Chapter 93: An Unexpected Ally

I couldn’t sleep soundly, perhaps because the insomnia had returned.
Every time I woke up from a light sleep throughout the dawn, I checked if the communication was connected.
I thought the inspection would be over by morning, but it was still out of service by lunchtime.

I called the management office again to ask about the inspection status, but all they said was that it would be fixed within the day.

If this continued, I was thinking of going to the management office in person and requesting a call.
Or I was thinking of using Sehyun’s terminal, but since I still didn’t know Jinseok’s situation, I couldn’t act rashly.

It had already been three days since I had been here.
It was possible that they were waiting for the right moment, but since there had been no contact so far, there was also a possibility that Jinseok had failed to identify the location.
As time was delayed, I had no choice but to become more impatient.
There was also the option of enduring the fortnight here and leaving, but since there was no guarantee that I could leave safely after a fortnight, my mind was not at ease for a single moment.

As I was moving to Siyun’s guiding room, I asked Dr. Yoon, who was walking beside me.

“You’re really going to let me go after just a fortnight, right?”

“Of course. I promised, didn’t I.”

“I feel isolated here. When is the communication network going to be fixed? I want to call Wonjae after guiding.”

“Since this is a secret research lab, we are changing the communication network every week for security reasons. I would appreciate it if you would understand and be a little patient.”

“I understand the situation here well. Still, I want to call Wonjae, even if it means leaving here.”

“I understand. Then I will take measures so that you can make a call by tomorrow.”

Fortunately, I was relieved to hear that he would let me make a call.
If I could make a call tomorrow, I wanted to contact Jinseok and ask how the situation was going.

When we entered the guiding room, he was already there, sitting on a chair.
Seeing that, I also sat on a chair.
Since Dr. Yoon disliked me talking to him, I didn’t talk to him anymore.

• [You may begin guiding.]

At his words, I approached his wavelength with remote guiding.
His wavelength was still sharp, as if it were wary of me.
As I slowly soothed that wavelength, I could feel it become a little gentler.

I was concentrating on guiding when, just like last time, his voice came into my head.

「Guide-nim.」

When I just rolled my eyes and looked at him, he was looking down at the floor with his head bowed.

「Please don’t say anything and just listen. I want to talk with you. I have the ability to read other people’s memories and thoughts. If you say your thoughts in your head, I will read them and answer.」

As his explanation was conveyed, only then did I understand the reason why he had been able to talk to me without speaking until now.

At his words that he wanted to talk with me, I immediately thought in my head as he had said and asked.

「Like this?」

「Yes, like that. Dr. Yoon Jeongho must never know that we are talking.」

「I have no intention of ever telling. Don’t worry.」

Hearing his words, I thought that he might also distrust him.

「You have to get out of here quickly. Otherwise, you’ll be in danger.」

「What does that mean?」

I asked back without realizing it at his words that I was in danger.
Had he heard something in a place where I wasn’t?

「Dr. Yoon Jeongho has no intention of letting you out.」

Even without asking how he knew, it was credible.
Because I had already confirmed the fact that he was his closest aide.

「Tell me the situation in detail.」

「He’s going to lock you in here and use your ability like he does with me.」

I looked at him, who was talking with his assistant in the situation room.
He was pointing at the monitor and talking with his assistant.

「I saw your memories at our first meeting. You know my older brother and Sehyun-hyung, right?」

「You know Sehyun-ssi?」

My eyes widened at the news that he knew him, and the conversation I had with him suddenly came to mind.

‘A friend’s younger sibling disappeared a few years ago.’

‘Where?’

‘Well…. I heard that the child is at the Association.’

There was a high probability that the friend’s younger sibling he had mentioned was him.
That was the only way the puzzle fit.

