……With this body, something like that…… once is probably my limit.
He felt like he could pass out at any moment, but he forced his head up and fixed a glare at the door. There were still plenty of pieces of trash lined up in the corridor waiting to be dealt with.
Yihyun pulled the strawberry-flavored mana supplement out of his inventory again and downed it in one go. As the strawberry-flavored liquid slid down his throat, his senses barely returned to him.
……Is strawberry really the only flavor this comes in?
How many bottles was that today alone. Yihyun stared at the empty bottle, then swept his disheveled hair back and schooled his expression. He had just sunk deep into his chair and crossed his legs when —
A cautious knock, and the heavy door eased open. An esper poked his head through the gap, eyes darting as he tried to read Yihyun’s mood.
“……U-um, would it be alright if I came in?”
Just a little while ago, this was the same man who’d been spitting in the corridor, boasting about how he was going to cause a scene. But after witnessing Kang Jindu get dragged out like an upended frog moments ago, every trace of that bravado had vanished without a sign.
Yihyun savored the cowardly waves rolling off the man and spoke at his leisure.
“What are you doing standing out there? You’re wasting time.”
“O-oh……. Yes! I-I’m sorry! I’ll come in right away!”
Without being told, he sat ramrod straight on the single-seat recliner sofa, both hands folded neatly on his knees, waiting on Yihyun’s mercy.
Yihyun tapped his terminal with something like satisfaction.
Right. Whether esper or guide, discipline has to be this thorough.
Silence settled over the room. A guide with the presence of a high-rank esper, and an esper sitting across from him rigid with fear like a student in a study hall. Afternoon sunlight fell long and slow across that strange scene — one you’d never find anywhere else in the guide quarters.
What cut through the languid afternoon air was a sharp alert tone.
[Guide Baek Yihyun, please proceed to the Precision Examination Room in Research Building One.]
Yihyun rolled his stiff neck and stepped out into the corridor. Those black collars wrapped around the necks of every guide he passed kept snagging his attention.
How am I supposed to get those off them.
His mind was full of schematics and circuit diagrams the entire walk to the research facility. If they were fitted with location trackers as well, there might be a way to use the central control room to send signals to individual chokers and overload the mana receptors.
If only I still had Han Taeyun standing behind me right now……
Every time the Ability Authority people seized on any opening to shove regulations and orders in his face and start a pointless power struggle, Seunghyun had bypassed words entirely and marched straight into the Director’s office with Han Taeyun in tow.
Hey, Han Taeyun. Stand there.
Seunghyun would throw his feet up on the desk and make his demands, while Taeyun would simply stand there behind him, saying nothing. Seunghyun himself was also a high-ranked S-Rank, but to the Ability Authority people, he was still an internal figure they could bind with regulations and orders. Han Taeyun, humanity’s one and only EX-Rank, was a different matter entirely. He had nothing to lose by leaving the Ability Authority, and there was no one who could forcibly keep him. Just having someone like that standing silently at Seunghyun’s back was enough — the old men at the top would stamp their approval on the paperwork as if they’d never pushed back at all.
……Was I really no different from those old men.
The thought surfaced suddenly, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. Taeyun had known better than anyone exactly what purpose his existence served for Seunghyun. He’d known his name was being used as a tool of intimidation, that his silence was a means of pressure — and yet he had never once objected. He simply held his ground until Lee Seunghyun had gotten what he wanted.
“……But now that backup of mine is out there tearing the world apart.”
Yihyun swallowed the bitterness and pushed open the research facility door.
“Please sit. We’re beginning the examination.”
The room was nothing but cold metal and machinery. Researchers — more mechanical than any physician — shoved Yihyun’s sleeve up without ceremony. A thick needle drove itself mercilessly into his pale forearm.
“Ah……!”
Hot liquid entered his veins and a sharp, metallic pain stabbed through his brain. After that came electrodes pressed to his temples — claiming they needed to draw out guiding readings — as they forcibly pulled his waves to the surface. The discomfort was on an entirely different level from the routine check-ups he’d received after combat as an esper. This wasn’t an examination. It was exploitation, plain and simple.
Guides have been going through this every month?
As guiding energy was siphoned from deep within his core, the alien sensation made Yihyun clench his teeth. When he’d been an esper, he’d only ever been on the receiving end of the energy guides gave — he’d had no idea whatsoever what kind of pain the giving side endured.
As his energy was drained without pause, Yihyun asked through gritted teeth.
“You said this was an examination — so why do you keep extracting energy? The quantity is far too much for just checking readings.”
