Approximal Guide

Overtime… that’s absolutely not going to happen. As I suddenly got up from my chair, the others seemed to flinch, not daring to speak, as if they didn’t want to do overtime either. I walked toward them.“How about we just form a team quickly? The faster we finish, the sooner we’re done, right? I’m not a fan of overtime.”With these kinds of people, there’s no need to take a humble approach from the start. They seemed at a loss for words at my confident tone. Even though Sergeant Kang was the type to harbor resentment internally, he never showed it on the outside, so it seemed like some people underestimated him. In times like this, ignoring them and pressing with force was the best approach. As I blew air under my nails, they started to growl.“Hey, aren’t you being a bit rude? We’re meeting for the first time, and you’re talking like that? Have some respect.”“Respect, huh? Wasn’t that the same respect you were talking about when you were whispering about me being a D-grade earlier? How respectful of you.”They gaped, completely taken aback. “What’s he talking about? Did he just call us out?” They whispered to each other, confused. Ignoring them, I grabbed a single copy of the materials from the instructor handing them out, sat in the seat they had occupied, and began reading. One of the guys whose seat I had taken looked at me in disbelief but couldn’t say anything and just dragged his chair to the side. The man on the stage was still watching us.I paid no mind to them and flipped through the materials to quickly grasp the outline of today’s training. Thinking back to my time as an instructor, I remembered that most trainees tend to ignore the handouts. Of course, there are always those who manage to skim through them and still do well, but those are usually the geniuses like Kim Moohyuk. Among the more average-level trainees, those who take the time to review the materials first tend to rise quickly to the top. After all, the sky never betrays those who prepare.Even though today’s training was something I was already good at, there was no harm in preparing in advance. As I focused on the materials, the guys who had been standing idly also began to grab their own copies and sit down to read. They exchanged glances, but I ignored them. No matter what schemes they were plotting, it would amount to nothing. They were just rookies, freshly graduated from the training camp and entering the special forces. How much trouble could they really cause? All they could probably manage was catching a frog in the hills and putting it on my tray.If they caused real trouble, unlike back in the training camp, the military police would intervene. The military police in the Esper-Guide Corps are notoriously nasty, so I knew it would be best not to run into them. As I skimmed through the materials, the man on the stage started explaining again.“The training will take place in the virtual training room, one of the pride of the Seogyeong Center’s comprehensive training facility. Please don’t misunderstand; we are not substituting live training for virtual training due to time constraints.”When he spoke for the first time in a soft tone, cracking a joke, laughter filled the room. I tried to focus on the man’s face on the stage, wondering how good Sergeant Kang’s eyesight was, but unfortunately, it seemed he didn’t have the best vision, as I couldn’t make out any details. Giving up quickly, I finished reading the materials and closed the booklet. Just then, the instructors told us to move to the virtual training room. The others slowly started to rise and head for the door. I followed them, taking my time.I considered stopping by the bathroom before heading there. I walked a few steps out the door and turned toward the bathroom I spotted. After finishing my business, I washed my hands, wondering how much the virtual training had improved. Even five years ago, there was virtual training, but with all the time that had passed, I assumed the technology had advanced, and the protocols would be different now. After drying my hands with a paper towel, I was about to leave the bathroom.Suddenly, someone grabbed the bathroom door I had been pushing and pulled it open, stepping inside. Then, in an aggressive tone, they started speaking.“You were pretty cocky earlier, huh? What makes you think you’re so great, D-grade?”It wasn’t just one person—there were several of them. They were the same guys I’d been grouped with earlier, the ones who had to form teams of eight. I sighed involuntarily.“Move out of the way. We can talk after the training. What are you doing, not even participating?”They sneered at my words.“Why would we not participate in the training? You’re the only one not doing it. Or is it that you can’t?”I couldn’t believe it. So they were trying to lock me in the bathroom like little elementary school kids and go do the training by themselves.“Stop talking nonsense and get out. Why are you being so childish?”“This is really—yeah, fine. If you’re so dignified, how about you join us in our little game?”Before I knew it, they shoved me into the farthest stall, where there was a sink with cleaning supplies and mops, and locked me inside with a burlap sack. I tried to push back, but it was impossible. Sergeant Kang’s strength was too weak. Damn it, I’ll have to ask Han Byeongeun to come up with a strength-building workout program for me quickly. What is this body? A piece of paper? I couldn’t fight back at all as they tossed me inside and locked the door behind me. I kicked the door with all my might, but it didn’t budge, and I felt despair.How can a body be this weak? After injuring my knee, I had been doing strength training every day to compensate with my upper body strength, so I couldn’t understand how this was happening. Even though Kim Moohyuk had to carry me due to my knee troubles, my skeletal muscle mass was still above average compared to most adult men. But Sergeant Kang’s body… It was so frail that I couldn’t even imagine how it could be useful. He wasn’t short, but aside from that, what was the point of this body? A sigh escaped me.The hallway was quiet, and I assumed everyone else had headed to the virtual training room.“Hey! There’s someone in the bathroom!”I shouted, but no one came. Wait a minute… Did I phrase the help request wrong? It probably just sounded like I was saying there was someone using the bathroom. I realized I needed to refine my emergency request wording.“Hey! There’s someone locked in the bathroom! Help!”That was a neat revision. I kept shaking the door for a while, shouting for help, but it seemed that my new phrasing wasn’t enough to get anyone’s attention. No one came.