TTOA Chapter 45

“……I’ve never heard of it. Mutant? If such a thing exists, why hasn’t its existence been made known to the general public?”

“I know, right? I don’t know much about that either. Policies are for the higher-ups. Maybe they thought you’d run away or hide if you knew you’d be killed? Or, maybe mutants could gather together and form an anti-government organization.”

“No, why should mutants be killed in the first place? If they awakened late, shouldn’t the government take them as talent and treat them well?”

“Haha, Jae-jin, you’re so innocent. You’re so cute because you don’t know much.”

“What……?”

“With even those who haven’t completed their regular education being disposed of, there’s no way the government would keep mutants alive. An Esper who can’t be controlled is just a risk to human society. Immediate execution. All of them.”

Seo Eui-woo’s lowered voice was calm but cold, and frighteningly threatening. He knew from the start that Kwon Jae-jin in front of him had no way to escape.

Like a predator cornering its prey, Seo Eui-woo leisurely sucked on the inside of Kwon Jae-jin’s open shirt. He pressed his lips against the nape of his neck, where the healing factor was active and the bruises were disappearing, leaving new marks.

“How about it? I’ll let you out, so will you go out and get shot? Or will you hide, and live in my arms as Seo Eui-woo’s exclusive Guide?”

Giving him a cruel choice he couldn’t make, Seo Eui-woo gleefully devoured Kwon Jae-jin, who was frustrated by the ominous reality.

The second Guiding, jammed into the barely healed hole, was even more satisfying than the first. The red, swollen flesh felt unbearably lovely.

*

Center.

Its official name is Central Crisis Management Special Strategy Headquarters, but it is commonly called the Center, a military organization under the government.

Located in the southeastern part of the Special Residential District, only a very few high-ranking government officials and Espers can enter and exit this place.

The magnificent building is divided into three sections: First, the Trainee Dormitory where trainees who have not completed regular education live. This includes dormitory facilities.

Second, the Central Building used by formally educated Espers. It is also the largest building in area. Here, Espers periodically conduct combat training and strategic meetings, and report on missions and receive treatment. Almost all Esper-related tasks, from material management to unit deployment, personnel selection, and accounting, are handled in the Central Building.

Filmed footage of Espers that the general public sees through broadcasts also provides data screens here. Information transmission usage fees are also settled here.

The last remaining third area is the Research and Development Building. It is a place where healing factors and Guiding alternative drugs used by Espers are produced, and custom-made exclusive weapons are manufactured to suit the characteristics of Espers.

In addition, research on Gates and creatures is constantly ongoing, and a wide range of information investigations are conducted here, such as dissection of creature corpses and research on geological resources inside the Gates.

Researchers seem to hire civilians in rare and exceptional cases, but detailed information is not known to Espers belonging to combat units like Seo Eui-woo. To access such top-secret information, you must apply to the research department rather than the combat department during your training, and you must belong to the Research and Development Department.

Central Building. At the reception desk on the 4th floor, Seo Eui-woo applied for a few additional supplies, including a new combat uniform.

He entered the item details on a large tablet screen and pulled out the Identification Tag hanging around his neck. When he brought the Identification Tag to the terminal attached to the side, Seo Eui-woo’s Esper Registration Code was automatically read and the application was completed.

CCMSSH KR S1 E

01-31040801S

O (RH+)

Beep.

Less than 5 minutes after the supply application was completed, the transceiver rang. Seo Eui-woo lowered the Goggles he had been wearing on his forehead to his eyes and turned on the power.

-Captain Seo.

It’s Lieutenant Colonel Jang Tae-san.

Thinking that the busy man had an unnecessarily good nose, Seo Eui-woo replied nonchalantly.

“This is Captain Seo Eui-woo of the 1st Special Task Force. Lieutenant Colonel Jang.”

-Supply application list, is this correct? There seems to be an error.

“No. There is no error. Please process it as is.”

-80 packs of Healing Factor?

“Accurate. You saw right through me.”

-Captain Seo Eui-woo. Healing Factor is a special supply. In addition to what is provided in the Guiding room and what is provided to all team members during missions, you must bear the full cost of additional orders for personal training. Do you know how much that is?

“Isn’t it 16 billion won? 200 million per pack.”

-……I see. So you know.

“I’m adding this because you seem worried, but I’m not trying to smuggle it out, Lieutenant Colonel Jang.”

