“You could get into serious trouble if you go in the wrong place.”
“Yes. So please be careful not to wander off.”
Director Shin Yoon-hee paused for a beat before leaning in to whisper to me.
“I’ve never been inside myself, but… the Bureau’s interrogation room is infamous for a reason. There are rumors circulating inside the Bureau that if you end up there, they’ll grind you down to the bone.”
The interrogation room, huh…
I’d already heard all about its terrifying reputation in my past life. There was a persistent rumor that it was where AWOL ability users were taken for reeducation—mental reprogramming, really.
And it didn’t seem like it was just a baseless rumor. Ability users who came back from the Bureau’s interrogation room always threw themselves obsessively into gate raids and monster suppression for a while.
Eventually, when their minds and bodies couldn’t take it anymore, they either died… or ended up confined to a hospital bed.
It was probably meant as a warning to the others.
Ability users who were suddenly conscripted into combat always longed for home and family. They dreamed of escape.
That was why the Bureau scared them straight—to make sure they never ran away from their assigned zones.
Je-ha and I both knew how terrifying that interrogation room was, which was why we worked so hard to help everyone in our unit adjust quickly and prevent any attempts at desertion.
We were desperate to survive together—because we were trapped in a reality where running away simply wasn’t an option.
Even that’s just a memory now.
Maybe that’s why none of this scared me.
“Haha. I’m not stupid enough to make that kind of mistake. Especially not now, right before our comeback. Even our CEO begged me not to cause any trouble this time.”
I joked to lighten the mood, and the director finally smiled, looking a little more reassured.
“Of course. I just said it just in case, so please don’t take it the wrong way.”
“Of course not.”
I smiled on the surface, but inwardly, I thought: Damn it.
If I could’ve just pretended to get lost, I might’ve been able to sneak around and explore a little outside the data center.
This might be my first and last chance to get this deep inside the Bureau.
But with the director preemptively warning me, I couldn’t pull anything now.
At this point, all I could do was follow her lead and extract what I could from the database.
When I tapped the temporary access card at the entrance, the elevator doors—which had been sealed shut—slid open.
“Let’s go in.”
“Ah, yes.”
As soon as we stepped into the elevator, the doors closed behind us.
The button panel, where floor numbers should have been displayed, showed absolutely nothing.
The director must’ve been used to that look of curiosity, because she began explaining in a casual tone.
“Actually, the buttons do display the floors.”
“Huh? I don’t see anything.”
“They’re specially treated for security reasons. Only authorized personnel can see the floor numbers.”
“I see.”
“If an intruder breaks in, they’ll have no idea which button to press and get caught while fumbling around. Even if they hit random ones, the elevator just locks them inside.”
That alone said how important this place was.
I was processing her explanation when the director suddenly clenched her teeth.
“All because of certain hostile forces constantly trying to infiltrate the Bureau.”
“Ah… right.”
Yeah. I definitely knew who she was referring to.
I stayed quiet.
So Je-ha and the others really did contribute a lot to why the Bureau’s security is so tight now.
Once again, I decided it’d be best to stay quiet and not stir up trouble.
***
The secretive elevator descended like we were being sucked into a vacuum, until it finally stopped on a floor.
“This way.”
I followed the director’s lead down a winding corridor.
At the end of the dim hallway, a brightly lit chamber came into view—it was the data center. It looked almost identical to the Bureau’s facilities on the surface.
The director led me inside to an enormous system at the center.
“This is the database that stores information on every single ability user in the country.”
She tapped her card against the system. Power surged on, and the massive transparent screen lit up.
A mechanical voice greeted us.
–Welcome, Administrator.
“Wow…”
I stared in awe, and the director shrugged proudly.
“This is Alice, the AI that manages the database. Just tell her what information you want to see.”
She turned to Alice and continued,
“Alice, this is Guide Yeon Yu-jin, here as a guest for just one day. He’s been temporarily granted search access. Please accommodate him this once.”
–Understood. I will restrict search capability to the parameters provided.
“Good.”
Then, the director began walking away.
Huh? I thought she was supposed to keep an eye on me to make sure I didn’t pull anything?
I instinctively grabbed her sleeve.
“Excuse me, but where are you going?”
She pulled her arm free and replied,
“Ah, I have some business to attend to. Once you’re finished, just tell Alice you want to return. She’ll guide you back to the elevator.”
“Understood.”
With that, she disappeared into the dim hallway.
Left alone, I turned back to Alice.
“Alice, show me all the ability users in the country.”
–Understood, guest.
The sound of flipping pages echoed, and the screen rapidly filled with densely packed information.
–I’ve compiled all known Espers and Guides currently in existence.
“Hmm… Could you show them to me starting from the very first known ability user? Oh, and include the deceased ones too.”
There was a reason I specifically asked to include the dead.
If I could access information on the ability users suspected to have been killed by X, it would help me prepare. I needed to know which abilities he might’ve stolen.
Alice responded obediently.
–Request accepted. Recompiling data.
As expected of an AI, the processing was lightning fast. A mountain of data appeared before me.
I studied the screen slowly, then asked again,
“Alice, can you print this database out?”
This time, Alice rejected the request.
–Apologies. That action is not permitted.
–Documents cannot be exported externally with your guest-level clearance.
–If you wish to print or save files, I recommend bringing someone with higher authority.
“Figures…”
I wasn’t surprised—I’d expected as much.
That’s why the director had to act like she was reluctantly doing me a favor by showing me this.
If even regular public offices restrict personal data access, of course the Bureau would do the same—or more so—with information on ability users.
But I had to get this data out somehow.
Time to cheat.
“Welp. Nothing I can do then.”
Pretending to give up, I casually backstepped toward the system the director had activated.
Even a massive supercomputer still had a USB port clearly visible. I quickly plugged in the USB I’d prepared in advance—one Je-ha had arranged for me.
Alice sounded panicked.
–Unknown USB detected attempting to access the system.
–Initiating countermeasu—initiating—
Alice began to glitch, then went dead silent.
In her place, a weary adult male voice rang out.
–A, A. Mic test. Can you hear me, Yeon Yu-jin?
“Yes, loud and clear.”
The voice belonged to none other than Geum Na-ro, Je-ha’s teammate and a member of the Baekho Unit.
A few days before I came to the Bureau, I’d texted Je-ha:
[Me: I want to extract the database, but there’s no way the Bureau’s gonna let me walk out with it. Do you have anyone who specializes in this sort of thing?]
Honestly, I hadn’t expected much. But Je-ha connected me with Geum Na-ro right away.
[Je-ha: There’s a guy named Geum Na-ro. He said he’ll send a package to your dorm. Just plug it into the Bureau’s system and he’ll handle the rest.]
The package arrived soon after. It looked like an ordinary lighter—nobody would guess it was a USB.
There was also a short memo inside: Just plug this in. I’ll take care of the rest.
I trusted Je-ha’s teammates to be as competent as he was.
So I brought the lighter-shaped USB with me—and here we are.
Thankfully, the security checks were strict, but they didn’t go as far as a full body search.
That’s how I managed to smuggle in the USB without a hitch.
A yawn echoed through the speaker.
–We don’t have long before the Bureau notices. I need to start copying the database now.
A new window popped up on the transparent screen:
[Copying database…]
With the director gone, I figured I could relax and just wait it out. I dragged over a random chair and sat down.
And that’s when a voice echoed from somewhere nearby.