“Ugh, I can’t take this anymore. How is it that there’s not a single person in the hallway?”No one was thinking of stopping by the bathroom, which made it clear that the cafeteria lunch must have been terrible. How else could no one be coming? As I was sinking into despair, I suddenly heard a creak—the sound of the bathroom door opening. I jumped and shouted.“Hey! I’m stuck in the last stall, can you help me out? Just open the door!”How simple was that request? I had no doubt that whoever opened the door would do me the favor of helping me. But there was no reply.“Hey…?”I called out again, feeling anxious, but still, no answer. That’s when I started to suspect that the person who opened the bathroom door might be one of the guys who had locked me in here earlier. I immediately started cursing.“Are you one of those assholes from earlier? What kind of personality do you have? Can’t even open this?! Do you know who I am?!”In my panic, I had slipped into my usual, over-the-top, aggressive speech. Yeah, I’m old, and I can be a bit of a jerk. But even an old jerk is still a person. If we get locked up, it’s a sad thing. Come on, let me out!“Damn it, open this door quickly. If you do, I’ll make sure the military police know your name, and leave you off the hook. I swear, I’ll keep my promises because I’m not as low as you guys.”“……”There was still no response. I sighed. If words are going to work, they need to speak back. I was trying to find a way to convince him to let me out, but without an answer, it was impossible to have a conversation. Frustrated, I just started saying anything.“If you don’t open it now, I’m going to starve to death in here. If I die of starvation, my vengeful ghost will haunt you for the rest of your life. I’ll follow you everywhere, even when you’re taking the elevator, and press the open button for you, just to mess with you.”Does it sound impossible? I’ll make it happen. Every time you take your car out of the underground parking, I’ll twist the steering wheel so your car scrapes the pillar. Every time you press the remote control, the batteries will die—I’ll make it happen!Just as I was making my dark promises to myself, the person who had been standing at the entrance and not moving started walking toward me.But something about the footsteps sounded off. Even though we were inside a military center, soldiers don’t always wear boots. If they aren’t on a mission, they wear sneakers or slippers, but these were definitely the sounds of boots.Earlier, during the orientation about the training, even the instructors weren’t wearing military boots, so this was unusual. I crouched down and peered through the gap under the door to see the shoes of the person approaching. He was wearing black military boots. Suddenly, an eerie chill ran down my spine. The boots stopped right in front of the cleaning supplies cabinet, where I was locked in. A sharp sensation pulsed through my spine. I knew this feeling all too well.I straightened up, trying to peer through the narrow gap between the hinges of the bathroom door to see the person’s face. A shadow appeared through the small gap. The person was tall. Since the ones who had locked me in here weren’t as tall, I realized this was a completely different person.Just as I was about to ask who they were, a strange, unsettling sensation that had been vibrating through my spine spread throughout my body. This was definitely the feeling of spatial displacement. The sensation that an Esper with the ability to teleport experiences when they begin to dematerialize their body to move it somewhere else.In an instant, it felt like my body was being deconstructed and then reassembled. Before I could even ask who this was, I was sucked into a dizzying vortex. When I opened my eyes, I was—“Where the hell is this?”My question, filled with disbelief, echoed across the vast expanse. My biometric watch answered with a calm voice.— Elevation 1,947m, Summit of Hallasan.“What?!”My question echoed back to me from the peak of Hallasan, as if mocking me.What? — What? — What?The echo was filled with despair. It was as if I had woken up in the body of a guide five years from now, in an utterly impossible situation.The biometric watch had no problem pinpointing my location, but when it came to sending a distress signal back to the center, it was useless. Thanks to that, I found myself walking down the steep path of Hallasan, cursing nonstop.If only I had brought my phone, I thought. Unfortunately, the phone I had bought a few days ago was still back in the shared guidance room. I never carried small things with me, and Kim Moohyuk had often nagged me to carry my phone around. But I’d always retorted that I had my pager for calls, so what was the problem? And now, just a few days later, it felt like it had been five years. The sudden wave of depression hit me. In times like this, I needed to be cautious. Sergeant Kang’s body, just like mine back then, seemed vulnerable to depression. Back then, I had almost overcome it by focusing on turning Kim Moohyuk into a usable Esper, but Sergeant Kang didn’t have that breakthrough. I was careful not to think too deeply about the depression that was likely recorded in his body.Instead, I tried to focus on something else. I thought about the person who had sent me soaring to an altitude of 1,947 meters. Judging by the wave of energy he had created, it was clear that he was an Esper with teleportation abilities. If not, he might have used some kind of Space Bomb, by cutting open the stomach of a teleportation Esper and extracting their core, but that would be illegal now that the military regime had fallen. So it was likely that he was an Esper with teleportation abilities.The only fortunate thing was that I had found the hiking trail of Hallasan. It had taken me a while, as I had to circle around the summit of the mountain, which looked like the base of a cone, before I could find it, but still, it was far better than descending in any direction that wasn’t the trail. Hiking down Hallasan in running shoes, which I usually wear indoors instead of proper hiking boots? I’d probably be better off just dying. I sighed and slowly began to descend. The further I went, the more it seemed like the trail would never end, and it was getting darker.Crows living on Hallasan circled above my head, cawing. “What are you cawing about? Haven’t you ever seen a poor guide before?” I muttered to myself. Of course, they hadn’t. While there was an Esper-Guide Corps stationed in Jeju, it was an exclusive center where only the most qualified guides—those who had earned their place over generations—could be assigned. A guide with bad luck like me could never be assigned to the Jeju center. The crows seemed intrigued by me and kept circling above, likely because I was such a strange sight. …Wait a minute. Were they waiting for me to die? I thought, briefly wondering if the crows might eat my corpse.Suddenly, I heard a rustling sound from among the trees beside the trail. Through the large trunks of the yew trees, something continued to rustle.