As soon as they arrived, Cheon Geon-young approached the area where he had set up the shields. He removed the heavy stones he had placed for camouflage and checked the equipment that was deeply embedded in the ground in stake form.

Yoon Tae-ha would normally have gone straight to Cheon Geon-young, but it was difficult for her to speak to him. She was reluctant to face his cold face again, the one that hadn’t looked at her. So she went to the opposite side. When she cleared away the stones with her psychokinesis, thick stake-shaped equipment emerged. Yoon Tae-ha checked the remaining battery power and began the inspection step by step.

The lights were still off in Choi Bo-mi’s camper van. Through Jet, she received a report that they were returning from afar.

― Lima 2-1, Lima 2-2, all clear.

“Ask if they need an escort. If it’s a location where they can be tracked, I’ll go meet them.”

After a moment of silence, Jet replied.

― Lima 2-1 requested that I convey that we should not fight and get along well while they are gone.

Yoon Tae-ha pictured Choi Bo-mi’s grinning face and put the inspected equipment back into the ground. She moved one space over and repeated the same task.

“Jet. You didn’t save the conversation I had with the Amdukias today, did you?”

― That is correct. Jet is not a living being, so it cannot understand the words of a monster. Only your voice was saved.

“His voice was quite nice. What a shame.”

― I am curious about what conversation you had.

Yoon Tae-ha’s fingers, which had been moving diligently, paused for a moment.

Eventually, through location tracking, it would be revealed that she and her partner had performed a spatial movement that humans couldn’t do. She would also have to reveal to the coalition team that she would receive help from the Amdukias. Having finished her thoughts, she said.

“I’m going to get help. From that unicorn.”

― Is there anything else I can help you with?

“Hmm, no.”

― Understood. Jet is always waiting to help you, Master.

Cheon Geon-young had approached a few steps behind her before she knew it. Yoon Tae-ha took off her stuffy helmet. When she took off her goggles as well, a slightly clearer world came into view.

Unlike her, Cheon Geon-young still hadn’t taken off any of his equipment. Seeing him in a state where he could be immediately deployed for a new mission even evoked a sense of respect.

Following the rules, that was the right thing to do. It was recommended to deactivate protective gear after entering a safe place. It was just that she didn’t diligently follow them.

Cheon Geon-young finished checking the last shield and said.

“Wash up first. I’ll just take a quick look around.”

She said okay and then, leading her tired body, opened the door of the camper van. A sense of relief washed over her as she stepped inside.

The accumulated tension in her body melted away, and a groan escaped her lips involuntarily. Even the strong cherry scent emitted by the air freshener smelled fragrant.

Yoon Tae-ha, feeling like she was taking off waterlogged logs, removed her boots and stood them up on one side of the shoe rack. When she removed the various protective gear and communication devices, her body felt as light as if it could fly.

Finally, she also slipped off her field uniform. All that remained on her slender, deer-like body was a sweat-soaked tank top and underwear.

She quickly checked if there were any injuries sustained during the battle. Because her senses were damaged, it was common for her to overlook injuries. It didn’t matter when she was alone, but she didn’t want Cheon Geon-young to see it. Fortunately, she wasn’t hurt today.

Yoon Tae-ha entered the bathroom and turned on the faucet with trembling, tired hands. The bathroom even had a shower booth attached, so there was no inconvenience.

After showering, she turned the lever on the wall to replenish the water. An underground water tank was hidden beneath the hideout’s ground, allowing them to draw water from a nearby lake.

Wearing loose-fitting short sleeves and shorts, she carefully opened the bathroom door. Cheon Geon-young hadn’t returned yet. It seemed he planned to return late out of consideration for her.

No matter how expensive the car was, it was a car, not a house. It was difficult to consider it a private space.

Yoon Tae-ha rotated her stiff wrist and sat down on the living room sofa.

‘What else do I have to do?’

Washing in warm water had made her incredibly drowsy. She desperately wanted to quit everything and jump into bed to sleep.

Weighing the tasks at hand against her fatigue, she focused her eyes, thinking of Cheon Geon-young, who still hadn’t returned. And she put a candy in her mouth after finishing brushing her teeth. It was an expression of her will not to sleep.

Turning on the tablet, she piled pillows on the bed and leaned against them.

“Jet. Did Guillermo contact us?”

― Contact was made 30 minutes ago. Would you like to view it?

“Please.”

As she quickly spun a pen between her fingers, her drowsiness slightly receded. She began to read the data Guillermo had organized.

“Half-human, half-beast chimera, estimated to be around rank 5 in monster classification...”

― The coalition team considers the highly aggressive chimera they encountered to be around rank 8. Direct comparison is difficult, though.

“What was the highest-ranked monster I dealt with single-handedly?”

― The scorpion-human Girttablullu was the highest at rank 10.

She shuddered, recalling the scorpion-human with three terrifying poison stingers.

It was a monster she had dealt with not long after realizing the truth about the Ark. Yoon Tae-ha, needing a place to vent her anger, had stormed into the scorpion-human’s hideout alone, despite the dissuasion of those around her, and dealt with it.

