About a hundred years ago, when Gates were first discovered, when monsters poured out from within them, and when people with superpowers were just starting to appear, it was possible to reach high positions and live receiving precious treatment just by being born with an ability.
If he’d been born then, Seo Hae-il probably could have obtained high social status and generous economic compensation—so plentiful he couldn’t spend it all even if he spent his whole life—without complex internal conflicts or appropriate social life.
Of course, there would have been the minor problem of work being much more plentiful and dangerous than now, but anyway, he could have obtained what he wanted now without much difficulty.
However, now that the Special Abilities and Gate Management Agency had been established and the Esper and Guide talent pool had stabilized through systematic management over decades, the story was different.
S-rank Espers were still few in number, but if they recruited a few more of the relatively common A-rank and B-rank Espers, they could handle monsters similarly. In other words, while it was an outstanding talent, it wasn’t irreplaceable.
Therefore, even if you were born with a useful ability, appropriate social life and maintaining relationships with superiors couldn’t be neglected either. Especially now, with promotion congestion and organizational restructuring right around the corner.
Even knowing the situation well, there was a very valid personal reason why Seo Hae-il had ruined his relationship with Deputy Manager Kim Seong-jin himself.
“If you heard the rumor, you know. Kim Seong-jin caused a Gate accident and embezzled money from the victims.”
“That’s what I’m saying—why are you stepping forward when it’s not even your business?”
“It could become my business.”
At the uncharacteristic words, Jo Gi-hyeon raised an eyebrow diagonally.
“Did you regress to college days? What’s with the sudden advocate of justice talk? Is this the first or second time you’ve seen Deputy Manager Kim doing stuff like that? You’ve been good at pretending not to know until now.”
It was true. Every time Deputy Manager Kim Seong-jin had violated large and small regulations and taken personal gain, Hae-il had appropriately pretended not to know.
However, each time he pretended not to know…
“My conscience was pricking me.”
This time, personal feelings got mixed in too, so it was harder to just stay still.
Hae-il, who calmly revealed his honest truth, tapped the cigarette against the ashtray. The blackened burnt traces crumbled helplessly and fell to the floor.
They say the more bad things you do, the more your conscience wears down and dulls along with it. He had no idea how other people managed to move only for their purposes like that.
It seemed that living that way was wrong for Seo Hae-il in this lifetime.
“What… no, you have the ability, you meet the requirements, and you grabbed a good line, so you just need to ride it up for smooth sailing, but what are you doing talking about conscience now?”
“I know, right.”
Hae-il gave a bitter smile as he casually agreed with his friend who had a bizarre expression.
***
Was he receiving punishment all at once for the things he’d pretended not to know until now? Or was it the price for making a fuss with emotions ahead instead of realistic judgment?
From then on, Hae-il’s situation began to change rapidly.
“Hae-il, did you check the personnel notice? I heard you were transferred to Namhae.”
“…Namhae?”
First, he was suddenly transferred to a remote corner at the edge of the provinces.
When he whistleblowed, it wasn’t as if he’d just done it recklessly without thinking ahead.
The current Special Abilities Agency Director General Lee Gi-cheol was the type to take good care of his people, but he wasn’t a saint who would pull up even people who’d become completely useless. So naturally, he thought Director General Lee would abandon Deputy Manager Kim too. Especially since he’d collected and submitted clear evidence of corruption.
However, it seemed he was much more favored than expected. There was no news at all about Deputy Manager Kim Seong-jin’s disciplinary action, and instead, only a retaliatory personnel transfer with obvious intent came back.
It would be a lie to say he didn’t feel wronged, but at least until then, he wasn’t too worried. He thought he could return after enduring for a bit.
‘They can’t keep an S-rank Esper in a backwater position forever.’
His innate ability was his source of confidence. Even if he wasn’t irreplaceable, keeping a skilled S-rank Esper stuck in a corner was definitely a loss for the Special Abilities Agency. The fact that Hae-il’s ability to control water was useful in various ways also played a part.
