Time had passed in the blink of an eye, and late autumn arrived, with winter just around the corner. The chill in the air was so bitter that it wouldn’t have been surprising if snow started falling at any moment. Today, in particular, felt like the dead of winter. The biting wind showed no signs of letting up, and the sun barely peeked through the thick clouds that blanketed the sky.
Vice President of the Esper Association, Kim Cheol-min, sat in a luxurious leather chair, his eyes fixed on the cloudy view outside the window. Despite the unusually cold weather, he was in an exceptionally good mood.
‘Not much time left now…’
Well past sixty, Kim Cheol-min felt a giddy excitement, as though he’d returned to his youth.
A disposable catalyst device designed to contain a fixed amount of ESP and allow even ordinary people to temporarily use abilities. The heir to Kangsan Group had already created a prototype for this purpose and had even held a demonstration in front of the executives several months ago. At that time, the directors, including the Association President, had lit up with anticipation, calling it a golden opportunity to contribute to Korea’s advancement.
‘Hypocrites.’
Kim Cheol-min scoffed at the senior executives, all soaked in hypocrisy. Contributing to Korea’s advancement? What a laughable excuse. They were merely scrambling to curry public favor in the middle of their political power plays.
But Kim Cheol-min couldn’t care less about any of that. He was the one overseeing the progress of this contract, after all—and he had his own hidden agenda.
‘Not much time left now!’
Kim Cheol-min grinned at the thought of Seo Won, the Kangsan Group heir. The official contract with the Esper Association was nothing but a façade. The real deal was the secret contract formed between Seo Won and himself.
Limitless ability reuse through the ESP Core. That was the true mission of the Kangsan heir.
If they could use a Core-infused device to grant any ordinary person the same power as a living Ability User, they could build a nearly invincible military force.
The users could die as many times as needed. As long as the device remained intact, a new person could take it up and unleash overwhelming power all over again.
The secret contract also included a clause: the Core had to allow multiple users to wield powers simultaneously. At first, it seemed like a stretch. But seeing the steady progress in Seo Won’s development logs so far, it was starting to feel entirely possible. Seo Won himself had exuded confidence from the very beginning.
Most importantly, he had to complete this development on time. If he didn’t, he’d have to cough up the heart he’d received upfront.
‘Not that I have the slightest intention of actually taking it back.’
Even if Seo Won missed the agreed deadline, Kim Cheol-min had no intention of extracting his heart. There was no point in removing a heart customized solely for Seo Won—it wouldn’t sell anywhere and would be completely useless. All it would do is turn Kangsan Group into an enemy.
From the start, Kim Cheol-min hadn’t expected the device to be completed within two years. If it had truly been something that could be developed in such a short time, he wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of preparing a heart four years in advance just for that contract.
Of course, it was Chairman Seo who had made the initial request to secure the heart. But Kim Cheol-min was already enjoying more than enough wealth, and he harbored ambitions far grander than anything money could buy.
That’s why, instead of asking for monetary compensation, he offered a contract to an unknowing Seo Won. His original goal had been to let Seo Won fail the project within the deadline, then force him into an unfair contract by using his life as collateral—turning him into a tool for whatever he wished.
An unregistered S-rank Esper, the heir to one of Korea’s leading conglomerates, and blessed with a brilliant mind to boot.
What more could anyone ask for in a prize?
If he could bend Seo Won to his will, then not only would ability recycling through the Core be possible, but even more advanced developments could be realized.
It now seemed that, contrary to expectations, Seo Won might actually complete the device on time. But that didn’t matter either way. Once the contract was fulfilled, Kim Cheol-min planned to hit him with a slew of tantalizing offers.
For example, offering to transfer the life span of blood relatives cursed by the Kangsan Group into Seo Won’s body instead. He’d heard that Seo Won had an obsessive attachment to life. A proposal like that might be enough to convince him to enter into a lifetime contract.
That thought brought a satisfied grin to his face.
But just then, a sudden commotion erupted outside the Vice President’s office. He could hear the security team clashing with someone in a heated argument.
“What the hell is going on now?”
