DM Chapter 5

This conversation was yet another reminder that he was from a different world. No one in Sector 37 worried about hygiene. Everyone was just focused on surviving day to day.

“It might be better if you moved to Sector 40,” he suggested, glancing over her dusty face and tangled hair. Yoon Min nodded.

“I was planning to move anyway.”

“When?”

“When can you exchange the money?”

“…Tomorrow.”

“Good. I’ll leave the day after.”

“…Do you have a place to stay in Sector 40?”

“I’m heading to the camp in Sector 41. I’ll try to meet the manager at Entrance 13.”

She wasn’t sure why she was sharing all this with him. Perhaps the way he’d handled the mercenary had unconsciously built a solid sense of trust in her.

“Sector 41,” he murmured quietly, repeating the words to himself.

“Why?”

“Let me know when you’re ready to move. I’ll take you to Sector 41.”

Yoon Min was speechless. She understood his words but couldn’t fathom his intent.

She wanted to ask, “Why?” but instead she pressed her lips together and simply nodded.

Having an Esper escort her to Sector 41 would greatly reduce the chances of being robbed or attacked by monsters. Of course, if they encountered anything stronger than an F-grade monster, it would be useless, but the probability of encountering one after Sector 30 was nearly nonexistent.

That night, Yoon Min lay on her old bed, mulling over the strange events that had happened to her. She continuously justified her broken caution. There was no point in questioning the man’s intentions—whatever his hidden motives, the worst outcome would be death. Accepting that risk actually made it easier for her to relax. It was ironic how confronting the specific fear of death could make her feel at ease.

As promised, the man showed up the next day. Because of the mercenary incident, Yoon Min hadn’t gone to the ration center or out begging; she simply waited for him in her shanty.

“What the…?”

The man was dressed differently from usual. He wore a black combat suit that she instantly recognized. In Sector 12, low-level Espers often wore similar suits.

Whenever they put on their combat suits, it meant a Gate had opened, and monsters would soon be lured into corpse traps. Low-level monsters would be drawn to these traps like swarms of mosquitoes, and it was always a brutal, chilling sight, even from afar.

“There’s a battle today.”

The man pulled a pouch brimming with coins from his pocket. After rummaging around for a moment, he also produced a slightly squashed cake and handed it to her. Yoon Min’s eyes widened—it had been ages since she’d seen proper processed food. The cake, encased in a clear plastic container, was a soft pink.

“They served this for breakfast. I’m not too fond of sweets,” he said awkwardly.

In his combat suit, he looked different. There was an air of danger about him, and his usual kind demeanor seemed slightly out of place now.

Even Dung-gae, who usually dashed over to lick his shoes, hesitated, watching him from a distance. The polished black combat boots he wore looked far more threatening than his usual shoes.

“Why did you bother coming if you have a battle today?” Yoon Min asked.

“I promised I’d exchange the money today.”

“…”

“What time are you leaving tomorrow?”

“Ten o’clock.”

“Got it.”

With a curt reply, he turned to leave. Yoon Min tilted her head, watching his retreating figure.

The cake in her hand felt strange, as did the entire exchange. The idea of an Esper, preparing for battle, stopping by a lame beggar’s house in Sector 37 just to hand over exchanged money was completely illogical.

Closing the door, Yoon Min stepped back into her home. From the radio she’d left on to catch up on the world’s news, she heard a report about monsters emerging from an A-grade Gate in Sector 3.

An A-grade Gate—there wouldn’t be much for an F-grade Esper to do there. “So that’s why he had time to stop by,” she reasoned, making herself believe it.

Sitting at the table, she carefully opened the cake’s container. A sweet smell hit her, bringing back memories of the rare, cheap candies soldiers would sometimes hand out in Sector 12.

Without further delay, she devoured the cake. Meanwhile, Dung-gae whined and paced around her feet. After licking the container clean, she searched through the cupboard and found an old bone from the ration center, tossing it to Dung-gae, who happily began chewing on it.

“For now, let’s be satisfied with this,” Yoon Min said to herself. “I’ll sneak over to the ration center tonight. You wouldn’t want to run into that mercenary again, would you?”

The radio continued broadcasting updates on the day’s battle. Two S-grade and three A-grade Espers had been dispatched—a massive team for an A-grade Gate. As she listened, Yoon Min gathered her belongings.

If there were S- and A-grades, they’d certainly have Guides.

Despite being labeled as S- and A-grades, those Espers belonged to a whole different realm, like people floating above the clouds, so distant they barely seemed real.

Society had become a rigid pyramid, and from Yoon Min’s position at the bottom, S-grade Espers were akin to deities in an untouchable, god-like realm.

