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How should I go about restoring Kang Juha’s supernatural power? The best way, inevitably, would be to stimulate the moment he first awakened as an Esper. If those memories resurface, his senses might return reflexively.

In the report, I had written without hesitation that Kang Juha’s ego had been restored to a certain extent and that he perfectly recognized who he was and why he was here… but I couldn’t bring myself to write that he was unable to use his supernatural power and had no sensation of guiding whatsoever.

I was staring intently at the cursor on the document window when…

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

“I think it’s about time for you to head to the Center Director’s office.”

“Already? I have to go, don’t I? Ha, maybe I should say I have an upset stomach.”

“I already contacted the secretary’s office saying you’d arrive in about ten minutes.”

Sigh, that guy is unnecessarily good at his job and making a fuss…

It’s already a person I’m uncomfortable facing, and now I have to meet him while knowing that there’s been a setback in the task he entrusted to me.

As I laboriously stood up, Juyoung began to lead the way with movements that were irritatingly brisk. I wanted to snap that I knew where the Center Director’s office was, but I didn’t even have the energy for that, so I just shook my head.

“Why is the main building so close?”

I hadn’t walked much at all before arriving in front of a building that looked unnecessarily massive and grand every time I saw it. I couldn’t even guess how much money had been poured into it.

Because it was covered in glass that didn’t allow the interior to be seen, all the sunlight bounced off; during the day, it felt like I would go blind just by standing in front of it.

Frowning with my face completely crumpled, I looked back to see Juyoung wearing sunglasses he must have pulled out from somewhere.

“It’s located in the center of the Center’s grounds. It’s close no matter where you start from.”

“…Why are you really so annoying? I should pick a stupid kid for my next secretary.”

I realized that a secretary being too smart could actually be unpleasant. Should I really just fire him?

“Team Leader, you have an allergy to stupidity.”

“…”

“You vomit when you see stupid kids.”

How does he poke at a person’s core like that? Juyoung took two pills out of his inner chest pocket, tossed one into his own mouth, and held the other out to me.

“It’s a digestive aid. Please take it. I’ve prepared some for after the meal, too.”

I should probably put off firing Park Juyoung for a bit. I liked the fact that he knew exactly who provided his livelihood.

༘⋆

“Oh, Team Leader Seong. It’s been a long time.”

“Hello, Center Director.”

“Aiyoo, why are you standing on ceremony between us?”

When I bowed to greet him, the Center Director bantered and patted my shoulder.

Usually, when a meal appointment is made, one would go to a restaurant, but since there was only one restaurant in the Center, we couldn’t go there. For such occasions, various types of rooms are prepared in the main building; today’s meeting place was the Center Director’s private reception room.

Since it was a place for entertaining executives like the Center’s bureau chiefs, guests, or people who were clearly high-ranking like other centers’ directors and presidents, luxury dripped from everywhere even with a casual glance. It was obvious they had put a lot of effort into decorating it, as it was a space shown to visitors.

Ah, I feel like vomiting just looking at it.

Staff in suits swarmed in, bowing and saying they would serve the meal; from that moment on, Juyoung and I were already on pins and needles. I just wanted to mix some black bean noodles and eat them in my office.

Juyoung, who naturally sat next to me, saw the Chief Secretary standing and waiting by the Center Director’s chair and stood up awkwardly.

Only then did I remember. Before Juyoung became my secretary, he had worked briefly in the Center Director’s secretary’s office. In short, the Chief Secretary standing over there was once Juyoung’s direct superior.

“Just sit.”

I grabbed Juyoung’s arm and forced him to sit. To others, I might have looked like a boss who cared terribly for his subordinate, but in reality, I desperately stopped him because I felt like I’d truly have to face the Center Director alone if I lost Juyoung here.

“Ho ho. Right. It’s good for Secretary Park to sit and eat together. Since he’s no longer part of our secretary’s office, he’s strictly a guest.”

“…Yes.”

Juyoung answered in a voice the size of an ant’s teardrop and sat back down. Judging by the chilling look in the Chief Secretary’s eyes as he watched him, I didn’t even need to ask what the atmosphere in the secretary’s office was like. If he had acted the way he does with me, he would have been buried somewhere without a single bone left.

Just in case, I had arrived about ten minutes earlier than the appointed time, and exactly when the appointment time arrived, the food began to be set out as if it had been waiting.

I could hear Juyoung continuously marveling at the dishes, which looked like they were from a high-end traditional Korean restaurant, but I remained indifferent to everything.

In the silence, only the clatter of dishes continued until the staff swarmed out of the reception room. Only then did the Center Director take a sip of water and gesture to me.

“Eat first.”