While exchanging radio messages with Lieutenant Colonel Jang Tae-san, Seo Eui-woo headed to the 7th floor of the building. On the 7th floor of the Central Building is the Sterile Transfer Room.

Seo Eui-woo can create a shield with his ability, so he doesn’t necessarily need to teleport in the Sterile Transfer Room, but general teleportation was only possible in the Sterile Transfer Room. If you don’t go to and from designated coordinates that are cleanly protected, you don’t know what foreign substances might get stuck in your body.

If there is an unlucky speck of gravel in the place you teleport to and it gets stuck in your heart, it is immediately fatal.

“The new drug’s effects this quarter are significant. My condition is also good, and I want to improve my ability through personal training for the time being and make a meaningful contribution to combat.”

-Captain Seo Eui-woo, you had ambitions for promotion. At that age and with that rank, you seem to have already been promoted rapidly.

“I’m just following in the footsteps of the respected Lieutenant Colonel Jang.”

Lieutenant Colonel Jang Tae-san is annoying. I should apply for a transfer.

Or, while we’re on the subject, it wouldn’t be bad to really make achievements and get promoted.

If you become a Major, you are a field officer at the deputy commander level of each unit. The 1st Special Task Force led by Lieutenant Colonel Jang Tae-san already has his faithful deputy commander, Lieutenant Kim, firmly in place, so he will be reassigned to another unit.

I don’t know if the higher-ups will appoint a twenty-year-old punk as deputy commander. But it will be useful for publicity. The first S-rank Esper, Major Seo Eui-woo. There are some among the higher-ups who are particularly concerned about public support, so it may not be as hopeless as it seems.

-Okay…… I understand. Then I’ll process the supply list as is.

“Thank you.”

Beep.

As soon as the radio communication was cut off, Seo Eui-woo took off his goggles. After arriving at the Sterile Transfer Room and sterilizing his entire body and belongings, he immediately executed the teleportation.

Kwon Jae-jin. Seo Eui-woo felt like he was going to die from wanting to see his Guide.

Are all Espers originally like this?

If so, how on earth do they live their daily lives?

Seo Eui-woo seriously pondered whether to apply for a long-term paid vacation instead of a transfer, but barely suppressed the impulse.

He made the excuse of the new drug, but the suddenly lowered runaway risk and the sudden mass order of Healing Factor are already suspicious signs. If Seo Eui-woo does anything more suspicious here, Lieutenant Colonel Jang Tae-san might notice.

In order to prevent such an unfortunate event, Seo Eui-woo needed to continue going on missions and act naturally.

He was not afraid of being punished for hiding a mutant Guide, but he could not bear the thought of Kwon Jae-jin, the mutant Guide, being shot. If Kwon Jae-jin died, and if Seo Eui-woo’s only Guide disappeared from the earth again, what could possibly compensate for that loss?

Seo Eui-woo needed to protect Kwon Jae-jin.

No, he needed to keep his Guide alive. No matter what it took.

White light spread in the air, and droplets of light scattered like afterimages. Seo Eui-woo, who came out of the Sterile Transfer Room, immediately found Kwon Jae-jin. It was very easy to find him because the Core embedded in Kwon Jae-jin’s heart trembled as if resonating when he approached him.

Kwon Jae-jin was in the bedroom, covered in white detergent powder in both hands, hanging from the ceiling.

“……Jae-jin?”

No, every time, he seems to greet Seo Eui-woo in unexpected ways.

Last time, he shot a gun while injured without using the Healing Factor, but why is he dangling from the ceiling this time?

“Hey, Jae-jin, what are you doing there? Why are you doing that?”

“……Damn it. Shit!”

Kwon Jae-jin swore as he saw Seo Eui-woo’s clear face.

He was trying to open the window in the ceiling by grabbing the steel frame structure of the bedroom window frame with his bare hands and climbing up like rock climbing. It was an escape attempt that was possible because he had been rock climbing as a hobby.

But it failed miserably because Seo Eui-woo arrived.

Anyway, the windows here are managed by an electronic system, so Kwon Jae-jin couldn’t open them manually. Even if he did, a notification message would have gone to Seo Eui-woo.

“Window? You wanted to open the window? Don’t tell me you still want to leave my house?”

“Are you even saying that now? Isn’t it obvious!”

“No, why? I told you, if you go out, you’ll be shot.”