Chapter 88
“Yoon Cheong, there’s something I’m curious about.”
Even after sending Ye Han-seo, who had delivered the shocking news, back to the classroom, I couldn’t bring myself to ask Yoon Cheong for a while.
I had no idea how to react if Yoon Cheong didn’t give the answer I was expecting.
When Ji Yeohoon asked what Ye Han-seo had come for, I only told him that I had some things to think about, without being able to explain properly.
I was aware that I shouldn’t take too much time, but there was only one reason I was afraid to ask right away.
‘I’ll do what I need to do even without that.’
That was Yoon Cheong, who would throw himself into danger as if it were natural.
At that time, I didn’t think about Yoon Cheong’s situation because I was so focused on the image of Ji Yeohoon as the hero who blocked Gate explosions with strong telekinetic power, and Yoon Cheong as the Association’s representative Esper chasing him.
I was the one who handed him a useless knife and told him to take out the culprit.
But as soon as the thought occurred to me that this might not have been done of Yoon Cheong’s own will, I became confused.
Clearly, Gate explosions only occurred at Gates being raided under the Association’s supervision.
From my perspective, having worked at the Association, I remember it as an extremely significant incident.
I clearly remember sensational headlines like “Chaehwa’s Raids: Are They Really Safe?” or “Dark Shadow Cast Over the Association” being posted everywhere at that time.
Although they were supervised by the Association, many raids were conducted by other guilds like Calling, where Ji Yeohoon was, so I had been insisting, “It’s not just our raids that are exploding, so what’s the big deal!”
But it was hard to argue there was a reason when Ji Yeohoon, who had been identified as the culprit, had such a strong villain image at the time.
And I was the first victim too.
I didn’t want to suspect the Association or Chaehwa negatively.
After all, it was the first workplace I had ever been part of, and knowing they were trying to create good conditions for Guides, I tried to gloss over any suspicions I had without thinking too deeply.
But once holes started appearing in the tower of these thoughts, it collapsed in an instant.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Ah, just thinking.”
I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t open my mouth for quite a while. I thought that if I didn’t ask this time either, my response might be too late.
I tried to calm the anxiety that was building up.
“Is there a problem? Moon Soo-young, your expression is completely…”
“Completely what?”
“Like you’re sending me off to my death or something…”
You hit the nail on the head, you fool.
“What nonsense are you talking about? Where are you going after graduation? You know I’m preparing to be a freelancer.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I’m preparing specifically because I don’t think you’ll go to Calling. I need to know where you’re going so I can check the Gate raid participation rules. Each guild is different, you know.”
This was the reason I had been researching for the past three days after talking with Ye Han-seo.
The conditions for outside Guides to join raids vary by guild, so it was a good excuse.
“Calling is still my first choice. It’s the best place and I’m familiar with it.”
“What’s your second choice?”
“Hmm… Well, I’m still thinking about it, but…”
During that brief moment Yoon Cheong was contemplating, I kept praying inside.
Please, anything but that guild.
“From what I saw last time, Spiral or Chaun might be better.”
“Spiral? Chaun?”
“It’s more comfortable with guilds that raid quickly. When I raided with them in middle school, it wasn’t bad, and Chaun is fast with their raids. They’re also ranked. These days I occasionally get contacted. Seems like guilds are actively looking for Espers.”
“I see… You’re surprisingly impatient, so that might suit you.”
Not a single mention of Chaehwa.
Feeling relieved, I sighed.
“What? Moon Soo-young, why are you so relieved?”
“It’s not like that, you punk.”
“That was totally an ‘I’m completely relieved’ expression, though?”
“Why are you so perceptive?”
“Because I’ve been watching you all this time. Why? Is something worrying you?”
“No particular reason.”
There was no point in bringing up Chaehwa now.
I need to make sure Yoon Cheong doesn’t think about Chaehwa at all.
Still, I needed to talk to Ji Yeohoon about this separately, without Yoon Cheong around.
“I’m having lunch with Ji Yeohoon.”
“I can come too.”
“I need to talk to him about something. And can you keep an eye on Ye Han-dam for me?”
“Why him?”
“During yesterday’s afternoon class with the triplets, all three of them got pretty bad burns, right? He seems to be struggling a bit with controlling his ability.”
“Wasn’t his grade already confirmed?”
“Since he’s an explosive type, he seems to have difficulty controlling it as he wants. It’s easier for you to help him.”
At my request to watch him, Yoon Cheong looked at me with a complicated expression.
After being speechless for a moment, Yoon Cheong let out a deep sigh.
“Could you stop checking on other Espers too…”
“He’s our classmate.”
My purpose was just to place Yoon Cheong elsewhere for a bit.
