PARADOX 3

Actually, there is a bit of a connection between Baekgu and Gu Jeyi.

‘A piece of trash like you dying is a good thing for the world.’

Well, correction. There is a bad connection between Baekgu and Gu Jeyi.

It wasn’t anything grand, but to compare it in terms of children’s animations, the relationship was such that Gu Jeyi was the hero and Baekgu was something like Villain’s Lackey 1. There were even several times when he almost died at Gu Jeyi’s hands.

In the end, Gu Jeyi died first, though.

At any rate, telling Baekgu to save Gu Jeyi was nonsensical.

In the first place, how could he save an S-rank Esper… wait?

‘Can I do it?’

Right now, Gu Jeyi doesn’t know him. And he himself is no longer the cult leader’s slave.

‘Right now, I’m not a criminal; I’m just an identity-less person who escaped from a lab? An unidentified individual? Anyway, I’m just that.’

After a brief internal conflict, Baekgu lifted his lowered head.

‘First, let’s create an identity.’

Having lived his whole life in a laboratory, Baekgu lacked basic common sense.

One piece of common sense Baekgu hadn’t known was that everyone registers their identity with a state institution as soon as they are born. Without an identity, one cannot find a job, nor can they buy a cell phone or a house.

Even after learning that fact, he hadn’t thought of creating an identity. He was afraid the laboratory might track him down, and above all, he thought he didn’t need one because he had powers. If he used his abilities, he could easily obtain a phone or a house.

So, he used his powers excitedly as if he were a god—without knowing some crazy bastard was watching him.

He wouldn’t make that mistake this time. However, he couldn’t exactly register a real identity either. There was too much information he couldn’t reveal.

But he needed a normal identity to blend in among people without trouble…

‘Okay, let’s do that.’

Fortunately, he quickly came up with a good idea.

Gate Disaster Response Center.

The civil service room was packed with people sitting on plastic chairs. The sound of civil servants’ keyboards could be heard incessantly from beyond the reception desk.

Ding-dong.

The number on the electronic board changed, and a new petitioner took a seat.

The official organized the documents and spat out a mechanical greeting.

“Hello. What brings you here today?”

“Ah, well…”

A young man’s voice was heard.

The moment the official lifted their head a beat late to check the petitioner, a spark of light momentarily flashed in their eyes, which had been soaked in mannerism.

‘Oh.’

He was a man of rare appearance. His delicate features were as pretty as a doll children play with.

If it weren’t for his pale skin—looking as if he’d lived without ever seeing sunlight—and his somewhat anxious gaze, he would have looked even better.

When his eyes met the official’s, the man’s shoulders flinched. Dropping his gaze, the man spoke in a trembling voice.

“Um… I heard that Gate missing persons cases are handled here.”

“Yes, that’s right. Who is the person who went missing?”

“It’s me.”

“Yes… Excuse me?”

“I am… the missing person.”

With a face full of anxiety, the man began to speak hesitatingly.

“My mom, my dad, and I—the whole family was in the living room together. But then, suddenly, a black hole-like thing appeared…”

“Wait, one moment. When exactly was that?”

“Ah, since it’s currently the year …”

Muttering barely audibly, the man said.

“It was 7 years ago.”

7 years ago. And a disappearance of an entire family caused by a Gate.

At that moment, a certain famous incident came to the official’s mind.

“Wh—By any chance, where was the location where you went missing?”

“Heukyeong-dong.”

“…!”

The official’s eyes grew wide.

A person directly involved in the Heukyeong-dong Gate incident?

The incident where an entire family vanished due to a Gate appearing in the Heukyeong-dong residential complex was so famous that even now, there was no one who didn’t know about it. It had been that shocking of an event.

The locations where Gates appeared were random. They didn’t discriminate—on top of mountains, inside caves, or even under the sea.

The problem was that when a Gate appeared, the things originally in that spot would disappear entirely. This phenomenon was sometimes described as ‘the Gate swallowed it.’

Now, technology has advanced so that Gate appearance locations can be predicted and evacuations can happen in advance, but 7 years ago, such technology did not exist.

Without any preparation like that, one day a Gate suddenly appeared and swallowed a whole house in Heukyeong-dong. Including a devoted couple and their young son.

This terrible disaster served as an occasion to remind everyone once again of the terror of Gates. The fact that the Heukyeong-dong housing prices, which were high at the time, plummeted after that day was also one of the reasons the incident became so famous.

The official stared at the haggard-looking adult male.

‘This person is the son who went missing back then?’

The child who went missing at the time was 13 years old.

Seven years had passed since the disappearance. Enough time had flowed for an elementary schooler to become an adult.

