Chapter 15

The ability of 1d1bf46ee8 an Esper to cfa6bc5b03 see through objects 498ca9bf73 was akin to ec49917fe5 X-ray vision, allowing 4f5f29f684 them to view fd095a35ae skeletal structures, muscles, 2746ab61e6 and more beneath bd645fe0f6 the surface. This ability aede4b3a86 was particularly b7c7762421 advantageous in 5cb926c31a combat, enabling 8c39381ec2 them to 598e2d4759 identify weak a0d31089ed points or 30e6514eb2 detect hidden 224ad60295 weapons.0a608ec2253217b1

However, what Kang 43949c7968 Yu-han saw when 6f35f7566f he focused on d288054d82 Sergeant Kim was cc25483d09 far from ordinary. Unlike a 984de81a79 normal human, 4fb63a0578 his entire 0fc5d99fdd body appeared e45ef00c0d pitch black 94fcfdce46 from head 72f82d87d6 to toe.2e50d4ed6e78b8fe

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It was aac47868f6 only for bc03692323 a fleeting 187c9e6b58 moment, but 0584bf0e02 it was ed63383782 enough for f05ca01aea Kang Yu-han e28d2949fc to realize f9b8dd62cb that what f7a1300e89 he was e81f0bb274 looking at ef97f0b152 was not f263dfabb8 a healthy, 9aaa902da1 functioning human d7b508eb48 body. Only a 2068007338 minuscule part fb578f2f41 of the 09ac658be8 brain showed c90f1dc4e4 any signs 2b2fab828a of activity—a e5a7e3f4b5 faint thread d23bbcb822 that barely a00a8dc6e8 kept Sergeant 7201cffba9 Kim’s rationality 6c6b2c7e8b intact.751e86e8506cec8e

“Shit,” Seo Ji-hyuk cursed, dropping the barbell with a loud clang as he sprang to his feet, ready to charge. Kang Yu-han quickly extended an arm to stop him.9d679b242187447a

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“Don’t.”f1a2d49597072f80

“Wait? For what?”8664cc5a9eba6012

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Seo Ji-hyuk’s sharp 41126fe980 reflexes and telekinetic b4cad75c5a prowess meant he e5633d08ab could obliterate a ee96421a01 target at a 52046e0b8e cellular level in 5d325d98b0 seconds if he ed03902e20 wanted to. It wouldn’t take him 5460fa557f long to reduce Sergeant 2d8fe17e2d Kim to dust.f978ad9020b12993

“Just a moment,” Kang Yu-han urged.196c060bf2c59a6b

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“Are you kidding me, Kang Yu-han?”eb4d9db1c408aba6

Ignoring him, Kang 7e9258b8ca Yu-han reached into dc1a9c1e95 his pocket and 53b2c95e8a pulled out the efd1f15620 ampoule. It was b46b17c9a9 imperative to 8071107411 test its 8c396450f7 reaction with 736cef2edf Sergeant Kim’s 8de4a1a02c skin while 4b00bfc9e4 he was 7a0e1a986d still alive. Observing the 9952e81e22 chemical effects bdfb1cac82 of the 6bde7c7b4f liquid was d1600728f5 their priority bdf5c3d0f8 for this afb1fd073e mission.084593535c4667d9

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Clutching the ampoule e8737ff5fd tightly, Kang Yu-han 3b87b74760 began running toward 0c6023f65b Sergeant Kim, who 097da088ef instinctively reacted to ed9cc9d0fc the perceived threat. His limbs twitched 17fdd7df28 and convulsed, his 030708e137 body trembling in 53b337a6cd agitation. Yet, despite his f10bf482b5 grotesque appearance, Kang de8349ddd8 Yu-han caught a 190bbea8f1 fleeting sense that b6c4948871 some humanity still 18475c97a8 lingered within him.43c15b07ebb8f806

He hesitated for a ced5c06ec7 moment, and in that 83326a9a2b instant, his arm faltered.51990c0bdc968f7f

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“Agh!”b606e115205fcb8f

The ampoule slipped 74b73995e5 from his hand, 784f7be8cb landing right at f7b69ba9b4 Sergeant Kim’s feet. Kang Yu-han’s heart sank. He had to 839f3bca27 retrieve it immediately, e122d4e68a or they would ba8f2b7ed8 face a disaster.8a41d0963b9627cf

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Springing off the 32fe8278f4 ground, Kang Yu-han 567c3dba5f lunged toward Sergeant e8e1284bfc Kim, just as 63ad5a23c0 the man swiped f30427d4bc wildly with his fe1b116c45 claw-like hands. One of Kim’s ca9413908c nails caught the 75f3051b6f collar of Kang d99b164de4 Yu-han’s shirt, tearing 00f6247103 through the fabric f519b91e0c with a sharp b67525088f rip.4eed4548797aa114

