” 

 

Like a glitched computer, she couldn’t even look at him properly as she pointed at her own finger and asked him. 

 

To be precise, she was pointing at the special-issue equipment—the handcuffs—latched onto her finger.

 

He stared intently at her flustered face with a calm expression and replied.

 

“I did it because I thought you might run away.”

 

“The one running away wasn’t me, it was Unit Chief Cha Jeonhyeok…”

 

“Suspect Cha Jeonhyeok is being guarded by investigators outside his hospital room. His life is not in danger. I suppose it’s thanks to… someone.”

 

Her pupils began to tremble wildly. 

 

And in that moment, he realized.

 

The day Lulu, who usually recognized him from afar and approached, strangely hesitated in front of him.

 

That is, why Lulu, who had been brought into the HIB building on her first day of work and ended up sniffing a bomb by chance, had acted so strangely.

 

Over the face of the creature that had whimpered with a strange expression whenever he touched it, Investigator Lee Yuji’s face overlapped.

 

“Ha…”

 

A hollow laugh, unlike him, escaped his lips.

 

Exhaling as if losing his breath, he ruffled his hair slightly and looked at her.

 

Her eyes still could not meet his properly.

 

Staring into that panicked face, he became curious.

 

‘What would your ruin be?’

 

He asked in a low voice.

 

“Could you be…… the Gamer?”

 

“No!”

 

She jumped up, waving her hands.

 

Her face was turning bright red.

 

“Then why did you do such a thing?”

 

“Ah, well, that’s because I was trying to catch a criminal!”

 

“…So you’re saying it is true. That Investigator Lee Yuji possessed me.”

 

“…!”

 

Well.

 

To be honest, he didn’t know if he trusted her.

 

But at least one thing was certainly worth believing.

 

This woman’s ‘ruin’ was truly…… transparent.

 

“…Did I just fall for a leading question?”

 

She asked in a dejected voice. Kwon Ikseong suppressed a laugh that almost leaked out and said.

 

“It appears so.”