Chapter 7 …
“…And with that, Investigator Lee Yu-ji was awarded a commendation and prize money.”
The next morning.
I had been worried I’d get scolded for letting myself be taken hostage for no reason.
But instead, I got good news.
Technically speaking, bringing Lulu into the building during work hours was already a violation of regulations.
To make it worse, during yesterday’s investigation with the 1st Team leader, I had answered like this:
“Why did you bring a detection dog into the building?”
“I realized I forgot Lulu’s dog food…”
“Then you could’ve just brought the food.”
“…You’re right?”
“…?”
The look on Ik-seong’s face back then.
He adored Lulu, yet looked at me with such contempt!
‘I’d rather go back to being the dog you petted yesterday!’
“Just… go inside.”
Considering how clueless I must’ve looked when I was with Lulu, I could guess exactly what kind of image Ik-seong now had of me in his head.
But what was I supposed to say—
“Oh, I brought the dog because I thought there might be a bomb in the building”?
Please.
‘Besides, having an explosive enter a Hunters’ Defense Bureau building in the first place is already insane.’
This was the kind of scandal that could shake the bureau’s very existence.
‘I saw this morning the security guard got dismissed…’
Of course he did.
So the higher-ups decided to go with a story instead:
“During routine inspection, 5th Team discovered the explosive.”
Not:
“A clueless rookie who couldn’t remember dog food wandered in and randomly found a bomb.”
And the prize money?
Obviously, it was to shut me up.
Deposit Received
+50,000,000 won
…Even for hush money, that was a lot.
T-this much?
Now that I thought about it, Hunters at the bureau earned more from prize money than their base salary, but I never knew the amounts were this high.
Time to use this money to pay debts, interest, and survive for a while.
I still had the 500 million won reward for clearing my status ailment, but paying off my bank loans all at once would look suspicious.
‘Because my job title is, of all things, civil servant.’
Civil servants get investigated just for winning a toaster at a raffle.
If five hundred million suddenly fell from the sky?
I’d practically be inviting a tax audit.
That 500 million… I planned to use through an “alternative route.”
“Wow~ Lucky you, rookie. I used to make decent money off prize rewards too.”
Byeon Gu-do chimed in from the side.
“Is the prize money always this high?”
“More or less? Actually, that’s not even a lot. The criminal you caught was rated D-class, so you get around that much.”
Then how much did Team 1 earn catching A-class and B-class criminals?
So Ik-seong… was more money-hungry than I thought?
Wait.
If prize money is this high, every case adds a chunk to your yearly income…
No wonder newbies don’t last long.
Not because the job was too dangerous—
—but because the salary was garbage.
I finally discovered the reason for the horror stories about 5th Team’s turnover rate.
“Anyway, you’ll do fine. Saw your kicks yesterday—weren’t you a competitor in high school?”
“Yes.”
Before awakening, I really believed I would succeed as a taekwondo athlete.
“Then you might know our team leader. He was also—”
Before Byeon Gu-do could finish, Pi So-won cut in.
“Rookie, item-issued delivery came. Pick it up.”
Team leader? What about him?
I thought of Pi Team Leader’s unbelievable marksmanship yesterday.
With skills like that he could work at a major guild… so why does he have no results?
Hunter Defense Bureau, 5th Team—
Nothing about them made sense.
‘But for me… this might be perfect.’
Because I had an EX-rank skill now.
And not just any skill—
“Extra Possessor.”
Suspicious as hell.
If I ended up under someone as sharp as Ik-seong, he would probably see through me.
But quitting the bureau wasn’t an option either, not after yesterday’s weird “status ailment.”
If my “Extra” title really pulled me into crime-related incidents…
then it was safer to belong somewhere that legally punished criminals.
I stepped up to Pi So-won.
He placed a pair of handcuffs and a smart-watch-like device on the table.
Items I recognized.
…Finally.
A real sign of being accepted.
Handcuffs—actually magic restraints, blocking the use of mana.
Smart Watch—a location tracker for agents with an integrated call system.
“You must respond to calls 24/7, 365 days a year. If you don’t, agents will assume something happened and break your bedroom window on the way in.”
Hearing that suddenly made it feel like shackles…
But I still grinned as I put the watch on.
“Yes.”
“Why do you look happy? Most people hate that.”
Still smiling, I answered:
“…Because it looks cool.”
I always wanted something like this.
Cool.
Like a ranger in an action movie.
When I raised my wrist and grinned, Pi So-won’s expression twisted strangely.
He looked just like Ik-seong did in the interrogation room.
After a moment, he leaned back in his chair and stared.
“You.”
“…Yes?”
“Don’t try too hard.”
“What do you—”
“And don’t call me partner.”
His sleepy eyes narrowed sharply.
A warning.
I’ve never even called him partner.
Why the attitude?
Then—
My wrist buzzed, but the sound rang in my ears, not from the watch.
A magic item, huh.
Other team members checked their wrists too.
“Dispatch.”
Pi So-won pressed the button and took a call.
No earpiece—calls connected directly through the watch.
“Yes. We’re on our way.”
He hung up, then flinched when he met my eyes.
Well…
I was a little excited.
For the first time, I felt like a real investigator.
Pi So-won muttered under his breath—
“…Looks just like Lulu when you ask her if she wants to go for a walk.”
I pretended I didn’t hear that.
With a sigh, he told Byeon Gu-do and Ma Deok-ho:
“This time, I’ll take the rookie.”
He sounded like a dog owner being dragged outside for a walk he didn’t want.
And honestly—
I wanted Ik-seong as my partner, not him…
A short while later.
When we arrived, all excitement vanished from my face.
A blood-soaked classroom.
A student’s mangled corpse in a school uniform.
Another student—also in uniform—drenched in blood from head to toe.
And then…
me and Pi Team Leader, staring at them.
Pi Team Leader smiled at me, struggling not to gag.
“How is it? Still having fun?”
Yep.
My team leader is absolutely a psychopath.
But the bigger problem was—
The bloody boy standing in front of the corpse.
The one who, to anyone’s eyes, was obviously the killer.
The name tag on his chest read:
Kang Wol-yeon.
That brat was a named villain in the novel!