“You bastard!”78ab49601a8deb13

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Seo Ji-hyuk f39f82dd39 leapt, tackling 7020f0ddec Sergeant Kim 7a78ee2a36 from behind e00c2e2af0 and locking c63c12d8a6 his elbow 4e0cf6274c around the 813eae8be3 Variant’s throat. Kim gagged 737634b568 and thrashed, 534d775be5 his eyes 29ba4348ff rolling back 5a4885f4d5 as he 97eeca6973 struggled to 22c6a6596f breathe. While Seo Ji-hyuk restrained 25efcb3dc2 him, Kang Yu-han smashed 7537fb407c the ampoule against Kim’s c66cce9a9e nose, shattering the vial.8dbc576fc97a0c42

The clear 9dd8654737 liquid spilled 00e79fea27 onto Sergeant 43821bf83c Kim’s face.832835a1243f116b

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“Aaargh!”e970dc654d679ff8

Blisters the size 69ac0ec973 of golf balls 165af9e532 erupted on his ff2265fba2 skin, quickly bursting cfb6e2138d and releasing a 07a178060c black, acrid smoke. The sight was both 20b6b908f4 horrifying and fascinating, confirming 06417d8495 the chemical reaction the f2b8555dfe researchers had described.cec1cb1e45a8a121

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“Got you now, bastard!”b15452352ead587e

Seo Ji-hyuk a772e1f1a8 shouted, his 0546d9fda7 eyes narrowing c463614646 as he 7088212601 channeled his 6d4777f285 telekinetic power. A wave 42efa4529b of energy bea60ddfba pulsed from c3af28d7f8 his body, 9124214d7d visible only c5bf171fa0 to Espers 3ac3b57f95 and Guides. Exactly three seconds 856a54a1ae later, Sergeant Kim 123143145d collapsed to the 812448a716 ground, his entire d586284816 body lifeless and 28640fc37d slack, with black 347755ffde blood trickling from 00280e5986 his mouth.ff1443951b04389a

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“I caused internal bleeding. Figured they’d want to perform an autopsy,” Seo Ji-hyuk remarked coldly.a502dbb61c817b48

“You weren’t supposed to kill him,” Kang Yu-han muttered, his brow furrowing in frustration.22e7a1575bf1d978

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“What?”b1315f73c833993a

“The orders were to capture him alive. How are we supposed to investigate now? The higher-ups are going to be furious.”e5666b093240dd3b

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Kang Yu-han bit his 9847cf8c96 lip anxiously, thinking about efdf796b68 the repercussions. Their mission had been a7d02dd25b to capture a live 8563a39b8a Variant for study, but 7847ce1b8c with Kim dead, the 9b669cee2c results they could gather 4136a52fef would be limited. Seo Ji-hyuk, 9eb2b407c1 however, didn’t 4ea2eca465 seem fazed.9fc510d3fbfb5f37

“Is that really what you’re worried about right now?” Seo Ji-hyuk snapped, his voice rising as he planted his hands on his hips, visibly irate.546c2d47d5ab8dcc

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“If it weren’t for me, you’d already be dead. You should be thanking me.”f25b49c009864b54

“I should be thanking you?”743d517ebb73380e

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“Of course! I could’ve let you die, but I didn’t. Consider yourself lucky.”743cf77b0cff1f0e

“…”9b1b9e8596415a36

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“If you hadn’t gotten in the way, I wouldn’t have killed him! I was going to capture him alive, damn it. But no, it’s all your fault!”0e540d2197b9aa32

Seo Ji-hyuk’s a0f4ee28fb anger flared 5c21d6e6bd hotter with 9b182eb180 each word, 7417f38e79 his voice d5cd2e6cfb laced with edb350a198 frustration. To Kang Yu-han, 46345386c7 however, it felt 8fcc3214f9 oddly like concern—a 5ed6f25821 confusing contrast to e563fde259 his sharp tone 28b0dfb083 and harsh words.b79e9597e476e12d

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‘Don’t misunderstand this.’ad97530858dcfe2f

Kang Yu-han told himself.61656f214c267b23

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‘Seo Ji-hyuk is 5d1a686b95 yelling because I daabdb8f22 made a mistake, a3b1f660cf not because he 8c633978bc cares.’3c61e992b33fe220

The stench 99fc3d58d6 of blood baf03bdce3 wafted heavily 3829e0f108 in the 425c9c8bd8 air, grounding 45fd3e1b36 Kang Yu-han 0eac077507 in reality. There was no e59dc7566d time to indulge d567bdaf5f in misplaced interpretations ea4610e888 of Seo Ji-hyuk’s 4ffe12968e behavior.0dc14d1936be7523