“Deer, I don’t think….”I mumbled unconsciously. A chill ran down my spine. I hadn’t heard of bears living on Hallasan… In fact, wild boars were more dangerous in Korean mountains than bears or tigers, although tigers did exist here once. During the Japanese occupation, tiger hunting was rampant, and I suspected they had all gone extinct. Anyway, I told myself to calm down—this was probably just a deer. ‘Deer are cute. They don’t bite. Deer aren’t interested in me,’ I muttered, trying to reassure myself as I continued walking down the trail. But then I heard a sound I couldn’t ignore, this time right beside me.It was the sound of leaves crunching beneath someone’s feet. I screamed in surprise.“Ahhh—! I can’t die twice, damn it, God!”Without realizing it, my mind wandered as I desperately prayed that it wasn’t a bear. When the rustling stopped, I squinted, peering in the direction it had come from. What I saw there was none other than—“What… is it… Kim Moohyuk?”It was Kim Moohyuk. What on earth was he doing here? I wanted to ask, but I was too stunned to do anything except stare at him. His jumpsuit, a tactical uniform, was covered in dust. With his right eyebrow raised in a way that made him look slightly disdainful, he was staring at me as if I were an idiot. Leaning lightly against a tree, he looked much taller than I remembered. No, was I the one shrinking? Regardless, I quickly decided to speak.“—Captain Kim Moohyuk, is that you?”Respect and hierarchy were of utmost importance in the military. I couldn’t just casually speak to a captain without using proper honorifics, no matter how familiar we were. I knew that trying to get away with addressing him casually wouldn’t work, so I made sure to use the formal title. I wasn’t sure if this was the right approach, but when Kim Moohyuk lowered his eyebrow, he effortlessly jumped over the railing between the hiking trail and the forest, landing next to me before speaking.“What are you doing here?”“Ah… Well, the thing is…”There was so much to explain, but I wasn’t sure if I should say it all. As I hesitated, his eyebrow twitched again. I was sure I seemed extremely suspicious. It was only natural. He, someone who should have been at the Seogyeong Center, was dressed in tactical gear and standing at the peak of Hallasan, trying to look like he was about to descend. How suspicious did that look? If I were Kim Moohyuk, I would’ve thought, ‘What’s this guy? Is he a spy?’But if I started explaining, saying something like, “I was locked in a bathroom and got sent here by someone,” it would only make me look more suspicious. At times like this, the best strategy was to turn the question back to the other person. I smiled faintly and asked:“So, Captain Kim Moohyuk, how did you end up at the summit of Hallasan?”“Don’t dodge the question. Why are you here?”Tch, no going around it… Moohyuk furrowed his brow and stared at me intensely. The scar at the end of his eyebrow was something I hadn’t seen before, and it made me feel strange every time I looked at it. Espers typically healed fast, and it was rare for a wound to leave a scar. Unless the wound was life-threatening, they generally healed completely.But the fact that the wound was still there meant that it was likely from a time when Kim Moohyuk’s life had been in danger. I wondered how he had been injured. Just a few days ago, he looked like someone I knew well, but now, with the darkness clouding his expression and the unfamiliar scar, he seemed like a completely different person. But I was sure he was feeling even more of that alienation than I was.“You seem like you don’t understand anything, but deserting the center without permission is punishable under military law. If you don’t tell me the purpose of your presence here, I will have no choice but to report you to the military police.”Kim Moohyuk said it as if it were no big deal. His dry tone and the blank expression on his face were unlike anything I’d seen from him before. I was taken aback, momentarily forgetting what kind of situation we were in. He was brushing the dust off his tactical uniform and pressing buttons on the military pager, seemingly manipulating something. Then, as if I were the final item on his to-do list, he spoke.“I’m giving you one last chance to explain. If you don’t make good use of this opportunity, I will immediately have you taken into custody. Consider this a warning.”That was enough. It seemed like his personality had become a lot rougher. Either that, or he was confident that he could catch me in three steps if I tried to run. It felt like both were true. I rolled my eyes, searching for something to say, and finally spoke earnestly.“…This may sound ridiculous, but everything I’m about to say is the truth.”“The fact that you’re even here on the summit of Hallasan in that attire is already ridiculous, but more so? I’m starting to wonder how long you intend to waste my time, Lieutenant.”Moohyuk glanced down at the biowatch on his wrist as he spoke. Ah, his manners haven’t changed. Wasn’t I just about to say that? But I couldn’t glare at him. The one person I really needed to be on good terms with right now was Kim Moohyuk. It was embarrassing trying to explain, but I had no choice but to say something.“I was on my way to a joint guide training session today when I stopped by the bathroom. While I was in the stall, an unknown Esper outside used spatial teleportation to abduct me here. I know this sounds absurd, but it’s the truth.”As I spoke, I hoped that there was still a lingering trace of the spatial teleportation power in my body. If Kim Moohyuk was sensitive to other Espers’ wavelengths, he might be able to detect the residual energy of the teleportation I had experienced and thus prove my innocence.However, contrary to my expectations, Kim Moohyuk responded with his usual emotionless face.“I know the part about the spatial teleportation ability is true. The smell of gunpowder left by the space bomb still lingers in the air.”…So it’s the trace of the space bomb, not the spatial Esper’s wavelength? But the space bomb was a relic from decades ago, a symbol of human rights violations against Espers. The fact that it even came up as a possibility among the two things I thought were impossible…More than that, how does he even read the traces of the space bomb’s wavelength? Kim Moohyuk seemed uninterested in my confusion and continued speaking.“Then what’s your next excuse?”“Well, I was just going to explain the situation I’m in—”“No, you’ve only told me how you got here. From the spatial teleportation trace alone, I can reasonably infer what happened. But that doesn’t prove your innocence.”Ah… I see. I couldn’t help but let out a foolish gasp. The fact that I arrived here via spatial teleportation didn’t prove my innocence—it was like saying I came by bus when asked how I got here. Kim Moohyuk clearly thought I was either a spy or something equally shady. I furrowed my brows.