It was a moment that felt like it could last forever. Of course, this assumption was under the condition that there were no interruptions. The monster, as if just recalling something, quietly opened its mouth.

“…I see. You really didn’t have to come at me so frighteningly.”

The person who flinched at these words was the special forces unit, fully armed and surrounding the figure with guns raised. They couldn’t believe the person standing before them.

Even after questioning multiple times whether the person who had killed the terrorist responsible for this horrific scene in such a brutal way was really “that man,” the answer was the same. The actor they had loved had easily ended the tragic situation that others, even other espers, dared not enter, as if it were a game.

The man whose body was twisted in every joint, even the tips of his fingers, and was dead without a doubt was the terrorist responsible for this tragedy. There was no room for doubt. The gruesome sight of his exposed body made those around him retch.

But that was not enough to shock them.

If they were to perform an autopsy on the dead esper, they would discover that every organ had been torn apart, which would make them even more horrified.

Looking at the armed soldiers with black safety helmets one by one, the monster softly squinted his eyes, as if seeing right through them.

It was true.

The monster could see the faces of those watching him with fear in their eyes.

[Ji Gwanyeong, XXXX, XXth, SSS-class dangerous esper, emergency arrest]

The center, as well as the entire military, was engulfed in despair.

The reason was simple: They couldn’t publicly announce that Ji Gwanyeong was the one who executed the terrorist responsible for the attack in Gangnam.

If it was revealed that the massive star, who had been beloved by the entire nation and had been ranked number one in approval ratings for months, was actually the esper who created this terrible murder scene, it was hard to predict how the public, already sensitive due to terrorism, would react, even if the person was a criminal.

It was clear that the discovery of someone well-known being an esper outside of the state’s supervision would directly point to the incompetence of the government.

The monster was quietly arrested by the military and brought deep into the center. Or rather, he wasn’t exactly calm. He had been like that when he handed the man he had been holding to the soldiers.

When Ji Gwanyeong roughly pulled Taehun, who had been in his arms, the relaxed esper immediately showed his displeasure.

Of course, his manner was quite rough.

Sharp shards of concrete quickly surrounded the soldiers holding Taehun, creating a ring. In just a second, one shard made a horrible sound as it scratched the soldier’s helmet, leaving a deadly mark.

The soldiers hastily aimed their guns at the esper, but Ji Gwanyeong’s gaze was fixed on the man holding the limp Taehun, unable to hide his trembling legs.

“Be careful… handle him gently. Be careful with the wound on his forehead.”

But despite the rough situation, Ji Gwanyeong’s words were nothing more than that. As the soldiers carefully adjusted their grip on Taehun, Ji Gwanyeong smiled faintly, and with a swift movement, he shattered the concrete shards surrounding them.

The oppressive atmosphere from the falling powder was no longer tightly restrained. The soldiers realized that the person standing before them was the one who had created the horrific scene on the building’s outer wall.

Now, Ji Gwanyeong was sitting in an interrogation room.

However, he was not bound by any form of restraint. When Ji Gwanyeong entered the center, the machine that measured the esper’s power level at the entrance displayed a red error screen, and the staff at the center immediately sensed it.

The center could no longer restrain him by any means.

Ji Gwanyeong was the third esper to enter the center with an immeasurable power level.

The door to the interrogation room opened, and a young woman along with a large, muscular man in a white lab coat entered. Both of them were espers.

The monster gave a small nod, squinting his eyes as he gauged their energy levels.

The woman was likely a physical esper, and the man a non-physical esper.

“You’ve been waiting a long time, Mr. Ji Gwanyeong.”

“Not at all. I’m fine.”

At first glance, his words sounded like a polite, friendly greeting.

But the espers sitting before him didn’t have the luxury to smile in return. They could clearly sense that Ji Gwanyeong was calculating their strengths with that charming smile.

When espers are of similar strength, they can hide, obstruct, and sometimes even disguise their powers with lies. But right now, they were swallowing the worst sense of helplessness. The feeling of being completely exposed, from head to toe, was horrifying.

The woman opened her mouth, her lips trembling slightly.

“You’re really handsome in person. I’m a fan. I’ve been watching your dramas.”

“Thank you.”

Unbelievable. The man they saw on TV all the time was actually an esper, and no one knew.

In reality, the woman had been a fan of the actor Ji Gwanyeong. His flawless appearance, solid build, and naturally ingrained manners made him one of the ideal types for many women.

But ‘Esper Ji Gwanyeong’ was different.

The perfect man before them now, with a relaxed face, was the most dangerous human weapon, someone who could do anything.

“Shall we begin? Mr. Oh Yeon, please prepare.”

At the woman’s words, the man named Oh Yeon opened the small laptop I had brought. Ji Gwanyeong watched, stretching his neck a few times as he ran his hand through his hair. His normally tidy black hair had become slightly disheveled.

