AAGULT Ch 99

Chapter 99

It didn’t take long to realize what had happened. However, what sent a chill down Jaeha’s spine was—

…When did he get there?

He hadn’t sensed a single presence. Even though he had been using his ability just moments ago, he hadn’t felt a thing. There was only one explanation. The other person was a combat-type esper.

Jaeha, too, subtly adjusted his grip on his loaded gun.

“Tsk-tsk.”

Yet, as if the man behind him had noticed immediately, he softly scolded him. It was a low, relaxed voice he had never heard before. At the same time, he felt the slow click and vibration of a gun being cocked behind him, leaving him with no choice but to lower his weapon.

“Don’t move.”

“……”

Damn it. To make matters worse, the person inside the room he had been planning to storm seemed to have heard his presence as well—he could hear someone approaching from within. Before it became a two-against-one situation, should he try to fight now, even if it was reckless?

His breath caught in his throat. Cold sweat dripped down. It was a situation where neither fleeing nor fighting seemed like a viable option. The unidentified man behind him let out a low laugh, as though he had read Jaeha’s hesitation with ease.

“Put down the gun.”

“……”

There was a confident ease in his voice. A different kind from Aiden’s. This was the kind of ease that came from years of experience… a middle-aged man… one who seemed to find reckless young pups amusing.

Eventually, Jaeha very slowly bent down and placed the gun on the floor.

“There you go.”

At that very moment, the door Jaeha had been trying to open burst wide. A gust of air from inside hit him full-on. The smell of chemicals made his skin crawl. Jaeha involuntarily inhaled. One thought filled his head.

I’m screwed.

…Or so he thought.

“…Jaeha?”

The situation reversed thanks to the familiar figure who appeared in the doorway.

“…Oh, Guide Kwon Ido?”

Jaeha’s head tilted upward. The overwhelming presence of that familiar frame didn’t match the image of a guide at all. He wore a white guide uniform, and he held a firearm—perhaps he had signed up as an on-site guide. As Ido recognized him, a flustered voice came from behind.

“What the—?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’? Lower your gun.”

“Ah, oh? Sorry.”

“Ah…”

The cold sweat Jaeha had shed in fear now felt almost embarrassing. The man behind him, flustered, immediately lowered his weapon. Though a wave of relief washed over him, his neck, stiff with tension, hadn’t fully relaxed yet.

“You weren’t wearing the Association uniform, so I didn’t recognize you.”

“…We’re undercover…”

Jaeha slowly turned his head. The man who had been pointing the gun at his back came into view. Since he had just threatened him, Jaeha’s guard remained up.

He was definitely a combat-type esper. Broad shoulders, arms covered in scars. But it wasn’t until Jaeha saw the Association’s official equipment in his hands that he allowed himself a bit of relief.

His darkly tanned skin and rough beard made the sharp lines of his jaw stand out. His slightly curly but long hair was tied back, though the loose strands made him look anything but tidy. His gray eyes gleamed lazily beneath thick lashes. He looked to be in his late thirties, but carried an air of seasoned calm. His face felt vaguely familiar, though that wasn’t strange—most combat espers from the Association had been in the media before.

“……”

As Jaeha looked him over briefly, he narrowed his eyes. Then, with a slightly forced smile, he muttered something like a joke.

“You scared me…”

“Oh, I’m really sorry. Good thing I realized before pulling the trigger.”

The man laughed good-naturedly and apologized. Such jokes would normally make an ordinary person’s blood run cold, but the relief he felt was stronger than his fear, so Jaeha managed to brush it off.

The man extended a hand toward him, inviting a handshake. After a moment’s hesitation, Jaeha picked up the gun he had placed on the floor and reached out to shake it.

“Seo Taegun. I just got here, but maybe the coordinates were off—we got split up a bit.”

“…Song Jaeha. Still, I’m glad you made it. I was getting worried since you were late… Have you seen Aiden?”

“Oh, yeah, I met him.”

Apparently not planning to elaborate, he fell silent despite the unspoken expectation. But proving there was no time to waste, Ido stepped aside to let Jaeha enter, and Taegun nodded toward the interior with his chin.

“Um, Aiden…”

“Guide Ye joined another team. No need to worry.”

