# Chapter 73
Kang Gwang was a streamer who had become famous for his close-up footage during the previous Hangang gate incident. At that time, he almost became a permanent meme for doing a second guiding with Haeil. But this time, the footage was captured clearly with no way to deny it.
“Damn, why add sparkly effects to something like this? Are they crazy?”
The comments and view count seemed to be warning him that he’d regret watching this, but curiosity ultimately guided his finger.
The beginning of the video was normal. Despite the commotion outside, Kang Gwang seemed to be hiding inside a building, continuing his conversation while looking at the screen.
“Ah, I’m dying because of my fans! Why did you tell me about this information!”
When the giant golden turtle appeared, he rushed to the rooftop to escape. It was a foolish decision to go up rather than down, but thanks to that, he was able to capture Jaeyoon using his item clearly on camera.
Kang Gwang’s camera skills weren’t special. He just zoomed in while trying not to shake too much, but that was enough. Though it wasn’t as good as what was officially broadcast on TV, there was a rawness to the amateur footage that gave it authenticity. Jaeyoon was using his power to a dangerous degree, and the results were exactly as shown on screen.
“Huh? The Esper is collapsing?”
As Kang Gwang said in surprise, Jaeyoon collapsed. Even though Jaeha already knew this, his heart still dropped. The video’s views and comments were increasing in real-time, either because this part had already been shown on TV or because it wasn’t reported at all.
“I can’t hear any sound. No matter how good my phone is, it can’t capture sound from this distance. If you sponsor me a drone, I’ll practice with it.”
Kang Gwang was speaking calmly, but dust rose and settled at the bottom of the screen. It was amazing that he could be so calm so close to the monster – this guy was something else.
“Suddenly someone came out who doesn’t seem to be an Esper… Oh, it’s that person I saw at the Hangang gate last time. Can I say a regular person’s name? Huh? A guide?”
The next scene was predictable, so Jaeha considered stopping the video.
“Oh, seeing them holding hands, looks like they came to do guiding. It looks serious, but it should be fine, right? Isn’t it really amazing though? Just holding hands and the Esper really gets better, I’ll keep watching… ugh!”
The screen shook with a scream that sounded like a squealing pig. Of course, Jaeha closed his eyes too. He was too embarrassed to see the next scene.
After a few seconds of silence, Jaeha checked the screen, wondering if he had unknowingly pressed pause.
“Damn…”
He hadn’t. What had stopped was Kang Gwang’s brain, or his mouth. He must have held his phone steady even in that situation, as there wasn’t even a slight tremor. What appeared on screen was the second guiding, which Jaeha had thought of as a kind of CPR. What was strange was that the excessive sparkly effect he had seen in the thumbnail was unfolding in real-time. The light that swirled around him and Jaeyoon before spreading out didn’t look like post-editing at all.
While he focused on what that could be, the guiding continued. A caption in traditional font scrolled across the screen: “Life-saving in progress.” It seemed intentionally playful, but he couldn’t believe why a timer was running alongside it.
“…Did I do it for that long?”
In his memory, he felt like he had done it for about a minute, but on screen, they were still connected after more than three minutes. Above all, whether Jaeyoon was conscious or unconscious, the scene where he reached out and pulled Jaeha closer was too much to watch, so he just glared at the captions.
‘Modern CPR includes self-breathing,’ ‘Don’t misunderstand. This is rescue activity,’ ‘Running Kang-Kang Channel complies with review regulations.’ While nonsensical captions kept scrolling by, Jaeha threw his phone down at the never-ending guiding scene.
“Shit, no wonder my lips hurt so much.”
Until now, there had never been actual external injuries during guiding. The image was a bit blurry due to magnification, but seeing it made him vividly recall what happened. When he tried to close his mouth to avoid it, the memory of biting his lip explained the stinging wound.
“Ah! Life-saving! CPR! Rescue activity! That’s right, what!”
Even though no one was listening, Jaeha couldn’t keep still, jumping around on the sofa making excuses. After shouting into empty space for a while, he eventually tired himself out and collapsed on the cushion.
“…Let’s just stay offline.”
The TV was still talking about upcoming recovery work and preventive measures for urban gate occurrences.
“From now on, let’s only watch regular channels. That will fix it.”
With the thought that if he didn’t see it, it was resolved, Jaeha tried to calm himself down.
To get rid of the scenes that kept popping up in his mind, he opened the refrigerator. Nothing was better than cooking for clearing random thoughts. However, when Jaeha turned around with ingredients in hand and saw the guiding scene reflected on the large TV, avoidance became meaningless.
“Argh! You should have just held my hand from the beginning!”
While Jaeha was writhing in embarrassment and blaming Jaeyoon, a serious conversation was taking place inside the association regarding this incident.
