Having finished his afternoon schedule, Baek Sang-ho noticed a red-haired foreigner approaching him. Not again. He frowned deeply.

“Shark!”

The middle-aged man shouted with a cheerful smile, extending his hand as if wanting to shake Baek Sang-ho’s. Baek Sang-ho moved nimbly like a man trained in martial arts, but was caught by him in the hallway.

“Shark, is this how you do things?”

“Who are you?”

“I heard you brought a white lancer!”

The red-haired foreigner, Guillermo, poured out words through his translator.

“Lend me that esper just once. Our team needs her.”

Those who knew of Yoon Tae-ha’s achievements all wanted to recruit her into their own teams.

Since arriving at the Acheron camp, Baek Sang-ho had received countless requests from top espers of various nationalities to borrow Yoon Tae-ha just once.

Today, it just happened to be a joint team.

“It’s not like she’s a book stuck in a library. Whether I lend her or not is not my decision.”

He refused firmly. But Guillermo was persistent.

“We need a dealer who can handle both the front lines and long-range attacks.”

“You should look for something like that in a game.”

“Who would play a game with such a character? Balance is a delicate and subtle issue. It’s because this is reality that such a woman exists.”

Guillermo irritated Baek Sang-ho with his extremely logical words.

“We’re using her sparingly too. Her stamina isn’t that great.”

“Health! The tragedy of us all. I know.”

Guillermo probed his opponent with a subtle gaze.

“But I heard there’s another tragedy.”

“......”

“I heard there’s a woman who went from the Korean office to Orca. Our team in Cocytus got a report. Want to hear it?”

“No matter what information you give me, you can’t borrow Yoon Tae-ha. We have a mountain of work to handle on our end.”

“Tsk. Then is it okay to ask her directly?”

“What’s your reason for wanting to take her? There should be plenty of good espers over there too.”

At the blunt question, Guillermo replied nonchalantly.

“Two of them died yesterday. We sent a scouting party to Phlegethon, but they were caught in an Orca ambush. Fortunately, we found the bodies last night.”

Baek Sang-ho, who had been walking steadily down the hallway, stopped abruptly. He turned to look at the man beside him.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Guillermo.”

At the polite condolences, Guillermo smiled wryly.

“If we apologized every time someone died, we’d be apologizing to each other all day long. In the meantime, Orca would go berserk.”

“I will personally deal with the traitor in our team.”

His voice was resolute. Guillermo was also a man who had led a team for a long time. He patted Baek Sang-ho lightly on the shoulder with an expression that understood his pain.

“There’s no definite proof. Possibilities like brainwashing or mind manipulation are still open.”

Baek Sang-ho and Guillermo began walking again. They passed through the plaza and headed towards the space where the espers trained. Baek Sang-ho, looking around with a slightly gloomy face, continued speaking.

“There are no psychic espers. Espers only use physical power. We believe the possibility of her joining them willingly is the highest.”

“What about the foreigners from beyond the rift? They brainwash people and even swap souls, don’t they? Horrifyingly.”

“Their abilities always surpass ours.”

“You don’t need to be more lenient just because someone is close to you, but I don’t think there’s a reason to be stricter either.”

The shouts of the espers grew closer. Baek Sang-ho opened the door to the building where the training room was for Guillermo.

“But why did you come here?”

“Because I can at least say hello.”

“Hmm?”

Guillermo, with a puzzled look, followed behind Baek Sang-ho. The espers who recognized them bowed respectfully. Baek Sang-ho’s footsteps stopped in a huge gymnasium with mats laid out. Espers wielding training spears at each other were sparsely seen.

“She should be here somewhere. She’s a member with a strict routine.”

A loud noise came from the innermost part. There were even spectators. Guillermo stroked his beard with interest and quickened his pace.

“Over there, you see the white short sleeves?”

Baek Sang-ho pointed to a woman with his chin. A woman wearing white short sleeves was facing four enemies wearing black short sleeves.

All five of them wore armbands. An armband that would disqualify them from the sparring as soon as it was severed. Guillermo identified the profiles of the four and frowned slightly.

“Two A-ranks and two B-ranks is a bit much, isn’t it? One of them is an American ace. The white lancer’s main ability is psychokinesis, right?”

“Well, her physical condition has been quite good lately.”

Attacks filled with killing intent landed one after another on the white short sleeves. The woman, dodging them with flexible movements, counterattacked by wielding a spear longer than her height. With swift advances and flowing slashes, the armbands of the two B-ranks were cleanly severed.

“Amazing!”

A Korean man perched on a nearby window shouted enthusiastically. Espers who had been tilting water bottles, soaked in sweat, turned their heads one by one towards the commotion.

The two A-ranks exchanged glances and then attacked using a time difference. One aimed for the upper body, the other for the ankle. If she flinched ambiguously, her armband would be in danger of being cut. Thwack! A seemingly painful blow landed on the white short sleeves’ ankle.

Giving up her ankle to protect her armband, she bounced off the esper below her and scraped her spear from the floor, powerfully thrusting it upwards at the person in the air.

