* * *
“You should have said that in the first place.”
Minon, whose attitude immediately changed, smiled, pulling up the corners of his mouth.
Raon looked at him with bored eyes.
For Raon, using the moderately capable yet foolish and greedy Minon was the best option.
Therefore, he needed to completely lead this relationship.
Raon spoke again to Minon, who was already celebrating a bit too early.
“I can deduce the location where the terror attacks will occur, but I don’t know the exact date and time. So, I would like your cooperation so that ability users can secure the location at any time.”
“Then can we definitely catch those guys?”
“We have to.”
Raon nodded his head half-heartedly.
If it were the incompetent Raon of the past, Minon wouldn’t have believed him, but not now.
Raon was currently the Guide Team Leader who suppressed the Irregular Gate without casualties.
Minon must have confirmed Raon’s achievements multiple times through Hanmyung’s excellent intelligence.
Minon, who had no choice but to trust that skill, didn’t seem to think of any room for counter-argument.
“So? Will you cooperate?”
“Hmm, alright. Deal.”
Perhaps due to pride, Minon agreed immediately but his face was deeply scowled.
He looked as if he would be ruthless if Raon failed.
Raon let out a silent scoff.
‘I also need to find out where Kim Nahee is.’
For now, Minon would be quiet due to his excitement about Apophis, but once he got what he wanted, he would likely use Kim Nahee to manipulate Raon even more.
Before that happened, Raon felt he needed to track down Kim Nahee’s whereabouts through an independent route and take her away from Minon.
Raon smiled at Minon, who looked satisfied, while secretly forming a thorough plan in his mind.
“And please stop pressuring the Center staff from now on. I have no intention of avoiding your calls anymore.”
“Hmm.”
“Well, it’s not like I’ll be coming to the Center for a while anyway.”
Raon smirked as he said that.
He needed to take the lead in his relationship with Minon, but there was no need to overly provoke him.
Minon, who looked briefly annoyed by Raon’s words, soon nodded.
“Alright, then I’ll contact you later.”
“Yes.”
Minon, judging that he could still use Raon anytime since Kim Nahee was in his hands, looked pleased.
He seemed to be envisioning a rosy future where he would capture the leaders of Apophis as Raon suggested, gain his grandfather’s eye, and eventually surpass his brother Juon to inherit the Group.
‘Well, everyone has to dream big, I guess.’
Raon muttered inwardly as he saw Minon out.
He was just using Minon out of necessity, and he had no interest in whether Minon truly caught his grandfather’s eye with this matter or inherited the Group.
It didn’t really matter to him who succeeded to the Chairman position anyway.
He simply chose the more foolish Minon because he was easier to use than the meticulous Juon.
Realistically, Minon had almost no chance of succession.
“Shall we go back now?”
Raon asked Siwoo in a cheerful voice as he turned around.
However, Siwoo did not readily answer, but just stared at Raon with dark eyes.
“Why?”
“Are you really going to make contact with Apophis?”
“Hmm.”
Siwoo was young, but he had spent a long time in the military.
He must have entered countless Gates since he was a minor and been deployed on various terror-related missions.
As Apophis was notorious, Siwoo must have clashed with them often.
Therefore, he might have the impression that Raon was recklessly trying to engage Apophis just for achievements.
“Yeah, I’m planning to catch them this time.”
“Why do something so dangerous on purpose?”
“Isn’t the Gate dangerous?”
“That’s different.”
“How is it different?”
Siwoo sighed at Raon’s counter-question.
It was as if he were facing a young child throwing a tantrum.
Raon folded his arms and looked at him.
“The Gates are unavoidable, but we can easily avoid Apophis. You’re a Guide, Hyung.”
“Can’t a Guide catch criminals?”
“That’s why you don’t need to. If you want, I’ll go.”
“Hmm.”
Siwoo must have been saying this because he was worried.
Recently, he couldn’t discourage Raon from entering the Gate due to unavoidable circumstances, but he seemed unwilling for him to try to catch a terrorist group as well.
“Sorry. If it were just about eliminating them like before, but I think I need to step forward myself to contact the leaders.”
Apophis was a terrorist group, yet they were extremely cautious.