Externally, the association had gained significant benefits. The status of Espers had skyrocketed instantly, and it clearly showed what happens when a gate appears in an urban area. Despite sending official documents, the result of using modern firearms proved that only Espers were effective in exterminating monsters.
But Association Chairman Kwon Haesung, who would have been boisterously happy at other times, didn’t look pleased. Unlike Seo Jaeyoon who secretly made deals and acted as he pleased, or Kwon Haeil who was an illegitimate child and therefore unloved, the news of Yumaro’s disappearance – who, despite being immature, had been useful – troubled him.
“Tsk, useless.”
When Kyun Jiho and Joo Dojoon arrived at the association with Yumaro, Kwon Haesung wasn’t even aware of the communication device malfunction. He was busy answering calls coming from everywhere.
In the midst of this, the location of a gate that had opened in a rural area happened to be the hometown of a congressman he was friendly with. When asked to save his elderly mother and relatives, he dispatched Kyun Jiho and Joo Dojoon who had just arrived. The golden turtle was slow anyway, and the activities of Seo Jaeyoon and Kwon Haeil shown in the video looked impressive and pleasing even to Kwon Haesung’s eyes.
This makes money. Kwon Haesung was convinced that being the chairman of the Esper Association was the right answer rather than awkwardly taking over a subsidiary company.
Afterward, Yumaro, who had arrived at the isolation room, disappeared without a trace. Kyun Jiho, who had returned from the rural area, desperately tried to find him using spatial movement, but it was useless. Even the guide who was with him was missing. It was obviously a kidnapping, but Kwon Haesung processed it as a disappearance and announced externally that Yumaro was under treatment. The problem was that he had no intention of finding Yumaro, just as he had announced externally. Yumaro was an Esper who was about to go berserk anyway. Rather than wasting manpower looking for him, immediate follow-up measures were more urgent.
This was the chairman’s position, but Seo Jaeyoon, who stood before Kwon Haesung, thought differently.
“I didn’t care what benefits you took. As long as it benefited us too.”
“Benefits…”
“But I cannot accept such a poor response to an Esper kidnapping like this.”
At Jaeyoon’s firm stance, Kwon Haesung leaned back in his chair with curiosity.
“Weren’t you on bad terms with Yumaro? I didn’t expect you to react so sensitively.”
“Isn’t the chairman looking at the situation too lightly? Yumaro is an A-class Esper, skilled in abilities. Have you calculated how much damage there would be if he became a villain?”
“So what do you want me to do? Even Kyun Jiho tried to find him but couldn’t. We need a method to provide support.”
Kyun Jiho could go anywhere, but due to the abilities possessed by the villain organization, he couldn’t go there. Thanks to that, they were certain that Yumaro had been kidnapped by the villain organization.
Jaeyoon knew a way to locate the villain organization. He also knew that an item was needed for that. The problem was that a new gate had to open to get that item.
The villain organization wouldn’t leave a promising Esper like Yumaro to die; they would try to persuade him. With even the few guides they had now taken, prevention was the best they could do for now.
“Don’t unnecessarily send Espers outside in situations like this. If Kyun Jiho and Joo Dojoon had stayed with him to the isolation room, this wouldn’t have happened.”
The two people who were escorting Yumaro to the isolation room had to leave him with the guards who came to meet them midway, at Kwon Haesung’s request. They didn’t expect that mere guards could kidnap an A-class Esper. It was possible because the guard was an informant for the villain organization.
“I’ll immediately schedule aptitude tests and training for employees and guards.”
“Those tests will all be wrapped in plausible lies, so what’s the point?”
“Even if they disguise it with lies, we can still pressure them. And I’ll make the detector mandatory for field use. Since we now know that undeveloped gates can be forcibly opened, we need to check constantly.”
“If you do that, there won’t be enough catalyst stones.”
“With what came pouring out this time, we should have more than enough. Keep your greed in moderation.”
Thanks to the simultaneous gates, the damage was great, but they also collected a significant number of precious stones. As greedy as Kwon Haesung was, he could add one more safety device for the goose that laid golden eggs.
“I’ll consider it an investment for our Esper corps.”
“Please make sure I don’t have to come up here again. I’m asking you not to interfere.”
Kwon Haesung couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of calling in Seo Jaeyoon, who had boldly used a one-time item, only to get a lecture in return.
“Ha, this arrogant kid…”
But compared to Kwon Haeil who was swayed without purpose, Seo Jaeyoon, who was desperate for his brother’s well-being, had clear desires, making him easier to handle.
As Jaeyoon left, Kwon Haesung turned on the screen he had temporarily turned off. On the large screen, a scene was playing where a clean white uniform and an elegant black uniform were enveloped in light, creating a mysterious atmosphere.
“This was captured perfectly. Guides, they might be worth using.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
