By Zephyria 
Director Shin Yun-hui of the Ability User Management Bureau was sweating bullets due to this sudden Dungeon Break situation.
The higher-ups were relentlessly grilling her.
This was because, after that incident, complaints surged, claiming the government had become complacent and was neglecting matters related to Dungeon Breaks.
Shin Yun-hui, who had just held a press conference, was extremely tired, but she couldn’t escape her superior’s nagging storm.
“Just what did you do to let a Dungeon Break happen in the middle of the city?”
“I’m sorry.”
While apologizing with her mouth, Shin Yun-hui was grinding her teeth inwardly.
‘If I knew it was going to happen, I’d be working as a fortune teller in Gangnam, making a living.’
“Does it make sense that not a single one of our Ability Users was at the scene at that time? If those Secrety, or whatever they are, wouldn’t have stopped it, you should have been prepared to take off your Director’s hat!”
“…I have nothing to say. I’m really sorry.”
‘Who was it that said Jin Eu-tteum is such a skilled Esper that the personnel assigned to him could be deployed elsewhere during a raid?’
Though Shin Yun-hui didn’t expect Jin Eu-tteum to die.
‘There might be changes happening in the Dungeon.’
As Shin Yun-hui lowered her head, trying to gauge what problems might arise in the future, her superior’s nagging voice pierced her eardrums.
“You. Are you even listening to me right now? That’s why these young people these days…”
Blah blah, this and that.
Shin Yun-hui listened to the pouring nagging and insults with one ear and let them out the other.
“…Anyway, do a good job! So that the people don’t experience the same fear they did 20 years ago.”
“Yes. I understand.”
As her superior turned away after finishing his words, Shin Yun-hui secretly flipped him off.
‘What does someone who doesn’t know anything about the practical side know…?’
Shin Yun-hui scoffed at her superior, who was only concerned about the government being disgraced and hadn’t noticed the strange points.
The first was the anomaly in the Dungeon, and the second was that D-Class Guide she had put under surveillance.
‘What D-Class Guide tries to handle a Dungeon Break like someone who’s been in the field?’
From what she heard, those Ability Users were closer to civilians who hadn’t even received proper training at the center.
‘Something’s up.’
Shin Yun-hui took out her phone from her suit jacket pocket.
“Head of section Park? I need you to come with me to the scene.”
-Now?
“Your psychometry ability is the best. You need to come with me and see what happened.”
Psychometry ability was relatively rare worldwide, and only a small number of Espers in the country possessed this ability.
Among them, the highest-ranked psychometric Esper was missing, and a B-ranked psychometric Esper had received an offer with excellent conditions and joined a privately-run guild.
And here, the third-best C-ranked psychometric Esper, Head of section Park Hana, was being pushed around by the Director of the Management Bureau, investigating the scene without any overtime pay.
Perhaps due to the aftermath of the Dungeon Break, the park, still cordoned off, was eerily quiet.
“Director, is this the place?”
Park Hana pointed to the spot that was deeply hollowed out by the Dungeon dome created by the Balrogs.
Director Shin Yun-hui lit a cigarette and nodded.
“Yeah. That’s it.”
“If I investigate this, I’m leaving right away. You promised?”
“Yeah, I know. Just hurry up and work.”
“Tch. Not even giving me overtime pay.”
“What did you say?”
“Starting the investigation.”
Park Hana’s grumbling stopped, and she placed both palms on the ground.
“Reading the records of the Dungeon Break incident that occurred on XX at XX on X month, 20XX.”
Park Hana’s eyes turned bright blue.
Only in her vision, the park’s time went back to the past.
The memories of the day the Dungeon Break occurred were read intact through Park Hana’s ability.
The screams heard as the Balrogs popped out, the chaotic park, the dome being erected, and the Guide throwing their Espers inside without hesitation…
“Huh? Uh-huh?”
Just now, she thought she saw a Guide doing membrane Guiding with great force.
Besides, weren’t those five the idol group that was said to have resolved the Dungeon Break? Serenity or something.
‘But even though it was Guiding, they kissed a member of the same gender, and there wasn’t a single article about it?’
Even if the nightmare of the Dungeon Break was shocking, there’s no way there wouldn’t be at least one person with a loose tongue.
