# Chapter 39
Hajin picked up the remote control casually placed on the table in front of the sofa and turned on the TV. Since it was just for noise, the channel didn’t matter.
Having cleared the silence with the sound from the TV, Hajin leaned back against the sofa.
‘I hope it’s nothing serious.’
Now that he understood what it meant when the entire Alpha Team was mobilized, he couldn’t help but worry.
He was mindlessly killing time listening to the sounds flowing from the TV when it happened.
Beep-!
“…That startled me.”
The same alert tone as before rang from Hajin’s pocket. Even though he had set it to vibrate, alerts like this ignored that setting and blared loudly. Hajin, startled by the sound, pressed down on his racing heart and checked the alert.
It was unusual for a call like this to come to him directly.
“Emergency call, S-class Esper going berserk…”
For a moment, the faces of Alpha Team flashed through his mind, but the possibility of it being them was low since they had left the dormitory less than thirty minutes ago. Besides, they had received plenty of Guiding before leaving, so it couldn’t be them.
Although Hajin knew he shouldn’t think this way, he couldn’t help feeling relieved as he grabbed his coat and left the dormitory.
He was told they would meet at the training center before heading to the incident site in an Association vehicle. Having already faced a berserk Esper once before, Hajin quickened his pace.
By the time he arrived, he was half-running. He caught his breath while looking around.
‘Where’s the vehicle?’
He’d expected preparations to be underway given the urgency, but there was neither a vehicle nor any staff, which seemed strange.
“Hyung Hajin, you’re going too?”
“Han Jiwoo.”
Having caught his breath, Hajin nodded.
“I came after receiving the alert, but where’s the vehicle?”
“They’re on their way now. Speak of the devil, here they come.”
A car with dark tinted windows stopped in front of them. Han Jiwoo got in first, followed by Hajin.
“Since this is an urgent situation, please excuse any rough driving.”
“Of course.”
Hajin nodded along with Han Jiwoo’s response.
The vehicle took off so quickly that Hajin nearly hit the back of his head, prompting him to fasten his seatbelt. Then he spoke.
“Aren’t other Guides going?”
The answer came from Han Jiwoo.
“Lower-ranked ones wouldn’t be helpful. They’d only get hurt. Actually, with you here, I don’t need to go either, but I guess the Association called me as a precaution.”
“I see.”
The car continued driving for quite some time. They passed through the city, onto the highway, and gradually mountain roads appeared.
‘So dungeons can appear in places like this too.’
They had been driving for hours, and the sun had already set. Finally, the car stopped. Hajin kept scanning his surroundings, which were difficult to see in the darkness. Something felt off.
“…Is this the right place?”
There was nothing there. Hajin had experienced firsthand how many Association employees are typically stationed at a dungeon site. But here, there was no one.
“We need to go deeper, but the car can’t proceed any further, so we’ve stopped momentarily.”
The employee answered without even turning around, making Hajin clench and unclench his fist. He didn’t believe that explanation.
If an Esper were truly going berserk, there should be explosions audible even from a distance. Yet on this mountain, there wasn’t even the sound of people, let alone explosions.
‘If things go south, I’ll need to get us out of here.’
Hajin glanced at Han Jiwoo and then surveyed their surroundings again. It was clear they’d be caught immediately if they tried to escape the way they came.
‘Should I risk taking the mountain path…’
“I’ll go check the situation briefly. Please stay put.”
Hajin was caught off guard when the employee suddenly decided to leave them alone.
He was confused whether the employee was confident enough to catch them if they tried to escape, or if there really was a berserk Esper nearby.
‘No, I’ll think about that later. First, I need to get away.’
Hajin, who had almost been confused momentarily, steadied his resolve again.
The reason for the sudden departure was unclear, but the employee’s behavior remained suspicious.
Without taking his eyes off the employee, Hajin moved only his lips to speak to Han Jiwoo.
“Han Jiwoo. Something seems off about this situation.”
“What?”
“If an Esper was going berserk, it wouldn’t be this quiet, would it? When that person gets a little farther away, let’s escape.”
“Why?”
Before Hajin could turn toward Han Jiwoo after that response, the door on Hajin’s side opened, and a face he’d seen once before appeared.
“Hello, darling.”
Only then did Hajin realize what he had been missing.
Han Jiwoo had more experience than him, not less, so there was no way he wouldn’t have noticed the strangeness that even Hajin had sensed.
He should have found Han Jiwoo’s silence suspicious from the start.
“…Did you take his hand, or was he one of yours all along?”
“What does it matter to you either way?”
When Hajin turned to look at Han Jiwoo, the man had returned to his original face.
Hajin felt more admiration than shock. With acting skills like that, only a ghost or shaman could have avoided being deceived.
