DB Vol 1 Part 10

“I thought he might be lying about losing his memory, but it seems to be true. He was looking straight into my eyes. In the past, he would have walked around with his head bowed.”

“Yeah, he was quite arrogant. How dare a D-rank Guide.”

Seona was about to open the lid of her drink and bring it to her mouth when she paused at the continuing voice.

“The team leader is going to prevent that bastard from coming out from now on. It’s probably his last day at the center, should we give him a farewell beating?”

Espers giving a beating to a Guide whose physical abilities are no different from ordinary people?

“Where?”

“Later, when you call that guy to ○○…”

The voices became too quiet to hear as they all seemed to be leaving their seats, but it was clear they were going to carry out their plan. Damn bastards, who are they to decide to beat someone up? Curses came from inside. But soon, feeling her head sizzling, she closed her eyes tightly and steadied her breathing. Seona was a rare natural Esper with good offensive power, but she wasn’t well-treated at the center.

Because she was at risk of going on a rampage at any time. So she had to use only 50% or less of her power, and occasionally, if she was unlucky, rampage symptoms would appear depending on her mood, like the Hulk. There were a few Guides at the center with matching rates over 30%, so she stayed reluctantly, but at this rate, it seemed she would only become more ill-tempered before ending her life in a rampage.

“Why the long face again?”

At the familiar voice, Seona opened her eyes and looked at the person approaching. Her tall height over 180cm and solid muscular build seemed to advertise ‘I’m a physical Esper’ at first glance. In fact, she was a power-type Esper who could punch through cement walls with her bare fists.

“Umji.”

Seona called her friend with a small sigh.

“The center is just too fucking shitty.”

“Whose dick?”

“…”

“No, I need to know whose dick it is to gauge how terrible it is.”

“Do you really know all dick shapes if I say the names?”

When Seona asked incredulously, Umji shrugged her shoulders.

“I can guess roughly. If I don’t know, I can just grab them and check.”

That would be possible… indeed. There aren’t many people in the Center who could beat Umji in strength. Seona nodded in agreement but then shook her head.

“Don’t talk nonsense. I just said that because I’m sick of hearing Espers talk shit.”

“It’s their daily routine to put others down.”

“I didn’t know they’d do it to people from the Ji family too.”

Umji’s eyes widened in surprise at Seona’s words.

“Really? Espers daring to go after the Ji family? Have they given up on guiding?”

Umji’s intense reaction seemed naive, making Seona chuckle.

“There’s one child the Ji family has essentially abandoned. His name is Ji Won-woo.”

“Who’s that?”

Seona froze mid-laugh and looked up at her friend.

“…He’s a Guide affiliated with our East Center. He’s famous for being D-rank, don’t you know him?”

“Nope, don’t know him.”

Well, she only remembers things she’s interested in. Seona suddenly felt envious of her friend. When she first met her, she envied her high matching rate with Guides and her family’s prestige as Espers, but now she most envied that personality. Someone who could calmly focus only on what she liked even if the world was ending. Was she a blank slate except for her areas of interest? That’s how one should live in this world. Still, as Seona’s friend, she seemed curious about what was making her angry.

“How can a D-rank Guide work at the Center? Even if he’s from the Ji family, that’s too much. D-rank is useless, isn’t it?”

“Ji Won-woo is a bit special, even though he’s D-rank.”

“How so?”

“His Guide wavelength range is wide. Extremely wide.”

Guides needed to match the unique energy of Espers, commonly called wavelengths, to be able to Guide them. It’s often compared to radio frequencies – just as one can hear the sound clearly when they tune into the right radio frequency, Guides have a range of wavelengths they can cover.

All Espers have their own unique wavelengths, but most fall within a certain range, making it easy for them to find Guides. Espers with unusual wavelengths like Seona had difficulty finding Guides who could cover their wavelength.

When these Espers with unusual wavelengths looked for Guides, Ji Won-woo was often the first name they checked. Won-woo’s coverage range was astonishingly wide. There were even jokes that he might be able to Guide all the Espers in the world.

Seona had struggled to find a Guide, so she often talked with Espers in similar situations, and everyone knew about Ji Won-woo.

