Chapter 11: The Nerd’s Double Life and a Mysterious Invitation

“Bullsh—”

“Senior, you weren’t about to say ‘bullshit,’ were you?”

“No, I wasn’t. It was a slip of the tongue.”

‘Nerds don’t swear.’ Doyoo quickly corrected himself, mentally reviewing the contents of the [Nerd Manual].

Cheongshin wore a thoughtful expression for a moment before speaking.

“Right? But now that I think about it, I wouldn’t mind if Senior swore. You have such a pretty voice, after all.”

Doyoo briefly questioned Cheongshin’s taste. Ultimately, he let out a long sigh.

“I truly don’t understand you.”

Having spoken without realizing it, Doyoo flinched as he comprehended his own words and then cautiously watched Cheongshin’s reaction.

Contrary to his worry that Cheongshin might become angry, Cheongshin was beaming with a wide smile.

Witnessing a reaction akin to someone who had just heard something amusing, Doyoo thought to himself.

‘Is he insane?’

“Why, why are you laughing?”

“Senior. You already understand me.”

What utter nonsense was this? Even now, Doyoo was subtly trying to distance himself, unable to comprehend Cheongshin, but Cheongshin continued speaking, oblivious to Doyoo’s discomfort.

“Senior, do you know this? Humans don’t engage in serious endeavors with people they absolutely can’t understand. It’s a type of defense mechanism—a way to protect themselves from getting hurt or incurring losses. But you asked me to work on something that requires trust, didn’t you?”

Doyoo pondered for a moment. What kind of work would require trust? The presumed answer quickly came to him, without much deliberation. Doyoo suppressed a burgeoning headache and spoke softly.

“That… didn’t it occur to you that if it’s a graduation project, our lives are on the line? Cheongshin. Students nearing graduation are the kind of beings who would prostrate themselves before a stray cat on the street if it meant graduating.”

“You think I’m as cute as a cat? Oh, how embarrassing.”

“……You only hear what you want to hear.”

Speechless, Doyoo wished to leave, having no energy left to deal with Cheongshin. However, Cheongshin still held his hand, preventing his departure.

“So, Senior. You won’t meet with Yoonwon, right? I won’t force you to delete his contact.”

“Does that mean I shouldn’t meet him?”

“Yes. I truly have a knack for judging people. Call it a good intuition, perhaps? That guy just gives off too many bad vibes.”

‘No matter how suspicious he might be, he couldn’t possibly be more so than you.’ Suppressing the urge to reply with such a thought, Doyoo pulled his hand away from Cheongshin, who had been subtly caressing it and diligently rubbing his cheek against it.

“Alright. I get it, so stop touching me.”

“Good. It’s a promise.”

Only then did Cheongshin smile brightly, just as he usually did.

Of course, Doyoo had no intention of keeping that promise.

Having discerned the reason why Cheongshin was so averse to his meeting with Yoonwon, Doyoo was, in fact, determined to meet Yoonwon even more actively.

When the weekend arrived, Doyoo met with Yoonwon as planned.

Feigning an exit from the cinema mid-movie, they entered a specially magic-treated room through a hidden passage created by Kardan.

As soon as Yoonwon settled into the private room, he began to unpack information as if untying a bundle.

“These are the materials you requested, Senior.”

As Yoonwon moved his hand, faint, light-infused text began to materialize in the air, like a hologram. Doyoo removed his horn-rimmed glasses and began to read.

The information Doyoo had requested from headquarters detailed the projects that Lee Cheongshin, a ‘wizard,’ had participated in throughout his life.

Although this information should have been concealed for security reasons, Kardan’s influence easily allowed them to acquire traces of Cheongshin’s activities.

Magic formulas and blueprints, all penned by Cheongshin, continuously appeared in the air, their complexity enough to churn one’s stomach just by looking at them.

Yoonwon, despite being a wizard, eventually averted his gaze from the overwhelming display of incomprehensible magic formulas, feeling more revulsion than intellectual curiosity.

Doyoo, however, absorbed every single character into his mind, his pale blue eyes, imbued with a faint light, missing nothing.

Simultaneously, he mentally disassembled and reassembled the magic formulas that criminals had imparted to ordinary people, comparing them with Cheongshin’s traces.

“Hoo.”

After all the text inscribed in the air vanished and a short time passed, Doyoo let out a shallow sigh and pulled out a handkerchief. He pressed it to his sweat-dampened forehead, wiping it clean, then swiftly drained the cold beverage he had pre-ordered.

“Did you see everything?”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work, Yoonwon.”

Yoonwon gazed at Doyoo with an admiring expression.

At the academy, Doyoo subtly hunched his upper body, projecting an image of timidity and shyness. He spoke in a subdued voice and deliberately stammered.