“Well, then, you can return to the center and review the CCTV footage. The time discrepancy should be minimal. I really was locked in the bathroom, and—”“Locked in the bathroom?”Ah… I couldn’t help but blurt out something dumb again. I didn’t want to tell Kim Moohyuk about being locked in the bathroom by Sergeant Kang. It wasn’t out of pride, but because after spending so much time around him, I had developed a kind of habit of keeping even the smallest concerns from him. Kim Moohyuk had always been overly concerned about my well-being, and he couldn’t even stand the smallest hangnail I had. This has been a habit for years, and I’d learned to try not to worry him.After Ha Seonghan left, I fought off the depression I’d been battling, just so I wouldn’t make Moohyuk worry. It was hard to admit being locked in the bathroom because I didn’t want to burden him again.“Do you realize how suspicious your claims are getting? First, you say an unknown Esper used their ability to teleport you here, and now you’re saying you were locked in the bathroom?”However, contrary to my expectations, Kim Moohyuk frowned, clearly displeased. It seemed like my inconsistent claims were starting to raise suspicion. That was when I realized: the Kim Moohyuk I knew wasn’t here anymore. He was just interrogating a suspicious guide. Well, this was only natural. He wasn’t my superior officer anymore, he was Sergeant Kang now.Even so, I couldn’t help but feel a little hurt. It had been five years since we parted ways, but just two weeks ago, this guy risked his life to stop my rampage. I sighed softly and spoke.“Anyway, I understand you don’t believe me. But I am innocent, and you can investigate however you want—check the CCTV footage at the center, or do whatever you like. I just want to say, this situation is ridiculous.”Kim Moohyuk glanced at me briefly before suddenly speaking.“Excuse me.”Excuse me? What for? Before I could even ask, he reached out and pinched my cheek.“Ah! What are you doing?!”Why is he pinching my cheek all of a sudden? I wondered if Kim Moohyuk had gone mad over the years. I grabbed my pinched cheek and stared at him in disbelief. Moohyuk, with an indifferent expression, gave a dry response.“Clones of the accent type are closer to protein dolls and can’t withstand strong shear forces. There’s no proof you’re not a clone, so I had to check.”Even if that’s true, that hurt like hell. He pinched me so hard that there would definitely be a red mark.“Well, if you’re going to do that without saying anything…”“I did say I was excusing myself.”Kim Moohyuk replied as if it were no big deal. I fell silent. He did say he was excusing himself. I felt a little awkward now that I thought about it. He was being polite. And so, Han Byeongeun’s words about clones were correct. Thinking of how Moohyuk had endured all that and survived the past five years without me, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.“….”I stared at Moohyuk, really looking at him for the first time in years. His shoulders were broader than I remembered, and his already handsome face now had a more masculine, sharper look. His brow scar was new to me. The past five years I hadn’t seen him were written on his face. It dawned on me that Moohyuk, who was now seven years younger than me, had changed a lot. What had I been doing seven years ago? As I pondered, Kim Moohyuk tapped his military communicator and then patted me on the shoulder.“Anyway, let’s go to the center and talk as you requested. The military police will handle the interrogation, so don’t worry.”“Military police! …There’s no need for that. I’m really innocent.”I was a bit irritated at the thought of getting involved with the military police. Kim Moohyuk, uninterested in my frustration, deployed a wave and spoke in his usual detached tone.“You don’t have a fear of confined spaces, do you?”“What are you—”“If you throw up on my uniform, I’ll report you to the military police for that as well.”With that, Kim Moohyuk wrapped his arm around my waist. It was such a familiar feeling. Instinctively, I placed my arm around his shoulder. He furrowed his brows.“Don’t cling to me. It’s uncomfortable.”“…Yes, sir.”You little… You were the one who insisted that I fall so you could put your arm around my neck, right? And now you’re discriminating just because my face has changed a bit… How embarrassing. I clicked my tongue, unable to do anything but taste the bitterness in my mouth. Kim Moohyuk didn’t seem to care, though; he looked completely unfazed after giving me that sharp remark. The one who strikes looks at peace, so it seems like the one who got hit should at least try to look calm, too.A moment later, Kim Moohyuk stomped the ground. It seemed like he was preparing to fly by controlling his telekinetic powers. Back in the day, even someone like him couldn’t fly this easily, but I guess he’s grown. I felt a strange sense of pride about that. Then, I had to let him carry me in his arms as he descended about 2 kilometers. I was freezing cold, and I felt like my nose might start running. To think I was floating in the air without even a coat on, descending Hallasan in the dead of winter… When we reached the bottom, a military van sent by the Jeju Center was waiting.So, Moohyuk really was on a mission, and I just happened to get caught on his radar at the worst possible time. Why did it have to be here, of all places? I thought finding out the identity of the Esper who sent me here would be the only way to prove my innocence.While I was lost in thought, Kim Moohyuk unzipped his jumpsuit halfway, pulling his arms out. Since he was wearing a sleeveless shirt underneath, his muscular arms and upper arms were now fully visible. I couldn’t help but admire him. It looked like his body had improved over the past few years. His broad collarbones supported his massive shoulders, and his deltoids, biceps, and triceps were so well-defined that his already large frame seemed even bigger. His sleeveless shirt was tight, and it revealed his solid chest and flat abs. He wore a silver military dog tag around his thick, long neck.As I was admiring his growth, Moohyuk pulled a cigarette pack from his pocket and put one in his mouth. He gestured to the van with his chin and said, “Get in.”I could tell he was giving me that look as if wondering why I wasn’t getting in. I sighed and followed his command, getting into the van. Behind me, Moohyuk pulled out a lighter and flicked the flint to light the cigarette. …He’s smoking again. He had been smoking the last time I saw him in the smoking room, and now it seemed like he had become a full-fledged smoker.The sense of disparity