Episode 2
Yeongwon was a heavy reader of cute, fluffy romance-fantasy novels, and she hated plots where the main character had to suffer.
The absolute worst were those frustrating, dragged-out sections where you were forced to swallow nothing but sweet potatoes without any promise of getting a refreshing dose of justice afterward.
As a rule, a protagonist should always have some refreshing cider ready to blast away that sweet-potato lump stuck in their throat.
But I’m… not the protagonist of this novel, am I…?
And besides, this isn’t even a cute, fluffy romance-fantasy world.
I didn’t plan for any of this…
She didn’t even have the capital needed to build an escape plan, let alone a single 10,000won bill.
Even if she somehow managed to escape, she wouldn’t even have money to buy herself a meal once she got outside.
She was an extra whom her enemies looked down on, but at least there was one fortunate thing.
She was hiding the power of an SSS-Rank Guide that she had somehow acquired.
That would be useful for her long-term strategy.
But if things continued like this, she was going to fit perfectly into the character they had assigned her: “a stupid pushover.”
No. Absolutely not.
She could think of several ways to get the criminals around her arrested.
However, she had a feeling that after that, the Sim Yeongwon of this world wouldn’t be able to live a peaceful and comfortable life.
In a world where even a brainless B-Rank Guide was worth more than 3 billion won, what would happen if people found out she was SSS-Rank?
Before she could even properly understand the world, she would probably become a lab experiment.
She’d pass.
And even if she somehow managed to pretend to be a B-Rank Guide, there was still the problem of her status as a Non-Selective Guide.
“Non-Selective”?
No matter how she thought about it, wasn’t that a keyword that was about as far away as possible from being an extra who got to lie around in bed and live the easy life?
For some reason, she even imagined a blonde freckled girl and a black-haired pretty boy who followed her up a tower while going through absolute hell.
No thanks. I don’t want that kind of suffering. Please keep it nicely packed away and don’t hand it to me.
And so, for the first time since possessing this body, Yeongwon couldn’t sleep peacefully.
She spent the entire night clutching her head and agonizing over what to do.
Then, suddenly, a scenario came to her mind.
Yeongwon quickly opened her status window and checked the S-Rank Esper rankings.
Kim… Kim…
Her eyes stopped at the third place.
Esper Kim Yeohyeon.
[South Korea S-Rank Esper Ranking: #3 / 8 people]
The only Kim among the eight S-Rank rankers
Yeongwon didn’t have the kind of instant memory that would let her memorize all eight S-Rank rankers’ names and characteristics in one go when they were listed near the beginning of the novel.
Honestly, there must be plenty of readers who can’t even remember the protagonist’s name after reading ten chapters.
But…
She definitely remembered one thing.
The Esper who went berserk was named Kim.
Berserk.
That was the disaster that happened when an Esper’s power vessel was completely drained.
As she read the worst berserk scene described in the prologue, one thought led to another, like a row of dominoes collapsing.
The only Kim among the eight?
Would having only one Kim out of eight match the statistics of South Korea?
The name sounds gender-neutral. Is this person a woman or a man?
Oh, they said he was almost 190 centimeters tall, so he’s probably a man.
Back then, she had only been reading a novel, so she could afford to have random thoughts like that.
But now, things were different.
Drrr.
Huh…?
The moment her finger passed over the name Kim Yeohyeon, an information window appeared.
What? Is there a sub-tab?
[Esper Kim Yeohyeon, Title: ‘Yeongwon’s Devotee’]
When she entered the tab, a new piece of information appeared along with a photograph.
It was a picture of his upper body.
He was wearing a black turtleneck and a black suit jacket.
…Those shoulders are no joke.
His superior, world-class physique was impossible to miss.
He looked like someone who had taken all the best features from an athlete and a fashion model and combined them into one person.
Almost 190 centimeters tall. What a monster.
If he was a monster…
Judging from his build and outfit, he had the perfect look of either an ascetic, decadent vampire or the one-and-only elite heir of a pure-blooded werewolf clan chief.
However, most of his face was hidden by a black mask that came up from his neck, so she couldn’t see his features.
The mask didn’t just cover his nose like an ordinary mask.
It also covered one of his eyes diagonally, so it looked like only one eye was actually visible.
Even when she looked closely, there wasn’t even the slightest hole on the covered side.
I don’t think the prologue mentioned anything like this.
Is he blind in one eye…?
Then, more of the minor details from the prologue that she had forgotten since the traffic accident suddenly came back to her.
Kim Yeohyeon was covered in scars from burns all over his body because his power could shake physical quantities, including temperature.
He was an Esper whom every Guide refused to work with, so the Center paid Guides to take him on, promising them 300 million won after tax every three months.
Any Guide selected to be his exclusive Guide for those three months wasn’t allowed to leave the 200pyeong penthouse overlooking the Han River that belonged to Esper Kim Yeohyeon, not even once during those three months.
Also, Kim Yeohyeon was extremely ascetic by nature.
Even for Guiding, he hated physical contact beyond holding hands.
