Goal: Removing the First Obstacle (8)
The journey to Shin Woo-jun’s hideout on the outskirts of Seoul was quiet. Sa Hae-geon, who usually chatters well when alone with me, was just staring blankly out the window, and the other team members were busy catching their breath with tense faces. Only the most experienced Esper Lee Cheol-min, who was used to such situations, fell asleep as soon as he got in the car.
Jong-hyeok hyung, sitting in the passenger seat reading documents about the unaffiliated Espers working with Shin Woo-jun, belatedly noticed the heavy atmosphere and turned around to ask.
“Is everyone nervous? It’s unusually quiet. You’re not scared, are you?”
“Wh-what? No way! How could we be scared?”
“No? To my eyes, you all look scared.”
“Of course not! If anything, I was just thinking about how to crush that bastard Shin Woo-jun!”
“Really? Then I can expect great things from you, Seong-rok.”
“Y-yes. Of course! Absolutely!”
Esper Lee Seong-rok hesitated for a moment but soon laughed boisterously while pounding his chest with his fist. Satisfied with his show of confidence, Jong-hyeok hyung smiled slightly and turned back to the front. As soon as hyung’s gaze shifted away, Esper Lee Seong-rok visibly relaxed and shook his head from side to side.
Although he was pretending otherwise, he seemed nervous inside. That was inevitable since the opponent was Shin Woo-jun. Love him or hate him, he was once a teammate they worked closely with, plus one of the few S-class Espers in their 20s in the country. Not only that, but he also possessed power as formidable as Jong-hyeok hyung’s, so it was natural to feel pressure unless one was exceptionally brave or indifferent.
Moreover, Field Team 1’s Espers had experience being injured by Shin Woo-jun’s attacks when he was on the verge of runaway, so it made sense they were tense. It was natural to see Esper Hwang Ji-hyun and Esper Myung Woo-seok regulating their breathing with closed eyes and clenched fists.
Unlike them, I glanced at Sa Hae-geon, who seemed indifferent. There wasn’t a trace of tension on his face. His expression was even more peaceful than when he went to his first dungeon. I couldn’t tell if he was showing no expression because he was confident or if he was so tense that he had completely frozen up.
“Hae-geon.”
At my quiet call, Sa Hae-geon slowly turned his head to look down at me. I thought he might not hear me because he seemed lost in thought, but fortunately, his ears were open.
“Are you nervous?”
“What?”
Sa Hae-geon gave me an expression that said, “What are you talking about?”
“Why would I be nervous?”
“You’re not?”
“No. I’m not nervous. There’s no reason to be.”
“…Why?”
He looked at the other team members sitting nearby, then put his lips close to my ear. Then, as if sharing a very important secret, he whispered very quietly.
“If anything, I’m excited.”
“What…?”
“Because we’re getting closer to having time alone together.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his absurd statement. This caught the attention of Esper Myung Woo-seok, who had been focusing on deep breathing with his eyes closed. He stared at me and Sa Hae-geon for a moment, then asked in a puzzled voice.
“Did someone say something funny?”
“What?”
“Oh, just to be clear, I didn’t use my ability or eavesdrop. I just heard Chae Do-min laughing and was curious.”
“…Ah, I didn’t think that. It’s nothing… Sa Hae-geon just made a joke.”
Esper Myung Woo-seok had the ability to read or control other people’s thoughts. Because of this, he always had to explain himself to people around him. Like now.
Most people are wary of mental-type Espers. They’re afraid of having their thoughts read or being controlled. Of course, I wasn’t very comfortable encountering mental-type Espers for similar reasons. However, Esper Myung Woo-seok was an exception. Having known him for a long time, I was well aware of how honest, diligent, and cautious he was.
That’s why Esper Myung Woo-seok was quite comfortable around Field Team 1 members. Although he had become more cautious again after Sa Hae-geon’s arrival, out of consideration for him.
Once again, Esper Myung Woo-seok glanced at Sa Hae-geon and smiled awkwardly.
“Still, just in case. It could be uncomfortable.”
Sa Hae-geon, receiving his gaze, blinked a few times before replying impassively.
“It’s fine. I didn’t think of it that way.”
“…Ah, that’s a relief.”
Esper Myung Woo-seok shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes again. There was a gentle smile on his face. He seemed much more at ease after Sa Hae-geon’s response, which made me feel oddly proud of Sa Hae-geon.
Between occasional chatter and short naps, the car eventually approached our destination. It was a moment when tension returned to the faces of team members who had somewhat relaxed. Esper Jin Seo-ju, who was driving, was also silent.