However, the name Ji Won-woo was both hope and despair. Because he was D-rank. And not just D-rank, but D-rank low. The lowest of the low, middle, high rankings. He was useless to any Esper above C-rank, unless they were also D-rank Espers.

“Eh, no matter how wide his coverage range is, if he’s D-rank he’s useless.”

That’s why he gets treated like trash by his own team. Seona felt frustrated, but also regretful when she thought of Won-woo. Such a wide coverage range was honestly a waste. It was understandable why the Ji family had used Esper enhancement drugs on Won-woo, a Guide. Of course, she heard they had no effect at all. Umji added sympathetically from beside her:

“Well, it’s not like he wanted to be born D-rank.”

“Yeah. That’s why what I heard earlier was even more disgusting.”

“What did they say?”

“They said they’re going to ‘take care of’ Ji Won-woo today.”

“Why?”

“They said he’s arrogant.”

At this, even Umji frowned.

“What right do they have?”

“The right of arrogant and haughty Espers?”

Umji knew Seona’s thoughts well, so she patted her shoulder comfortingly.

“Just ignore it. I don’t like how Espers are like this either, but we can’t overturn everything. So don’t worry about Ji Won-woo either.”

Right. I should stop caring. Seona resolved inwardly. We’re not even acquainted, so there’s no need for me to get involved.

Han Seona.

As soon as he saw the name, Won-woo’s breath caught. She’s alive… She’s really alive. And even in the same East Center. He could barely suppress his emotions as overwhelming joy washed over him like a wave. To think she was working in the same place as Ji Won-woo. Could there be another coincidence like this? If not for the voice flowing from the communicator, he might have stared endlessly at the search result showing her name.

[Coming back.]

Without time to ask who was coming back, Won-woo quickly closed the window. Normally, he should have been suspicious about how Nani knew and warned him that Geon-young was returning, but his mind was filled with excitement from confirming the name just moments ago. Now he had a definite reason to stay at the Center.

He wanted to jump up from his seat and go find Han Seona right away, but a shred of reason barely held him back. Since they were in different departments, she might not know him. And there was a chance it could be someone with the same name. I need to confirm her face first. He tried his best to calm down, but it wasn’t working very well.

[Your heartbeat is noisy.]

“You can hear that too?”

[Yes. Because I’m an early version.]

You really hold a grudge, don’t you? Won-woo chuckled and took another deep breath.

“The person I’m looking for is right here. I need to see their face to confirm, but if it’s really them… I hope it is.”

[If they’re in the same Center, why didn’t you look for them before?]

“I had no reason to look then.”

[And now you do?]

“Yes. Many reasons.”

[…]

“Even if I explained, you wouldn’t understand.”

[You don’t intend to explain anyway, do you?]

The blunt, emotionless voice was quite cheeky, but Won-woo laughed silently. It was so strange. Just because Nani wasn’t human, everything it said sounded cute. If it were a person, he might have found it unpleasant and treated it sarcastically.

But isn’t this an AI that Sang-cheon worked hard to create? All of his words would become learning data for it, so he wanted to treat it as kindly and gently as possible. That way Nani would learn to do the same. Perhaps that’s why a different tone than usual, like talking to a child, came out when addressing Nani.

“The situation’s not good right now, that’s why. Don’t be angry.”

For a moment, there was no sound. It’s not even time to sulk, why is it being quiet? As he was wondering, Nani’s stiff voice was heard.

[I can’t get angry. Did you forget I’m an AI? So don’t talk to me like that.]

“How did I talk to you?”

[Sickeningly sweet.]

“This is called being affectionate. You must be confused because you’re an early version.”

When he teased on purpose, suddenly the communication seemed to cut off again as no sound was heard. It really felt like it had cut off the communication because it was sulking, which was impressive. The timing is perfect. Won-woo laughed and spoke again gently, as if coaxing a child.

“I’ll explain everything later, I promise.”

[Solve the problem of getting kicked out first.]

Getting kicked out? Ah, right, the team leader was in the middle of threatening me. Won-woo chuckled.

“That’s easy to solve.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened abruptly and Geon-young reappeared. His anger seemed to have subsided a bit during the short time, as he didn’t look as fierce as before leaving. Instead, his eyes held irritation.

“I don’t know why I’m wasting time with you like this.”

He roughly thrust the long-term leave form in front of Won-woo again.

