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This morning, Kang Juha woke up with a pain that felt as if his entire body were burning up. A heavy sense of lethargy pressed down on his whole being, as if he had just woken from a long nightmare.

Because all of his senses were on edge, even the slightest stimulus felt incredibly intense. He was thinking he wanted to cover his mouth because even the sound of his own breathing echoed excessively loud, when…

“…Teacher?”

The face of the person he had seen last before falling asleep suddenly came to mind, and his heart began to fluctuate unsteadily.

“Teacher, Teacher…”

He tried calling out loud in case the other might see or hear him, but no sign of presence could be felt inside the needlessly wide, stifling, and silent special treatment room.

In an instant, scenes of himself losing his reason and struggling the previous night flooded into his mind. The seizing, the flailing, the resistance as he twisted his entire body, and the unpleasantly surging waves of special ability energy.

Yes, what he had felt was definitely a wave of special ability energy.

His senses had returned.

As he thought of that, a tingling sensation rose from his lower abdomen along with a surge of joy. He wanted to tell this fact to him right away. To the person he called Teacher.

Surely, he would give a word of praise with a faint smile on that indifferent-looking face.

He was a man stingy with praise, but it didn’t matter. When he would reluctantly tell him he did a good job after being unable to withstand his demands, one could tell he was a warm person.

Since he had troubled him yesterday by being in pain, he wanted to make him happy today.

Until that man appeared.

“So, you are awake.”

A brazen voice echoed in his ears. He hid his excitement at the sign of presence from the doorway and lifted his head, only to find an unpleasant figure standing there.

Was it Kim Kunwoo? He didn’t even want to remember the name. A mere being who interfered between him and Teacher. He was filled only with the impulse to brush him away from his sight immediately.

Furthermore, hadn’t that man nearly caused a rampage yesterday by forcibly stimulating his special ability energy? After doing that, he ran away upon seeing him struggling in pain.

He had collapsed on the floor and asked to be saved. Through his blurring vision, he could only see the man’s back as he scurried away in a hurry.

Suddenly, an unpleasant sense of déjà vu surged. He certainly had no memory of experiencing this… no, had he?

“Are you conscious? You should say something.”

“Bring Teacher.”

“Pardon?”

“I said, bring Teacher.”

His suppressed voice cracked wretchedly. It was to the point where one couldn’t distinguish whether it was a voice or a metallic rasp.

Kim Kunwoo feigned indifference while rummaging through a chart.

“He isn’t coming.”

“What?”

“You remember nearly causing a rampage yesterday, right?”

“…So?”

“A normal Esper wouldn’t easily cause a rampage from that much stimulus. It was an unfortunate accident, but the responsibility for the problem that occurred yesterday clearly lies with Esper Kang Juha for failing to control it and…”

Glance. Kim Kunwoo scouted Kang Juha’s reaction. He had agonized all through the night about how he could shift the blame for the series of events onto someone else instead of himself.

Surely, they said Kang Juha was in a state where he couldn’t even properly feel special ability energy.

“In addition, you are aware that the Center is suffering massive losses because a power like Esper Kang Juha is being wasted here, right?”

“…”

“Even Team Leader Seong Yihyeon is abandoning his duty to recover you and is making you stay inside the special treatment room without any plan. I see he bought fairy tale books. Did you play house in here?”

Kang Juha gnashed his lower lip. A foul stench came from the man’s words.

He knew for certain that the words being spat out were not the truth. However, that person would have information that he, trapped only in this place, did not. There was no way the Center would treat him without expecting anything in return.

Was there any existence as miserable and useless as an S-class Esper who had lost his abilities?

“Therefore, from now on, the Medical Bureau will take full charge of Esper Kang Juha and help you return to the field as quickly as possible.”

Kim Kunwoo blustered as if he were doing a great favor. It was because he thought his words were working since Kang Juha, who had been sending fierce glares, fell silent and appeared lost in thought at some point.

‘I think it’ll work if I push just a little more.’