The researcher didn’t even look up, answering in a flat, mineral voice.
“That’s classified. All we need from you is cooperation.”
A dry, dismissive attitude that made clear there was no interest in conversation. Through the blood draws, the injections, and the examination that seemed to wring out his very soul, Yihyun’s eyes grew cold and still. Then, the researcher studying the waveforms on the monitor let a slow, deep curve spread across his lips.
“Your guiding concentration has improved since last time. The purification speed, the density…… it’s perfect. Though your remaining mana reserves are nearly empty. Hm, looks like someone’s been quite diligent with their guiding.”
Having finished his notes on the chart, the researcher glanced back at the wildly fluctuating monitor and laughed quietly again. That laugh was nothing like a doctor’s relief at a patient’s improvement — it was far closer to the covetous smile of a technician who’d just gotten his hands on a high-performance component.
……There’s something going on here.
A cold chill ran down Yihyun’s spine at that smile. It was too sinister and ominous to write off as mere passion for research. They weren’t examining Baek Yihyun right now — they looked like they were cheerfully measuring just how far they could push the exploitation, gauging her limits. The researcher closed the chart and added offhandedly:
“We’re solidly in the safe zone now. Yield is exceeding expectations, so next time we can probably push for even more.”
What a ridiculously long day. This is harder than running back-to-back gate raids.
Yihyun sank into the backseat of the car heading home and let out a quiet sigh. The luxury sedan glided over the road without so much as a tremor, but his body felt like lead — after spending the entire day honing his waves to a razor’s edge and spending them all.
“I’m home.”
“Welcome back! You’ve worked so hard again today. Go wash your hands first.”
The moment he stepped through the front door, a warm meal the Nanny had prepared with care was there to greet him. The savory scent of doenjang jjigae and the smell of golden-grilled fish hit him all at once, and the hunger he’d forgotten came surging back like a tide.
Right — I need to fill my stomach before my head can work. Then sleep properly, recharge. Starting tomorrow, I should get some exercise in, too.
Yihyun moved his spoon without a word. He ate with a full, hearty chomp — cheeks puffed out roundly on both sides — and the Nanny watched him with a look that shifted between relief and contentment, continuously nudging side dishes his way. Then, as if something had just occurred to her, she spoke with quiet care.
“How was today? Your expression looks a little brighter, which is a relief…… but, um… was anyone giving you a hard time?”
“Yes. Well, there were people giving me a hard time…… I mean, there were some.”
Yihyun put a big piece of savory fish in his mouth and answered evenly.
“It’s fine. I gave it all back.”
Picturing Go Cheolsu foaming and crumpling to the floor and Kang Jindu toppling backward, the corners of Yihyun’s mouth curved upward. It was the rough, savage smile that Lee Seunghyun used to wear whenever he’d completely stomped his enemies into the ground.
But what the Nanny saw was something entirely different.
On the slender, delicate face of Baek Yihyun, that smile looked like nothing more than a wan, fragile expression — forced out painfully in order to hide grief. Tears welled up in the Nanny’s eyes all at once.
“……You did well. Eat more, and keep your strength up.”
“Hmm? Oh, thank you.”
Yihyun paused his spoon at the Nanny’s sudden excessive reaction — eyes going red, piling more fish onto his bowl without warning.
Did I say something wrong? What’s gotten into her?
Not understanding in the slightest, Yihyun finished the rest of his bowl and padded into his room with a satisfied pat to his full stomach.
Yihyun picked up the tablet set to one side and lay down on the bed, running through the rebel forces’ movement route one more time. As he cross-referenced the detailed news articles, his eyes narrowed sharply.
[Breaking News] Dust attacks 4th Outer District’s “Mana Applied Technology Research Institute”…… facility reduced to ashes
[Exclusive] Ability Authority-contracted new drug development labs struck in succession. Estimated damage alone expected to reach roughly 1 trillion won
If Han Taeyun was specifically targeting research institutes and gates, there had to be a reason. He wanted to find it — but the answer wouldn’t come.
“God, seriously. Why is everything such a complete mess!”
Yihyun flopped around restlessly in frustration and smacked the large rabbit plushie beside him — thwack, thwack. But something strange and hard caught under his fingertips.
“Hm? What’s this now.”
He turned the plushie over and found a hidden zipper on its back. He opened it — and an old leather notebook tumbled out.
“Is this a diary?”
Yihyun hesitated for a moment. Flipping through the first few pages, it turned out to be a freewheeling sort of diary — written for a few days, then abandoned, then skipped over a long stretch, then picked up again.