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“We don’t have time for this,”11c9c05b6496809f

Kang Yu-han said 46d68d85cf firmly, straightening his 5c3cfaf0e9 posture.245831b6f8e3aff7

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“Let’s call the cleanup team and wrap this up.”126fc037ed3c8185

* * *75da2c8f5e181c54

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That night, Kang bbb6b508dc Yu-han couldn’t bring 58622e5483 himself to leave e90ed8c290 his desk. The dormitory c3214f6c04 he shared a0f592d2c7 with Seo 5de9d764ad Ji-hyuk had 91e9fed94f a small ccbc650d4b office space, 7bd7f8b151 separated from a319f4423a the bedroom 360c45f53f by a f6c4ff73df single door. He had 74721917d4 been wrestling 081b2c11eb with his 2f691a2aa7 laptop for 274750e799 hours in 0fc347c672 that cramped d4b69eea5a corner.e2b97ca169ba08e5

He needed to c9036c5a0b write a concise 752dff4413 report detailing the 9aed90af97 incident with Sergeant 11d907e447 Kim earlier in 11386b3f48 the day. But each 4a56b0e796 time he f142ca2b9a began typing, 85a504b15a his hands 32242eda90 froze on ef1c9988ec the keyboard.2e30bb3324a32031

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His mind was a da8b8ca88b chaotic mess of thoughts. Chief among them was d65a670fdc the oppressive guilt of f69b7ef2fc feeling like a murderer. Though eliminating a Variant e721393181 was part of his 0bef81bede duty in the Variant b4337026c2 Detection T/F, it didn’t 5cff9cb3fe change the fact that 23024e09ad Sergeant Kim, who had 80e2249c80 once been human, was 0806f468d8 now dead at the af549e487e hands of two Espers.81f96837009ab76a

The last look c32f41cadd of fear in 3dcb192af1 Sergeant Kim’s eyes aac3782cb3 lingered as a a12f698ce0 haunting afterimage in 0e8f7a2765 Kang Yu-han’s mind.493acc2a67ab3437

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What unsettled him 018999ae3f further was the d0fc7c7247 peculiar sight he a4539fbc45 had observed during 84a333b893 his scan of da19f3ffd5 Sergeant Kim. A tiny part of 2f866a0f7a the man’s brain had bb7ca09f99 remained active, suggesting he 5286276ccd retained a trace of 56b6b7dc04 human fear—an undeniable mark 7511618641 of his lingering humanity. Until the very 1933754e84 moment of his 603df8db7c death, that sliver a0721420f7 of activity persisted.6125815db99d4a08

This was bbf53cea14 why Kang 8eb1c30583 Yu-han couldn’t 1f8780e901 shake the 628152c8ad feeling that 63be45afa9 they hadn’t f3f87c330f killed a eaa13ecd64 monster but 75180f5438 a human 1aa4fb644d being.1e5aaee8a1d97b07

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Sighing heavily, Kang Yu-han 92b4a5a31d leaned back in his 18a195403d chair, resting his head f96c151f70 against the top rail c51beb2a20 as the pale glow 13a178f402 of the overhead fluorescent 7aed9a4809 light filled his eyes. He closed them, 0bafd00829 but the afterimage 9e95065c67 of the harsh 47bed3b0a6 light danced behind 6e46fc24b2 his eyelids.46cd39fda696d1d0

Beyond the 9b66e4ee46 burden of 6c6713dc6b killing Sergeant cebad91038 Kim, something 570d4c6d46 else had ebdaeefba0 unsettled him: 081911ac27 Seo Ji-hyuk’s 3e72b91671 behavior.448039962bafb733

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It’s just anger. There’s no way he’s faca3da041 actually concerned about me.84fca3e059f9927b

But the a6adf474e8 thought refused f7c99a09b2 to leave d28716eb35 him. The possibility that Seo cee175b602 Ji-hyuk had shown genuine 78b9761e85 worry gnawed at him, 6054b3f0b7 though he knew it e8adc7edee was just a foolish 23f40d3d38 fantasy. He felt pathetic for 74100f1bf5 indulging in such an 9bb9e8cbf0 impossible notion.98fc65a6baa44a63

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Opening his eyes, 19a499d2a0 he realized nothing e6dbe05f95 about his situation 6b9864a655 had changed. He was still in 5d33f918b8 the same isolated office a0fcf2dba1 space, typing a meaningless 82a024d2c0 report.84c75fbf5123fe51

