PARADOX 32

“The reason you came here, Captain, is because of the Miudong Gate, right? That Gate has a low estimated rank, but there’s something a bit strange about it. I have a dispatch mission today, so I’ll head out first.”

“Understood. Be careful.”

The sight of Baek Haeryeong departing in a hurry was familiar to everyone. There were fewer than ten Healers in the entire country. Furthermore, since she was the only A-rank, dispatch requests poured in from all over without a moment’s rest.

“Wait.”

Gu Jeyi caught Baek Haeryeong just as she was about to step out the door.

“Yes? What is it?”

Gu Jeyi hesitated for a brief moment, then spoke calmly before anyone could notice his agitation.

“…Could you take a look at someone when you return? It’s a light fracture.”

“Oh, Captain. How can a broken bone be ‘light’? All you Espers treat injuries far too lightly. Anyway, I’ll do that. But I think this is the first time you’ve personally asked for a favor like this.”

“It’s because they were injured due to my mistake.”

A glint of curiosity flashed in Baek Haeryeong’s eyes. She opened her lips as if to say something, but after glancing toward where Seong Semin was, she simply nodded and left the living quarters.

Once Baek Haeryeong was gone, they began discussing the Gate in earnest.

“The estimated rank for the Miudong Gate is C-rank. Unlike other Gates, it’s unusual in that it appeared suddenly without any warning signs, but we’ve been told the analysis shows no other specific peculiarities.”

As soon as Woo Taegyu finished his explanation, Seong Semin grumbled.

“Are they really sure this time? The very last Gate we cleared was different from what the analysis team said. I thought we’d clear it in two days, but it was so vast it took a week just to find the core. If it had taken any longer, we would have starved to death in there.”

“Still, we cleared it safely thanks to the Captain, didn’t we?”

“Ah, so only the Captain worked and I did nothing?”

“Of course, we received great help from you as well, sunbae-nim!”

“Forget it. Talk about begging for a compliment. Anyway, Captain, hasn’t the data the Gate analysis team has been sending lately been a total mess? Go tell them off. Tell them to stop being salary thieves and do their jobs right. Those guys just have to sit and stare at monitors, but we could die because of that.”

Seong Semin was a man always busy complaining and grumbling, but for once, there was logic in his words.

The inside of a Gate was a space in another dimension, completely separated from the outside. The interior was swarming with all sorts of monsters never seen before, and to shut it down completely, one had to remove the ‘core’—the energy source maintaining the Gate.

This core could be a geographic feature or a monster, and if a certain amount of time passes without the core being removed, the Gate erodes the real world. The monsters inside the Gate then spill out into the exterior.

These days, Gate research has advanced enough to determine the location, rank, and approximate size before a Gate appears. However, in Seong Semin’s opinion, recent Gate analysis was at a level where a weather forecast was more accurate. He judged the reason to be the laziness of the analysis team, but Gu Jeyi’s thoughts were different.

“It’s not the analysis team’s fault. The Gates are undergoing mutations.”

At Gu Jeyi’s answer, everyone’s faces stiffened simultaneously.

“Do you really think so?”

Woo Taegyu asked heavily. Even Seong Semin, who had been snide the whole time, fell silent and stared only at Gu Jeyi’s lips, as if hoping he would deny it.

“Yes.”

But it was the answer they didn’t want to hear.

“So, be fully prepared. Don’t look down on it just because it’s C-rank.”

“Eh? What? Why are you looking at me while saying that?”

“Usually, this is the part where you, Seong Semin, grumble about why our team is going into a mere C-rank Gate.”

“No, well, that was when the Gate analysis was somewhat accurate. It’s not like that now, so why would I do that?”

Seong Semin raised his voice as if it were unfair.

“Now it’s the opposite. How can I go in when I’m scared because there’s no reliable information?”

“Everyone did it that way in the old days.”

Since Gu Jeyi said it like that, Seong Semin had nothing to say. The person in front of him was an ‘elite’ who had been raised in the Center since he was five years old. Compared to someone like himself who had rolled around the back alleys before coincidentally awakening as an Esper, Gu Jeyi knew and had experienced much more.

So full of himself. While Seong Semin was muttering irritably, his eyes met Gu Jeyi’s.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t let you die.”

Seong Semin’s expression distorted at the calm voice. His face looked so fierce that Woo Taegyu pointlessly walked on eggshells.

However, if Baek Haeryeong—the quickest at reading the room in the Center—had seen Seong Semin now, she would have laughed and said, ‘He always acts like that when he wants to hide his true feelings.’

Seong Semin snapped back a beat late.

“…Hmph. Who said they were afraid? Honestly, the really scary thing isn’t the Gate, it’s you, Captain. Do you know how terrifying it is to have to stick with an S-rank Esper who might rampage at any moment? That issue has really been resolved, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then why are your figures still like that?”

