By Zephyria 
If he was alive, I wanted to meet him again at least once. In this peaceful world where bloody battles had disappeared, I wanted to see Jae-ha, living well without worries.
I was even going to ask him what he had wanted to tell me back then if we ever met again…
But right now, I couldn’t show my joy. Even though I was the real An Ga-hyeon, myself, I wasn’t sure Jae-ha would recognize me.
And getting out of this vault as quickly as possible was the priority. I didn’t know when government officials would barge in. They would definitely have set up some kind of device in the vault.
“…So, is that why you’re being rude to me? You think I’m one of the government’s people trying to steal the money?”
“Aren’t you?”
“That’s very unpleasant. Absolutely not.”
When I vehemently denied it, the man presumed to be Jae-ha snorted.
“How am I supposed to believe that? Everyone who’s tried to rob this friend’s vault so far has sold out their distant relatives and even close friends as excuses.”
“I’m not. I’m here to carry on the will of the real An Ga-hyeon Guide.”
An Ga-hyeon. Just saying my name made the man’s grip on me loosen for a moment.
‘Now’s my chance!’
Not missing the opportunity, I broke free from my bound position and created distance between myself and the man.
The man looked at me mockingly, as if to say, what are you going to do about it?
“…How do you know Ga-hyeon’s name?”
If I say the wrong thing here, I’m really dead.
A murderous aura emanated from the man’s surroundings. I suppressed my tension and calmly spun a lie.
“I don’t know what kind of relationship you had with An Ga-hyeon, but my mom was a childhood friend of An Ga-hyeon.”
“A childhood friend…”
“When they were very young, they were friends who would meet up and buy tteokbokki together. Although my mom moved away and they lost contact afterward, they occasionally exchanged letters.”
‘I’m sorry, Yeon Yu-jin’s mother. The situation is urgent, so I’ll use you as an excuse.’
Praying for the repose of Yeon Yu-jin’s mother, I continued.
“My mom said she was An Ga-hyeon’s last acquaintance. Other than the partner he was paired with, he didn’t have anyone else he knew. So, she said that if she died, she wanted me to become the owner of the vault filled with money.”
“……”
The man presumed to be Jae-ha was silent for a moment.
Even if he knew everything about An Ga-hyeon, he wouldn’t know about a connection from his early childhood.
Taking advantage of that, I rattled off lies, and he seemed hesitant.
“…Still, there’s no way to know if you’re really the son of someone who inherited An Ga-hyeon’s will.”
“What can I do to make you believe me?”
“If you contacted him even occasionally, you’d know. Tell me the name of the food Ga-hyeon hated the most.”
Too easy?
The answer came out in 0.1 seconds.
“Roasted sewer rat that he had no choice but to eat to avoid starving to death after supplies ran out during a Dungeon raid.”
The man’s brow twitched at my quick answer.
“…Correct.”
[Ugh. You ate something like that?]
Potato pretended to vomit.
You little brat. In my day, it was a blessing just to survive.
Ignoring Potato’s words, I triumphantly shouted in front of Hyeon Jae-ha.
“Now can you believe that I’ve inherited An Ga-hyeon’s will?”
“…Hmm.”
Despite getting the answer right, Hyeon Jae-ha wore a displeased expression.
“That’s not enough.”
“What?”
“Even if you’re really the son of someone who inherited Ga-hyeon’s will, it’s strange that you didn’t say anything to me, his closest comrade, right?”
‘W-Well, that’s true.’
I didn’t show it, but I was very flustered.
‘What’s with this guy?’
Couldn’t he just smoothly gloss over it and say, “Okay, I see,” and move on?
‘Ideally, he should just ignore it since I knew the vault password.’
“Give me more solid proof.”
“……”
A chilling murderous aura was felt in his blue eyes.
Hyeon Jae-ha, with his snow-white hair, was ready to grab my throat at any moment.
Was this the Hyeon Jae-ha I knew?
‘Wasn’t Hyeon Jae-ha basically kind to everyone?’
The Hyeon Jae-ha in my memory was a very positive guy who always had a smile on his face.
Even in the terribly unlucky situation of being assigned to the front lines, he never failed to greet his unit members with a “Good morning” every day.
And that wasn’t all.
‘Let’s survive together today. Let’s do our best!’