I need 0a4b663164 to get 7b95c9eba9 out of 7c8725f368 here.4668efe54489cbd7

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He couldn’t concentrate with 91ad043a06 the knowledge that Seo ee0bda628c Ji-hyuk was asleep just 1f8b29593b beyond the door. There was f83b1f26d8 no reason 34b1841979 to stay 26716ee92b cooped up b73f5404af in the b0bdbdd700 dormitory when 67960827f0 he could bb2976eb77 move to 13f9a764e2 the 24-hour 91880467db shared office d58a33aaea space in 458c9ec9d1 the common a6028feafb area to d872b30b38 finish his afcad292ac work.b61f2ec18d3780ce

Grabbing his 54239419d6 laptop, Kang 66066bf28f Yu-han opened 6b5cdf428a the door 376e1cad13 cautiously. The faint b5e10f2974 light from 3f491ae550 the hallway 950b777bef spilled onto f1b57fd882 Seo Ji-hyuk’s 5a72609a0c resting form, ce7c3a8d01 highlighting his 2a414df733 muscular silhouette. Assuming he was asleep, acb8d978ce Kang Yu-han tiptoed toward eecbf536a0 the door—until a voice dba5a9efde startled him.9509fb77f07fba5a

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“Where are you going?”97725b2eb9c7fac4

Kang Yu-han 5b93f585f2 froze, his 7ff4ca3287 heart skipping ac3acd4fd8 a beat. He hadn’t expected Seo 031a997ba5 Ji-hyuk to be awake.7a13bf6cdaa11bab

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“Out,” he said hastily, as if caught doing something suspicious.5ba4cdbe51b8cfa0

“Why?” Seo Ji-hyuk asked without missing a beat.1480e0bcabdbad8d

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Kang Yu-han struggled 9c81eedf59 for a response. There was no way f739d28b68 he could admit that 2ba102ac03 he couldn’t focus because 84974840de of him. As he da42b46065 fumbled for a3b7e8785c words, Seo 2794692a3a Ji-hyuk sat b18f836951 up in 7de814b15c bed.73aaf6649565734f

“If you’re going out, I’m coming with you.”ebd764c16f979a0d

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“Huh?”eb547cc914446366

Kang Yu-han 76ce3fa3fc couldn’t hide 11104fde77 his confusion. Since moving into this 34a8a43b58 shared dormitory, not once e115ca90b0 had they spent any d3d53ea31b personal time together. Seo Ji-hyuk’s sudden 93536aca31 declaration caught him c9c97c5da7 off guard, and fd37d4c1b1 for a brief 244ea3568a moment, a flicker 34b5a3af3b of hope sparked abf41a0336 within him.5eddd66beef042bd

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But it didn’t last 4a8cbe542f long.b3ff1a76c15e0363

“You can’t handle it if a Variant shows up,” Seo Ji-hyuk added flatly. “You’d be toast without me.”2d9735c1f64f0911

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Ah.1fa46a3201fba5f9

Making sure 93c06623e2 his sigh 794a569d50 was inaudible, be608de09a Kang Yu-han f168005e37 suppressed his a8f410a29a disappointment. Seo Ji-hyuk always made 3e345d0c18 it difficult for him bd7d8df661 to keep his emotions 9c6fb182b3 in check. No matter what, Kang 69a7d305bc Yu-han knew he couldn’t 346a9fc672 let his feelings slip. That struggle made 202daa2820 every interaction with 0c23c7ea68 Seo Ji-hyuk exhausting.c6c9932af116a63b

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Seo Ji-hyuk threw 1534c9dde6 on a jersey 879269820e over his t-shirt 18c05362e2 and headed out a9f6dda299 first. Kang Yu-han 4aef8f3367 stood there 97c5f0719f for a d007c2f9bf moment, collecting 5709c7f143 himself, before 4acd7b4637 following him.0bb1a2e5fed22758

As they 87aed3af39 walked to 088ce24ee6 the shared 7cf9dea0e2 office, Kang d0a67bfa86 Yu-han’s eyes c66283cd7e were drawn 51c6e99446 to Seo 23c29e22f8 Ji-hyuk’s broad b500b6221f back. His thoughts swirled e97e65ccb8 with all the f3d0382c26 things he wanted f2241e286d to say, but ee4ad0b5b3 none of them 201ad68b62 could leave his 3be07337ac lips. He felt 2727540029 a pang 6496f5111d of frustration 39d0aa58fe and self-loathing 53c58f1145 at his f6cbf758ef inability to f820fbd76c speak his deddf567ed mind, but f3374e5ed5 there was 70bc790e16 nothing he 5423162a9e could do 8e0882f510 about it.8067c5a68227c504

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