Ah-In sat on the floor, quietly munching on kimchi amidst a literal sea of paper. Sheets of scribbled notes buried her legs, piling up to her knees on both sides.
She stared at the chaotic outline she'd been trying to reconstruct for hours.
Nothing useful was coming back to her. Worse, every time she looked at her notes, all she could think about was Hanseong. Especially now that his System had thrown him straight into a suicide mission.
She sighed, running a hand through her disheveled hair. None of this was supposed to happen. Even Lee Taehyun's sudden transfer to their neighborhood felt way too deliberate, as if the universe was setting up a stage just for Hanseong to walk onto.
As a transmigrator, she had genuinely believed she'd be one step ahead of everyone. She thought twisting the original storyline would save Hanseong from his tragic fate, but reality was slapping her right in the face.
She wasn't ahead at all. She was completely lost.
With an exhausted sigh, she reached for the remote and switched on the television.
She barely managed another bite of kimchi before choking.
BREAKING NEWS: UNREGISTERED D-CLASS GUIDE APPREHENDED BY NAA.
"Earlier today, a D-Class Guide was taken into custody by National Awakened Authority officials at approximately 2:40 p.m. in the Gwang-Hyundo District," the news anchor reported.
"Witnesses claim the individual collapsed suddenly before being loaded into a restricted government vehicle. Authorities have declined to comment, citing an ongoing classified investigation."
No... It's definitely not him.It can't be, Ah-In thought frantically.
She scrambled for her phone, her fingers trembling as she dialed Hanseong's number.
The number you have dialed is currently switched off.
Ah-In's heart dropped. Hanseong never turned off his phone.
"Shit," she gasped, shooting to her feet—only to immediately trip over a mountain of paper and hit the floor with a loud groan.
Sprawled on the carpet, she lifted her head, her eyes locking back onto the television screen. The field reporter was standing on a familiar street corner, holding a microphone in front of a recognizable glass storefront.
Her mouth slowly gaped open.
Behind the reporter was a sleek, familiar logo shining under the streetlights.
Café Luminous.
Ah-In froze, the air leaving her lungs.
"...No way."
****
"Tell me something." The old man said sternly. "Just how long did you think you could hide it from us?"
Hanseong furrowed his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"
The old man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Listen kid, let's not play dumb alright? Just tell me the truth."
Hanseong frantically looked around. His hands were strapped to a metal chair. The room was blindingly white—the walls, the floor. All of it.
Across the table sat an elderly man in a perfectly pressed black suit, his face was unreadable.
If I remember correctly... I was in the café, then miss choi walked in...
His pupils contracted when his memories slowly started returning. He'd been drugged!
Just what did he do to anyone for them to drug him?
'System? System hey!'
He called out inwardly but he got no response.
No translucent blue screen. No sarcastic chime. No timer.
He felt his heart lighten a bit. No timer...
The relief lasted less than a second.
Then he swallowed. He was all alone, in this unknown place with a bald man staring at him like he was some freak.
Fantastic.
The old man slammed his fist into the metal table bringing Hanseong back from his thoughts.
"I'm talking here, Kid."
"Who are you?!" Hanseong snapped back. He didn't mean to scream back. He just felt pressurised.
The old man reached into his jacket and calmly placed a black identification card on the table.
KWON JAE-HYUK
President
National Awakened Authority (NAA)
Hanseong's face went blank.
He hadn't been picked up by a rogue gang or a shady Guild. He had been kidnapped by the NAA.
The highest government authority in the country, the ones who regulated every single Awakened individual and investigated high-level supernatural crimes.
His thoughts raced out of control. Crime?
What crime?! I haven't done anything!
I got dumped yesterday, and I may or may not even have six days left to live!
"So," Kwon Jae-hyuk said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. "When did you awaken, Jung Hanseong?"
Hanseong pressed his lips into a straight line, weighing his options before answering honestly. "Two months ago."
Kwon Jae-hyuk slowly nodded, his dark eyes locking onto Hanseong's. "And you're an unregistered Guide?"
"Yes."
The old man tilted his head, a faint, cold smile touching his lips. "Then care to explain why our district energy sensors picked up an X-Class Mana Anomaly coming from your exact coordinates the night you awakened?"
Hanseong blinked once. Then twice. He stared at the old man as if the president of the NAA had completely lost his mind. "Err... Are you sure you have the right person?"
A thick, violent vein instantly popped out on Kwon Jae-hyuk's forehead. "You're testing my patience, kid!".
"Sir, I'm genuinely not testing you," Hanseong replied, his voice dripping with pure, innocent sincerity. "I'm just seriously concerned that the National Awakened Authority lacks basic coordinate tracking."
Kwon Jae-hyuk buried his face directly into his palms with a heavy, agonizing drag. "Someone take over before I lose my mind and strangle this kid."
The moment the words left his mouth, the blinding white wall behind him hummed with static, fading instantly into a sheet of reinforced one-way glass.
Hanseong's breath caught.
On the other side of the glass sat a massive, high-tech command center. Dozens of NAA technicians and analysts were glued to glowing monitor screens, tracking energy waves, body readings, and district maps, and every single pair of eyes in that room was staring straight at him.
Before Hanseong could process his environment properly, a guard stepped out from the shadows, approached the table, and quietly unstrapped his wrists.
Hanseong rubbed his sore wrists as he stood up, his eyes darting cautiously between the guard and the wall of glass.
A sharp-looking woman in a tailored black suit stepped out from the control room corridor, gesturing toward a massive, metallic cylinder standing in the corner.
"Step this way," she instructed, her tone completely devoid of warmth.
Hanseong hesitated. "W-what?"
The woman let out a small, impatient sigh, adjusting her earpiece. "We need to re-examine your rank. Officially and thoroughly."
Hanseong gulped, his heart hammering against his ribs. 'Fine. I'm just a D-Class Guide anyway,' he told himself,trying to quiet the nervous knot in his stomach. 'Let the machine tell them I'm weak so they'll finally let me go.'
He took a slow breath and stepped inside the cylinder.
The heavy glass doors slid shut, sealing him inside. Instantly, raw mana hummed through the machine as soft blue light enveloped his body from head to toe.
Outside, President Kwon stood beside his Vice President, who was also his sister. They both stared at the main display screen as the progress bar rapidly filled.
"Is the anomaly real, or did the sensors glitch two months ago?" Kwon Jae-hyuk asked, his voice low.
Kwon Ji-yeon cleared her throat, adjusting her glasses. She was ten years younger than her brother. "We're not sure yet, but probably—"
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
A deafening siren shattered the calm quiet of the room.
Red warning lights flashed furiously across every single monitor in the room. On the main screen, the blue D-Class bar froze.
The analyzer machine inside the room distorted, tiny sparks bouncing off the metal frame.
ERROR!
President Kwon's jaw dropped. Kwon Ji-yeon pulled off her glasses.
"Impossible..."