It was nearly two hours after they had contacted him when Cha Min-hyung finally arrived at the estate.
“This is my first time visiting Director Seo’s residence.”
Looking impeccably neat, not a single strand of hair out of place, Cha Min-hyung sat across from Seo Won in the parlor with a faint smile.
“Among the Association members, I’m the first one here, aren’t I?”
“You’re well informed.”
Seo Won gave a slight nod toward Ah-young, who was standing near the door, then personally poured tea into Min-hyung’s cup.
As Jung Ah-young quickly caught on and exited the parlor, the smile vanished from Min-hyung’s face.
“For someone who should be attending the demonstration, your presence back here must mean there’s a good reason for it, right?”
“Is this an interrogation?”
“Of course not. I’m simply curious.”
Rather than the warm black tea swirling in his own cup, Min-hyung’s gaze remained fixed on Seo Won, who had just poured it.
“Wasn’t this demonstration a rather significant event? I heard it was a continuation of the one previously suspended, and that a considerable number of major international investors were attending this time.”
“Then why did someone who thinks it’s so important decide not to show up?”
After filling Min-hyung’s cup to a satisfactory level, Seo Won met his eyes steadily.
Min-hyung hadn’t attended the first product demonstration, which had been cut short due to a terrorist attack—and now, he had skipped this one as well, despite being a key executive of the Association and a direct recipient of Seo Won’s invitation.
Seo Won had wondered whether Min-hyung might be skeptical of, or even opposed to, the product he was developing. But if that were the case, why had he volunteered to demonstrate the item himself aboard the cruise ship during the yacht party?
Min-hyung lifted his cup gracefully. His every movement was smooth and composed, as if he’d studied proper tea etiquette.
“If I had to give a reason… I was afraid I might get impatient.”
“Impatient?”
With a cryptic smile, Min-hyung brought the teacup to his lips.
“I heard the final part of the demonstration involves showcasing an avatar fused with J-Cell’s holographic AI. It supposedly moves just like the original person, using information encoded in brainwaves.”
Taking a small sip of tea, he closed his eyes slightly, savoring the deep aroma. Then his gaze lowered, darkening.
“If it became possible to read my brainwaves and create an avatar of that child… then I probably…”
Min-hyung’s grip on the teacup unconsciously tightened. The weight of his memory, the heavy mood that spilled from thinking of someone dear, left Seo Won with nothing to do but silently watch him.
The darkness clouding Min-hyung’s expression didn’t linger long.
Setting the cup down, he resumed his composed smile and asked Seo Won, who still sat across from him,
“So, what’s the reason you called me here? This estate is known for its strict security—I’ve heard not even the Association President has ever stepped foot inside.”
Seo Won, upon hearing the question, suddenly extended his hand toward Min-hyung as if offering a handshake. Reflected in the glass table, his hand was steady—flawless, without the slightest tremor.
“Go ahead. Check my body.”
If Jung Ah-young had been present, she would’ve surely flushed in the face, wearing a flustered and confused expression. Im Du-hyuk or any average bodyguard might not have reacted quite as strongly as her, but their responses would’ve been similar nonetheless.
“I’ve heard that a trained Guide can assess a person’s physical condition just by channeling a bit of their own GP, even without initiating a proper Guiding.”
At those words, Min-hyung let out a short laugh.
“And who told you that?”
“My Guide did.”
That answer made him chuckle again.
“I suppose your Guide forgot to mention that such ‘training’ requires exceptional talent and instinct as a prerequisite. Even within the Association, only a handful of Guides ever manage to master it—no matter how much time they pour into it.”
No one understood better than Cha Min-hyung that not all Guides from the Ability Analysis Research Facility had undergone formal training with the Association.
Seo Won’s expression didn’t change much.
However, a subtle warmth flickered in his eyes, as if the mention of someone had stirred a quiet memory.
Perhaps, without realizing it, he was feeling a touch of pride and affection at the thought that his Guide possessed such remarkable talent and intuition.
In contrast, Min-hyung’s gaze darkened slightly.
If he managed to master that without formal training… it means he must’ve done life-threatening Guiding on countless Espers, every single day.
The remark Seo Won had casually repeated—what seemed like an offhand statement—was actually a glimpse into a grueling, almost brutal, way of life. Min-hyung realized that instantly.
Still, he had no intention of spelling that out to Seo Won.
Best to keep unnecessary words to a minimum.
With that thought, Min-hyung took Seo Won’s hand as if shaking hands with an old friend, gently but firmly.
In the blink of an eye, the black in Min-hyung’s eyes turned a vivid crimson.