However, the Namhae Regional Office he experienced firsthand after actually going down there was more terrible than he’d imagined.
“…You’re saying there are only two Gate Strategy Teams?”
“Yes.”
“Are you saying that when one team enters a Gate, the other team has to be on standby 24 hours straight?”
“Yeeees.”
Choi Ji-yeon, who introduced herself as handling administrative work at the Namhae Regional Office, answered with a subtle smile on her face as if the abnormal part was natural.
“Then when do we sleep?”
“We’re short-staffed here, so it can’t be helped. At least with a precious S-rank Esper coming, we can breathe a little easier. Before, everyone would come out of a Gate and go straight into the next one.”
Does this even make sense? Even Espers need to sleep to work.
Of course, with an S-rank Esper’s physical abilities, they could endure up to about 48 hours without sleep.
But Hae-il really hated the feeling of the guiding he’d worked hard to charge up being gradually whittled away for trivial reasons like lack of sleep and overwork.
“…How many Guides are there?”
“Ah, but we have more Guide personnel than other regional offices. There’s one per Gate Strategy Team, and two are stationed here. So that’s four in total.”
Just regular full-time Espers alone exceed ten people across two teams combined, but there are only Guides at a third of that level. Far from plentiful, it was an environment lacking in every way.
“Are you sure things are running smoothly without civilian damage with that staffing?”
“There are hardly any civilians. Most have moved to safer areas, and we mainly manage regular Gates here. The possibility of Special Gates occurring isn’t that high either.”
The fact that they were mostly regular Gates was an advantage.
Unlike Special Gates, regular Gates didn’t disappear and remained in place. Instead, monsters regenerated inside the Gates at regular intervals. As long as they managed them periodically, there was no risk of monsters bursting out due to failed strategy attempts.
However, as soon as he found that one decent point, other drawbacks popped up in handfuls.
“This is the Gate Strategy Team 1 office.”
The office he entered following Choi Ji-yeon’s guidance had hardly anything intact. Most of the items used for Gate strategy were so old it was questionable whether they even worked.
The guiding room was worse. Cement walls with an ominous atmosphere, and except for cobwebs, all there was were two chairs. Even those were uneven and wobbled.
In the case of such emotionless mandatory guiding, the most important thing for maximum efficiency was a comfortable atmosphere.
“…This is all there is?”
“Yes. What more should there be?”
“……”
“Ah, our office doesn’t allow mucous membrane guiding during mandatory guiding. As I mentioned, the number of Guide staff…”
“No, I don’t do mucous membrane guiding much either.”
“That’s good then. Now let’s go greet the Regional Director.”
The employee who smiled brightly without a care didn’t give him any time to ask more questions and guided him to the Regional Director’s office.
Even until then, Hae-il, who hadn’t given up hope, tried to think positively.
‘If we work together in small numbers in such a harsh environment, at least we’ll have solid camaraderie. Looking at how they’ve stayed in a place like this, there’s a high probability their personalities are decent too.’
Sadly, reality was completely different.
“S-rank? Then you can work three days straight without a problem, right?”
“…Being upper-tier in ability utilization doesn’t mean my stamina is similar to other ability users.”
“Eh, but S-rank and B-rank can’t be the same. This place is convenient since we don’t have to worry about civilians, but still, it’s a headache having to go around catching monsters if we can’t clear Gates on time and they burst. Our Seo… uh, yeah. It’d be good if Esper Seo Hae-il works hard and raises our performance.”
The Regional Director seemed full of thoughts about grinding down his subordinates to find his own way out.
On top of that, the Team Leader of his assigned team was the very embodiment of a typical leader.
“Hae-il.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
“Graduated top of your class from Special Abilities University and worked only at the Main Bureau? Wow, an elite, a real elite. With that much, your field experience must be impeccable too. You probably know all the common monsters inside and out, right?”
