Yu Je-hyun spoke without the slightest concern for whether Shin Ji-soo was startled. He pointed directly at the vehicle parked at the very front.
“You two ride with your respective teams in separate cars. Lee Haru, Guide Ji Yeon-woo, and I will take this one.”
“Understood.”
“Yes, sir!”
Though they referred to him as Yu Je-hyun behind his back, Shin Ji-soo was two trainee classes below him.
Anxious that he might have overheard her earlier gossiping, Shin Ji-soo wiped her sweaty palms on her pants.
Having given his instructions, Yu Je-hyun stared at her for a moment, then unlocked the car door with his watch and climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Why are you sweating so much? Let’s get ready.”
Kim Hyun-seo gave her shoulder a friendly pat and picked a van with the rest of the team. Only after Shin Ji-soo wiped her forehead with the back of her hand did she start to move.
Does he have eyes in the back of his head or something?
She’d only mouthed the words—there was no way he could have heard—but the way Yu Je-hyun had looked at her earlier had been piercingly intense.
Yu Je-hyun had looked without thinking, but Shin Ji-soo got spooked all on her own.
After unintentionally instilling fear in someone, Yu Je-hyun turned to Lee Haru as he started the engine.
“What did you want to talk about? Should I ask Ji Yeon-woo to step out?”
Ji Yeon-woo, seated in the back, glanced nervously between the two. Lee Haru, who had taken the front passenger seat instead, shook his head.
“No, it’s fine. It’s just… I think I know where Esper Kang Min is.”
“What do you mean?”
Yu Je-hyun lowered his voice, hoping, if only a little, that Lee Haru would say something affectionately sweet. At present, even the Association had failed to locate Kang Min.
So hearing Lee Haru claim he knew Kang Min’s whereabouts was undeniably shocking.
Thank goodness this wasn’t said in front of the Association President or the Esper Center Director. Otherwise, suspicions might have arisen that Lee Haru was colluding with Black.
Already, there were people spreading malicious rumors because Lee Haru had been kidnapped by Black multiple times and returned unharmed.
Since these rumors came from within the Guide community, most dismissed them as unreliable—but after today’s bombing, the atmosphere had changed.
If even the Association President began to harbor doubts, the situation could quickly spiral out of control.
“I’ll explain how I know later. For now, let’s just focus on rescuing Esper Kang Min.”
Lee Haru knew how suspicious he sounded, and he was worried too. But for now, he simply couldn’t explain what was going on.
Fortunately, Yu Je-hyun didn’t press. Instead, he gestured for him to continue. Lee Haru shared the location that the body’s original owner had just revealed to him.
“The Science Hall at Baeksong University.”
“Baeksong University?”
“Yes.”
“Didn’t see that one coming.”
Baeksong University had once been one of Korea’s premier institutions, just a decade ago. But after a series of serial murders on campus ten years back, it had practically become a ghost town.
They had long known that Black maintained multiple hideouts, but for one to be located at a university—especially one not far from Association HQ—was unexpected.
Yu Je-hyun immediately punched Baeksong University into the GPS. Then he used his watch to contact Kim Hyun-seo and Shin Ji-soo, instructing them to head to the same destination.
Though the two seemed surprised by the location, they replied with simple affirmations.
“Do you believe me?”
“If I don’t believe you, who else would I believe?”
Honestly, Lee Haru was still unsure of himself. The situation was urgent—was it really okay to act on nothing but his word?
What if Kang Min wasn’t there when they arrived? Of course, the body’s original owner wouldn’t joke about something like this, so Kang Min should be there. Probably.
…He should be there, right?
The more he thought about it, the more anxious he felt. Lee Haru rubbed the surface of his ring and asked the body’s owner again. But no answer came.
After telling him Kang Min was in the Science Hall at Baeksong University, the original owner had gone quiet.
Honestly, he didn’t even know for sure if Kang Min was really there. He was just repeating what he’d been told.
While Lee Haru fretted, Yu Je-hyun was fairly confident that Kang Min would be exactly where Lee Haru said. He knew better than anyone that Lee Haru was no ordinary person.
When only a bloodstained scrap of Lee Haru’s clothing had been found near the closing gate of a dungeon, most people had assumed he was dead.