As she thought about those Espers who would return to the Center for top-notch treatment after the battle, a thought occurred to her: ‘I wonder if Lee Hyun, being an F-grade, has a Guide?’

Guides were rare, and the radio constantly aired public service announcements urging anyone who displayed Guide abilities to report themselves before a search team was dispatched.

The odds of finding a Guide with a high match rate for an F-grade Esper were slim. Most F-grades relied on drugs from the Center to prevent brain damage.

This made her worry about Lee Hyun, who had casually torn a metal rod apart like paper just yesterday. Though they’d only had a few conversations, she couldn’t deny a growing sense of connection to him.

‘But seriously, why is Lee Hyun being so nice to me?’

With her belongings packed and the coins from the exchange counted, Yoon Min found herself lost in thought again.

Maybe he had an unusual hobby of helping the poor, or perhaps he was mentally off-balance from combat trauma. Or, maybe he simply had a genuine affection for her and Dung-gae.

The first theory seemed plausible since he’d mentioned he found life boring. The second was also likely, given that a surprising number of low-level Espers exhibited signs of instability. As for the third… well, it seemed the least likely.

Could he actually be some kind of psychopath, lulling her into a false sense of security to coax her along to Sector 41, only to tear her apart in a murderous frenzy?

In this twisted world, anything was possible. But, as always, speculating wouldn’t change her course of action.

He was kind, and he was gentle. After all she’d been through, Yoon Min trusted her instincts when it came to reading people. And Lee Hyun didn’t seem like a threat. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt it.

She decided to label him as a “slightly crazy pushover,” which, for her, was a fortunate turn of events.

As she slipped the coins into her pocket (the count was spot-on), there was a sudden, loud pounding on her shanty door.

It was more like someone trying to break down the door than a knock. There was no way Lee Hyun had come back from the battle so soon. Dung-gae began barking furiously at the door. The pounding ceased, leaving only the dog’s frantic barking echoing through the small space.

Yoon Min stiffened, quickly hiding the coin pouch beneath the mattress and gripping her dagger tightly.

Had the mercenary from yesterday tracked her down? She felt a surge of anxiety, regretting that she hadn’t left sooner. Then again, it seemed unlikely the mercenary would be bold enough to seek revenge so quickly after an Esper had humiliated him.

Just then, with a massive, floor-shaking crash, the door was wrenched from its frame. It disappeared as if it were no more than a flimsy piece of cloth. The sheer force of it left Yoon Min frozen in fear.

Silhouetted against the sunlight, a large man stood ominously in the doorway.

“Ugh, the smell. What is this, a rat hole?”

The man, completely disregarding Yoon Min’s frozen fear, pinched his nose in disgust as he strode into the shanty. Unlike Lee Hyun, who hadn’t shown any discomfort, this man openly grimaced, expressing his displeasure without restraint.

‘Did Lee Hyun think it smelled too?’

Oddly enough, in this moment of danger, that was the thought that crossed Yoon Min’s mind.

“What do you think you’re doing? Tearing down someone else’s door like that!” she shouted, her voice bravely defiant despite the fear clutching her heart. She clutched Dung-gae tightly, inching back toward the wall.

The man was dressed in an Esper’s combat suit. Espers were rare to spot below Sector 13, and now she’d encountered two in such a short span. Yoon Min’s mind was spinning. What misfortune had cursed this year, drawing Espers to her like moths to a flame?

“A boy, huh,” the man sneered, his response dismissive rather than an answer to her question.

Then, with a smirk creeping onto his face, his dark eyes glinted with something strange and unsettling.

“At least… S-grade.”

He was a ruggedly handsome man, with a powerful face as if painted with bold, broad strokes. His cropped hair and intense features only added to his raw, intimidating presence.

“What business do you have here?” Yoon Min demanded again, retreating to a corner with Dung-gae, whose tail was tucked between his legs as he barked nervously.

After her recent encounters with Lee Hyun, she had momentarily forgotten the typical aura of Espers: arrogant, ruthless, almost barbaric. Her best bet was to keep her head down and escape any notice before things escalated.

Perhaps he’d come here by mistake, or maybe there was something else in the area that had drawn his attention.

But her attempts at caution were rendered useless as he took a single step forward, grabbing her by the collar with a hand the size of a pot lid, lifting her up.

“Ugh!”

Dung-gae tumbled from her arms, landing on the floor and curling up in a huddle.

She could hardly breathe. The worn fabric of her clothes was twisted tightly in his grip, constricting her throat. He yanked her close, examining her face with an intense, almost scrutinizing gaze.

“That bastard Lee Hyun,” he spat, his voice laced with venomous contempt. “Acting all high and noble, hiding something like ‘this’ away.”

His words, dripping with disdain, carried an odd mixture of heat and excitement as he spat them out through clenched teeth.