Five days had passed since Peter came to live with us.
Since that day, Peter had given up trying to persuade me, and I started receiving special training from him for awakening. Within a day, Peter had identified my strengths and weaknesses.
“Though you’re S-class, you can’t fully unleash that level of power. In contrast, your ability to compress your power and control it precisely to increase efficiency has developed remarkably.”
That’s how Peter described the issue preventing my awakening.
“It’s like inserting a hose into the ocean and spraying water. You can tighten the end of the hose to increase the water pressure, but compared to the ocean itself, it’s no different from children playing with water guns. Do you understand what I mean?”
An S-class ability is known to be nearly limitless. That’s why there’s no higher rank. Peter pinpointed that exactly. He was saying that I wasn’t utilizing the greatest advantage of being S-class at all.
“The reason is probably trauma from past experiences of not receiving proper guiding. If you can’t overcome this, awakening will be absolutely impossible.”
The chance of an S-class ability becoming depleted is almost nonexistent. Originally, I should have been able to use my abilities as naturally as breathing, but because my first Guide didn’t provide proper guiding, I had to suppress that function myself. As this situation became prolonged, Peter explained that I had completely forgotten that sensation even though I was now receiving proper guiding.
Of course, according to Peter, this was indeed a fatal flaw for me as an S-class Esper. But there were parts I still didn’t understand. For someone who supposedly used his abilities artificially and forcefully like a hose inserted into the ocean, I had used my abilities at 100% output before, and compared to the past, both my training intensity and ability usage had definitely increased.
When I raised this issue, Peter said just one thing.
“Have you ever seen me receive guiding in front of you?”
I had been curious about this but couldn’t find the right timing to ask, and now Peter had brought it up himself. I immediately shook my head, and Peter nodded and said:
“That’s normally how it should be.”
Dozens of question marks appeared over my head before turning into a blunt object that struck me.
What Peter meant was that someone like him could use his abilities without guiding. I had worried about how he’d manage the aftermath each time he used his abilities, but that apparently only applied to me.
“Since you’re trying to forcibly draw out your power, your rampage risk rises more quickly, and you’ve become dependent on guiding.”
Come to think of it, after the regression, I had noticed the rampage risk rising rapidly whenever I used my abilities. Although the Guides had always been nearby so there was never any real danger, there was no guarantee that would always be the case.
“So from now on, our training will focus on the ability liberation method. In the past, this hose connected to the ocean was absolutely necessary for your survival, but not anymore. Now let’s remove it.”
Peter’s training that began that day showed no mercy. Because of this, the Guides were always standing by at my side, but they absolutely could not intervene in the training until he permitted it.
Through training with him, I painfully realized that the warnings he had given me weren’t just to frighten me. Without taking even a single day off, Peter pushed me to my limits. When he commented on my terrible physical condition, we also incorporated physical training, so I was always completely exhausted by the time I arrived home.
Meanwhile, the plans for Operation “Flower Viewing” were progressing smoothly. Except for my part.
‘It’s just two days away, but how am I supposed to set up an appointment?’
The mission of arranging a meeting with the Center Director proved more challenging than expected. I didn’t have a proper excuse to meet him separately. Though I knew the Center Director showed favor towards me, I had been keeping my distance from him all along. In this situation, approaching him suddenly without a valid reason would only arouse suspicion.
“You’re having trouble concentrating today.”
I was in the middle of training to escape from an ice sphere that Peter had created. The time limit he gave me was one minute. I had to melt the ice wall, which looked to be at least two finger joints thick, using only the heat from my body without placing my hands on the sphere.
“I told you that distracting thoughts are forbidden when using your abilities.”
Peter warned me with a stern face, and at his words, I cleared my mind and focused on releasing my power. Less than 10 seconds remained until the one-minute mark.
“One minute and thirty seconds.”
I thought that wasn’t bad considering my best record was one minute and fourteen seconds, but Peter’s face remained rigid.
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
Although Peter sometimes personally trained me, he often assigned missions and left. But this time, he seemed to have no other schedule as he sat down cross-legged on the floor.
I plopped down across from him. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a break; sweat was pouring from my entire body like rain. Resisting the urge to lie flat on the floor, I honestly shared my concerns with Peter.
“I need to set up an appointment with the Center Director, but I don’t have a good excuse.”
“I have a simple solution for that.”
“What is it?”
“Mention my name.”
I immediately understood what Peter meant. It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought of it. But I had hesitated to use this method because I felt uncomfortable using him to achieve my plans.
