Chapter 1

“Your abilities have disappeared. How do you feel about it?”

“Hmm…”

Upon hearing the question, Baek Eu-jin silently rubbed his lips. His neatly outstretched fingers covered everything from the tip of his nose to his chin, concealing his lower face. The only thing visible was his troubled-looking eyes.

“…I’m not sure. It’s such a sudden situation that I don’t know what to say.”

“……”

“I just regret that I can no longer be of service to the nation.”

It was a perfect answer. His low, subdued voice and somber gaze left nothing to be desired.

However, Director Nam, sitting across from him, seemed dissatisfied even with this response, glaring sharply.

“Hey, Baek Eu-jin. Put that hand down.”

Eu-jin reluctantly lowered his hand under the desk. Sure enough, the corners of his mouth, previously hidden by his palm, wouldn’t stop twitching upward.

Seeing this, Director Nam’s broad face turned red with anger. He rolled up the questionnaire in his hand and swatted Eu-jin’s shoulder with it.

“Is this fun for you? Huh? Are you having the time of your life?”

The sound of paper smacking flesh echoed as if he were swatting flies. Not that it hurt—after all, it was just a wad of paper—but Eu-jin exaggerated his reaction, leaning away dramatically as if he were in pain. Meanwhile, Choi Ran, the guide sitting beside him, remained entirely unbothered, casually fiddling with her phone amidst the commotion.

“How am I supposed to control my expression?”

Eu-jin leaned back against the firm leather sofa. With the hand that had hidden his lower face, he swept back his disheveled bangs. Having abandoned any effort to hide his emotions, his now fully revealed face was bright and refreshed.

The sight of his annoyingly glowing face made Director Nam boil over again. He pounded his chest with his hairy fist in frustration, the only one among them who looked utterly distraught.

“My vision’s going black here, and you two are completely carefree.”

“Come on, the world’s not going to end just because we’re gone. Don’t stress yourself out too much. Life goes on, with or without us.”

Eu-jin’s voice was soft, almost soothing. The truth was, he was genuinely happy to have lost his abilities. It finally freed him from the tedious life of an Esper that he had grown to resent. Choi Ran, the guide sitting next to him, felt the same way.

It was an unprecedented incident—a top-tier Esper and a top-tier Guide losing their abilities at the same time.

And it all started with the rift that appeared a week ago.

* * *

To be honest, that day wasn’t all that different from the usual.

Baek Eu-jin led his team into the rift to resolve the situation.

Four Espers and one Guide. All of them A-rank. Together, they were known as the “Leopold Team” of Zone 4, and Baek Eu-jin was their team leader.

As an 11-year veteran Esper, he was both seasoned and sharp. His strategies were always the best, and his team followed his every command without question, trusting him implicitly.

“Gahhh!”

One of the team members, Ki Seokwoo, was hit squarely by a monster and sent flying.

Rolling on the dirt ground, Seokwoo’s skin was shredded by the creature’s sharp claws, leaving him a bloody mess. Before he could even cry out for help, Baek Eu-jin was already at his side.

Placing his hand over the wound, he swiftly restored it to its original state. With the healing done, he helped Seokwoo’s heavy body back to his feet.

Above them, the sky of the canyon was still swarming with grotesque, broad-beaked storks. Their creepy cries, kee-eeck, echoed through the air as their oversized heads focused on the humans below.

Perhaps because of their size, their appearance was unnervingly human-like. Watching them snap their long, pelican-like beaks and smack them together as if savoring the thought of a meal was downright chilling.

“Damn, Captain. This is tougher than I expected today. Looks like those things are dead set on eating us,” Seokwoo muttered.

“Get up. Don’t you have a soccer match to watch later? Less than an hour left,” Eu-jin replied, utterly unfazed.

Even in the middle of a bloody battle with monsters, their banter lacked any sense of tension. It was routine by now, and they were confident in their skills.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already figured out what we’re dealing with,” Eu-jin said, his tone as calm as ever.

Ki Seokwoo dusted himself off and shouted toward the guide stationed at the rear.

“Ran noona! Let’s go all out now! Push the guiding to the max!”

“Okay!”

“Nara, Dawoon, you’re ready, right?! Full assault starts now!”

The other team members gave short, sharp responses to his call. Exchanging hand signals, they swiftly fell into formation, like a well-oiled machine. They completely blocked off the monsters’ escape routes and attacked with their respective abilities, pushing forward relentlessly. Overwhelmed by the sheer firepower, the monsters began to falter, as the team unleashed their abilities without restraint.

The reason they could use their powers so freely was thanks to the backup provided by their guide, Choi Ran.

As an A-rank guide, she possessed an exceptional area-wide guiding ability. Once she decided to go all out, she could replenish the team’s energy so quickly that they could exhaust their abilities without fear of running out, no matter how much they used. It didn’t matter whether she was guiding one Esper or an entire team—her support was unwavering.

Thanks to her, the Leopold Team could fight like they were possessed, their eyes practically glowing with intensity.

With a healer-class team leader who immediately mended any injuries before the pain could even set in, and a guide who endlessly replenished their powers like an unending spring, they had nothing to fear.

The tide of battle shifted rapidly in the Espers’ favor as they launched their counterattack. The monsters, with their wings severed and their bodies set ablaze, let out anguished cries and thrashed about. But it was all in vain. One by one, they succumbed, their lifeless bodies plummeting to the ground.