felt strange. The Moohyuk I knew was now a completely different Moohyuk, both unfamiliar and oddly comforting. Though he was already an adult when he was with me, I subconsciously saw him as a younger cadet I had to protect, even though he was stronger than me and touted as a weapon by the military. But now, facing this Moohyuk after five years, it felt like he had truly become a full-fledged adult.I was glad to see that side of him. If I hadn’t had the accident, I would have been able to observe his growth up close over the last five years. That would have been a joyful experience in itself, but seeing Moohyuk as a complete and perfect person all at once wasn’t a bad feeling either. I thought so, unaware that such assumptions could be poisonous to Kim Moohyuk.While lost in thought, Moohyuk tossed his spent cigarette into an outdoor ashtray at the Hallasan parking lot and walked toward the van. The van was self-driving. Five years ago, these were only used in the military and weren’t commercialized for civilians, but I wondered if that had changed. Back then, the driver’s seat had to be monitored by a person to make sure it was working properly, but now, there was no driver in the front seat. Moohyuk, too, climbed into the back seat where I was sitting without saying a word. He silently pressed the button, and the back door of the van closed automatically.The windows were curtained, so the inside of the van was dim. Kim Moohyuk sat across from me, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes. It seemed like he didn’t want to be disturbed, so I shrugged and kept my mouth shut. The van moved quietly, heading straight for Jeju Airport. During the ride, I couldn’t help but observe Kim Moohyuk. No matter how many times I looked at him, this Moohyuk, who had changed over the past five years, was fascinating.The van soon arrived at the airport. We both got out silently, and Kim Moohyuk grabbed a few small bags from the back. I noticed a long case he was carrying, probably a rifle, but it seemed to have no immediate use since it was left in the van. I wondered what kind of mission he was on. Even though there was a Jeju Center, I couldn’t understand why they had called him all the way here. Maybe they were overworking him at the Seogyeong Center?I kept thinking about that as we walked through the airport. Jeju Airport, with its duty-free shops… I remembered that Han Byeongeun had bought tangerine chip chocolate here a long time ago, and it was delicious. I thought I might buy some, too, if I got the chance. It might sound silly, but when you’re a special forces soldier, there are about 30 procedures to go through before you can even step outside Jeju. I, on the other hand, was the type to stay locked in the center and never leave for leisure. But even if I did go to the duty-free shop now, I had no money. It would be ridiculous to ask Kim Moohyuk, who was silently guiding me to the Seogyeong Center, to buy tangerine chip chocolate for me…Besides, wasn’t he suspicious of me right now? Oh well, I’d just save that wish for another time. As I silently followed Kim Moohyuk, I suddenly remembered something and asked, “Is there a dedicated plane from the Seogyeong Center?”“No. A helicopter.”Moohyuk replied simply. Jeju Airport was a civilian airport, but there was a military base on one side, which allowed for a dedicated runway through military connections. I followed Kim Moohyuk toward that area.The sound of the helicopter’s propeller was loud and distinctive. Kim Moohyuk was wearing a military windbreaker over his jumpsuit, the sleeves of which had been rolled up. It looked cold, but I was relieved to see he had something on. I shivered, feeling the cold. The long case he was carrying looked heavy, but he walked as if it weighed nothing, his step completely unconcerned.I scratched my cheek and followed him, still hesitant, and then I spoke up.“Major.”At the sound of my call, Moohyuk slowly turned around. Palm trees were planted along the path to the flight base at the airport’s passenger terminal. A warm winter breeze from Jeju rustled through the green leaves. The air at Jeju Airport at night was considerably milder compared to the one at Seogyeong Center. I looked at Moohyuk, who was silently gazing at me, and spoke with a slightly embarrassed expression.“I… I’m sorry for what happened. I realize that I did something unpleasant to someone who didn’t want it.”“…….”“There won’t be such things anymore.”At my words, Moohyuk’s furrowed brow slightly lifted. After staring at me for a while, he opened his mouth.“I’ll accept your apology.”“……Thank you.”That was the end of it. It was clear that while he would accept the apology, that was all. It seemed like he had fully learned how to build walls around himself in just a few years. His cold demeanor and resoluteness in not speaking unless necessary were enough to make me feel a bit hurt.That little brat—. How did I raise him… Of course, Moohyuk came to the center fully grown, but psychologically, it felt like I raised him. Is this how it feels when the child you raised turns to you and says, “Who are you?” as if they don’t know you? It was a somewhat complicated feeling. With a sigh and a click of my tongue, I followed Kim Moohyuk, who turned and started walking away.As we headed toward the airport, we walked silently, just like when we were in the car. Moohyuk, who had stopped at the helicopter landing pad to speak with someone who appeared to be a member of the unit, gestured toward me with a chin movement. It likely meant that another person was about to board. I stood there like a dumb scarecrow, watching them. Had Moohyuk ever treated me this useless before? It was a fresh experience, to say the least. Anyway, I managed to board the helicopter headed to Seogyeong Center safely, and the defection process was pretty quick.The funny thing was, no one at the center even knew that I had gone missing.“How is it possible that no one knew the guide had left the military base without permission?”As soon as we landed at the Seogyeong Center helicopter pad, Moohyuk, who had handed over the weapon he was carrying to the person who came to greet us, pulled me toward the intensive training room. Perhaps the training had just finished, as several guides were leaving the training room in groups. They whispered when they saw Moohyuk and me. Some even stopped in their tracks and stared at us.Moohyuk and I headed inside, going against the flow of people, and immediately sought out the guide training officer. The officer looked at the two of us with a strange expression. Only then did I realize that perhaps my own expression had been just as perplexed when I first met Kim Moohyuk on Hallasan.