Like blood bursting open, his eyes rapidly flushed red, and from them, a stream of scarlet haze spiraled upward. At the same time, red energy surged and shimmered where their hands were clasped.
The red aura pouring from Min-hyung’s body instantly rushed into Seo Won’s hand.
The moment Min-hyung’s GP invaded him, Seo Won flinched.
It wasn’t Guiding, but having another’s GP—especially someone who wasn’t his Imprinter—forcefully enter his body was, as expected, far from pleasant. The only saving grace was that the stimulation was mild enough to be bearable.
As Min-hyung scanned his body with practiced focus, his eyes narrowed in surprise.
The vast network of ESP pathways that had once sprawled through Seo Won’s body like tangled spiderwebs had become noticeably simplified. While the pathways still twisted and branched far more chaotically than those of a typical Esper, it was still a vast improvement compared to the time when Min-hyung had previously attempted to perform Guiding on him.
But that wasn’t what had shocked Min-hyung.
It wasn’t just that the hundreds of scattered branches had been reduced to dozens and were now significantly more stable.
Across several parts of Seo Won’s ESP pathways, there were scar-like traces—remnants of someone else’s GP, not that of his Imprinter.
The foreign GP itself had been completely obliterated through his Imprinter’s Guiding, trampled and erased beyond recovery. However, the scars left behind by its presence would take more time to fully disappear.
The real question was—who had planted these scars, or rather, these landmines?
Even Cha Min-hyung couldn’t have performed such a feat. It was a highly specialized ability, beyond even his capabilities.
“There are remnants where someone else’s GP was embedded like landmines and then forcibly removed.”
“Landmines… You’re using the same expression as Cha Han-gyeom.”
Upon hearing that, Min-hyung immediately understood that it must have been Cha Han-gyeom who had removed the GP landmines embedded in Seo Won’s body. After all, he was the only one who could perform Guiding on Seo Won and physically interact with his body at that level.
“A Guide from the terrorist group attempted a forced Guiding on me. It was… odd. I assume those landmines were embedded during that process.”
Seo Won hadn’t noticed at all that another Guide had left traces in his body—let alone that landmines of GP had been planted. He was an Esper, so it wasn’t surprising that he hadn’t sensed anything. Still, it was a testament to how skilled the opposing Guide had been—so much so that the unnaturalness of it didn’t even register.
That was why Seo Won had extended his hand to Min-hyung—to confirm the presence of another Guide.
“I believe the bastard who pulled that stunt on me is a Guide from the Ability Analysis Research Facility. I’m nearly certain of it.”
Cha Han-gyeom had come to the same conclusion.
So Cha Min-hyung, being a product of the Facility himself, would surely understand without much explanation.
Seo Won then began to recount how he had used Han-gyeom’s double as bait to capture the terrorists he’d encountered at the yacht party.
He revealed everything—from the attack on the hotel immediately following the product demonstration to the encounter with the terrorists. Just in case Min-hyung might recognize them, he described in full detail the appearances and abilities of the individuals he had met.
As expected, Min-hyung reacted strongly to the mention of the Guide who appeared to be the leader of the terrorist group.
“They said his name is Kang Woo-chan. Does that name mean anything to you?”
Seo Won asked casually, but surprisingly, Min-hyung shook his head.
“We never knew each other’s names. We only knew each other by number.”
Releasing Seo Won’s hand, Min-hyung closed his eyes tightly. When he opened them again, the crimson had vanished—his irises were black once more.
“Only two senior researchers and one child ever called us by name. The Second and Third Ability Analysis Research Facilities were even more closed-off than ours. It’s possible they never heard their names spoken aloud at all.”
There was no need to mention the Fourth Ability Analysis Research Facility.
The hidden survivor of the place that was presumed wiped out by an S-Class Esper’s rampage—and the only known Guide to emerge from it—was none other than Cha Han-gyeom.
“That said, it’s not as if I have no guesses.”
Min-hyung looked at Seo Won, the image of one particular person forming in his mind.
“All the Guides who were part of the Second and Third Research Facilities are dead. Some took their own lives, unable to withstand the experiments. Others were worked to death. Even if any had survived, they were eventually killed to cover up the Facility’s work.”
Cha Min-hyung’s tone remained calm as he laid out these brutal truths, but the look on his face suggested no ease in doing so. Still, he continued.
“But there was one. One Guide who managed to escape the Facility.”
“Who was it?”
Min-hyung fell silent for a moment, eyes distant as he drew from memory before finally responding.
“G_NO.01 of the First Ability Analysis Research Facility…”
Min-hyung spoke the designation of a Guide who had belonged to the same First Facility as himself—a Guide whose face he had never once seen.
“An artificial S-Class Guide, created by extracting and replicating my own abilities.”