‘Just what happened in that place during that time?’

And the official wasn’t the only one curious about that.

“Well, still, I think it was okay at first. Yes, the house was still there, so I could get food and clothes. Ah! These clothes are my dad’s too. They’re a bit big for me… but, uh… what was it?”

The man clutched his head with a confused expression.

“I—I’m sorry. Why can’t I remember? Ever since I came out of the Gate, I keep losing my thoughts. Why am I like this…?”

“Do you remember what happened to your parents?”

“That… I—I don’t know. Wouldn’t Mom and Dad have come out too? Have you heard anything by any chance?”

“No reports have come in yet.”

“Sob, Mom, Daaad…”

The man eventually couldn’t hold it in and began to sob.

The investigator, who handed the man a whole box of tissues, shook his head inwardly.

This man wasn’t the first person to return after being swallowed by a Gate.

When a Gate is cleared, both the space swallowed by the Gate and the missing persons are restored to their original state. At this time, the missing persons often could not properly remember things from the moment they vanished. Thus, it wasn’t strange that this man remembered nothing.

‘However, it’s a bit concerning that for all the missing persons who have returned so far, the period they were swallowed by the Gate was less than a month.’

This man was the first case of someone returning after being missing for 7 years. Furthermore, wasn’t the Heukyeong-dong Gate a special type of Gate that disappeared immediately after appearing, making it impossible to clear?

It was a mystery how the man could have survived for 7 years and by what means he escaped the Gate.

‘In the first place, is he actually the missing person himself?’

A faint suspicion clouded the investigator’s eyes.

However, in the Q&A for identity verification, the man answered everything correctly.

His parents’ names, birthdays, addresses, and even the elementary school he attended.

Some of these were pieces of information that hadn’t been released to the media. Since it was something one couldn’t know unless they were the person themselves, there was no room for doubt.

‘His features are also similar to when he went missing.’

The investigator checked the photo attached to the documents.

Straight hair light in color, brownish eyes, slightly drooping eye shape, even the pretty face.

Of course, there were slight differences, but it was understandable since 7 years had passed. On top of that, he had grown from an elementary student into an adult.

The fact that his past tracks couldn’t be found also added credibility to the man’s words. Just as the man testified, he had come down from the mountain—CCTV didn’t capture the man entering the mountain—and ate at a park. That was the only track of the man that could be confirmed. Unless one were swallowed by a Gate, no one could be so perfectly erased from society.

Everything certainly added up. So why did he keep getting this uneasy feeling?

The investigator stroked his chin.

‘It’s better to be sure, even if it’s a bit much.’

“Then, we will proceed with the final verification procedure. Please wait a moment.”

Actually, it wasn’t an official procedure, but he didn’t say that.

The investigator, who returned, took something circular out of the box he brought.

Its appearance was similar to a compass, but instead of the four cardinal directions, something else was written.

<YES / NO>

“This is an object enchanted with the ability of ‘Genuineness Discernment.’ It’s also called an item.”

“En…chanted?”

“Ah, 7 years ago, things like this didn’t exist, right? It was made by Espers with the enchantment ability—the ability to imbue supernatural powers into objects. In the case of this item, it can discern whether the person answering the question is telling the truth. You could call it a high-end version of a lie detector.”

The investigator handed the item to the man.

“Hold it in your hand and answer my question.”

“Ye—Yes.”

“Are you indeed Yeo Hanseo-gun, who went missing due to the Heukyeong-dong Gate?”

The man looked at the investigator and, unlike a moment ago, answered without hesitation.

“Yes.”

The investigator checked the direction the compass needle was pointing.

Hmm, was this uneasiness just an illusion?

The investigator hid his sheepish inner thoughts and put the item back into the box.

“Thank you for the confirmation.”

“Uh, is this enough?”

“Yes. Everything is finished. You’ve worked hard.”

Perhaps he had been nervous deep down, as the man let out a small sigh. The sight of his tear-dampened eyelashes blinking anxiously was nothing short of piteous.

Feeling a sense of guilt for no reason, the investigator spoke in a tone that was kinder than before.

“Then, I’ll guide you through the support system for recovering from Gate damage first. If you have any questions along the way, please feel free to ask.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you…”

The man nodded enthusiastically and listened to the investigator’s explanation.

One hour later.

The investigator, who saw the man off, returned the item he had borrowed to the supernatural equipment support room.

A support team staff member who opened the box nodded.

“Return of the ‘Compass of Truth’ confirmed.”

“Yes, keep up the good work.”

After the investigator left, the support team staff member was about to close the box but paused.

And then, he moved the compass needle, which was pointing toward NO, back to the dead center.

The box was closed.