172. Windless Zone 1

The two returned to camp and began tracking “Crow,” Orca’s key executive, the next day. The Director-General said he had sent agents to escort Alpha Team. However, the team members had a slightly different opinion.

“It’s more like surveillance than escort. Look at how those people stare at us. I don’t understand why fellow espers act like that.”

“I agree.”

Choi Bo-mi and Ji Seong-chan pointed out the agents’ hostile attitude. Baek Sang-ho wasn’t oblivious to it, but he too was in a position where he had to obey the Director-General’s orders.

“Think of it as just one of those days sometimes. Thanks to them, the search itself has become much easier.”

With the significantly increased number of combat support team members, Alpha Team didn’t need to worry about anything other than the search.

“Let’s focus on killing Crow.”

Ji Seong-chan had an argument with one of the newly deployed espers, but Baek Sang-ho’s mediation prevented a full-blown clash. He warned his guide that if he winked at him one more time, he’d create a third eye in the middle of his forehead. The other esper chuckled derisively and apologized.

“Those aren’t ordinary agents. I’m sure of it.”

Their impurity was so pronounced that even the relatively mild-mannered Ahn Jeong-seop expressed discomfort.

“How dare they disregard the leader of the National Office Alpha Team like that in the first place?”

While other Alpha Team agents voiced their complaints, Yoon Tae-ha meticulously observed the people sent by the Director-General. It took some time to look at all of them, but there were results. She found two familiar faces. As far as she knew, they belonged to a special operations unit that obeyed only Arc’s leader.

Yoon Tae-ha, now certain, revealed this a few days later in a meeting room where only Alpha Team was assembled.

“There’s a Titan among them.”

As expected, Baek Sang-ho reacted immediately.

“A special operations unit unit loyal to the Director-General.”

“Those murderers who just clean up after Geumgang-seop. I knew it.”

Ji Seong-chan, who had been busy moving his pen while taking notes, abruptly stopped and added in a grim voice. Yoon Tae-ha briefly met Cheon Geon-young’s eyes before speaking.

“There are two of them. One woman, one man. The woman’s name is Yeo Soo-min, and the man’s name is Oliver Cornet. Both are A-class espers.”

“Isn’t that Olive or Oliver guy the one who flirted with Yeon-yi?”

An esper asked a question. Yoon Tae-ha corrected him, stating that the man who was standing with his arms crossed behind the one who flirted was Oliver.

The table grew noisy as team members offered their opinions. Baek Sang-ho tapped the desk twice with his finger, and the team members instantly fell silent.

“Is anyone here on the Director-General’s bad side?”

Cheon Geon-young naturally tore his eyes from the map he was holding and focused on Baek Sang-ho. Yoon Tae-ha, witnessing his expressionless face, barely managed to suppress a laugh. Then she turned her head. At that moment, an esper sitting on the edge of a bookshelf raised his hand with a puzzled expression.

“I once blew up a stealth helicopter three years ago. There were no casualties, but as I recall, it was very expensive...”

“Ah, that! It was a new model, wasn’t it? American-made?”

“A model the Director-General begged them to sell, which they absolutely refused to. Scorpion Number Seven.”

“Oh my, was the team targeted because of him?”

Baek Sang-ho interrupted the conversation, which was drifting in a strange direction, once again. He wasn’t even smiling.

“That can’t be it.”

The esper who blew up the stealth helicopter was still scratching his forehead with an uncertain expression.

“It certainly seems like they don’t trust us. Or perhaps they’re underestimating our ability to resolve things.”

“They say the Director-General dislikes Koreans.”

The guide guarding the tent entrance threw in a sarcastic remark.

“Perhaps the rumor that he specifically avoids people who remind him of his painful past is true.”

“Where did you hear another strange rumor?”

“Well. Is it a rumor? Everyone who knows anything knows that Geumgang-seop is subtly at odds with the Korean government. Their relationship was bad even before the school incident.”

“He’s probably wary because he might run for office after his term as Director-General ends. The plot would be amazing. If he could firmly plant one of Arc’s research facilities right in the heart of the motherland before his term ends, it would be the icing on the cake.”

“Let’s stop talking about politics. We’re officially a neutral organization, after all.”

Choi Bo-mi said with an exhausted face, leaning on Shim Gyu-jong’s shoulder. Baek Sang-ho agreed with her.

“It doesn’t matter how many times he runs for office. The problem is completing the current mission faithfully without clashing with their team. Ji Seong-chan. Can you do it?”

“Yes.”

Choi Bo-mi winked at Ji Seong-chan, who was suppressing his anger.

“You can pierce the third eye later. I’ll keep watch for you.”

He wasn’t particularly pleased.

________________________________________

The meeting ended late at night. Since the team members had to go on another search before the morning sun rose, they quickly dispersed for rest.

Cheon Geon-young waited for Yoon Tae-ha outside the tent for a moment. Yoon Tae-ha, who had been talking with Baek Sang-ho until the very end, surveyed her surroundings as soon as she came out. Then, a faint smile spread across the woman’s face when she realized someone was waiting for her.

