95

The brief silence that hung in the air felt suffocating. Ha-gyeom could feel the weight of the wary and openly scrutinizing stares directed at him. But, unable to look to Baek Sa for help like a child, he masked his unease and followed him quietly, maintaining an air of composure.

“Well, look who’s here! A very important guest has arrived!”

The loud voice came from a burly man seated at the center of the table, his rough features and commanding presence immediately drawing attention. Baek Sa headed straight toward him, and Ha-gyeom followed, noticing the empty chair beside the man.

“Assemblyman Tak.”

Baek Sa greeted the man not with a bow, but simply by meeting his gaze as he addressed him. Despite being shorter in stature, Assemblyman Tak’s massive build exuded an almost intimidating aura, his presence amplified by the sheer size of his frame.

While Ha-gyeom hesitated awkwardly, Baek Sa pulled out the empty chair for him and gestured with his eyes for him to sit.

Grateful but too overwhelmed to say thank you, Ha-gyeom sat down, trying to hide the stiffness in his posture. The unfamiliar surroundings made it impossible to fully mask his discomfort.

“Introduce yourself to Assemblyman Tak,” Baek Sa instructed in a low voice as he took the seat beside Ha-gyeom.

“Ha-ha! So I finally get to see this kid’s face,” Assemblyman Tak exclaimed, his boisterous demeanor filling the space. “Name’s Tak Hun-jeong. I’m sure you’ve heard of me from him here. Our connection runs deep, you know. I was best friends with his parents—closer than family!”

The assemblyman’s overly friendly attitude might have seemed endearing at first, but his exaggerated gestures and booming voice made Ha-gyeom instinctively frown. He was nothing like Baek Sa and seemed a complete mismatch for him.

“Hello,” Ha-gyeom said, his voice tinged with awkwardness. “I’m Shin Ha-gyeom.”

Baek Sa chuckled softly, shaking his head at Ha-gyeom’s timid introduction. The sight of Baek Sa’s faint smile should have calmed him, but any relief was short-lived as Assemblyman Tak spoke again.

“You’re even cuter than I expected! Just adorable.”

‘Gross.’

The assemblyman’s oily, overfamiliar tone made Ha-gyeom suppress a gag. Still, this was no place to openly show his discomfort, not with Baek Sa beside him. Forcing an awkward smile, Ha-gyeom rubbed the back of his head, trying to play it off.

“First time at something like this, huh?” Tak asked, leaning his massive arm on the table.

“Yes,” Ha-gyeom replied curtly, feeling the man’s overwhelming presence on his left. Baek Sa sat to his right, but unfortunately, there was no barrier between him and the assemblyman. Ha-gyeom discreetly placed his hand on Baek Sa’s thigh, seeking a small sense of grounding as he looked at the boastful man.

“You don’t have to be so tense,” Tak said, gesturing broadly. “I had Baek Sa personally bring you here, so just relax.”

Though Tak’s words seemed reassuring, Ha-gyeom could sense there was more to it than simple hospitality. Still, this was his first time at such a gathering, so there was no need to feign tension. He nodded lightly and fidgeted with the glossy ivory plate in front of him.

“Looks like you’ve been living off pig slop, judging by how scrawny you are,” Tak commented with a chuckle. “Now that you’re here, feel free to eat to your heart’s content. In fact, why don’t I arrange some better meals for your private room while I’m at it?”

The over-the-top generosity had an obvious purpose. Ha-gyeom didn’t even need to think about it. Letting the assemblyman’s chatter fade into the background, he cast his gaze around the table, scanning the people seated there.

As an Esper, Ha-gyeom could easily sense the abilities of those around him. Each of the non-gifted leaders had at least one Esper or guide by their side, with some even accompanied by both. It wasn’t hard to see what Assemblyman Tak was after.

He wanted a trophy.

The ability users seated beside the leaders weren’t just trophies for display—they were essential tools of power. In a world threatened by monster invasions, even the leaders who had managed to form communities, establish hierarchies, and seize control faced dangers they couldn’t fully suppress.

Currently, Assemblyman Tak’s only trophy was Baek Sa. It was odd, considering Tak’s ostentatious personality didn’t align with keeping just one ability user at his side.

‘Who could the guide who sat here before me have been?’

It wasn’t hard for Ha-gyeom to imagine Arang, Baek Sa’s former guide. Now that Ha-gyeom had taken her place, it seemed likely she had once occupied this very seat. And now that she was gone, Assemblyman Tak clearly intended to fill that vacancy with Ha-gyeom.

“Here, eat up,” Assemblyman Tak said, placing a succulent piece of duck leg onto Ha-gyeom’s plate. The gesture, though outwardly generous, felt anything but.

“How do you even get food like this?” Ha-gyeom asked, his curiosity masking a deeper skepticism. He couldn’t help but recall what Myeong’s sister had once told him about the dire conditions in the left district, where even a single daily ration was hard to come by. It was obvious the scarcity stemmed from the greed of the leaders and their enforcers.

