Chapter 41: The Lunatic Who Was Still Waiting for the Scout Team

“There was no need to tie me up… I can’t run anyway.”

“Why aren’t you asking anything?”

“You wouldn’t answer even if I did.”

“As expected from Jung Lee Chae—smart.”

Lee Chae swallowed dryly, heart pounding, but kept his face calm.

Should I use a defensive skill?

No, better not. If Yeo-jun was working with monsters and still looked perfectly human, he had to be a humanoid-type. But he’d also been a guide in the cleanup crew. He already knew all of Lee Chae’s skills—if Lee Chae used one clumsily, it could backfire.

“You just have to kill some time here.”

“…So if time passes, you’ll let me go?”

“What’s the point of letting you go? Once we achieve our goal, going outside won’t matter anyway.”

Why stall for time here? The monsters’ ultimate goal wasn’t coexistence—it was total human extinction. Lee Chae couldn’t figure out how him being locked up helped that.

“You probably already guessed, so don’t do anything stupid and stay quiet.”

BAM. Yeo-jun slammed the iron door and left. Lee Chae was alone in the warehouse. A cold premonition wrapped around his whole body.

If something happens to me… what about Mom and Dad? My little brother?

In a crisis, family always worried him more than the country. But today, only Haejin’s face kept appearing.

Does he even know I’ve been kidnapped? He’s not idiotically waiting in front of the lecture hall, right?

He closed his eyes and focused to erase the thought. D-rank or not, if there were no visible injuries, he could at least purify his own energy. His condition had improved a lot lately from being around Haejin—he could try something.

Deep breath. He drew energy from his toes to the top of his head. Warmth slowly rose; his body heated up.

“F*ck, Cha Haejin…”

But thoughts of Haejin wouldn’t disappear. He said he’d follow him until death, yet when it actually mattered, where the hell was he? While inwardly cursing Haejin, Lee Chae suddenly realized something important he’d forgotten.

Wait—is this because of Cha Haejin?

To monsters, Cha Haejin was always a threat. If Yeo-jun was a humanoid-type—the most dangerous kind—the goal was obvious: use Lee Chae as bait to manipulate Haejin.

“No way. Is Cha Haejin shot in the head? He wouldn’t sacrifice his life just to save me…”

It was a laughably amateur strategy. Someone who knew espers’ selfishness better than anyone wouldn’t make a plan with near-zero success rate—even if Lee Chae had high compatibility. Headquarters was overflowing with guides who could do the same job; Haejin could find another any time he wanted.

But… what if Haejin lost his mind and actually did everything they demanded and died?

Could headquarters’ army protect the citizens without him? No guarantee. To prevent that, Lee Chae had to escape somehow. But how? Everything looked hopeless.

He never should’ve gotten involved with an esper like Cha Haejin in the first place. This was all because he kept getting dragged along.

“No way… he’s an esper too. It was just instinct. We haven’t known each other long enough for him to risk his life. I’ll just die alone.”

That thought was easier to accept.

“Any signal yet?”

“Esper-nim, you asked five minutes ago. Even S-ranks need time to find a D-rank guide. And we’re not tracking the guide’s energy—we’re tracking your energy on the guide. That takes longer.”

Haejin clutched his head and stormed out. Staying inside would only make him a nuisance. He couldn’t believe he was doing nothing while Lee Chae was kidnapped.

“Hyung! Hyung!”

Jae-hyung came running down the hall. Haejin had sent him to the cleanup crew earlier in case there was any clue.

Please let him have found something…

“Anything?”

“No… nothing special. They just said he showed up every day and guided diligently. Isn’t it weird that a humanoid-type main body only guided low-ranks? If the goal was information, they would’ve gone for high-ranks—ah.”

Jae-hyung paused, then continued.

“Well, approaching high-ranks would risk their energy being detected.”

“The address registered with the cleanup crew?”

“I went—it’s a completely different person living there.”

“Ha…”

“And… I stopped by sister-in-law’s parents’ place.”

“You should’ve just told them he’s staying late for school.”

“I tried, but I was wearing esper uniform, so they wouldn’t even let me inside. Guess they’ve had bad experiences with espers.”

“So you couldn’t tell them?”

“No—I yelled from the street. Told them everything’s fine, not to worry.”

“Good job.”

Haejin’s face was the picture of death. He looked like a corpse after just a few hours.

“Hyung… have you eaten? At least drink some milk.”

Haejin ignored him, turned away like it was annoying. Jae-hyung gave up persuading and left. Watching Haejin die inside was unbearable—he had to do something. He decided to follow any shadow energy left behind.

Knock, knock.

A small sound came from outside the iron door. Lee Chae, senses on high alert, flinched and stomped. The door flew open, light pouring in. He squinted—then saw Ki-jun.

The tiny hope that it might be Haejin collapsed. Lee Chae looked away, disappointed.

“C-collateral… hurt anywhere? Want medicine? Did someone hit you? You can’t hit collateral!”

Ki-jun acted like he was on Lee Chae’s side even though he was with the humanoid-type. He looked genuinely worried, checked Lee Chae’s face, and brushed hair off his forehead. Lee Chae jerked his head away with a scowl.

“F*ck off, your hand’s disgusting. Monster.”

“…I’m not a monster!”

“Then what are you? Why the hell did you kidnap me and torment me?”

Ki-jun yelped, covering Lee Chae’s mouth.

“Q-quiet! I sneaked here—if they catch me we’re both dead. Yeo-jun’s out, but lamia guys are watching! Be careful, collateral.”

“…?”

Lee Chae tried to bite the hand; Ki-jun hurriedly added,

“The meat earlier gave me strength. Yeo-jun won’t let me come here. Subordinates are watching like hawks—if we’re caught, we both die. So be careful.”

Lee Chae nodded. Whether Ki-jun really wanted to help or it was another trap, getting caught by the guards was bad.

Ki-jun removed his hand and pouted.

“Apologize for calling me monster.”

“If you’re not a monster, what are you? Same species as Kang Yeo-jun?”

“No! I’m not a sudden-appearing monster or a mutant! Mom said—no matter what, remember your roots! So I’m not a monster!”

Lee Chae had no idea what he was talking about. Not human, not monster, not mutant—what else was there?

“Wait…”

His eyes widened.

No way…

The only non-monster, non-mutant creature left was… dragon.

Seeing a dragon from legends right in front of him—Lee Chae couldn’t believe it and stammered,

“D-dragons… all died in the war. Fighting on the human side…”

At that, Ki-jun collapsed to the floor, buried his face between his knees, and sobbed, shoulders shaking. Big body, but everything he did was like a child.

Lee Chae suddenly remembered a tiny corner of a history book. When gates opened and unknown monsters appeared, dragons—who had lived hidden in deep forests and rivers—revealed themselves. They said they wanted to fight together to protect rivers and forests, but traumatized humans misunderstood and slaughtered them indiscriminately. Only later did humans realize the truth and accept them as allies—by then most dragons were already dead.

Now it all made sense: the clumsy speech, the ignorance of the world.

Lee Chae suddenly felt sorry for Ki-jun.

“Don’t cry. I’m sorry for calling you a monster. Evil humanoids and good dragons aren’t even comparable. I was wrong.”

“Snff… hic…”

Ki-jun forced his head up, face soaked with tears, still sniffling. Knowing he was a dragon somehow made Lee Chae’s heart ache more.

“But why are you here? Won’t Yeo-jun be mad?”