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The training room sat in a heavy silence after Kang Juha and the people from the National Security Bureau departed, the atmosphere sinking as if this space alone were subjected to a different magnitude of gravity.

Joo Won, the Alpha Team Leader, stood before Manager Hong with his hands clasped behind his back and his head hung low. The rest of the team members were undergoing disciplinary punishment, their heads pressed firmly against the ground. Kim Minjae, a rookie Esper who had joined the Alpha Team only two months ago, turned his teeth together as he felt sweat trickling backward down his forehead.

“And you call these pathetic half-wits the Alpha Team, huh?”

If one listened casually, the tone might have sounded soothing, but Manager Hong’s words were clearly laced with murderous intent.

“I am sorry, sir.”

Joo Wonwook bowed his head, looking stiff and disciplined.

Manager Hong, holding the training center’s entry log file, began striking Joo Wonwook’s head and cheeks mercilessly. Since it wasn’t a lethal weapon or a blunt object, it caused no physical damage, but for that very reason, it was more than enough to incite a sense of humiliation.

The Alpha Team members did not even let out the sound of their breathing as they heard the thin folder thwacking against skin.

“This is why you can’t beat Kang Juha, get it? You can’t do it because your spirit is rotten to the core.”

“I will correct this, sir.”

“Did I or did I not say a bratty team leader from the National Security Bureau was coming today? Did I or did I not say he was bringing Kang Juha?”

“You did, sir.”

“Then damn it, what the hell is this pathetic display you’re calling training? You can’t even handle a single training session properly, let alone an actual mission?”

The Alpha Team’s special training had begun as soon as the schedule was coordinated with Team Leader Seong of the National Security Bureau. It was also due to Manager Hong’s influence that the training was arranged to intentionally overlap with Kang Juha’s schedule.

While the fact that Kang Juha was called the “Alpha of South Korea” might have been a source of pride for other Center personnel or the citizens, it was a disgrace to the Field Operations Department.

The fact that a single team—no, the entire Field Operations Department—could not surpass Kang Juha alone was an issue that had been consistently raised for nine years, ever since he began his missions in earnest.

Without Kang Juha, we are nothing. They had denied those words through gritted teeth, but during the six months he was absent, the miserable skill levels of the Espers belonging to the Korea Center, including the Alpha Team, had been laid bare.

“Is there anyone here who wants to live under Kang Juha’s name for the rest of their life? If there’s a bastard like that, come forward right now.”

“…No, sir! There is no one!”

Joo Wonwook, biting the inside of his cheek, shouted at the top of his lungs.

Kim Minjae squeezed his eyes shut. From the moment he entered the academy after manifesting as an Esper, his sole goal had been the Field Operations Department. With a sense of duty to burn his own body for the prestige of South Korea, he had endured every grueling training session to finally enter the Alpha Team.

To the academy students and trainees, Kang Juha was more than just a role model; he was an idol. Though he didn’t appear in the media often, whenever he happened to show up on the news or during an expedition ceremony for the subjugation squads, his face occupied the main headlines of both the internet and print media.

They called him the proud hero of South Korea, followed by the prayers of citizens wishing for his safe return.

Kang Juha was Kim Minjae’s goal. The reason he joined the Alpha Team was also due to the expectation that he might eventually be able to team up with him.

“If I see this kind of pathetic display one more time, I’m overhauling the entire Alpha Team. Keep that in mind.”

“I will keep it in mind, sir.”

Manager Hong left after leaving that chilling warning, but the team members could not break their disciplinary positions. As always, once Manager Hong left, it was Team Leader Joo’s turn.

“You bastards! I told you… not to act… like retards!”

Along with unrefined curses, Joo Wonwook’s heavy kicks flew toward a team member. Even though the man was a veteran Esper who had served in the Alpha Team for nearly three years, he took the kicks without making a sound. Every time a phrase was cut off, a thudding impact, sounding almost like an explosion, echoed through the room.

Kim Minjae, who was right next to him, simply closed his eyes and hoped and prayed for this time to pass quickly.

“Everyone who died during training today, stand in front of me.”

As soon as Joo Wonwook’s command fell, the team members stood up immediately. Their faces were all flushed red because the blood had rushed to their heads.

Kim Minjae supported the swaying body of his senior, but it was a meaningless kindness. Ruthless violence was about to descend upon both of them.

After the storm passed, Joo Wonwook, unable to overcome his rage, let out a scream and stormed out of the training center. The Vice Team Leader followed behind him, but he too was not free from the violence and limped on one leg.

The condition of the remaining three was even more disastrous.

