Chapter 40: The Battlefield’s Peculiarities

Upon arriving at the building assigned for their accommodations, Sa-yoon began distributing the card keys.

He pulled them, one by one, from where he had haphazardly stuffed them into his pocket, placing them into the hands of each Esper.

“You can find your way by following the numbers written here,” he explained. “Inside your rooms, you’ll find emergency contact information and all necessary preparations already made.”

With that, he waved his hand, signaling them to find their own way to their rooms. Watching Sa-yoon dismiss the Espers, Levian spoke, addressing those behind him.

“You all heard him, right?” Levian’s voice carried. “There shouldn’t be any idiots here who can’t find their own beds without guidance, so go on in yourselves.”

“Just remember, if you cause any trouble, you’ll be meeting me first.”

Levian herded the Espers toward the building, then turned and stood before Sa-yoon once more.

Sa-yoon, now left alone with him, stared at Levian, failing to grasp the situation.

“Let’s go,” Levian stated. “Please guide me to my room.”

‘What kind of man is this?’ Sa-yoon sighed inwardly, watching Levian willingly declare himself an idiot incapable of finding his own room. ‘Indeed, the Director’s words about there being no sane S-ranks weren’t spoken in vain.’

“The elevator is on the right.”

Thinking to quickly drop him off at his room, Sa-yoon started walking. Levian, following half a step behind, tilted his head to the side and observed Sa-yoon.

“Esper Jin Sa-yoon, you are quite different from the rumors.”

“I wasn’t aware my rumors had spread overseas.”

“You’re too modest.”

Sa-yoon paid him no mind, continuing to Levian’s room. He wasn’t curious about any rumors. It was obvious they would paint him as self-indulgent, lazy, or antisocial. That was, in fact, the image Sa-yoon cultivated.

His deliberate efforts to deter overly familiar people had, over time, solidified into his perceived personality.

“You are more beautiful than I heard.”

“Pardon?”

‘Is my translator malfunctioning?’ Sa-yoon unnecessarily tapped the device on his ear. ‘Handsome. Cool. Even ‘pretty’ would be understandable, but beautiful?’ Even Sa-yoon, confident in his looks, was dumbfounded by this unprecedented compliment.

“You are far more beautiful than you appeared in the reference footage.”

He even said it twice. Sa-yoon instinctively pressed his lips together.

“Your compliment… I appreciate it. However, I don’t think it’s an appropriate word. Please, go inside now.”

Sa-yoon snatched the card key from Levian’s hand and swiped it against the keypad. With a soft beep, the lock disengaged, and he swiftly pulled the door open.

“Then please rest well. You seem tired from the long flight, so perhaps a glass of cold water.”

“Don’t you intend to come in with me? It would be even better if you stayed until night.”

‘Is this the American mindset?’ Levian was from Europe, not America, but it certainly wasn’t an Asian mindset. Sa-yoon unfolded a pamphlet and thrust it into Levian’s chest.

“As you can see on the map, the dining hall is on the third floor of the second building to the right. Breakfast is until 10 AM, so be sure to go before then. The *doenjang jjigae* is delicious, though I don’t know if it will suit your taste.”

“You’re not even pretending to listen.”

“I wonder if they have bread for breakfast. I’ll ask the dining hall to prepare some with butter for you.”

Sa-yoon quickly pushed Levian inside the door. There was no need to respond to nonsense. Levian merely smiled, his face artfully sly.

“If you don’t like me, how about a threesome? You can even choose the other person, Sa-yoon.”

Sa-yoon, who had been rolling up his sleeves to push Levian’s remaining back inside, froze. This situation felt like a complete déjà vu. Being propositioned for s*x upon first meeting, and then, to top it off, a threesome offer?

‘To experience such an absurd event twice in one lifetime, what is this situation?’ Sa-yoon, who had until then maintained a semblance of politeness, pursed his lips and glared at Levian.

Han Do-hoon, who had returned from overseas deployment, Han Do-hoon, who had long toiled on the battlefield, had said exactly the same thing. And now Levian, fresh from the battlefield.

“Is a threesome the norm on the battlefield? Why are all the guys who come back from there like this?”

‘Is the environment there bad? Or is it because they’ve ‘drank foreign water’?’ At Sa-yoon’s rhetorical question, it was Levian’s turn to look puzzled. His expression was disingenuous, as if he’d never heard such a thing.

“The battlefield? Not at all. It’s just my personal method for seducing people. A rare flexibility, you might say, in a place filled with possessive madmen like the battlefield.”

“Ah, I see. That’s truly fascinating information.”

Sa-yoon turned his head away entirely, giving a perfunctory reply.

“I don’t know why a threesome conversation led to talk of the battlefield, but what I said is true. It’s hard to find people willing to share anything on the battlefield.”

