By Zephyria 
Hyeon Jae-ha didn’t care whether his colleagues gossiped or not. What did it matter if they misunderstood? In a way, it wasn’t entirely wrong.
For him, the only important thing was that he had finally heard from Ga-hyeon.
The world, which had seemed drab and monotonous, was once again colorful. It was as if he had received Guiding. Brilliantly dazzling.
So much so that he momentarily forgot that he was in a serious and tense situation, Tracking X.
‘He said he was busy.’
He felt gloomy when he received a text saying it would be difficult to contact him for the time being.
He even felt a petty desire to whine about how important that special training was. He also had a sudden urge to bring Ga-hyeon to the hideout and protect him by his side.
But he didn’t. He endured with superhuman patience.
An Ga-hyeon’s will, who had come back alive, was a billion times more valuable and precious than his crude desires.
Hyeon Jae-ha didn’t want to do anything that An Ga-hyeon would dislike. He didn’t want to be hated.
Instead, he wanted to receive affectionate and trusting gazes like before. Enough to fill the emptiness in his heart for the 20 years Ga-hyeon was gone, making it green again.
So Hyeon Jae-ha endured. He pretended to be nonchalant and texted that he would wait until Ga-hyeon contacted him. In his heart, he desperately hoped that the damn special training would end quickly so he could see Ga-hyeon again.
Fortunately, before Hyeon Jae-ha’s thin and fragile patience ran out, Ga-hyeon contacted him first.
‘Jin Eu-tteum’s disappearance and X’s involvement…’
Perhaps it was a hastily sent text, as the last letter in the message was noticeably incomplete.
‘He probably wanted to let me know this news quickly.’
Hyeon Jae-ha, who knew Ga-hyeon’s hasty nature well, found this text incredibly lovely and cute.
The White Tiger Unit members glanced at Hyeon Jae-ha, who was staring at his phone screen as if he were about to lick it, and their hearts grew complicated.
“He looks so happy.”
“Yeah. I think I can see an illusion of flowers scattering around the Captain.”
“We should tell him that this love is wrong…”
“He’s smiling so brightly and looks so happy that I can’t say anything, even if I die.”
“…Let’s just die.”
Hyeon Jae-ha, who had been like a lonely wolf who had lost his mate, was capable of such a soft expression…
The members didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about this situation, so they just wore ambiguous expressions.
Whether he knew his colleagues’ troubled hearts or not, Hyeon Jae-ha said calmly in a nonchalant tone.
“We received a tip.”
“A tip…?”
“The Dungeon Break that happened in the park last time. We received a tip that X, who we’re looking for, was involved in the disappearance of Jin Eu-tteum, the A-Class Esper involved in it.”
Information collector Geum Na-ro raised a question mark above his head.
It was because the White Tiger Unit had never planted an informant to receive tips.
They were the type to get information by pounding the pavement. It meant they had to face everything head-on. The world was cruel to those who had been legally erased.
Moreover, the fact that the Guide, presumed to be Hyeon Jae-ha’s new crush, had sent the tip was unbelievable in itself.
‘How much does the Captain trust that Guide…?’
‘No, how much did he tell him about our situation?’
‘Could it be everything?’
‘Nah, there’s no way our Captain is that stupid. He’s not crazy.’
Fierce telepathy went back and forth between the members. It was a possible method because there was a colleague with telepathic abilities.
Geum Na-ro, unable to bear watching the silent battle of wits as they rolled their eyes, unable to step up, asked Hyeon Jae-ha.
“Can we trust the person who gave us this information?”
“Of course.”
Hyeon Jae-ha answered sharply to the difficult question.
“He’s someone I can vouch for with my life. You can trust him.”
“If the Captain says so… I understand.”
Geum Na-ro, who could no longer argue, stepped back. The Captain said it was okay, even risking his own life, so what else could he do? He had to trust him.
The White Tiger Unit members were dying to know who the Guide was that the Captain was protecting so much, but Hyeon Jae-ha didn’t give them any more time to think about it.
Hyeon Jae-ha, who had been staring at the text Ga-hyeon sent for a while, finally opened his mouth.
“Samoa.”
“Yes, yes!”
“I’m leaving the task of Tracking X to you as planned.”
Samoa was surprised by Hyeon Jae-ha’s order.
“But Captain. As I said before, it’s impossible to find X without knowing any of his characteristics…”
“It’s not impossible. X is suspected of being the prime suspect in Jin Eu-tteum’s disappearance. If so, we just need to investigate Jin Eu-tteum’s whereabouts.”
When he was secretly following and investigating Yeon Yu-jin, not knowing that he was An Ga-hyeon, Hyeon Jae-ha witnessed the sudden Dungeon Break in the park and found it suspicious.