“Well, 0 District is a place where truly extraordinary people gather,” Tak replied, gesturing grandly at the room. Before Ha-gyeom could tilt his head in doubt, Tak continued.

“Begging for survival during a monster invasion is for the weak and unworthy. Just breathing isn’t living, is it? Unlike those ignorant and incompetent people, the leaders here think ahead—one, two, ten steps ahead.”

Baek Sa, noticing Ha-gyeom’s hesitation to eat, picked up a fork and placed it firmly in his hand. Ha-gyeom reluctantly poked at the duck leg, his appetite stubbornly absent despite the food’s rich aroma.

“Right after the invasion,” Tak began again, resting his thick arms on the table, “while others were busy fleeing, the people here were planning. They secured untainted livestock, preserved seeds to grow crops in clean soil, and protected experts in various fields to ensure survival through the coming crises.”

“…”

“And with the purification systems we developed, we no longer have to worry about contamination. But it wasn’t just about surviving. No, we built a society driven by expertise and labor—a feat no one else could achieve. Only those with the power to move the world could make this possible.”

As Tak spoke, his gaze often drifted toward a specific woman seated diagonally across from them. Naturally, Ha-gyeom’s eyes followed. The woman, with her snow-white hair and composed smile, exuded an air of elegance. Her prematurely gray hair made her appear older, though Ha-gyeom estimated her to be in her late forties.

‘She must have been instrumental in building 0 District,’ Ha-gyeom thought, noting Tak’s excessive attention to her. Unlike Tak’s brash demeanor, the woman seemed calm and dignified, making it harder to gauge her personality.

Sitting beside her, however, was someone all too familiar: the “Parrot,” who had once treated Ha-gyeom like Baek Sa’s lackey during training. The man offered Ha-gyeom a silent, mocking greeting, mouthing the word hello. Clearly, he was the woman’s “trophy.”

The memory of enduring the Parrot’s torment during training was still enough to make Ha-gyeom’s stomach churn. He quickly averted his gaze, returning to poking at the duck leg on his plate to avoid showing his irritation.

“Why don’t you just eat it already?” Baek Sa’s voice came in a low whisper.

The suggestion—or rather, command—was accompanied by a pointed look that left little room for argument. Whether it was out of annoyance at Ha-gyeom’s display of manners or concern over his recent weight loss, Ha-gyeom wasn’t sure. What he did know was that Baek Sa’s tone left no room for hesitation.

Slicing off a piece of the duck, Ha-gyeom chewed reluctantly. The flavor was rich and expertly prepared, confirming that nothing here was less than perfect. Were it not for the grim reality of being underground, it would have been easy to forget the suffering humanity endured in the wake of the invasion.

But the image of the shantytowns in the left district flashed through his mind—the makeshift shelters crammed together, the man dying from radiation poisoning, the girl Myeong who had lost her voice, and her sister doing whatever work she could to earn scraps of food.

“Any thoughts about my explanation?” Tak asked, grinning as he shoved another piece of meat into his mouth, his oily smile a stark contrast to the grim thoughts swirling in Ha-gyeom’s mind.

“…Thank you for the meal,” Ha-gyeom said, his words hollow but polite. Lying seemed like the best way to placate Tak’s inflated ego.

While Tak’s efforts to create a self-sustaining system were undeniably impressive, they didn’t erase the selfishness and cruelty that had formed the foundation of 0 District. These leaders had elevated their own lives to something “sacred” while treating others as expendable.

Ha-gyeom couldn’t help but wonder what the other ability users in the room thought of Tak’s speech. After all, many of them had once been treated worse than animals. But Ha-gyeom kept his thoughts to himself, silently eating the luxurious meal in front of him. He didn’t resist as Tak poured sauce over the remaining meat and watched him finish the plate, though he could already feel the meal sitting heavily in his stomach.

The leisurely dinner dragged on for two hours before it finally ended. As Baek Sa rose from his chair without hesitation, Ha-gyeom followed. But just as he stood, Tak’s clammy hand clamped down on his shoulder, making him flinch.

On instinct, Ha-gyeom’s first thought was to knock Tak’s hand away—possibly even aim a punch at his jaw. But he held himself back, knowing the consequences of such an outburst could be disastrous. Instead, he simply shifted uncomfortably, the gesture more like the twitch of a cornered animal than outright rebellion.

Prying Tak’s hand off, Ha-gyeom instinctively moved closer to Baek Sa, pressing himself against him. Baek Sa, ever composed, wrapped a protective arm around Ha-gyeom’s waist with practiced ease. Ha-gyeom glanced up at him, searching for some sign of concern or displeasure toward Tak, but Baek Sa’s expression remained calm—almost indifferent.

It was clear that Baek Sa didn’t view Tak as any sort of competition, especially not where Ha-gyeom was concerned. If anything, Baek Sa’s stance suggested that the very idea of competing for Ha-gyeom’s attention was beneath him.

“He’s still young, Assemblyman,” Baek Sa said smoothly.

“…”

“To him, you’re older than even his parents. Please, treat him with the appropriate respect.”