Now, however, Doyoo sat upright with a straight back, exhibiting precise movements. His tone and expression were so devoid of emotion that they were unreadable.

In essence, this was the very image of the ‘Special Unit’ that was so widely rumored within Kardan.

Even before joining Kardan, Yoonwon had heard countless stories about the Special Unit, particularly about Team 1, led by Seong Heeyu.

Therefore, although he knew Doyoo, seated before him, was a ticking time bomb, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of curiosity.

“Yoonwon?”

“Ah. My apologies.”

Doyoo briefly wondered if he had made a mistake, given Yoonwon’s silent, wide-eyed stare.

Soon enough, however, he dismissed the thought. He knew such gazes would be a tiresome constant upon his return to headquarters, rendering any concern pointless.

“Is this all the information?”

“Ah, no. There’s one more. It’s information Team Leader Seong Heeyu asked me to relay.”

“…Team Leader asked you to relay it to me?”

“Yes? Yes, that’s right.”

Just this morning, he had sent a brief report to Seong Heeyu and received a reply. Seong Heeyu had offered no particular response at that time.

In fact, most replies to his reports were simply read and then ignored.

This made him hesitant to press Yoonwon for the information immediately, wondering just how much this message, delivered through Yoonwon, would make his heart plummet.

Yoonwon, however, eager to finish work quickly and enjoy his weekend, didn’t wait for Doyoo’s reply before speaking.

“I’ll read it exactly as it was given: ‘Mr. San Eunha, who was suspected of being a criminal in the ‘Phantom Pillar’ incident but was excluded due to lack of evidence and ten other reasons, has been confirmed to be meeting periodically with Mr. Lee Cheongshin. Our investigation found no points of contact between them.'”

The Phantom Pillar incident, which occurred nineteen years ago, involved a small village of about 500 residents being instantly submerged by a criminal’s magic. Since Doyoo had been dispatched to that scene, he could easily recall the face of San Eunha, who had been suspected as the criminal at the time.

San Eunha, 45, male. He was a wizard, but Kardan’s assessment showed his magical prowess was closer to that of an ordinary person.

However, his knowledge of magic was exceptional. Twenty years ago, while working at a magic artifact manufacturing company, he became paralyzed in an accident but miraculously recovered. Thirty years ago, in the ‘Great Explosion’ incident, all of his family members, except for San Eunha, perished.

Recalling the exact words written in the documents, Doyoo fell deep into thought.

Seong Heeyu providing this information implied that he, too, harbored suspicions about Cheongshin. Thus, he had provided the data for Doyoo to investigate. Although something felt amiss, Doyoo couldn’t ascertain the reason at the moment, so he emerged from his contemplation.

“Thank you for delivering this, Yoonwon. You’ve worked hard today.”

“Ah, yes…!”

“Then, let’s head back. Just in case, we’ll accompany each other only as far as the station entrance.”

As he spoke, Doyoo put his horn-rimmed glasses back on and pulled his mask up over the bridge of his nose, obscuring his face as much as possible. He subtly hunched his previously straightened back, shrinking his upper body, swiftly transforming back into ‘Nerd Seo Doyoo.’ Witnessing this transformation live before his eyes, Yoonwon’s eyes sparkled.

“Senior, are you heading straight home today?”

“Yes.”

Although he intended to meticulously compare the information Yoonwon had provided with the criminals’ magic spells after returning home, he chose not to mention it.

“Then, would you like to hang out with me today?”

“Pardon?”

Doyoo, startled by an invitation he had never before received, reacted with genuine surprise.

Yoonwon found it fascinating that someone who had shown not a shred of emotion moments ago was now wide-eyed with bewilderment simply because he was wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a mask, and he burst into laughter.

“I heard you’ve been undercover for quite a while, Senior, so I thought you might not have gotten proper rest. My schedule is completely free today after reporting to you, and I was planning to go out and enjoy myself. If it’s alright, would you like to come along?”

“…I appreciate the offer, but I must decline.”

At the polite refusal, Yoonwon’s eyebrows drew together in disappointment.

“Even though this place is far from the academy, unforeseen circumstances can always arise. If Yoonwon and I are seen together in a private setting that isn’t the academy, it could become difficult to handle any issues that might emerge later.”

Yoonwon understood Doyoo’s words. He knew that the ‘issue’ Doyoo referred to implied a scenario where either of them might be exposed or endangered during the undercover investigation, whether by criminals or through any other means.

It was just as Yoonwon was about to apologize to Doyoo.

“However.”

“Pardon?”

“…If you invite me again when we meet at headquarters after this mission is over, then I won’t refuse.”

“……! Yes! I’ll ask you again then!”