Chapter 13: A New Reality, A Snowman’s Secret

Jung Hanseol, startled as if from a nightmare, gasped for air as his consciousness, which had plunged into darkness, finally returned. The space was filled not with gloom, but with bright light, clearly neither a dark mountain nor the underworld.

“……”

For reasons unknown, the atmosphere of the room felt somewhat familiar. It was a spacious chamber, devoid of warmth, yet bearing traces of human presence. However, this was neither his own home nor the dormitory he might have used as lodging during a large-scale battle.

Lying still, Jung Hanseol gazed up at the white ceiling, recalling his last memories before losing consciousness. After hearing Ryu Yishin’s promise to send him back to his lodging, he had undergone guiding, only to black out afterward. Given that he was alive and had woken up unscathed, it seemed Ryu Yishin had indeed taken responsibility for him.

At least, he hadn’t died. He was alive and breathing.

Considering the dreadful thought that he might actually die, this was not a bad outcome. In fact, there might not have been a better ending.

Nevertheless, merely being alive was cause for relief. As Jung Hanseol attempted to sit up, he was immediately forced to let out a pained groan. His left wrist was tightly bound by a bandage, and every muscle in his body screamed in protest.

“You’re awake now.”

Jung Hanseol had been groaning and struggling for a while, but eventually gave up, lying still and staring blankly at the ceiling. Just then, a pristine white door swung open, and Ryu Yishin stepped inside, a healthy flush on his face and a smile playing on his lips. It was a remarkably unfamiliar sight, considering how pale he usually appeared, almost like a blank sheet of paper, whenever Jung Hanseol encountered him.

Unable to process the situation for a moment, Jung Hanseol merely turned his head towards the door with a bewildered expression, his mouth agape. Ryu Yishin casually swept his hair back before settling onto a chair beside the bed. From the moment he appeared, his every action was uninhibited; there was no hint of hesitation or unfamiliarity with the space.

“Wh-where… where am I?”

Jung Hanseol roughly moistened his parched lips with his tongue, then turned his head to face Ryu Yishin, asking in a hoarse voice. Ryu Yishin merely stared intently at Jung Hanseol’s face with an overt gaze, as if scrutinizing every detail, offering no reply to his question. Despite the lack of any indication that his tightly closed lips would open, Jung Hanseol belatedly began to blurt out every question that came to mind, as if finally finding his voice. His mind, it seemed, was only now slowly returning to him.

“What… what happened to the monster?”

“……”

“Are the others alright?”

“……”

“Oh, how long have I been asleep?”

“……”

“Is… is it all over?”

Ryu Yishin, who had been silently observing Jung Hanseol as he blinked his large eyes and fired off a volley of questions, eventually furrowed his brow slightly. Crossing his long legs and casually folding his arms, he uttered a single, somewhat annoyed remark, as if displeased with the current situation.

“You talk an awful lot.”

This was, of course, not the answer Jung Hanseol had hoped for. Ryu Yishin uncrossed his legs and leaned slightly closer to Jung Hanseol. Instinctively, Jung Hanseol tensed, his eyes darting to inadvertently scan Ryu Yishin’s face. His smooth, unblemished face, devoid of even a single scratch or scar, held distinct features that were somehow overwhelming to behold, making it difficult for Jung Hanseol to even breathe properly.

Jung Hanseol quietly lowered his gaze, feeling as though he shouldn’t continue looking at Ryu Yishin. For some unknown reason, his heart was pounding more fiercely than before, and he could feel his pulse throbbing in his carefully clasped hands.

With a low sigh, Ryu Yishin leaned back, still seeming disinclined to answer Jung Hanseol’s questions. Jung Hanseol, glancing at his inscrutable expression, suddenly gasped as if remembering something crucial, then urgently blurted out.

“What about my teammates? They must be worried since I disappeared… I need to contact the team leader right away…”

He recalled Jo Jinwoo’s urgent voice, the last thing he’d heard as he plummeted into the ground. A considerable amount of time must have passed, and his teammates would undoubtedly have learned of his disappearance. Having already caused them significant worry, he needed to show them he was alright as soon as possible.

Jung Hanseol gritted his teeth, enduring the throbbing pain as he tried to sit up, but Ryu Yishin pressed down firmly on his shoulder, forcing him back onto the pillow.

“Your team leader is right here.”

“…What?”

*Thump.* The pillow’s stuffing compressed under Jung Hanseol’s head, letting out a deflated sound. His dark pupils, a stark contrast to Ryu Yishin’s eyes, repeatedly disappeared and reappeared beneath his eyelids.

