Yujin stared at the System window with a grave expression.
He had seen a quest with this exact same content before. It was when he had first transmigrated into the world of the original novel. The text of the Main Quest he had received back then was identical to this one, word for word.
The only difference was the assigned Espers. Back then, the names of the novel’s main characters had been listed — but now, they had been replaced with the names of the Espers he was currently responsible for in the real world.
Why am I receiving a quest when the transmigration is already over?
On top of that, if this was the same quest as before, it meant something similar was going to happen here too.
The disaster in the world of the novel had been severe. S-rank gates that even a full force of S-rank Espers struggled to close had opened in layers, one on top of another — it had been nothing short of hell.
If he hadn’t brought the Espers’ contamination levels down before the main lead awakened, countless people would have died, just as they had in the original. The original ending had been even more horrific — the world had nearly been destroyed before the protagonists barely managed to close the final gate at the last possible moment.
At first, he had only been guiding the Espers to keep himself from getting killed — and it ended up saving the world as a result. That was how he had earned the Wish Token from the System and come back to his original world. Quite a profitable arrangement, all things considered.
“And now I have to do it all over again?”
Even so, the cascading multi-layer gates that had brought the world of the novel to the brink of annihilation were no trivial matter. Even with S-rank Espers whose contamination levels had been brought below 20% on average through his guiding, the battle had been brutal. And Yujin himself, who had pushed his guiding to the absolute limit for their sake, had been in no better shape.
He had thought he might die from guiding alone back then — and now he had to go through something like that again. Yujin pressed a hand to his throbbing head.
“What is even happening……”
It had seemed strange that the System hadn’t disappeared after his return. It looked like whatever had occurred in the world of the novel was going to play out the same way here.
Was this a future that had been destined all along? Or had the System’s chosen one returning to this world dragged its influence along with him?
He still had no way of knowing. What he did know was that right now, he had no choice but to carry out the quest the System had set. He couldn’t just sit still and wait to die.
“Fine. Let’s do it. I’ve done it once — how hard can it be to do it twice?”
He had already guided two of his assigned Espers just yesterday. If he kept going at this pace — guiding his Espers smoothly while gradually improving his relationship with them — he could clear the quest. And with that, he could prevent the world from ending.
Yujin nodded, choosing to stay as optimistic as he could manage. He dismissed the System window and got out of bed.
Grrrumble……
The moment he finished washing up, an enormous growl tore through his stomach. The stress from the day before had been so overwhelming that he had gone the whole day without eating — and now the aftermath was catching up with him all at once. Quests and assigned Espers could wait — he felt like he was going to die of hunger first.
Food first.
He had woken up early because of that unsettling dream, which left him with time to spare before work. Yujin decided to stop by the cafeteria before heading to the office. He called up the cafeteria’s location from the lobby directory he had memorized.
Good — breakfast is included.
The Guide Center could, in an emergency, become an impenetrable fortress — so nearly everything you could need was available inside. He had heard it was possible to have food delivered to your room like hotel room service, but having only just returned, he didn’t know how that worked yet. The cafeteria would do for now.
Why is everyone staring?
The moment he stepped into the cafeteria, he felt the gazes — blatant and unashamed. Someone who had been absently turning their head stopped and blinked at the sight of him. Then, without any attempt at subtlety, let their eyes travel slowly up and down, as if they had seen something they couldn’t quite believe.
Yujin Langford wouldn’t have come to a busy cafeteria like this.
Yujin Langford had sat at the very peak of the aristocracy. He was the kind of great noble who called his private dining space a “dining room” and took his meals at a sweeping table with only a select few present, every dish an extravagant spread. Someone like that would never have willingly rubbed elbows with the people he called monkeys just to eat.
“Isn’t that Kwon Yujin?”
“What’s he doing at the cafeteria?”
“Is he actually here to eat?”
“……”
Hearing the murmurs around him, it was exactly as he’d expected. Apparently just showing up to the cafeteria was enough to send ripples through the entire Center. Yujin picked up a plate with a complicated feeling in his chest.
He felt like an animal on display. Eyes and whispers jabbed at his cheeks and ears like needles. Yujin did his best to stay calm as he loaded food onto his plate.
Breakfast was served buffet-style — take as much as you wanted. Yujin filled his plate with salad, fruit, and toast, then took a seat at an empty table.