“Well, we assumed Sergeant Kang Hajung would have participated in the training…”The training officer muttered in a slightly dumbfounded tone, wiping the screen of his tablet PC. He was probably trying to find records of me entering the training room. But there wouldn’t be any. I had been locked in the bathroom, you idiots! In fact, the most infuriating part was that I was the one who got stuck in the bathroom, suddenly flown to Hallasan by some guy, and then suspected of being a spy because of Kim Moohyuk. To the point where I even had my name suddenly changed. I was absolutely livid.And then, the spy suspicion. Sure, I wasn’t exactly proud of the former glory where I was praised as a war hero and the cornerstone of the military, but I had done my best to protect the military and the people. And now, I’m a spy? Ridiculous.As I stood there, my expression hardened with anger, I realized the man who had been giving a general explanation of the training had disappeared from the platform. Although I hadn’t gotten a good look at his face, he was tall and stocky, so if I ran into him now, I could probably recognize him. But he was nowhere to be seen.…Anyway, the important thing now was to clear my name.“Please check the corridor’s closed-circuit camera footage. About five or six guides were involved in military misconduct against me. There will definitely be traces of me being locked up. Please review the footage.”With a frown, I spoke to the two people who had been arguing about my treatment in my absence. Moohyuk turned his indifferent gaze toward me. I avoided his gaze.The training officer, perhaps seeing it as less troublesome to investigate the abusive behavior of the guides than to deal with Kim Moohyuk’s influence in the military, readily agreed to check the footage.Eventually, the three of us headed to the security office in the training center building. And, as it turned out, my claim was true.“Oh, Sergeant Kang’s right…”In the footage, after I entered the bathroom, a few guides could be seen giggling and following me in. After a while, they came out laughing. The security officer paused the footage. On the frozen frame, the faces of those guides were clearly visible. Although I couldn’t remember their names, I could describe each of their appearances precisely, and the training officer seemed to trust my words. Moohyuk said nothing.I then requested to see the footage that followed. I wanted to prove the incident where some Esper had flown me to Hallasan.“If you wait just a little longer, I’m sure you’ll see the Esper—”Just as I was about to speak, the security officer suddenly gasped in surprise and shouted.“Uh-oh, what’s going on here?”There was a reason he was so shocked. The screen suddenly crackled and then went completely black, as if the power had been cut off. The same thing happened when the output was tested on another monitor. It seemed like the camera itself had been turned off. I stood there, dumbfounded, my mouth hanging open. Kim Moohyuk turned to look at me.“As you said, it’s pretty solid evidence.”Was he mocking me? This was so frustrating. I thought something would show up if I played the footage from the closed-circuit camera, but to think the camera itself had been turned off. I sighed and spoke.“Anyway, I’m not a spy or anything. If you want, go ahead and investigate my entire record. Just a few days ago, I was diagnosed with amnesia. How can someone with no memory act as a spy?”Kim Moohyuk squinted and looked down at me. The training officer beside us seemed uneasy, as if he wanted to get out of this annoying situation. I clicked my tongue in annoyance. Moohyuk, still staring at my irritated face, spoke.“Who was the military doctor who gave you the diagnosis?”Nice question, you bastard. How dare you suspect my mentor? I glared at Kim Moohyuk and answered clearly.“Captain Han Byeongeun.”At those words, Kim Moohyuk’s eyes softened slightly. His expression said he knew well enough that Byeongeun would never give a false diagnosis. Moohyuk had seen me rely on Byeongeun for my knee treatment, after all. Anyway, once Han Byeongeun’s name came up, Moohyuk seemed somewhat convinced, though still not fully reassured. He spoke with a tone that still held some doubt.“…For now, stay within the center and refrain from external activities. I’ll need to observe you more closely.”“Yes, feel free to watch me. What if you end up falling for me, huh? What should I do then? Should I just confess to you, and then what? You’ll just kick me and call me a spy or something, right?”The last part came out in a mocking tone, frustrated. Write an essay about the feelings of a middle-aged man who’s treated like “Who are you?” by the child he raised with care. Ah, it’s like being treated like crap. Should I just expose who I am? If I did, I could probably enjoy seeing Moohyuk’s surprised face.However, Kim Moohyuk, instead of responding to my sarcastic words, turned his back and left the security office, as if his business was done. He didn’t even acknowledge my remark. The only person left to react was the security officer, who seemed to be in shock, staring at me with a face that asked, “Do you have two lives?” But that was all. I let out a long sigh.I felt somewhat drained.I returned to the guide-only dormitory. Sergeant Kang’s old blanket was so worn out that if it wasn’t thrown away, it would be considered abuse to the blanket itself. So, on my first day in Room 203, instead of that old blanket, Han Byeongeun, feeling sorry for me, gave me a new one that she had bought from Ipsaedong.“You’re pitiful. A wealthy person like you, with assets worth several billion, and you have what in your bank account?”“Don’t even talk about it. Thinking about my balance makes me want to cry, and I can’t do anything else.”At least there was some relief that payday wasn’t far off. I even considered taking out a new special forces savings account. But thinking about my balance right now wouldn’t make a difference, so I decided to wash up and sleep first. According to the training officer I met earlier, there would be a second joint training session tomorrow. I hadn’t heard the announcement because I couldn’t participate in the first one.“Oh, I’m dying…”As I lay down to sleep after washing up, I couldn’t help but groan. Climbing up to Hallasan with my weak body and shaking with cold—it wasn’t a surprise. I vowed again to request the training program from Byeongeun and thought I should sort out my feelings about Moohyuk. But before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.When I woke up in the morning, I realized that I had fallen asleep with the towel that I had used to dry my wet hair still on my pillow. Was this sleep or fainting? It wasn’t really a deep sleep; it felt more like someone had hit me with a hammer on the head and knocked me out.Still, I had to get up, eat breakfast, and head to the second round of training. Despite the heavy training schedule, it was a good thing that my knees weren’t bothering me. Even though Han Byeongeun, a high-level healing Esper, had poured all her healing energy into me, my knees had never fully healed. It was closer to a psychosomatic disorder. My mind had been rejecting the healing of my body. But after entering Sergeant Kang’s body, there was no such thing.