After running like that for about 5 more minutes, the speed seemed to slow down, then the large door in the wall ahead opened by itself and the car entered.
It was dark and hard to see clearly, but in the middle of a vast expanse of land, there was a single red brick house standing alone. Several lights were on the exterior walls of the house.
The car moved from the entrance following the recessed lights installed in the ground. The car entered a gray garage with a wide entrance next to the red brick house.
In the garage, there were four more cars besides the black car they were riding in. Jiwon’s eyes widened at the cars that all had amazing appearances. After getting out of the car and turning his head here and there, Jiwon became more curious about the identity of this place and came out of the garage.
The path around the house and continuing straight ahead was well-paved, but other than that, it was made of sand and dirt. Whether it was because it was dark or because the land was vast, the end of the walls surrounding the house couldn’t be seen.
A passing breeze whooshed by and rustled Jiwon’s hair.
Should this be called a yard?
Seo Gangwoo passed behind Jiwon, who was blankly looking at the desolate scenery, pulling a suitcase. Hearing the wheel sound, Jiwon finally remembered he hadn’t taken his luggage and turned around to receive the suitcase, but Seo Gangwoo had already walked away with long strides on his long legs.
“Ah, give me my luggage!”
The house had a very pretty exterior, unlike the desolate surrounding scenery. Though it was a single story, it had high ceilings and was spacious, and there was a large window behind a wooden deck installed on one side, so it didn’t look stuffy.
Seo Gangwoo, who had arrived at the front door before he knew it, held the door open and waited for Jiwon. Jiwon, who had run over quickly, followed Seo Gangwoo inside.
After taking off his shoes and passing through the entrance, Jiwon was dazed once again.
The air inside the house was chilly. The interior of the house with its clean and modern design was empty.
As if no one lived there.
The space that could be either a playground or a living room had nothing except for a single black leather sofa attached to one corner wall.
“…May I look around the house?”
Jiwon asked carefully while examining the bleak house. The interior was full of cold air, so when he spoke, his breath came out.
“Yes.”
As soon as permission was granted, Jiwon went around the spacious house, looking around eagerly.
The kitchen with basic white & black furniture built-in showed no signs of use. The only food in the refrigerator he opened slightly was an energy bar, combat rations, and a bottle of nutritional supplements on the door side.
Near the kitchen was one large empty room, and next to it was a bathroom. Another room was also extremely spacious, and as it was used as a master bedroom, there was a bed big enough for Jiwon to roll around 10 times and a small side table.
Inside the master bedroom, there was a bathroom, powder room, and dressing room, all spacious, but they were all completely empty and there weren’t many clothes hanging either.
At this point, Jiwon wondered if Seo Gangwoo was actually living here.
Could this be a hidden camera show?
Even thinking such absurd thoughts, he left the master bedroom and walked down the hallway continuing to the opposite side of the living room, and there was one more door.
“…Woooow!”
The room he opened and entered was completely full of books. Divided into two floors up to the high ceiling, bookshelves surrounded the walls.
There was a staircase on one wall that could be climbed, and there were many bookshelves erected in the middle of the room.
It was like a library you’d only see in movies. Jiwon’s fingertips brushed past one section of the bookshelf as he walked inside, taking steps. The smell of books filling the room made his heart both peaceful and excited.
This is so cool.
Jiwon also liked reading books. It was good for passing time, and it was one of the hobbies that Jiwon, who couldn’t go around well anywhere, could enjoy quietly in one place.
It was the same for Seo Gangwoo. Reading books to deliberately ignore the pain and turn his attention elsewhere was his only hobby, so to speak.
“Wow….”
He went around that amazing space once. Even that took quite a while.
After touring even the last space and coming out, Jiwon’s impression was that the house was really unnecessarily large.
Of course, he absolutely loved the room full of books. But everything else was burdensome.
The rooms, the bathroom, the living room like a playground, even the yard so wide it was embarrassing to call it a yard…. The spaces outside the study were completely empty without proper furniture, and there were no signs of life, which made it even more so.
Jiwon approached Seo Gangwoo, who was still standing in the living room until he finished looking around.
“The house is incredibly spacious.”
“You can be assigned different accommodations even now.”
“It’s fine. It’s a bit fascinating because this is the first time I’ve seen a house where everything is this big…. Have you been living here the whole time?”
No matter how he looked at it, there weren’t many signs of life, so Jiwon wondered if there was another house and asked.
“I stayed at other accommodations for about a year, but the presence of people around bothered me. After moving here to the outskirts where there are few people, I’ve been here continuously.”