In fact, her memories of that time were fragmented. The sensation of heat rushing through her as if a fuse had blown after being stung in the thigh was vivid, though.

“I have no idea how I did that.”

― That was a representative incident explaining your madness, Master. Rank 10 is a monster with a difficulty level that requires at least one S-class and three A-class espers working together.

“I couldn’t do it again if you asked me to. That was almost three years ago.”

― You should not.

Hearing the voice of the artificial intelligence worrying about her, she smiled weakly. She felt ambivalent every time Jet was like this.

Yoon Tae-ha, massaging her tired calves, turned off all the electronic devices. And she put them in the security box she always carried. The box was special equipment for blocking eavesdropping. The organization she belonged to was not a place that would be afraid of hacking its members’ cell phones.

Drowsiness washed over her, but she opened the illustrated book of plants native to the green sea. It was because Cheon Geon-young still hadn’t returned.

Yoon Tae-ha rubbed her eyes and lay face down on the bed, reading the book. Then, she rested her cheek on her arm and dozed off. Having fallen into a light sleep, she lifted her heavy eyelids at the sound of someone getting onto the bed.

Cheon Geon-young, his hair still wet, was looking down at her. A faint scent of soap emanated from him. Yoon Tae-ha barely parted her stubbornly closed lips.

“Did you just get here?”

She asked, slowly raising herself up. Cheon Geon-young, who had sat down on the edge of the bed, nodded. The inside of the car, with only one small lamp lit, was dark.

“If you were planning to go that far, you should have woken me up...”

“Who would wake someone who’s this tired?”

Cheon Geon-young gently poked her feverish cheek. Yoon Tae-ha, still half-asleep, had no energy to resist. She hugged the blankets scattered around and lay back down.

“How’s the wound on your calf? Has it almost healed?”

Muttering with her eyes closed, she heard Cheon Geon-young chuckle softly.

“You can’t even open your eyes, but you’re worried about that?”

“It’s uncomfortable when I walk.”

“It’s okay. It’s all healed.”

There was a rustling sound. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Cheon Geon-young had fully gotten onto the bed.

“Stretch out your legs.”

She stretched out her legs reluctantly. His large palm touched her calf. Cheon Geon-young began to massage it carefully.

As he pressed the tense, stiff muscles without causing pain, a strange sound threatened to escape her lips. Yoon Tae-ha pulled the blanket up to cover her mouth.

His hand, which had been moving up and down her lower leg, went down to her ankle. When his thumb and index finger touched the hollow space behind her anklebone, Yoon Tae-ha couldn’t help but let out a short sound.

“Does it hurt?”

“I injured it there before... but it feels good. It felt good, that’s why.”

The strength of his touch lessened. A moment later, after pleasantly loosening her ankle, he suddenly grabbed the sole of her foot. Yoon Tae-ha sat up abruptly as if having a seizure.

“You don’t have to!”

He retorted with a surprised expression.

“This will feel the best. I learned it in school.”

She gave him a puzzled look.

“Massage techniques?”

“A way to loosen muscles. Lie back down.”

At his firm voice, she lay down weakly. She had washed thoroughly with soap, but she was still embarrassed. Cheon Geon-young, who had casually begun acupressure on the soles of her feet, only poked the sore spots. Yoon Tae-ha, simultaneously experiencing the coolness of the knots loosening and a tingling pain, murmured softly.

“It feels like there’s emotion in it.”

“I’m being gentle.”

“No, that just now, that was real emotion, ugh.”

She finally groaned and hid her feet under the thin blanket. Her heart felt like it would leap out of her mouth. The peaceful air on the bed became taut. Cheon Geon-young looked at the air for a moment and then got up.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll just read a little and then sleep.”

Yoon Tae-ha, curled up and lying down, closed her eyes to try and regain her already fled sleep. But it didn’t work as she wished. The place where his touch had been felt terribly empty.

Whenever Cheon Geon-young’s hand touched her, it felt like her dead senses were coming back to life. Even just the acupressure from before. The strength itself wasn’t particularly strong, but every place he touched tingled. The feeling of her damaged senses returning was so intense that she unknowingly let out suppressed groans.

‘You even solved the blackout on the subway.’

He might really be reviving her senses. She wanted to live a little longer, without pain. What she had believed to be a pipe dream felt close enough to touch.

Yoon Tae-ha looked at the profile of the man sitting on the sofa, focused on his book. Gratitude and longing for him mixed formlessly. The cry that she shouldn’t be swayed by a guide sounded fainter than ever.

She was as impatient as a child tasting candy for the first time. Even when she was little, she had never whined about wanting something sweet. To have her stomach ache with longing at twenty-three...

How long had she been staring at him? The inside of the car, which had been filled only with the sound of pages turning, suddenly fell silent. Cheon Geon-young closed his book with a snap.

“I could never be a sniper.”

She blinked at his incomprehensible words. Cheon Geon-young put away his book and adjusted the light of the lamp on the table to its lowest setting.

He smiled as he leisurely approached and saw her curled up in the corner of the bed. Yoon Tae-ha, as if bewitched by his smile, couldn’t think at all. Why was he so relaxed? She even felt a sense of defiance.