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Chapter : 32
Idoojin grabbed the paper handed to him by Yeonhwa and clutched the back of his neck.
“Who messed with the appointment order?”
Since he was in charge of handling these documents himself, he immediately noticed something was off.
“It’s already a problem that a rookie personally brought an official notice directly from the Personnel Office to the Inspection Unit… but what’s with this verification seal?”
This wasn’t a transfer from one department to another. A rookie, who had just completed the training program, personally carried the handover document and had seals stamped on it?
“Moreover, these verification offices aren’t even related to the Inspection Unit!”
Oh no!
Hearing this, Dohyungrye, the head of the Inspection Unit, wanted nothing more than to cover her ears, pretend she hadn’t heard, and run away.
But what could she do?
Quietly, she walked over to Idoojin’s side and cleared her throat.
“How exactly did you get hold of this document…?”
Yeonhwa answered, noticing that Dohyungrye was struggling not to meet her gaze.
“Someone left it at the Grand Office yesterday afternoon.”
“Do you know who it was?”
“No. They just grabbed whoever was coming out of the Grand Office and asked them to deliver it.”
“So it was a deliberate act, then.”
Dohyungrye scanned the faces of the unit members peeking from behind her.
Several of them seemed a bit guilty under her suspicious gaze.
Everyone looked away in various directions.
Suppressing the urge to smack her forehead, Dohyungrye nudged Idoojin’s side, who mirrored her expression.
Idoojin grimaced but opened his mouth reluctantly.
“Still… breaking down the door as a first impression is a bit much. But it’s true that the seniors’ initiation rites were excessive too… How about this? Let’s just pretend it never happened…”
“Do you see this?”
Yeonhwa pointed to the part of the appointment order still in his hand, the section listing the verification offices.
“Why…?”
Idoojin spread the document and examined it carefully.
“Seomulgo, Japmulgo, the discarded archive…”
Yeonhwa recited each one, as if asking, Do you still not get it?, and then stared Idoojin squarely in the eyes.
Her eyes, pitch black and icy, evoked the depth of a midwinter night, and Idoojin shivered and stepped back.
He would have retreated even further if Dohyungrye hadn’t quickly reached out to stop him.
Swallowing hard, Idoojin looked at Yeonhwa as she continued.
“Those offices aren’t directly related to the Inspection Unit and don’t hold any real power. At first glance, it may seem they were chosen to avoid unnecessary trouble during an initiation, but the reality is the opposite.”
Dohyungrye, nodding along at first, gaped when Yeonhwa began explaining.
Idoojin tried to interject, but Yeonhwa shook her head.
Her tone remained calm, but the content was shocking.
“Departments managing old documents, miscellaneous items, and things to be discarded don’t handle large sums of money, but it’s easy to siphon off small valuables, and such cases happen frequently.”
Now, imagine an Inspection Unit member, however minor their influence, appearing in front of clerks in such offices with a strange document and asking them to stamp it.
What would they think?
“Wouldn’t they assume it’s a bribe or some kind of coercion?”
If Yeonhwa had accepted the appointment order blindly and asked for the seals, gossip and suspicion would have been inevitable.
And if anyone tried to blame someone, well…
“The senior who orchestrated this would just claim it was only an initiation and they didn’t expect it to turn out this way. Even if higher-ups found out, the deed was done, and it couldn’t be undone.”
It was clear just from the earlier actions of the deputy head.
“That’s why there are wronged parties, but no one guilty.”
When Yeonhwa revealed this was a calculated scheme, not just rookie hazing, the atmosphere in the Inspection Unit grew icy.
She could feel the hostility sharpening, but she didn’t care.
If she had feared being hated, how could she have made her first impression by breaking down a door?
“Some of you might still wonder how a rookie could be so reckless, but think differently. The first impression was smashing this door. If a second offense tried to wrong me, imagine what would break next.”
Crack!
She pressed down on a piece of the door fragment under her foot, twisting the thick wooden plank.
Had it shattered completely, it would have made sense.
The squeaking, resistant sound stopped, and everyone looked puzzled.
Even though Yeonhwa lifted her foot, the shape of the fragment remained intact.
I definitely heard it pressing down hard…
As they all silently wondered, a small puff of dust triggered a strong cough from someone.
“Ah-choo!”
The faint air disturbance reached the fragment of the door.
Swish…!
The door fragment split along the grain, collapsing in shape.
Shards fell like threads across the floor.
“Whoa!”
“W-what? How did it…!”
The shocked gasps broke the silence.
This technique required both inner skill and delicate handling, yet she executed it effortlessly.
No one even tried to show off or challenge her—it would have been impossible to handle.
With this single move, she had broken their morale and removed any chance of resistance.
“Anyone want to try now? No need to delay—just go ahead.”
She could show the results immediately.
Having planted her final wedge, the Inspection Unit members instinctively kept their distance.
Yeonhwa was satisfied that she didn’t need to deal with any troublemakers.
Right now, I don’t need a good junior or a competent rookie.
Her unusually forceful display meant external observers would likely wait and watch rather than intervene.
“If no one objects, can we say my initiation is over?”
Receiving no answer, Yeonhwa singled out the highest-ranking person in the unit.
“Unit Head, am I officially an Inspection Unit member now?”
Who could say otherwise?
“Yes. You are. I vouch for it. No one will bother to confirm it again.”
If anyone did, it would be because they were foolish or wanted to act heavy-handedly.
Dohyungrye, intimidated by Yeonhwa’s sharp presence, nudged Idoojin again.
Idoojin glanced at his unreliable superior and nodded.
“You know that Inspection Unit members often act independently, so you can request an investigator to help with clerical and practical tasks, right?”
They could assign someone internally or personally designate someone.
Idoojin subtly pointed to Jiwonhyeong standing behind Yeonhwa.
“Yes, I came with my assigned investigator, so please confirm immediately,” she replied.
She didn’t delay, knowing giving prior notice would prevent later disputes.
Jiwonhyeong stepped forward and saluted, but with everyone focused on Yeonhwa, no one paid him much attention.
He returned to his place calmly, as expected.
With that, all procedures were complete.
Dohyungrye, looking relieved, tried to step back, but Yeonhwa called her.
“What should I do now?”
Rookies were rare in the Inspection Unit…
Existing members had fixed duties and often used inspections as an excuse to pass time or act according to their abilities.
Idoojin, flushed and agitated, spoke before Dohyungrye could respond.
“Do whatever you want! The Inspection Unit has the right to investigate anything suspicious. As long as you can take responsibility for the results, who would dare stop you?”
He tried to sound threatening, but she answered calmly.
“Thank you.”
Idoojin shook his head and quickly pulled Dohyungrye back to avoid being caught again.
“She’s not someone you can treat casually…”
“…Ah, how did she do that…”
Once the Unit Head and deputy left, time in the Inspection Unit resumed.
It felt like something incredible had happened… but Yeonhwa’s first day in the Inspection Unit had only just begun.