“Before we begin, turn it off. The CCTV. And all the recording devices.”

“…Huh?”

“I hear the sound of machines. You’re touching them, aren’t you?”

Ji Gwanyeong tilted his head toward the dark mirror, his eyes narrowing, and added, “It’s a habit of mine. I don’t like being filmed secretly.”

As a result, the high-ranking officials and lead researchers of the center, who had been watching the interrogation room through the concealed glass, turned pale. They exchanged a glance, pressed a few buttons, and turned off all the CCTV and recording devices, just as Ji Gwanyeong had requested.

The woman, Lee Miyeon, could barely hide her nervousness when she heard the order through her earpiece to turn off all the equipment and start the interrogation.

However, Ji Gwanyeong let out a sigh, almost as if laughing in frustration. At the same time, the laptop Oh Yeon had placed on the table spun around and slid toward Ji Gwanyeong. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the screen with a slightly tilted expression.

“This is quite something. You don’t seem to understand simple instructions.”

Without lifting a finger, Ji Gwanyeong crushed the small laptop. Oh Yeon could only get his laptop back after that. Had he backed it up? The man with the stoic face scratched his chin slightly. Mi-yeon apologized to Ji Gwanyeong without hesitation.

“I’m sorry. We were following orders from above.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“Then we’ll proceed verbally. Mr. Oh Yeon, please.”

For Oh Yeon, a non-physical esper, remembering such a conversation was no trouble at all. He nodded slightly.

In a way, this scene didn’t seem to elicit any sense of crisis. Miyeon thought that this must be the power Ji Gwanyeong possessed to avoid being discovered as an esper.

The esper in front of her didn’t seem dangerous at all.

In fact, he was even capable of easily swaying people’s emotions. Could this be why he had managed to stay sane without a guide? Miyeon wondered.

“Please state your name and age.”

Ji Gwanyeong. Thirty-four.

“When did you first manifest as an esper?”

“At twenty-one. Thirteen years ago.”

Miyeon, whose language was typically blunt, almost let out a curse unintentionally. An esper who had lived for thirteen years without receiving a guide from the center and didn’t go insane or die? She had never heard of such a thing. Even Oh Yeon, who had remained expressionless up to that point, slightly widened his eyes at Ji Gwanyeong’s words.

However, despite the shocked reactions, the monster remained unfazed, smiling leisurely. Miyeon swallowed dryly and continued with her questioning.

“How were you able to live without a guide all this time?”

“I suppressed my powers as much as possible. When I needed a guide, I just… found one.”

It was elegantly phrased, but it essentially meant that he had grabbed and mingled with whatever guides he could find.

“Does that mean you were matched with them?”

“Well, I don’t think it worked out too well. There was always something lacking.”

Ji Gwanyeong’s leisurely response made Oh Yeon pause, as if thinking about something, before he spoke for the first time. His voice was low, with a slight metallic edge.

“With that, it would have been better to receive a guide assignment from the center. Why didn’t you take the center’s matching test?”

“Because it was annoying.”

It was perhaps the most honest answer, but the two researchers exchanged a momentary look of disbelief.

But Ji Gwanyeong was sincere.

Anyone who knew how much physical espers were thrown into troublesome situations could easily understand just by reading a newspaper. Ji Gwanyeong hated annoyance. He wasn’t fond of being commanded by others, either.

Ji Gwanyeong also acknowledged something: since he began living without a pair guide, the unquenchable thirst he felt was terrible, and the time where every sense—eyes, nose, mouth, and all his touch—felt as though it was wrapped in thick linen was agonizing.

However, aligning with a guide who had a high matching rate, constantly undergoing tests like a lab rat, and trying to satisfy the center’s demands to dissect his powers down to the last layer, was even more disgusting to him—a monster with immense pride.

That’s why Ji Gwanyeong chose to endure alone, waiting for the day when his final barrier would inevitably break. Of course, he didn’t know back then, when he had just awakened as an esper at the age of twenty-one, that this would take over ten years.

After a considerable amount of time, Ji Gwanyeong realized that he had the strength to either go mad and die or to survive alone, barely holding on.

He thought to himself that after a few years of enduring, he would likely go mad, running wild until he died somewhere. The final imagined death he had, which seemed somewhat glamorous, became a distant thought.

Seeing that the two espers before him didn’t seem to believe his words, Ji Gwanyeong let out a cheerful laugh and said, “Really, haha.”

Eventually, Miyeon let out a small sigh in response to his pleasant voice without realizing it.

“…I suppose this is the most important question.”

“Yes.”

“After hiding the fact that you were an esper for over ten years, why did you suddenly show up at the Gangnam site? Was it because of Guide Choi Taehun?”

For the first time, Ji Gwanyeong’s eyebrows twitched.

Miyeon, sensing this was the right moment, pressed on.

“I heard that during the medical team’s checkup, they found a name on the back of Mr. Choi Taehun.”

“…”