TS 003

As soon as they entered the director’s office, Shin Ae-hi rose from her seat behind the desk. Yoon Taehwa briefly nodded and casually moved towards the sofa opposite her.

“You wanted to discuss something?” Director Shin asked with a cheerful voice tinged with amusement. She then grabbed a neatly arranged envelope on her desk, seemingly prepared beforehand, and sat down across from him.

“It seems unnecessary to ask again. According to Team Leader Jung, you were already informed.”

“About their equal rank issue? Yes, I heard about it. But I’ll let you handle it, Team Manager Yoon Taehwa.”

Yoon Taehwa crossed his legs, scrutinizing the woman opposite him due to her overly candid response. Aside from dealing with a rare S-rank psychic ability user, he found interacting with someone around his mother’s age somewhat awkward. It could also be because there weren’t many individuals within the Center who held authority over him.

While there were several higher ranks than team leaders, not many people could order around an S-rank Esper like him at will.

‘It’s probably due to the overwhelming pressure of being an S rank.’

Statistically, Korea had more S-rank Espers compared to other countries. However, it was still relatively few in absolute numbers. Even Team 1, consisting solely of S-ranks, had only about five members. Including all the team leaders across different teams barely made up ten individuals. Counting those who had retired from active duty, the total didn’t exceed twenty.

Among them, Shin Ae-hi was a psychic-type Esper. Considering that most S-rank Espers fell under either physical or natural categories, her type was exceptionally rare.

‘Well, it’s not something I can ponder.’

Yoon Taehwa was even rarer as he belonged to the Special Ability System.

“For now, I want him on my team and under my supervision.”

“Team Leader Yoon Taehwa, I am aware of your training methods. Normally, I would agree with you, but currently, it is difficult.”

This had never been interfered with before. Yoon Taehwa tilted his head curiously. Soon, his gaze slowly moved towards the envelope Shin Ae-hi was holding. The yellow envelope bore a stamp marked ‘Confidential’.

“Two people from Russia will arrive. Or rather, they are already in Korea.”

“Were those guests Russian officials?”

Yoon Taehwa nudged the envelope with his finger as it slid across the table toward him. He had assumed the high-ranking government official he’d been summoned to meet was another Esper, not someone from Russia. This was completely unexpected.

“Yes, one is a researcher, but the other is an Esper, so you’ll be directly managing them, Team Manager Yoon Taehwa. We can’t entrust foreign Espers to anyone else except you, right?”

“What guild do they belong to?”

“Orca.”

It was impossible for not to know that name, since it referred to the largest guild in Russia. The days of clearing dungeons by overwhelming force using hundreds or even thousands of ordinary soldiers were long gone. Nowadays, only evolved beings such as demihumans and ability users—also known as hunters—could venture inside dungeons. Groups formed by these hunters became what are now called guilds.

The Orca Guild was one of the largest guilds globally and ranked third worldwide. Despite Korea not having any large guilds to speak of, it still closely monitored international guild activities, so everyone knew about them. This included Yoon Taehwa, whose job entailed gathering intel on major guilds around the world, especially those considered large-scale organizations. One never knew when they might need to collaborate with such entities.

Although it wasn’t officially recognized as a guild, the Center’s work didn’t differ much from theirs. Since government agencies couldn’t register as guilds, there was no official way to rank the Center alongside others, but many countries had similar governmental bodies that functioned similarly to large guilds.

“Косатка^[1]…”

Yoon Taehwa rolled the familiar name around his tongue. It was a guild with which he had connections.

Not all countries managed dungeons through their governments like South Korea did. Each nation handled dungeons and regulated ability users, demihumans, or guilds differently. For example, British guilds were affiliated with the royal family, while American guilds operated independently within each state to deal with dungeons accordingly.

However, most often, private guilds took care of dungeons for monetary compensation instead of government agencies, Russia being a prime example.

‘Technically speaking, though, Russian guilds have deep ties with their government, so it’s not entirely accurate to call them purely private.’

Yoon Taehwa dusted off some vocabulary from when guilds first emerged.

“So, it’s not from the government but rather the Red Mafia?”

Cooperation between countries wasn’t unusual, so if this was official business, Director Shin wouldn’t have secretly summoned Yoon Taehwa here. Moreover, with Kasatka’s name mentioned, it couldn’t be related to any government dealings.

“The Red Mafia? Well, that’s technically correct. However, they’re now officially called a guild and handle much of Russia’s governmental affairs.”

“But even during their mafia days, didn’t they already take care of government-related tasks?” Yoon Taehwa chuckled as he leaned back on the couch. Whether it was the Red Mafia or a large guild, it didn’t matter much to him.

