Potato, stuck firmly on top of my head, shook his head as he read the news on the billboard.
[It might not be a coincidence. The dungeon break happened not long after they entered to clear it. Something’s off. Someone might’ve been involved. I can’t say for sure, but still.]
If that’s the case…
[You must’ve felt it too.]
Since it was the death of a well-known Hunter, the police and the Bureau of Awakened Ability Users launched a thorough investigation. But the closed dungeon revealed no suspicious traces.
Not even Jin Eutteum’s body was found.
Still, something’s off.
The police and the Bureau assumed he’d been eaten by a monster during the raid since there was no body.
Eaten? No way.
When the Balrogs emerged from the dungeon, the first thing they said was…
—“At last, a rare delicacy after so long.”
—“How I’ve missed the taste of human flesh!”
If they had eaten Jin Eutteum, they wouldn’t have said that. Monsters had no reason to lie to humans.
The theory that a different monster was responsible didn’t hold up either. Jin Eutteum wasn’t just some mid-level Esper. The only things in that dungeon capable of killing him were the Balrogs.
Which meant he hadn’t been killed by a monster at all—but by something else. And even if he had died to a monster, someone had clearly stolen his body.
Who would dare secretly hide the corpse of an Esper?
If it was X—the one who had killed me and stolen my powers—someone with a bizarre ability that let him steal other people’s powers… then it was possible.
If X was still alive… if he was still going around killing ability users and stealing their abilities like before…
Was it X?
[That’s what I think.]
On the screen, Jin Eutteum’s grieving family wept uncontrollably.
Some people clung to hope, asking if he might still be alive since his body hadn’t been found.
The pain of losing a loved one so suddenly…
Watching it all unfold was heart-wrenching.
I have to tell Je-ha about this.
I’d tried not to message him too often, but this was something he had to know. My thumbs moved quickly over the screen.
[That dungeon break incident in the park last time—it’s strange. I think it needs investigating. The missing body of Jin Eutteum who went in to clear it… it smells like X to me]
Just as I typed that out, Ra Ho-yeon suddenly popped his head in.
“What are you doing?”
“Aack!”
He scared the hell out of me—I almost dropped my phone. But I’d hit send, so the message should’ve gone through.
I quickly shoved my phone back into my pocket, and Ra Ho-yeon narrowed his eyes.
“Suspicious. Why are you hiding your phone?”
“M-mind your business! It’s private!”
At the word private, Ra Ho-yeon flinched and took a step back.
“I wasn’t trying to pry or anything.”
“Hm?”
“You looked so serious, I thought maybe some stock you bought tanked or something.”
“I’m not some rich kid like Seo Yoon-chae. I don’t own a single stock.”
“I know. That’s why I was curious. You had this murderous expression like you were out for revenge.”
I was chasing down someone—but doing it in secret made it all the more exhausting.
I pointed to the billboard still flashing the news. It made a decent excuse.
“That.”
“The Jin Eutteum disappearance?”
What had become a stepping stone for Secreti’s rise had turned into a day of tragedy for Jin Eutteum’s loved ones.
Ra Ho-yeon’s face tightened as he stared at the screen, clearly remembering that chaotic day.
“I’ve been looking into it. Remember how at the Ability Testing Center I asked for permission for us to investigate that guy who screwed us over?”
“You were actually planning to find him?”
His surprised reaction made me flare up.
“…What, you thought I wasn’t serious?”
“I figured you just made it up on the spot to mess with those Bureau agents. I mean, think about it logically—wouldn’t the Bureau be more capable of catching the guy than us?”
Wow. So much for having a comrade’s perspective.
I stared at him, annoyed. He sighed.
“…Can you not look at me like I’m an idiot?”
“Did I? Guess my true feelings slipped out.”
“Come on. You’re not even an Esper, you’re a Guide.”
“And you guys are my Espers. We’re supposed to track this bastard together.”