“Hey, you okay?”

Kim Minjae, sitting leaned against the wall, called out to his fellow rookie, Ko Sunghyun, who was lying on the floor without moving.

“…Yeah. I’m still breathing.”

For Espers, the standard for being “okay” was whether they were alive. In any case, dark bruises on the stomach would disappear without a trace in less than an hour. Only something like a fracture would cause suffering for a few days; they couldn’t even visit the Medical Bureau for simple contusions.

No, actually, even if they had a fracture, they couldn’t go to the Medical Bureau. They couldn’t tell anyone why they were injured.

“Are you okay, sunbae?”

When he threw a worried question toward a senior who had looked in bad shape since earlier, a sharp glare returned without a word. The senior forced himself up, muttered a small curse, and left the training center.

“Why even ask? You’re going to get ignored every time anyway.”

“Just out of politeness.”

Once everyone had disappeared and only the two of them remained, Kim Minjae finally exhaled deeply.

Actually, the physical pain was fine. It was easier to get hit a few times and get it over with than to be treated like a useless piece of trash and humiliated with questions like “Why can’t you even do this?” regarding things he simply couldn’t do.

“You have a bruise on your eye. Did it burst?”

“My vision is blurry, but it’ll probably get better.”

The two of them, having entered the prestigious Alpha Team only to have this kind of conversation, found the situation so absurd that they started leaking small, inappropriate laughs.

“If I knew it would be like this, I wouldn’t have worked my ass off at the academy.”

In the same academy class, Ko Sunghyun had graduated at the top, and Kim Minjae had graduated second. When they took exams together, they would growl at each other about winning, yet if a sign of rampaging appeared, one would carry the other on his back to the infirmary even in the middle of a test.

At that time, they didn’t doubt for a second that they were youths heading toward the brilliant goal of the Alpha Team. To think the place they reached was a sewer shaped like a trophy.

“Everyone says it’s worse out in society, but for this to be society… Hah, I want to go home. I miss my mom.”

At Ko Sunghyun’s lamenting words, Kim Minjae nodded with a small smile.

“Me too. I miss Bori.”

“Your dog?”

“Yeah. They said we’d get reward leave if we succeeded in a Gate mission…”

“We have to actually be able to go to a Gate first to succeed or not.”

Unlike the thought that they would be busy all the time once they joined the Alpha Team, not many missions were assigned. Rather, the lower-ranked teams looked busier.

It made sense. The Alpha Team was a team that consolidated the core and main personnel of the Center, formed solely for Gate subjugation. If they weren’t subjugating Gates, it was as if they had no missions.

“I told you before, but I’m really going to apply for a team transfer next quarter.”

Ko Sunghyun seemed to have already made up his mind, but Kim Minjae had not yet reached any kind of decision.

“…We saw Esper Kang Juha for the first time today. Wow, I really couldn’t even speak. Every Esper I’ve seen until now feels like a fake.”

As he changed the subject, a spark of life appeared in Kim Minjae’s eyes that wasn’t there before.

“Exactly. It’s just ridiculous that I even made that person my goal in the first place. Honestly, excluding his foul personality, our Team Leader’s ability control is top-tier. But Kang Juha is just… a different kind of being.”

Ko Sunghyun, shaking his head in awe, rummaged through his bag and pulled out a syringe along with Guiding medicine. It was GDX—7665.

“And that person who came with Kang Juha… I heard he’s the one who made this? I heard there was a Korean among the researchers, but I didn’t know he belonged to the National Security Bureau. He looked really young.”

“It just means the world is wide and there are many geniuses.”

“Besides, that person seemed like a Guide. Don’t Guides usually not go into the Security Bureau?”

The medicine was injected into Ko Sunghyun’s forearm and disappeared cleanly. He looked quite experienced as he pulled out the syringe, capped the needle, and handled the disposal.

“What are you talking about? Team Leader Seong Yihyeon is an Esper. An S-class mental-type Esper.”

“What? That can’t be right.”

“It is. I was curious, so I searched the Center’s website not long ago. I’m sure of it. Information Team Leader Seong Yihyeon. He was wearing his employee ID around his neck earlier, too.”

Despite Kim Minjae’s words, Ko Sunghyun still tilted his head with a suspicious expression.

“The way he felt was exactly like a Guide…”

“It’s probably your imagination.”

“Whatever. Whether that person is a Guide or not, what does it have to do with us? Let’s just clean up quickly and go to the dormitory. We have to do the laundry.”

Today, as well, the task of washing the team members’ training uniforms fell to the two youngest members.