“Because it’s a place where if you don’t take, you’ll be taken from.”

Sa-yoon frowned at the loaded words. ‘What an excessively grand description for a place.’ No matter how he put it, it was just another deployment zone for Espers.

“Then what are you?”

“A pervert.”

Levian stated it cheerfully, then pondered for a moment before speaking again.

“Hmm, perhaps the translation is off? A sexual deviant? Someone with unusual sexual desires?”

“It was conveyed perfectly accurately.”

Deciding there was nothing more to hear, Sa-yoon forcefully pushed Levian halfway into the room. Levian, bracing his large frame against the door, suddenly poked his head out and looked at Sa-yoon.

“Just in case, if someone from the battlefield offered you a threesome, it’s good to remember this.”

“There’s no such person. Please go inside quietly.”

“That guy is one of two things: a pervert like me. Or, if not, a madman pretending to be normal to get his hands on you by any means necessary.”

Sa-yoon’s action of pushing the door with his foot halted.

“Remember this. In either case, it’s best to avoid him.”

“Thank you for the advice. I’ll do my best to avoid you from now on, so please get lost.”

Sa-yoon completely shoved Levian, who was muttering through the palm-sized gap, into the room and shut the door. If he had his way, he’d change the door’s location to prevent him from ever coming out. That seemed like it would contribute to world peace.

‘A madman pretending to be normal.’

Levian had said that without knowing that Han Do-hoon was the one who had tried to flirt with Sa-yoon. Yet, strangely, while it didn’t quite fit Han Do-hoon, it still suited him. After all, Sa-yoon had initially thought Han Do-hoon was a madman.

Sa-yoon clasped his hands together and stretched broadly.

But that was old thinking. After spending a long time with Han Do-hoon, he realized he was just a clumsy and rigid person. Someone so inflexible that he would throw himself in front of a bomb, knowing it meant death. A madman wouldn’t be so self-sacrificing.

He was far from the madman Levian was describing.

“Hmm…”

Sa-yoon switched on his device.

[Jin Sa-yoon]

[If our dinner plans are still on, shall we meet today?] 05:23 PM

The ‘1’ next to the chat quickly disappeared.

[Han Do-hoon]

[Sounds good. I’ll head to your office now.] 05:23 PM

A faint smile touched Sa-yoon’s lips as he confirmed the reply. It was a smile he didn’t even realize he was making.

Contrary to their flamboyant first impression, the overseas Espers lived quietly. At first, a few of the more aggressive ones nearly clashed with the Headquarters Espers, but after a few days, they ignored each other as if they didn’t exist, sticking to their own groups.

The strange thing was that they didn’t even exchange glances with the domestic Espers who had returned from the battlefield. While it was understandable to ignore the Headquarters Espers, who were complete strangers, even those they had worked with for at least several months pretended not to know each other.

“They’re truly peculiar people,” Chae-jun murmured. Sa-yoon nodded in agreement. After the initial five Espers were deployed, ten more arrived in succession. The additional ones were all strikingly similar in personality: belligerent and simple.

‘Simple’ was a generous way of putting it. To be frank, they were closer to beasts. They’d wake up scratching their bellies in the middle of the day, lie on the ground in their underwear, or float in the pool all day like sea otters. Some even squatted, watching only ants. To an outsider, their daily lives looked as if they were on drugs.

“The battlefield must ruin people.”

“But Team Leader Han Do-hoon and the first team members seem perfectly fine.”

‘And that’s considered ‘fine’?’ The world truly was coming to an end. Sa-yoon shook his head.

“Hmm, well, I suppose there are exceptions. Levian also seems fine, doesn’t he?”

“He’s so ‘fine’ it’s a problem. There have already been several love-triangle fights.”

Levian, who had showered Sa-yoon with smooth talk upon their first meeting, was naturally that kind of man. He went around charming everyone, busy seducing people who suited his taste and dragging them to his bedroom.

Given his considerable abilities and good looks, his success rate seemed high. He often invited multiple people at once, leading to frequent love-triangle disputes.

“How many times have fights broken out just to impress the higher-ranked ones? If we leave them be, a victor will emerge. They’ll be returning overseas anyway, so everyone is wasting their energy.”

“The problem is he specifically seduces only Espers. The scale of their fights is definitely larger than with Guides.”

This, too, was unusual. Espers typically preferred Guides over other Espers. This wasn’t a discriminatory statement against Guides; it was simply their nature. For Espers, another Esper like themselves stimulated competitiveness more than lust.

Levian acted indifferently towards Guides, selectively pursuing only Espers. To only date Espers, even without a unique condition like Han Do-hoon’s, was indeed a peculiar trait.