Kim Cheol-min glared toward the door, irritation creeping across his features.
Then the door burst open. A swarm of men in black suits rushed in, some of them carrying blue boxes emblazoned with the word Prosecution and an official seal.
At the front of the group stood a man in his thirties, staring Kim Cheol-min down with an imposing expression.
“We’re from the Prosecutor’s Office. You’re Vice President of the Esper Association, Mr. Kim Cheol-min, correct?”
Kim Cheol-min rose from his seat with a strained smile, locking eyes with the man who clearly looked like a prosecutor.
“Yes, I am. But may I ask what this is about? Showing up unannounced like this—”
Before he could finish his question, the prosecutor held out a sheet of white paper.
The top of it read Arrest Warrant.
“Mr. Kim Cheol-min, you are under arrest for embezzlement, coercion, illegal trade, unlawful gains, and violations against national security.”
“What?!”
Staggered by the sudden declaration, Kim Cheol-min stood frozen as two men approached him. It wasn’t until they clasped handcuffs around his wrists that he snapped back to reality.
“You have the right to an attorney, and—”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Where the hell are you getting this nonsense?!”
Even as Kim Cheol-min writhed and shouted in protest, the prosecutor calmly continued reciting the Miranda rights in an icy tone.
After the Miranda warning ended, the men who had cuffed Kim Cheol-min dragged him out from behind his desk. At the same time, other men began sweeping every document in the Vice President’s office into boxes.
Even as he was hauled out into the corridor, Kim Cheol-min shouted at the top of his lungs.
“You bastards! Do you even know who you’re messing with?! I’m Kim Cheol-min! Do you think your necks will stay on your shoulders if I make just one call to someone higher up in the prosecution?!”
“It won’t be so easy this time.”
The one who cut through his hysterics was Cha Min-hyung, who had been waiting just outside the Vice President’s office. At the sight of him, Kim Cheol-min lit up and rushed over.
“Min-hyung, I have no idea what’s going on. They’re throwing around words like embezzlement and coercion—none of it makes any sense!”
“But it’s all true, isn’t it?”
“What are you talking about? When have I ever…!”
Kim Cheol-min trailed off mid-sentence. He had spotted a man walking toward them from the far end of the hallway, and in that moment, he finally grasped what was happening.
“Silver cuffs suit you better than I imagined.”
The man who approached with a faint smile was Seo Won. Clad in a black overcoat over a dark suit, he looked, for a moment, like the embodiment of death itself.
As Kim Cheol-min stood there, frozen in disbelief, the prosecutor who had carried out the arrest gave a respectful nod toward Seo Won.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Director Seo. We’ll be in touch soon for a formal summons and investigation.”
“Yes. The sooner, the better. I don’t have much time left to live, after all.”
To the prosecutor, who had secured the secret contract Seo Won had provided, that comment about having “not much time” seemed like a reference to the illegal life-threatening clause embedded in the contract. As per the contract’s terms, Seo Won had less than two months left before his heart was to be forcibly extracted.
Assuming it was a morbid joke, the prosecutor let out a light laugh.
“Haha, I’ll be sure to get in touch soon.”
The prosecutor walked ahead, followed by Kim Cheol-min and the men restraining him.
“H-Hey! Director Seo! You think you’ll come out of this unscathed if you go through with this?!”
Pale and frantic, Kim Cheol-min shouted back at Seo Won. His voice, thick with outrage, echoed down the hall until the elevator doors closed shut.
Standing outside the Vice President’s office, Cha Min-hyung turned to Seo Won.
“How much evidence did you send them?”
“The full contract, all our correspondence showing threats and coercion, and the records of bribes exchanged with Chairman Seo over the years. We’ve also secured a witness.”
In truth, they had no concrete evidence directly tying Chairman Seo to any of it—only suspicions. But Yoon Jeong-ho, who had served closely under Chairman Seo for years, was just as cunning as expected. He had gathered a significant amount of information on the collusion between Chairman Seo and Kim Cheol-min. Not only that, but as he had promised, he was also prepared to testify in court on Seo Won’s behalf.