Anyway, if he’s near Ye Han-dam, Oh Ji-hyun, who wants to eat lunch together, would be there, and the triplets who were talking about eating together today because of yesterday’s incident would be there too.
“And check if there’s anything strange, too.”
“Ye Han-dam?”
“Yeah. Ye Han-seo came to me the other day. He said something was strange but he couldn’t explain what exactly.”
It’s true that he came, but I didn’t tell Yoon Cheong the exact reason.
As soon as I showed signs of trying to figure out what was strange, Yoon Cheong immediately nodded.
“Let me know what was said during lunch. As you know, these days Ye Han-dam doesn’t spend much time with Guides other than Oh Ji-hyun.”
“Got it.”
Good. At least I’ve separated Yoon Cheong for now.
When lunchtime came, Yoon Cheong immediately approached Ye Han-dam, and I took Ji Yeohoon, who had come to the classroom, to the dormitory.
“You deliberately separated from Yoon Cheong hyung, right?”
“Yes.”
Instead of going to the cafeteria, I took out the lunch boxes I had ordered as snack substitutes, and Ji Yeohoon unwrapped the packaging.
I was about to start talking, but Ji Yeohoon placed chopsticks in my hand first, saying that meals come before conversation.
“Your expression doesn’t look good, probably because of what you talked about with Ye Han-seo the other day.”
“You read me correctly.”
I explained to Ji Yeohoon.
The point that Ye Han-dam wasn’t originally part of Chaehwa, Ye Han-seo’s friend’s story, and how Ji Yeohoon’s experience at the guild suggests that something unusual is happening.
Ji Yeohoon, who had been holding chopsticks in his mouth, put them down on the table.
“I know. I thought it was strange too. He originally had such a negative image of Chaehwa that everyone in class said he would never go there. But recently he’s been preparing to join Chaehwa, which surprised everyone.”
“Even though he can only join when he becomes an adult, even if he prepares now?”
“Yes. It’s to the extent that he’s already signed a contract offered by Chaehwa. They say they’ll send him straight to Chaehwa on graduation day…”
Ji Yeohoon was also quite perceptive.
He seemed to have already noticed something strange.
“But hyung, isn’t it possible for people to change their minds? You’re not concerned just because he’s joining Chaehwa, right?”
“Right.”
“Is it because of Yoon Cheong hyung?”
“I just don’t want him to go to Chaehwa.”
“Because the treatment isn’t good?”
That was the superficial reason, of course.
The boys had faithfully followed my advice not to rashly say they would join Calling.
I had taught them that there’s a lot to consider—contract money, number of Gates entered per year, grade, and so on—and that even if your parents are around and you know people, you should still measure what needs to be measured.
That’s why Ji Yeohoon asked that question, but I shook my head.
“I think Chaehwa or the Association is doing something to Espers.”
“What kind of thing?”
“Like hypnosis or brainwashing.”
Ji Yeohoon shook his head, saying that was nonsensical.
“Hyung, hypnosis and brainwashing don’t work on Espers. They wear off quickly, and if someone enters into a contract under those conditions, the contract itself would eventually be invalidated 100% when the effects wear off.”
“I know that.”
An Esper’s body is different from ordinary people, to the extent that calling them superhumans makes sense.
Unless injured by monsters or by the direct power of another Esper ability user, moderate to severe injuries from external impacts healed quickly.
Ye Han-seo, a close-range attack type, had fought with Ji Yeohoon on his first day of transfer, but Ji Yeohoon’s colorfully bruised face had completely healed in a day.
In a body that can’t even tolerate cold viruses, hypnosis or brainwashing couldn’t possibly work.
This was already proven fact.
But if people changing like that wasn’t brainwashing, if it wasn’t hypnosis, how else could it be explained?
“We need to keep an eye on this for a while.”
“Then, according to what you’re saying, Yoon Cheong hyung will also eventually say he wants to go to Chaehwa as time passes?”
“Yes. But not yet.”
“Not yet? Are you sure?”
“I just confirmed it. Apparently, Spiral and Chaun are subtly reaching out because of his current temporary affiliation with Calling.”
During middle school, Calling had blocked all guilds approaching us because we were still young, but that wasn’t possible from high school onward.
It wasn’t legally mandated, but it was like a custom, showing ability users a wide path to other guilds as long as they didn’t firmly refuse.
For Guides, conditions are pretty similar wherever they go, and freelancing is even a bit more comfortable, but Espers had to be extremely sensitive about contract conditions.
“The word ‘Chaehwa’ didn’t come up at all. For now, that’s reassuring, but I think we need to take some measures.”
“How? We can’t stop Yoon Cheong hyung from going to the Association, can we?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
