# Chapter 61
Even though he was already strong, he had drawn out the power of an extreme nature.
Cha Yoon’s handsome face was now beaten to a pulp, making it impossible to recognize who he was.
Watching him still smile with that face, Seo Eunwoo thought he must be insane.
“Ah… I’m getting hungry after using too much power.”
However, Eunwoo had no desire to stay near Cha Yoon any longer and tried to leave.
Without his smartphone, he couldn’t make calls, so he hurried even more.
But even after reaching the door, he couldn’t open it.
It seemed like he just needed to turn the doorknob, but the will to do so simply wouldn’t come.
‘…What’s this? Why am I like this?’
He needed to go back, but in that moment of trying to open the door, all motivation disappeared.
“Is this your doing?” Eunwoo asked as he turned around.
The battered and bloody Cha Yoon, with his grotesque appearance, grinned in response.
“Good boy. Now you’re not hitting me anymore. Understand?”
He realized he didn’t need to twist his fingers to focus momentarily—just making a sound would work, and that’s what he intended to do.
But the speed of an S-class physical enhancer easily surpassed his imagination.
“I think it’s better to break your arm. Don’t you agree?”
AAAAAAAARRRRGGHH!!!!
Cha Yoon’s scream once again shook the cabin.
***
Lee Ha-min now questioned whether he still needed to move together with the S-class Espers.
It wasn’t the first time he had such thoughts, and he finally voiced what he had been keeping inside.
“I think it would be better if we moved separately now. Even if we stay at the Center, information doesn’t converge there, and if I go out to search for Eunwoo, you can still contact me. Please let me know if there’s any news.”
To Ha-min, who thought they couldn’t just wait around indefinitely, Kyun In said:
“If you want to find Esper Seo Eunwoo, take the Special Task Force with you. I’ll talk to the Center Director. There are quite a few capable people in the Special Task Force. Someone like you, Ha-min, would know who’s suitable and competent for this job. Take them with you. It’ll be better than moving alone.”
Ha-min didn’t refuse the offer.
“Then I’ll do that. Please take care of the rest.”
“Sure. Talking to the Center Director is no big deal.”
The people claiming to have Eunwoo and demanding stabilizers contacted them again.
Once more, their location couldn’t be tracked.
This was something that had emerged since Espers appeared.
They used to be able to trace where calls came from before, but with the emergence of Espers, such technology had actually regressed.
What had been technically possible was now being disrupted by Espers.
After failing to track the location, the Center had deployed S-class Espers, Ha-min, and the Special Task Force to surround the meeting place where they were supposed to bring the Guide stabilizer, but no one showed up.
All they received was a phone call asking if they wanted Eunwoo dead since they had come with others.
The callers, claiming to have Eunwoo, sent a finger to prove it.
Seeing this, the Center officials turned pale, and even the S-class Espers believed it was Eunwoo’s. But Ha-min felt relieved after seeing it.
The S-class Espers noticed that Ha-min, who had been the most worried, showed no particular reaction, and they thought perhaps he had reached his limit and could no longer show appropriate responses.
However, Ha-min looked at what was supposedly Eunwoo’s finger and said with a smile:
“It’s fake. It seems like an Esper’s doing. To pull this off, they’d have to be at least A-class. It’s a copy. As far as I know, there’s no Esper in our country with this level of ability, so they must have come from another country. Maybe they came from a multinational management company looking for relics.”
To prove what he said, Ha-min called in several Espers who could analyze Esper abilities.
They understood what Ha-min was saying and, after some manipulation, confirmed that it wasn’t a real human finger but something artificially created.
While others were surprised, it was the S-class Espers who were most shocked by Ha-min’s composure.
If they had looked at it more objectively, the S-class Espers could have realized the truth too, but perhaps because it concerned Eunwoo, they couldn’t maintain their distance.
They were completely immersed and approached the incident emotionally.
Yet Ha-min, who should have been the most emotionally agitated, was regaining his composure in this situation.
And now, Ha-min was not only determined to find Eunwoo but also resolute about finding those behind this plot and exacting revenge.
“Ha-min has changed,” Byun Tae-young muttered to himself, and the other two S-class Espers nodded.
