An Unreasonable Illusion

“…Director. A proposal came in from the Center asking if you would like to receive a detox from a newly arrived Guide.”

“And.”

“Since all eyes are on you, how about receiving it this time? Who knows, a Guide who fits you perfectly might just appear.”

“Do you think a Guide who never existed before is suddenly going to sprout from the ground? Who is the Guide scheduled for my appointment right now?”

“It is Guide Seo Won-woo.”

Guide Seo Won-woo.

He was an early-generation Guide who had been there since the Center was first established.

Countless Mutants spent fortunes slipping in and out of the Center just to receive a single detox from him, making him an impossible figure not to know.

Even Lee Do-han showed a response to his detox about once every ten times.

It didn’t completely silence the pain but merely managed to arouse his desire for sleep, yet even that could be considered better than the detox of other Guides, which didn’t work at all.

“Since I’m already here, I should also see Representative Ki Su-hyeok. We will do the detox after the meeting.”

It was right when Lee Do-han was pressing the lock button to pack away the tablet he was reviewing.

A snippet of news caught his eye at the top of the screen, where weather updates and other notices were popping up.

< Breaking News—Center coordinates the isolation transfer of a comatose Guide following discharge procedures… Committed to taking responsibility for the Guide’s life until the very end >

“Secretary Ha, was there a Guide in a coma at the Center?”

Lee Do-han tapped the corner of the tablet with his finger.

Ha Jae-hoon, who was organizing the schedule from the passenger seat, turned his body and shifted his gaze to the top of the tablet.

He soon let out a small exclamation and nodded.

“You probably know Hunter Kim Seol-bi. When Hunter Kim visited the Center two days ago, she mentioned seeing a patient being transferred to the Center from a Shinjindae Hospital ambulance. They said a Guide who was in a coma regained voluntary breathing and was moved here.”

“Representative Ki wouldn’t normally hospitalize a Guide in an external facility.”

“Yes. They say it’s a Guide who had been receiving life-prolonging treatment as a vegetable at a jurisdictional hospital for a long period. It seems they’ve been registered with the Center for quite some time.”

“Who is it, that fellow?”

Ha Jae-hoon was just about to open his mouth while casually looking at Lee Do-han, who kept tapping the tablet.

“Director, we have arrived… What should we do?”

Before they knew it, the scenery flashing past stopped, and the driver in the front seat looked at Lee Do-han through the rearview mirror.

The soaring building of the Center stood tall amidst the fluttering snow.

Lee Do-han handed the tablet over to Ha Jae-hoon, opened the door, and spoke.

“We will talk about the rest later, after the meeting.”

“You’ve made a difficult journey after a long time, Director Lee. If I recall correctly, the last time you came to the Center was twenty days ago.”

“Is there any other place besides the Center that would require me to make a difficult journey? I have no intention of dragging out the introduction, so let’s sit.”

As Lee Do-han settled himself into the sofa, a solemn man dressed in a fine suit also sat across from him.

The man, boasting a frame as grand as Lee Do-han’s and wearing a completely wrinkle-free suit, possessed fiercely gleaming eyes beneath downward-sloping eyebrows.

Ki Su-hyeok. The influential power of this Center, and the Mutant who founded it 18 years ago.

[They say a guy who has tasted meat knows the flavor, so I guess a guy who has never eaten before thinks he’s something special after just one bite. A guy who lived his whole life without knowing what a ‘detox’ is must have felt so damn good receiving such a precious thing. I know. That feeling where your cock stands right up—I know it all too well.]

The man he had crossed paths with as an enemy 10 years ago was now facing him again under the status of a client and a Center Director.

“I see that Director Lee booked Guide Seo Won-woo this time.”

“Lately, Secretary Ha’s nagging has been severe. So, just as I braced my mind to live diligently and put it into practice, Haeseong Mulsan played tricks on me. They begged me to save them with talk of a acquisition, so I spent a fortune to hand them a few gates, but they’re pretending not to know whose pockets it ended up in.”

“…….”

“I feel like Representative Ki might know the reason. I distinctly remember you being quite close with Haeseong Mulsan. Am I wrong?”

“Director Lee, are you really going to act like this based purely on suspicion? You know very well that numerous corporations utilize the Center right now. For you to jump to conclusions as if there were a collusion… How is my position, sitting across from Director Lee like this, any different from Haeseong Mulsan? Would someone like me be in a collusive relationship with Director Lee?”

Behind Lee Do-han, a small vibration echoed.

Secretary Ha Jae-hoon, who was standing a short distance away, fumbled through his coat and stepped out of the director’s office to answer a call.

“Representative Ki, I am telling you to wash your hands of this right now while you still can. Before suspicion turns into physical evidence. Smile if you understand. Is it right to look at a person like that?”

Blood vessels stood out red in the whites of Ki Su-hyeok’s eyes.

Veins also bulged sharply on the back of his hand gripping the armrest, but in the end, he couldn’t say a single word.

And right then, Ha Jae-hoon, who had stepped out of the director’s office, returned and whispered something into Lee Do-han’s ear.

“Director, it seems a problem has occurred.”

“A problem?”

