Vigilance, Unbroken

It was hard to guess what kind of anomaly he had noticed in me, given that he had no knowledge of the system.

Abnormally sharp hearing, or the system itself.

Which of the two had been exposed?

When I frowned slightly, he continued his explanation.

“We’ll talk about that later. First, I’ll tell you about our organization.”

His polite tone carried an ominous feeling that struck like lightning.

I had a bad feeling that if I listened to this, my life would become anything but peaceful.

I absolutely did not want to hear it, but Jeong Iheon was pressing me with a smiling face.

He looked like he might kill me if I interrupted him.

It was almost fascinating how such menace could come from a smile.

“I’m guessing you know that monsters come out of rifts.

We deal with the ‘foreign matter’ that comes out of those rifts, or we seal the rifts themselves.”

“Why…?”

“Because someone has to do it. And naturally, that someone should be a person with abilities.”

[You have acquired information about ‘Disasters’.]

[Information about ‘Rifts’ has been unlocked.]

[When entering a new ‘Rift’, various information can be accessed.]

The system spilled information excitedly.

Before it turned into a dating simulation, maybe this was how the disaster simulation used to work.

[A short-term objective has been generated!]

[Eliminate a ‘Rift’ (0/1)]

[If you eliminate a rift together with a target character, affection will slightly increase.]

I tried hard not to look at the system and insisted in a timid voice.

“I really don’t have any abilities….I’ve barely survived up until now….”

Jeong Iheon smiled gently once more.

“A lie.”

“It’s not a lie…!”

“If it’s not a lie, then it just means you really don’t know about your own ability.”

I had no idea what ability he was talking about, and it made me feel like tearing my hair out.

Instead of showing my agitation, I asked calmly,

“What ability are you saying I have?”

“When you were asleep, didn’t you feel anything?”

“…Huh?”

“Doya.”

As if demanding my full attention, Jeong Iheon called my name in a quiet, firm voice.

“When you were asleep, you weren’t breathing.”

…What?

It was the first time I’d ever heard something like that.

Genuinely shocked, I blinked stupidly.

Seeing how sincere that looked, Ju Noeul spoke as if to say I told you so.

“She really doesn’t know anything. Are you really going to take her with us?”

“Yeah. Of course we are.”

No, wait.

Where does my opinion come into this?

And how is not breathing while asleep supposed to be an ability?

Unable to keep up with how fast things were moving, I grabbed Jeong Iheon’s hand.

Whether his prosthetic had sensation or not, he immediately turned to look at me.

He tilted his head, as if asking what was wrong.

“How does not breathing while sleeping lead to the conclusion that I’m an ability user?

I really don’t know anything. I’m terrible at exercise, my stamina’s awful. I pass out if I run for ten minutes.”

“Alright, alright. I get it, calm down. I’ll explain.”

Jeong Iheon gently soothed me as I rattled off my words.

“To put it simply, it’s astral projection.”

The more he explained, the more confused I became.

“There’s someone over there who can see things like souls.”

“…What?”

Seeing my reaction, Won-gyeong frowned slightly.

Jeong Iheon, on the other hand, looked amused.

“To be precise, not souls, but energy? Right?”

“Yeah, closer to energy than souls.”

“That’s what he says.”

Shrugging after asking Won-gyeong, Jeong Iheon continued.

“So Won-gyeong, who can see that kind of thing, saw your energy going into Hyeon Jaeyul over there while you were sleeping, even though you weren’t breathing.”

This is insane.

I’d never imagined there was a system like that.

And I definitely hadn’t imagined there were people who could see ‘energy’ like that.

“And Hyeon Jaeyul briefly woke up before you did. What do you think he did first?”

If he was going to explain, he should’ve just continued.

Instead, Jeong Iheon kept asking questions, as if he wanted to draw out my reaction.

But since he didn’t actually wait for my answer, he kept talking before I could even shake my head.

“He checked on you first. He’d come in unconscious and shouldn’t even have known you were here. So the conclusion was simple.”

Jeong Iheon finished by poking my forehead lightly.

“You woke Hyeon Jaeyul up.”

I looked over at Hyeon Jaeyul, lying in the corner of the bunker.

