Chapter 123
The Guild Master’s concerns soon became reality. The dishonorable rumor that “an S-class Esper mistakenly attacked a team leader Esper from the same guild” spread quickly among those involved, and eventually was even covered by major media outlets. All sorts of baseless speculations and reckless conjectures were added like flesh to the bones, and many were busy gossiping about the incident.
This wasn’t the only misfortune that befell the Sunrise Guild. A guild member who was shrinking away, finding it burdensome to face not only the public but even the gazes of their own team members, requested a meeting with the internal counseling director. This member presented shocking evidence and demanded the dismissal of the 6th Team leader. That guild member was, of course, Jeon Hyeon-wook.
“I-I’m prepared to submit my resignation as I tell you this. There is n-no manipulation whatsoever in the recorded audio or video. I don’t think it’s right for someone who encouraged a junior Esper to a-attack a Guide from another team, when they should be guiding them on the right path, to continue serving as a t-team leader.”
When he threatened to spread this information to the press if proper disciplinary action wasn’t taken, the counseling director broke into a cold sweat trying to calm him down. Only after promising several times that the matter would absolutely not be swept under the rug was Jeon Hyeon-wook finally sent away. The director immediately reported to superiors, and an emergency meeting was convened.
While the head of the Human Resources Department, the highest ranking operational manager, held a one-on-one meeting with Jeon Hyeon-wook, the Guild Master summoned Song Ji-hyeok again. This confirmed his suspicion. It was clear that Song Ji-hyeok had carried out personal revenge, harboring resentment over the fact that Lee Su-hyeon was injured because of the 6th Team leader.
He severely reprimanded Song Ji-hyeok, but there were no tangible results. The circumstantial evidence couldn’t be clearer, but no evidence could overcome the claim of the person involved that it was “a mistake.”
Moreover, Jeon Hyeon-wook’s exposure of Kim Kwang-in’s wrongdoing came after the joint battle had ended. It was obvious even to a three-year-old that Song Ji-hyeok had obtained the information first, but there was no way to secure evidence of this either.
Words tend to leak out from anywhere. It became common knowledge that Song Ji-hyeok had punished the 6th Team leader, and with additional comments like “I heard the 6th Team leader did something wrong,” the rumors spread rapidly.
Because of this, guild members’ gazes followed Song Ji-hyeok wherever he went, but he didn’t care who looked at him or how they did so. He didn’t even open his mouth once in front of reporters who had gathered after catching wind of the story.
For himself, he didn’t have much of a standing in the guild yet, and if things went wrong, he could just quit regardless of any penalty fees. But it was different for Lee Su-hyeon. He had great attachment not only to the team members with whom he had shared hardships for a long time but also to the guild that had shown him much consideration. So as long as Kim Kwang-in was properly dealt with, he had no desire to throw dirt at the guild.
Drip- drip-.
Droplets of water fell from his hair where the towel hadn’t reached. Having finished showering in the guild’s shower room, Song Ji-hyeok put on a new t-shirt and training pants from the cabinet. He had just returned from the dungeon. Although he couldn’t get close to Lee Su-hyeon, he didn’t want to see him while smelling of blood.
A Guide from Team 2 who spotted Song Ji-hyeok just as he was turning at the landing froze in surprise. Ignoring her, Song Ji-hyeok passed by like an invisible man and continued climbing the stairs.
8th floor of the guild building. Even carefully placed footsteps echoed loudly in the corridor where absolute silence was required. At the end of his walk was a glass door with a sign reading “Absolutely No Entry Except Authorized Personnel.” The firmly closed door slid open sideways when he entered the passcode, which he had pressed dozens of times already. After repeating the same process twice more, his destination finally came into view.
A dull ache invariably appeared in a corner of his heart when the door a few steps away entered his field of vision. His expression faltered momentarily, but he quickly composed himself again and put on an indifferent face. However, he couldn’t immediately normalize his briefly tangled breathing, so he took a short breath in and out before slowly moving forward.
