By Zephyria 
The Gate appeared only after I had been screaming my head off for quite some time. It seemed like they had set up a reservation and then bolted.
Twenty minutes. Enough time for the bastard who had screwed me over to escape.
Even knowing he had probably already fled, I was so furious that I ransacked Examination Room 5.
“Argh, where did this bastard run off to!”
Seo Yun-chae watched me rummaging through every nook and cranny of Examination Room 5 like a petty thief and whispered to Ra Ho-yeon.
“…Still, this is supposedly the Ability Measurement Center under the Ability User Management Bureau. It’s a public institution. Is it okay to make such a fuss, Hyung?”
“…I don’t know. Either way, the Management Bureau did cause us harm. Just leave him be.”
His tone was half resigned.
Whatever. I continued my futile search.
“Where did this son of a btch go… Huh?”
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
I found a man gagged and bound in the cabinet.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
Even though I couldn’t understand him, he seemed to be begging to be released.
I carefully examined the imprisoned man.
A white coat. A charcoal gray shirt and black slacks, no different from the previous Ability Measurement Examination Room staff.
“Are you perhaps the real employee here?”
“Mmph!”
The man nodded vigorously.
“…Hey. Untie him.”
Another victim left behind by that son of a btch. The real Management Bureau employee in charge of Examination Room 5.
I and the Secrety members first released the employee.
Then, we went straight to the information desk and explained in detail how we almost went on a one-way trip to the afterlife thanks to some crazy intruder.
“T-that can’t be. Only authorized personnel can enter and exit the Management Bureau Measurement Center, right?”
The employee in charge of Examination Room 1 shook his head in disbelief.
Come to think of it, this employee’s face is quite familiar…
‘Director Shin Yun-hui of the Management Bureau is an Esper?’
I had done my research on the current Director. I had even seen her giving a press conference on the news during the recent Dungeon Break incident.
She seemed to be trying to hide it with glasses, but my sharp eyes were able to recognize her.
I gestured and called over the real employee from Examination Room 5.
“What happened to you, sir?”
“H-heuk, heuk. A man like a flying squirrel was strutting around in the hallway, so I asked him who he was since I had never seen him before… He suddenly restrained me and locked me in the cabinet. He even meticulously put a gag on me.”
Sob!
The man in his thirties burst into tears.
“…Ugh.”
Shin Yun-hui rubbed her head as if she felt dizzy.
The other Examination Room employees standing next to her clenched their fists and expressed their displeasure.
“Director… I mean, Seonbae! This is not an issue that can be easily overlooked!”
“That’s right! This is the act of someone who disregarded and belittled the Management Bureau. We absolutely cannot cover it up!”
Everyone was on our side.
The re-measurement test results had also revealed a C-grade. The Examination Room employees no longer regarded me with suspicion.
Rather, after hearing that some crazy person had put me in an S-grade Simulator gate, they sided with me, saying that I was an innocent victim.
“To harm such a fragile and kind citizen! Even though the Secrety team members are Ability Users, they have clearly chosen the path of ordinary people. This is a challenge to the Management Bureau!”
The Examination Room employees’ stance was firm.
“Haa…”
With my arms crossed, I waited for the Director’s response.
The middle-aged woman with streaks of gray hair pondered for a while before asking the Examination Room 5 employee again.
“…Do you remember what the intruder looked like?”
“N-no, I don’t. It all happened so fast. The intruder covered my head with a bag the moment he attacked me. So I couldn’t see what he looked like.”
“That’s troublesome.”
Shin Yun-hui clicked her tongue.
I realized that it was because she didn’t want the Management Bureau to take the blame alone.
‘If this incident is reported in the media, they’ll be called an incompetent Management Bureau, or even the government, for not being able to catch the intruder.’
When accidents happen, someone has to take responsibility.
There was only the possibility that the intruder was a fairly strong Esper, but there were no clues to identify him. He even showed meticulousness by destroying all the memory cards in the CCTV cameras.
I and the Secrety members were clearly victims. The Management Bureau employee had also suffered the humiliation of being locked in a cabinet for a long time, but the Ability Measurement Center could not avoid responsibility for failing to manage properly.
“What are you going to do?”
In response to my words, Shin Yun-hui, who had been contemplating for a while, closed her eyes tightly and said.
“…What can we do to resolve this quietly?”
“Director… I mean, Seonbae!”
I grinned.
‘I’ve got you.’
Hyeon Jae-ha may have become like a Voldemort that the government couldn’t reveal to the public because they had something to hide.
But this time, even ordinary people like us were harmed, so we couldn’t just let it go.
The Management Bureau wanted to get through this as smoothly as possible because it was a headache for them.
