By Zephyria 
Seeing Hyeon Jae-ha glaring at me as if he would kill me, not hiding his ominous aura, I was beyond dumbfounded.
‘This bastard, did he perhaps turn evil after I died?’
No way. Just because of me?
Nah, no way.
‘I thought we were more intimate than other Espers and Guides, but…’
At best, we were just slightly closer friends.
Even when Potato told me that Jae-ha went berserk after I died, it didn’t feel real. The Hyeon Jae-ha I knew was a peaceful person who tried to mediate conflicts between the higher-ups and Ability Users.
[What did I tell you? I told you he went berserk, didn’t I? He went completely crazy and rampaged.]
‘…Yeah. Sorry for not believing you, Potato.’
While I was apologizing to Potato in my mind, Hyeon Jae-ha urged me to answer with a grim face.
“Why aren’t you answering? So you didn’t inherit Ga-hyeon’s will, but…”
“No. I’m just too dumbfounded.”
“What?”
“I’m an idol, you know.”
“So what?”
“So what? It means you can’t kill me right now.”
I pointed at myself with my index finger and said.
“Even if I’m getting non-stop hate online and offline, I’m still an idol. A celebrity with a name. If you get rid of me carelessly, you’ll be in trouble, right?”
Because celebrities are public figures.
“Even infamy is fame, so if I suddenly disappear, there will be people looking for me anyway.”
“……So?”
“It means you can’t kill me here. Your threats don’t work on me.”
Potato asked in surprise at my words.
[Huh. Really? Your body’s owner, he was a complete Failed Idol, but he still had some name value?]
‘Do you think so?’
[…?]
‘I’m just making things up as I go along right now.’
And I had some faith in it to some extent.
‘I didn’t lie completely. Manager Hyung will look for me.’
The free time I was given was only half a day.
It was time that Manager Hyung got permission from the agency to get for me.
If I was late for the agreed time, Manager Hyung, sensing something was wrong, would contact the agency and try to find me.
Hoping that there would be no news of an accident.
‘It’s absurd in times like these, but it’s helpful that Yeon Yu-jin had a lot of problems when he was alive.’
Since Yeon Yu-jin had shown a lot of instability, if they judged that something had happened, their movements to fix it would be quick.
“So you can’t kill me.”
I puffed out my chest and brazenly pushed forward as if daring him to try, and Hyeon Jae-ha chuckled.
“Is that all you’re relying on?”
“Not all of it… Anyway, I’m the one who inherited the will of the real An Ga-hyeon.”
“I said I don’t believe you.”
As if my talking was amusing, Jae-ha aimed the rope and nails around my neck.
Perhaps because it was an old and closed place, the nails were rusty and the rope was rough.
How gruesome.
‘The fact that he’s threatening me with this kind of thing means he’s really angry.’
The will to painfully kill the con artist who broke into this place was conveyed. Terribly.
‘I have no choice.’
I decided to take out my trump card.
“You’re Hyeon Jae-ha, the partner of Guide An Ga-hyeon, aren’t you?”
Abruptly.
Hyeon Jae-ha stopped what he was doing at my words.
“…How do you know that?”
Why? Because I’m An Ga-hyeon, his Guide, so I know.
Do you think I wouldn’t recognize my partner just because he’s wearing a mask?
‘I recognized him right away just by his voice, what.’
He was wrapped up from head to toe like a black crow, but the person in front of me was definitely Hyeon Jae-ha.
I was surprised that he hadn’t changed much from his appearance 20 years ago, unlike my expectation that he would be an old man.
Of course, perhaps because of the rampage, his white hair and deep blue eyes, which were slightly visible through the mask, were different from before…
‘Who else would be guarding my vault to keep anyone from stealing my money but you?’
My mouth itched as I swallowed the words I couldn’t say out loud.
So I decided to tell him with a little bit of truth mixed in.
“I heard it from my mother. Guide An Ga-hyeon said that the only person he could trust was his partner, Esper Hyeon Jae-ha.”
“Ga-hyeon…?”
The moment I mentioned ‘An Ga-hyeon’s’ name, Jae-ha’s face, which had been as cold as an ice sculpture, crumbled in an instant.
Perhaps because they had been comrades for a long time, I could easily see the change in his expression even though he had covered everything but his eyes.
“Yeah. So if anything happened to Guide An Ga-hyeon, and if someone came after his traces, it would only be Esper Hyeon Jae-ha.”
