# Chapter 14
It felt like a thief with a guilty conscience, but various small things kept bothering me.
“I’m tired because I haven’t driven in a long time.”
The corner of Shim Woo-jin’s mouth twitched before he burst into laughter.
“That makes sense. When you’re stuck at the Center all the time, you don’t get many chances to drive. I thought you’d enjoy it. Let’s switch now. I’ve finished the report, so I’ll drive.”
“No, you must be tired after dealing with the gate. I’ll drive. I didn’t do anything anyway.”
Please, let’s do it your way, Shim Woo-jin.
Take the credit, get a better deal during salary negotiations.
Shim Woo-jin stared at me, and from that moment, I kept my responses to his comments as minimal as possible.
Then I started asking questions that he probably wouldn’t want to answer.
“Your ability as an Esper is really amazing. It seemed to happen when you started playing the violin. Would it work with other instruments too? Is that what your ability to transform senses means? You create sound to stimulate hearing, and that hearing affects vision too?”
My method worked.
He went quiet, as if he didn’t want to talk about it.
The saying “attack is the best defense” seemed to be true.
“Can you explain it in more detail? They say you’re the only Esper with this ability, and no one else has developed it since. I’m really curious what it feels like to have a unique ability in the world. And at such a high level too. Do you decide what illusions to show? If you imagine something, can we see it?”
He even cleared his throat, seemingly trying to pretend he hadn’t heard me.
Oh. This is interesting.
Switching from defense to offense is always thrilling.
“So earlier, you showed an illusion to both me and the monsters, right? I don’t think you showed the monsters the same beautiful scenes you showed me. It’s really incredible. Not only are there no other Espers with such abilities, but even if there were, no one could use it like you do. I noticed your appearance changed there too. And your clothes.”
Thanks to this, I was able to reach the Center without being questioned further about eliminating the gate.
Eventually, Shim Woo-jin seemed to understand why I was bombarding him with questions, but I didn’t let up until the end.
“It’s truly an honor to have met you. I would have died without you. I look forward to working with you in the future. Have a good time with your Guiding, Esper.”
“…”
He stared blankly as I got out of the car, then quickly got out himself and approached me.
Then he stopped abruptly when he saw what I was seeing.
The news must have spread, as it seemed like everyone at the Center had come out.
There were even Espers who had returned early from other dungeons.
‘Haa…’
Somehow, I was now sharing the spotlight with Shim Woo-jin.
The level of attention seems to be increasing. At this rate, will I end up receiving the whole world’s attention all by myself?
The funny thing was, I thought that even that didn’t sound completely impossible.
If things keep going this way, wouldn’t it be better if I just protect myself?
My plan to stay out of S-class Espers’ attention seems to have gone out the window from the start.
Some of the Espers seemed to have postponed their Guiding sessions to wait after hearing about the gate appearing in the dungeon.
Ha-min was there too, nervously biting his lower lip, trying to hide his anxiety.
But because of the atmosphere, he couldn’t approach me.
As I was trying to quietly make my way to him, the Center Director and command staff hurriedly approached.
“What happened, Esper Shim Woo-jin?”
“It’s as I said. A gate appeared, and we eliminated it.”
Shim Woo-jin maintained an unconcerned expression even in front of the Center Director.
Do I need to stay here too?
Shim Woo-jin seems like he’ll explain well.
But when the Center Director saw me take a step, he gestured with his chin.
Was he telling me to stay put?
Then he continued talking to Shim Woo-jin.
“When you say ‘eliminated’… what exactly do you mean?”
“We collapsed the gate.”
“Gates have never been handled that way before.”
“I’m not lying. You’ve probably already sent people there, so you can hear the report directly from them. If you’re not going to believe what I say and just try to find fault, I think I might as well leave.”
If he weren’t an S-class Esper, he wouldn’t be able to speak to the Center Director that way.
That’s kind of enviable.
The Center Director glanced at me.
It seemed like he thought it would be difficult to question Shim Woo-jin, so he was planning to interrogate me instead.
But Shim Woo-jin spoke up first.
“Esper Seo Eunwoo doesn’t know much. I used my ability, so Esper Seo Eunwoo was seeing the illusion I created.”
