#118
When I checked the intercom, I saw people wearing hats pulled low. They were standing in a position that was subtly out of view of the camera.
I had an ominous feeling. Thinking I shouldn’t turn on the intercom sound to hear what they were saying, I carefully tiptoed to the entrance. I could faintly hear rough voices.
“Is no one inside?”
“I can sense someone’s presence.”
As I listened to those voices, I felt a bit strange. It clearly wasn’t Korean, but somehow I could understand everything as if it was being dubbed by voice actors.
‘Is this another effect possible because it’s a novel world?’
It was an interesting effect, but I didn’t want to know about it in this situation. I very carefully, trying not to make any footsteps, retreated backwards. I planned to quietly go to the bedroom, hide, and then send a message to Hyun Dowoon.
“Hey, they’re right in front of the door.”
However, before I could safely escape, suddenly there was a loud bang and the front door was torn off with a crash.
It was clearly the power of an Esper.
‘This is definitely not with good intentions.’
If it was, they would have waited for me to open the door.
I slowly backed away and then quickly ran towards the bedroom.
“You think you can escape from an Esper?”
And then, I was immediately caught and slung over someone’s shoulder like a sack of rice.
I knew that Shin Haejun and Hyun Dowoon had hired security guards for the safety of this house… How did they break through? I heard they only hired skilled professionals…
I tried to open my inventory just in case, but there was no change, so I knew it wasn’t a dungeon.
‘How did they even find out the address of this house?’
I struggled to get down from the shoulder, but I couldn’t overcome the monster-like strength of the Esper.
“Stay still, will you?”
Despite struggling wildly, I felt incredibly powerless as there was no way to escape. Still, thinking that Hyun Dowoon and Shin Haejun would blame themselves terribly and worry if I was kidnapped, I tried my best to resist.
“This… we don’t need this.”
The man threw my phone, which he had been holding, onto the floor and reached out to me.
“This won’t do.”
A large hand approached my field of vision. And soon, with pressure applied to my neck, my consciousness faded.
***
“Ray, Liam. You didn’t have to go this far. This could turn into an international dispute if we’re not careful.”
“We can just naturalize him as an American citizen. It’ll be fine.”
“Is this why you suddenly said you wanted to come to Korea? This is a real crime!”
“Nikki, be quiet. You’re being too noisy, Hani might wake up.”
As if I was regaining consciousness, I could vaguely hear other people’s conversations.
The last thing I remember… I remember being kidnapped.
Weren’t Ray and Liam the names I saw in the news…? It’s probably not a coincidence that the foreigners who kidnapped me have those names, so it must be them.
I kept my eyes closed to gather as much information as possible while eavesdropping on the conversation, when suddenly the voices stopped.
“I think Hani really has woken up.”
Someone muttered in a deep voice. I got goosebumps for a moment and wanted to rub my arms, but I barely managed to resist. What on earth was going on? Did Hyun Dowoon and Shin Haejun know about this situation?
Having lost my phone, I felt even more afraid without Nine to lean on mentally.
‘Hani… are they talking about me?’
I felt cold with fear. Even though the sensation on my body felt like a soft bed, given the situation, it wasn’t comforting at all.
They wouldn’t be able to track my location through my phone, so Hyun Dowoon might not have any way to find me. And I didn’t have confidence in escaping from here on my own. At least Liam, the Esper who showed the will to confine me, was S-class.
‘It seems like there are people opposing this situation… but they don’t seem to be the ones in charge.’
Do they want my power as an unranked guide? Are they trying to naturalize me and make me work as a guide for America?
‘But… so suddenly like this?’
America hasn’t properly asked for my opinion yet. And there hasn’t been any news about me choosing Hyun Dowoon or Shin Haejun as my pair.
If they wanted to avoid diplomatic friction, persuading me first should have been the priority.
‘Could this be… the writer’s doing?’
Are they trying to… do something by inserting new characters? This kind of reckless development is characteristic of the writer after all.
“Hani, we know you’re awake. Would you like to open your eyes?”
I heard a gentle voice. I didn’t want to open my eyes, but I remembered reading that when kidnapped, your goal should be to survive by not angering your kidnappers as much as possible.
I obediently opened my eyes as told, and looked a bit dazed at the blonde beauty I had seen in the news article, who was smiling as if pleased.
“Um, what’s going on right now?”