…It had been a while since Ha Seonghan’s death, so maybe I had finally gotten over it. It was strange that now I could think of Seonghan without feeling endlessly gloomy like I used to. That was largely thanks to Kim Moohyuk. While I was with him, there weren’t many days I felt down unless it was raining. But now, both Seonghan and Moohyuk were gone from my side.“Well, it’s not like I’ll live with men forever. Maybe I’ll get married someday.”I muttered something I didn’t mean as I got out of bed. Aside from that strange dream about Moohyuk, I was mostly heterosexual, unlike most of the other guides. In the Esper-Guide Corps, gender concepts were faint. It was natural for guides and Espers to be together. However, I was clearly heterosexual. While same-sex relationships were common due to the abundance of such cases around me, that was just my orientation. I had never felt anything other than friendship for Seonghan, and the same went for Moohyuk.Aside from the dream I had last time, the people who appeared in my dreams and made me feel embarrassed were all of the opposite sex. Although I’ve never been in a relationship, when I think about the institution of marriage, it naturally leads me to imagine a woman staying by my side. Sergeant Kang is good-looking, so if I do well, I thought maybe I could meet a good person after retirement. For that, I need to save money first. I don’t want to be the kind of idiot who makes his wife suffer because of a lack of money.As I thought about this and that, my mind turned to the phone I had left in the guiding room. I figured it would be better to stop by the guiding room and pick it up before heading to the cafeteria. I had briefly remembered last night that I left my phone behind, but I was too lazy and just went straight to the guide’s dorm, so now I was reaping the consequences of that laziness. Fortunately, as soon as I left the dorm, I was able to hop on the cart heading to the guiding room.I picked up my phone and headed to the cafeteria to have breakfast. If this had been before, I would have skipped breakfast, but after years of Kim Moohyuk constantly nagging me, I had come to this point.The sauce poured over the soft tofu for breakfast tasted like bonito flakes. Kim Moohyuk used to make this often… Should I really be acting like someone who misses the food made by an ex? I thought about that as I arrived at the training center. The moment I stepped into the lobby, I could feel the subtle hostility directed at me.“…Yesterday… with…?”“Her? Why on earth would she be with Captain Kim Moohyuk…? What’s going on here?”They were whispering among themselves in a relatively quiet manner, so I could only catch parts of their conversation, but the general context was clear. It seemed the problem was that I had suddenly disappeared yesterday and reappeared with Kim Moohyuk. I tried to press down on the vein that was rising on my forehead.Last night, I remembered the words the training officer had said to me after Kim Moohyuk left.“Sergeant Kang… Still, it’s a bit much to accuse a fellow soldier of harsh treatment… To be honest, the things these people are claiming about Sergeant Kang are just their own allegations…”“I understand. I don’t want to hear any more.”I cut him off abruptly. It was obvious. He was probably telling me to just let it go. The training officer, who was lower in rank than me, was clearly uncomfortable with me cutting him off in the middle, but there was also a clear trace of relief on his face. As the guide training officer, if I were to report those people to the Human Rights Commission, he’d have to help with the paperwork. Tasks like that were pretty much unpaid service for someone whose other duties were already piled up like mountains, and he probably thought it wasn’t a huge sin to avoid them. The problem was that his sin was small but still wrong.Does a hero only become a hero in times of crisis? I found it pathetic how these petty villains kept rejecting opportunities to be small heroes. But I understood the training officer. Well, more like I had given up on his passive malice. People with a strong sense of justice are rare after all.In the end, the punishment for those who locked me in the bathroom was never going to happen. Sergeant Kang, too, must have gone through countless petty tortures that chipped away at his spirit. It couldn’t be helped that I felt sorry for him. Even now, I could still hear their voices occasionally turning to gossip about me. I ignored it all and kept walking. Fine, gossip all you want. I’m too worn out to bark back at the pathetic noise of newbies just joining the center.Anyway, I wasn’t interested in what they were gossiping about, so I tried to keep walking. But then, one sentence pierced my ear. It was as if someone had attached a megaphone to my ear and shouted at me.“Then did she start flirting with Captain Kim Moohyuk again?”…What the hell? Flirting?! Me?! The person who took care of, taught, and tried hard to awaken the abilities of that Esper, and now I’m being accused of flirting? He wasn’t even clinging to me, and yet they’re saying this about me? Where’s my taste in all this?I could feel my temper rising, and for a moment, I thought I might lose control. The heat in my head flared up. I felt an old fire rekindling inside me. They were just barking nonsense, thinking they could get away with it. I’d show them. How dare they disregard me like this? I’ll show them that I’m the type who gives it my all, even when fighting a child. I was so angry, I almost forgot my original plan of quietly serving out my time until I was discharged.Burning with motivation, I entered the training room. The man I had seen yesterday was absent again today. Instead, the guide training officer made a simple announcement.