By Zephyria 
Hyeon Jae-ha went out again, defying his colleagues’ opposition.
The colleagues who saw Hyeon Jae-ha preparing to go out alone all had question marks floating above their heads.
To avoid being caught by the government, the White Tiger Unit members tended not to stay in one place for too long.
The darkest place is often right under the lamp. Surprisingly, the accommodation they were staying in this time was an apartment in the middle of Seoul.
This was thanks to Hyeon Jae-ha’s parents’ support.
They had wept at the news of their son’s death from the government, but when Hyeon Jae-ha, who was alive and well, secretly contacted them, they learned the whole story. They belatedly realized that the government had concealed the news of their son with lies.
Those who harbored hatred for the government secretly provided Hyeon Jae-ha with what he needed. There was a risk that they had to be very careful not to get caught.
In any case, since he was officially dead in battle, the government could not openly monitor or investigate the families of Ability Users. Hyeon Jae-ha’s parents lamented that their son legally did not exist in this world, but they readily stepped forward, saying they could use this to support him.
This was one of the reasons why Hyeon Jae-ha became the leader.
Hyeon Jae-ha, who had lost his beloved partner Guide, was a cold person like a cold fire. The White Tiger Unit members knew how cautious he was as the leader of the suicide squad.
They asked in unison.
“…Leader. Where are you going?”
“To monitor Yeon Yu-jin.”
“Pardon?”
“That D-Class Guide?”
“The one who’s an idol?”
A murmur spread among the White Tiger Unit members.
Geum Na-ro, who specialized in information gathering, narrowed his eyes and asked Hyeon Jae-ha.
“Didn’t you say that the D-Class Guide doesn’t seem to be a spy for the government, so surveillance is unnecessary?”
“…I did.”
“May I ask why you’re going to meet him?”
“I’m not meeting him, I’m going to monitor him.”
“It doesn’t seem like that to me.”
As Geum Na-ro challenged him, the atmosphere turned cold.
Hyeon Jae-ha was a near-perfect leader, so none of the White Tiger Unit members ever opposed his opinions.
However, recently, the White Tiger Unit members had been questioning Hyeon Jae-ha’s actions.
Hyeon Jae-ha was the one who said that contact with outsiders should be avoided, but he showed an exceptional attitude towards that D-Class Guide.
Geum Na-ro spun the chair he was sitting on.
“It’s strange. Even after investigating, that Guide named Yeon Yu-jin had no connection to the government. It was safe to say he was just an ordinary citizen.”
In fact, Yeon Yu-jin wasn’t even looking at the Guide side and was working as an idol.
“The government has been keeping a close eye on that Guide recently, and that’s ultimately because of you, Leader. Even if you erase your memories, you can’t escape the eyes of psychometry.”
“……”
Every word was right. Some of the White Tiger Unit members nodded.
They hadn’t raised any objections either, but they had sensed the recent changes in their leader, Hyeon Jae-ha.
Hyeon Jae-ha had been lost in thought more often. There had already been several times when he seemed dazed, as if he hadn’t heard them when they spoke to him.
The White Tiger Unit members were uneasy because the steadfast man was showing signs of wavering. It was the first time they had seen Hyeon Jae-ha like this. This kind of behavioral change had also been observed in the White Tiger Unit members when they had just formed the White Tiger Unit.
Mostly, it was because they missed the family and friends they had left behind to fight the government…
To see that in Hyeon Jae-ha, who had been as constant as a rock. Everyone wanted to ask if something was wrong, but they couldn’t bring themselves to do it.
Hyeon Jae-ha was a man who stubbornly refused to talk about himself.
Among the White Tiger Unit members who felt a wall from him, Geum Na-ro was virtually taking the lead.
Soon, Geum Na-ro drove the wedge in.
“Leader, at this rate, it’s only a matter of time before Yeon Yu-jin becomes dangerous because of you.”
“……”
“You seem to care so much, so I think there must be another reason. I’m asking because I want to know what it is.”
‘Reason.’
Hyeon Jae-ha let out a hollow laugh.
If he told the truth, he would only be called crazy.
How could he say that every time he saw Yeon Yu-jin, he kept thinking of An Ga-hyeon, his partner who had tragically left him 20 years ago, and that he wanted to know more about him?
Even he himself considered it an incomprehensible act.
The White Tiger Unit members, who owed each other their lives, were already like family to him…
As Hyeon Jae-ha, the leader with a heavy sense of responsibility, he could never reveal the truth.
So Hyeon Jae-ha made up a plausible excuse.
“When I last watched Yeon Yu-jin, he had Guiding and command skills that couldn’t be seen as D-Class.”