“…Han Jiwoo, you’d make a good actor.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Han Jiwoo replied with a face that didn’t look like he was taking it as a compliment at all, then rolled his eyes at Seo Juan.
“Hey, just take him and get out of here.”
“Always so fussy.”
Seo Juan joked and extended his hand to Hajin. As if Hajin had the choice to select him.
Maybe Hajin was seeing everything wrong after being blindsided, but the man smiling gently while offering his hand like an escort didn’t feel like a hallucination at all.
“Don’t try to resist. Of course, I wouldn’t hurt you, but… I can’t speak for the others.”
Hajin gritted his teeth as he looked at the unconscious driver Seo Juan had gestured toward. He couldn’t recklessly attempt Guiding.
Not only was Seo Juan powerful, but he had Han Jiwoo as an accomplice who was immune to Guiding. Hajin closed his eyes, calmed his agitation, and then snapped:
“Move aside so I can get out.”
“Aww, I extended my hand and waited, but you’re ignoring me? I’m hurt.”
‘You can be hurt or not, I don’t care.’
Though escape was unlikely, Hajin didn’t want to give in easily and ignored the offered hand.
Ignoring Seo Juan, who pretended to be offended, Hajin looked for someone else.
“Looking for that guy? He’s over there. Waaay over there.”
Somehow knowing who Hajin was searching for, Seo Juan pointed directly, allowing Hajin to spot the collapsed employee not far from the car.
Hajin briefly wondered whether he should feel relieved that he wasn’t the only one who had been deceived, or lament that the Association’s security had been breached so easily.
“Now that you’ve confirmed everything, shall we go?”
“Are you talking like we’re going for a walk and coming back?”
Despite Hajin’s sharp response, Seo Juan’s face remained smiling. Hajin almost mocked him by asking if his expression was permanently fixed like that but decided against it.
It wouldn’t change his situation, and it might seem like he was frightened, which hurt his pride.
“…Fine. Let’s go.”
After glaring momentarily before sighing and beginning to cooperate, Seo Juan put an arm around Hajin’s shoulders and asked:
“Hmm, you’re more compliant than I expected? Yes, yes. Whatever the Association told you, our side isn’t so bad either. We do have some rough characters, but they won’t be able to do anything to you.”
“Don’t misunderstand. I haven’t changed my mind; I just don’t want to waste unnecessary energy. And…”
My Espers will come to rescue me.
He deliberately didn’t say the last part out loud. However, Seo Juan seemed to have heard the unsaid words and pouted his lips in displeasure.
“You’ve grown quite close to them, haven’t you? Tsk.”
He muttered lowly. For the first time, the smile disappeared from Seo Juan’s face. But it was only momentary.
“Still, they won’t find you so easily.”
His somewhat cynical voice continued, and the smile returned to Seo Juan’s face.
Watching from right beside him, Hajin couldn’t shake the feeling that the smile seemed like a mask.
Seo Juan looked into Hajin’s eyes, gave him a deep smile, and then, holding him as if embracing him, vanished with him.
Though only two people had disappeared, everything became silent. The previously inaudible sounds of insects and the rustling of leaves in the wind filled the area.
Amidst it all, Han Jiwoo quietly trembled with excitement.
“Finally…”
Han Jiwoo could barely contain the elation rising from deep in his chest as he stared at the empty space where Hajin had disappeared with Seo Juan.
To simply call it elation would be crude and base.
He was nearly intoxicated with the sense of superiority from finally defeating Hajin and the satisfaction of removing someone who had been a thorn in his side.
“No, that’s not right. This isn’t the end.”
Han Jiwoo suppressed the laughter that threatened to burst out and got out of the car to head to the driver’s seat. After starting the engine and changing gears, he turned the wheels toward the downhill direction and got out.
The seemingly motionless car began to move in the tilted direction, gradually picking up speed before plummeting downwards.
A loud crash echoed as the car hit the ground, and shortly after, a massive explosion shook the ground where Han Jiwoo stood.
Knowing that all vehicles from the Association were equipped not only with dashcams but also voice recorders and GPS trackers, he knew the only way to dispose of all evidence was to blow up the entire vehicle.
“Whew…”
But Han Jiwoo couldn’t feel at ease just with that.
Facing the rising heat from below, Han Jiwoo deliberately rolled on the ground. Despite getting scratched by stones and potentially injuring his knee, he didn’t hesitate.
After rolling to his satisfaction, he lay face down not far from where the car had originally been.
The cold, damp soil was gradually soaking his face and clothes, but he didn’t care. Instead, he closed his eyes as if about to fall asleep.
‘This way, no one will suspect me.’
No one would suspect that a Guide who desperately tried to escape and got injured to the point of unconsciousness had actually collaborated with the anti-government faction and handed over Hajin.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
