By Zephyria 
“Come to think of it…?”
I became suspicious only after hearing Geum Na-ro’s words.
‘Why haven’t I ever thought about it?’
An Esper’s power is great, but even that ability has its limits.
If a human body excessively exerts transcendental power, the reaction is Corruption Level.
My gaze turned to the White Tiger Unit members, who were hideously distorted because they had not yet received Guiding.
“…Like you guys, even if you only use your abilities excessively in a short period of time, your Corruption Level rises immediately. Why is Ban No-ah, that bastard, the only one who’s fine?”
He’s a thief who steals other people’s abilities, but still, isn’t his essence that of an Esper?
‘No, wait a minute.’
I felt like I was missing something very important.
“Jae-ha.”
“Yeah.”
“…That gem, can ordinary people who aren’t Espers or Guides use it?”
Jae-ha put his hand on his chin and pondered my question.
“I don’t know. The only cases I’ve seen are the members here and the deceased Jin-irang.”
“Jin-irang? Was he an Esper? Or an ordinary person?”
“He wasn’t an ordinary person. He was an E-class Esper, practically an ordinary person. But he also used the red bead created by Jin Eu-tteum’s power without any problems.”
“……”
Jae-ha asked me as I chewed on my lips anxiously without saying a word.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just… in the slightest of chances.”
“Yeah.”
“It suddenly occurred to me that Ban No-ah, the one we’re chasing, might actually just be an ordinary person, not an Ability User like us.”
“…Why did you start thinking that way?”
Jae-ha didn’t find my idea strange or laugh at it.
Even though the common belief that abilities are the exclusive property of Ability Users is natural.
“If you came up with that hypothesis, there must be a reason. Tell me your opinion slowly. I’ll listen carefully.”
“…Okay.”
I was newly grateful to Jae-ha for trusting me so much.
I took a deep breath and pronounced each word clearly, putting strength into it.
“First of all, the biggest reason is that I haven’t seen any Guides around Ban No-ah at all.”
If he were an Esper, he would need a Guide to lower his Corruption Level.
Whether he used his abilities a little or a lot, Corruption Level was something that could never be resolved without Guiding.
That’s why even Jae-ha, unofficially the strongest Esper, was in danger because of his Corruption Level.
If I hadn’t Guiding him at the right time, it would have been difficult to guarantee Jae-ha’s life.
“But Ban No-ah… has never mentioned or brought his Guide with him even once. Even on his SNS, which has now disappeared, there isn’t a speck of information about his partner Guide or even a temporarily assigned Guide.”
“That’s certainly very strange.”
Geum Na-ro nodded, agreeing with my opinion.
He was receiving Guiding from his partner and listening to my and Jae-ha’s story.
“I, and our White Tiger Unit members who have been chasing Ban No-ah for a long time, have been speculating that X’s identity is that of an Esper.”
This was because they thought that he wouldn’t be able to use the abilities he had stolen so freely if he weren’t an Esper.
“But… what if that’s not the case?”
I clenched the hand holding the red gem tightly.
“Jae-ha injected energy into this gem to awaken the power dormant within it, but if even ordinary people with no power can just use it… we can’t ignore the possibility that Ban No-ah is actually just an ordinary person.”
If that’s the case, it explains why he travels alone without a Guide.
If he was an ordinary person to begin with, to whom Guides and Corruption Level don’t apply, then that would be possible.
Ha Ri-ra, who was listening to the story like Geum Na-ro, carefully raised her hand.
“Um, excuse me, but isn’t it possible that he’s a Guide?”
“Of course, that could be a hypothesis too, but… there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize him if he were a Guide.”
After finishing speaking, I glanced at Potato.
Potato was also listening to my story seriously, and was startled when he felt my gaze.
[ Why, why are you looking at me like that? ]
‘You were feeling it too, weren’t you?’
[ …Partly. The energy that should have been detected if he were an Ability User felt strangely different. Even I was wondering if he was a mutant Esper, so I didn’t try to think deeply about it… It’s my mistake. ]
Potato, who was always arrogant and headstrong, drooped his shoulders and sulked this time.
