DM Chapter 9

Chu Jin-ho scribbled notes in his notebook as he slowly explained, caught up in a strange excitement that made his speech alternate between rapid and slow.

“This is quite a rare case. Awakening at nineteen… All the Espers and Guides at the Center awakened before fifteen. I had no idea it was possible to awaken after that age. There’s so much more to research now.”

He looked pleased.

“She’s sixteen.”

A calm voice came from behind. The three people who had been intently watching the screen turned around at once. Lee Hyun had entered the registration room.

“Mr. Lee Hyun, you can’t just come and go as you please.”

“She’s sixteen.”

Lee Hyun repeated firmly. Chu Jin-ho looked over at Yoon Min, who gave an awkward smile.

Now that she thought about it, she realized she had no right to feel betrayed by Lee Hyun. Yoon Min had lied to him countless times. She didn’t have a hunchback, she didn’t have a limp, and her gender and age were both different from what she’d told him.

“I had to, to survive.”

She shrugged, giving Lee Hyun a pleading look. He watched her silently, then sighed deeply, his face clouded with worry.

“According to the chart, Ms. Yoon Min is twenty. Unless there’s an error.”

Chu Jin-ho lifted the chart with a playful grin, as if to say he fully trusted the data. He meant it as a joke, but apart from the female staff member, no one laughed.

“Ahem. Well, shall we head to the examination room?”

Lee Hyun’s expression remained stiff and unmoving. Yoon Min couldn’t help but gauge his reaction.

Could he really be that upset about her lies? Or was he still bothered by her question, ‘Did you only help me because I’m a Guide?’?

If it was neither of those, she couldn’t think of why he’d be upset. Adding another Guide, especially an S-grade, should be beneficial for him. Honestly, after the taste of chicken she’d just had, she hoped he’d welcome her joining the Center.

“Ah, before that, Ms. Yoon Min could use a wash. And so could you, Mr. Lee Hyun.”

Chu Jin-ho said, glancing at Yoon Min’s bedraggled state and Lee Hyun’s blood-stained clothes.

—

Yoon Min stared blankly up at the showerhead, watching the hot water spray. Her shack had plumbing, technically, but it was more of an ornament than a functional utility. Not that it was ornamental in any beautiful sense.

By the time Yoon Min was born, the plumbing system had already been destroyed, and much of what was left from the old world existed only in stories, having lost any practical purpose.

Living off a single container of water from the distribution center and rainwater collected in barrels, she saw this shower and bathtub as a whole new world.

“I’m never leaving this place.”

As she lathered her body with the fragrant, foaming body wash and shampooed her hair, Yoon Min made a firm decision.

The staff member who’d shown her to the shower had kindly explained the use of each colorful bottle, learning that Yoon Min had only ever used the soap handed out by the military.

Sniffing eagerly at the pleasant fragrances, she washed herself thoroughly, though she couldn’t find a scent like Lee Hyun’s—heavy and subtly soothing.

With a soft toothbrush and toothpaste, she hummed as she brushed her teeth. Toothpaste was one of the few common items left in this world. When cleaning up corpses, men would smear toothpaste under their noses to block out the stench of decay.

Even though she had a few tubes at her shack, the ones here felt more luxurious, as did the toothbrushes. They seemed to be of higher quality.

After finishing her shower, she stepped out of the changing room to find the female staff member patiently waiting.

Unashamed, Yoon Min walked straight to the mirror. It had been ages since she’d seen her own bare face. Her short, jagged hair was still the same, but her usually grimy skin was now clean and fresh.

“So you were really a woman.”

The staff member, Yoo Jin-ah, muttered in surprise.

“Yep.”

“Why did you pretend to be a man? Even your voice was so low—it was completely convincing.”

“It’s easier to survive as a man.”

As Yoon Min replied, she dried her hair with a towel. Even the towels here were soft and luxurious.

“Are you sure there’s nothing going on between you and Mr. Lee Hyun?”

Yoo Jin-ah moved closer, lifting a hairdryer and asking with a curious gleam in her eyes. Yoon Min raised an eyebrow, looking at Yoo Jin-ah in the mirror.

Yoo Jin-ah turned on the dryer, and the loud hum cut off their conversation. Yoon Min was captivated by the dryer. The warm air dried her damp hair in no time, and Yoo Jin-ah’s gentle touch made her feel surprisingly comfortable.

“What ‘something’?”

When the drying was done, Yoon Min licked her lips, regretting the end of the warm breeze, and asked.

