Chapter 97:
The detention center on the fourth basement floor wasn’t a prison or a jail; it was a place used for self-reflection when incidents occurred within the Center, so the environment wasn’t particularly harsh.
The room, though small, was clean and had a bed and a small bathroom.
It seemed like a decent place to Seo Jae-yi, who had lived in a similar place for seven years, but Chu Sung-won didn’t share her opinion.
“Center Head! I didn’t do anything wrong! I can explain everything, so please let me out of here!”
Chu Sung-won pleaded desperately through the food slot as Kwon Yi-soo appeared. Seo Jae-yi kindly closed the slot for him, as Kwon Yi-soo didn’t answer. It became a bit quieter.
“Gong Ju-hyun.”
Kwon Yi-soo opened the door to Gong Ju-hyun’s cell for a more comfortable conversation.
Unlike the noisy Chu Sung-won, Gong Ju-hyun was sitting in a corner of the room, hugging his knees. His brown hair and clothes were still covered in ash, as if he hadn’t washed up, even though quite some time had passed.
“Gong Ju-hyun.”
He didn’t respond to Kwon Yi-soo’s call, but he lifted his head when he heard Seo Jae-yi’s voice.
“…Noona.”
His face was haggard, as if he was the one who had overloaded.
“…Are you okay?”
He asked hesitantly after a long pause. Seo Jae-yi, her complexion healthy thanks to Baek Joo-won, nodded.
“That’s a relief.”
“I have something I want to ask.”
“I also have a question.”
Gong Ju-hyun stood up slowly. The sharp glint in his eyes, determined to become Seo Jae-yi’s Guide, was gone. He asked wearily,
“…What does it mean that I have Noona’s energy within me?”
Gong Ju-hyun couldn’t forget the moment he had confidently tried to Guide Seo Jae-yi on the burning Mount Taebaek.
Park Jung-soo had told him that his Matching Rate with her had finally exceeded 50% thanks to the experiments. He had believed him, having seen the results with his own eyes.
But what he had felt when he tried to Guide her was a solid wall. Even with the difference in their ranks, he should have felt a slight give with that Matching Rate, but there was nothing.
Instead, he had been engulfed by a scorching volcano.
That was when Gong Ju-hyun realized something was wrong.
“It means exactly what it sounds like. I wasn’t sure before, but I confirmed it when I met you on Mount Taebaek. I can feel my power within you. What did you do?”
Gong Ju-hyun explained everything in a weary voice, facing Seo Jae-yi’s interrogation.
How he had been saved by her eight years ago, how happy he had been when he awakened as a Guide, and how devastated he had been when he learned about their low Matching Rate.
And then Researcher Park Jung-soo had appeared before him.
“…Park Jung-soo?”
Both Seo Jae-yi and Kwon Yi-soo’s faces hardened.
Gong Ju-hyun, oblivious to their reaction, continued.
“He said he had Esper Factors extracted from you, and if he exposed and injected them into me, my Guide Factors would react, naturally increasing our Matching Rate.”
And his Matching Rate, which had been a mere 35%, had indeed increased to 48% in just six months. It was only natural for him to trust Park Jung-soo completely.
“So you were forcibly exposed to my energy for months?”
“Yes.”
Seo Jae-yi sighed, Kwon Yi-soo cursed, and Baek Joo-won shook his head.
“Didn’t you think it was dangerous?”
Gong Ju-hyun answered cautiously, intimidated by Kwon Yi-soo’s sharp question.
“I was told it was an unauthorized experiment and had to be conducted in secret because of the risks…”
But he hadn’t been able to resist because of his desire.
Gong Ju-hyun was clearly at fault as well.
“Of course it’s dangerous. Park Jung-soo actually requested permission to conduct that experiment. But I rejected it. And not just because it was dangerous. Do you know the purpose of that research?”
“Wasn’t it to increase Matching Rates…?”
“The main objective was to create artificial Guides perfectly compatible with Espers.”
“…What?”
“And no Esper can reject a perfectly compatible Guide. In other words, the true purpose of that research was to make Espers completely subservient to Guides.”
It was a horrifying idea.
Gong Ju-hyun’s face turned pale, and he instinctively stepped back.
Seo Jae-yi, who had been listening, chuckled in disbelief.
“They’ve been experimenting on Espers, and now they’re trying to do that?
