“Oh, really? I’m not great at remembering names. Well, I guess he must be new?”
Gukhyeon replied casually, as if he had no ill intent.
‘This guy is kind of funny.’
I didn’t respond but handed the tablet PC to Gukhyeon with a slight smile.
“I’ve signed it. Please check.”
Gukhyeon calmly reviewed the contract, ensuring nothing was missing. When he glanced at Yugeon, he puffed up his cheeks as if to show he was upset.
His side glance seemed to say, Why aren’t you taking my side? When I silently mouthed What? in response, he quickly turned his head away.
‘Cute.’
Under the table, I lightly grasped Yugeon’s wrist. It was a silent warning to hold back, as I feared he might cause a scene if teased any further.
He must have understood, as he remained still.
“Alright, that concludes the contract….”
Gukhyeon finished reviewing the document and slid the tablet aside.
“How much do you already know?”
He sipped his tea out of habit. The scent was so subtle at first that I hadn’t noticed, but it had a floral aroma. Given how tired he looked, I had assumed it would be coffee.
It was a tea that didn’t suit someone like Gukhyeon, who reeked of blood.
“You should speak first. We’re here to receive information, not to provide it, right?”
I stated firmly. Since the contract was signed, there was no reason for us to concede anything. I intended to squeeze out every bit of information to make my guiding crystal worth it.
“Fair enough. There’s a rumor that the culprit in this case is a mental-type.”
He began speaking in earnest, as if it didn’t matter to him.
“And that’s why you sought me out. But let me say this upfront—I’m not the culprit.”
He had already figured out exactly why we came to him. We had planned to gauge whether he was the suspect through conversation, but it felt like our first move had already missed its mark.
“How can we believe that?”
“I have a personal reason for chasing after this case.”
He turned on his tablet again and displayed a photo on the screen.
“Ji Seokhyeon, a D-Class Guide, was the first victim in Region C. That guide is my cousin.”
What followed was truly shocking. Before his cousin was attacked, Gukhyeon had been having a meal with him in Region C.
“He excused himself to go to the restroom in the middle of the meal, but even after a long time, he didn’t return. So, I went to check on him. That’s when I saw the culprit.”
“You were at the scene?”
“Yes.”
He had encountered the perpetrator firsthand.
“Did you see their face?”
“No. Only their back. They were wearing a large hoodie with the hood up. They were well-built and tall, likely an adult male.”
“What happened next?”
“When I entered the restroom, the culprit bit my cousin. Right in front of me, he turned into a Cremon.”
Without realizing it, I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek. I thought of Hangyeol, who had been bitten by his berserk Cremon mother, and the researchers who had been attacked by me during the B-Region gate breach. My parents flashed through my mind.
“He lost control and attacked me. In the meantime, the culprit escaped through the window. As soon as the culprit disappeared completely, my cousin suddenly stopped attacking, as if he had been controlled.”
He stopped attacking?
“And then, he fled through the window. When I tried to follow him, other rampaging Cremons blocked my way, so I couldn’t continue the chase.”
If his cousin seemed to be under control and other berserk Cremons hindered his pursuit, then the rumor that the culprit was a mental-type wasn’t just speculation—it was nearly confirmed.
At a glance, this part of the story might be easy to gloss over, but there was a critical flaw in the logic.
“A mental-type Esper still needs prolonged exposure to their wavelength to brainwash someone—usually anywhere from three days to two weeks. But didn’t you say your cousin was bitten right in front of you?”
“Yes.”
That was impossible. If what he said was true, then the culprit was a mental-type Cremon capable of instant brainwashing.
“You caught on quickly. Mental-type Espers normally require exposure time ranging from three days to as long as two weeks for full brainwashing. But it seems that for a mental-type Cremon, the conditions are different. And there’s another crucial factor: ranking.”
A mental-type Esper could only brainwash those of an equal or lower rank.
If there were no rank limitations, that meant even someone as high-ranked as me—an S-Class—could be affected.
“But unfortunately, since my cousin was only a D-Class, I couldn’t determine whether rank played a role. So, Guide Gu Sa-weol, if you’re going to investigate this case further, you need to be very careful.”
If he was D-Class, he was already a lower-tier Esper, so it was hard to tell whether ranking restrictions applied at all.
This… was seriously dangerous.
“My cousin has been missing since then. It’s been four months now, so I doubt he’s still alive.”
Though the event hadn’t happened all that long ago, he stared blankly at the steam rising from his cup, speaking in an eerily detached tone.
There was something strangely enigmatic about this man.
“Does the Center know about this?”
“Of course. When the mission regarding the Guide attack case first began in Branch C, I was questioned as a witness. But when no progress was made, I decided to step in myself.”