“Actually, Mr. Lee Hyun has never had a Guide before. Even though he could have had an S-grade Guide or numerous A-grades, he always relied on medication instead. The idea that he might have hidden a Guide is just hard to believe.”

Yoo Jin-ah spoke quickly, her eyes sparkling with a curiosity that was hard to decipher.

Yoon Min was surprised to hear that Lee Hyun had never had a Guide. Oddly, she felt a sense of relief and wondered why she should feel that way. Ever since meeting Lee Hyun, strange emotions had been surfacing within her, leaving her bewildered.

“Plus, he could have just gone back to his quarters to rest and returned for the examination later, but instead, he waited until registration was complete. It’s quite unusual.”

“Is Lee Hyun interested in me or something?”

Yoon Min chuckled, looking at herself in the mirror. A scrawny, unimpressive girl stared back at her, a reflection of her years of inadequate nutrition.

Lee Hyun was, by anyone’s standard, an impressive man—and an S-grade Esper, no less. It was laughable to think he might be romantically interested in her.

But Yoo Jin-ah didn’t laugh. Her eyes remained serious.

“It’s possible.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I thought he was a bit unhinged for showing interest in me at all, but now that I’m an S-grade, it makes sense, doesn’t it? A beggar he ran into in an alley turned out to be an S-grade Guide. Who wouldn’t pay attention to that?”

“You don’t understand. Mr. Lee Hyun isn’t the type to pay attention to someone just because of their status. He would have reported you to the Center and transferred your custody immediately. That would be the extent of it.”

Yoo Jin-ah chuckled, picking up a comb to gently brush through Yoon Min’s hair. The sensation tickled, so Yoon Min grabbed the comb from her and roughly brushed her own hair.

“If Mr. Lee Hyun is interested in you… and if it’s in a romantic sense, the Center would… become quite chaotic.”

Yoo Jin-ah observed Yoon Min’s clear face with a slightly awkward smile.

* * *

The path to the examination room was complex.

From Lab 11 to the registration room, the registration room to the shower room, and now the shower room to the examination room—the corridors all looked similar and twisted around in ways that made it difficult to orient oneself.

“What exactly happens in the examination room?”

“You’ll undergo a matching test with the four S-grade Espers. It’s simple.”

“How does the test work?”

“There’s a machine for it, developed continuously since the second generation. Except for once, it’s never malfunctioned. The machine’s principle is powered by supernatural energy. Everything works on that principle here, really. The virus that monsters emit is essentially a form of energy wave. It stimulates the occipital lobe of the brain, which causes abnormal states in people and animals.”

Yoo Jin-ah eagerly explained the machine’s operating principle, but Yoon Min barely understood half of it.

What she did gather was that the machine ran on the same energy that Espers and Guides possessed—the same power as the monsters.

“Are you saying that the abilities of monsters and Espers operate on the same principle? Even the Center’s advanced technology?”

“…If you go deeper, there are some differences, but essentially, yes.”

“Creepy.”

“You’ll learn more in time. There’s an instructor for Guide training. They’re… a bit eccentric, but they’ll be a big help to you.”

While talking, they moved into a wider corridor.

Unlike the deserted areas they’d walked through before, this one was bustling with people. Most wore lab coats, though occasionally an Esper in combat gear would pass by. There were also a few people dressed in plain, featureless gowns, similar to those lying in glass chambers in Lab 11.

As they walked, people glanced at Yoo Jin-ah and Yoon Min. Each time their eyes met, Yoon Min wondered why they were staring.

“Ms. Yoo Jin-ah, is that…”

“Yes, it’s Ms. Yoon Min, the S-grade Guide.”

As they turned a corner, a man with short hair and a kind expression approached them. He wore one of those plain gowns, his short hair dyed a bright yellow, giving him an almost angelic look. It was unclear why Guides were made to wear these patient-like gowns.

“Wow. Nice to meet you. I’m Seo Jin-ho, an A-grade Guide.”

“Uh, nice to meet you.”

Yoon Min gave Seo Jin-ho’s outfit a wary look. It seemed like all Guides wore those gowns. While they were clean, the patient-like appearance didn’t sit well with her. Though, she thought, maybe it was a luxury to even have such concerns.

“Haha, I like how straightforward you are.”

Seo Jin-ho laughed heartily at her informal tone.

“Mr. Jin-ho, we’re in a bit of a hurry, so we’ll be on our way. There will be a formal introduction later, probably after your training.”

“It’s been years since we’ve had a new Guide. The instructor is going to be thrilled.”

“Let’s hope so.”