Chapter 98: Everything I Know

“Jaeyul-ah! Seon Jaeyul!”

Strange.

The induction cooktop was glowing red, and the meat in the pan was sizzling.

But Jaeyul was nowhere to be seen.

There was no answer, even to my loud calls.

“Ah, woof….”

“Jaeyul’s not home…?”

Poppy’s words added to my confusion.

“Then what is that?”

I pointed to the pan on the induction cooktop with the hand that wasn’t holding Poppy.

“……”

Poppy looked up at me with a blank expression, as if he couldn’t understand human words at all.

Normally, I would have interrogated him about this ridiculous situation, but I decided to let it go for now.

Jaeyul’s situation was more urgent than the trivial matter of Poppy grilling meat from the fridge.

“Poppy, let’s go.”

“Woof…?”

“Let’s go save Jaeyul. This is a job only you can do.”

I started running again, holding Poppy.

This was enough preparation to enter the gate.

-Subjugation Day 3-

Ri-hyun was also severely injured, so it took him a long time to reach the exit.

He moved his colleague to the safe zone and ran back towards the labyrinth to join the main force, but he ran into the subjugation team returning from inside.

The situation was already over.

‘While I was at the entrance, the main force escaped the labyrinth and even killed the gate master, successfully ending the subjugation.’

‘In just three days?’

Ri-hyun gave a small nod.

It was truly a remarkable achievement.

Not only did they subjugate an SS-rank gate in three days, but the fact that there were no fatalities was even more significant.

Although there were countless serious injuries.

‘As we came out of the gate and were doing a head count, we found two people missing.’

Had Ri-hyun regained his senses?

Unlike when he was talking about the first two days, he explained in a voice that no longer trembled.

Looking me straight in the eye.

‘Hwang Jiyu and Im Chan from our team….’

‘…Those two…? So Jaeyul went in to look for them…?’

I couldn’t help but be surprised.

Not only Jaeyul, but the two who went missing with him were also our team members.

Amidst the surprise, there was something I didn’t understand.

Why did Jaeyul, of all people, go in to look for the missing ones?

Since the subjugation was over, anyone could have gone in.

Just as I was about to voice my question, Ri-hyun added, as if he had anticipated it.

‘Bomyung hyung and Eden hyung were too injured to move!

M-me too….’

It sounded like he was adding an excuse.

That he and the rest of the team members really had no choice but to not accompany Jaeyul.

Looking at Ri-hyun, who was biting his hangnails while looking at me, I just gave a single nod.

What’s the point of questioning such things, what’s done is done.

The other subjugation team members were also too exhausted and were reluctant to go back into the gate, but fortunately, four people volunteered for the search party and entered the gate with Jaeyul.

‘…That was, sob… the last time….’

A tear trickled down from one of Ri-hyun’s eyes.

Even though I was the one who wanted to cry.

To be honest, it was too hard to listen to the story of Jaeyul disappearing.

But I had to know all the facts.

If there was even a possibility of finding a small clue to find Jaeyul in that story, I had to endure and listen.

I clenched my fists until my fingers felt like they would break and listened to Ri-hyun’s words to the very end.

-Subjugation End +1 Day-

The subjugation was over, and it was a search party that included an SS-rank esper, so they thought there would be no problem.

But the search party did not return for a very long time.

Not Jaeyul and his team, nor the two missing persons.

Only then did they start to say that something might have gone wrong.

‘It’s an SS-rank gate, so an unexpected problem could have occurred, right?’

I don’t know why he keeps asking for my opinion.

No matter what I feel about his story, it can’t have any effect on what has passed.

‘Don’t tell me there have been no measures taken so far…?’

I was anxious, even though I knew that couldn’t be the case.

The Center I had experienced was a garbage place, so much so that it wouldn’t be surprising if they did any kind of vicious act.

Of course, they wouldn’t have just neglected a precious resource like Jaeyul.

It was when I was waiting for an answer.

Power was added to Ri-hyun’s voice.

‘Of course!’

No, I think it was.

It seemed like a bright voice was heard, unlike before, but it was such a short moment that I couldn’t be sure.

‘…They, uh, formed a second search party centered around the 2nd Center and re-entered the gate.

But they still haven’t found them….’

Tears welled up in Ri-hyun’s eyes again.

His face was also one of a person who had lost the world.

I don’t know why he seems so emotionally unstable today.

Crying, then laughing, losing energy, then gaining it back.

The rest of the story was predictable.

That the official news of the gate subjugation had not been announced anywhere, and that the operation was proceeding very secretly so that the fact of the SS-rank esper’s disappearance would not be known to the media.

Even now.

“Poppy, get in the bag and hide.”

“Woof!”

The story of the past four days ended like that.

There were some parts that were a bit hard to understand, but overall, it was convincing.

Especially since it matched what I knew about the inside of the gate and the habits of the monsters, there was no room for suspicion.

At first, I had judged that Jaeyul could never go missing, but after hearing all of Ri-hyun’s story, I started to think that it could be possible.

The place called a gate was such an unpredictable space that it wouldn’t be strange no matter what happened.

Especially for an SS-rank gate, an unexpected situation could have occurred.

“Please present your ID.”

The closer I got to the SS-rank gate, the more I believed Ri-hyun’s words.

Several blocks away, all roads leading to the gate were being controlled.

No one could pass without an ID issued by the Special Abilities Support Agency.

Because even the reporters were being blocked, voices full of complaints were pouring out from here and there.

Fortunately, I was confirmed to be affiliated with the 2nd Center, so I was able to enter right away.

The closer I got to the gate, the heavier the air felt, as if it had settled.

I could definitely feel the presence of people inside the temporary tents, but not a single voice leaked out.

The steps of the Support Agency staff moving around were hurried.

“I told you not to bring in the equipment yet!

Go out and wait!”

“You told us to come and wait!

Who the hell are we supposed to listen to, damn it….”

A lot of heavy machinery for collecting resources from the subjugated gate had gathered.

Of course, since the search for the missing persons would be in full swing inside, the schedule for bringing in the equipment would have been postponed.

The Support Agency staff lied that the gate subjugation was not over yet and sent the equipment and workers back.

I went through two more ID checks before I reached the gate, but no staff member particularly blocked me.

Since the gate was emitting a green light, indicating that there were no particular dangers inside, there would be no reason to stop me.

Looking at the gate, I took a deep breath and tried my best to compose myself.

Standing in front of the gate and taking a step, a different world unfolded.

The space of monsters, not the human world, somewhere here is Jaeyul.

As I took a step, the air itself felt different from just a moment ago.

Next to the entrance, there was a cage with a small monster inside, as if to keep the gate from closing.

It was curled up as if dead, not moving a muscle, as if it had been seriously injured.

It meant that the inside had been neatly cleaned up.

“Poppy, do you smell any other people or Jaeyul?”

“Grrr….”

Poppy shook his head, transformed into his true form, and slightly bent his legs to make it easier for me to get on.

As if he knew my urgent heart, Poppy started running towards the depths of the gate without another word.

“…Wait.”

As we were advancing, cutting through the air, I suddenly realized a strange fact.

The people guarding the area around the gate earlier were a little strange.

Why… were there only Support Agency staff without a single special ability agent…?

Not just one, but several special ability users who are the backbone of a Center are missing.

Especially, isn’t Jaeyul the only SS-rank esper in the country?

If they haven’t returned even after almost a full day, it’s reasonable to think that some problem has occurred inside.

Yet, not only the 2nd Center’s special ability users, but I didn’t see a single familiar face from our Center.

Why… why…?