By Zephyria 
The Id Portal that manifested in the MA Department Store caused a stir in the public. For those involved, it was a portal that demanded extra caution, as the attack seemed specifically targeted at Tae-un.
However, as it turned out, the truth was trivial. After the clear, the host voluntarily reported to the Supernatural Phenomenon Response Agency before their exhausted mind and body could even recover.
The section chief of the Id Portal Management Division at the Supernatural Phenomenon Response Agency looked back and forth between Gwak Yun-sang’s report and the woman identified as the host by the Id Portal analyzer. The woman, an employee of the MA Department Store’s VIP lounge, kept her head bowed low. She was so pale from the aftermath of the portal’s destruction that she looked as if she might collapse at any moment.
“Hmm, so you’re saying the Id Portal was created because your mind became confused due to the shock of seeing Guild Master Tae-un and his party?”
“Yes…”
The woman agreed weakly, her face looking as if she wanted to die of embarrassment.
As a longtime fan of Tae-un, she had already been on the verge of losing her mind after receiving a text from a friend who worked at a phone store saying, ‘Is Tae-un gay??? I think he just brought his boyfriend here??’
Before she could process those complicated feelings, she encountered Tae-un and Kim Si-baek visiting the department store in person. She had managed to keep her composure reasonably well, but the trigger was learning that other VIPs, Pi Min-hyeong and Seo Gae-un, were also visiting the store.
“I was so shocked because I thought they were an officially recognized couple… I’m truly sorry…”
The section chief generously comforted her as she shriveled up, looking as if she wanted to crawl into a hole. Thanks to the carry by the three hunters of the 7777 Guild, including Tae-un, civilian casualties were minimal. While some hunters were injured, they were receiving treatment without complication.
Above all, becoming the host of an Id Portal was not the individual’s fault.
An uncleared Id Portal is a terrible nightmare. In the early days, when the principles of portal creation were not clearly understood, hosts were branded with a scarlet letter. There were even cases where hosts of portals that had been successfully cleared committed suicide, unable to endure the public criticism.
But as with most problems, time solved this as well.
As long as one is human, emotions cannot be perfectly controlled. There were few people who would cast indiscriminate blame when they themselves might become the host of an Id Portal tomorrow.
Currently, as research into Id Portals continues, some even use them as a form of trauma therapy. Of course, this is limited to a tiny minority of people with the wealth or power to ensure the portal is conquered.
After a drug test was conducted just in case to confirm there was no intentionality, the woman signed the contract. It was a contract regarding the restriction of the host’s information, the release of portal footage, and the distribution of profits from the portal clear.
Once the official business was finished, the section chief asked the thing he was most curious about.
“Were those all goods you owned? My child likes that kind of thing.”
“Ah, n-no. I only have a few photo cards and plushies…”
The woman, blushing up to her neck, hurriedly made an excuse. It seemed her desire to possess them had manifested.
“Aha, anyway, your body must be in poor condition due to the shock of the portal being cleared, so please go back and take good care of yourself. If possible, visit a hospital as well.”
After she left, bowing her head in every direction out of shame, the section chief carefully scanned the report again. It was a matter kept confidential because it was a phenomenon he couldn’t believe even after watching the footage recorded by the action cam. To maintain security, he, as the section chief, had personally taken the host’s statement.
The overall conquest details, including Tae-un’s overwhelming skill, were generally standard. The problem was when attacking the core of the deepest point.
In a typical Id Portal, the Portal Keeper of the deepest point generally possesses a danger level equivalent to an A-class magical beast. However, strangely, although this Portal Keeper’s magical energy was A-class, its predation speed was no less than that of an S-class. It was an absurd phenomenon.
What was even more absurd was the conquest footage.
‘…Is this for real?’
If it weren’t for the recorded video, he would have ordered psychiatric evaluations for everyone from Gwak Yun-sang to the hunters and survivors below him.
‘Unless they all collectively experienced a hallucination that even manipulated the video, this is a talent that must not be missed… If this person, Kim Si-baek, hadn’t been there, they might not have been able to clear it.’
The fact that they couldn’t find any personal information other than the name he provided was another surreal part. But the most surreal thing of all was Tae-un’s reaction toward him.
The section chief flipped through the pages describing the change in Tae-un’s attitude toward Kim Si-baek. It was a part Gwak Yun-sang had particularly emphasized while writing the report, but no matter how he looked at it, this was clearly exaggerated.