As if he were about to wake up, I could hear a subtle change in his breathing.

Once he woke up, there’d be no way to deny it.

The system had said he’d remember everything from the dream.

“How you did it, we’ll figure out later. For now, we’re planning to take you with us.”

Jeong Iheon said cheerfully.

Behind him, Won-gyeong let out a short sigh.

Ju Noeul pressed his thumb hard between his brows, looking like he had a headache.

“You already know Jaeyul anyway. It’ll be better for you to travel together.”

“No, I prefer being alone….”

“Living off bunker supplies has its limits. And someone like you wandering alone is bound to run into danger.”

[TIP! Traveling with ‘Companions’ can provide significant assistance.]

“We don’t want to force you, so… will you agree?”

Faced with Jeong Iheon’s coercive attitude and the system’s message, I suddenly became cold.

Situations where I couldn’t act on my own will were not rare in my life.

And every time I faced one, I became excessively calm.

In moments like this, continuing to act weak only entertained those trying to suppress me.

Feeling no need to keep up the act, I straightened my body, which had been hunched in feigned fear.

I was clearly the weaker one, but I had long ago decided that I would not always submit to circumstances.

Sure, if it turned into a physical fight, I’d obviously lose, and I’d probably get hurt badly.

But physical damage wasn’t what scared me most.

What truly terrified me was having my will trampled.

I had no intention of obediently following Jeong Iheon’s threatening words.

He was nothing more than an intruder in my life.

I’d gone along with things temporarily for safety, but I had no intention of staying meek forever.

After organizing my thoughts, I hardened my expression and met Jeong Iheon’s eyes.

No one can force me.

As long as I can think, that is a truth that will never change.

With that decided, I spoke in a cold tone.

“If I don’t agree, what are you going to do?”

***

“Do you think Go Doya ever thinks about us?”

“If she can think, she probably does.”

“And if she can’t?”

“Then we wouldn’t have waited.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Right.”

***

“What, no more pretending? You’re done acting?”

Maybe because it was so different from how I’d been acting until now, Jeong Iheon spoke with interest.

He was annoyingly perceptive.

Keeping the smile at the corner of his mouth, he said,

“Hm, should we just live together until you agree?”

“I think you’re misunderstanding something, so let me be clear. I have no intention of living with you.

An ability-user organization or whatever has nothing to do with me. You tied me up while I was asleep.

What exactly am I supposed to trust here?”

I finished sharply, my voice bristling.

No matter what ability I supposedly had, I had no intention of going with them.

There was nothing wrong with living alone.

There was no reason to belong to an organization that deliberately dealt with danger.

Thanks to the system, I could locate places with rifts or monsters.

Even without the system, my abnormal hearing made it easy to identify areas dense with monsters.

So why should I join a group that handles rifts and monsters?

I wasn’t the self-sacrificing type.

That kind of thing was for people like Hyeon Jaeyul, lying over there.

After sweeping my cold gaze over the men, I prepared for a possible physical confrontation.

My body was weak enough that no one could honestly call it capable, but still.

I took a step back, widening the distance.

Seeing my defensive stance, Won-gyeong sighed and spoke to me.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let Jeong Iheon handle this. I didn’t think it through.”

With a stiff expression, he apologized, then pushed Jeong Iheon—who’d been smiling smugly in front of me—backward.

Jeong Iheon shrugged as he was pushed and obediently took a step back.

Only after confirming that did Won-gyeong calmly explain his thoughts.

“I’m truly sorry we restrained you while you were defenseless. I’ll apologize again.

Among ability users, there are cases where people become violent right after their abilities awaken.

To us, it looked like you’d just awakened yours, so we tried to be careful and ended up causing a misunderstanding.

We tied you up in case something happened, but that guy explained it badly….”

Won-gyeong explained without stepping closer than the distance I’d put between us.

“But it is true that joining an ability-user group would be better.

Recently, the number of rifts has been increasing at an abnormal rate.”

“Even if rifts increase, I can manage on my own. I’ve done so until now, and I will in the future.”

“You might have been fine until now.”

As Won-gyeong finished, Ju Noeul—who’d been silent—cut in bluntly.

My gaze naturally shifted to him.

He was looking straight at me, quietly.