The one saving grace was that the breakfast crowd was sparse. When you could sleep in by skipping it or making do with something quick, most people chose to. But from lunch onward, the numbers would double — and he wasn’t sure he could hold up under stares like these.
“Oh — isn’t that Team Leader Kwon?”
“……?”
Someone approached him as he sat alone at a large table.
He had deliberately chosen a quiet spot away from the crowd — he didn’t want others to feel uncomfortable with him nearby. And yet here was someone actively approaching him and initiating conversation.
Min…… Jaeha?
He looked at the man smiling pleasantly at him while holding a plate and recalled his name. Having gone through all the assigned Espers’ profiles Hayeong had given him the day before, he was able to recognize him. The profiles had at least come with ID photos.
What’s going on? Was he on good terms with Yujin Langford?
He had assumed all of Alpha Team 1’s Espers would dislike him after what Yujin Langford had put them through — Baek Dohun had made that clear, and so had Kang Taejun. He had taken it for granted that his relationship with all the other Espers would be just as bad.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in the cafeteria before.”
“Ah — well……”
“Mind if I sit next to you?”
“Pardon?”
Yujin’s eyes went wide in surprise. He looked at Min Jaeha’s face. The open, easygoing impression it gave was even warmer in person than the photo in his profile.
“Hmm — yes. Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
A flustered Yujin gave a nod, and Min Jaeha sat down beside him.
Well — this might actually work out.
He had guiding to do today anyway. Getting at least a little familiar beforehand wasn’t a bad idea. Yujin ate his food and cast a sidelong glance at Min Jaeha beside him.
“So you’ll be eating here from now on?”
“Oh.”
He had been trying to figure out what to say — and Min Jaeha beat him to it. Yujin nodded right away.
“Yes, I think so.”
“I eat here often too. That works out well.”
“……”
Min Jaeha seemed far more socially at ease than Yujin had expected. Approaching someone everyone was avoiding and saying something like that without even a flicker of discomfort — it was unexpected.
But is he being genuine?
Suspicion still gnawed at him. Yujin narrowed his eyes slightly. He couldn’t get a read on Min Jaeha’s intentions at all.
There’s no way Yujin Langford treated only him with any kindness.
Yujin Langford had been an equal-opportunity disaster. Whether Esper or civilian, anyone with looks that appealed to him was something to be trampled and claimed — and anyone whose looks didn’t interest him was trampled because they were an eyesore. In short, Yujin Langford had been contemptible to everyone, without exception.
So why was Min Jaeha being this friendly? There was simply no way Yujin could believe his intentions were good. He held onto his suspicion and continued eating slowly.
“You like raisins, do you? I can never manage the ones in salad.”
“Yeah, more or less……”
Min Jaeha’s inconsequential chatter kept flowing. Yujin gave vague responses from beside him. The conversation was too relentlessly ordinary to sustain any suspicion. Min Jaeha’s easy, amiable manner was exactly the same.
Maybe this is just who he is. As time passed, Yujin felt himself slowly loosening up. Besides, staying prickly for no reason when nothing had actually happened was exhausting.
Baek Dohun and Kang Taejun had shown open hostility — he’d had no choice there. But if Min Jaeha was genuinely different, having one less thing to worry about was actually a relief. After everything he’d been put through by the other Espers the day before, Yujin found himself increasingly inclined to think the best of the situation.
“Oh, and by the way——”
“What is it now?”
He had just been letting his guard down slightly when Min Jaeha spoke again. Yujin, growing a little weary of the constant conversation, frowned as he asked. Min Jaeha grinned and continued.
“Why are you speaking formally to me? You always talked casually with me before.”
“……”
The fork in Yujin’s hand stopped mid-salad. He held perfectly still for a moment, then made himself move again. He did his best to appear unbothered as he answered.
“Did I? I don’t really remember.”
“You don’t remember?”
“No.”
Damn it — I let my guard down. Yujin cursed inwardly.
The Center Director and Baek Dohun hadn’t been suspicious when he’d spoken formally with them. Even if Yujin Langford was a disaster of a person, he wasn’t so thoughtless as to speak carelessly to people who ranked above him in this world.
But his manner seemed to be different with everyone else. Even yesterday, Kang Taejun had reacted oddly when he’d instinctively spoken formally.
That was why he should have been more careful, even with Min Jaeha’s courteous approach — precisely because it was different from Kang Taejun’s. This one was clearly his own mistake. Yujin turned his head slowly and met Min Jaeha’s gaze.