“The Center Director is curious about why I’ve stayed in Korea, so if you say you’ve figured it out, he’ll make time even if he doesn’t have any.”
If the Center Director was connected to the terrorist organization, it made perfect sense why he was so wary of Peter, though I wouldn’t have understood it before.
“But didn’t you say your mission was top secret? And since my mother is also involved, I can’t agree to that approach.”
“I’m not suggesting you tell the truth.”
Peter interrupted my racing thoughts to explain his idea.
“Just tell him that my purpose for being here is because of my pregnant wife.”
This presented its own problems.
“Weren’t you worried about your wife being exposed to danger? Is this really okay?”
“I’ve coordinated with my wife in case of unforeseen circumstances. Given the Center Director’s personality, he wouldn’t believe me even if I insisted I was just here for tourism, so that would be pointless anyway. And I’m not separated from my wife without any insurance.”
I didn’t know what assurances Peter had, but he was right. Vague information could make me look suspicious as well.
“Besides, I’ve noticed someone tailing me recently. I’ve been shaking them off, but it seems the Center Director has assigned someone to follow me, which makes me uneasy. I think we need to give him what he wants and cut the tail as soon as possible.”
In the end, Peter also wanted to leak false information through me, and since I needed an excuse to meet the Center Director, our interests aligned. The rest was easy. The Center Director readily agreed to meet on the date and time I wanted, and the two days passed in a flash.
* * *
“Don’t you have anything to do today?”
“I do. Conserving energy.”
“So you’re saying you’re doing nothing.”
“If I’m going to exert myself tonight, I need to manage my condition starting now.”
Do Wonjin showed his characteristically sly smile as he saw me off to training. Knowing how busy Yang Garam and Jeong Seyeon had been over the past week preparing for today, I couldn’t help but see Do Wonjin, who only got involved on the day of the operation, as a lazy grasshopper.
“Anyone listening would think you’re the king of the night.”
I needed to wrap up training early today and return home to prepare for going out, so I was leaving earlier than usual. But Do Wonjin had been talking about having nothing to do since morning, which made me sigh involuntarily.
“The king of the night is Seyeon Hyung. I’m not at that level.”
It was a sarcastic comment, but an unexpected name came up, making me furrow my brow.
“Why bring up Seyeon Hyung?”
“Hm? You didn’t know?”
“Was I supposed to know?”
“Well, I guess you might not.”
Do Wonjin rolled his eyes. I could practically hear the gears turning in his head. He glanced at his wrist and then put on an expression of shock. His acting was so natural that I was startled along with him.
“I’ll be late for training at this rate. I’d better get going.”
His words flowed smoothly even though he wasn’t wearing a watch.
“So you’re just going to brush it off like that.”
One of the most irritating things when conversing with someone is when they stop mid-sentence. I raised my eyebrows, and Do Wonjin seemed to sense that my mood had turned serious as he made an uncomfortable face.
After glancing around to make sure no one was nearby, he whispered in my ear.
“Seyeon Hyung is a gangster, you know.”
The low voice and breath whispering in my ear made my hair stand on end.
“I know that already.”
Feeling strange, I pushed Do Wonjin away and covered my ear, which made him exclaim as if he’d just realized something.
“Ah, by ‘king of the night’ I didn’t mean what you’re thinking. It feels a bit odd that you saw me that way, Jeongjae.”
My face flushed as I understood what he meant. I couldn’t even argue because what he said was true. Do Wonjin smiled mischievously.
“If you get lonely sleeping alone at night, come to my room. I’ll be your king of the night.”
I had to clench my fist as Do Wonjin deliberately removed the hand I was using to cover my ear and whispered again.
“Okay, I’m sorry. So unclench your fist, alright?”
He noticed it quickly and immediately backed off, so I had no choice but to lower my hand.
“Stop whispering in my ear. It feels weird.”
Do Wonjin’s eyes sparkled for a moment, but he nodded with a friendly smile.
“Right, that makes sense. You should go now. Peter must be waiting.”
We intentionally left at different times to avoid suspicion, since going out with Peter every time might raise questions. Today was Peter’s turn to leave first.
“I’m heading out.”
At my farewell, the lightness disappeared from Do Wonjin’s expression, and he gazed at me with deepened eyes.
“Yeah, be careful out there, Jeongjae.”
Jeong Seyeon’s house in Uiseong County, North Gyeongsang Province was too far to travel by normal transportation, and staying at his house instead of our own would make the Center Director suspicious. With Peter now living in our house, it was only natural that the Center Director would keep a closer eye on us.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