“Five minutes to go. We’ll arrive in five minutes, so everyone get ready.”
“Yes.”
“Ah. Ji-hyun, wake up Esper Lee Cheol-min over there.”
“What? Is this old man still sleeping?”
Esper Hwang Ji-hyun looked incredulously at Esper Lee Cheol-min sitting behind her, then tapped his shoulder.
“Hey, old man. We’re almost there, so wake up now. How long are you going to sleep?”
Esper Lee Cheol-min, who had been sleeping so deeply he was drooling, opened his eyes with a big yawn at Esper Hwang Ji-hyun’s touch. He glanced at the scenery passing by outside the window and stretched with a loud noise.
“Ahh…! We’re already here? It feels like I barely slept.”
“Barely slept? You’ve been sleeping for almost an hour, you old man.”
“What did you say?”
Jong-hyeok hyung, who had been watching the two bicker lightly, snapped his fingers to focus everyone’s attention.
“Both of you, enough. Don’t you want to hear the briefing?”
“Oh, Team Leader, come on. What are you saying? Of course we need to hear it. Right, Hwang Ji-hyun?”
“What? Oh yes, of course. Come on, please start the briefing, Team Leader.”
Hyung clicked his tongue lightly at their banter and gave a look to Esper Jin Seo-ju. Esper Jin Seo-ju then parked in a suitable spot on the side of the road.
“First, Shin Woo-jun’s hideout is about a 3-minute drive from our current location. The backup team from the Western Center is scheduled to arrive in about three hours, but… you all know our objective, right?”
“To deal with Shin Woo-jun before the backup team arrives, correct?”
“Right. That’s the goal for now. Shin Woo-jun certainly won’t be an easy opponent. But his current condition and situation aren’t good. He’ll have many vulnerabilities and no room to maneuver. We just need to hunt him down.”
“But I heard there are unaffiliated Espers with Shin Woo-jun.”
“Yes. There are about nine unaffiliated Espers with Shin Woo-jun. And they all have colorful criminal records. Among them is an Esper who can teleport. Everyone should keep in mind that if things go wrong, he might help Shin Woo-jun escape.”
“Yes!”
As soon as Jong-hyeok hyung finished speaking, the team members responded vigorously. Satisfied, hyung nodded and scanned the paper in his hand once before speaking again.
“According to what the higher-ups have determined, there’s one S-class Esper, Shin Woo-jun, one A-class Esper, and the rest are distributed from B-class to D-class. The Esper who can teleport is B-class. Except for Shin Woo-jun and the A-class Esper, the others shouldn’t be too difficult to handle.”
“…What? That’s information we didn’t hear yesterday. Team Leader, did I doze off during yesterday’s meeting?”
Esper Hwang Ji-hyun, who had been listening to Jong-hyeok hyung, asked with wide eyes. Like her, I also had never heard information about the Espers accompanying Shin Woo-jun. During yesterday’s meeting, Jong-hyeok hyung had just skipped over the topic, saying there wasn’t enough information yet.
Hyung shrugged at the team members’ gazes.
“No. You didn’t doze off. I only received these documents this morning.”
“Seriously. I knew it. No matter how careless I am, I wouldn’t doze off during a meeting. Anyway, this is another masterpiece from the incompetent department, right? They probably knew this all along, but they sure make things difficult.”
“At least they didn’t forget to pass it on.”
“We should have received this information yesterday when planning our strategy. That way, we could have familiarized ourselves with it while preparing for the mission. Geez, these guys from the incompetent department really show how detached they are from field operations.”
“Enough. They’re probably busy with the S-class dungeon too. Let’s focus on the present.”
“Yes, yes.”
Although Esper Hwang Ji-hyun responded with dissatisfaction, she soon focused on Jong-hyeok hyung’s explanation with a serious expression. Sa Hae-geon, who had been staring blankly out the window to pass time, also listened attentively to hyung’s briefing.
“Fortunately, except for Shin Woo-jun and the one with teleportation abilities, there aren’t any tricky types. It’s as we predicted yesterday. Three physical enhancement-type Espers, one who utilizes earth, two healing-types, and one who uses fire.”
“What about Guides?”
“There’s nothing in the documents from the Ability Department. But… they might have a hidden Guide. Shin Woo-jun was always a guy who felt a thirst for the existence of Guides.”
Jong-hyeok hyung murmured this and looked around at the team members. His eyes, as he gazed at us, were like huge, blazing flames.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
