But why was Lee Tae-rim so hated by Guides and Espers alike? Choi Jiwoon was naturally sociable and had plenty of friends, sure—but for Tae-rim not to have a single one? That was odd. Even the medical staff had treated him like crap.
“What’s got you thinking so hard? Worried? Don’t be. There’s a process, you know—they’re not going to throw you into the field right away. I only mentioned it ‘cause the firearms instructor brought you up. Said you were doing great.”
“I see.”
Had Tae-rim always been that much of a pain in the ass to everyone? He started to wonder.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, ask away.”
“Before I lost my memory… was I the kind of person who cursed at everyone I met and screamed all the time?”
“What? Pfft—hahaha! Where’s that coming from?”
“When I first woke up in the hospital, the doctor yelled at me, like, ‘What kind of performance is it this time?’ He was angry from the start.”
Tae-rim explained that the doctor’s higher-ups—and their higher-ups—had all come down because of the situation, eventually dragging in the Center Director himself. Jung Jae-heon’s eyes went wide.
“Huh? That’s not what I heard.”
“What did you hear?”
“That you woke up and immediately blew up at the doctor, told him off, demanded to speak to someone above him…”
“…Pretty sure I was the one getting talked down to.”
“Ah… well, you know how rumors get exaggerated. Haha…”
“…….”
“Wait, seriously? You didn’t yell or anything?”
“No.”
Silence fell over the Guiding Room. Jung Jae-heon stared at Tae-rim, lips slightly parted in disbelief. Then he began mumbling to himself, looking confused.
“Now that I think about it… You were always calm during external expeditions. Never did anything unnecessary, always deliberate and careful. But the rumors inside the Center made it sound like your personality was… a bit much. So I never really talked to you outside of work. And since I’m an Esper, I don’t see how you live day to day here. Hmm… Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never seen you outside of missions, so I just assumed the rumors were true.”
“I see…”
“Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful. This is actually the first time we’ve had a proper conversation.”
“Right…”
“Probably the same for the rest of the Espers. If you want to know what you used to be like, you’ll have better luck asking the Guides.”
“…I don’t think I really knew any of them.”
“What?”
“Not one Guide has spoken to me since I got back. …Wait, no, there were a few. Guide Lee Yeong-jun, Guide Bae Jieun, and Guide Choi Jiwoon. But that was just for a single day.”
“Oh, right. You were all on the same team, so you must’ve spent a lot of time together. Then why not ask Yeong-jun?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that. Thanks.”
“No need to thank me. Honestly, I should be the one thanking you—you’re guiding me every day.”
Jung Jae-heon encouraged him, saying at the pace Tae-rim was improving, he’d probably regain his original abilities soon. After wrapping up the session, Tae-rim messaged Lee Yeong-jun, asking if he had time to meet. Yeong-jun happened to be free and invited him over to his Guiding Room.
Normally, only S-ranks had personal Guiding Rooms. But even though Choi Jiwoon was only a B-rank, he had one too—because he guided Kwon Hae-beom. As expected from a protagonist, Kwon Hae-beom was powerful enough to rank in the top five among S-rank Espers. The Center bent over backward to accommodate him.
Tae-rim stepped out of his room and walked a short distance to the opposite side of the hall. He stood in front of the door and knocked. He and Lee Yeong-jun shared the same floor, while Bae Jieun and Choi Jiwoon were each assigned to another.
“Bored already?”
Yeong-jun welcomed him with a smile. Tae-rim sat down across from him on the sofa. Two mugs of freshly brewed coffee were already set out on the table.
“I had something I wanted to ask.”
“Go ahead.”
“I’m curious what kind of person I was before I lost my memory.”
“……”
Yeong-jun looked taken aback at first, but quickly collected himself, his expression turning serious as if weighing his words. After a short pause, he spoke.
“When you first came to the Center, you were still young, so you were pretty bright. But over time, you changed… got quieter. Eventually, you barely spoke at all.”
“I see.”
“Yeah.”
Silence fell between them. Yeong-jun looked a bit troubled. It was understandable. A guy known for having a terrible personality loses his memory and then comes back asking what he used to be like—it wasn’t exactly an easy conversation.
“When I woke up in the hospital, they said I screamed at the doctor and demanded to speak to a superior. Did I really? Did I shout and throw a fit? Is that what people are saying?”