With all that information put together, there was no doubt anymore.
The ranker who went berserk in Myeongdong was Esper Kim Yeohyeon.
And all of that information led Yeongwon toward one beautiful conclusion, glowing with an elegant light.
Oh… this is perfect.
Yeongwon’s eyes lit up, too.
He needed a Guide.
And she was the world’s only SSS-Rank Guide.
She could help him escape the danger of going berserk.
In return, he could bury her secret and provide her with money, peace, and safety.
Could they make a deal like that?
The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like a perfectly reasonable contract where neither side had anything to lose.
Yeongwon lightly tapped the photograph of Esper Kim Yeohyeon, as if swiping through a photo that had no physical form.
There were no other pictures she could look at.
Was his whole body covered in burns?
Is that why the Guides refused him?
Because they found it gross?
Honestly, Yeongwon didn’t think she would feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable as long as Kim Yeohyeon wore clothes like that.
His physique was simply too blessed.
Besides, how many times in her life had she really been able to avoid seeing disgusting things?
Even if she happened to see him without his mask for a moment…
Well.
She had a pretty strong stomach, so there was nothing to worry about.
She wouldn’t even need to pretend to be calm.
She genuinely wouldn’t care.
When it came to enduring horrible scenes and pain, Yeongwon was confident she could rank first in both this world and the world she had come from.
She wasn’t particularly proud of that fact, though.
But compared to enduring pain, simply sitting there and looking at something gross without being painful?
It was nothing.
Yeah.
Let’s make a deal with Esper Kim Yeohyeon.
Thump.
As dawn approached, Yeongwon sank the back of her head deep into the soft pillow and began working out the details of her plan.
But where exactly am I supposed to meet him?
And how?
Yeongwon opened her status window.
There definitely seems to be a function she could use for something like this.
[Ranker Chat]
[South Korea High Rankers (S~A100) ★Veterans★ Chat – Anonymous Allowed]
Only rankers who were S-Rank or within the top 100 of the A-Rank rankings could enter.
However, any ranker in that range, whether Esper or Guide, can participate anonymously.
There had to be no problem with her accessing it as an SSS-Rank.
[SSS-Rank Guide Sim Yeongwon meets the participation requirements.]
[Would you like to participate anonymously? Y/N]
If I enter anonymously, they won’t know who I am, right?
But if someone suddenly asks who Anonymous is, that could be awkward…
The ★Veterans★ label made Yeongwon a little more nervous.
After a short moment of hesitation, Yeongwon pressed Y.
A holographic window appeared above her.
[Anonymous8 has joined the chat / Total participants: 24]
And then Yeongwon came face-to-face with a waterfall of chat messages pouring down at an insane speed.
Contrary to her brief worries, nobody paid any attention to Anonymous8.
[Baek Yul (ES2): Ah, I’m just gonna wipe all these damn XX outㅏ]
[Lee Changyeol (EA7): Stop drinking so much and go home.]
[Kang Hwayeon (GS3): I just got discharged. How is everyone else doing?]
[Lee Changyeol (EA7): I’m fine too. Hyeoni isn’t answering his calls, but at least he went back to his own place, so I’m taking “no news is good news.”]
[Kang Hwayeon (GS3): That’s a relief. I was really worried. Get plenty of rest. I’m going to rest a little more, too.]
[Jin Najin (GS5): I’m discharged too! I’m totally fine, so don’t worry ㄴㄴ]
Yeongwon quietly blinked as she watched the endless stream of chat messages.
About two or three different conversations were happening all over the place at the same time.
Considering the current time, the chat was unbelievably active.
The E and G seemed to stand for Esper and Guide.
The next letter seemed to indicate their rank, and the number after that appeared to be their rank.
There were quite a few people who had entered anonymously, but almost everyone who actually sent messages was using their real name.
[Jin Najin (GS5): I’m thinking of doing some front guiding to celebrate getting discharged. Anyone looking for a dungeon party in Gangseo? Preferably around Yeouido.]
[Baek Yul (ES2): Me! Me!]
[Jin Najin (GS5): No drunks -_- And no you, mister old man pretending to be a woman^-^]
[Kim Jiseol (EA19): Najin noona♡ I’m heading over right now!! >ㅅ<]
[Kim Jiseol (EA19): Where should I go?♡ ㅎㅅㅎ]
[Baek Yul (ES2): ㅇㅅㅇ]
[Baek Yul (ES2): ㅠㅅㅠ]
Yeongwon watched the chat quietly.
For now, she decided to keep contacting Kim Yeohyeon through the ranker chat as a backup plan.
It seemed possible to send a private message to a ranker, but doing that would reveal too much information.
For now, it is better to be careful.
She was identified as a B-Rank Non-Selective Guide.
If she suddenly revealed that she was actually an SSS-Rank ranker, there was a high chance she’d be making the mistake of revealing her hidden card without getting anything in return.
Besides, she had just come up with the perfect way to prepare her refreshing cider.
If she couldn’t avoid eating sweet potatoes until then, she might as well enjoy eating them to her heart’s content.
