Since it’s quite early to get off work, I thought there might be business elsewhere. But if we’re just going home, why did he leave early?
It was just a moment ago that he’d acted up about trying to get information from other organization members.
‘He’s not planning to lock me up there as soon as we get home, right?’
It would be troublesome if the human network where he could obtain information was completely cut off.
But anyway, that house also needs to be searched thoroughly at least once. If I dig around while locked up, something will come out.
Hae-il concentrated on driving while secretly making plans to search the house in his head.
The house they arrived at in just a few minutes felt quite unfamiliar. It seemed to be almost the first time coming to this house before the sun had completely set like this.
Moon Woo-shin, who’d been quiet throughout the drive, had nothing much to say even after arriving home.
“Sit there quietly.”
After sitting on the living room sofa and preparing to work, he only designated Hae-il’s position so he wouldn’t leave his sight.
Hae-il, now accustomed to this much, obediently sat in the spot he indicated and observed the inside of the house.
Then he raised his head at the sound of paper hitting—thud.
This time too, Moon Woo-shin was gathering and organizing documents as if he’d finished work much earlier than usual.
When Hae-il looked at him with puzzled eyes, he asked something out of the blue.
“How do you handle guiding?”
“…Why that?”
“Your levels were stable.”
Did he see when he touched the watch earlier?
Since lowering his rank with the ring, there hadn’t been much occasion to use his abilities significantly, so his guiding index didn’t drop much either. So his guiding cycle also became quite long.
Adjusting to that, he’d occasionally solved it with medicine, or if he happened to make contact with Choi Ji-yeon, he’d briefly receive guiding. Since medicine wasn’t perfect, it was better to receive guiding directly even from an E-rank Guide, even briefly.
There was also the option of finding another Guide, but it didn’t appeal to him at all. Right now during infiltration, the only possible methods were using illegal routes or receiving from Guides involved in crime. If he received guiding that way and got emotionally entangled, it was obvious it would become troublesome.
“I’m handling it well on my own.”
When he summarized in one sentence, Moon Woo-shin gave him his gaze. The eyes stabbing down with a subtle light somehow felt unfamiliar.
“That means you can use your abilities anytime without problems, right?”
…Why is he suddenly asking that? An ominous intuition stealthily bloomed again.
“…Why that again?”
Not answering would be more ominous.
“Sleep early.”
Moon Woo-shin, who left only one word without explaining the reason, really pushed Hae-il into the room.
Hae-il, who was pushed without knowing why and lay on the bed after washing early, closed his eyes under Moon Woo-shin’s watchful gaze.
And the next day.
The two left the house side by side at a much earlier hour than usual. At dawn with thick darkness laid, Hae-il, who was forced to sleep early and wake up early, gripped the steering wheel with a body that felt light.
“We’re not going to work today.”
“…What? Then where are we going?”
Moon Woo-shin, who sat in the back seat normally today, slowly gave an address.
While entering unfamiliar words into the navigation, countless thoughts passed through.
I’m not going to be unable to go to work forever, right? Like being dragged somewhere quiet and locked up. There’s still more to extract from Kang Cheol-hyeon and other organization members. Thinking about it connected to why he suddenly asked yesterday if there were problems using abilities, it seemed somewhat possible.
While calculating various situations, Hae-il moved the car for now. After a little while, worry about the near future became overshadowed by a greater sense of crisis in the present.
It was because of highway driving he was experiencing for the first time in his life.
Hae-il, who gripped the steering wheel like a lifeline while tensely focused, concentrated only on driving frantically until arrival.
[“You have arrived at your destination. Ending guidance.”]
Only after the welcome sound flowed from the navigation did he finally breathe.
The place they arrived was an unfamiliar city a bit above Icheop City.
And there was nothing around.
“……”
Hae-il, who quickly scanned the scenery outside the window, glanced at Moon Woo-shin through the rearview mirror to gauge his mood.
He had no idea why they’d suddenly come to a place that was literally an empty lot with no buildings, cars, or people. He’s not planning to bury me right today because I was a bit annoying yesterday, right?
Even though he must have heard the navigation sound, Moon Woo-shin didn’t move. He was only looking at the tablet screen in his hands.
“We’ve arrived.”
Unable to wait any longer, Hae-il tried speaking, but all he did was throw a glance outside the window.
“I know.”
After one word of answer, he only worked again. All Moon Woo-shin did was look outside the window briefly, stare at the tablet screen for a long time, and record something briefly.
Wondering if there was something outside, even after observing intensely out the window, to Hae-il’s eyes it was still just an ordinary empty lot with nothing.
Like that, only after several hours passed without doing anything did an instruction fall.
“Move.”
“…Where to?”
The address Moon Woo-shin recited was yet another region.
Hae-il entered it into the navigation as instructed for now and drove to the new destination again.
Even after arriving at the second location, it was the same. As if Moon Woo-shin had no particular interest in the place he himself wanted to come to, he only glanced briefly through the window and worked quietly again.
This time even that was short. After about an hour passed, a third address flew over.
“…Moving again?”
“Yeah.”
“……”
“What are you doing? Start.”
At this point, it felt like he was just working in the car instead of the office.
‘What is he really trying to do?’
Is the purpose to cut off connection with other organization members?
But if that was the case, there was no reason to do it in the car, nor any reason to drive for hours visiting different regions. It would be more comfortable for both to just lock him up at home.
He couldn’t understand the intention at all.
Throughout heading to the third location, Hae-il continued speculation in various directions in his head.
And at some point, he felt déjà vu.
It was even before arriving at the destination.
‘I think I’ve been to this place before.’
The buildings and road scenery passing by were familiar. He definitely had memories of seeing them once sometime long ago.
After slowing down and driving slowly while rummaging through his head for a few minutes, he finally remembered.
‘It’s a neighborhood where I came for Gate conquest support.’
A few years ago, was it less than a year after joining the Special Abilities Agency? There was a period when he was handling a flood of support requests that came pouring in like a tide. It was closer to being dumped on with the excuse that the newer you are, the more you must unconditionally experience Gates.
Hae-il at that time had a very complicated inside, so he thought it was rather fortunate to run around everywhere like that and focus frantically only on Gate conquest.
It took quite a while to remember because he’d traveled around so much nationwide during that period.
‘It was definitely around here.’
An A-rank General Gate where tricky monsters appeared. They said the quality of Magic Stones was that good.
As soon as he realized, faint goosebumps rose on the back of his neck.
‘Was the Gate the purpose?’
There’s no way the address Moon Woo-shin gave would coincidentally be near a Gate. It lacked plausibility from the start that Moon Woo-shin would instruct something without intention.
‘Then the possibility that there are also Gates near the first and second destinations?’
From what he’d experienced so far, this side had higher probability.
He needed to confirm. He instinctively felt certain that what he was suspecting now was correct.
‘What is he trying to confirm near Gates?’
While maintaining an expressionless face outwardly, Hae-il turned right following the navigation’s guidance. It was a different direction from the road Hae-il knew. However, before completely moving away, the car stopped.
“We’ve arrived.”
As expected, this time too it was an unremarkable public parking lot on the roadside, but it was a location not far from the Gate.
It was no longer meaningless hardship or actions whose intent he couldn’t understand.
Hae-il quickly checked the search history while pretending to turn off the navigation. After confirming the three addresses at the top, he immediately memorized them all.
