Chapter 31: The Trend is Civil Service (2)

Can vows be made with falsehoods? I pondered deeply.

Jamsuni mentioned that breaking a vow would bring terrible retribution, and the Celestial Immortals believed my false vow so thoroughly that they got a taste of their own medicine, just like rice becomes sticky when pounded.

From such circumstances, I deduced that making a vow with falsehoods was not possible. Then, this man must truly be the director of the Anomaly Response Department.

The director of the Anomaly Response Department, no less.

A director would be a high-ranking official, just below the head of the department.

And from what I've seen in the news, even the division chiefs under the director were formidable figures. A mere division chief had the audacity to reprimand ministers from other departments and nag at CEOs of major companies.

But to think this man is a director, ranking even above such division chiefs? 

Could saving the life of such a director possibly earn me a recommendation or significant advantage in interviews?

Could this be my moment?

Is the day I escape unemployment finally upon me?

"Ah, the director of the Anomaly Response Department. Why would such a person be here?"

My lips curled into a smile involuntarily.

A government official, with the four major insurances and a pension guaranteed.

The most crucial point was the job security, almost impossible to get fired from.

Even if my lack of supernatural abilities were exposed, I could just brush it off saying, 'Well, I'm a government employee. So what are you going to do about it?' Think they can fire a government employee just because I lack supernatural abilities?

Moreover, an employee of the Anomaly Response Department.

The elite of the civil service.

A place I never imagined someone as inept as me could enter.

"You, maintaining your composure in this situation, seem like a strong supernatural being. Am I right?"

The gentleman who introduced himself as Director Lee Dok-jun murmured. 

I smiled and entertained his comment. 

He's going to be my superior in the future; best to be polite.

"In a way, you could say I'm the strongest on earth."

"The strongest on earth?!"

I wasn't lying.

If it comes to a fight without supernatural powers, I'm unmatched.

Hearing this, Director Lee Dok-jun immediately grasped my hand.

"If you're such a powerful psychic, then you must be aware of the disdain and contempt our Anomaly Response Department faces."

"Disdain, you say?"

This is my future workplace, after all. Who would dare look down upon it?

Whoever it might be, they wouldn't dare say such things in front of me.

"Still, could you possibly lend me your assistance? I'll make it worth your while."

"What exactly would I need to do?"

No matter how desperate I am for a job, I can't accept if it's something dangerously out of my league. I'll listen first and then decide.

"There's something around here that looks like a transmission tower. Actually, it must be a transmission tower."

"A transmission tower?"

Was there something like that around here?

I don't recall seeing anything of the sort.

"We need to destroy that transmission tower. I beg of you, help me."

"If it's made of steel, well, I can crack concrete with my bare hands, but I can't break steel."

"No, I can take care of the transmission tower. Please, I beg you to help me. I'll compensate you generously." Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ ɴovᴇlꜰirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

So, I just need to wander around the neighborhood, find something like a transmission tower, and I'll get compensated? If it's a reward from the government, it will surely add bonus points to my civil service exam.

I might even be directly hired as a special case. Of course, since it's a request from a director-level official, it seemed likely there was a catch.

But if it's a trap related to ghosts,

Well, if I can see ghosts, I'm not too worried because I want to see them.

I opened my mouth.

"Let's give it a shot."

* * *

Lee Dok-jun, supported by Yoo Hajin, moved towards the transmission tower.

The strange steel tower that seemed to absorb cars through the navigation system.

That was the transmission tower.

"We need to get rid of that tower before it gets any bigger."

"So, what's the method for removing it?"

A man who looked ordinary on the outside but possessed monstrously strong psychic abilities spoke. 

Various anomalies of this high-level strange phenomenon, which strives to kill people, vanished in an instant as they tried to reach this man.

Anomalies that turned people into grotesque chunks of meat disappeared as soon as they touched him, shrinking and vanishing. And paintings that imprisoned people's minds in hellish realms tore apart and disappeared without a trace as soon as he glanced at them.

"You're strong. To have broken through all of this."

"I, I am pretty strong, yeah. Gosh, there's so much of it. Are these enemies? Anyway, there are. And I can see them clearly!!!"

This must be the deployment of power that only those who have fully awakened their fundamental vow, the transcendent psychic beings, can perform. 

Unlike other psychics who have only a vague understanding of their fundamental vow, those at the transcendent level and beyond can use ultimate techniques of their abilities, such as materializing their spirit form or resonating with mystical forces.

It must be a defensive power deployment.

Lee Dok-jun thought so and asked again.

"Did you ask about how to remove the transmission tower?"

"Yes. Do you carry something like a bomb?"

"A bomb, you say? Something like that."

Lee Dok-jun pulled out a small keypad from his pocket.

The keypad shimmered, black as obsidian.

"One of the legacies of the Heavenly Demon, the Forbidden Artifact."

"The Heavenly Demon's legacy? It looks like a keyboard?"

"Its form has adapted to the modern era. This is a relic left by an absolute supernatural being who fought a war against all the psychics in the world 500 years ago. You must have heard of the Heavenly Demon."

Of course, Yoo Hajin only knew the term Heavenly Demon and had never heard of the Forbidden Artifact.

There wasn't much information left about the entity known as Mara Papiyas and the Heavenly Demon.

'To learn about the Heavenly Demon, is that cult the only option?'

Fortunately, before Yoo Hajin could inquire about the Forbidden Artifact, the director explained it first.

"Right, it's understandable to not know about the Forbidden Artifact. Anything related to the Heavenly Demon from 500 years ago is virtually classified. This Forbidden Artifact is an artifact that activates by consuming enlightenment. The more it's used, the more it weakens the user's supernatural abilities. But in exchange, it wields a power unlike any other artifact."