Being an Esper with good eyesight, it seemed he had checked Gu Jeyi’s watch in the meantime.

“Did your husband say he won’t give you guiding because he hates that you went into a Gate right after the wedding? A fellow guy shouldn’t be so petty.”

The team members did not know the details of the contract between Gu Jeyi and Yeo Hanseo. However, as people watching from the side, they couldn’t help but know that the rumor about Gu Jeyi falling in love at first sight and chasing Yeo Hanseo was a lie.

There were also those who guessed that the purpose of this marriage was to keep Gu Jeyi’s only matching Guide out of the Center’s hands. It was the fundamentally quick-witted Baek Haeryeong and, unexpectedly, Seong Semin.

In Seong Semin’s case, he had guessed it by chance based on the homophobic thought that the Gu Jeyi he acknowledged couldn’t possibly like another guy.

On the other hand, there was a person who completely failed to catch on and believed it purely.

“Sunbae, why are you speaking about the Brother-in-law like that?”

Brother-in-law…

The atmosphere became darker and chillier than when Seong Semin was pouring out his sarcastic remarks. It was to the point that even Seong Semin started looking at Gu Jeyi’s reaction.

However, Woo Taegyu failed to notice this atmosphere and simply looked on with sparkling eyes.

“Then is our team going into the Miudong Gate?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, then I’ll go apply for the raid!”

Woo Taegyu moved quickly, like the youngest member he was.

However, the news he brought back a moment later was different from what everyone expected.

❖ ❖ ❖

‘I’m doomed…’

Hanseo stared out the window, which had already turned bright, with bloodshot eyes.

He had worried all night. By what means could he make Gu Jeyi allow contact guiding?

Subduing him by force?

Impossible, unless he was reborn as an SS-rank Esper.

Persuading him with words?

The man said radiation guiding was enough, so how was he supposed to persuade him?

Should he just confess that he actually came from the future and knows why Gu Jeyi dies?

If that were possible, he would have done it long ago.

‘I’m stuck.’

He had thought things were going too smoothly according to plan so far, but to be blocked here. While he let out a sigh, his stomach growled inconsiderately.

Alright, let’s eat first and think again. Hanseo stood up. One needed the strength from a full stomach to think of anything.

Ding-dong.

The doorbell rang not long after he had ordered delivery. That was fast. Hanseo ran quickly and opened the front door. He saw a deliveryman holding a plastic bag in front of the door.

But the man didn’t leave and continued to stand there.

‘What?’

Hanseo’s eyes widened as he looked up with displeasure to check the deliveryman. In the meantime, the deliveryman passed Hanseo and walked inside.

‘Huh?’

Hanseo followed the deliveryman in a daze. He was in casual clothes, perhaps having changed overnight, but a frame exceeding 190cm wasn’t something you saw often. Since the man knew that himself, he must have used an item to hide his build.

Gu Jeyi, who dropped the plastic bag smelling of oil onto the table as if throwing it, sat on the sofa. He had a face that looked like ice shavings would fall off if you scratched it. He looked to be in such a foul mood that Hanseo wouldn’t have gone near him in his past life.

“You’re here early?”

Hanseo asked while suppressing the urge to run away immediately. After seeing him leave like that yesterday, he thought he wouldn’t be able to meet him today, at the very least. Did he enter a Gate overnight and find himself in need of guiding? He tried to sneak a peek at Gu Jeyi’s watch, but he couldn’t see it well from his position.

Gu Jeyi stared at the bewildered Hanseo. His under-eyes were dark, as if he hadn’t slept all night either. As expected, it seemed he couldn’t wait and entered a Gate…

“I need to do guiding.”

“Ah, yes.”

At any rate, it was a good thing that Gu Jeyi had come first. Lest he change his mind, Hanseo quickly sat down next to Gu Jeyi. Let’s see. Hanseo’s eyes rounded as he checked the watch out of habit.

Wait, why is it the same as yesterday?

“You didn’t come back from clearing a Gate?”

Gu Jeyi’s eyebrows twitched significantly at that question. Hanseo reflexively pulled his body back before returning to his original position as if nothing happened.

“I didn’t go in.”

Looking at the same numbers as yesterday, it seemed that was the case. But then why did he come to receive guiding? Keeping his curiosity to one side, Hanseo spoke.

“I told you yesterday, but this figure is the lowest it can go with radiation guiding. It’s meaningless to do more.”

He had said this just yesterday, so unless the man had a very poor memory, there was no way he didn’t know. Then why did Gu Jeyi…

“50%.”

“…”

“…What do I have to do to lower it to that?”

When did I fall asleep? A random thought suddenly popped into his head. But if this wasn’t a dream, how could such words come out of Gu Jeyi’s mouth? He felt like pinching his own cheek, if only he weren’t in front of Gu Jeyi.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Hanseo asked.

“Why did you change your mind?”