He clearly didn’t remember how disgusting it felt to be chased by that creepy cockroach monster. But Ra Ho-yeon was ice cold. He grabbed me again and started dragging me back to practice.
“We need to prep for the comeback. We’re busy. No time to waste.”
“Hey! This might be more important! The guy who attacked us might be the same person behind Jin Eutteum’s disappearance!”
“Even so, the comeback comes first. The CEO already said if we flop this time, we’re all finished.”
“Ugh…”
“If this comeback goes well, you can finally shake off that penalty clause looming over your head.”
“Ughhh…”
There was no point arguing anymore.
“Fine. Let’s go. Whatever.”
But as we walked back to the practice room, my mind stayed on my phone.
I hope Je-ha reads my message and either replies or comes to see me.
Was he really that busy?
Even after I sent the text, my phone remained quiet.
***
Hyun Je-ha was out with his team, tracking down the suspect believed to be X.
A mysterious ability user known only by the red earring they wore.
That crimson earring was believed to contain the cores of abilities stolen from dead ability users. Beyond that, there was nothing they could be certain of.
He handed over all the intel they’d gathered so far to Samoa, the team’s tracker—but she could only shake her head.
“It’s too vague to track, Captain.”
“Why?”
“The red earring’s the only consistent lead. Everything else could be too easily covered up.”
A person with ties to the government or political elite. At least twenty years old. Someone pretending to be a regular ability user.
“If they had access to those classified documents about ability theft, they would’ve definitely gone through identity scrubbing. If I were the culprit, I would. A multi-ability user wouldn’t advertise it. They’d just pretend to be a normal one and only show one power. Probably didn’t register as a high-tier Esper either.”
“…So we can’t track them easily that way.”
“Exactly. If they know you’re hunting them, they’ve probably already taken precautions.”
They couldn’t even guess the suspect’s gender, age, or body type.
“If that bastard X stole powers related to disguise or body transformation, it complicates things even more. You said the one you saw looked like a guy in his late twenties, right?”
“Yeah. He had a man’s voice.”
“Then by now, they could’ve switched to looking like a woman—or someone older, or younger. Once someone changes their identity once, it’s easier to do it again. We can’t be sure of anything. That’s why tracking is so hard.”
“If only we’d picked up a strand of hair with his DNA on it…”
“Well, sure. If we had a genetic sample, it’d be a whole different story. But the Bureau’s not incompetent—if there was any DNA evidence left behind, they would’ve found it and tracked him down by now.”
The Bureau hadn’t been able to catch him, even with their psychometrists who could read residual memories.
None of the team expected this to be an easy job.
Hyun Je-ha clicked his tongue.
“So we have to manually go through every known ability user?”
The number of new awakenings had slowed, but there were still twenty years’ worth of registered ability users in the country.
Even factoring out the ones they’d already ruled out, the task was staggering.
Geum Na-ro, their intelligence expert, visibly shuddered.
“Ugh. Going through all of them is insane. And even if we did, there’s no guarantee we’d find him. Even if you met the guy face-to-face, there’s no way to be sure it’s him.”
“…But one thing’s for sure—he’s an Esper. No way he could pass as a Guide.”
“Right. There’s no power out there that reduces corrosion like a Guide can.”
“Which means that bastard probably doesn’t need a Guide at all.”
“Maybe… but we don’t know anything for certain. There’s no precedent for someone using stolen powers. And even if he’s just using Espers’ abilities, it’s hard to imagine he isn’t suffering side effects.”
Just then, Hyun Je-ha’s phone buzzed.
“Hold on.”
“What is it?”
“Did someone just message the Captain?”
“We’re all gathered here at the base. Why would anyone else contact him right now?”
Silence fell.
Ha Ri-ra whispered, disbelieving.
“…That means… whoever just contacted the Captain…”
She didn’t need to say it.
The expression on Hyun Je-ha’s face said it all—satisfied, like a well-fed beast.
It had to be that Guide. The one who, despite everything, already had a claim on him.
