Chapter 2: The Light Within

It was less self-deprecation and more of a calm confession.

Chaewon caught the faint excitement shimmering in Ye-seon’s eyes as he explained things one by one while keeping him seated.

Chaewon was genuinely worried that Ye-seon might end up too deeply disappointed.

Listening to that flat, emotionless voice, Ye-seon recalled the information he had reviewed about the man before him.

If one were to examine every awakened individual’s story, it wasn’t as though Chaewon alone had lived a turbulent life.

Still, among them, Chaewon’s case was one that naturally drew more attention.

To begin with, this was the first recorded case in Korea of a terminal patient awakening as an Esper.

Even on a global scale, it was rare enough to count on one hand.

Making a conscious effort not to imagine the countless frustrations Chaewon must have endured in his life, Ye-seon finally spoke.

“In Korea, Telekinetics are rare, so if you’re able to demonstrate strong ability, Chaewon, it would certainly be a great help.”

“……”

“But… we’ve managed just fine until now, even without a Telekinesis-type Esper.”

Chaewon’s gaze, which had sunk toward the floor, slowly lifted back to Ye-seon’s face.

Ye-seon’s eyes were not gentle so much as firm and cool, yet for some reason, Chaewon felt the tension he had been carrying gradually ease.

Ye-seon continued.

“So even if your power doesn’t live up to everyone’s expectations, that’s fine. There will be a place that suits your strength. There always is.”

A place that suits my strength.

Without realizing it, Chaewon softly repeated the words to himself.

Suddenly, he remembered his grandmother’s voice, always telling him that it was enough to simply do the best he could.

He might not have been especially talented, but he was confident in one thing, giving his best.

His life had always been built on doing the best he could, in the only way he knew how.

He wouldn’t be able to do anything grand, like saving the world or becoming a hero.

But if, as Ye-seon said, there was a place where someone of his level could still help people, even with weak power…

Then maybe he could give his best there.

“Yes. I’ll do my best.”

The look in Chaewon’s eyes was different when he said it.

****

After finishing the preparations, Ye-seon offered Chaewon a small smile and slowly stepped back.

“Then… I’ll be assisting you from inside, through the microphone. Just listen to my voice and follow along slowly.”

“Yes.”

“Take one deep breath, and relax your mind.”

After Ye-seon turned and walked away, Chaewon quietly watched his retreating back.

He then let out a deep breath and repeatedly clenched and unclenched his tense hands.

Thinking that he should simply do the best he could, just as Ye-seon said, eased his nerves more than expected.

“Chaewon, can you hear me clearly?”

Ye-seon’s voice came through the microphone.

Chaewon nodded and answered softly, “Yes.”

“There’s a ball on the table in front of you. Use your power to move it in any way. You can push it, lift it, or pull it toward you.”

“Ah……”

“This room is designed to withstand an Esper’s power, so don’t worry about anything else and just try using it.”

Staring at the ball placed about three meters away, Chaewon took another deep breath.

Most Espers awakened by explosively releasing suppressed instinct, made figuring out how to use their power relatively easy.

But Chaewon had been unconscious at the moment of awakening.

He had later been told things like how light had erupted from his body, but his own memory had been cut off completely.

There was nothing he could trace back through recollection.

As Chaewon hesitated, unsure how to exert his power despite Ye-seon’s guidance, Ye-seon spoke again.

“Chaewon, could you try closing your eyes?”

Without asking anything, Chaewon quietly did as instructed.

To be honest, he wasn’t even in a position to question it.

Right now, he was simply grateful that Ye-seon was talking to him at all.

It felt like encountering a lighthouse in the middle of a vast, empty sea.

Once Chaewon closed his eyes, Ye-seon continued.

“Relax, and try to feel the power inside you. Don’t doubt yourself. If you can’t trust yourself yet, you can trust me. There’s no way we misidentified the power you possess.”

Ye-seon spoke as though he knew exactly what Chaewon was worried about.

Chaewon briefly wondered if Ye-seon might be one of those Espers with mental-type abilities, maybe even mind reading.