Originally, since the mission had been reassigned to Branch A’s Alpha Team, all findings from the investigation in Branch C should have been properly shared.
Yet, judging by how Yugeon remained silent, it seemed he hadn’t known this. Gukhyeon wasn’t just the victim’s family—he was an eyewitness to the scene.
And given that he handled much of the underground operations at the Center, he wasn’t someone lacking in power either. It was strange that this information had been buried.
“So, what is this physical evidence you’re talking about?”
Yugeon asked impatiently. Gukhyeon pulled a small sealed pouch from his pocket and handed it over.
“This.”
“This is….”
Inside was a button. A shield firmly engraved at the center, crossed by an X-shaped design.
It was the Center’s emblem. The mark had been etched onto the button, and its color was a muted blue.
“The culprit is a C-Class mental-type Awakener affiliated with the Center.”
On the Center’s uniform epaulettes, rank was indicated by a button. Blue signified a C-Class.
The culprit had left that button at the scene.
“Everyone knows that the culprit is a mental-type and a researcher who disappeared during the B-Region gate breach, right? That’s why I narrowed down the suspects from the B-Region research lab.”
He pulled up another document on his tablet.
“There wasn’t a single mental-type Esper working at the lab. And of course, no Guides either. Since Espers cannot retain additional abilities even after turning into Cremons, only a regular human could have awakened as a mental-type. This is a list of civilian researchers who worked at the B-Region research lab.”
The list contained three names.
Some of the faces were familiar—people I had seen while visiting the research facilities back when I was still a civilian. Others, I didn’t recognize at all.
Below their profile pictures, all three were marked as whereabouts unknown.
They were missing.
“And since it’s possible they later joined the Center as mental-types, I also compiled a list of current C-Class mental-type Espers. There are five of them.”
On the next slide, the individuals were scattered across Branches B, C, and F, with one being Ji-han from the Alpha Team.
“My investigation focuses on these eight suspects—three former civilian researchers and five C-Class mental-type Espers. The overlap between these two groups will be the culprit.”
Hearing so much information at once made my head spin.
A civilian researcher and a C-Class mental-type Esper…
If Gukhyeon’s theory was correct, the culprit had to meet both conditions.
That meant Ji-han and Ian were automatically ruled out as suspects.
Ji-han had been working as a mental-type Esper in the Alpha Team at the time of the incident, so he couldn’t have been a civilian researcher at the B-Region lab.
And Ian was a C-Class intelligence-type.
But… he was suspicious. Suspicious enough that I wondered if he was actually a mental-type disguising himself as intelligence-type using some trick.
Despite having clear conditions, the reason Gukhyeon hadn’t yet found the culprit was likely because the culprit had either brainwashed others with their ability or used deception to conceal their identity.
That meant Ji-han was unlikely, but Ian was definitely someone worth investigating.
I had expected Gukhyeon to have some information, but he had far more than I anticipated. It was clear how dedicated and relentless he was in this pursuit.
And this button—this piece of evidence—was a huge breakthrough.
“So, what do you think? I’d say this was well worth your guiding crystal.”
“I won’t bother thanking you. Like you said, we’ve paid the price in full.”
I took the sealed pouch containing the button and slipped it into my pocket.
Gukhyeon smirked, lifting one side of his lips.
It was an ambiguous smile—somewhere between ridicule and restraint. But his gaze was so direct that I had to look away.
And then, an unexpected question came.
“Guide Gu Sa-weol, how old are you this year? You didn’t seem like an adult when I first saw you.”
“You know me?”
For a brief moment, his expression carried a genuine smile.
“Is there an Esper in Branch A who doesn’t know Guide Gu Sa-weol?”
“I’m asking if we’ve met before.”
I searched my memory, but I didn’t recall ever crossing paths with him. Gukhyeon wasn’t someone with a forgettable face either.
His features weren’t particularly sharp, but the deep, ink-like darkness in his eyes made them linger in one’s memory.
“I saw you… from afar. So, yes, this is our first proper meeting.”
“…….”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Did he just happen to see me in passing? Or had he deliberately sought me out?
The atmosphere shifted.
Since Gukhyeon had worked at the Center for a long time, it was possible we had crossed paths before.
The Center’s ID badges displayed both name and rank in distinct colors, so he could have easily known my name—and that I was an S-Class.
Espers aged more slowly starting in their twenties, making it difficult to judge age by appearance. But I had the feeling Gukhyeon was older than me.
His composed yet indifferent gaze scanned my face carefully.
Instinctively, I reached up to lightly touch my collarbone—a habit of mine—when Yugeon suddenly cut in.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re flirting with Guide Gu Sa-weol, aren’t you?”
The wording was so blatant that I didn’t know how to react.
It was already awkward, but thanks to Yugeon, my face grew even hotter.