“……”
Jae-ha was silent. He lowered his head as if reminiscing about what had happened.
The nails and ropes surrounding me trembled.
‘He’s wavering.’
I had to drive the wedge in here.
“I was just probing. Based on what Guide An Ga-hyeon told my mother. I thought that Esper Hyeon Jae-ha, at least you, would still remember the dead Guide An Ga-hyeon.”
“…Ga-hyeon said that.”
“I only heard it from my mother, so I wasn’t completely sure. But looking at your reaction, it seems I was right.”
[You’re so eloquent.]
Potato was impressed by my talking skills.
‘Be quiet.’
Everything except the story about Yeon Yu-jin’s mother was my sincere feelings, so it was possible.
‘Hyeon Jae-ha, who else would it be but you.’
Who else would be watching to make sure someone didn’t steal my inheritance?
It wasn’t just because of the high matching rate in life. We were really partners like brothers made of strong Bonding.
‘I understand why you’re trying to kill me, roughly.’
Judging from Potato’s testimony, Jae-ha seemed to have deserted the unit after the rampage.
‘The reason he’s wrapped up like a crow to make it difficult to identify him must be because of that, probably.’
I don’t know what it’s like now, 20 years later, but the government wouldn’t look kindly on Ability Users who deserted.
Jae-ha was worried that someone would steal my inheritance even while he was being chased, so he came here periodically.
The reason I ran into Jae-ha on the day I came was probably because of that.
“You still don’t believe me even after this? Esper Hyeon Jae-ha?”
“……”
Jae-ha, who had been glaring at me without answering, raised his hand and made a gesture of clearing away.
Thud.
Then the nails and ropes that had been threatening me fell to the floor like rain.
Jae-ha grumbled as if he was displeased.
“It’s hard to trust you completely… But anyway, it seems you’re the one who inherited Ga-hyeon’s will.”
“I told you, I’m the real deal.”
“The way you’re all talk and no action is similar to Ga-hyeon.”
‘What, you bastard?’
I almost shouted, ‘I’m that An Ga-hyeon!’
‘When was I ever all talk and no action!’
[Why, it’s true.]
Potato agreed with Hyeon Jae-ha’s words, but I couldn’t accept it at all.
‘Hyeon Jae-ha, this guy… He used to act like a puppy following me around, but he was also talking bad about me behind my back?!’
The emotion of reuniting with Jae-ha collapsed a little.
In a sulky voice, I snapped at Jae-ha.
“So, does that mean I can take the money in this vault now?”
“Do as you please. Someone who inherited Ga-hyeon’s will has appeared, so I can’t interfere.”
Hey. Wasn’t trying to kill me just now interfering?
…Those words came up to my throat, but I had to hold back. I was Yeon Yu-jin, not An Ga-hyeon.
‘Hyeon Jae-ha is too strong to be sarcastic according to my temper.’
Yeon Yu-jin is just a D-Class Guide, so if I acted up, I wouldn’t even be able to pick up my bones.
‘It would have been nice if I had the Ability stats of my original body intact…’
I was disappointed.
As I sighed deeply and opened the vault, Potato said.
[You haven’t tested your Ability stats since you woke up as Yeon Yu-jin. Seeing that there was no particular backlash even though I came to find you… Maybe your Ability hasn’t been transferred as it is?]
‘Oh? Really?’
Then the story would be different.
‘Come to think of it, the Espers next to me since I woke up have all been the same, so I didn’t even think about testing Guiding.’
It seemed too early to be disappointed that I had lost my Ability.
I was in a better mood again as I moved the money from the vault, and Jae-ha stared at me and muttered.
“You seem to be a Guide with severe mood swings.”
“I’m not?”
“It’s strange how you’re so familiar with using informal speech to me, who you’re meeting for the first time. It’s as if you’ve met me before.”
“No… Would you want to be polite to someone who threatens to kill you as soon as you meet them?”
As I glared at him in disbelief, Jae-ha curved his eyes beautifully.
“Of course, that’s also true… But it seems like you’re too fearless. Everyone I’ve met so far, both Ability Users and non-Ability Users, trembled and couldn’t even make eye contact when I showed my killing intent…”
Huh?
In the blink of an eye, Jae-ha grabbed my collar and came very close.
Close enough to where our breaths could overlap.
“But you don’t care about me at all. Just like Ga-hyeon.”