Chapter 25
The portal opened before anyone could question why a C-zone Esper was going to the A-zone. Chahun scanned his employee ID at the portal entrance and extended his hand to Yeonwoo. Perhaps thinking Yeonwoo’s hesitation was due to fear, Chahun approached him, wrapped his arm around Yeonwoo’s shoulder, and gently guided him forward.
I just wanted to go back to my zone, take a shower, and sleep.
The sticky sensation, like passing through slime, left Yeonwoo’s skin as dizziness washed over him. So this is why other Espers ask Yeonwoo to warn them before using his ability.
Chahun supported the staggering Yeonwoo, quickly completing the iris recognition scan and was about to open the door when—
“Just a moment, Esper Kang Chahun.”
“What is it?”Â
Chahun stood with an attitude as he faced the employee blocking their way.
“Did you register an accompanying visitor? External visitors must apply in advance to enter—”
“He’s not an external visitor. Are you blind? Can’t you tell just by looking? He’s a Center Esper.”
At the employee’s words, Yeonwoo raised his employee ID, clearing his dizzy vision. The employee pursed his lips after confirming Yeonwoo’s name written in blue.
The employee’s face clearly said, “Why is a C-rank here?” as he looked back and forth between Chahun and Yeonwoo.
“What’s your purpose for visiting?”
“I called him here. Got a problem with that?”
Only after Chahun’s growling response did the employee finally withdraw his disdainful gaze from Yeonwoo and gesture toward the door. Then he bowed so stiffly that it seemed beyond polite—it looked downright servile.
Chahun frowned at the stark contrast between this behavior and how the employee had looked down on Yeonwoo just moments ago. As Chahun was about to say something, Yeonwoo held him back and gestured inside.
“Let’s go in.”
Yeonwoo pulled Chahun along after even giving a nod of acknowledgment to the person who had just been dismissing him. Neither his round, downturned eyes nor his slightly upturned lips showed any sign of displeasure.
Urged on, Chahun reluctantly took a step but hesitated at the entrance to the training hall. Since he had left right after training ended, he couldn’t guarantee what state it was in. As he hesitated, Chahun observed the exhaustion evident on Yeonwoo’s face.
This hyung seems to have a cleanliness obsession.
He considered going in first to tidy up before calling Yeonwoo in, but he couldn’t leave Yeonwoo alone in the humanity-deprived A-zone. After a moment’s hesitation, Chahun opened the door. Yeonwoo, moving with tired steps, let out a small gasp of admiration.
The common area that had seemed so impressive before now felt trivial in comparison. It was embarrassing to even compare it to the C-zone training hall with its peeling paint exposing the inner wall.
Of course it would be like this since it’s an S-rank Esper’s personal training hall…. While Yeonwoo looked around with his mouth slightly open, Chahun used his foot to push scattered training equipment into a corner, hiding them.
“Want to see this too?”
At Chahun’s gesture, Yeonwoo trudged over to look inside the room.
Wow, this is a bit much.
The space that appeared to be a lounge inside the training hall seemed larger than Yeonwoo’s dormitory. The bed wasn’t even a cot but a double bed.
“Do you like it?”
Why is he asking me about his own training hall? Though puzzled, Yeonwoo nodded. How could anyone not like a space like this? Yeonwoo gave a weak thumbs-up to Chahun, who smiled with satisfaction, then looked for the exit to return to C-zone.
“That’s not…”
Yeonwoo furrowed his brow as he noticed paper bags stacked beside the lounge door. The pattern on the bags looked familiar. It was the same type of bag Chahun had pulled a sandwich from before.
“You didn’t eat these, did you?”
Chahun, who had been gathering clothes scattered on the sofa, rushed over to check the contents.
“Ah, these. I told them I wouldn’t eat them, but they kept bringing them. Said I should eat when I get hungry between sessions.”
“You didn’t eat them, right?”
“No.”
Chahun responded indifferently and looked down at Yeonwoo.
“You told me not to eat them, hyung.”
Yeonwoo nodded approvingly and checked the contents of the paper bags. Most were packaged foods like sandwiches and kimbap. After opening the packaging to examine the contents, Yeonwoo motioned to Chahun.
“Can you see?”
At those words, Chahun leaned in and tilted his head in confusion.
“Dungeon by-products usually have slightly different colors. Like blue oranges, for example.”
“Let’s not do this on the floor. Let’s sit over there.”
As Chahun pointed to the sofa, Yeonwoo reached out and gathered the paper bags in his arms.
“Ah, let me—”
“What?”
The paper bags full in Yeonwoo’s arms moved to the table. Chahun, who had been reaching out, awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
“Like this?”
Drowsiness hit Yeonwoo as soon as he sank into the soft sofa. As he yawned widely, Chahun pointed to pickled radish with a greenish tint.
“No, that’s not it.”
“But it’s green.”
In response to Chahun’s insistent frown, Yeonwoo reached out and opened a sandwich package.
“See? If you focus, you can see the mana surrounding it. And dungeon radishes are naturally green.”
Seeing Chahun’s confused expression, Yeonwoo suppressed a yawn and opened another sandwich package. When he showed the fruit placed next to the sandwich, Chahun focused so intently he nearly dove into the packaging.
“Look at the blueberry. Can you see the light blue mana?”
“Aren’t blueberries naturally blue?”
“Not dungeon blueberries.”
What does that mean? As Chahun tilted his head in confusion, Yeonwoo rummaged through another sandwich and showed him a normal blueberry.