Shin Yun-hui’s words made the other employees unable to hide their dissatisfaction.
“Still, we’re the Management Bureau, so we have our reputation to uphold…”
“Are you saying we should just bury the case and move on?”
Shin Yun-hui retorted.
“That’s not what I mean, you guys. We’re going to track down the guy who dared to come and go from the Ability Measurement Center like it was his own home. But let’s just not let it become news.”
“Still…”
“Do as you’re told. I’m just a salaryman who has to watch the higher-ups’ every move.”
Compared to private guilds with famous Espers or Guides, government-affiliated Ability Users were not free and had to follow the instructions of their superiors.
I guess I should be grateful that I know this because I once fought as the government’s meat shield.
…Thinking about it makes me angry again. Damn it.
My smiling face instantly contorted.
Shin Yun-hui, mistaking that I was annoyed, asked us what we wanted.
“If you don’t reveal this incident to the outside, we will grant you one wish within our capabilities.”
Seo Yun-chae, who was standing behind me, asked Shin Yun-hui in a playful tone.
“Can we say anything?”
“Not quite… As I said before, we are just government salarymen.”
“Aww, that’s too bad.”
Seo Yun-chae turned his head, seemingly losing interest. Cha Si-yoon, Shin Tae-beom, and Ra Ho-yeon also didn’t seem to care much.
‘Well, what would they want from the Management Bureau?’
Unlike me.
I wanted to tell them to hand over all the information about Hyeon Jae-ha, since I knew they were tracking him.
I wanted to meet Jae-ha as soon as possible, but he was so elusive that it wasn’t easy.
For now, the government would be the place that knows Hyeon Jae-ha’s whereabouts the best, so I thought it would be a little easier if I could refer to their information.
But if I did that, there was a high probability that I would arouse the government’s suspicion.
So I chose the next best thing.
“Since you’re granting us a wish, make it two.”
Shin Yun-hui’s eyebrows twitched at my brazen request, but she seemed willing to hear it.
“…What do you want? Well, I’ll listen and then decide.”
‘As expected, the Director agreed right away.’
I smiled and listed my two requests.
“First, give us the authority to track down that damn bastard who screwed us over.”
“…Excuse me?”
Shin Yun-hui’s face was filled with bewilderment, as if she hadn’t expected such a request.
“What do you mean, entrusting an investigation to ordinary people? No way.”
“Hey, I’m not asking you to hand over all investigative powers. I just want us to participate in finding the culprit. And anyway, we’re Ability Users, so you can’t say we’re completely ordinary people.”
Shin Yun-hui’s expression turned quite cold at my nonsensical wordplay.
“…It seems like it’s not a pure intention, but for personal revenge?”
“What’s wrong with personal revenge? It’s legal if you get government permission.”
Shin Yun-hui was dumbfounded by my relentless words.
“…What kind of person are you? You’re still young, but you’re saying things like this.”
“As you know, I’m an idol.”
“……”
Got nothing to say, right? Me too.
“Secondly, I want you to let me look at the Database of all Espers and Guides registered in the country, just once.”
At this point, Shin Yun-hui narrowed her eyes sharply.
“…What are you going to use it for? The Database collected by government agencies is valuable information that should not be leaked to the public, so access is very limited.”
A suspicious and wary look. Good attitude.
But I had a prepared excuse.
“To catch the guy who mocked the innocent ordinary Ability User.”
“……”
Shin Yun-hui stared at me for a long time.
The person who took An Ga-hyeon’s legacy. And the person Hyeon Jae-ha, who they were tracking, had shown interest in for a while.
I shrugged my shoulders, having become someone who was suspicious but had no grounds for complaint since my grade was confirmed to be C.
‘Should I call this a blessing in disguise?’
I was annoyed at the guy who tested us, or rather me, but thanks to him, I had a loophole to get information.
“Is this also not possible?”
I shot out a ‘I’m a good ordinary person!’ look, and Shin Yun-hui sighed.
“…Ugh. But this is a difficult issue to grant.”
Oh. We’re halfway there.
I quickly attached a condition.
“Then, can we get permission to cooperate when the Management Bureau needs us?”
“…Anyway, you’re ordinary people?”
“But we’re still Ability Users. Since I asked you to grant me one more wish, we’ll go whenever you call us when you need us.”
“No, what if we call you when you’re appearing on a music show or something?”
“If you don’t want to be resented by the fans, you just shouldn’t call us at those times.”
In fact, it meant not to call us recklessly unless it was absolutely necessary.
“……”
Shin Yun-hui said with her eyes. What the hell is this crazy bastard doing?