“Today we have hand-to-hand combat training. Guides tend to neglect combat training because they rely too much on their Esper abilities. At the very least, you should develop the skills to protect yourself when necessary. Don’t slack off when it comes to improving your hand-to-hand combat abilities.”The training officer said that today we would be moving to the shooting range to do live-fire shooting. It seemed we wouldn’t be going outdoors to fire rifles but would instead be using the indoor shooting range, which was separated into guide and Esper areas.It made sense. Guides, who have human bodies, couldn’t shoot at the same targets as Espers, whose eyesight was far superior to that of regular humans. I couldn’t help but feel triumphant. You’re all done for. Just wait. I’m going to show you what shooting really is. I gritted my teeth. How dare they disregard me, Kang Hajung?The result, of course, was:“Shooting training first place, Sergeant Kang Hajung!”I was first. Of course I was. These people were nowhere near as experienced as me. No matter how many shooting prodigies were among them, how could they beat someone like me, who had over 15 years of military experience? I looked proudly as the instructor, with a stunned expression, took my perfect target score. The whispering around me quieted down. It seemed no one had expected that Sergeant Kang would be the one to excel in shooting.In the meantime, I spotted the guys who had locked me in the bathroom yesterday. They looked bewildered. They must be stunned. The person they wanted to bully wasn’t Sergeant Kang, but someone too weak to even put up a fight against them.In fact, these guys probably wouldn’t have cared who they were bullying. The center and the military are places that are completely exclusive to the weak. So, I needed to make sure it was clear who had the upper hand. The result of the shooting training was just the beginning. Well, once I won first place in the shooting training, the dream of quietly being discharged became a little more distant, but I couldn’t hold back anymore when it came to those who were disrespecting Sergeant Kang.If it comes to that, I might just head-butt the center chief, Kim Inhak, and disgrace myself with an honorable discharge. What’s there to be afraid of when you’ve already died once? However, despite my impressive shooting skills, I still had to make sure to slowly stand out in the guiding operational ability tests.It was only natural. I could brush off the sudden improvement in my shooting skills with something like, “I don’t know. I suddenly woke up with amnesia and became a shooting prodigy,” but if I suddenly excelled in guiding operations, all I’d hear is, “Are you a spy?” Plus, didn’t Captain Kim Moohyuk say he’d personally be watching me? It’s better to be careful at times like this. Once my rank increases, the military will have even less reason to let me go.But despite thinking that way, I was still shaken by the fact that Kim Moohyuk doubted me. I must have really grown too complacent if I’m not seeing it. If he finds out my true identity, he’ll definitely faint. I imagined Kim Moohyuk crying and begging, “Instructor, I was wrong! Moohyuk is an idiot.” Of course, given Kim Moohyuk’s personality, he wouldn’t cry or beg, but imagining it was free.Because of that, I had already looked at Sergeant Kang’s previous guiding control abilities and expanded them by exactly 15% to make a ripple. It was better to reduce any situations that might raise suspicion.“As soon as I pass by, you can immediately deploy the guiding wave. Just control it enough for three Espers to receive the broadcasted guidance. And everyone, make sure to untie your watchbands so you can’t cheat with your biological clocks.”The instructor wandered around among the guides, measuring their waveforms and control abilities. Since the biological clocks would display a rough value for the guiding abilities, it seemed that they were prohibited during precision wave training to prevent cheating. I untied my watchband and shoved it in my pants pocket, then focused on making the waveform tighter and more refined.In solo training, I had been able to create a net with my guiding wave to detect where enemy Espers were located, but that was a more advanced technique. If I showed it off now, I could be dragged to the center and permanently bound there. For now, I was aiming for a peaceful discharge.Meanwhile, the instructor was hovering around me, inspecting my readings with a measuring device. He stared at the readings, then manipulated the device again, staring at it for a while. Unlike with the other guides, where he quickly took measurements and seemed grumpy as he did, the instructor looked at me with a surprised expression and said:“Kang Hajung, Sergeant! Have you recently had your guiding rank measured?”“No.”“Then I’ll write a recommendation letter for you. Go and get it done right now.”“Now?”I glanced at my watch. The training was almost over. After the tedious training, I was planning to go back to the guiding room and take a nap in peace, so the instructor’s words were not welcome. The instructor frowned at my response.“Hurry up and go!”“Yeah—.”I lazily answered, gave a half-hearted salute, and sluggishly left the training room. Ugh, what a hassle.The place the instructor directed me to was the guiding testing room in the research building. It was a place where they could measure guiding ranks with blood tests and other various assessments, and it wasn’t too far from the training center, which was at least fortunate. I considered taking a cart, but decided to walk instead as a punishment for my lazy body. How pathetic. How can my stamina be so low after just a little shooting in the morning? It felt like I had the body of a newborn gazelle rather than a soldier.By the way, I was also thinking about how much I should raise Sergeant Kang’s rank in the re-assessment. Should I start with B-rank? If I become a B-rank guide, will I get assigned tasks? I think Lee Jungkyu from Team 12 was an A-rank guide… I tilted my head as I entered the research building. The guiding testing room was on the first floor. On my way there, I briefly thought about bothering Han Byeongeun, but then I just waved the recommendation letter the instructor had given me and headed inside to submit the re-assessment request. The military worker at the counter, who looked tired, spoke in a dull voice.“At this time of year, we usually don’t accept re-assessment requests…”Why is he being so curt? He must think he can talk down to anyone. I wasn’t sure if I should just kill his attitude or kill everyone else’s instead. I sighed and replied:“That’s why I brought it, the recommendation letter.”When I responded informally, the worker, who had been looking at the monitor, widened his eyes in surprise, then grunted and cleared his throat.“Hmm, then just fill out the application form here.”This time, I responded politely.“Okay.”“Write your birthday in eight digits.”“Got it.”He looked at me with a stunned expression. Well, I was the one who should be surprised. Why does he keep switching between formal and informal speech? It might be because Sergeant Kang is younger, but he’s so famous that it seems like everyone at the center has been ignoring him. At this point, it’s a miracle that Sergeant Kang hasn’t fallen into depression. After that, I headed in the direction the worker indicated. It was the blood collection room, where I sat on the long three-person chair in the waiting area, wasting time. After a while, a researcher in a lab coat came out.“Sergeant.”