‘That’s strange. It was a Gate that showed no signs of a Dungeon Break at all. Is it possible that the A-Class Esper who went in to proceed with the attack has completely disappeared and is still not visible?’
Didn’t it seem like someone had tampered with it?
Even in a world where Return Stones were sold as items in preparation for cases where it was difficult to escape from the Dungeon.
Return Stones weren’t cheap, but there was no way a popular Esper like Jin Eu-tteum was too poor to prepare one.
Hyeon Jae-ha had been paying attention to Jin Eu-tteum’s disappearance ever since that day.
While secretly investigating the case with Geum Na-ro and Ha Ri-ra.
“We don’t know if Jin Eu-tteum is alive or dead… If X has captured him to steal his ability, we can find X’s whereabouts by finding Jin Eu-tteum.”
“Ah!”
A look of delight spread across Samoa’s face.
“If we assume that, the clues to Tracking X will be much narrower! We can Track Jin Eu-tteum’s DNA information, such as hair or bodily fluids, or his ability, lightning. If that doesn’t work, we can Track him with the genetic information of Jin Eu-tteum’s family.”
When Hyeon Jae-ha gestured, Ha Ri-ra quietly handed over a few strands of hair in a vacuum pack.
“Is this Jin Eu-tteum’s family’s hair?”
Ha Ri-ra smiled and answered Samoa’s question instead.
“Nope. It’s Jin Eu-tteum’s hair that I got by pretending to be an enthusiastic new employee of the Management Bureau trying to find Jin Eu-tteum.”
“Oh my god. What were you going to do if you got caught by the Management Bureau?”
“The Captain helped me with Memory Manipulation, so this is okay.”
“Anyway… you have to acknowledge that boldness.”
“You like it too, don’t you?”
Action leader Ha Ri-ra tended to solve situations with somewhat reckless methods.
Hyeon Jae-ha knew about Ha Ri-ra’s shortcomings, but this time he actively stepped in and helped her.
“Ahem. It’s a relief that it worked out well. Still, this will make Tracking easier!”
Samoa snorted with excitement.
In response, Hyeon Jae-ha said with a faint smile.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t have a chance to go inside the Dungeon and see Jin Eu-tteum’s traces due to the Management Bureau’s strict investigation. But still, this is a worthwhile game.”
“Of course. Let’s try it right away!”
Samoa, who plopped down on the floor, unleashed her ability.
“Tracking Circle deployment.”
Then, a round circle of verdant color intertwined with various patterns was drawn around Samoa.
A-Class Esper Samoa’s ability was Tracking.
The official name given by the researchers after the examination was ‘Ariadne’s Thread’.
Samoa’s Tracking ability was so special that it was named after a grand item in mythology.
This was because if there was an object directly related to the target she was trying to Track, she could almost always find its location.
When she scattered Jin Eu-tteum’s hair in the center of the Tracking Circle, the hair floated into the air and then turned into powder.
At the same time, the Tracking Circle was filled with bright green light.
Hwaaa-.
The same verdant pattern as the Tracking Circle appeared in Samoa’s eyes.
“Searching for target and searching for coordinates with genetic information.”
Numerous pieces of information floated like a haze over the Tracking Circle and Samoa’s eyes, then disappeared several times.
Samoa’s body swayed to the side.
“Ugh… I found him. Jin Eu-tteum.”
Her face was pale. Samoa’s ability was powerful and highly accurate, but it came with significant side effects.
“You’ve worked hard. So, where is Jin Eu-tteum?”
Samoa swallowed the nausea that was rising to her throat and barely answered.
“Jin Eu-tteum is… in an abandoned factory in a dilapidated area. I’ll text you the address on my phone.”
The entire White Tiger Unit became solemn at the word abandoned factory.
Hyeon Jae-ha asked Samoa in a deeply subdued voice.
“Is he alive?”
Samoa shook her head with difficulty.
“I can’t detect any life signs. Unfortunately, he’s already dead.”
Hyeon Jae-ha, with a hardened face, stood up from his seat.
“Let’s go find Jin Eu-tteum’s body right away.”
X might be there this time.
Inside a cold and dark abandoned factory.
There were three foreign beings in the cobweb-filled place.
One was the body of Jin Eu-tteum, who had already passed away, and the other was Ban No-ah, who was neatly dressed in a well-tailored suit.
He sat leisurely on an old chair and looked at his wristwatch.
“It’s about time they came.”
In Ban No-ah’s palm was a red bead the size of a pea.
Ban No-ah picked up the sparkling red bead with his finger and handed it to someone else who was there.
“If you do as I say, I’ll give this to you.”