“You, ugh…”
The woman, who had been twitching and unable to pull her hand away as if Cha Han-gyeom’s forehead were magnetized, suddenly dropped to her knees with a thud. At first, it seemed like she was trying to stay upright, but eventually, she slumped to the side.
The moment her ESP flow was cut off, the sound of multiple people collapsing echoed as those linked to her dropped all at once.
Han-gyeom felt Jung Ah-young, who had been right next to him, fall as well. He quickly caught her with his body. With his hands still bound, the most he could do was support her with his torso, and as he lowered himself with her, he tried to cushion the fall as gently as possible.
The woman who had collapsed reached out and grabbed the hem of Han-gyeom’s clothes. But due to the paralysis, she couldn’t even grip properly—her fingers barely hooked onto the fabric.
“H-Han… ah, hnn…”
Han-gyeom turned his eyes to the woman calling out to him, her lips barely moving. His vision was still blurred, making it hard to see clearly, but he could at least make out where her face was.
He looked at her for a moment, then touched the back of her hand with the tips of his own bound fingers. The GP that flowed through his fingertips coursed through the woman’s body, dissolving the barriers around her head and both forearms. In exchange, he reinforced the barriers everywhere else.
“Undo this. If you don’t, I’ll make sure you can’t move for a few days.”
Truthfully, unless he was nearby, he wouldn’t be able to block her flow for that long. But to a woman who had just been hit with a power she’d never encountered before, it was hard to tell if he was bluffing. And aside from the paralysis she was currently experiencing, the suffocating sensation of her ESP pathways being blocked throughout her body had to be unbearable.
“…Okay…”
The woman shuddered slightly as the paralysis lifted from her head and hands. It sent a chill down her spine. She was shocked not only by the fact that GP had blocked her ESP pathways and induced paralysis, but even more so by how precisely he could control the flow—enough to restore movement to specific parts of the body.
Not even the leader of her group could do something like this.
His Guiding Sense… is insane.
Trembling all over, she did as Han-gyeom said and began untying the necktie that bound his wrists. Her arms didn’t move well above the elbow, so it was awkward and difficult, but she didn’t resist. She wanted to defy him, desperately so—but if this oppressive sensation continued for days, she really would go mad. For Espers, the natural flow and symbiosis of ESP within the body was absolutely vital.
As soon as she released his wrists, Han-gyeom moved to stand—but the woman grabbed him in a flash.
“Han-gyeom, wait.”
Worried he might use some other strange ability through his GP, she couldn’t bring herself to grab his hand and instead clung to his sleeve.
“Come with us. We’re here to take you back.”
If his vision hadn’t still been blurry, he might’ve seen the desperation in her expression. Not that it would’ve changed anything. Even if he had seen it, he wouldn’t have pitied her.
“Why are you after me?”
Unless kidnapping was some kind of shared hobby among Espers, there had to be a proper reason for all this.
“…We’ll tell you if you come with us.”
“I’m not following you to some place I don’t even know.”
The woman opened her mouth like she was about to explain everything right then and there. But the leader of her organization had explicitly ordered that no information be given until Han-gyeom had been completely brought into their hideout.
“Can’t you just… trust me, just this once?”
Han-gyeom looked down at her with his crimson eyes, now a bit clearer than before. Maybe his vision had improved, because he could faintly make out the distorted expression on her face.
“I can’t tell you now, but if you come with us, I’ll explain everything!”
He stared coldly at her, then knelt down in front of her. His hand reached into her pocket and pulled out the phone she’d used earlier.
“I’ve been burned too many times.”
He used her finger to unlock the phone’s fingerprint lock, then called the last number she’d dialed.
“I don’t trust any Esper.”
His voice carried a chill no one could brush off.
You’re no exception either, Seo Won.
Even though Seo Won was still trapped in the hall, Han-gyeom hadn’t forgotten him. The cold blade of his suspicion remained ever-sharp.
That aside, Han-gyeom had no intention of sending this group of attackers to where Seo Won was. If their goal was him, even if he couldn’t lure all of them away, he could at least draw out the majority. That way, Seo Won would be in a little less danger.
It wasn’t that he doubted Seo Won’s power. Though he’d never seen him use anything overtly aggressive, the precision of the abilities Seo Won had shown—especially his projections—made it undeniable he was S-rank.
