When Shin Tae-boem let that comment slip, all of us—including me—went silent.
“If we give up sleep…”
“…Maybe we could manage somehow…”
As the members murmured in gloomy resignation, Je-ha shook his head firmly.
“That’ll kill you.”
“Ugh.”
“Or worse—Ban Noah might kidnap you while you’re too exhausted to resist. He’s just waiting for the right moment to strike.”
“…So what are we supposed to do?”
Ra Ho-yeon grumbled under his breath.
“We can’t just sit here doing nothing.”
His clenched fists trembled slightly, and I felt a pang of sympathy.
Unlike me, Je-ha seemed to see things differently. Watching the Secreti members wilt in helpless frustration, he suddenly spoke.
“Then how about this—what if I erase your memories right now?”
“…What?”
“My secondary ability lets me selectively erase specific keywords. If I use that on you civilians, you could be cleanly removed from all of this.”
At Je-ha’s suggestion, Ra Ho-yeon hesitated for a moment. But then he spoke up, resolute.
“I refuse.”
“Why?”
The Secreti members all turned to look at me.
Their eyes held unwavering conviction.
“Because this is the only way we can atone—for not even realizing we’d lost the real Yu-jin.”
Those four pairs of eyes, filled with belated regret, longing, and guilt, stared at me with aching sincerity.
“We came here of our own free will. So please… don’t erase our memories without our consent. We’re begging you.”
As Ra Ho-yeon bowed deeply to Je-ha, the other members raised their voices in unison.
“Please, let us stay!”
“We already lost Yu-jin so senselessly… The least we can do is protect the one who’s taken his place—Ahn Ga-hyun.”
Moved by their earnest plea, Je-ha couldn’t bring himself to refuse. Though he did scrunch his nose, looking like he’d just signed up for a headache.
“In that case, I’ll personally handle your training for the time being.”
The moment Je-ha said that, Ha Ri-ra and Geum Na-ro both raised their voices in alarm.
“Captain!”
“Isn’t that way too risky? If Ban Noah’s targeting you and Guide Ahn Ga-hyun together, he’ll be waiting for exactly that opportunity…”
Je-ha, folding his arms nonchalantly, answered with no hint of concern.
“Having me nearby is the best way to keep them from falling into Ban Noah’s hands. He’s afraid of me. Until he’s confident he can overpower me, he won’t dare make a move.”
“But still…”
Geum Na-ro parted his lips, then shut them again, seemingly convinced. He turned away with a sigh.
“…Just be careful, please.”
“Of course. You, on the other hand, should focus on tracking down Ban Noah’s whereabouts. Comb through every trace he’s left behind.”
At Je-ha’s command, the unit members all knelt with one hand over their hearts.
“We’ll follow your orders.”
Watching their perfectly coordinated movements stirred something unexpected in me—memories from my past life.
I never thought I’d feel nostalgic for those days…
There wasn’t a single familiar face among the Baekho Unit anymore… and yet, as I thought of my old comrades, a deep sense of camaraderie welled up in my chest.
Smiling, I reached out a hand to Je-ha.
“Looking forward to working with you again, Captain.”
Just like in the old days.
But instead of maintaining his cold, calculating leader persona, Je-ha flushed red in the face.
“…Don’t call me that.”
What the hell? Since when was calling a captain Captain a problem?
I blinked in confusion as Je-ha gripped my hand tightly and repeated himself, more firmly this time.
“In front of you… I’m not Captain. I’m just Hyun Je-ha. Don’t forget that.”
“…How could I forget? It’s not like I’ve got a bird brain.”
“Just—don’t forget it.”
Still such a child, huh…
“Alright, alright. Got it.”
As I chuckled and tried to placate him, murmurs began to rise from both the Secreti members and the Baekho Unit surrounding us.
“…Like a damn snake…”
“Should we be glad the other side is totally oblivious?”
“Is that really the Captain? I’m not seeing things, right?”
Hmph.
As the first step toward real cooperation, I think I’ll start by teaching everyone how to keep their damn mouths shut.
***
It had been several days since I visited the Baekho Unit’s hideout to request their cooperation.
In that time, the Secreti members and I had been pulled left and right to various music shows, variety programs, and festivals—burning through an unforgiving schedule.
Even with barely any time to sleep, we still managed to squeeze in training sessions with Je-ha.
