Gu Jei sent Hanseo home first.
Sitting on the sofa, Hanseo idly clenched and unclenched his fully healed hand. His arm felt lighter now that the bandage was off, but his heart seemed to grow heavier in inverse proportion. It was as if the oppressive atmosphere from the place he'd just left had clung to him like a lingering shadow.
Everyone present knew the weight of the phrase "Gate mission failed."
Failing to close a Gate in time meant catastrophic disaster. Though the Gate's interior existed as a separate, extradimensional space isolated from reality, after a certain period, it would begin to encroach upon the real world. While lower-grade Gates posed a manageable threat, B-Class or higher Gates could unleash unspeakable horrors.
Several nations had already vanished from the map for this very reason. South Korea had weathered numerous crises, and its citizens trembled at the mere mention of "mission failed." If even they felt such dread, how much more so for Hanseo, who had personally experienced the full force of such a calamity?
Whether due to pressure from the center or not, the media remained silent. However, it was impossible to completely conceal the Gate that had appeared in the heart of Seoul. The internet was already ablaze with rumors and speculation about it.
Title: MD Gate Mission Appears to Have Failed
I live in MD, and the entire area is swarming with soldiers right now.
The atmosphere is ominous.
Comments:
— ???
— Holy shit?
— Wait, is this for real? There's not a single news article about it.
└ I'm a MD resident, and it's true ㅠㅠ A few days ago, Espers went into the Gate, and I thought it was strange that it hadn't disappeared yet. But then suddenly this morning, soldiers started pouring in... When I asked what was going on, they said it was a national secret and wouldn't tell me. The atmosphere is really weird.
└ I just saw an article about it, but when I went back to check, it said the post had been deleted ;;;
└ Fuck, this is terrifying.
— I live in MD too. I tried taking a photo, but someone slapped my hand so hard my phone flew out and I thought the screen was cracked, lol. ᅳᅳ
— Sigh... has the time finally come...?
└ What the fuck is wrong with you?
Title: Is the MD Gate rumor true?
Anyone here involved? Need a fact check ASAP.
Comments:
— What's really going on? Even when I call the center, they just keep giving me automated responses.
— I'm involved. The entire mission team was wiped out, so I'm deleting this later in case I get in trouble.
└ Holy shit! Wiped out means they're all dead? How do you know?
└└ Espers wear special equipment before entering Gates. If their biosignals disappear, they're dead.
└ We're so fucked...
— I heard from someone involved that it's likely a C-Class Gate, and the failed mission team was mostly B-rank. If they still failed, they were just incompetent, lol. These cockroaches freeloading off our taxes can't even do their jobs properly. Tsk tsk tsk.
└ Ugh, seriously, this sucks. Sometimes I think it would be a better outcome if the Gates just blew and wiped out humanity.
Title: No Need to Panic
We have God Jei!
Comments:
— Exactly! People are overreacting to something that's not even confirmed yet. Let's not panic.
— Yeah, everyone seems to have forgotten that just a few years ago, mission failures were common. It's only because God Jei always stepped in to clean up the mess that we've been safe.
└ I believe in God Jei!
└ I believe in God Jei too!
└ 33333333333
└ 4444
— But why wasn't Gu Jei included in the MD mission? We haven't heard any news about him lately. Is something wrong?
└ He got married, didn't he? Probably enjoying his honeymoon.
└ He can't be in every Gate at once. He's only one person.
└ Doesn't he have the ability to create clones? T_T
— It's only been a few days since Gu Jei entered the Gate on his wedding day! ㅠㅠ Poor Gu Jei and his husband.
└ No need to feel sorry for them. It's standard for married people to work even harder. They need to earn money for baby formula, you know.
└ But they're not planning to have kids... Why would they need formula money?
└ They probably have enough saved up already. ㅋㅋㅋ
└ Whether he's married or not, it doesn't matter. He's not the type to work for money anyway.
└└ God Jei!
Despite their anxiety, the general mood shifted toward reassurance, with many thinking, "But if Gu Jei goes in, everything will be fine."
Hanseo's thoughts mirrored theirs. Gu Jei would almost certainly enter that Gate. Although they hadn't yet stabilized the energy fluctuations to the target level, if the situation grew critical, Pyo Myeongho wouldn't be able to stop him any longer.
However, Hanseo couldn't shake the nagging feeling that Gu Jei hadn't entered this Gate in his previous life.