“Yes, they say a casualty has occurred among the civilian hunters to whom the work was subcontracted.”

“Isn’t that a common occurrence?”

“The thing is… word came in that a minor seems to be mixed among them. According to the field manager, the subcontracted personnel changed suddenly, and it seems they used them without knowing due to confusion in communication.”

Lee Do-han crumpled his face, let out a sigh, and pressed his hand to his head.

Two years ago. The government established a bill prohibiting regular civilians from working as mercenaries before reaching adulthood.

If such an incident is discovered, the responsibility falls back on the management guild that hired the subcontractor, resulting in anything from simple corrective measures to criminal conviction.

And if a minor happens to die, it becomes a problem that cannot be swept under the rug as mere careless management.

“Something came up, so I must leave first. I will receive the detox next time I drop by.”

Lee Do-han rose from his chair, left a brief word, and turned around.

Ki Su-hyeok’s gaze followed him tenaciously.

Who was the stronger one here?

Lee Do-han, who possessed immense material wealth and high social standing, was currently superior to Ki Su-hyeok—furthermore, he stood at the very top of the food chain as part of the ruling class.

The current Ki Su-hyeok had far too much to lose to dare strike at him.

Listening to the receding footsteps with bloodshot eyes, Ki Su-hyeok spat out a low curse.

“What about the contact? Have you tried it?”

“Yes, the casualties are currently unaccounted for. It is certain that minors are involved, but it seems they are still in the process of identifying whether they are among the casualties.”

Taking the elevator from the director’s office, Lee Do-han headed straight to the first-floor lobby with Ha Jae-hoon.

He lifted his wrist to check his watch.

2:40 PM.

Since the order to enter the gate was given around 11:00 AM, the situation hadn’t completely stagnated yet.

“Have the car ready. I must go there directly.”

“Yes, sir.”

Stepping out of the elevator, Lee Do-han issued orders immediately and walked toward the lobby.

However, in that brief moment, a sense of incompatibility struck him, causing him to freeze.

By the time he realized its nature, something had already darted out from the sharp corner of the wall, colliding into Lee Do-han with fierce momentum.

Thump—

It happened in an instant.

The figure that suddenly lunged out and collided with him was thrown back alone, collapsing onto the floor.

The lobby was soon filled with the sound of ragged breathing.

“Cough, gasp… haa, ha…!”

Past the jaw of the man who was tearing at his chest so hard that his buttons ripped away, saliva dripped down along with his violent breaths.

Even so, while his gaunt, emaciated body heaved, his hands instinctively fumbled along the floor.

“…A Guide?”

Lee Do-han looked down at the man questioningly.

The moment he heard the voice, the collapsed man reflexively tried to push his body up as if chased by something.

Before that could happen, Lee Do-han grabbed his fleshless arm and pulled him up.

“Wait a minute… I need to, gasp…”

Even though the man struggled savagely to wrench his captured arm free, the hand gripping it did not budge in the slightest.

Lee Do-han’s hand wrapped completely around the man’s arm, leaving half a thumb’s width of space to spare.

“My younger sibling… I have to go to my sibling. Right now… I must go…! Let me go, please…!”

The end of his sharply crying voice split open miserably.

Like someone who hadn’t used their throat for a long period of time.

Lee Do-han carefully examined the man’s body from head to toe as he pushed him away in a manner close to a desperate struggle.

Between the loose clothing where the buttons had torn off, a prominent collarbone and chest could be seen.

Along with a stale odor lingering around his body, there was the smell of medicine.

His hair was tangled and unkempt, and his feet, with prominent ankle bones, were completely bare.

Lee Do-han felt a subtle impression from the man’s face.

Those pitch-black eyes that somehow caught his attention within that hollow face.

Strangely, a sense of déjà vu washed over him.

“Isn’t this a Shinjindae Hospital patient gown?”

“…Yes, I suspect he might be the Guide transferred to the Center two days ago…”

“Didn’t you say he was a vegetable?”

Suddenly, the man who had been thrashing around as if his body would shatter froze in his actions like a lie.

It was the exact point when Lee Do-han finished speaking.

The man who halted his movements remained stiff, then hollowly lifted his head.

His limp body and arms slumped onto the floor like pieces of clothing, and even his breathing stopped momentarily as if blocked by something.

His dilated pupils tracked up to find Lee Do-han.

Beneath his tangled hair, his blankly upturned eyes trembled relentlessly.

However, within that quietly blinking, dark, and dull space, Lee Do-han faced that fluttering sense of déjà vu once again.

Pitch-black eyes where a solid yet soft air coexisted.

Where had he seen them?

Lee Do-han, who rarely forgot a person once he had seen them, rummaged through his mind and subtly tilted his head.

Then, it suddenly hit him.

A 23-year-old youth with 5 years of civilian hunter experience, Lee Tae-eon.

The man in that black-and-white photo on the tablet he had seen inside the moving vehicle.

An intrigued smile surfaced on his finely closed lips.

Perhaps, yes. Lee Do-han harbored an unreasonable thought.

He reminds me of that fellow.

That this person’s eyes looked exactly like that man’s.