[Intensive Care Unit]
Below the emergency light sign was a door with a small window. And just beyond that door was Lee Su-hyeon.
Though he had passed through the restricted area where only medical staff were allowed by virtue of being a Pair Esper, even he couldn’t open this door. Song Ji-hyeok took one more step closer to the door. The scene visible through the window, about a hand span wide, was the same as always.
Lee Su-hyeon, his hair turned completely white from the aftereffects of going berserk, lay on the bed with all kinds of machines attached to his body.
Song Ji-hyeok pressed his hands against the door and rested his head on the glass window. His face, which had been struggling to maintain composure, finally crumbled like a child’s.
‘When are you going to wake up? How long are you going to make me wait? …I want to hear your voice.’
Contrary to the words in the letter saying they would see each other again soon, Lee Su-hyeon had not woken up for over two weeks. Song Ji-hyeok hadn’t given up hope. According to Seo Gi-jun, an Esper who had provided much information, there were people with dual awakenings who had opened their eyes after nearly three months of experiencing a rampage. In comparison, this wasn’t even a wait, and he firmly believed that the senior Lee Su-hyeon he knew would definitely overcome this.
The reason Song Ji-hyeok’s heart was wavering was solely because of himself. He felt foolish and pathetic that watching like this was all he could do.
In my dream, I was swimming through the dark blue deep sea.
I could be certain it was a dream because I had no trouble breathing despite being underwater. Each time I exhaled through my mouth, round air bubbles spread out with a flutter.
It might sound romantic at first glance, but in reality… no, in the dream, it wasn’t like that. It was closer to terror.
I tried hard to move my arms and legs to go upward, but the light flickering beyond the surface never seemed to get any closer. Rather, as time passed, it grew slightly more distant, and I sank deeper and deeper into the abyss.
I couldn’t call for help either. Looking around, all I could see was the dark blue water. Eventually, strength began to leave my body. Like a puppet with cut strings, I was tossed around aimlessly, being pulled deeper and deeper until my vision went completely dark.
I don’t know how many times I’ve had this dream. Whenever I suddenly regained consciousness, I would see the distant flickering light again, and I would struggle to reach it, only to slowly sink into the deep sea again. This happened countless times, an endless nightmare like a Möbius strip.
‘Ah. Again.’
The mirage-like flickering inevitably appeared far above my head. But today, I showed a different attitude than before. I didn’t try to gauge the distance, nor did I grit my teeth and struggle to go up. I just calmly observed like a bystander, as if it were someone else’s business.
It wasn’t enlightenment, nor was it giving up. Just… it was as if I had finally realized that no matter how hard I struggled, the situation was impossible to resolve with my own strength.
「———-.」
That’s when it happened. For the first time, there was a change in the unchanging environment.
The change was massive and intense. It was also enough to make my eyes widen.
From the deep abyss that had always waited for my strength to fail before grabbing my ankles, a light brighter than the sea surface briefly sparkled. At first, it was so small that I thought I might have seen wrong, but it instantly grew larger and larger, driving away the surrounding darkness.
That light, reminiscent of someone, was very bright and intense. And it wasn’t simply growing in size. It gradually approached me as I stood frozen in surprise, and then with a flash of brilliance, my vision turned completely white.
Beep beep beep- beep beep beep-.
At some point, an unfamiliar mechanical sound penetrated my consciousness. Before I could recognize what that sound was, a greater commotion awakened my mind.
“Guide, are you regaining consciousness?”
When I managed to lift my inexplicably heavy eyelids, a familiar face hazily appeared in my field of vision. It was Dr. Oh Hye-yeon.
“……”
The doctor’s expression was strange. She looked like she might cry, or like she was overcome with emotion. Looking at her face, I tried to move my lips. But something was covering my nose and mouth, preventing me from speaking.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