But Han-gyeom didn’t want him to use his powers if it could be helped.
The more he used them, the more the Black Vein would spread. And the more it spread, the longer it would take to purge it completely.
I want to end this. Fast.
For Han-gyeom, eradicating the Black Vein took top priority—even more than manipulating and using Seo Won’s emotions.
A shadow as deep and dark as the ocean blanketed Han-gyeom’s expression.
Just then, someone answered the call.
—What? Don’t tell me you’ve already escaped? What is it?
It was the same man from earlier, speaking in an irritated rush. Han-gyeom replied in an unshakably calm and firm voice.
“Come get me.”
—Wh– What the hell… Cha Han-gyeom?!
“I’ll be waiting. I’ll toss this woman into the sea while I’m at it.”
—Wait—HEY?! You…!!
Without another word, Han-gyeom hung up.
The woman lying on the ground looked up at him in disbelief.
“Isn’t this the part where you’re supposed to run?”
“Why would I?”
Han-gyeom slipped the phone into his pocket, then helped the woman to her feet. He looked strained, but he still managed to lift and support her as if embracing her upright.
And then, he actually began walking toward the deck railing. His vision was still hazy, making it hard to discern direction or shapes, but he knew enough to move toward the area bathed in night lights—that was where the railing had to be.
“H-Huh? Han-gyeom?”
Sensing something ominous, the woman stared at him, her voice laced with unease.
His face remained completely blank and cold. The only difference was that his eyes had returned to black.
“Han-gyeom, where are you going? Huh? J-Just calm down for a second.”
The moment she realized where he was headed, her voice turned frantic. She had to stop him—but one arm was limp, useless from the elbow down no matter how much she tried to move it. Her other arm was slung over Han-gyeom’s shoulder, held tightly in place as he supported her.
“Throwing me into the sea was just a threat, right?!”
“Threats are only effective when followed up with action.”
“Were you always this coldhearted?!”
“Yup.”
Han-gyeom’s curt reply came just as they reached the railing. It was a chest-high steel guardrail, and from the way it felt under his fingers, it seemed fairly sturdy.
“Calm down, Han-gyeom! Okay? Let’s just calm down!”
The woman grew increasingly panicked as she stared down the edge.
In her current paralyzed state, if she fell into the water, she wouldn’t even be able to swim properly—she’d just sink straight down. Without the lights from the cruise ship and the scattered glow of the city, the ocean would be pitch black. It’d be nearly impossible to spot someone falling in with the naked eye.
Whether he understood her rising fear or not, Han-gyeom firmly grasped her waist with both hands and suddenly lifted her. Her body tilted forward, torso leaning dangerously over the rail. Her field of vision flipped, exposing the cruise ship’s gleaming flank and the dark, endless sea below.
“Kyaaah!”
She screamed, flailing her arms below the elbow. But with her upper arms still paralyzed, it was a futile gesture—just wasted energy.
At that moment, Han-gyeom’s body was yanked backward. Simultaneously, the woman nearly pitched over the edge—only to be snatched at the last second by someone invisible.
Two of them.
Even as he was being pulled back, Han-gyeom instinctively counted how many people had joined the scene.
One had grabbed him, and another—an invisible person—was holding the woman to prevent her fall.
There were no additional footsteps—no one else had joined.
The person who had pulled Han-gyeom back swept his legs out from under him and mounted his back in an instant. Pressing all his weight down, he pinned Han-gyeom to the floor, driving his knees into his arms to immobilize them. With one hand, he grabbed a fistful of Han-gyeom’s hair and forced his head down against the deck.
“Ghk!”
Han-gyeom let out a deliberate grunt of pain as he was swiftly subdued. But unlike the woman earlier, this man showed no sign of hesitation or mercy. His grip was firm, and the pressure behind it unrelenting.
“What happened?”
The young man straddling Han-gyeom’s back asked. His voice was youthful, almost androgynous.
The voice is different.
The tone and inflection were noticeably unlike the man Han-gyeom had spoken to over the phone. If the invisible one was the same man who’d shown up earlier with Ah-young, then that meant—aside from these two—there had to be at least one more person involved.
Even while pinned under the weight of the young man with the childlike voice, Han-gyeom’s thoughts didn’t stop turning.