“It’s disgusting. I immediately fired him, not only because the objective was repulsive, but also because the method involved artificial Imprinting.”
“What good is firing him? He’s working at the South Chungcheong branch.”
“…What?”
Kwon Yi-soo’s face hardened at Seo Jae-yi’s grumbling.
“You didn’t know?”
“Uh, Branch Head Chu Sung-won was the one who introduced Researcher Park Jung-soo to me…”
Kwon Yi-soo’s face froze as Gong Ju-hyun added his statement. Gong Ju-hyun flinched, intimidated by his fury.
“They hid him.”
Park Jung-soo, obsessed with Esper research, had been favored by the previous Center Head. That was why he had been able to conduct so much research on Seo Jae-yi.
It meant that the government, which had been secretly supporting the Esper experiments, also knew Park Jung-soo well.
They must have sent him to Chu Sung-won, fearing the research would be discontinued after Kwon Yi-soo fired him.
“…Gong Ju-hyun.”
Kwon Yi-soo, having calmed down, looked at him again.
“Let me tell you something unfortunate. You’re probably half-Imprinted on Seo Jae-yi.”
Everyone’s eyes widened at his unexpected words, especially Gong Ju-hyun’s.
“I-Imprinted?”
“I don’t feel anything.”
If they were Imprinted on each other, Seo Jae-yi would be clinging to Gong Ju-hyun, not Baek Joo-won.
But she didn’t feel anything from him.
“That’s because it’s a one-sided Imprint, artificially created.”
“What does that even mean?”
“One of the reasons I opposed Park Jung-soo’s research was because the objective was repulsive, but also because the method involved artificial Imprinting, making Espers loyal to Guides.”
Expose the Guide to a specific Esper’s energy, and conversely, continuously expose the Esper to the Guide’s energy.
Once the Guide absorbed the Esper’s energy, send the Guide to the Esper for Guiding. The Esper would react to the familiar energy and become attached to the Guide.
Until they were Imprinted.
That was the content of Park Jung-soo’s research.
“But you weren’t a subject in that experiment; only Gong Ju-hyun was. So the result was reversed.”
“W-wait. So you’re saying…”
“Park Jung-soo experimented on you. To see if his hypothesis was correct. If he could achieve a one-sided Imprint on a Guide, he could then try it on an Esper.”
It meant Gong Ju-hyun had been completely manipulated by Park Jung-soo.
He collapsed onto the floor.
Kwon Yi-soo delivered the final blow to the despairing Gong Ju-hyun.
“Your increased Matching Rate is due to the one-sided Imprint. But Seo Jae-yi doesn’t feel anything, so the Guiding efficiency remains the same.”
He had been exploited, his desperate feelings used, and he had achieved nothing.
Seo Jae-yi was still out of reach, and his feelings for her had only intensified, becoming an unbreakable obsession.
But his despair didn’t end there.
“And even though it’s an artificial Imprint, it’s still an Imprint, so you won’t be able to Guide other Espers anymore.”
Gong Ju-hyun’s head shot up at his shocking words.
“W-what?! But I was able to Guide Haeil Guild members when we entered the dungeon!”
“That was before Seo Jae-yi’s energy fully settled within you. Now, it’s so deeply embedded that even she noticed it, so other Espers will experience rejection.”
And Seo Jae-yi was one of the strongest S-rank Espers.
No one would be able to receive Guiding from Gong Ju-hyun, who possessed her energy.
He broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.
His love for Seo Jae-yi had been twisted, his path as a Guide blocked. He was left with nothing but a broken body.
“I’m sorry.”
He couldn’t say Gong Ju-hyun was completely innocent, as he had willingly become a test subject.
But he couldn’t blame him either. He had only wished for Seo Jae-yi’s love, manipulated without knowing the truth.
He understood Gong Ju-hyun’s feelings more than anyone else, as he too longed for an Esper he could never have.
The only difference between them was that Gong Ju-hyun hadn’t accepted the gap between them, while Kwon Yi-soo had realized it long ago.
From the moment he first met her in that white, prison-like room, he had known that she would be his eternal source of pain.
She would never hurt him.
No, you hurt me more than anyone else. You’re the only one who hurts me.
“Aaargh!”
Kwon Yi-soo stared at the despairing Gong Ju-hyun, not Seo Jae-yi, who was standing beside him.
It wasn’t difficult to see himself reflected in Gong Ju-hyun.
Despair was his old friend.