Jerk. Lifting his head, he spoke with even more bravado.

“It will be much more helpful for Esper Kang Juha to move to the Center’s laboratory for treatment rather than this prison-like special treatment room. Right now, you probably don’t know better because you’re dancing to Seong Yihyeon’s tricks, but once all your memories return later, you’ll want to kill that guy. You have no idea how cunning and crafty that bastard is…”

Kang Juha gazed at him blankly. It was natural that he didn’t know everything about Teacher—that is, Seong Yihyeon. Perhaps there was more he didn’t know than what he did know, but… it was certain he was a better person than the bastard in front of his eyes. No, even making such a comparison was an insult to him.

“You think he saved you, don’t you? Ha! Let me set you straight. You were rescued by the coalition forces and were simply transferred here. Seong Yihyeon didn’t save you. He just came to stir your brain a bit and then collect some money.”

“…”

“Does it make sense for a guy who’s an S-class mental-type Esper to waste more than a month because he can’t recover a single memory? Do you think that’s even possible? He’s doing it all intentionally. To suck all the sweetness out of you and then throw you away.”

Even if he didn’t know much, it was certain that this man hated Seong Yihyeon to death. With the corners of his eyes trembling and his lips twitching, he looked like a person anxious because he couldn’t wait to reveal his inner hatred for Seong Yihyeon.

Just looking at him made him feel nauseous.

“Anyway, that guy will be fired as the person-in-charge soon. We’re going to make it that way. Disciplinary action will fall shortly, so…”

“What does that mean?”

“No, but why do you keep using informal speech with only me…”

“I asked, what does that mean?”

“…I’m telling you that bastard Seong Yihyeon must have used some trick on your head! We’re going to report that now, uncover it by any means, and throw him into the stockade. You just need to trust us and follow along.”

“…”

“I’m trying to save you because you look pathetic hanging onto Seong Yihyeon without knowing anything.”

Kang Juha fell into thought.

“So, you’re saying we should move the location to the laboratory now?”

“Yes! Exactly. Before that guy Seong Yihyeon comes. The laboratory is a high-security building, so not just anyone can enter.”

Kim Kunwoo looked considerably urgent. He kept glancing toward the door as if he were on pins and needles, worried someone might storm in right now…

The one he was wary of was likely Teacher.

“Fine. Let’s do that.”

Kang Juha answered readily. He even nodded while using formal language toward Kim Kunwoo for the first time.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Kim Kunwoo released the restraints that had been shackling Kang Juha’s wrists and opened the door to the special treatment room.

Until then, he had no idea what was about to happen to him. He sincerely believed that Seong Yihyeon was the root of all this trouble and that he was deceiving people by using the sinister special ability of the mental type.

Due to long-standing inferiority complexes, his rational reason had long been paralyzed, and only stubbornness remained.

‘The cause of all my failures is Seong Yihyeon. Because of the unfair benefits that bastard took, innocent people like me are suffering.’

The top spot at the academy and the qualification of a researcher at the Guiding Medicine Laboratory should all have been his. Because that was the right thing. It was obvious Seong Yihyeon had taken that position through unfair means. This time, he wanted to reveal the whole truth, expose Seong Yihyeon’s bare face, and crush him so he could never bluster again.

His snake-like pupils glistened blackly.

Kang Juha felt the sunlight he was greeting after a long time was quite foreign yet warm. As he inhaled, he wondered if air was originally such a refreshing thing. The vast sky spread out over his head looked infinitely broad.

On a weekday afternoon, the Center grounds during working hours were silent. Rather, this time slot was even more deserted than the weekend.

Taking in the sights within the Center as if they were new, Kang Juha calmly recalled his memories. Even if everything wasn’t vivid, general memories remained. For instance, the location of the Center’s main building, the dormitory or training center he used to use… and the location of the National Security Bureau.

Kang Juha’s eyes turned exactly toward the National Security Bureau building. Located to the west of the main building, it was an old building that had never been reconstructed since its establishment, unlike the other buildings.

