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Ha-gyeom returned to his private room, splashed his face with water, and sat down on the bed. Silence settled around him, but his mind was unbearably loud.

He pressed his throbbing temples and slid his heavy, waterlogged-feeling body under the sheets. Aside from the occasional footsteps of people passing through the hallway, there was nothing to disturb the stillness, yet the confusion clouding his consciousness showed no sign of fading.

When he closed his eyes, his vision went dark. In that pitch-black space where not a hint of light entered, he naturally recalled his encounter with Ah-rang, who had been overwhelmed by the red energy.

Had Ah-rang really been consumed by that presence?

Was that brief glimpse in her eyes truly Ah-rang’s own? If so—

What is it they want?

There is something beyond, not just monsters but another kind of existence.

But he had no grasp of what they intended to do through Ah-rang. He couldn’t tell whether realizing that presence was something they wanted, or simply coincidence. The one thing he knew for certain was that what he and Ah-rang experienced had never been reported in District 0, at the Center, or anywhere else.

When Ah-rang returned from the exploration mission, she had become something like a mutation.

When he had faced her and Baek Sa appeared, the energy that dominated the space vanished in an instant. The more he thought about it, the more he suspected that this might be a guide-specific issue, something that only happened to people like him and Ah-rang. After all, it had been proven countless times that only guides could withstand this world, the abnormal phenomena, and the radiation contamination from gravity holes.

Even setting aside Ah-rang’s bizarre appearance, Ha-gyeom couldn’t dismiss what had happened two days ago—when their consciousnesses felt intertwined—as confusion or illusion. It was far too vivid, as if he had lived her life with her, receiving her memories as they were.

As the person involved, Ha-gyeom felt suffocated by not knowing the true circumstances behind any of this. Everything he had was nothing more than insufficient speculation. And if his energy had already begun to change, wasn’t it true that whatever the reason, it had already begun and reached a point of no return?

While tracing Ah-rang’s memories that tumbled over each other in his mind, Ha-gyeom suddenly froze as chills ran down his spine. The images surfacing were random, and they didn’t only evoke suspicion and resistance toward Baek Sa.

His senses, which had been obsessively chasing each memory, began to dull to the point that even he could barely recognize his own awareness. A foreboding sensation washed over him, making his body tremble. His consciousness rushed backward like a film rewinding, leaping instantly to Ah-rang’s childhood.

A tragedy stood before him, one the weak, young girl had been forced to witness.

Simply remembering it felt like his heart was being torn to shreds. The pain resembled the anguish he had carried for so long. No, it was so brutally vivid that it dragged up an even deeper torment.

“……”

A moldy execution ground enclosed by cement walls. Among the people who had been lined up as targets and gunned down were not only his own family but also Ah-rang’s parents. Ah-rang screamed as she watched her parents fall. Ha-gyeom remembered how he had been unable to shed a single tear back then. How could anyone begin to describe that helplessness and despair?

But within that chaotic memory, he didn’t even have room to sink into sorrow.

Because in that execution ground where Ah-rang stood, he spotted a familiar face.

A man who stood above countless mercenaries. His face, less wrinkled than now, was shaded by the hood draped over him, but there was no mistaking it. The gleam in the darkness, those desire-soaked eyes—none of that had changed one bit. The younger face Ah-rang remembered overlapped with the wrinkled one Ha-gyeom knew now.

“…!”

His breath caught, and Ha-gyeom snapped his eyes open like someone jolting awake without ever having slept.

“Ugh, uh…”

The afterimage was stark even in the dark. He could only groan in pain and gasp in ragged breaths, unable to do anything else.

---

“It’s about time we move on to the second stage of training. This time, we’re not going to rush you into an operation. We plan to give you enough preparation…”

Ha-gyeom stood frozen for a while in front of Assemblyman Tak’s reception room. The voices from inside had seeped into his ears before the door even opened.

He had come to see Assemblyman Tak again after a week because he had been summoned. He had agreed easily when the man suggested they eat together, but the truth was that the thought of facing him had already drenched his entire body in cold sweat.

He had braced himself for the possibility of being sent on the exploration mission—the worst-case scenario. But just because he had survived it once didn’t guarantee the second time would be any easier. He hadn’t told anyone the truth about what was inside, so he couldn’t expect help either.