“Does that mean…?”
“It means he’s hiding his true skills. The government is paying attention to him because of suspicions that he’s hiding his abilities.”
Although a peaceful era had arrived, free from the threat of Dungeons… there was one thing that the government strictly handled.
That was Ability Users who had awakened as Espers and Guides concealing their abilities.
It was no longer necessary to become a Hunter, but it was to prepare for the case of a Dungeon suddenly going berserk.
Hyeon Jae-ha looked at Geum Na-ro and continued.
“Yeon Yu-jin is strange. He clearly has abilities that are higher than D-Class, but he didn’t try to correct it.”
Given the nature of his job as an idol, he shouldn’t have anything to be morally or legally held accountable for.
If it was revealed that he had concealed his abilities as a Guide, he would not be able to avoid legal punishment, but Yeon Yu-jin showed no signs of correcting this at all.
“I thought that the field agents on the management bureau’s side couldn’t have missed what I felt. So I just decided that I needed to monitor Yeon Yu-jin more closely.”
Ha Ri-ra, who was lying on the floor chewing on dried squid, suddenly interrupted their conversation.
“That’s not convincing, Leader.”
Gulp. Ha Ri-ra, who had neatly chewed up the last piece of dried squid, continued to mutter.
“What was it, artifact to hide strength? There are artifact to hide strength sometimes. Tsk, tsk. What a degenerate age. It wasn’t like that in my day.”
Ryu I-ruk, who was eating snacks next to Ha Ri-ra, interjected.
“Hey, artifact to hide strength isn’t an idiot who hides his strength, it’s a real one who hides his strength.”
“Looks like just an idiot to me.”
“Ugh. That’s why I can’t say anything to you.”
“What did you say?”
Hyeon Jae-ha cut off Ha Ri-ra’s voice, which was getting eerily low.
“Stop it.”
“Tch.”
“Hmph.”
Hyeon Jae-ha explained to Ha Ri-ra and Ryu I-ruk, who were sulking with their mouths sticking out and not even looking at each other.
“It’s not that there aren’t Ability Users like that, but Yeon Yu-jin didn’t seem to be one of them.”
Ability Users who called themselves artifact to hide strength were a kind of attention seeker.
While some secretly hid that they were stronger and felt joy, others pretended to be strong Hunters and committed fraud, even though they were actually weak.
In most artifact to hide strength cases, the latter was overwhelmingly more common.
Ability Users with rare abilities or strong powers didn’t try to hide themselves.
The government and society provided generous support, so there was no benefit to hiding it.
Hyeon Jae-ha added that he found that suspicious.
“Because X, who we’re looking for, is probably someone who hides his abilities and lives.”
“……!”
At Hyeon Jae-ha’s words, the expressions disappeared from the faces of Geum Na-ro, Ha Ri-ra, and Ryu I-ruk.
The other White Tiger Unit members who were resting also exuded a terrifying chill.
Ability Thief.
The person who had planned and killed Hyeon Jae-ha’s partner, Guide An Ga-hyeon, and had planned to steal his abilities.
The White Tiger Unit members conveniently called him X.
With the meaning that he must be eliminated from this world.
After killing all the researchers, Hyeon Jae-ha scraped together the data they hadn’t been able to discard.
And he learned a shocking fact from the report.
X wasn’t just targeting An Ga-hyeon.
The report contained a list of numerous Espers and Guides.
Most of them were the names of Ability Users who had died trying to subdue monsters that had emerged from Dungeons.
There were several things they had in common.
First, they were at least A-Class Ability Users.
Second, they were Ability Users assigned to the front lines, where it wouldn’t be strange for anyone to die anywhere.
Finally, third, they were people whose bodies had disappeared after their deaths.
After analyzing these points in total, Hyeon Jae-ha assumed that the culprit X was alive and speculated on his characteristics.
A person who could conceal this by using government officials. For example, a family member or acquaintance with connections to a high-ranking government official.
An ordinary person who had not awakened his abilities. Or an Esper or Guide with abilities that were as good as nothing.
A Hunter who would be killed by the White Tiger Unit members if he was caught with various abilities obtained through illegal means, so he would pretend to be a suitable rank and hide the stolen abilities.
Geum Na-ro asked.
“Don’t tell me you suspect that Yeon Yu-jin is a candidate for X?”
That couldn’t be. If he suspected that Yeon Yu-jin was a candidate for X, Hyeon Jae-ha would have already half-killed Yeon Yu-jin.
He just wanted to use that excuse to watch Yeon Yu-jin a little more.
Hyeon Jae-ha was a somewhat incompetent leader who put his emotions first when it came to the death of An Ga-hyeon.