DB Vol 2 Part 15

His face couldn’t be seen because he was wearing a deeply pulled-down hood and even a mask, but one thing was certain. This was an Esper Won-woo had never encountered in his previous world. Who on earth could it be? If he was this physically large and had such strong abilities, Won-woo should have at least come across some information about him.

His whole body tensed, and he took a step back. The man then turned his head sideways to look down at Won-woo. Cold black eyes followed Won-woo. The moment he saw those eyes, Won-woo stopped his retreating foot with a start.

…Huh?!

His mind filled with bewilderment. Those eyes were somehow familiar. At the same time, a person came to mind, and goosebumps covered his entire body.

Noticing Won-woo’s pupils shaking, the man raised one eyebrow as if puzzled. With their gazes still locked, Won-woo was about to ask. Who are you? But before he could, another voice cut in.

“Who are you?”

At Seung-wook’s sharp voice, Won-woo inhaled as if returning to reality. Then he turned his head towards Seung-wook. He was just standing up, glaring fiercely at the man in black.

“You’re an Esper, right? Which division are you from?”

The man in black didn’t take his eyes off Won-woo even at Seung-wook’s question, then raised his hand and lightly touched Won-woo’s cheek. Won-woo, who had been looking at Seung-wook, turned back to him in surprise. And looking into his eyes for the second time, he realized this person was slightly different from the one he knew.

The look in his eyes was different. Unlike the always calm person he knew, the eyes he saw now seemed to have red embers hidden, ready to blaze at any moment. But the shape of the eyes really did look similar. Is that why I mistook him? As Won-woo stared intently at him, the man seemed satisfied, his eyes filling with laughter as he turned around. And in just a few strides, he vanished out the door.

“Hey! Wait!”

Seung-wook tried to approach, but another voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Head Director!!”

As the secretary screamed, Seung-wook turned back. But before that, he glanced briefly at Won-woo. There was displeasure in his gaze, and Won-woo almost asked out loud. Why are you looking at me like that?

“Call a doctor immediately!”

At the secretary’s cry, Won-woo belatedly looked around. Everyone had gathered around the collapsed Hong Eun-tae, looking at her. It was amazing that Seung-wook had noticed Won-woo and the man in black amidst all this. Although that person had helped him, he had only used his power for a very brief moment, so Seung-wook shouldn’t have felt it. Then why did he look at me?

“A doctor is useless. There’s no doctor here who can examine an Esper.”

At someone’s words, the secretary who had picked up Hong Eun-tae’s body looked anxiously at Seung-wook, who was sitting down beside her. As the secretary was also Hong Eun-tae’s Guide, Seung-wook quickly asked,

“How is her condition?”

“Her energy… It’s so weak, as if all of the Head Director’s power has disappeared.”

Weak. A word that didn’t fit an A-rank Esper at all. Most people couldn’t believe it, and some eyes widened in shock. Among them, only one person seemed to realize something, slowly looking in one direction. Seona’s gaze turned towards Won-woo.

Won-woo noticed Seona’s wavering eyes and held back a smile. She probably suspected that Won-woo was behind this. Well, it didn’t matter. When Won-woo belatedly gave her a silent smile, Seona’s eyes widened further. Then she swallowed hard and lowered her head again. Although he was sorry to reveal his ability this way, he believed that the fearless Seona would accept it.

“Is there anyone with teleportation ability?”

When Seung-wook asked the crowd, two people stepped forward. Seung-wook ordered them to take the Head Director to the teleportation portal and turned to the secretary.

“Go to the Center hospital that handles Espers right now. I’ll contact the Center now.”

The secretary nodded with a trembling face and picked up Hong Eun-tae. Soon, Hong Eun-tae’s limp body disappeared from people’s sight. The chaotic interior became quiet after she left. But it was only for a moment before it became even noisier with murmurs.

“Was she attacked?”

“By whom? With so many Espers here, who could attack without anyone noticing?”

No one could answer this rebuttal.

“But what about that tremendous energy earlier? It was strong enough to shake the building.”

Yes, isn’t that a sign of an attack? As people whispered, another rebuttal came from elsewhere.

“The Head Director collapsed before that. And it was too wide-ranging to be an attack. It was more like… a rampage.”

There was no further explanation, but everyone agreed with the word ‘rampage’. That it might have been power coming from the Esper herself, like a rampage. But how? More questions arose one after another. Won-woo ignored their chatter, turning his gaze elsewhere.

He was curious about the man in black who had just left. It was so quick it might have been an illusion, but it was clearly the energy of a strong Esper. But if such a strong Esper had come to the farm, wouldn’t rumors have already spread?

Lost in thought, Won-woo didn’t notice Seona observing him with tense eyes. Nor did he notice when she seemed to make a decision and opened her mouth towards the debating crowd.