Just then, something landed softly on Jung Hanseol’s chest with a dull thud. It was a light, small object, barely perceptible in weight. Jung Hanseol’s expression shifted to confusion as he instinctively picked it up. The object, adorned with a long black lanyard, was none other than an employee ID.

Jung Hanseol stared blankly up at Ryu Yishin, who had risen from his seat with a casual air, leaving no trace of hesitation. As Ryu Yishin circled the bed and walked back towards the door, Jung Hanseol brought the ID card closer to his eyes, examining it carefully. Inside the transparent, scratch-free case, looking brand new, was a stiff plastic ID card bearing his photo and name.

As Jung Hanseol meticulously scanned it, he quickly noticed something odd within its familiar design.

‘Jung Hanseol, Investigation Team 1’

Investigation Team 1? Was he still not fully recovered, seeing a ‘7’ as a ‘1’? Even though his limbs screamed in protest, his eyes seemed perfectly fine, yet the text on the ID card still read ‘Investigation Team 1’ instead of ‘Investigation Team 7’.

Jung Hanseol squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them again, staring intently at the ID card as if trying to bore a hole through it. It was a rather fierce glare, yet his downturned eye corners made it seem utterly unthreatening. Ryu Yishin watched Jung Hanseol’s futile staring contest with the ID card, letting out a scoff of disbelief.

“You’d do well to recover quickly and adapt to the team.”

“……”

“Because I’m not a very patient person.”

Uttering these cryptic words, Ryu Yishin opened the door without hesitation and exited the room. The door closed cleanly, like a boundary separating reality from illusion. The click of the lock engaging sounded to Jung Hanseol like a warning, urging him to set aside his confusion and confront the truth.

‘Jung Hanseol, Investigation Team 1’

The reality was that he was no longer a guide for Team 7, but for Team 1.

****

A small snowman rested on Ryu Yishin’s palm. Lacking distinct features, it was more akin to two snowballs of different sizes stacked upon each other, yet it was undeniably a snowman he had made.

‘Should I find buttons to make eyes?’ Ryu Yishin mused, gazing at the snowman’s face, which, without any features, was arguably not a face at all. His gaze subtly lifted at the sound of a knock. Without a word, he returned his attention to the snowman.

Exactly three seconds later, Kang Seungmin peeked his head through the open door.

“Team Leader.”

“What is it?”

Kang Seungmin’s gaze, initially fixed on Ryu Yishin’s face, immediately drifted to the snowman floating on his palm. Ryu Yishin, who typically lay sprawled on the sofa battling headaches or napped in the guiding room during his breaks, was now sitting at his desk, playing with a snowman he had made. It was a rare sight, one Kang Seungmin had never witnessed before, and he was momentarily dumbfounded.

Although Ryu Yishin seemed to be in an unusually good mood, Kang Seungmin’s face instantly clouded over. It was evident that a single word from him would instantly displease his team leader.

“Team Leader Joo from Team 7 is here. He wishes to see you briefly…”

Kang Seungmin spoke cautiously, maintaining his tense composure. Ryu Yishin had been noticeably cheerful throughout the large-scale battle—or more precisely, ever since receiving guiding from Team 7’s guide, Jung Hanseol. Because of this, all the members of Team 1 had been diligently working to preserve their precarious peace for the past few days.

Just as Kang Seungmin’s mouth and throat went instantly dry with tension, Ryu Yishin casually placed the snowman on his desk and rose from his chair.

“Tell him to come in.”

Ryu Yishin’s mouth twitched at one corner, as if he understood why Joo Youngmin had come all this way, and he settled onto the sofa, radiating an air of complete leisure and ease. Fearing he might capriciously reverse his command, Kang Seungmin quickly bowed, turned, and promptly returned with Team Leader Joo Youngmin. The team leader’s complexion was sallow and drawn, and his right arm was encased in a rigid cast.

He moistened his dry lips with his tongue once, then sat in the seat diagonally opposite Ryu Yishin.

“…Team Leader Ryu.”

“Speak.”

Without so much as a twitch of his finger, Ryu Yishin brought the snowman from his desk to eye level, offering a casual reply to the weighty address. After all, Ryu Yishin was the nation’s sole S-rank Esper, possessing not only powerful ice-elemental abilities but also the capacity for instantaneous teleportation without spatial limitations, and the ability to effortlessly lift massive, multi-ton boulders with psychokinesis.

Apart from feeling instinctively intimidated by his powers and uniquely cool demeanor, Team Leader Joo could not relax his grim expression.

Ryu Yishin subtly observed Team Leader Joo, who was parting his lips but struggling to speak, then curved his eyes into an artificial smile. In the ensuing silence, it was Ryu Yishin who finally broke it.