Had she waited for 10 minutes? To be so happy after waiting just 10 minutes.

“I told you to go ahead.”

She hid her joy, pretending to push him away. This was because the Director-General’s agents were nearby. Cheon Geon-young narrowed his eyes, watching the woman walk at a distance, like an awkward acquaintance.

Alpha Team members could sleep in their respective RVs or trailers, or set up tents in an open field like external agents and use them as their accommodation. However, no agent would choose a tent when they had a perfectly good vehicle. Only Baek Sang-ho made his guide sleep in the car while he himself slept in a single tent in a corner of the open field.

Yoon Tae-ha acknowledged it as a kind of privilege. Even though everyone acted like professionals when working, they acted as if they had an obsession with purity when it came to matters related to their guides.

She was no different from other espers.

For example, she was extremely bothered by the admiration some espers showed towards Cheon Geon-young, who had just returned from evening reconnaissance with Shim Gyu-jong. Why were they so interested in someone else’s guide’s arm? It was she, not Ji Seong-chan, who almost created a third eye first.

The Alpha Team members knew Yoon Tae-ha, and they seemed ready to give up their very souls for their respective guides, so it didn’t matter. The newly introduced agents, however, were a problem.

She even saw a guide express extreme fondness for Cheon Geon-young and ask for his name. It was Yoon Tae-ha’s misfortune for the day that she witnessed that scene with Choi Bo-mi.

Choi Bo-mi, while patting her shoulder as she tried hard to act mature and ignore it, didn’t forget to say that lasers seemed to be shooting out of her eyes. She knew it was an intentional attempt to upset her younger sister. She smiled like an adult who had mastered the ways of the world and told her to enjoy the hardship.

The woman looks absolutely smitten.

It was quite a direct statement. Coming from a woman who could give her heart for Shim Gyu-jong, it held even more credibility.

Smitten. Smitten. Really that much...

She replayed that word throughout the evening. She returned to the car, showered, put on a short-sleeved shirt with the company logo, and tidied the blankets while waiting for Cheon Geon-young to shower next. She handled the series of actions like a machine, yet she couldn’t shake the thought.

Until the man, smelling of soap, brought his face close to hers.

“What are you thinking about?”

You.

Yoon Tae-ha complimented herself for instinctively holding back her answer. Saying things like “I miss you even when I see you” wasn’t her style. Probably. It must be.

________________________________________

The members of Alpha Team were each assigned a fan-shaped zone around the camp and began their search. The largest fan-shaped area naturally belonged to Yoon Tae-ha and Cheon Geon-young.

Phlegethon certainly had a lower frequency of chimera appearances than Cocytus. Conversely, aggressive monsters appeared quite often.

The team of Yoon Tae-ha and Cheon Geon-young, who were riding motorcycles just like when they explored near Acheron, were also attacked by a monster. It happened five hours after they departed from the camp.

A giant centipede, emerging from deep green moss, flicked its long, snake-like tongue, targeting them. Mud clung disgustingly to its hundred or so plump legs.

“Check if you’re using it correctly.”

“Check?”

“Is ‘homework inspection’ a more appropriate term? Call it whatever you want.”

Cheon Geon-young left the management of their transportation to Yoon Tae-ha and moved to the front of the centipede.

She suppressed the urge to immediately slice the monster’s body into pieces and decided to watch the battle. She needed to grow new flesh on the trust that had been cut and stabbed into tatters.

Fire couldn’t harm him. Hadn’t she already confirmed that? However, she couldn’t control her worrying heart, so she transformed her pale shadow into a spear and held it in her hand.

But her worries were unfounded. When Cheon Geon-young stepped forward, the warm afternoon forest instantly transformed into a hell filled with heat.

The clear sky, dotted with fluffy clouds, began to writhe with heat. Soon, a red clock face, rising vertically from the ground, rotated fiercely like a chainsaw, slicing through the centipede’s body.

The legs attached to the left side of its torso were simultaneously cut off and fell to the ground. The centipede flapped like a fish out of water from the unexpected severe injury, then swiftly turned its body. And, using its body as a whip, it began to lash the ground where Cheon Geon-young stood.

Yoon Tae-ha, positioned a little distance from where the battle was unfolding, watched anxiously. She clenched her fists until her fingertips turned white each time a large flame erupted.

Cheon Geon-young, who agilely dodged the heavy stomps, activated his clock again. Thin pillars of fire, like needles, shot up from the moss. The pillars of fire, tall enough to pierce the centipede’s jaw, blackened the monster’s face.

The unique smell of burning moss and the disgusting smell of burning monster flesh mingled in the air. Yoon Tae-ha, who couldn’t escape the afterimage of the red disk, quickly covered her nose and mouth.

The tattered centipede tried to spit out acidic fluid as a final blow, but its entire body caught fire first. With a dying shriek, the monster perished. Its charred body fell onto the thickly moss-covered ground.