By Zephyria 
A green Tracking Circle was drawn beneath Jin-irang’s feet. The Tracking Circle could have blurred due to the side effects of using his ability, but instead, even denser patterns were embroidered as if with a needle.
Hyeon Jae-ha, Ha Ri-ra, and Samoa all held their breath, waiting for the Tracking Circle to be completed.
Jin-irang abruptly stopped smiling, bit his lip, and wore a flustered expression. He gnashed his teeth in anger as he watched the Tracking Circle being completed with graceful lines.
“You really are persistent.”
Hyeon Jae-ha scoffed and muttered towards Jin-irang, or rather, the real culprit beyond him.
“Can you say the same about yourself?”
“I should have killed Hyeon Jae-ha before An Ga-hyeon, or I should have sent you both to the afterlife together.”
Ha Ri-ra and Samoa shuddered at the culprit’s provocation.
“That!”
“Crazy bastard. Cough, you’re just begging to die.”
Hyeon Jae-ha, on the other hand, remained calm.
He stared at Jin-irang with a composed gaze.
“If you’re planning to stall for time, you’re mistaken. Everyone here, including me, holds a deep grudge against you. Even if you abandon Jin-irang as he is and escape with Teleportation, we can just follow you again.”
Samoa, trembling like someone trapped in a refrigerator, barely managed to nod.
“Using the ability one more time will be tough for the next few weeks, but is that a big deal, cough. This is the perfect opportunity to catch that damned bastard.”
“Did you hear that?”
Hyeon Jae-ha pointed at Samoa and grinned. Jin-irang contorted his face.
“Annoying bastards.”
“I’ll return the favor. I’m in the same boat.”
It was when the Tracking Circle was finally completed.
Jin-irang’s body slumped again, and a beastly groan escaped his lips.
“Ugh… Ugh….”
He held up a red bead in one hand. Even without using his ability, a yellow light emanated from the bead.
Crack. Crackle.
A fine crack appeared on the crimson bead.
Hyeon Jae-ha, who was watching Jin-irang, immediately noticed this change.
“Ha Ri-ra, Samoa.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Cough, yes.”
“Get out of here right now.”
“Yes?”
“But the tracking….”
“Hurry!”
He quickly used telekinesis to move Ha Ri-ra, Samoa, and even his colleagues outside far away from the abandoned factory, and shouted urgently.
“Everyone, get away from here and protect yourselves! Jin-irang is trying to self-destruct!”
All the White Tiger Unit members who were waiting on standby scattered quickly at Hyeon Jae-ha’s command.
Fzzzzz.
Not long after the order was given, the red bead shattered completely.
As the crystal of power, which had been gathered in the form of a bead, was smashed, the power that could no longer be maintained stably ran wild.
It was a rampage of power.
An intense flash that would blind the eyes covered the abandoned factory.
“Kuaaaaaak!”
The power of the raging lightning swallowed Jin-irang, who was closest to it, first. He died instantly, leaving not a single bone fragment behind. Jin Eu-tteum’s corpse, which was next to him, also turned to dust and disappeared.
Hyeon Jae-ha created a barrier of energy with telekinesis and wrapped it around his entire body. Thanks to protecting himself by wrapping several layers in the form of a round sphere, he was unharmed by the sudden explosion of lightning.
‘Did he decide to erase all traces because he couldn’t achieve his purpose?’
He gritted his teeth and found Samoa’s Tracking Circle even in the blinding barrage of light. The Tracking Circle flickered with green light.
Despite the order to escape, Samoa seemed unable to give up on completing the Tracking Circle.
Ha Ri-ra’s booming voice was heard from outside the abandoned factory.
“Captain! Samoa knows the location of the real culprit!”
At those words, Hyeon Jae-ha immediately left the abandoned factory, which was engulfed in a pillar of light.
Samoa and Ha Ri-ra, who had taken refuge in a safe place, were visible. Samoa’s face was pale as if she was about to die, but she gave a thumbs up, saying she could go.
“Let’s move right now.”
Hyeon Jae-ha used telekinesis to quickly cross the air.
The ability of Teleportation used by the culprit would make it difficult to use tracking if 10 seconds passed, so speed was essential.
Counting 10 seconds in his head, Hyeon Jae-ha prayed earnestly.
‘Please, let’s not miss him this time.’
The night air that touched his cheek was chillingly cool.