“It seems like they initiated the request for cooperation.”

“Yes, you’ve likely guessed by now, but our higher-ups have given the green light.”

“I assume there’s something in it for us from the Center.”

Director Shin indicated with her chin towards the envelope as if urging Yoon Taehwa to check its contents.

“They helped us five years ago, so it’s hard for me to refuse them now.”

“….St. Petersburg.” Yoon Taehwa couldn’t forget that mission he had personally led. As he reminisced about the past, he opened the envelope. Inside were two sets of documents categorized separately.

“It seems an ‘Ant’ infiltrated a guild, killed one of their members, and fled to Korea.”

Through Director Shin’s explanation, Yoon Taehwa recalled why he had traveled to Russia five years ago, albeit with a different objective this time.

Back then, a member of the terrorist group known as “the Ants” murdered an Esper from the Center before escaping to Russia. The local Russian guild, Kasatka, assisted in dealing with the threat.

They were still active. In this rapidly changing world, it was wishful thinking to believe terrorist groups wouldn’t take root. Just as numerous guilds emerged, countless terrorist organizations were born. Among them, some managed to maintain their presence for extended periods, and one such group was the Ants. Their name inevitably surfaced whenever discussing infamous terror incidents.

The reason behind the international terrorist organization having such a cute moniker stemmed from a trivial incident. Over a decade ago, a member of the International Governance (IG) committee delivered a keynote speech, vowing to crush the relentless terrorists once and for all:

—They are mere ants. Like insects underfoot, they will be trampled by humanity’s march towards a brighter future, vanishing without a trace!

The next day, the committee member was found murdered with the word ‘Ant’ carved into his bloated stomach. It was a clear message to the IG that they had underestimated their opponent.

Taking this incident as a turning point, instead of fading away, the group only grew stronger, embracing the moniker ‘Ants.’ In a world where extraordinary humans ruled, it was more unusual not to flaunt one’s power.

“This is indeed an offer I can’t refuse.”

“Yes, for the same reason, there is no justification for me to decline your request.” Yoon Taehwa extracted some documents peeking out from an envelope.

Now aware of why the Kasatka Guild members traveled from Russia to Korea, it was time to focus on them.

“You mean, instead of a guide, they brought along a researcher?”

“The Esper sent to deal with them is an S rank, so it shouldn’t take too long.”

Countries like South Korea that had experienced prolonged turmoil tended to have a disproportionately high number of Espers. Whether it was due to genetic evolution favoring those who could fight together or not, there were many high-rank Espers among them. However, guides were still rare compared to the overall population of Espers. It would’ve been preferable if they brought along a guide instead.

“There’s one problem: They’re quite formidable.”

There were two documents presented. Yoon Taehwa paused after reading just the first page and looked up at the director.

“One is a Brigadier General.”

“A commanding officer?”

“Yes. He’s the grandson of the Pakhan^[2]. The team he leads is called Crow (Ворон).”

Yoon Taehwa nodded as if acknowledging this fact and returned his gaze to the document. Attached to the front page was a photograph taken merely thirty minutes ago.

The high-resolution photo showed a man sitting in the driver’s seat looking into the rearview mirror and a woman in the passenger seat viewing a tablet. It was sufficient to identify the main figures involved. Yoon Taehwa dropped the picture after storing their rough images in his mind.

[Лилия Владимирович Михайлов]

He could speak basic Russian but wasn’t proficient enough to read it. With a look questioning why he was given such documents, Shin Ae-hi provided the translation:

“Liliya Vladimirovich Mikhailov.”

Unaccustomed to long names, he simply remembered her first name, Liliya, which means ‘lily’ in Russian. Since gender doesn’t matter among Espers, having a female leader for direct actions was not unusual.

“And there is one more problem.”

Yoon Taehwa put down the document and casually wiggled his toes. He’d find out what kind of people they were once he met them since it was his responsibility to oversee them anyway.

“They arrived about an hour ago…but a dungeon opened near the airport. It seems like they went inside.”

He leaned back with his elbows propped up, fingers brushing against his eyebrows.

“If it were an A-rank or higher dungeon, I would have been notified, so it’s likely a lower rank… An S-rank Esper should be able to handle themselves.”

“But isn’t it inappropriate for foreign Espers to enter dungeons within our country? You never know what might emerge from there.” Director Shin flashed a grin as she gave a crisp order. “That’s why, Team Leader Yoon, please go take care of this matter.”

Yoon Taehwa’s relaxed eyebrows suddenly furrowed in a frown.