Achieving a record that earns one the nickname of a ‘mad dog’ rather than a ‘madman,’ despite having illustrious achievements and fame that few could approach, is not something just anyone can do. While there are good nicknames like the Savior of Seoul Refugees or the Hero of Busan, the public preferred ‘mad dog.’
Tae-un’s personality was as famous as his overwhelming ability. The idea that someone had appeared who could make that mad dog roll over and pant with a single word seemed like a delusion reflecting the desperate wish of Gwak Yun-sang, who had suffered under him.
‘At this rate, Yun-sang might become the host of an Id Portal, so I should tell him to go get some psychological counseling.’
Just in case Kim Si-baek really was the one holding Tae-un’s leash… the section chief indulged in a idle fantasy, thinking that such a thing might be of higher value than possessing a trait regarded as a divine miracle rather than a human act.
✽ ✽ ✽
〈The symptoms are similar to those of magical power depletion, but the physical response is very stable. This is a first.〉
Recalling the words of the doctor who examined Kim Si-baek, Tae-un only moved his eyes. On the bed lay Kim Si-baek, who had collapsed immediately after conquering the highest-ranking magical beast of the Id Portal, still unconscious.
Since the symptoms were similar to magical power depletion and he was unconscious, he was receiving fluids via an IV drip, but his breathing was steady and his expression was peaceful.
Rather, the one with the poor complexion was the baby crow, whom Tae-un had laid down with a cushion by Kim Si-baek’s head. Since the area that could be called a face was covered in deep feathers close to black, he wasn’t sure if he had read the complexion correctly. He considered calling a veterinarian to see if the crow needed an IV drip as well, but since he didn’t know if a god’s avatar had the same physical structure as a living creature, he left it alone.
‘Magical power depletion…’
Tae-un lightly tapped his fingers on his crossed arms.
The total amount of usable magical power varies by person, and if one forces the activation of magical power beyond their limit, they either become a cripple or die. In contrast, Kim Si-baek looked as if he had simply fallen into a deep sleep from exhaustion. Even when he lost consciousness and collapsed into his arms, there was no feeling of great danger.
Is it different because it is the depletion of divine power, not magical power?
His divine power, which could be called the natural enemy of magical beasts—the illegitimate children of chaos. The power that only Kim Si-baek possesses in this world.
“Ha…”
An extreme euphoria that could not be released gathered eerily in his three-hundred eyes. Tae-un took Kim Si-baek’s hand, which hung helplessly on the bed, and placed it on his own left chest. He overlapped the back of the hand, forcing the palm to press hard against his left chest. As if by pressing down like that, he could tear through the skin, rummage through the muscles, break the ribs, and reach the heart.
Savoring that self-destructive pressure and the warmth felt from the hand, Tae-un took a deep, ragged breath. When he calmly opened his closed eyes, he returned to his usual expressionless face.
‘I’m nothing but a pervert in front of a sleeping person.’
And after evaluating his own state quite coldly, he pressed his lips to the back of Kim Si-baek’s hand. Unlike the rough grip from a moment ago, he did so with a very careful gesture, as if supporting a noble sacred relic—reverently and cautiously.
His hand, which always wore gloves, rubbed Kim Si-baek’s palm. As he slowly moved his thumb along the lifelines etched into the skin, the other’s hand flinched even in sleep.
Tae-un liked that Kim Si-baek’s lifeline was long. Because it felt like he would live for a very long time. Even longer than himself.
When he first held it at age five, it felt like the strongest and largest hand in the world, but now it was smaller than his own. The palm, where many calluses had disappeared as he gave up his future as a fencer, had become firm again. It was a trace of a life Tae-un did not know.
68 years, and 9 years. Only 9 years. Merely 9 years.
Tae-un shuddered at the incomparable value.
In Kim Si-baek’s long span of time, 9 years might be nothing more than a fragment embedded in the edge of a life. But those 9 years are Tae-un’s everything and his end.
And Tae-un hoped that his 9 years in the other’s life…
“Umm.”
The corners of the closed eyes twitched, and the eyelids slowly moved. Tae-un gazed ecstatically at the hazel eyes revealing themselves beneath the long eyelashes, and whispered a greeting.
“Hyung, did you sleep well?”
An ordinary greeting repeated after 21 years. A greeting done every morning while facing each other and meeting eyes. A greeting. A greeting. An ordinary greeting. A daily greeting shared by ordinary people.
Tae-un liked that.
Because it felt as if he still remained an ordinary human in front of him.