They couldn’t tell whether to be pleased or displeased about the fact that those demanding the stabilizer didn’t actually have Eunwoo.
Judging by how Ha-min saw through them, they didn’t seem as meticulous as one might think, and the Espers wondered if it might have been better if such people had Eunwoo after all.
“So it’s back to Cha Yoon?”
“What the hell is that bastard doing with Eunwoo? Wasn’t the reason for taking Eunwoo to use him to strengthen Origin, like conquering dungeons? But he’s not doing anything. He hasn’t returned to the Center either. And it doesn’t seem like the Center Director is hiding anything.”
Shim Woo-jin responded to Kyun In’s words.
Others were thinking the same thing.
They simply couldn’t understand what Cha Yoon was up to.
Why did Cha Yoon take Eunwoo?
The thought process was stuck there, making it difficult to proceed.
At first, they thought simply:
The dungeons appearing in Origin.
The reality that these dungeons remained unconquered.
They thought that was why Eunwoo was taken.
But if that were the reason, Cha Yoon should have contacted the Center Director somehow, but no one at the Center had received any communication from him.
The S-class Espers had confirmed this.
What could it be?
Did he initially take Eunwoo for that reason but then things got complicated, making it impossible to return to the Center, forcing him to go into hiding with Eunwoo?
That was as far as they could think at the moment.
The thought that maybe that bastard was also attracted to Eunwoo had crossed their minds, but they tried hard to erase that thought.
They were already emotionally pushed to the limit, and they couldn’t bear to entertain such thoughts on top of everything else.
Ha-min separated from the S-class Espers and went to the Special Task Force.
The members who were training and on standby were momentarily surprised by Ha-min’s sudden appearance but quickly rose to greet him.
The Task Force leader was A-class and showed respect to Ha-min, who received treatment in the Center comparable to that of an S-class Esper.
“Esper-nim.”
“I’d like to select a few people. And I want them to help me find Esper Seo Eunwoo. Esper Kyun In said he would get permission from the Center Director, but the procedure hasn’t been officially approved yet.”
The Task Force leader nodded immediately to Ha-min’s words.
“May I recommend some people?”
Ha-min expressed his gratitude, and the Task Force leader recommended individuals suitable for the mission, explaining the reasons behind each choice.
In no time, four Special Task Force members were selected.
Their ranks ranged from A-class to B-class, certainly not low, and they were proactive enough to volunteer themselves.
Before they left the Center, the Center Director’s approval came through, and the vehicle carrying Ha-min and the Task Force members departed.
It hadn’t even been twenty minutes since the car left the Center.
Ha-min, sitting in the back seat, noticed his device ringing.
The last contact he had received was from Kyun In when leaving the Center.
His brow furrowed in irritation, wondering if there had been a change in the Center Director’s instructions.
He was barely enduring the current situation, and if the Center Director tried to overturn things once more, he didn’t think he could bear it.
Then his eyes widened in surprise.
“Stop the car!”
The Task Force member driving hastily stopped the car at Ha-min’s sudden command, but he had no idea what was happening.
“E… Eunwoo?”
They wondered what Ha-min was saying, calling for Eunwoo on his device.
But they didn’t need to ask Ha-min, as a familiar voice soon came from the other end.
[Hey, Ha-min. I’m at Origin Central. Come pick me up. I’ve caught this son of a bitch. I’ll give you the address. Can you take notes?]
“Yes, I can. Speak, Eunwoo!”
[AH Tremisi 98002-2011 Keipa. Repeat it back if you heard me.]
The district name came out accurately from Ha-min’s mouth, and the Task Force member at the wheel entered it into the navigation.
[Where are you? How long will it take you to get here?]
“It says 43 minutes. We’ll be there in 15 minutes,” the Task Force member said as he started the car, and Ha-min replied.
“We’ll be there in 15 minutes. Wait a bit, Eunwoo.”
[Alright. Hurry up. If you’re late, I might kill this bastard. We should at least hear why he did this crazy shit. It’s getting hard for me to hold back.]
“Hahaha. I don’t think you need to worry about that. I don’t think we need to hear why he did this crazy stuff. If it’s hard to hold back, just kill him. That’s fine.”
[Really? Still, come quickly.]
“Yes, I will.”
He was grateful.
Unbelievably grateful.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