“Hmm, I don’t understand what he’s saying. Nikki, what’s he saying?”
I looked at the person Ray was addressing. An Asian woman with clearly Korean features turned to me with a troubled face.
“Um, I’m sorry. This isn’t how things should be done… I’ll apologize on their behalf.”
“I’m curious about what’s going on here…”
I conveyed my thoughts again while trying to maintain the most harmless smile possible. Nikki let out a light sigh in response.
“Nikki?”
Ray called Nikki with a slightly irritated tone. Nikki, caught in the middle, also seemed a bit annoyed but couldn’t go against Ray. It seemed that Ray and Liam were indeed the ones with the most power here.
“Guide Lee Jaeha is wondering what’s going on right now. He’s understandably confused.”
“Hani. Hani is a cuter name.”
When Nikki said my name correctly, Ray waved his hand and changed the way of addressing me. It seems he arbitrarily using the ‘Ha’ from Jaeha, which made me feel sick with stress on top of trying to understand the situation.
“Explain it well to Hani. Tell him we’re going to America.”
“Who would agree to that when you’ve dragged him here so suddenly? If you want to explain, why don’t you do it yourself!”
“But I can’t communicate with Hani. Nikki, we brought you here and paid you to do this kind of thing.”
“If I had known it was this kind of job…!”
It seemed that Nikki had also been brought here without knowing what was going on. I felt a slight sense of kinship, but nevertheless, Nikki was still on their side. I clenched my fist to remind myself of that fact.
‘Haejun might not know since he’s in the dungeon… but Dowoon will be worried about me. I must return safely no matter what!’
It seems their goal is to send me to America. They even seem to be planning to naturalize me as quickly as possible to avoid diplomatic friction, but I had to try my best to prevent that from happening.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Well… First of all, I’m sorry. Ray wants Guide Lee Jaeha to take a matching rate test with Liam, and hopefully become his pair guide.”
Why on earth? Is there anyone who would try to pass their pair Esper to another guide?
I was shocked by the unexpected words and gaped blankly. I thought they were planning to pair me with another Esper in America, but I didn’t expect them to be trying to push their own pair Esper on me.
“I already have two Espers with perfect matching rate test results.”
“I know, but… I’m just here to interpret.”
Nikki apologized repeatedly with a somewhat deflated expression. I understood it wasn’t her fault, but it only made me feel more frustrated.
‘What on earth is going on… Is the writer planning to send me to a foreign country and continue the story in a new way?’
I couldn’t understand what they were thinking at all. With this nonsensical development, I could only inwardly call out desperately to Nine and the two men while remaining extremely tense.
I made a tearful face and glared at Ray, who was smiling shamelessly, and Liam, who was looking at me with an expressionless face.
***
With the writer gone, normally Hyun Dowoon wouldn’t have worried about Lee Jaeha.
However, due to the emoticon’s meaningful words, he couldn’t be completely at ease.
In the end, he thought he should quickly handle urgent paperwork at the center and leave work early, when suddenly the head of security called urgently and sent a message.
The message said that the house door had been completely torn off and Lee Jaeha had disappeared.
“What were you doing during the time you were supposed to be guarding?”
“I-I’m so sorry! None of us remember what happened… We think we might have been affected by some kind of chemical agent.”
Hyun Dowoon, who had rushed back home like a madman, yelled at the head of security who was kneeling and apologizing in front of the devastated entrance. Normally, he wouldn’t have gotten angry as it wouldn’t help resolve the situation, but given the seriousness of the matter and the fact that it involved Lee Jaeha, he couldn’t control his anger.
‘They all have no memory? How is this possible?’
Feeling somewhat creeped out, Hyun Dowoon took Lee Jaeha’s phone that the head of security respectfully handed over. After dismissing all the security guards, he glared at the phone.
Since it happened at home and no one knew the situation properly, the only reliable eyewitness account he could get was from the emoticon in the phone.
“Come out. If you don’t come out right now, I’ll smash this.”
When he threatened in a simmering voice, the emoticon appeared on the phone with a brazen expression.
What’s the matter?
Seeing that face, Hyun Dowoon immediately realized that the emoticon was the culprit behind this incident.
At the very least, it was clear that the emoticon liked Lee Jaeha. But given how calm it looked, it could only mean that the emoticon was the culprit.
“What did you do to Jaeha?”
What do you mean, what did I do? Why are you treating me like a criminal?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