「Yes. He’s my older brother’s friend.」

「Who is your brother?」

「In your memories, he was the leader of the anti-Awakened.」

I was surprised again at the words ‘leader of the anti-Awakened’.
Come to think of it, their faces did seem to resemble each other.
But I couldn’t completely believe his words.
He could have been brainwashed by him, or he could be trying to sound out my inner thoughts on his orders.

「Guide-nim, please don’t doubt me. I want to get out of here.」

Even if I wanted to hide my inner thoughts, it was an awkward situation since he could know them.
He pleaded with sincerity, as if there was no lie in his words.

「You came here to uncover his atrocities, right? I’ll help you, so please take me with you.」

It seemed he was also being forcibly exploited for his ability by him.
I had also seen him treat him like a puppet, so I couldn’t just pretend not to know.

「Okay. You’re being held here against your will, right?」

「Dr. Yoon said my brother died because of the government. So I was helping the Association, but it was all a lie….」

Hearing his explanation, I knew that he had been holding him captive by making a person who was alive into a dead person.
Since he was young, he must have been deceived by his words.

「If the brother you’re talking about is the leader of the anti-Awakened, then your brother is alive.」

「I thought he was dead all this time.」

I could see his eyes and the area around his mouth trembling.
He looked so pitiful that my heart ached.
Fortunately, it seemed that he and the researchers hadn’t noticed that I was talking to him.

If his words that he had no intention of letting me out were true, then I had to get out of here as soon as possible.

「If you can read memories, you should have been able to notice that he was lying, so why didn’t you know?」

「Dr. Yoon is a nullification ability Esper.」

To think that he was also an Esper.
It was news to me, so I was surprised.
If it was a nullification ability, he would have been able to deceive him easily.

His actions of deceiving him with his own ability and imprisoning him here were disgusting.

「I tried to run away after I found out it was a lie, but I thought I would be caught quickly if I left….」

「Why would you be caught quickly?」

「There’s a tracking device in my neck. I had it implanted at his words that I could be kidnapped by the government and die like my brother.」

When he first came here, he must have been even younger than now, so he would have had no choice but to believe the words of an adult like him.

「Since both of us have the goal of getting out of here, I think it would be good to escape together. What do you think?」

「I want to get out with you too. I’ll help with anything I can.」

With his mental-type ability, it would be much easier to get out of here.
I wanted to talk with him more, but it was cut short by him.

• [Let’s stop the guiding here.]

In the end, I told him I would see him tomorrow and returned to the third basement level.

According to his words, he had no intention of letting me out in the first place and had lured me to use my ability.

Since he didn’t know that I knew his plan, I decided to first say that I would quit the project and see how he reacted.

I lay down on the bed to rest for the day, but I could faintly feel his aura.
Surprised by his aura, I sat up again.
It was definitely his wavelength.

If he had also entered the research lab this time, like me, I might be able to get out with his help.
But as if to tell me not to have such thoughts, his wavelength quickly disappeared.

Originally, I was supposed to participate in the Multi project from this evening, but I made an excuse that I was not feeling well and skipped it.

He must have been worried about my health, as he came to my room.
At that, thinking it was a good opportunity, I told him I wanted to quit the project.
Now that I knew his true intentions, I didn’t want to drag things out here.

“I want to quit the project.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“Because it’s stuffy. I can’t contact my acquaintances. And you don’t let me go outside.”

“Please think about it for one more day. You said you wanted to leave the Association.”

“I want to get out of here more than the Association.”

At my words, he frowned and told me to think about it until tomorrow.
He also added that he would let me go if my mind didn’t change by tomorrow.
Unlike his words, I was suspicious that he would let me go so meekly, but since he said he would let me go, I had no reason to refuse.

The thought of leaving made me feel like I could breathe.

I had come to find out the location of the research lab, but I hadn’t thought I would be tied down like this.

As soon as I returned to the Association tomorrow, I would meet with Jinseok, identify the location of the secret research lab, and bring all of his unethical projects to the surface.

Just the thought of it made my mind at ease.
But the next day, Dr. Yoon had disappeared from the research lab.