The scene was a battlefield where clashes with monsters that emerged due to Dungeon Breaks were as common as eating meals.
It was a hell where casualties were constantly occurring.
It was natural for Espers and Guides who had been forcibly conscripted by the government to lose their motivation.
The high-ranking Ability Users at least had the tenacity to survive, but many of the mid- to low-ranking Ability Users lost their will and fell into apathy.
‘What’s the point of living?’
‘Even if we struggle, we’re just doing good for the government that threw us in here.’
‘Just let us die.’
Living meat shields.
Their apathy and depression stemmed from their clear understanding of their situation.
It wasn’t that I didn’t understand that sense of despair either.
So, I ignored those guys and pretended not to see them.
I didn’t have the leeway to turn around the hearts of people who had already given up.
I was just enduring it, comforting myself that I could achieve something if I held back my resentment and survived.
But Hyeon Jae-ha was different.
‘Nothing will change if you’re depressed. You have to develop your strength even a little bit to survive in this hell.’
He reached out to the Ability Users who had given up on the future and were waiting for death.
‘Let’s survive together. Many hands make light work. Ability Users have to work together to survive.’
‘…Will we live if we do that?’
‘I don’t know either. I’m just a high-ranking Ability User, no different from you.’
Hyeon Jae-ha didn’t spout optimistic or idealistic nonsense.
Instead, he dangled a seemingly plausible straw of hope in front of the Ability Users.
‘Still, the number of Espers and Guides being discovered nationwide is increasing exponentially. Conversely, the number of Dungeons where new Gates are opening is decreasing. At this rate, Dungeons may eventually be completely controlled by Ability Users.’
That was undeniable evidence. The number of newly captured Ability Users was increasing exponentially. Thanks to that, the number of comrades dying was gradually decreasing. It was ironic.
‘If we raid all the dangerous-level Dungeons where monsters are popping out, we’ll be able to go home.’
Hyeon Jae-ha spoke with conviction in his claims.
Only now, 20 years later, do I know that Jae-ha’s words were correct.
Back then, everything was uncertain, so even I thought Jae-ha’s claims were somewhat far-fetched.
Still, Hyeon Jae-ha didn’t give up and persuaded each new recruit with hope.
‘…How can you be so sure?’
‘The government will be the first to confirm the increasing number of Ability Users. If they don’t want us to start a riot, they’ll send us back once we clear all the Dungeons, right?With a generous amount of back pay and compensation as compensation.
There was no guarantee that Hyeon Jae-ha’s words, as he playfully made a circle with his fingers and smiled, would come true.
Ability Users could only listen to the unilateral orders issued by the government. Very occasionally, they could send letters, but even those were all censored.
So that they couldn’t say that the government had forcibly captured them and thrown them in.
Being controlled and monitored in everything, and having to go out to fight as soon as they opened their eyes was a depressing situation.
It would be strange not to fall into helplessness.
But even the Ability Users who had given up were still people.
Everyone wanted to survive and go home. No one really wanted to die.
‘…I’ll trust you, just this once.’
‘Good choice.’
Hyeon Jae-ha was a guy who could see through the inner thoughts of those Ability Users.
‘The reason why the unit members all trusted and followed Jae-ha was because of that.’
They trusted, followed, and relied on Jae-ha, who gave them hope and wanted to survive together, rather than his high rank.
I, who unhesitatingly told Jae-ha that he was too easygoing, was the same.
Jae-ha’s kindness had saved me.
That’s why I took the attack for him.
I thought it would be better for Hyeon Jae-ha to survive than me, who was always spouting curses.
I wanted to protect the kindness of the guy who had been a pillar of support even in those hellish days.
‘So, I thought there was meaning in my death, even if it was a dog’s death…’
“Why are you spacing out for so long?”
‘Ugh.’
“If you’re racking your brain for an excuse, it’s no use. I can kill you in an instant.”
“……Haa.”
That bastard, he’s serious.
The surrounding materials floating in the air using telekinesis were proof of that.
‘Where did he even get ropes and nails like that?’
Did Jae-ha bring them with him before coming in? He could choke or break my neck with telekinesis alone. He must have brought those for threats or torture.
“I will not tolerate lies.”
“…….”
Scary.
[What if you really die like this?]
‘I don’t know either.’
Damn it.
Our Esper has changed, in a bad way. Waaah.