He headed to the location indicated by the Tracking Circle just before the critical 10 seconds, but all that greeted them was an empty forest. Strangely, there was no trace of anyone having been there at all.
Samoa immediately used her Tracking ability, but soon faced a perplexing reality.
“No way…. The traces of Teleportation aren’t just in one place.”
“How many are there?”
“More than 10. Moreover, this… it wasn’t a solo move. It seems like they came near the abandoned factory with several people from the start. And it seems like they were all moved to different places from here.”
If X had moved alone, there should have been only one trace.
But that wasn’t the case. More than 10 chaotic traces disrupted the situation.
“X… seems to have moved with the possibility of failure in mind from the beginning.”
“Damn it.”
Hyeon Jae-ha spat out a curse. Samoa’s body had already reached its limit. Asking her to track all 10 or more traces would be too much for her body to handle. She might even go berserk.
Knowing that, Samoa tried to activate her Tracking ability simultaneously, pushing herself.
“I can’t, cough, stop here.”
As Samoa floated a large number of Tracking Circles at once, a lump of red blood gushed from her mouth.
Ha Ri-ra, who witnessed this, screamed.
“Samoa!”
Hyeon Jae-ha ordered Samoa with a stern expression.
“Stop it right now, Samoa. You’ll die if you do that.”
“But….”
“Ga-hyeon wouldn’t want you to chase after the bastard’s traces by sacrificing a colleague.”
Hyeon Jae-ha used telekinesis to collapse the dirt floor where the Tracking Circle was about to be drawn.
More than 10 pits were created in an instant. The light of the Tracking Circle lost its power, and Samoa spat out blood and collapsed to the side.
Even while coughing repeatedly, Samoa was regretful.
“If it was just my death, it would have been a worthwhile price….”
Samoa was also someone who had experienced the sorrow of losing a partner Guide. She deeply understood and sympathized with Hyeon Jae-ha’s sorrow.
“The sacrifice of the few for the sake of the many is inevitable. Even now, if we track the….”
“I told you to stop, Samoa. The traces of Teleportation can no longer be found. And if that happens, I’ll have no face to stand before Ga-hyeon. I’ll have to report this. If I say that an inevitable sacrifice was made for the sake of the many, he might never see me again.”
At this point, Samoa forgot her pain and was bewildered.
‘Didn’t An Ga-hyeon Guide… pass away 20 years ago?’
Even if the Captain, Hyeon Jae-ha, was still obsessed with An Ga-hyeon, what he just said was strange.
It was as if he was assuming that An Ga-hyeon was alive.
It was clear that he had mentioned the name ‘An Ga-hyeon’, rather than confusing him with a newly interested Guide.
Ha Ri-ra seemed to have the same thought as Samoa, as her eyes were wide open.
She wanted to ask what he meant, but due to the side effects of overusing her ability, Samoa lost consciousness.
Hyeon Jae-ha carried the unconscious Samoa with telekinesis and returned to his colleagues.
The damned pillar of light was still on, illuminating the surroundings. It seemed to be expanding its area more and more.
Hyeon Jae-ha ordered a retreat.
“People who are suspicious because of the pillar of light will flock here. The escaped culprit might have called the police, so we’ll leave this place quickly.”
The White Tiger Unit members nodded and used their respective abilities, or were carried by Hyeon Jae-ha’s telekinesis to move.
While flying with a bitter heart, Hyeon Jae-ha’s mind was complicated.
‘…What if X is still interested in Yeon Yu-jin?’
X was aiming for the abilities of Espers or, in very special cases, the special abilities that Guides possessed.
Yeon Yu-jin didn’t fall into either category, but Hyeon Jae-ha was still worried that X had bothered to find him.
Fortunately, he was judged to be a C-class that day, but if the culprit hadn’t yet dismissed his suspicion towards Yeon Yu-jin….
‘First, I need to see Ga-hyeon quickly.’
Just imagining that X might harm Ga-hyeon again made Hyeon Jae-ha feel like his blood was running backwards.
‘Without Ga-hyeon, there’s no me.’
He never wanted to taste the guilt and fear of surviving alone again.
A late-night guest came in the middle of the night.
He had just washed his exhausted body and was about to go to sleep when Hyeon Jae-ha’s message arrived.
[Jae-ha: Are you okay? Has anyone come to find you?]
What is this about?