Seo Won began walking toward the outdoor smoking terrace on the same floor. As the cold wind swept across his face, he pulled out a cigarette case with a smooth, practiced motion.
Just then, Cha Min-hyung came up beside him. With a cigarette between his lips, Seo Won let out a soft chuckle.
“Don’t worry. Everything related to the Ability Analysis Research Facility has already been wiped clean. The prosecution won’t even know it existed. Same goes for Vice President Kim Cheol-min. With all the dirt he’s buried under, he won’t dare bring up the research facility either.”
A familiar disposable lighter flicked to life, igniting the tip of the cigarette.
“I know, Cha Min-hyung. I know you didn’t help me because you wanted to see the Association fall.”
With the cigarette between his lips, Seo Won inhaled. As the tip burned quickly, acrid smoke filled his lungs, choking him with its weight.
He exhaled a thick cloud and turned to Min-hyung.
“You wanted to use this as a stepping stone—to slowly reform the Association, starting with dragging down Vice President Kim Cheol-min.”
His gaze sharpened like the icy wind that blew across the terrace, piercing straight through Min-hyung.
“You’re really something, you know that? I’d love to ask—when exactly did you start approaching me with the intent to use me?”
“I’ve been watching for a long time,” Min-hyung replied with a faint, knowing smile, “but it was you who reached out first, Director Seo.”
“With the reputation of being the best Guide in the country, you must’ve known I’d come looking eventually—someone like me who’s never once been properly Guided. That’s why you set up a stage like this.”
Min-hyung didn’t answer, only smiled meaningfully.
Seo Won took another drag of his cigarette, muttering inwardly, What a cunning bastard.
Cha Min-hyung had possession of all the records from the Fourth Ability Analysis Research Facility—he knew everything there was to know about Song Yeon-woo’s heart. He had also predicted that once Seo Won, the recipient of that very heart, began to sense something was off, he would inevitably come seeking answers.
At the time, Min-hyung held two things in his hands: all the data from the research facility, and a low-ranking executive position in the Association—a tier beneath even Vice President Kim Cheol-min. To bring Kim Cheol-min down from that height, he would’ve had no choice but to expose every secret the research facility had buried.
But to do that recklessly, without a plan, would’ve meant dragging the entire Association into the flames—maybe even destroying it completely. The fallout would eventually return in the form of national-level oppression of Espers.
Seo Won had been the perfectly timed tool to prevent that outcome. More than that, he was the only person capable of striking Kim Cheol-min without tipping the whole system into collapse.
Min-hyung watched Seo Won smoking, then shifted his gaze toward the parking lot. There, he spotted Kim Cheol-min being escorted to a vehicle by the prosecutors.
“…Director. Kim Cheol-min might try to talk nonsense later, so I’ll be sure to scramble his brain a bit. He’ll live out the rest of his life in a hospital instead of prison, but that’s probably for the best in the long run.”
Vice President Kim Cheol-min, once Director of the First Ability Analysis Research Facility, and the architect of its research systems. The knowledge in his head about the facility—none of it could be allowed to leak.
Seo Won planned to reveal and settle it all himself one day, but that would only happen once he’d solidified his power within the Association, ensuring that even when the truth came out, the organization wouldn’t crumble.
But for now, Seo Won spoke with complete indifference, as if he wanted nothing more to do with the matter.
“Do what you want. I’ve already left the rest of the decisions in your hands.”
“Thank you. But… I have to ask…”
There was something Cha Min-hyung had wanted to ask for some time but hadn’t. He finally voiced it now.
“Are you really not going to tell Han-gyeom?”
“Tell him what?”
“The full records from the Fourth Ability Analysis Research Facility. You’ve seen them all, haven’t you?”
Seo Won’s shoulders flinched ever so slightly.
“Song Yeon-woo wasn’t nearly discarded because of some side effect from the heart extraction.”
“Cha Min-hyung.”
Seo Won’s icy blue eyes glared at him, sharp and cold, as if warning him to stop.
But Min-hyung didn’t. He kept going.
“He destroyed himself.”