Realizing that thought was completely unhelpful, Chaewon quickly pushed it aside and focused.

“You already know how to use that power. You just need to find what you already know.”

Turning Ye-seon’s calm voice over in his mind, Chaewon slowly focused inward.

Suddenly, he remembered the intense heat that had wrapped around his body when he lost consciousness, sensing death.

It was nothing like the pain he had felt before.

At the time, he had thought it was simply what dying felt like.

Slowing his breathing, Chaewon quietly observed himself.

At that exact moment, his limp fingertips twitched.

The heat he thought existed only in memory now burned vividly inside him.

Reflexively clenching his fist, Chaewon doggedly followed the trace of that power.

Instinctively, he knew it was something he could control.

Like a crouching creature, it lay hidden deep in his lower abdomen.

His will approached it slowly, as though waking it from sleep.

And the moment he finally drew that tightly gathered power through his entire body-

“What is this-!”

An exclamation burst from Ye-seon’s mouth as he watched, holding his breath.

A faint blue light began to rise from Chaewon’s body.

When Chaewon opened his eyes, a blinding radiance flooded the examination room, making it impossible to look directly at him.

****

“Team Leader, what on earth is that-!”

One of the team members watching alongside him exclaimed, but Ye-seon didn’t answer.

His gaze was locked onto Chaewon beyond the glass wall.

The dazzling light that had erupted moments ago was gone, replaced by a soft blue glow enveloping Chaewon’s entire body.

Ye-seon had encountered countless Espers and reviewed even more data, but this was the first time he had seen light wrap around someone so completely.

It was clearly different from the way Espers with water or fire abilities sometimes cloaked their bodies in power.

Though the microphone was turned off, Ye-seon didn’t even breathe, afraid that any sound might break Chaewon’s concentration.

He had hoped Chaewon might at least be B-rank, given how rare Telekinetics were in Korea.

But the certainty that it wouldn’t end there made Ye-seon’s heart pound.

The machines violently vibrating as they recorded Chaewon’s condition only reinforced his intuition.

Unaware of what Ye-seon was thinking, Chaewon was lost in a world of his own.

An exhilaration he had never once felt in his life surged through his entire body.

Simply being freed from the constant heaviness, fatigue, and pain he had lived with after awakening as an Esper already felt like a new life.

But what he felt now was on an entirely different level.

It couldn’t even be compared.

An intangible force filled him from the crown of his head to the tips of his fingers.

Chaewon knew he could use this power as much as he wanted.

Slowly, he extended one hand forward.

Fixing his gaze on the ball in the distance, he recalled Ye-seon’s instruction to move it.

The moment he thought about lifting the ball, blue light surged from his hand like smoke and shot toward it.

Startled by his own action, Chaewon inhaled sharply, but he didn’t release the power.

The light wrapped around the ball and slowly lifted it into the air.

The ball, neither large nor heavy, floated effortlessly.

Before the thought ‘I want to pull it closer’ even fully formed, the light shortened and drew the ball toward him.

It wasn’t a sequence of actions so much as an immediate response, like moving a hand or foot.

Watching the blue light, still shaped like smoke or rippling waves, Chaewon finally had to admit it.

He really had awakened as an Esper.

Could he really save people with this power?

Could he truly protect the world, like the Espers he’d seen on the news?

Could someone as insignificant as him really do that?

His thoughts spun wildly.

The crushing weight of worry and the excitement slowly creeping in made his chest ache.

He had never once held anything good in his life, so how could something like this happen to him now?

Please don’t let this be a dream.

If it is, then let me wake up before I start hoping too much.

As he reached out to grasp the ball he had drawn right in front of him…

His vision spun.

In an instant, the light vanished, and the ball dropped to the floor with a dull thud.

Chaewon didn’t even register it.

Faster still, his consciousness faded, and his body collapsed to the ground.

“Chaewon!”

If this was a dream, he wished he would never wake again.

And just like that, darkness swallowed everything.