It was also to minimize damage to citizens as much as possible when a rampage occurred, but he didn’t say that. At first, the house didn’t have a yard either, but afterward he kept buying surrounding land to expand it and built walls.
After hearing Seo Gangwoo’s words, Jiwon understood the house with wide and high walls in this remote outskirts area. It was a place that Seo Gangwoo, who would have always maintained a high gauge due to lack of guiding, had made his own resting place, avoiding places with many people.
He found it strange that even the inside of the house was bleak, but he thought there must be some reason for that too.
But how does he manage this spacious house?
“…Don’t tell me. Is this house an artifact too?”
“That’s right.”
It was something he said just in case…. Jiwon, at a loss for words, just blinked his eyes.
“There’s nothing in the remaining rooms, so we’ll need to order what’s needed. It’s late, so please rest in this room today. I’ll be in the living room.”
“Ah! No. It’s fine. I can sleep in the living room. The sofa is big enough too.”
Jiwon waved his hands and spoke. The sofa, which was the only furniture in the living room, was really big. If Jiwon lay down, he could roll side to side.
When Seo Gangwoo recommended once more, he said it was fine and asked only for spare sheets. Seo Gangwoo had no choice but to bring a pillow and blanket and hand them over, and turned on the boiler he’d never turned on when alone to raise the house temperature.
Jiwon laid his suitcase flat in the living room. When he opened the zipper and spread it out, the tightly pressed luggage sprang up. He put his hand in, rummaged through, and pulled out pajamas and toiletries from between them.
“Should I use this bathroom?”
“Yes.”
With the homeowner’s permission, he gathered his belongings neatly and entered the bathroom. When he took off his clothes and put them on the shelf, all the hair on his body stood on end in the cool air. The white breath that escaped every time he exhaled made it feel even colder.
“Eugh… It’s cold.”
In fact, it was the influence of ice, one of Seo Gangwoo’s main attributes. While controlling his energy, some naturally came out, and when he was alone, there was nothing to worry about, so the air inside the house was cold.
Jiwon, who barely managed to brush his teeth after taking out his toothbrush, quickly entered the shower booth with his trembling body.
The warm hot water was welcome. There was also a large bathtub, so he wanted to soak his body in warm water, but it seemed too forward to do so on the first day, so he promised himself next time. Jiwon, who reluctantly took his eyes off the bathtub with regretful eyes, quickly washed his body.
At the same time, Seo Gangwoo was also showering in the bathroom inside his room and drying his hair. It was strange to have someone other than himself in the house.
The accommodations he stayed in after manifesting as an Esper were also fine to use, but as he couldn’t receive guiding and the range where he could sense people’s presence gradually widened, he had no choice but to move to his current house due to the increasingly severe neuralgia. At that time, his ability to handle energy and mental fortitude weren’t the same as now, so it was harder to endure.
He had to remove as many bothersome things from his surroundings as possible somehow. He couldn’t prevent the pain from growing with accumulating side effects, but with the quieted surrounding environment, he could at least rest.
Seo Gangwoo, who finished preparing for bed, turned off the light, lay on the bed, and closed his eyes.
Jiwon’s presence was transmitted outside the door. Perhaps it was okay because it was the presence of a Guide with a high matching rate, or perhaps it was simply because the existence tottering around was Jiwon—strangely, it wasn’t bothersome.
Without realizing it, he paid more attention to Jiwon’s presence.
Jiwon, unaware that his presence was being transmitted to Seo Gangwoo inside the room, pushed the suitcase to one side while drying his hair.
Jiwon’s pajamas today were rabbits.
Sky blue on top and bottom, with ears dangling on the rabbit head. If he didn’t wear just the hood, they were just ordinary pajamas, and since the inside was microfiber, they were warm and soft, making them one of Jiwon’s frequent choices. He chose to wear them because the house seemed cold even with the boiler on.
Jiwon, who confirmed by touching with his hand whether his hair was completely dry, turned off the living room lights and lay down on the generously sized leather sofa, covering himself with the blanket.
It was a silent night.
He closed his eyes to sleep, but sleep wouldn’t come. Jiwon’s eyes gradually became wide awake.
He counted sheep, drew stars, and tried forcibly closing his eyes, but drowsiness gradually fled.
The desolate living room as big as a playground was chilly. Jiwon rolled his large eyes and then squeezed them shut.
Lying alone on a sofa in one corner of the dark living room, all sorts of idle thoughts came to mind and he was scared.