“There’s one way to bring down even the strongest Esper in an instant, isn’t there?”

Everyone turned to Seona at once. Even Won-woo, lost in thought, looked at her with a “Huh?” Seona continued expressionlessly under their gaze.

“I heard if you misuse an Alpha Seed, you can collapse from being unable to handle the power.”

Although about twenty people were gathered here, it suddenly became as quiet as if no one was there. Seona looked around slowly and shrugged.

“Just… I heard some rumors.”

That was the start. Rumors about Alpha Seeds burst from everyone’s mouths. I’ve heard that too, they say if you misuse an Alpha Seed, your power’s core collapses, and so on.

Looking around at the interior that had turned into a marketplace, Won-woo barely held back a laugh. Seona had clearly said this to try to hide any suspicion that he might be the culprit. She really is a kind person, after all. Even if she’d never admit it herself.

“Everyone be quiet!”

Seung-wook silenced the commotion with an uncharacteristically angry voice and turned around sharply.

“If anyone spreads false rumors about what happened today, I’ll personally punish them.”

At his warning, people dispersed quickly with their mouths shut. But Won-woo predicted that rumors about the Alpha Seed would spread throughout the world by the end of the day. Why wouldn’t they? Hong Eun-tae had collapsed. Moreover, from now on she…

“What will happen to the Head Director now?”

Won-woo heard Yoo Geon-young asking, grabbing Seung-wook’s arm. His face had turned pale white at the mention that an Alpha Seed might be the cause. Seung-wook was about to answer but noticed Won-woo and removed Yoo Geon-young’s hand.

“Later. Ji Won-woo.”

Ah, I should have left quickly. Won-woo regretfully watched Seung-wook approach.

“Who was that person earlier?”

“Who?”

“The man in black clothes with his face covered by a mask. He touched you.”

Touched? Won-woo tilted his head at the incomprehensible word, then remembered that he had lightly, very lightly touched his face.

“He barely touched me. And I don’t know him.”

“Why would a stranger…”

Seung-wook spoke quickly, then inhaled as if to calm himself.

“Are you sure you don’t know him? You’ve never seen him before?”

“No.”

“…”

“Can I go now?”

“…Go ahead.”

Won-woo was about to pass by Seung-wook and go up to his room on the second floor. But his steps slowed at the sound of voices behind him. Yoo Geon-young was asking Seung-wook curiously.

“What’s wrong? Are you talking about the person who left earlier? Why him?”

“Something bothers me.”

“What do you mean?”

“The feeling… was strangely similar to that guy.”

That guy? Won-woo unconsciously half-turned to look back. Seung-wook, with his brow deeply furrowed, uttered a name.

“Gye Yoon.”

Won-woo stopped in his tracks. It was an unfamiliar name, but somehow it bothered him. Then he realized. Could it be someone from the Gye family? Just then, Yoo Geon-young’s rebuttal was heard from behind.

“Hey, don’t talk nonsense. That bastard the Brute is locked up in prison now. If it were really Gye Yoon, he wouldn’t have missed the opportunity when Head Director Hong collapsed. You know how much the Gye family hates the Head Director, as much as Ji family. You must have seen wrong.”

But despite Yoo Geon-young’s words, Seung-wook couldn’t let go of his suspicion.

“Gye Yoon might have been the one who brought down the Head Director.”

“Nah, that’s not it.”

Yoo Geon-young shook his head vigorously.

“I hate the Gye’s Brute too, but he doesn’t have the ability to drain energy. He’d rather cut things to pieces. It’s not for nothing that the Brute is known as a swordsman, right? This is different from the Brute’s ability.”

“I guess you’re right.”

As Won-woo heard Seung-wook reluctantly agreeing, he started walking again. Swordsman. That was the nickname he had heard from Seona. It seems this Gye Yoon they’re talking about is the Vice Head of the Gye family. But why did Seung-wook mistake the man in black for him?

Won-woo was curious about that man’s identity too, so he became interested in learning about this Gye Yoon. Fortunately, someone who could explain was waiting in front of the door.

“Won-woo-nim.”

Seona called him softly, looking around.

“Just call me Won-woo.”

“Absolutely not.”

“…Absolutely?”

“More importantly, if you’ll allow me, I have something I’d like to ask. Could you spare some of your precious time for me?”

At first, he thought she was joking, but seeing HAn Seona’s serious eyes, it seemed this manner of speech was sincere. Won-woo swallowed a sigh and nodded.

“We definitely need to have a talk about our relationship.”

At this rate, he might end up being called ‘Your Majesty’ later.

“Hong Eun-tae collapsed?”