“The color is a bit different, right? Since I’m not in the Life division, I can’t show you blueberries with dungeon mana removed, but dungeon blueberries are actually orange. They’re mimicking their surroundings with mana for protection, to be eaten by humans.”
“What?”
“All dungeon by-products are plant-type magic beasts. When consumed by humans—or ability users—they absorb mana from the mana core. Ah, careful.”
Yeonwoo reached out and caught the sandwich Chahun had dropped. Chahun, who had turned pale, pointed at the blueberry, opening and closing his mouth before wrapping his arms around his stomach.
“So all this time, what I’ve been eating…?”
“Plant-type magic beasts, yes. If you consumed large quantities, it would be problematic, but—”
“What if I ate a lot?”
Chahun clutched Yeonwoo’s training uniform with both hands as if it were a lifeline. Looking down at his stretched uniform—which wasn’t even made of stretchy material—Yeonwoo checked Chahun’s complexion.
Hmm. He seems fine.
“A C-rank like me might be affected, but an Esper with as much mana core as Esper Kang Chahun wouldn’t even show symptoms if consumed. You might feel side effects like your ability feeling awkward due to the dungeon mana mixing with your mana core’s mana, but…”
He briefly considered taking these and reporting them. But it bothered him that the person looking after Chahun was none other than the Deputy Director, the Center Director’s right hand. Even if he reported it, they probably wouldn’t receive proper punishment, and it would only upset Chahun. He needed more concrete evidence…
“Hyung? Are you sleeping?”
Hm? Yeonwoo lifted his heavy eyelids and pushed away Chahun’s hand waving in front of his face. Though he had apparently dozed off briefly and felt somewhat refreshed, he was still tired.
“What kind of training did you do that makes you fall asleep mid-sentence?”
The thought of training made him feel exhausted again. Park Seohyun was one thing, but Bae Jaeyoung was clearly obsessed with training. She had an excellent ability to squeeze the mana core just short of causing an Esper to convulse.
“Starting today, we began sparring training…”
Yeonwoo’s voice, already naturally gentle, stretched longer as it was affected by drowsiness. Listening intently to his voice, Chahun pulled a blanket over Yeonwoo’s knees.
Looking down at the blanket on his sagging thighs, Yeonwoo felt for the dagger in his belt. I should go return this… Though he knew he should, his body, buried in the plush sofa, refused to move.
“Sparring training?”
“Mm. It’s probably a bit different from the training in A-zone. Have you heard of holograms?”
“I’ve heard about them. They said we’ll train with those later.”
Yeonwoo let out a small yawn and nodded. As his head started to droop forward, Chahun supported it and rose from the sofa, trying to lay Yeonwoo down.
“Mm. It’s fine. I need to shower and sleep.”
At Yeonwoo’s mumbled words through his drowsiness, Chahun guided him to the shower attached to one side of the lounge. Yeonwoo followed unsteadily and came out half-asleep from under the shower.
“Wear this.”
Yeonwoo put on the clothes handed to him, and with Chahun’s help adjusting the length, he nodded off repeatedly before collapsing straight onto the bed. Feeling pleasantly engulfed by the bed, Yeonwoo smiled faintly and fell asleep.
Is the mattress good…? Mumbling, Yeonwoo suddenly opened his eyes.
“You’re awake? I was just about to wake you.”
When asked what he wanted for dinner, Yeonwoo felt for his left arm.
“What are you looking for?”
“My auxiliary bag…”
Hearing his locked voice, Chahun searched through Yeonwoo’s pile of belongings arranged on the table and handed him the auxiliary bag. Yeonwoo took out his phone and checked for missed calls. Last night, Yeonhwa had entered the void space saying she might see Yeoji. He knew there wouldn’t be any contact until she woke from her dream, but he checked out of habit. Confirming there were no missed calls, Yeonwoo rubbed his disheveled hair and got out of bed.
“Did you sleep well?”
Feeling like he had slept enormously and checking his refreshed body, Yeonwoo smiled awkwardly at Chahun’s question.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you doze off so completely. Even when we pulled an all-nighter before, it wasn’t this bad, was it?”
“Back then I was only doing mana ball training, but now I have to physically run around. Where should I put this?”
“Ah. Please look at this.”
Chahun motioned to Yeonwoo and patted the seat beside him. As Yeonwoo sat on the sofa, unfolding his rolled-up sleeves, Chahun pointed at a banana with a frown.
“I can distinguish tomatoes and blueberries after what you showed me, but I don’t know about this one.”
Chahun held up a banana with a faint purple tint, peeled it, and showed the white flesh inside.
“Do I distinguish it by the peel? Or by the flesh?”
“You can distinguish it by the peel. That one is safe to eat.”
Smelling the rich aroma of the banana made him hungry. I should finish explaining quickly and go get some food.
“Rather than being deceived by appearances, distinguishing the mana is the quickest method.”
“This… what is it? This is sour.”
Chahun’s face contorted as he ate the banana. If it’s that bad, just spit it out. Yeonwoo watched as Chahun, making a pained expression, slowly chewed and swallowed, then proceeded to distinguish several fruits.
“Just because they look similar doesn’t mean they taste the same. Dungeon melons are also sour.”
Chahun rinsed his mouth with water and pushed the banana far away. As he continued asking “What about this? What about that?” Yeonwoo’s stomach grew increasingly hungry. Finally, clutching his growling stomach, Yeonwoo picked up his belongings from the table.
“Where are you going?”
“Yes, I need to return my weapon, so I should head back now. If you have more questions, next time—”
“What? It’s currently restricted access time. Even I can’t go outside because of the security system.”
“What?”
No, why are you only telling me this now?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
