* * *
‘Did I get indigestion? I don’t think I ate that fast…’
Raon raised a hand and kept tapping his chest, which felt like a rock was weighing down on it.
Then he tilted his head slightly.
“Guess I’ll take some antacids.”
With that thought, he turned away.
He figured it was nothing worth worrying about.
Raon lifted the teacup before him with a relaxed motion.
Steam still curled up from the hot coffee, and he blew on it lightly before taking a sip.
Across from him sat Seokhyeon.
Unlike Raon, who was casually enjoying his drink, Seokhyeon hadn’t even touched his coffee and was staring intently at him.
“Quit coffee or something?”
“…”
Putting down his cup, Raon asked, recalling how Seokhyeon used to drink coffee like water.
Seokhyeon clicked his tongue, eyebrows knitting.
“Yoon Siwoo’s numbers have been improving.”
“I am an S-rank Guide. Of course they are.”
“You’re really guiding him regularly…”
“Of course.”
“…”
Still seeming unconvinced, Seokhyeon narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Raon.
But as the head of the Center, he could directly monitor Siwoo’s improving stats in real time.
So for now, he had no choice but to let Raon’s sudden change of heart play out—even if it was likely just a fleeting whim.
“I’ll be watching for now.”
“Go ahead.”
Raon gave a half-hearted reply and glanced at the clock.
Classes for ability users usually ended early.
Besides, Siwoo was an S-rank Esper, so he probably had a packed mission schedule and wouldn’t be spending much time at school.
And since Hamin was in a different department and school year, the chance of the two running into each other on campus was even lower…
‘Why am I even thinking about this?’
Even if Seokhyeon’s nagging had completely thrown off his train of thought, this was getting ridiculous.
Raon winced and frowned.
“You listening to me?”
“Sorry?”
“God, seriously…”
Seokhyeon sighed as Raon belatedly responded.
Sure, the Center was benefiting from Raon’s sudden change in attitude, but he couldn’t help but worry how long this fickle streak would last.
Siwoo’s numbers had finally started improving, meaning the missions that had been on hold might resume soon.
Swallowing down another sigh, Seokhyeon shook his head.
There was no use fretting—nothing could stop someone like Han Raon anyway.
He waved his hand wearily.
“You may go.”
“Okay.”
Raon quickly responded and got up.
Seokhyeon, looking displeased, spoke up again.
“You really have no intention of visiting CEO Han?”
“He’s fine, isn’t he? What’s the point of me going?”
Han Myunghoon had always had lots of children—he bred them like assets to sell.
Even during times of national disaster, he kept at it.
Officially, he had over ten recognized children.
Unofficially, who knew how many illegitimate ones there were?
Raon was the most accomplished and valuable “product” of them all, but his relationship with Myunghoon had never been good.
Their goals merely aligned—nothing more.
Raon was born out of wedlock, not a legitimate child.
Myunghoon hadn’t paid him any mind until Raon was identified as an S-rank Guide.
Then, overnight, his attitude flipped and he began treating Raon like a prized heir.
But before that, they had barely even met—a cold, distant relationship.
Knowing that full well, Seokhyeon didn’t press further.
He just nodded.
“Oh, right. Since Yoon Siwoo’s stats are stabilizing, we’re planning to resume the mission in Sector 3.”
“Okay, got i—wait, what?!”
Raon, about to give his usual half-hearted answer and leave, froze in place.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
“Sector 3… you don’t mean the ‘Irregular Gate’, do you?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Sector 3.
After the first gates opened in Korea and chaos ensued, the country reorganized its regions.
From Sector 1 to Sector 10—areas were ranked in order based on gate frequency and danger level.
Despite some variance and exceptions, people began to notice a pattern to the gates.
Gates tended to appear where population density was highest.
At first, most citizens resisted the government’s forced relocations when sectors were introduced.
But after countless deaths due to gates, people had no choice but to comply.
Still, not everything was resolved.
Some people couldn’t relocate for various reasons, so areas like Seoul and a few other regions remained densely populated.
Sector 3 had once been part of Gangwon Province.
“But Siwoo’s body hasn’t fully recovered. If something goes wrong at an Irregular Gate…”
“This is just a reconnaissance mission. It shouldn’t be anything strenuous.”
“Irregular Gates aren’t something you just stroll into.”
“The higher-ups have already decided.”
“…”
Damn those bastard bureaucrats.
Raon clenched his jaw and bit his lip hard.
The government classifies gates by color.
Generally, the color correlates to difficulty level.
The first gate to appear in Seoul was green—nicknamed the “Green Gate.”
Later, people realized that green gates were the easiest to handle.
But back then, before ability users had awakened, nearly 10,000 people died.
After people started awakening powers, it was found that even D to C-rank Espers could handle green gates.
As Korea’s pool of ability users grew and their power levels increased, the gates changed too.
Blue gates required C to B-rank Espers.
Yellow gates needed B-rank and some A-ranks. Red gates had to be tackled with both A and S-rank Espers.
These types were now appearing around the world.
And then there were Irregular Gates, like the one in Sector 3—gates with no defined color.
Sometimes, you had to enter the gate before its color could even be determined.
Because of that, regulations required any team entering a colorless gate to include at least one S-rank Esper, just in case.
“Then can’t we at least wait until Siwoo’s stats hit 50%?”
“I told you—it’s not up to me. The top brass is pushing this hard.”
“…”
Raon realized from Seokhyeon’s firm tone that there was no way around this.
He clenched his fist tightly.
Sector 3’s Irregular Gate.
That place was the beginning—the signal of the Black Gate that would appear one year from now and plunge the world into chaos.
A jet-black gate unlike anything ever seen before, with a difficulty level beyond imagination.
Not even elite squads composed entirely of A and S-rank Espers could deal with it.
Originally, Siwoo’s condition was too unstable, so the mission wasn’t meant to happen for another year.
But now, because of Raon’s impulsiveness, the exploration was starting early.
‘No way… There won’t be a problem, right?’
Although a sense of unease crept in, there was nothing Raon could do about it.
If he were not the villain Han Raon, but rather a respected, accomplished talent as the nation’s only S-Rank Guide, it might have been different.
But right now, no one would take his words seriously.
‘Well, there is… one person.’
Raon thought of the one person who had tried to save him when he was dying.
It was Siwoo.
For some reason, he felt that Siwoo might be more willing to listen than Seokhyeon.
“…Alright, understood.”
“Just focus on restoring Yoon Siwoo’s stats, as per the contract.”
“…Yes.”
Raon obediently nodded and left the Director’s office.
He didn’t believe the event that was supposed to happen a year later would erupt so soon, but the uneasiness lingered.
With a troubled heart, Raon began to walk forward.
“So then, that Esper, Lee Yeojun, he…”
“…”
“Hyung, are you even listening?”
“…Ah.”
When he looked up, Siwoo was frowning at him.
Having returned from school, Siwoo came back to the center early today.
He was scheduled to enter an Irregular Gate soon, so the center was strictly managing his activities to prevent any unnecessary energy expenditure.
Raon forced a smile, hiding his discomfort.
“You were the one bugging me earlier, saying you wanted to know what happened today…”
“Sorry, sorry. What were you saying?”
“…”
Seeing Siwoo pout and shut his mouth, Raon let out a short laugh.
At moments like this, he looked just like a sulky kid.
* * *