“Have you considered trying something else, sir?”

Just as he reached for the doorknob in a resigned daze, a familiar voice reached him. Baek Sa’s voice. The voice he was hearing again for the first time in a full week. His body had fully recovered, but Ha-gyeom—who had been tormented by nightmares—bit down on his cracked lips at the unexpected sound of Baek Sa’s presence.

During that time, neither of them sought the other out first. Whether Baek Sa had been giving him space or had another intention, Ha-gyeom couldn’t tell.

Even though Baek Sa’s touch had once made him recoil, Ha-gyeom had thought of him constantly. Seeking him out in moments of distress had already become something of a habit. Maybe that was why even placing a hand over his racing chest didn’t calm his heartbeat at all.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s no longer any point in sending only guides inside. It seems more effective to have an Esper accompany them…”

“…!”

Hearing those dryly spoken words, Ha-gyeom’s heart thrashed as if it might leap out of his chest. Without hesitation, he turned the doorknob. Baek Sa, upon seeing him enter, remained as calm as ever.

“…I’m late.”

“Don’t worry about something like that.”

Assemblyman Tak spread his arms wide in welcome. Even without meeting the man’s eyes on purpose, nausea already rose in Ha-gyeom’s throat. And what about Baek Sa, sitting there casually saying things that made no sense? He must have sensed Ha-gyeom’s presence outside, yet he had still said those words without hesitation.

Ha-gyeom glared at Baek Sa as if daring him to react and then took the seat across. Baek Sa looked slightly thinner, maybe, but otherwise sat with his usual unshaken composure.

As Ha-gyeom’s eyes drifted to Baek Sa’s slightly longer hair and straight neck, his gaze trembled helplessly. Even then, he couldn’t stop staring at him with blame.

Accompanying him inside the anomaly…?

It was unthinkable. His fists tightened on top of his thighs. As he failed to hide the redness in his eyes, a perfectly prepared steak was set before him. Then came Assemblyman Tak’s snake-like voice.

“You’ll soon begin the second stage of training. The destination is farther this time, and the anomaly will be even larger, so I’m sure there will be results. Dr. Cha reported that your energy patterns resemble Ah-rang’s. If that’s true, then you’ll survive the exploration mission as well. But as she is now, Ah-rang is useless…”

Ha-gyeom had prepared himself for this meeting, but as the Assemblyman continued speaking, bile rose in his throat even though he hadn’t touched the food on his plate. The memories flooding in were unstoppable no matter how hard he tried to suppress them.

Ah-rang’s memories, forcing their way into his consciousness, were like a damaged video file—never complete. If they had been random, he might’ve questioned only the strange phenomenon itself. But the scenes that pushed into his mind felt selectively chosen to inflict pain, making it impossible not to suspect something more behind them.

They poked at the trauma he had buried deep and made him doubt the person he loved. Despite his overwhelming thirst, Ha-gyeom just stared at the water glass instead of lifting it.

“Your complexion isn’t good. Are you still unwell?”

Assemblyman Tak asked with false kindness. Ha-gyeom could only struggle to hide his hand trembling with anger.

“I think I’m just a bit queasy.”

“Oh dear. Sounds like you have a naturally weak stomach. Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen you eat heartily.”

His raised voice grated horribly in Ha-gyeom’s ears, stirring the panic symptoms he had been free from for a while.

Even though all he could see was a luxurious table and two men, the only thing replaying in his mind were scenes of horror.

Back then, Ah-rang already knew who had driven the gifted people into pigsty-like camps, and she had even witnessed her family being executed. Was Ah-rang truly the only one who had to endure watching the lives of those she loved be snuffed out in an instant, their cold bodies trampled underfoot?

Ha-gyeom had been plagued by nightmares, tormented by pain that felt as if it were his own. The sight of the appetizing food on the plate did nothing for his appetite.

“……”

The room’s temperature was more comfortable than anywhere in District 0, yet a thick drop of sweat slid down the back of his neck. Even sitting still with perfect posture, his heart pounded so hard his vision wavered. Baek Sa quietly observed him, noticing how Ha-gyeom anxiously wet his parched lips. Pretending not to notice was impossible.

“Then, let’s return to the main point. Baek Sa, you’re saying that it would be better for an Esper to accompany them, correct?”