"Oh? So what happens to someone whose supernatural abilities are completely depleted by using the Forbidden Artifact?"

Upon Yoo Hajin's question, Lee Dok-jun's face hardened as he responded.

"Their soul vanishes. It's called obliteration. The soul is sustained by enlightenment, and enlightenment is essentially supernatural ability. A soul without any supernatural ability cannot exist."

Yoo Hajin was disappointed to hear this.

He had thought that if enlightenment completely disappeared, people like him, who can't see ghosts, would emerge.

'But then, if using it depletes supernatural abilities, and I already lack them, doesn't that mean I can use it infinitely without any risk?'

Yoo Hajin looked at the Forbidden Artifact with greedy eyes.

After walking for a while,

A garden that appeared so warm and peaceful unfolded to the right, while on the left, dozens of girls stirred a man's desires by either shyly hiding their bodies or pretending to be shy while exposing themselves.

"Ah..."

Lee Dok-jun was exhausted.

He wanted to rest, even if just for a little while.

Thus, he took a step toward the garden.

Internally, he deceived himself, claiming he was moving away to avoid playing with those girls.

Perhaps, this anomaly was designed to provoke such thoughts.

He knew he shouldn't go any further...

At that moment, someone grabbed him.

"Director, is that the transmission tower over there? The cars look like they've merged into some kind of superconductor."

"Ah, yes, that's right."

The one who had grabbed him was the man supporting him. 

The fact that he wasn't swayed in the slightest by the allure of a high-level anomaly, as if he couldn't see anything at all, would have been admirable if the man wasn't a powerful psychic.

Director Lee Dok-jun acknowledged the man supporting him.

This man wasn't just physically strong.

He was also endowed with tremendous mental fortitude.

With his assessment of the man complete, Director Lee Dok-jun felt compelled to ask a question that had been lingering deep in his heart.

"Why are you helping me so much?"

Powerful psychics despise the government of South Korea. They say the country should fall and be replaced by a new government established by them.

If the leaders of Cheonji hadn't intervened, the government might have already been overthrown and a new state established.

"Our government binds you with laws."

No matter how powerful, all psychics must abide by the law.

That was the will of the South Korean government.

However, just because of that reason, powerful psychics sought opportunities to overthrow the government. So, Director Lee Dok-jun regretted his words the moment they left his mouth.

'All powerful psychics are prideful and cruel. To make such a mistake...'

If this person took offense, he might abandon him right there, and then he would be left to suffer and die at the hands of this anomaly. But that wasn't the most important thing right now.

The transmission tower had to be destroyed at all costs.

However, it was impossible without the help of this psychic.

So, Director Lee Dok-jun was about to kneel and offer an apology for everything, but the words that came from the man's mouth stopped him in his tracks.

"Supernatural beings must abide by the law too."

Yoo Hajin said with a serious face,

Why would someone as high-ranking as Director Lee Dok-jun suddenly throw such a question?

Of course, it had to be an interview.

Yoo Hajin realized he was already in the middle of a special recruitment interview.

'It was strange to see someone of the Director's stature rolling around alone, caught up in an anomaly without any subordinates. At first, I thought it might be some kind of trap, but this is a disguised interview. The real opportunity has come. I must make statements that are pro-government.'

Having finished his thoughts, Yoo Hajin spoke up.

"Do psychics come into this world and grow up all by themselves? It's because society exists that a helpless baby can grow up safely and become a strong psychic."

Yoo Hajin said with a smile.

And the Director was moved by his words.

To respond with such words to his own impolite remark.

In the six years since awakening his supernatural sight, this was the first time he had met a psychic who was kind, strong, and good-hearted.

"If the country known as South Korea didn't exist, about a quarter of the psychics who now boast about their strength wouldn't have grown up safely. If they understand this, then abiding by the law is natural, and they should think about maintaining this country with their powers."

After finishing his statement, Yoo Hajin silently applauded himself.

With such pro-government remarks, he must have scored some points with the Director, right?

Ah, the experience of having been to over a hundred interviews really shows.

"Truly, I'm grateful for your work."

Hearing this, Director Lee Dok-jun briefly lifted his head before lowering it again. Everything he was experiencing was being transmitted to the command center of the Anomaly Response Department through a black box.

It was a tradition among the department's employees to collect information about anomalies, even at the cost of their own lives. 

Information about the man before him had likely already been relayed.

Now, all he hoped for was that the other employees of the Anomaly Response Department would know that such a kind-hearted psychic existed and that they wouldn't lose hope.

And so, they had arrived in front of the bizarre transmission tower made of intertwined cars. Looking at the tower, Director Lee Dok-jun murmured.

"You, you're truly someone I admire. It's a shame we only met now."

"Thank you for your kind words."

Yoo Hajin thought with a smile.

This is almost like a guaranteed pass.

'Harin told me not to get involved with psychics, and there are no strong psychics among the civil servants. All the strong ones are associated with clans or sects. The civil service, huh? It's exactly the kind of organization I've been looking for.'

Yoo Hajin could almost see the civil service certificate in his hands.

He began to ponder what he would buy with his first paycheck.

At that moment, Director Lee Dok-jun pulled out the black keypad from his pocket.

It was the same keypad he had mentioned as the Forbidden Artifact.

Holding the keypad, Director Lee Dok-jun said,

"Now, I'm off to meet my end. Leave my body here and go on without me."

Yoo Hajin's jaw dropped at the interviewer's sudden declaration of his own demise.

Could it be that this man had overused the Forbidden Artifact, losing almost all his abilities and now standing on the brink of extinction?

"What?"

Yoo Hajin's vision of his civil service certificate was about to be torn to shreds.

He had to prevent that at all costs.

"Wait, stop!!!"

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

[TN: You can support the translation and read 5 chapters ahead of the release here on Patreon: /Bill94 ]