“If that’s the case, why did you take Esper Seo Eunwoo with you…?”
The Center Director asked as if he’d heard the strangest thing.
Exactly.
Thinking about it, it really was funny.
Had Shim Woo-jin not imagined that a gate would appear in that dungeon and thought he could easily handle the monster there by himself?
Even so, why show me an illusion?
What a strange person.
With such an unusual ability, he does all sorts of things.
“You never know. A monster might go wild somewhere and put me in danger.”
The Center Director must have known Shim Woo-jin was just making excuses, but he couldn’t press further.
What could he say when a skilled Esper showed illusions to a teammate and eliminated a gate?
Yeah. Nothing except “good job.”
Though I hadn’t expected it, thanks to Shim Woo-jin, things seemed like they might get a little easier for me.
People’s gazes remained fixed on us, and in the meantime, Byun Tae-young and Kyun In approached.
I took the opportunity while they were focused on Shim Woo-jin to quietly slip away.
Fortunately, no one stopped me, and only Ha-min quietly followed after seeing my signal.
“Are you okay, Eunwoo?”
“Yeah. I didn’t do anything.”
“Did a gate really appear?”
“Yeah. It was incredible.”
“Did a lot of monsters come out?”
“It seemed like it. I couldn’t really see well. Esper Shim Woo-jin used his ability, so I barely saw what was happening there.”
“He used his ability… on you? Why on you?”
He apparently hadn’t heard the conversation with the Center Director.
“That’s what I’m wondering too. I’m an Esper as well.”
“I’m seeing a lot of strange things today. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen Esper Shim Woo-jin with that kind of expression after returning from a dungeon.”
Ha-min spoke with a look of wonder.
“What kind of expression?”
“Well… I can’t exactly describe it precisely, but anyway, it’s a first. It’s like he’s full of vitality. Curiosity, maybe? It’s amazing in itself that he’s still in his right mind after returning from a dungeon where a gate appeared. In that sense, you’re the impressive one, Eunwoo. You’re a low-level Esper, but you’re not even shocked.”
“Yeah… That’s right. I’ve always been pretty impressive, haven’t I?”
“Yes, you have.”
Ha-min frequently turned his head to look in the direction Shim Woo-jin had gone.
It seemed like he was concerned about needing to respond immediately if a Guiding request came.
“I don’t know. If they need you, they’ll call.”
Ha-min seemed to think it didn’t matter since he had his device, so he stayed put.
I was about to head straight back to my quarters, but Ha-min kept following me. Since it looked like he had something to say, we moved to a place where we could talk.
The entrance to the forest, where I had previously trained Ha-min.
Maybe it was because of the location, or because he had nothing else to do while we talked, Ha-min took up the horse stance.
He’s certainly a good learner.
“It’s not as painful and difficult as it was at first, right?”
“What? No way. Of course it’s painful and difficult.”
Ha-min answered immediately, as if worried I might misunderstand.
“But you keep doing it?”
“You told me I have perseverance. No one ever told me that before.”
So he’s continuing because of that comment.
He doesn’t want to disappoint me.
“It will help you, Ha-min.”
“I know. Thank you. And I’ll make sure to help you later too.”
“You don’t have to. I…”
I almost said I don’t need anyone’s help, but I closed my mouth.
Just live normally, Seo Eunwoo.
You can do it, right?
I reassured myself and firmly pressed Ha-min’s shoulder.
“Your body will try to find comfort, but you need to control it with your will. A comfortable posture won’t help you. That would just be a waste of time.”
“I understand.”
“If your posture is poor, only your body suffers.”
I tapped him in a few places to correct his posture, and Ha-min continued the horse stance.
As he did so, he told me about his experiences.
About the time when the gate appeared.
Memories I didn’t have came out through his words.
“You probably don’t know because you weren’t there at the time, Eunwoo, but I was at the Center that day. It was really scary. I think I’ll never have such a frightening memory again.”
I wondered if that was the scene described in the first chapter of the novel.
I had thought that S-class Espers had gone out of control and driven Ha-min into the forest like hunters driving a rabbit, exploiting him to calm their wavelengths.
To calm such intense wavelengths, just embracing or touching lips wouldn’t be enough; the highest level of sexual contact would have been inevitable.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