Towards the enemy who had lost balance in mid-air with a scream, her spear lunged. The blade accurately grazed only the armband and fell away without hesitation.

“Oh! Quite sharp.”

Guillermo exclaimed with genuine admiration. Baek Sang-ho merely watched with his arms crossed, nonchalantly.

The last remaining black short sleeves lunged at her from behind. Yoon Tae-ha swung her spear high above her head to build momentum, then confronted him head-on with force. The fierce impact, unbelievable for a practice spar, echoed through the gymnasium. And it was the man in black short sleeves who fell backward.

The woman in white short sleeves trudged over and tore off her opponent’s armband with her own hands. The opponent, who had fought valiantly until the end, smiled brightly and took the victor’s hand to get up.

The defeated ones surrounded her, using various translation devices. Amazing, awe, colleague, salary, job change. Various words poured out.

Baek Sang-ho turned to Guillermo.

“What do you think?”

“Are you kidding me? That woman’s skills have improved! Could the Korean office be feeding her illegal drugs or something? Headquarters won’t tolerate that.”

Baek Sang-ho sighed as if it wasn’t worth answering. He called out the woman’s name loudly.

“Yoon Tae-ha!”

The woman, who had taken off her sweat-soaked white short sleeves, turned her body. An esper who unintentionally witnessed her curvaceous figure from the side gaped. Even though he knew she was wearing a black sleeveless top underneath, he looked shocked.

Yoon Tae-ha, who had rolled up her short sleeves and draped them around her neck like a scarf, approached Baek Sang-ho. Baek Sang-ho couldn’t hide his subtle proud smile, but his words weren’t kind.

“Did you come from the sauna? What’s that around your neck?”

“My clothes are too big, so they keep wrapping around me. I almost lost earlier because of this.”

After answering, she noticed the foreigner standing next to Baek Sang-ho. Guillermo smiled brightly and met Yoon Tae-ha’s eyes. He extended his hand for a handshake. Yoon Tae-ha politely accepted the handshake.

“Do you perhaps remember me?”

“I’m not good with riddles. Could you give me a hint?”

“We met on the sea. We fought against the scorching heat of the sun. And we aimed for the heart of a beast with a great harpoon.”

Yoon Tae-ha blinked with a vague expression. She didn’t remember doing anything that grand. Soon, she pressed the sweat flowing down her neck with her short sleeves and made a sound as if she had realized something. Guillermo’s eyes widened with anticipation.

“Did we meet when we were dealing with a whale’s heart?”

“Good heavens! You even have a good memory, you have everything!”

Baek Sang-ho muttered quietly next to Guillermo.

“Just going to give her one job...”

The sound was too small for the translator to even pick up. Guillermo introduced himself and his affiliation and immediately got to the point.

“Let’s talk about this where there are fewer people.”

Baek Sang-ho led Yoon Tae-ha and Guillermo out of the gymnasium. Guillermo led the conversation, naturally guiding Yoon Tae-ha along a walkway filled with flowers.

“So, you’re saying you want me to help Guillermo with a job once.”

“Exactly.”

“And the job is to find Orca’s research lab between Cocytus and Phlegethon. Is that right?”

“That’s right. Our team believes they’re creating unidentified life forms, so it’s an urgent matter.”

Yoon Tae-ha gave a drawn smile.

If she took this job, she might be able to roam the Green Sea without suspicion. Making a deal with Raphael would definitely take a considerable amount of time.

She needed something to make excuses for then. Something to tell Baek Sang-ho. Yoon Tae-ha willingly accepted the request for her alibi. Guillermo promised to send the related materials that evening.

The man who had gotten her help disappeared with a satisfied look. Yoon Tae-ha walked back with Baek Sang-ho.

“Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

“It overlaps with the route we have to take anyway. We’ll keep running into each other at the next camp too, who knows if ignoring a request for help will come back to bite us later.”

The words flowed out as if she had thought them through in advance. Baek Sang-ho nodded in agreement. Yoon Tae-ha headed towards the accommodation to wash up.

“We’re leaving in three days. The schedule is set, so prepare thoroughly.”

“Yes. I’ll pack well.”

She said her goodbyes and climbed the hill. Even the familiar hill path felt a little sad to say goodbye to in three days.

If she had come alone, would she have given meaning to each of these scenes?

Yoon Tae-ha, looking down at her throbbing ankle, carefully opened the door. With tense movements, as if sneaking into someone else’s room.

For the past few days, Cheon Geon-young had been away from home for a long time, practicing controlling fire in uninhabited areas. At this time, he would probably be training near the lakeside.

The plan was simple. Quietly wash up and wrap her ankle. And then eat dinner and pretend to fall asleep early. Surely he wouldn’t lift the blanket of someone who was sleeping.

She held onto the short sleeves around her neck and walked stealthily. Just then, unexpectedly, someone suddenly popped out from the utility room.

Cheon Geon-young, who had found Yoon Tae-ha, wore a welcoming expression.

“You’re here?”

His affectionate eyes immediately went to her ankle, which was bruised bluish-purple. Unfortunately, she was wearing shorts that revealed her thighs, so she couldn’t hide it. The complexion of the man who shared the same roof changed.