Miudong Gate... Where had he heard that name before? It sounded vaguely familiar, yet also completely foreign. But precisely because of this ambiguity, he was even more certain that nothing significant had occurred within this Gate. If it had been a Gate associated with a major catastrophe, he would surely remember it.
After all, this Gate had been cleared without Gu Jei in the first place, so there shouldn't be any problems. If Gu Jei entered, it would simply be cleared faster and more easily.
That night, Gu Jei didn't return, and Hanseo found himself alone in the empty house for the first time in a while.
But then...
I can't sleep.
It was almost 9 PM, yet he couldn't fall asleep. His mind raced with endless thoughts, and he eventually got out of bed.
The living room was shrouded in darkness. Han Seo's gaze fixed on the tightly closed guest room door.
The door would be locked. Whether occupied or not, the guest room door was always locked. He had learned this when the cleaning staff once complained about it. When he asked Gu Jei about it, Gu Jei simply replied that his guest room didn't need cleaning.
The matter ended there, but on sleepless nights like this, idle thoughts tend to creep in.
What's inside that Gu Jei is so eager to hide?
Hanseo's eyes narrowed. Something the nation's hero wants to keep a secret... Whatever it was, could it be a weakness?
He quietly tugged at the guest room doorknob, but as expected, it wouldn't budge.
But if he was going to back down now, he wouldn't have started in the first place.
This must be what they mean when they say, 'Everything you learn will be useful someday.'
The Cult Leader's followers included many individuals with unique pasts, among them was a petty thief. Lockpicking was one of the tricks Hanseo had learned from him.
"Got it."
As the door swung open, the state of Gu Jei's room was revealed. It was truly a sight that could only be described as a "mess."
Hanseo clicked his tongue and surveyed the room. Piles of towels and clothes littered the floor, and what appeared to be wearable equipment lay scattered haphazardly.
Memories from his previous life flooded back.
Right, come to think of it, he was always like this.
Astonishingly, the national hero lived in a space resembling a garbage dump. After the rules were established, Gu Jei had started cleaning up regularly, causing Hanseo to temporarily forget about his former habits.
Was he trying to hide this messy room? anseo looked around the room with a deflated expression. Just take a picture of this and post it online? But what kind of major weakness was this anyway? At best, it would probably just elicit reactions like, ‘Oh, Gu Jei has a human side too.’
As Hanseo clicked his tongue in disappointment, his eyes landed on the bed, its shape obscured by piles of clutter. Just like the floor, the bed was littered with miscellaneous items.
"How does he even sleep in this mess?" Hanseo muttered.
At that moment, a familiar object caught his eye: a medicine bottle.
"......!"
A chill ran down his spine, making every hair on his body stand on end. Hanseo rushed over and grabbed the bottle to examine it.
"Phew."
Thankfully, it wasn't a Guide Drug. Of course not. Then again, it couldn't possibly be something not even on the market yet. Han Seo sighed in relief, but his eyes remained fixed on the bottle with suspicion.
"Then what's this?"
The label only listed the prescription date, offering no clue as to what the medication was. Hoping for a clue, he opened the bottle. Of course, he wouldn't actually find out what it was from just looking...
"Huh?"
To his surprise, it was a familiar medication—one he had taken for years, so he couldn't possibly forget it.
A sleep aid for espers.
It started around age 27. Despite no abnormalities in his energy level, he began struggling to sleep. Even his favorite dramas lost their appeal, and his appetite vanished. He would suddenly forget words mid-conversation, and his memory became increasingly erratic.
For a mental Esper, their own mental fortitude was paramount. With it deteriorating, he lost control over his abilities. Eventually, the Cult Leader noticed Baekgu's condition and sent him to a hospital run by a follower.
He’d taken the medications prescribed there for a long time. So no matter how much time passed, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize it.
No way.
Hanseo placed the bottle of sleeping pills on the bed. It wasn't the only medication. Several other types of pill bottles lay scattered on the bed. There were also packets containing daily doses. Some had expiration dates long past, suggesting he hadn't been taking them regularly.
Hanseo soon spotted several other familiar medications besides the sleeping pills. Antidepressants and tranquilizers for espers... all of which he had once taken himself. The others were unfamiliar, but it wasn't hard to guess they were similar medications or supplements with comparable effects.
Han Seo stood motionless in the trash-strewn room for a long time, overwhelmed by emotions too complex to express with his limited vocabulary.
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