Chapter 7
“Hey! Seon Woogeon! Han Yeonwoo!”
As they entered the plaza, espers from the military academy were gathered in a circle. Yeonwoo erased his confused expression and joined the group of peers with Seon Woogeon.
“Where’s Yeonji noona?”
“I saw her in line behind me when I was getting on the elevator, so she’ll be here soon.”
“She should have taken the escalator instead of the elevator.”
“Huh? Where were you?”
At their peer’s question, Woogeon proudly pushed out his waist. The following explanation made his peers look at Yeonwoo with envious expressions.
“I should have waited and come up with Yeonwoo.”
“As expected of spatial types… I envy you the most at times like this.”
“By the way, did you see?”
As one of the peers lowered their voice, Yeonwoo also hunched down. Following the peer’s gaze toward the corner, he saw Jo Heeseo standing at the edge of the plaza.
“Didn’t she say she was joining Muyeong Guild? Why is she here?”
“Exactly. When did she stop bragging that we’d never see her again after graduation?”
“She must have been rejected. She acted like she had a reserved spot at Muyeong Guild, but even for a guide, Muyeong Guild has standards…”
Guides had senses higher than ordinary people but lower than espers. Watching Jo Heeseo pretend not to hear the conversation about her, though she surely could, Yeonwoo tried to turn away with his usual indifference.
Scratching his head with an unsettled feeling, Yeonwoo spotted an approaching senior and bowed.
“You’re here? Where are the others?”
“They’re still waiting at the elevator~”
“Ah, that. Next time, use the side entrance—”
“Go down the stairs and take the escalator?”
At his peer’s words, the senior’s eyes widened. With an expression asking how he knew that, Woogeon pointed at Yeonwoo. The senior praised them, saying it was just like a spatial type to figure out such things, and once all the military academy peers had gathered, he gestured toward the inner area.
“As for Jo Heeseo… well, she’ll manage. Go and greet them.”
There was no need to ask whom they were supposed to greet.
Keeping his eyes down on his shoes, Yeonwoo followed behind Woogeon. In the center of the plaza, beneath a stage, stood Lee Sangwon.
Upon seeing him, Yeonwoo reflexively looked down at his right thigh.
“What’s wrong?”
Suppressing the murderous impulse that suddenly rose within him, Yeonwoo stood in place and took a deep breath. Woogeon with his slightly stiff expression and peers with worried looks gathered around Yeonwoo.
“I’m just… nervous.”
“Geez. You scared me.”
As Woogeon casually patted his back, Yeonwoo looked at his employee ID and let out a laugh along with a sigh. For the first time, he was jealous of Woogeon. If Yeonwoo were an attack type, if he were A-rank, he’d have slit that bastard’s throat right now.
No. There was no reason to dirty Yeonwoo’s hands. If he just spread the word that Yeonhwa would die because of that bastard, there would be a guild… no, there wouldn’t be.
Lee Sangwon had been the center’s idol until just before his death. An S-rank esper born between an S-rank esper and an S-rank guide. He could have established his own guild and made a fortune, but he was an esper who entered the center on his own to protect the country.
He was Lee Sangwon, who had maintained his position as the center’s only extermination team leader for years by thoroughly maintaining that image.
If someone said that this Lee Sangwon became the joint team’s leader and then died while trying to obtain more byproducts, no one would believe it. Yeonwoo would need solid evidence for people to listen to him, but he had no desire to show Yeonhwa’s book to others.
…Should I kill him now? Then there would be no need to argue about entering the dungeon later, and it would prevent the team’s collapse inside.
Yeonwoo looked at Lee Sangwon and relaxed his hands. No matter how quickly Yeonwoo could fold space and move, Lee Sangwon wouldn’t quietly wait with his neck exposed until he attacked. He would sense Yeonwoo’s presence and counterattack instead.
Taking a slow breath, Yeonwoo bit the soft flesh inside his mouth and moved forward. Around Lee Sangwon, ability users formed concentric semicircles—higher ranks closer to the center, lower ranks farther away.
“Hello…!”
The original plan was for Woogeon, assigned to Zone A like Lee Sangwon, to greet him first, with the rest following awkwardly. But Lee Sangwon’s sudden approach made Yeonwoo miss the timing.
“Ah, are you the new arrivals?”
It was a question for everyone, but Lee Sangwon’s gaze was fixed on Yeonwoo. Standing awkwardly, Yeonwoo lowered his eyebrows and smiled gently. It was the only advantage of his approachable face. When he smiled, regardless of what he was thinking inside, people only saw kindness.
Thanks to that, he could hide the fact that he was inwardly contemplating how to kill Lee Sangwon.
“Ah, haven’t we met somewhere before?”
At those words, Yeonwoo blinked his eyelashes rapidly. Where?
Lee Sangwon was from an academy under Cheongha Guild, while Yeonwoo was from the military academy. Their paths shouldn’t have crossed anywhere. Searching his memory, Yeonwoo swallowed dryly.
“When I visited the military academy, I briefly encountered Esper Han Yeonhwa. Wasn’t Esper Han… Yeonwoo also there?”