“Huh? Oh… yeah, that’s what the rumors say. Man, you’re bold, asking something like that.”
Yeong-jun chuckled awkwardly and let out a sigh.
“That’s strange.”
“What is?”
“I was the one disrespected. I never raised my voice once. So why is that the story going around?”
“Huh?”
Tae-rim calmly explained what had happened. As he spoke, Yeong-jun’s face slowly changed, his expression clouded with uncertainty—like he couldn’t decide whether to believe him or not.
“At the time, I’d already lost my memory. My personality was just like it is now. So, Guide Lee—do you really think someone like this would wake up and start yelling at a total stranger?”
Yeong-jun’s face turned grim. Just like Kim Hye-min had said, Tae-rim’s demeanor had grown calm and serious. Given that, he could say with confidence—no, he didn’t seem like the kind of person who’d do that.
Come to think of it, the rumor was weird. Someone with no memories wakes up in an unfamiliar place and starts screaming at the doctor? That didn’t make any sense. The logical reaction would be fear or confusion, not rage.
With a troubled look, Yeong-jun folded his arms.
“Yeah… when you put it that way, it does seem off.”
“You don’t happen to know where the rumor came from, do you?”
“No idea. It’s a rumor, after all.”
“Right.”
Yeong-jun said he’d even gotten an apology from the doctor and insisted there was no reason for Tae-rim to be misunderstood like that. He offered to clear things up. Tae-rim wasn’t sure how he planned to do that, but thanked him nonetheless.
After the meeting, Tae-rim had a lot to think about. Is this one of those tropes? Where the protagonist you thought was an angel turns out to be the villain…?
But there was no evidence Choi Jiwoon was behind any of it. Maybe there was someone else—some third party—who hated him that much. Honestly, he felt like a detective now. The more he thought of this world as a novel, the wilder his theories became.
What if this isn’t possession? What if I actually time-traveled and just assumed it was?
But that didn’t hold up either. His memories of living as an Omega—of all the discomfort and humiliation—were far too vivid. Life as a Beta now was just… peaceful. Comfortable. Which only made the contrast feel sharper.
Either way, it couldn’t hurt to be careful. He had to keep all possibilities open. Besides, Lee Tae-rim’s original story ended with him dying next year. No harm in being cautious.
***
Lee Tae-rim was assigned to the District 1-8 expedition, just as Jung Jae-heon had authorized.
The other Guide on the mission clearly wasn’t happy about being paired with him, but the Espers didn’t seem to mind. In fact, Team Leader Park Cheol-min openly welcomed Tae-rim in front of the entire group.
“What an honor, getting to work with the famous Guide Lee Tae-rim. I heard your memory still hasn’t returned, so you might not be at your full strength—but hey, muscle memory’s a hell of a thing. It’ll all come back to you once you’re out there!”
The team was made up of two A-rank Espers, four B-ranks, and four C-ranks. As for Guides, it was just Tae-rim and one B-rank Guide. Both were armed with pistols and combat knives, while the Espers, unless they specialized in weapon-based combat, carried nothing.
“No need to get too tense, Guide Lee. This is more like one of those seasonal check-up missions—we’re just here to take a look around.”
The objective was to inspect the remote mountain region and make sure nothing dangerous was lurking—no illegal activity, no fugitives using it as a hideout. The team split into two groups and scattered. The Espers moved through the forest with quiet focus, taking the task seriously.
They’d brushed it off as a routine event, but no one was slacking. Tae-rim, too, stayed sharp—just as he’d been taught—keeping his eyes open and moving in sync with the Espers as they navigated the terrain.
Now that he thought about it, there was a part in the novel where Molt—the anti-government organization behind the curtain—lost control of its ultimate weapon in a research facility buried deep in the forest. The resulting rampage wiped out everyone inside: scientists, support staff, even the Espers patrolling nearby. No one made it out.
The novel hadn’t gone into much detail. It only briefly described that this was how the final weapon had come into existence. Codenamed K, it had the terrifying ability to swallow everything in darkness. Even Kwon Hae-beom had struggled to bring it down.
If Tae-rim knew when and where K went berserk, he could’ve captured it before Molt ever got to it. What a missed opportunity.
BOOOOOOM!
The thought had barely formed when a deafening explosion ripped through the forest. The ground trembled violently. Flames shot up into the sky.