Even though the government hadn’t had the capacity due to the Gates for a long time, they hadn’t just stood by regarding a terrorist group threatening the country.
This was because Apophis’s core leaders were meticulous and their abilities were tricky.
Ordinary methods would likely not be enough to catch them.
For example, unless the Guide Team Leader, whose fame had risen due to the successful suppression of the Irregular Gate, stepped up as bait himself.
“Are you crazy? You’re a Guide, not an Esper. Who knows what they’ll do to you if you contact those guys?”
“I am a little scared of that too. But you’ll protect me, won’t you?”
“Of course I will… What?”
Siwoo, who had been wearing a serious expression, instinctively nodded at Raon’s words, then blinked.
Raon calmly raised his hand and patted his shoulder.
“What is there to be afraid of when my pair Esper is S-Class? You can quickly rescue me even if I get captured, right?”
“That is…”
“Ah, to do that, we need to raise your value again. Don’t we?”
“What are you…”
Siwoo, who was about to object to Raon’s words, was swept away without realizing it.
He originally intended to persuade Raon not to approach Apophis, but unfortunately, Raon had no such intention.
“Anyway, let’s raise the value first.”
“Hyung, let’s talk first…”
“Yes, yes. Body language first.”
“Hyung!”
In the end, Siwoo, whose face was bright red, yelled out.
Raon just smiled cheekily and pushed his back.
*
“Ugh.”
Raon sat up, rubbing his lower back that felt like it was going to break.
Siwoo was sleeping soundly beside him.
Raon, after staring at the sleeping Siwoo with a disgusted look for a while, slowly got out of bed.
The lovemaking that started in the afternoon didn’t end until sunset and seemed to have gone past midnight.
He had deliberately provoked Siwoo earlier because Siwoo was so displeased about the Apophis matter in the afternoon, but he didn’t expect him to go at it this hard.
Raon sighed with regret that he repeated every time.
Raon went to the living room and stared out the window at the dark outside for a while.
Then he looked for the watch he had taken off when he came home.
The watch was found among the clothes crumpled beneath the sofa, seemingly having fallen off when he undressed.
[Yoon Siwoo Contamination Value: Medium (41%)]
“Hmm.”
Raon let out a low groan after checking Siwoo’s value, which immediately appeared on the watch.
The speed at which the value was rising was definitely faster than before.
Moreover, the pain Siwoo used to complain about when the value was low seemed almost gone.
Like Luca’s diagnosis, the side effects caused by the drugs might have disappeared during the precursor of the rampage.
If so, he could continue the insertion Guiding and raise the value to its maximum before executing the operation.
Furthermore, if the current Siwoo reached his maximum value, his ability might become even stronger than before.
If that happened, executing the operation would become much easier.
‘Ha, even I…’
To be worrying about the operation rather than Siwoo’s physical condition even at a time like this. Raon wore a bitter smile.
Then he picked up his terminal and checked the incoming calls.
Perhaps the news of him stepping down from the Guide Team Leader position had spread, as quite a few familiar names appeared among the contacts.
[Park Dasom] [Team Leader! Why aren’t you coming to training today? Is something wrong?]
[Lee Yeojun] [Huk, are you sick somewhere? Are you okay??]
[Kim Taehyuk] [Team Leader, please call me back immediately when you see this.]
[Hyun Juwon] [Team Leader, this is Hyun Juwon. I just spoke with the Center Chief and…]
As expected, the Guide Team members seemed very confused.
Since he had walked out without much explanation, it was natural for them to be bewildered.
Should he have gone back after seeing their faces?
Raon felt particularly sorry for the team members more than others.
‘But since I won’t be able to return for a while, I should at least give a minimal explanation.’
Since the team members would be upset, he couldn’t just give an irresponsible statement that he quit in a fit of pique.
But he also couldn’t reveal all the plans in his head to the team members.
He briefly left an apology message in the team group chat, then added that he would return soon.
Since it was late, no team member checked it immediately.
Raon felt a small sense of relief and checked other conversations.
And when he saw the name of the person he was looking for, this time, he pressed the call button immediately.
Turu-ru, tu.
After a consistent dial tone, someone soon answered the phone.
A heavy, low voice reached Raon’s ear.
* * *
