🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 02
My first death was probably from a concussion.
Probably.
That day, my previous-life self was rushing around doing home visits because of another order from the higher-ups.
“Why is library service usage so low? If this keeps up, our community center will rank last in the district! And what if our budget gets cut? Would that be good? Or bad, Officer?!”
…Bad.
There was only one possible answer.
So why even ask?
I wondered that while carrying stacks of brochures and books up a steep hillside neighborhood, explaining large-print books to elderly residents.
What choice did I have?
When your boss tells you to do something, you do it.
That’s just how work gets created for low-ranking public servants like me.
Grumbling to myself, I climbed the endless uphill road—
“Uh…?”
Then an elderly man’s runaway handcart slammed into me.
I fell backward.
Hit my head.
And died.
The only thing more ridiculous than that death was what happened afterward.
I was reincarnated.
In a hunter novel, I used to enjoy reading.
And somehow, I only remembered that fact now—on my first day of work as a twenty-four-year-old Lee Yu-ji.
The very day I finally landed a job after suffering through countless hardships as an F-Rank Hunter.
Why am I only realizing this now?!
And Team 5?
I couldn’t remember a single thing about Hunter Investigation Unit Team 5.
I’d never even heard the name Lee Yu-ji before.
What kind of nonsense possession story is this?
I was dumbfounded.
The novel I purchased was called:
A Ranker with hidden power saves the world.
Or simply:
H.S.G.
As the title suggests, it was about the protagonist, Choi Woo-jin, who hid his true power while fighting the Daeyeong Guild, a massive evil organization trying to destroy the world.
Along the way, Choi Woo-jin wasn’t exactly a law-abiding citizen.
He often crossed the line into criminal territory, which meant he was constantly being chased by the Hunter Investigation Unit.
The Hunter Investigation Unit.
An independent agency established thirty years ago to investigate crimes committed by Hunters.
Choi Woo-jin always referred to them the same way.
“A bunch of useless idiots.”
The government had created a flashy investigative agency, but never bothered to provide enough manpower or funding.
Ten thousand percent accurate public servant realism.
Still, there were elite investigators who managed to overcome those problems.
People like Kwon Ik-seong, who maintained an arrest rate of 99%.
Ah, Kwon Ik-seong.
My salvation.
My hope.
The shining star of the civil service world.
While reading H.S.G., I’d completely fallen for him as my favorite character.
It wasn’t just because of his ridiculously handsome illustrations.
One particular line had sealed the deal.
“It’s quitting time. We’ll continue the investigation tomorrow.”
…
Our Ik-seong respected working hours.
Our Ik-seong never gave up chasing Choi Woo-jin’s identity, no matter how many times he got outplayed.
Give our Ik-seong a raise already!
Was this punishment for all the times I badmouthed the Hunter Investigation Unit?
A window suddenly appeared before my eyes.
Status Effect Activated: “Nameless Extras in Crime Novels Always Die”
Quest: Find the bomb hidden inside the Hunter Investigation Unit building! (A-Rank)
Reward: 5,000 Gold
Failure: Explode to death
Oh right.
That was it.
The reason neither my name nor Team 5 existed in my memories of the novel.
Because Team 5 disappeared near the beginning of the story.
Every single member died in an explosion.
No wonder I couldn’t remember any of my teammates!
02:59:59
A red timer appeared in the upper-right corner of my vision.
So that’s the countdown until the bomb explodes…
If the building was going to blow up anyway, could I survive by simply leaving?
Time Remaining Until Explosion: 02:57:45
…Yeah, right.
The bigger countdown seemed to mock me.
There was no way a supernatural quest would let me escape that easily.
It would probably drag me back here somehow.
Or just teleport me.
I barely got reincarnated after that stupid death, and now I was about to die in an explosion?
Cold sweat ran down my back.
That was when someone suddenly spoke.
“Wow. Another rookie. Again…”
A tired voice accompanied the sight of a man casually sitting on the edge of my desk.
He had slick features and fairly long hair tied back behind his head.
Smiling lazily, he waved.
“Hey, rookie. I’m Byun Gu-do. My grandfather named me that because he wanted me to become someone who creates good compositions.”
His words sounded friendly.
His expression didn’t.
But compared to him, the guy sitting beside him looked even less welcoming.
A thick pair of glasses.
A hoodie pulled low over his head.
And a headset hanging around his neck.
A headset.
In the office.
…Was this what people called the MZ generation these days?
Byun Gu-do grinned and tapped the headset guy on the shoulder.
“This guy’s my partner.”
The headset guy didn’t react.
“Don’t worry about him.”
Hard not to worry when he’s been glaring at me this whole time.
Byun Gu-do continued.
“Your partner is our team leader. Pretty honored, aren’t you?”
“Huh?”Was my partner the team leader?
So this was like a brand-new employee being assigned directly to work under a department manager?
Seeing my confusion, Byun Gu-do grinned wider.
“What? Don’t like it?”
Ah.
I knew that look.
I’d seen it plenty in my previous life.
My section chief at the community center always wore that expression before giving impossible orders.
It basically meant:
‘Too bad. Just do what you’re told.’
“Of course not. I’m very honored.”
I forced an awkward smile while sweat trickled down my back.
Honored?
Seriously?
My life was literally on the line right now.
Okay.
Think.
No way I’d get reincarnated into this world only to die because I failed the very first quest.
Surely not.
Surely…
…Right?
* * *
The chapter where the bomb appears in H.S.G. was Episode 51.
Maybe it was because I’d gotten into the novel, but I remembered even the exact chapter number.
In Episode 50, Choi Woo-jin discovered evidence linking the Daeyeong Guild to a major crime operation.
The Black Market.
A criminal organization that used Hunters with dimensional storage abilities to distribute illegal weapons and monster byproducts such as “Funny Powder,” a hallucinogenic substance.
And naturally, everything being sold there came from the Daeyeong Guild.
So Choi Woo-jin quietly leaked information about the Black Market to the Hunter Investigation Unit.
He even handed over a witness.
“If you still can’t catch them after I’ve done this much, you’re idiots.”
…
Yes.
The Hunter Investigation Unit was idiots.
But the poor investigators had an excuse!
The witness exploded!
Along with the entire Team 5!
In other words, this bombing was Daeyeong Guild’s attempt to eliminate the witness Choi Woo-jin had handed over.
I looked toward the detention cells connected to Team 5’s office.
The owner of the Black Market. They were targeting him, but to get close enough, they had no choice but to plant the bomb near Team 5’s office.
The original novel never revealed where the bomb was planted.
But it did explain how.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hunter Investigation Unit had a mole inside. The Daeyeong Guild Leader has that kind of influence, and the Hunter Investigation Unit isn’t capable of rooting out someone like that.”
A mole.
Choi Woo-jin had suspected there was a spy within the organization.
I glanced at Byun Gu-do, who was busy on his computer, and Ma Deok-ho, who kept watching me through a reflection as if I was suspicious.
One of them was the mole?
Or maybe my team leader?
“By the way, when is our team leader coming?”
I asked.
Neither of them answered.
Byun Gu-do remained focused on his monitor.
Ma Deok-ho simply turned up the volume on his headset.
With no other choice, I walked over to Byun Gu-do.
What was he doing that had him so busy?
Was he actually the mole?
Suspicious, I leaned closer to look at his monitor.
The screen was covered in bright red rectangular cards.
…
This idiot was playing Go-Stop.
