The Disappearance

“Where are you going?”

Lee Jaehun lifted his eyes from the book and asked.

“To my room for a moment.

I left something there.”

“What is it.”

Garam opened his mouth a few times but closed it again.

His ears were visibly red.

“Underwear.”

He confessed reluctantly, but the reply was firm.

“I’ll lend you one.”

“I don’t want to wear underwear someone else wore.”

“It’s freshly washed.”

“But the size is different.”

Garam looked back and forth between his lower body and Jaehun’s.

“Yeah, no thanks.”

“Is it because of the size difference?”

“I’m not exactly small either, you know?”

At that, Lee Jaehun stared directly at Garam’s crotch.

His gaze was so hot it felt like he was burning through the fabric.

Without thinking, Garam covered himself with the picture book he was holding.

“Don’t look!”

“I didn’t look.”

Liar.

“You absolutely must not follow me!”

Garam left the room, leaving Jaehun behind.

Fortunately, the room was right next door, so he didn’t need to go far.

But even though he didn’t need to go far, his body kept walking further and further.

He had long passed his usual room.

Before he knew it, Garam was standing in front of the elevator.

He pressed the down button, and the doors opened.

Ding.

The small sound echoed through the hallway, and Lee Jaehun burst out of the room.

“Park Garam!”

He heard his name being shouted, but he stepped into the elevator and pressed the close button.

The doors shut just barely before Jaehun reached it.

‘I let my guard down.’

He hadn’t imagined Garam would go a different way just to get his underwear.

Because of that, he reacted slower than usual.

By the time he rushed outside, Garam was already inside the elevator.

Without hesitation, Jaehun ran to the elevator and forced the doors open.

The cables holding the elevator came into view, along with a deep, cliff-like drop below.

He made a split-second decision and moved immediately.

He leaped downward, grabbing protruding structures to slow his descent.

At last he landed on top of the elevator as it was descending.

There was an emergency hatch on the ceiling.

He opened it, dropped inside, and looked around for Garam.

But Garam wasn’t there.

‘How?’

Had the elevator stopped earlier?

Jaehun quickly retraced his memory.

‘Unless…’

He climbed back through the ceiling and ascended rapidly.

‘Was the person in the elevator even Garam?’

The thought hit him hard.

But when he reached the upper floor again, there was no one.

He had lost Garam’s trail.

While walking swiftly, he pulled a small mirror from his jacket.

[Always Together (Elite)

As long as both parties are in the same space, communication is possible even if far apart.]

It was a paired communication item.

The other half was with Kang Yujun.

“Garam has disappeared.

Begin tracking immediately.”

“Yes!”

Sometime ago, Jung Jinyoung had given Garam various tracking items.

One of them was an earring—its pair allowed them to locate him until Garam removed it.

As soon as Jaehun received the matching piece from Jinyoung, he ran into the night streets with the tracking team.

Garam was already quite far away.

Considering his abilities, Garam could not have traveled that far alone.

Someone must have helped him.

And that person was likely the one who cursed him.

“Here.”

The tracking squad leader, Lee Yuna, said while panting.

She rarely tired, which meant she had run very fast.

But what they found wasn’t Garam—only the earring he had worn.

“We’ll begin trace analysis.”

Even though they found the earring, they didn’t despair.

In such cases, they simply tracked from here.

A mental-type awakener tried to pull remaining memories from the area.

“It’s no good.

Someone erased the memories beforehand.”

At least they learned the enemy had a mental-type awakener too.

Next, they used tamed animals to follow the scent.

Fortunately, a faint trail remained.

The dogs barked and sprinted forward.

They crossed a large park, then an artificial hill, reaching a remote area.

But only Garam’s clothing was left there.

“Damn it.”

Lee Yuna ground her teeth.

As an elite tracker, she hated being outmaneuvered.

“We’ll trace again, starting from the park.”

Giving up wasn’t in her nature.

She searched again meticulously.

And finally she found something.

“There’s a dead bee here.”

In the changed world, bees were rare insects.

But a bee, dead in the park?

A park with hardly any flowers?

It was strange.

Seeing the bee jogged Jaehun’s memory.

“As my level increased, I could communicate with bees.

But I needed practice, so I kept a few bees with me.”

Garam had carried two or three bees around for practice.

This might be one of Garam’s bees.

“Can you track the bee?”

“I’ll try.”

This time they tracked the bee instead of Garam.

“Oh—I can read this one!”

A small bee landed briefly next to the dead one, then flew off.

Its flight was unstable in the dark, but it persisted in flying in one direction.

Slow, but never stopping.

The next bee corpse was found on the sidewalk leading toward City Hall.

‘I knew it.’

He had only suspected before, but now it was certain.

Jaehun recalled Choi Gunwoo’s greedy interest in Garam.

He had assumed Gunwoo wouldn’t dare touch him—but that assumption was wrong.

Jaehun bared his teeth in a silent laugh.

“It seems the destination is City Hall.

What are your orders?”

Lee Yuna asked calmly.

“We go to the end.”

“Yes.”

City Hall existed for the city, but for Yuna, the highest authority was Lee Jaehun.

Most guild members felt the same.

No one questioned it.

“Shall we enter from the back or the front?”

“The front.”

Why sneak in?

He was not ashamed of anything.

It took them little time to reach City Hall.

When several awakened individuals appeared at the entrance, the security guards tensed.

“What business brings you here?”

“Bring Choi Gunwoo.”

“Sir?”

“Did you not understand?

Slow, aren’t you?

Call the mayor immediately.”

“Do you know who you’re talking to, demanding the mayor?”

“I see.”

Lee Yuna stepped forward and showed her badge.

“We’re from Haechi Guild.”

Haechi was the largest guild in the city.

To have them arrive at night—how could the guards not be nervous?

They rushed inside to summon the mayor.

Soon, Choi Gunwoo emerged.

He looked half asleep, wearing pajamas with a robe over them.

“I was told it was urgent, so I came.

What is the matter?”

Even now, his voice carried leisure.

“What is the matter?”

Jaehun’s voice sharpened instantly.

“Yes, what issue brings you here?”

“Are you actually asking because you don’t know?

Or do you know and pretend not to?”

“I’m asking because I don’t know.

What is it I supposedly know?”

“Park Garam.”

“What about him?”

“He’s here, isn’t he?”

Jaehun asked directly.

“Mm, must I answer that?”

Gunwoo responded with a relaxed smile.

Yuna stepped forward with her weapon, but someone blocked her path.

“How rude.”

It was Choi Gunwoo’s secretary, Kim Seonyoung.

“You’re the rude one here.”

Yuna said boldly and tried to push her aside.

But Seonyoung was an A-rank awakener.

She wouldn’t go down easily.

The moment her hand touched Yuna’s arm, Yuna’s body stiffened for a split second.

For Seonyoung, that brief instant was enough.

She struck upward with her knee toward Yuna’s solar plexus.

But Yuna was no pushover either.

She blocked the knee with her hands and immediately punched toward Seonyoung.

Seonyoung, being a mental-type awakener, was weaker in strength and agility.

She stayed standing only thanks to her constant mental interference.

Repeated blocked attacks made Yuna’s eyes flash with killing intent.

She grabbed her weapon, ready to attack in earnest.