He looked down at his freed wrists. Except for when he was training or on a mission, he always wore special ability control gear… his wrists, which didn’t have the ugly chunks of iron hanging from them, felt strangely empty.

With what kind of confidence did the man before his eyes leave him unbound? Trusting what?

“Hey.”

“Not ‘hey,’ it’s Senior Researcher Kim Kunwoo. Senior Researcher.”

“Are you certain Teacher is going to be replaced?”

“Yes. No, even if it’s not certain, I’ll make it certain.”

“And if I enter the laboratory, I won’t be able to meet Teacher?”

“Yes. We’ll erase every single trick that bastard Seong Yihyeon pulled and start over from the beginning…”

The man talked on and on about the research plan. Even after hearing the grand plan to write a thesis on this incident, Kang Juha’s expression was indifferent.

He delivered a long-winded speech about how Seong Yihyeon must pay a harsh price for what he had done. Kang Juha’s eyes flashed sharply for an instant. Then, after scanning the man in front of him from head to toe, he couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh.

What an utterly absurd thing to say. Having seen so much trash, he felt like washing his eyeballs.

Ah, I miss Teacher. I wonder what he’s doing. He’s probably working, as expected. Or, maybe he’s meeting other guys behind my back again.

Because our Teacher always tells lies.

“Did you leave the special ability control gear off on purpose? Because I won’t be able to use my special ability anyway.”

“Ah, well… naturally, that’s why.”

“That’s quite kind of you.”

“Pardon?”

Kim Kunwoo asked back, looking bewildered, and Kang Juha showed a good-natured smile.

“Thanks to that, the task has become easier.”

“What does that…, Ack!”

Boom! With a loud sound, Kim Kunwoo’s body was slammed into the floor.

Gasp. Kim Kunwoo, who hurriedly inhaled, made a wheezing sound, unable to even speak. Because his ribs were broken, a terrible pain rushed in to the point where he couldn’t even breathe properly.

His eyes, with red veins bursting, glared at Kang Juha as if he couldn’t believe it, and the latter stood nonchalantly, repeatedly clenching and opening his hand. Kang Juha, who was gauging his own strength, frowned and then clicked his tongue. Tsk.

“Pathetic.”

It was a weak power, to the point where he couldn’t even clear training properly, let alone return to the field. Although, killing a single adult male was nothing.

Kang Juha knelt down in front of Kim Kunwoo, who was coughing up blood.

“You told me yesterday it was an accident.”

“…Urgh, uuu.”

“So you said it wasn’t your fault.”

“…”

“Then this isn’t my fault either; it’s an accident, right?”

Kim Kunwoo, who was on the verge of collapsing, barely pulled a pager out of his blood-soaked lab coat pocket. It was an emergency pager possessed only by staff belonging to the Medical Bureau.

The moment he tried to press the button to call the Medical Bureau guards immediately, Kang Juha kicked his hand away.

“Argh…!”

“This is an accident too.”

He had blocked the immediate call, but there was no way the guards would fail to notice that special abilities had been used openly within the Center grounds. If he were caught by them like this, it was certain he would be dragged away without even meeting Teacher—no, Seong Yihyeon.

Kang Juha ran quickly toward the National Security Bureau building at a speed that was hard to follow with the eyes.

After hearing the full story of the incident, my bewilderment grew even larger rather than subsiding. According to what Kang Juha said, that person Kim Kunwoo came and suggested moving to the laboratory, so while they were moving together, he suddenly missed Teacher and ran away.

…What does that even mean?

Furthermore, after hearing that story, the Center Director suddenly summoned me and sat me in the middle of the office, saying a doctor’s opinion was needed. He called it an interview, but it was almost no different from an interrogation.

There was even a subtle atmosphere flowing, as if they had already shared a conversation among themselves. I sincerely wanted to escape from this space.

“What do you think, Team Leader Seong?”

What do I think? I don’t want to think anything. I just want to give Kang Juha a flick to the forehead. Will you allow me?