“Yes. Thank you for the meal.”

Juyoung, who had been watching for cues at my answer, followed suit.

“Thank you.”

“Right, right. Actually, I was worried quite a bit that I might have asked too much of Team Leader Seong. I’m so glad I can at least treat you to a meal like this.”

It hasn’t even been three seconds since you told me to eat, you old man.

From what country does the etiquette of speaking the moment you tell someone to eat come from? In the first place, I hadn’t even picked up my utensils, but Juyoung, who had excitedly grabbed a piece of braised short rib meat, had to stop in an awkward posture.

“I see. You don’t usually ask me for favors, anyway.”

The reason the Center Director hadn’t asked for special favors in the past was partly because I was just a team leader, but in reality, it was likely because he didn’t want to owe me any debts.

Despite being young and having no proper rank, which is why I currently hold the title of Team Leader, I was the only person among the South Korean centers who carried the title of Team Leader while being accompanied by a secretary.

Seven years ago, it was I who instantly raised the status of the South Korean center, which had almost no voice among the Allied Nations because its S-Class Esper possession rate was significantly low.

I usually don’t show off at all because it feels like bragging, but I was one of the lead developers of GDX—7665, which is treated as the highest grade among currently distributed guiding drugs. In other words, if I go abroad instead of staying in South Korea, I am more influential than the Center Director.

The majority of the lead developers were overseas researchers, and I was the only Korean among them. It was a project I was put into as soon as I obtained my pharmacist license from the military academy.

In fact, no one expected it to be this successful. Not just me, but the researchers involved in that project, and even the Center that provided the research funds.

Virtually failing to attract investment, the Center had to bear all the costs. That’s why the environment was so poor that we even remodeled and used a closed research wing in a corner of the Center.

Anyway, the research was a success. The drug developed that way was being produced and distributed exclusively by the South Korean center. A massive reward fell to the researchers, including myself. It was an amount of money large enough to live on for a lifetime and still have plenty left over. Furthermore, since a portion of the drug sales is regularly deposited into my account, the money just keeps growing without me having time to spend it.

Actually, in the situation of living stuck in the Center, there was nowhere proper to spend money anyway. I was planning to just ask them to use it for good causes as they see fit after I die later.

At any rate, after that, I received love calls from all over overseas. Considering the annual salary offered by Middle Eastern countries, I think I could have bought almost any of the famous districts in Seoul.

And I wasn’t patriotic enough to refuse that. Nevertheless, the reason I am still rooted in this center is because of the power outflow prevention law attached to the Allied Nations’ mutual cooperation provisions. That trashy provision stating that S-Class Espers cannot transfer to other countries.

Espers of lower ranks didn’t matter whether they transferred overseas or not, but S-Class Espers were exceptions. And unfortunately, I am an S-Class Esper.

Of course, I could have left for a country that doesn’t belong to the Allied Nations or left the country through dark channels. Well, if I did that, my name would be famous all over as an international fugitive.

The Center Director should be grateful for the fact that I am a human who succumbed to annoyance rather than money.

Anyway, using that career, I entered the laboratory attached to the Medical Bureau after graduating from the military academy…

Well. As is always the case in South Korea, the higher-ups said they couldn’t support the amount of research funds I requested. The lab and useful talent were woefully insufficient. My colleagues disliked me.

There was no reason for me to stay in the lab while receiving that kind of treatment.

Still, I didn’t know I would end up rummaging through people’s heads after developing drugs to save people.

“Ahem…”

“I see that the only drug that fits Esper Kang Juha’s body is also that one.”

At my words, the Center Director slightly avoided my gaze. Judging by his expression, he didn’t seem to have expected that I would find out that fact while being in charge of Kang Juha.

He probably thought I would use that as a pretext to demand immense things.

“Of course, it’s not that I didn’t tell you on purpose… Such things are an Esper’s personal information, especially in the case of someone like Esper Kang Juha, he’s an S-Class, so health information is handled as top secret…”

“I know. And I was just stating the fact that it is so.”

“Ah, right. Mmm, yes.”

Only then did the Center Director nod his head with eyes of relief.

“I am receiving reports, but I wanted to hear exactly what Esper Kang Juha’s condition is like.”

“He has improved significantly. As expected of an S-Class Esper, his recovery power is good, and he has recovered to the point where there is no hindrance at all to physical activity. However, there are traces of strong brainwashing to the extent that it looks like someone butchered his brain, so I think it will take a bit more time to restore that.”

“How long?”

“If we estimate generously, about three months.”

Originally, I was estimating around a month… but seeing Kang Juha’s state, there was no reason to restore him to the point of overexerting him.

“Is it not possible to make it a bit faster?”