As soon as Chief Jung heard the news, he thought of the Brute. He must have done something.

“Hong Eun-tae’s brother took our bait but didn’t call her?”

As Chief Jung unusually cursed, the employee waved his hand as if that wasn’t the case.

“Chief, Hong Eun-tae’s collapse has nothing to do with the Vice Head.”

“What do you mean? Then why did Hong Eun-tae collapse?”

“Nobody knows.”

“…Are you sure the Vice Head didn’t do anything?”

As Chief Jung couldn’t shake off his suspicion, the employee detailed what he had heard from the informant. There was an overflow of information without need for cross-checking, as many had witnessed Hong Eun-tae’s collapse. However, after hearing the situation, Chief Jung frowned, understanding even less.

“All her power drained out?”

“It’s more than just drained. Hong Eun-tae’s secretary is her guide, and people around heard him rambling at the hospital. He said he could only feel energy equivalent to a low D-rank from Hong Eun-tae now.”

What… What nonsense is this? How can an A-rank Esper become D-rank overnight?

“It might be a false rumor, but we need to check. Is Hong Eun-tae at the East Center hospital? Don’t we have someone planted there?”

“We do, but it’s useless. The Hong family took Hong Eun-tae away. They took her like some secret operation, they say.”

Chief Jung’s eyes sharpened. The Hong family hiding something meant there was a high possibility that Hong Eun-tae really had become D-rank.

“We need to know exactly what happened. Find someone we can recruit among the witnesses at the scene.”

The employee blinked at Chief Jung’s order.

“Chief, there’s no need for that. The Vice Head was at the scene, wasn’t he?”

“Are you sure he was there? If it was the… Vice Head, he would have surely tried to slit her throat when Hong Eun-tae collapsed, right?”

He wasn’t the type to miss such an opportunity amidst the chaos and crowd. There’s no way he would hesitate when the chance to kill his enemy presented itself.

“It seems he just watched and then left.”

“Why?”

“Well, I don’t really know…”

More than Hong Eun-tae’s collapse, the fact that the Brute quietly withdrew bothered him more.

“So where is the Vice Head now? Didn’t our person at the farm find him and stick with him?”

“Yes, that’s right… but he’s still at the farm, they say.”

What is he doing there? Did they smear honey all over the farm?

***

“So… Head Director Hong’s ability has completely disappeared now?”

Seona finally spoke after a long while, having confirmed the facts with Won-woo and received an explanation.

“Not completely. There are some powers that don’t detach from the main body, like residue. With that, she’ll still have some ability left, albeit weak. Probably only equivalent to a low D-rank.”

Low D-rank. Seona blankly murmured the rank, then quickly nodded.

“I see.”

Then she firmly closed her mouth as if the matter was settled. Won-woo carefully looked at her and asked,

“Don’t you have anything else to say?”

“Ah, thank you. Come to think of it, I’m late in giving my gratitude to you properly, Won-woo-nim.”

“No, not gratitude. Are you okay with the fact that I can easily harm Espers?”

He was a bit worried, actually. The Seona of this world, after all, has pride as an Esper and is loyal to the Center.

Just as Espers viewed Purifiers as enemies when they appeared in his original world, he thought Seona might feel aversion seeing Won-woo harm Espers. But Seona raised one eyebrow at Won-woo’s question, as if not understanding.

“Are you planning to eliminate all Espers?”

“No.”

I’ve already done that once, no need to do it again.

“If you use that power only where necessary, I have no reason to stop you or feel bad about it. I hardly have any close Esper friends, so even if you were to massacre Espers en masse, I’d be fine. …But that smile is a bit not okay.”

Won-woo quickly put on a serious face and tensed his mouth.

“What’s wrong with my smile? Should I not smile from now on?”

“No, that’s not it. It’s because your smiling face is pretty, Won-woo-nim. Um, I’m afraid I might develop feelings other than respect… But don’t worry. That will absolutely never happen.”

“Respect is the worst, though.”

“I’ll change my expression to infinite reverence from now on.”

Her expression was 100% sincere. Won-woo, feeling the gravity of the situation, shook his head seriously.

“Just treat me as a friend.”

“How could I dare to be friends with you, Won-woo-nim?”

“That’s how we can geek out together.”

“!”

Gopnalssu! It seemed like that word was shooting out of her widened eyes like a laser. Won-woo pressed down his lips that wanted to smile, turned his head to look around, and stopped at one spot. A feeling that someone was watching him. He had sensed the same energy on the rooftop of the dormitory before, and as soon as he came up with Seona, he felt it again.

So he strained his senses to find the Esper’s energy. But like a ghost, nothing was caught this time either. However, for some reason, the man in black came to mind this time. There was no reason, it was just a hunch, so he wasn’t sure.