As Park Hana tilted her head and briefly stopped her ability, Director Shin Yun-hui tapped her shoulder while smoking.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah… no. I’ll watch more.”
Park Hana’s eyes turned bright blue again.
The Balrogs defeated by the Secrety members, the Guide member collapsing.
And the one supporting him, manipulating people’s memories, was…
The man with the hair that had turned white stared at Park Hana with frighteningly cold eyes.
The moment she made eye contact with him, Park Hana couldn’t read any more memories.
“Huck.”
Clang-.
With a sound like glass breaking, the flow of memories collapsed.
Due to the backlash, Park Hana fell backward.
“Ugh…”
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
Shin Yun-hui supported Park Hana, who had fallen on the dirt ground.
“I’m okay…”
“What do you mean okay? You’re bleeding from the mouth. You have internal injuries, don’t you?”
“Ugh… I think so. Can you give me a potion?”
As Shin Yun-hui rummaged through her inventory, Park Hana chattered.
“Give me the expensive one, if possible…”
“This kid? I’m just a civil servant who gets a salary.”
“Please think about the plight of a subordinate who works overtime without overtime pay… Cough.”
“Sigh. Here you go.”
Espers seemed invincible because they used all sorts of abilities, but in reality, that wasn’t the case.
They were also human, so if they overused their abilities, negative energy would accumulate, leading to an unfortunate rampage.
What compensated for this was the Guide.
In addition, the phenomenon in which an Esper received a backlash because an ability being used was forcibly broken by external intervention was defined as a rebound…
In the case of psychometry, a rebound could occur due to the shock of reading a memory that was too intense.
For example, encountering someone you absolutely didn’t want to meet in your memories.
Park Hana’s complexion gradually improved as she sucked on a banana milk-flavored A-grade potion through a straw.
“Hooah. That was good.”
“Now you have to earn the potion.”
Shin Yun-hui questioned Park Hana with fierce eyes.
“Now, who did you see that made you break your ability midway?”
The sound of Park Hana sucking the potion through the straw was loud. Her determination not to leave a single drop was great.
“As Director also expected… if it’s an Ability User who made me bounce out while reading memories, there’s only one person.”
“It’s him. Hyeon Jae-ha.”
“Yes.”
In the memory, Hyeon Jae-ha was using an additional ability that only Second Awakening Ability Users could use to erase people’s memories.
And he also deleted the photos and videos containing the membrane Guiding scene without leaving a trace.
“It seemed like he was erasing only focusing on specific keywords…”
“Of course, he would erase the memory of Hyeon Jae-ha appearing.”
“That’s a bit strange. What Hyeon Jae-ha erased wasn’t just keywords about himself, but also information that could be disadvantageous to the Guide he was supporting.”
“What was it?”
‘I was already keeping a close eye on that Guide, Yeon Yu-jin, because I ran into Hyeon Jae-ha in the underground vault.’
With the expectation that she might get a clue to catch Hyeon Jae-ha, Director Shin Yun-hui’s ears perked up like a rabbit’s.
But Director Shin Yun-hui turned into a deflated balloon after hearing Park Hana’s answer.
“That… membrane contact Guiding.”
“Huh?”
“He completely erased the memories of the kisses that the Guide’s Espers, that is, the members of the same group, had.”
“What…?”
“I think he deleted it because he thought idols could be sensitive about it…”
Park Hana blushed as she recalled Yeon Yu-jin, who had attempted membrane contact Guiding.
‘Not like a beast…’
A mere D-Class Guide was resolving Guiding that contained powerful energy in an instant with a kiss, with eyes that said he was really annoyed, and she got goosebumps throughout the memory reading.
And recalling Hyeon Jae-ha, who was looking at the fallen Yeon Yu-jin with very affectionate yet confused eyes, she felt embarrassed, wondering if she had uncovered too private a memory.
Director Shin Yun-hui, who was watching Park Hana, narrowed her eyes.
“You’re thinking weird things again, aren’t you?”
“N-No, I’m not.”
“Espers and Guides are often involved in such relationships, but refrain from excessive imagination.”
“Ugh! Director! I’m not! Who do you think I am, a pervert!”
Whether Park Hana was whining or not, Shin Yun-hui thought it was strange.
‘Why did Hyeon Jae-ha take care of that Guide, Yeon Yu-jin?’