Ah.
This was the exhausting part of having a talented sister.
Everyone knew that Han Yeonwoo was Han Yeonhwa’s brother, and everyone was watching to see which affiliation Han Yeonhwa would join when she graduated from the military academy next year.
“Yes. That’s correct.”
Because of this, so many people tried to probe Yeonwoo that his sides were practically worn out. Lee Sangwon was probably the same.
“Hahaha. Since we have this connection, next time let’s have a meal with Esper Han Yeonhwa—”
“Since when did the center become a marketplace?”
Why would Yeonhwa eat with you? Grinding his teeth, Yeonwoo turned around at the deep voice. The center director, who had entered the plaza, was looking around with a stern face. As people gathered around him quietly returned to their places, Lee Sangwon smiled deeply and patted Yeonwoo’s shoulder.
“Let’s have a meal together sometime?”
I’d have to be crazy.
Yeonhwa would sit calmly knowing she would die because of Lee Sangwon, and Yeonwoo would lose his breath watching her.
“Who’s that? Aren’t you returning to your place?”
At the deputy director’s words, Yeonwoo turned away without hesitation. But not Jo Heeseo. Yeonwoo watched Jo Heeseo arguing with a staff member while clutching her employee ID, then headed toward Zone C. After exchanging eye greetings with people around him, Yeonwoo blankly looked up at the ceiling.
This whole situation felt too familiar. Like several years ago… when he first started working…
“Welcome, new espers. I am Jung Yeonghwan, director of the Korean Esper Center.”
As the center director who had greeted them stood on the stage, the extermination team members lined up behind him one by one. Unlike other espers’ training uniforms, the extermination team’s uniforms had a pattern of crossed shield and spear embroidered with red thread. Though he knew it was meant to inspire awe, Yeonwoo just scoffed. It was all for show.
But Lee Sangwon didn’t return to his place and stood below the stage, facing the espers. In a position lower than the center director, but occupying a more forward spot.
“Esper Lee Sangwon.”
“Yes. What is it?”
At Lee Sangwon’s nonchalant response, the air pressing on their shoulders grew heavier. Frowning at the increasing pressure, Yeonwoo let out a small breath. He wasn’t the only one feeling the pressure—the esper standing next to him was also exhaling trembling breaths.
The tense standoff continued, feeling like it would burst at any moment, and the eternal silence was broken by a sound from behind.
“What’s this? I thought it started at 10 o’clock.”
Simultaneously with the bland voice, the pressure weighing down on shoulders and backs disappeared. Yeonwoo, rising while supporting his thighs, patted the back of the trembling esper. The center is running just great. While the center director and Lee Sangwon fought for power, their espers’ backs were nearly breaking under the pressure.
“…What’s that?”
At someone’s murmur, Yeonwoo turned around and his eyes widened.
It’s Kang Chahun.
As people looking back with puzzled expressions softly laughed, those in the front rows craned their necks, wondering what was happening. Among formal suits, Chahun stood skewed with his chin raised, wearing a black jersey with fluorescent stripes and matching shorts.
“Oh! Esper Kang Chahun!”
As the deputy director’s words reverberated through the microphone, the faces of those who had been openly mocking him froze in dismay. Still standing skewed despite being called, Chahun raised his eyebrows fiercely and glared at the man standing next to him.
“What are you talking about? You said it starts at 10 o’clock. Is it 10 o’clock now?”
No. It’s 9 o’clock.
“Hahaha. Esper Kang Chahun must be confused because he’s nervous on his first day.”
“What are you saying? You said it starts at 10 o’clock.”
Yeonwoo stared at Kang Chahun with a confused expression.
Due to people in the back rows, he could only see the coldly upturned corners of his eyes and firm brow bones beneath neatly arranged hair, but he was certain. It was a familiar face.
No, slightly different from his memory… a younger face.
Looking around, Chahun looked down at his jersey, patted it to smooth out the wrinkles, and bowed.
“I’m Kang Chahun.”
“No, no, Player Kang Chahun—I mean, Esper Kang Chahun doesn’t need to do that.”
The flustered man led Chahun to the stage. The deputy director hurriedly came down from the stage to personally guide him. As Chahun stood beside the center director on stage, a flash went off somewhere.
From the look of it, Kang Chahun hadn’t arrived late on purpose, and it seemed the center director had intended to make the arrival of a new S-rank esper more dramatic. Well, that old raccoon’s personality wouldn’t have changed.
But still… it was strange.
Clearly, today was the first day for both Yeonwoo and Kang Chahun. They certainly had never met before, yet Chahun gave Yeonwoo an odd sense of déjà vu.
Though he tried to ignore the unpleasant, vague feeling, Kang Chahun’s presence remained distinct. Was it because he wore fluorescent sportswear alone among people in monochrome suits? Already standing out, he was also a head taller than the attack types beside him, and his face attracted attention effortlessly.
Where have I seen him before…? Despite searching his memory intensely, all he could recall was Yeonhwa’s sleep-talking murmurs.
“Don’t think about it. It’s all bullshit dreams.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