[ To think that I couldn’t even come up with this, even though it’s your ability. I’m so stupid…. ]
‘That’s not true.’
I tapped Potato’s head lightly so that others couldn’t see.
‘I was able to come this far thanks to you.’
[ …Really? ]
‘Of course. You’re my partner, after all.’
Potato’s cloudy face brightened up again.
[ …Okay! ]
‘So we must find out the identity of that damned Ban No-ah.’
[ I understand! ]
Everything wasn’t certain yet.
“It’s just a hypothesis, so I can only confirm my claim by catching Ban No-ah and beating him up. But if he was actually an incompetent person with no abilities, that is, an ordinary person, then his obsession with collecting abilities, even to the point of murder, makes sense.”
Jae-ha also nodded in agreement with my opinion.
“That’s a valid argument. I’m not just agreeing because Ga-hyeon is my partner Guide, but the fact that he was able to walk around without a Guide is proof that he can’t be an Esper.”
The members also nodded at Jae-ha’s words.
Geum Na-ro, who had been the most distrustful of me, now took the lead in defending my opinion.
“I agree with An Ga-hyeon Guide and Captain. If that’s true… if we can somehow separate the red beads from that monster Ban No-ah, he’ll be helpless and easier to subdue.”
“I can only hope so.”
I had no idea how or through what means he could create red gems from other people’s abilities and use them himself.
‘Was even that ability stolen from another Ability User?’
There were too many unresolved threads.
I stared blankly at the three red beads I had taken from Ban No-ah.
‘One seems to have the power to destroy other dimensions like Dungeons… I haven’t used the others yet, so I’ll have to figure them out gradually.’
It was a stroke of luck that I brought the bead that was easy to escape with.
“Ugh, otherwise I would have starved to death in this desolate Dungeon.”
I shuddered at the thought alone. I expressed great relief and gratitude that I didn’t have to hunt and eat the Dungeon’s monsters.
‘There’s no way a person can die.’
It was just luck… but I had never had any luck in my life, so I welcomed this good fortune even more.
At that moment, Jae-ha gently stroked my hair.
“You did well, Ga-hyeon.”
“Uh, uh-huh.”
For some reason, my face flushed with heat.
‘Is it because I’m almost naked?’
Or is it because I’ve become more aware of Jae-ha’s feelings?
As I floundered, unable to do anything, the gazes that Potato and the other White Tiger Unit members were sending us became strange.
[ Hmm? I sense an awkwardness that suggests some progress has been made? ]
“Oh, Captain. You weren’t such a greenhorn after all!”
“We had such a ridiculous misunderstanding. As if he would hit on someone who already has a partner….”
“To think that the partner Guide he had been waiting and longing for would come back alive. This is truly a melodrama.”
“Ha. If only I had popcorn, I would have eaten it while savoring this precious scene over and over again….”
I can hear you, you guys.
Whether they were whispering for me to hear or not, Ryu I-ruk and Jo Jae-chan winked at me.
‘What does that mean?’
[ Who knows? Isn’t it the kind of nuance that says they won’t disturb our alone time? ]
After chasing away Potato, who was teasing me, I used the red bead with the power to destroy space with Jae-ha to create a door in the Dungeon that people could pass through.
Kwaa kwaa kwang-.
A loud noise rang out and a large hole appeared that we could pass through.
The Dungeon system, which had been malfunctioning, now allowed us to escape.
[ Completion of a separate escape route different from the existing one is acknowledged. ]
[ Goodbye. ]
Jae-ha handed all three red beads to me.
“…Is it okay to leave this to me? I heard that Samoa Esper has Tracking ability. Shouldn’t we give it to that person?”
“I’ll ask you when I need Samoa’s ability, so don’t worry. More than that… I’m also curious about the power of the ability you’ll uncover, and I can trust you to take care of it.”
“…Okay.”
Although the Bonding between us was broken by my death.
An even stronger bond was tightly connecting Jae-ha and me.
That fullness enveloped me.
Fortunately, the Secrety members also woke up in time.
“Huh…? What happened?”
“The situation is over. Let’s get out of the Dungeon first.”