A Guide surviving alone inside a dungeon was so rare, it was considered miraculous. And the gate of the dungeon Lee Haru had entered had vanished completely.
Yet somehow, Lee Haru had reappeared before Yu Je-hyun’s eyes. Even now, it felt like a dream.
The more he replayed the incident in his mind, the more Yu Je-hyun wondered if Lee Haru had somehow developed a teleportation ability.
Guides were never known to possess powers beyond Guiding—but maybe Lee Haru was the first exception. Given all the uncanny abilities Lee Haru had displayed, it wasn’t all that shocking that he could locate Kang Min. Of course, if anyone else had said the same thing, Yu Je-hyun wouldn’t have given it the time of day.
Yu Je-hyun glanced at the estimated arrival time displayed on the screen and subtly furrowed his brow.
“Keep your seatbelts on. I’m going to speed up.”
With that, he pressed down hard on the accelerator. The speedometer surged upward in a blur. The sudden acceleration threw Lee Haru and Ji Yeon-woo back into their seats, their faces draining of color.
What should have been a thirty-minute drive took less than ten. Yu Je-hyun brought the car to a screeching stop in front of the Science Hall at Baeksong University. Seconds later, the vehicles carrying Alpha Teams 2 and 3 also braked sharply behind them.
“Urgh…”
Lee Haru clamped a hand over his mouth, gagging. Ji Yeon-woo, though silent, looked equally nauseous, his lips pressed into a tight line.
“You okay? Want me to pat your back?”
Only then did Yu Je-hyun notice how pale Lee Haru had gone—beyond just white, nearly ashen. He’d been too focused on arriving as quickly as possible to notice until now.
“…I’m fine.”
If anyone touched his back right now, he might just throw up. Shaking his head, Lee Haru reached out with trembling hands and opened the car door.
A gust of fresh air hit him, and the queasiness began to subside. Yu Je-hyun quickly exited and moved to support him as he staggered out.
“Esper Yu Je-hyun, should we enter the building right away?”
Kim Hyun-seo approached, standing at Yu Je-hyun’s side. Lee Haru pushed away Yu Je-hyun’s supporting hand, and Yu Je-hyun gently swept a hand down Lee Haru’s back before immediately turning to give instructions to Kim Hyun-seo and Shin Ji-soo.
“Just to be safe, check within a one-kilometer radius around the Science Hall to make sure there are no civilians nearby. Have the rest of the teams surround the building and secure the perimeter. Only the team leaders and I will enter the building.”
“Understood.”
“Yes, sir!”
If Kang Min was inside, there was a high chance the leader of Black was with him. And likely Hong Seong-jun, now an ally of Black.
While Alpha Teams 2 and 3 each had two A-rank Espers aside from their leaders, A-ranks were essentially liabilities when facing an S-rank opponent.
At least Kim Hyun-seo and Shin Ji-soo had enough combat experience to stay alive even in a direct confrontation with Zero.
“Lee Haru, come here. You too.”
Yu Je-hyun called over Lee Haru and Ji Yeon-woo. As they approached, he paused for a moment, then assigned Lee Haru to Shin Ji-soo and placed Ji Yeon-woo beside Kim Hyun-seo.
“You each have one job. Carry Lee Haru and Ji Yeon-woo on your backs and stay within a set distance of me. I’m not asking you to fight Zero or anyone else. Just don’t let them out of your sight. Got it?”
“Uh… yes! I can do that!”
“Same here!”
They’d expected to support the team in combat—but the actual task given to them was to protect the Guides. The two exchanged uneasy glances.
“Is he seriously bringing the Guides straight into the heart of the battle?”
“Otherwise, why would he tell us to carry them? It makes no sense.”
Even as the two mouthed silent words to each other, Yu Je-hyun was already spreading his mana to scan the inside of the building.
Kim Hyun-seo and Shin Ji-soo blinked, still unsure whether they were really supposed to follow through with these orders.
It was an unconventional move. Still, they understood why Yu Je-hyun was reluctant to leave the Guides outside.
Especially Kim Hyun-seo—he had once watched Lee Haru get abducted by Zero right before his eyes. So even if he didn’t fully agree, part of him understood Yu Je-hyun’s reasoning.