Nom nom.
It wasn’t sweet potatoes she hated.
She hated frustrating situations.
Sweet potatoes themselves were delicious.
They were sweet and healthy, too.
A national health food packed with fiber, potassium, and beta-carotene!
Yeongwon stared blankly at the ceiling.
Then she decided that she would have candied sweet potatoes for lunch today.
So before going to sleep, she took out a sketchbook and carefully drew a picture of candied sweet potatoes.
She wanted to make sure the caregiver who came to work in the morning would understand and pass the message to the doctor.
Swish.
Sorry.
That same afternoon, Yeongwon quietly stole the caregiver’s phone while the caregiver was taking a nap.
Then she slipped into the bathroom, making sure not to make any footsteps.
Click.
How long has it been since I’ve touched a phone?
As a true Korean citizen, proudly belonging to a country with the world’s fastest mobile communication speeds, it was honestly amazing that she had managed to stay mentally and physically fine after going more than a week without using a smartphone.
Yeongwon quickly unlocked the phone.
She had already memorized the unlock pattern by watching over the caregiver’s shoulder.
First, she started searching for recent issues.
She wanted to learn important general information and check whether there were any potential risks in her plan that she hadn’t considered.
Tap. Tap tap tap tap.
Yeongwon rapidly crossed items off the list of things she wanted to search for.
The current president’s name was different.
Presidents before him were different, too.
And the one before that was different as well.
Even the names of the political parties were completely unfamiliar.
The names of celebrities were mostly different, too.
However, the overall flow of human history up until before the twenty-first century was largely the same.
There also seemed to be a few historical figures whose names hadn’t changed, although that was uncommon.
The familiar national platforms are still around, too.
The yellow messenger app.
The green search bar.
They were all there.
Even though the authors’ names seemed slightly different, there were countless familiar classics in novels, plays, movies, and other forms of media.
Maybe the individual people who created history are somewhat different, but the railroad of history that humanity follows as it moves forward had already been built?
Of course, there was a point where history had completely branched off and gone in a totally different direction.
And that point was exactly the year 2001, the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Yeongwon also searched for information about Awakeners.
[Esper]
The definition at the very top of the search results was:
“A superpowered person who uses the power of their vessel.”
[Guide]
Likewise, the top search result defined a Guide as:
“Someone who fills an Esper’s vessel.”
After quickly reading through the other important information, Yeongwon searched for more keywords.
[Human trafficking]
[Guide trafficking]
[Mafia]
[Gangsters]
[South Korea crime rate]
Just as she expected.
The proud nation of South Korea, famous for its excellent public safety.
The country with the highest percentage of S-Rank and A-Rank Awakeners in the world.
The percentage of Awakeners who voluntarily joined a Center was overwhelmingly high.
…It’s a little embarrassing, but the K-patch from this nationalistic modern-fantasy novel, written by an author who clearly drank way too much national pride, has somehow pulled it off again.
Tap tap tap tap.
Yeongwon didn’t stop searching.
[Arrest rate]
[Center]
[Guide human trafficking report]
Q. A situation with a reasonable possibility of Guide human trafficking has been discovered. What should I do?
A. Please report it to the Awakener Reporting Center. The number is XXXX, no area code required.
Finally, Yeongwon entered the phone number, hoping her plan would go smoothly.
“Hello. This is the Awakener Reporting Center.”
“I’d like to report something.”
Yeongwon whispered quietly.
“Please go ahead.”
Yeongwon carefully listened for any noise coming from outside.
“Um… It’s around Banpogak Awakener Rehabilitation Hospital. I think the time was…”
Thankfully, in twenty-first-century South Korea, both here and in her original world, all you needed was a phone to screw over a criminal organization.
And based on what she’d learned from searching, Guide human trafficking was one of the crimes that the governments of the world were most desperate to eliminate.
So it seems extremely unlikely that the authorities would simply ignore her report as a false accusation and refuse to investigate.
“Yes, yes. They said the handover location would be a remote dock.”
The person on the other end of the phone was very kind and considerate, and the conversation continued without any problems.
But there was no way the problem would end there.
The real problem would come next.
Click.
After ending the call, Yeongwon deleted the call history, search history, and some cookies.
Afterward, Yeongwon found herself facing the somewhat unfamiliar Sim Yeongwon in the mirror.
Her long hair hung all the way down to her elbows.
She had never even grown her hair long enough for it to reach the hook of her underwear before.
It doesn’t look bad.
Washing and drying it is the worst part, though.
The thing that hadn’t changed was her eyes, which looked as if they had a faint gray tint to them.
Her skin was so pale that the veins beneath it looked blue.
Yeongwon stared seriously at herself and gently ran her fingers through her hair.
She had thought it had gotten much darker, but perhaps because the bathroom lights were so bright, the color still looked rather pale.
It reminded her of her teenage years, when people used to mistake her for someone who dyed her roots every single day.
Slowly.
Yeongwon shook off her unnecessary thoughts and opened the closed bathroom door.