“I can’t give you the same training we give Baekho Unit members. But I can at least teach you the basic skills needed for survival as Espers.”
Je-ha, having survived on the front lines, helped the Secreti members find the most efficient ways to harness their powers.
Of course, that was easier said than done. In practice, it was grueling—so much so that Ra Ho-yeon, Seo Yoon-chae, Shin Tae-boem, and Cha Si-yoon came to dread their training sessions with Je-ha.
“He’s terrifying.”
“Cold-blooded.”
“A drill sergeant straight out of hell.”
“I don’t think he’s even human.”
After every session with Je-ha, the members were completely wiped out.
And though they constantly complained about how brutal the training was, not once did any of them try to skip a lesson.
I, on my end, quietly provided guiding to prevent their abilities from being corroded.
It’s tough, but if they can get through this, maybe… maybe they’ll at least be able to land a single punch on Ban Noah.
Cha Si-yoon, his cheek resting quietly in my palm, mumbled gloomily.
“Just one punch… That’s all we’re aiming for?”
“The goal of this training is to make sure you don’t get captured when you face Ban Noah. Nothing more. Escape and survival—that’s it.”
Je-ha and the Baekho Unit were deeply concerned that Ban Noah would use the Secreti members as tools.
Once again, as the others passed out in the van after another brutal session, I found a quiet moment to speak alone with Je-ha.
“Ban Noah already knows they’re no match for him. That warning he gave us? He was toying with them, like a cat with mice. Unlike us, they don’t have resistance skills to mental abilities. To Ban Noah, they’re easy prey.”
“…Damn it.”
“To him, they’re the perfect bait—to draw you out.”
After vanishing in front of us, Ban Noah had gone completely underground, as if he’d died.
The social media accounts he’d been using disappeared without a trace, as if they’d never existed. As though he himself had never existed.
We even tried contacting people he’d once interacted with, like MC Seol Yurang, but all we got were confused responses. They had no idea who we were talking about.
I thought he’d reappear quickly…
Something felt off.
Considering how much he craved my ability Resurrection, I expected him to pop up again at any moment, even during our schedules. I’d been on high alert wherever we went.
But despite our constant vigilance, Ban Noah remained silent.
At that point, rumors began spreading among the Baekho Unit—and Je-ha let out a tired sigh.
“There’s talk going around that he might’ve tucked his tail between his legs and fled overseas.”
“Seriously? After making such a dramatic show of warning us?”
“It might’ve been a show. He craves your power—but he also fears me. If he hasn’t found a way to overpower me yet, it’s possible he just ran again.”
Je-ha took a bite of the ice cream I’d bought him, a displeased look on his face.
“If that’s the case, I’ll hunt him down to the ends of the earth and eliminate him.”
“…Where could he have gone?”
“Who knows.”
As long as Ban Noah remained alive, we couldn’t truly feel safe.
Until that bastard is dealt with, Je-ha can never find peace.
I stared at Je-ha, who was shoveling ice cream into his mouth like a cow chewing cud.
Hyun Je-ha—branded a deserter because of me, forced to live in the shadows for years.
The guilt weighed on me again.
“Want mine too?”
I offered him my untouched ice cream, and Je-ha’s eyes widened.
“What about you?”
“I’m not hungry. You have it. You’ve always had a sweet tooth, haven’t you?”
He narrowed his eyes at me.
“You say that, but you used to savor every caramel packet that came with our rations.”
“Ugh.”
“Quit lying and eat it. You’ve lost weight, probably from running around nonstop without sleeping or eating properly.”
Had I?
Yeon Yu-jin’s body had always been skinny, so I hadn’t noticed.
As I patted my side absentmindedly, Je-ha muttered just loud enough for me to almost hear.
“…Maybe I pretended to like sweets just because I wanted to have one more thing in common with you.”
“Huh? What’d you say?”
I didn’t quite catch it and asked again, but Je-ha only smiled and shook his head.
“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
That night too, we stayed awake—on edge, bracing for Ban Noah to show himself at any moment.
But he still didn’t appear.
***
Just as I was starting to question how long we’d have to keep living like this…
Breaking news: Multiple large-scale dungeons, unlike anything seen in recent history, have appeared simultaneously across the nation.
Dungeon breaks.
And not just one. They were happening everywhere.