Thud. Thud.

The massive corpse fell to the ground like a meteor, creating a deep crater and splattering black blood and viscous fluids everywhere.

“Ran! Watch out!”

At the worst possible moment, one of the burning birds crashed toward the rear, where the guide was stationed. Since the entire team was focused on the full assault, no Espers were available to protect her.

But Choi Ran took care of herself with ease, rolling swiftly out of the way. As expected of a guide experienced in navigating rifts, her movements were nimble and sharp.

“You okay?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ve been doing this for years. I can handle my own—”

She never got to finish her sentence.

The monster, thought to be dead, snapped its jaws around her ankle.

Crunch! The sound of her ankle bone shattering echoed vividly.

“Ahhhhhh!!”

Bang! Bang-bang! Bang!

Her piercing scream was accompanied by a volley of gunfire.

Baek Eu-jin immediately turned his gun on the monster, firing repeatedly. The bullets hit their mark, piercing its head and eyes. But even with half its skull blown off, the creature refused to let go of Ran, its sharp teeth still hooked onto her ankle.

The already lifeless monster’s body tumbled over the edge of the cliff, dragging Choi Ran along with it.

In that split-second, Baek Eu-jin didn’t hesitate. Following his guide over the edge was an instinctive decision.

“Captain!”

“Noona!!”

Voices screaming their names tore through the air, but they grew fainter and fainter. The cliff was impossibly deep, and the speed of their fall only increased.

It’s okay. We’ll both survive this.

As long as we stay alive, they’ll come for us.

Eu-jin managed to grab hold of Choi Ran’s wrist. Wrapping himself around her, he braced for impact.

Baek Eu-jin was one of the few healing-type Espers in the country capable of self-regeneration. He could weaponize that ability as a protective shield.

Drawing every ounce of power from his core, he enveloped both their bodies in a healing aura. The sacred white light cocooned them, ready to absorb the coming shock. Moments later, the deafening splash of their fall into water echoed through the abyss.

The dark river flowing beneath the cliff was more like a tar-like swamp. It clung to their skin, making movement torturously difficult. Its toxic properties caused a sharp, stinging sensation across every inch of their bodies. After what felt like an eternity of struggle, they finally emerged from the viscous waters, alive but utterly spent.

Eu-jin pushed Choi Ran onto the riverbank first. Following behind her, he hauled himself up, completely drained of strength.

Flopping down beside her, he swung his swollen, red arm weakly. Nudging the barely conscious guide, he muttered.

“…Ran, don’t fall asleep. If you pass out now, it’s over. We’ll both die.”

“You fix me first, Captain… I’m dying over here…” she groaned, barely clinging to consciousness.

Summoning what little strength he had left, Eu-jin poured it all into healing her. Beside him, Choi Ran returned the favor, using the last of her guiding abilities to support him.

I’ll save you; you save me.

Half-dead and sprawled on the ground, they clung to each other, their faint powers cycling back and forth. Like a flickering engine barely running, their mutual support kept them alive.

They held on with the desperate hope that someone would come to rescue them. At some point, the effort became too much, and they both slipped into unconsciousness.

When Eu-jin regained fleeting awareness, he saw his team members’ faces above him. Relief washed over him just before he fainted again. When he finally awoke, he found himself at the Guide Center.

After fully recovering, both Baek Eu-jin and Choi Ran were struck by an astonishing revelation—they had lost their abilities completely.

The news caused a massive uproar in Zone 4. No one could pinpoint the exact cause of their power loss. The prevailing theory was that they had overexerted themselves to the brink of collapse, depleting their abilities entirely. But it was just a cautious guess at best.

“So, does this mean we can retire now?”

“Looks like it. We’re just regular people now. What’s left for us to do here?”

While the higher-ups were in chaos, the two directly involved couldn’t hide their joy. Especially Baek Eu-jin, who was elated at the thought of finally ending his endless Esper career.

Eleven years—he had worked tirelessly, without a single proper break. He hadn’t even chosen to become an Esper. One day, the abilities had shackled him like a set of chains, stealing away his youth as he spent his prime years in service to the Bureau.

Now, at last, he was free from this miserable life. How could he not celebrate?

The following days were filled with thorough examinations. Unsurprisingly, the results were the same every time. Only after they were officially diagnosed with permanent loss of abilities did both Eu-jin and Choi Ran receive permission to retire.

Director Nam, who had lost two of his most valuable talents in a single day, was utterly disheartened.

He wanted to find a way to keep them, but there was no justification. None at all!

“Ugh…”

A withering sigh escaped his lips as he rubbed his forehead, glancing at the person sitting across from him.

Their eyes met, and Baek Eu-jin raised his perfectly sculpted face, flashing his signature bright smile.

Why couldn’t he have smiled like that before? No matter how many times Nam had ordered him to act as the Bureau’s poster boy, Eu-jin had always worn a sour expression. And now he smiled so effortlessly! Was he that happy to leave?!

Swallowing his growing frustration, Nam asked in a resigned tone, “Baek Eu-jin. What are you going to do now? How do you plan to make a living for the rest of your life?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure,” Eu-jin replied, leisurely tilting his head back.

Staring at the white ceiling, a deep smile spread across his face. Just imagining his future was enough to make him giddy with happiness.