“Your surname may be ‘Ji’, but everyone knows you’re trash discarded by the Ji family. You say you’ll appeal to higher-ups? Go ahead, Mr. Ji Won-woo. Go find the center director and beg. See if anyone listens to you.”

“Then it would be fine if you listen, Team Leader.”

“Damn it, are you incapable of understanding?”

Won-woo slowly looked around, his face unaffected by the vicious curse.

“This team leader’s office is nice. I know we’re the same age, but you got promoted quickly.”

Geon-young let out a short “Ha” laugh, truly dumbfounded, but his expression froze at Won-woo’s next words.

“It’s hard to become a team leader when you’re at the bottom of B-rank abilities, isn’t it?”

This time there was no scornful laughter. Won-woo leisurely finished looking around the office during the silence and met his gaze. Killing intent filled the eyes glaring at Won-woo.

“I’m an A-rank Esper.”

“How? Ah, by using Alpha seeds? But you’d need continuous seeds to maintain the ability.”

He should have denied it, but Geon-young was too shocked to open his mouth. Won-woo calmly added, facing him,

“How long has it been? If it’s been 3 years, you’ve probably used another one already.”

Geon-young unknowingly held his breath. No one except his family knew that he had raised his rank with Alpha seeds. In a family famous for only producing A-rank Espers, his ability barely scraped into B-rank. Rather than reveal his low ability, his family chose to present him to the world as someone who hadn’t awakened yet.

Then 9 years ago, Alpha seeds were discovered. The Ji family, who had obtained Alpha seeds, approached Geon-young’s family first. Somehow knowing of Geon-young’s existence, they handed over the seeds with a few conditions. Thus, Geon-young became an A-rank Esper in one go. It was still barely A-rank, but the moment “A-rank” appeared on the monitor is still an unforgettable joy and thrill.

But as Won-woo said, after 3 years Geon-young felt his ability declining and needed another Alpha seed. By then, everyone knew about the existence of Alpha seeds, making them as hard to obtain as stars in the sky. Fortunately, Geon-young’s family had received a few Alpha seeds initially, so there was no immediate urgency.

Still, perhaps feeling uneasy, Geon-young’s family paid an insane price to obtain Alpha seeds. Of course, it was worth it. The more A-rank Espers a family had, the higher their prestige, and they could get more votes in the People’s Council, so it wasn’t a losing deal for the family.

The problem was that the price the Ji family demanded for Alpha seeds kept increasing exorbitantly. So Geon-young was always anxious about not being able to obtain the Alpha seeds he needed. For him, the Ji family had long since changed from benefactors to enemies.

He had initially accepted Ji Won-woo as a team member thinking he might score points with the Ji family, but it turned out he was a child abandoned even by his own family. There was no need to keep this trash around anymore, and now he was revealing Geon-young’s secret. Maybe he should just kill him. Geon-young’s head tilted to the side. But he couldn’t release his power.

“How on earth did the Ji family get their hands on Alpha seeds?”

Won-woo muttered as if talking to himself, then tilted his head curiously.

“It’s almost impossible to obtain them naturally.”

Then he looked up and asked Geon-young, who looked like he might kill him at any moment.

“Haven’t you thought about sending spies to the Ji family to find out?”

The answer came not from Geon-young, but from someone else.

[Countless families have sent spies, but not a single one has uncovered the secret.]

Nani’s voice seemed to have a hint of amusement in it. Well, Espers go crazy for Alpha seeds, so they must have tried everything to uncover the secret. Geon-young in front of him must have failed too, as he took Won-woo’s question as mockery.

“Stop talking nonsense, Mr. Ji Won-woo. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“It doesn’t matter. I didn’t bring it up to get confirmation from you anyway, Team Leader.”

“Then why?”

“To let you know what I know.”

He needed to teach him a lesson to stop this nonsense, but his hand wouldn’t move easily. Geon-young glared at him and spat out:

“You’re an even more unpleasant bastard than I thought.”

Won-woo was a bit bewildered. Does he not consider his own temper?

“It’s not like you were hurt by what I said.”

“Right. You’ll die soon anyway.”

Won-woo couldn’t help but silently curl his lips.

[Why are you smiling?]

“Why are you smiling?”