When Jaeha hesitantly asked, eyes flicking nervously, Ido answered instead of Taegun. Jaeha exhaled, a touch of relief in his breath. He had been anxious about leaving Aiden alone, after all. Not that he could afford to completely let down his guard yet.

The lab they stepped into was cool. It was even larger than it had appeared from the outside, filled wall to wall with equipment. Jaeha checked the camera attached to his harness again and slowly walked forward.

Bottles with no labels were lined up neatly on the glass shelves, and the refrigeration units along the wall had a faint mist forming on them. He subconsciously tensed his toes to avoid stepping on the tangled cables strewn across the floor.

“Other than what appear to be incomplete inhibitors, we haven’t found anything else yet. I’m currently uploading the protocol to the Association system…”

Ido nodded toward the laptop sitting atop a piece of lab equipment. Noticing the active program running on it, Jaeha blinked and stared intently at the screen before shifting his gaze to survey the room again.

Approaching the shelf with the inhibitors, Jaeha picked up two or three bottles. Then, to prevent them from breaking, he carefully secured them in the pocket of his harness—originally meant for his gun.

“…Jaeha? Is it necessary to take those?”

“……”

Instead of answering, Jaeha turned his head slightly to scan the room. Unfortunately, it seemed filled with fragile objects. Glancing over at Taegun, who was inspecting near the glass chamber, he swallowed down the urge to cry.

Two against one.

But there was no choice. Jaeha raised his gun and aimed at the laptop currently uploading the data.

His fingers trembled. The moment he fired, there would be nowhere left to hide. More than anything, the real question was how those two men would react to his actions. But there was no room for hesitation. Time was running out. Jaeha grit his teeth and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The laptop shattered with a sharp, crackling sound. It was only natural that all eyes turned toward him.

“What the hell?”

“…Jaeha?”

His cowardly heart pounded pathetically, but he had to do what had to be done. Honestly, if he had the chance, he’d run away—but with a combat-type esper in the room, escape seemed impossible. Keeping the loaded gun trained on Taegun rather than Ido, Jaeha began to speak slowly.

“…That wasn’t an Association format.”

“…Excuse me?”

“That protocol. It was from the organization.”

Though he hadn’t yet informed the Association that Ido was a spy—out of reluctance to fully betray his boss—he hadn’t forgotten. Still, he should have warned someone before the infiltration. Cursing himself for his indecision, Jaeha began to inch backward.

“…Well. I thought I could get away with being a doorman.”

“Told you it wouldn’t work.”

Ido merely raised his brows with a troubled look, while Taegun gave a broad laugh and raised both palms again. In them was only mild awkwardness and a hint of embarrassment—no despair, no shock. Seeing that, Jaeha felt even more defeated.

He was the one holding the gun—so why did they look like they didn’t care at all? Trying not to show his panic, Jaeha spoke again to buy time through conversation.

“Is the boss… here too?”

“Who knows?”

“Mr. Seo Taegun—are you also from the Baeksan Organization?”

The fact that he was wearing an Association esper uniform bothered him, but since Ido was working as a spy inside the Association, obtaining a uniform wouldn’t have been difficult.

“Nope.”

“Then…”

“If I’d known you were such a clueless rookie, I should’ve taken you off Baek Beom-woo back then.”

“……”

For a moment, Jaeha didn’t understand what he meant, and his brows furrowed tightly. He still had the gun pointed at what was clearly a combat-type esper, but the man showed no tension at all. Jaeha began backing away, slowly and carefully. Toward the door he’d entered through. Regardless, the man kept talking.

“I remember Beom-woo asking me to hold onto something for a bit, but I didn’t think you’d walk out in just one day. Still regret not seeing your face back then.”

“One day…?”

The man grinned. It looked cocky, but in this situation—gun or no gun—it only seemed like the relaxed confidence of someone with the upper hand.

As Jaeha slowly stepped back, one particular word caught in his mind like a hook. He stared at Taegun’s face once more. His lips parted silently, and he spoke in quiet shock.

“…No way…”

“No way?”

The man looked excited, as if inviting him to guess.

“…Black Dragon?”

The boss’s request. The fact that he’d stayed just one day. And more than anything, that he seemed like a member of a criminal organization… The idea that the boss had a connection to the Black Dragon gang and had “asked” them for something made no sense, but given all the other matching factors, this was the only conclusion Jaeha could reach.

The man laughed deeply.

It was confirmation.