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Chapter 05
Just hold on a little longer. Just a little more!
Gag—
Something hot surged up her throat at last. The metallic stench of blood filled her mouth. Tears spilled from her tightly shut eyes.
“…What.”
At that moment, a badly cracked voice reached her ears.
It was Gyeon Suho.
Morae snapped her eyes open and immediately checked his device. The screen that had been flashing warning red had returned to its normal color.
Only then did she look at his face.
The spiderweb-like veins bulging across his skin and the demon-red bloodshot eyes had both returned to normal.
Her eyes welled with tears as Morae broke into a bright smile.
“Ah… thank goodness.”
“You….”
Gyeon Suho tried to say something, then suddenly lost consciousness and slumped toward Morae. Caught off guard, she staggered as she instinctively held him up.
“W-wait, H-Hunter Gyeon Suho—ugh!”
She couldn’t possibly support a man who weighed more than twice as much as she did. Still clinging to him, Morae collapsed to the ground.
An unconscious Gyeon Suho was incredibly heavy. As she struggled beneath him, she heard the sound of engines approaching from afar.
Pinned under his weight, Morae barely poked her head out. Two vehicles sped toward them and stopped right in front.
Two pitch-black SUVs. Stickers on the windshield read: [On Official Duty].
The Ability Management Administration!
So relieved she almost cried, Morae waved her hand frantically at the agents stepping out of the cars.
“Over here! Right here!”
The agents exchanged glances and loaded blue ampoules into gun-like injectors. Stabilizers meant for Awakeners.
“Hunter Gyeon Suho just lost consciousness, and it seems he’s out of danger for rampage. Could you also check on my friend? She fainted while trying to stop him.”
The agents injected Gyeon Suho and transferred him into a vehicle. Then they loaded another ampoule into a new injector and thrust it toward Morae.
“W-what are you doing…? I said check my friend, not me—!”
Before she could react, a sharp sting spread through her neck. Confused, Morae clutched at it.
“…Why….”
The question dissolved on her tongue as her vision washed out in white.
Why does everything hurt so much? And my throat…
“Water….”
A painfully hoarse voice escaped her dry mouth.
Did I catch a fever? A summer cold? Songyi would laugh at me. Rubbing her throat, Morae opened her eyes.
“Huh?”
Where… am I?
A stark white room with only a foldable bed and a single chair. She had no idea why she was here—it wasn’t her home.
A dream?
As she stood frozen, forgotten memories rushed back.
The Yongin dungeon. The sudden traffic accident. Gyeon Suho on the verge of rampage. The life-or-death taming. And the Ability Management agents who arrived afterward…
She vividly remembered the injector pressed to her neck.
Morae got off the bed and approached the door.
Clack!
As expected, it was locked. She stepped back and surveyed the room again.
Aside from a massive mirror mounted on the wall, the space was utterly plain. It didn’t look like a hospital. Why was she being detained here?
Then, with a heavy mechanical sound, the door opened. Two men entered the room.
“…Who are you?”
“I’m Shin Jiyul, Team Leader of Research Division One at the Ability Management Administration. And this is Hunter Go San. I’m sure you already know him.”
She’d never seen Shin Jiyul before, but there was no way she wouldn’t recognize Go San.
Go San of Special Team One—an S-rank mental-type Awakened.
He was famous partly because mental-type Awakeneds made up only 5% worldwide, but mostly because of his bright, sweet looks.
Just walking down the street, you’d see ads featuring Go San everywhere. Of course she knew him.
And S-rank Awakeneds were celebrities among Awakeneds. Not on Gyeon Suho’s level, but Go San was still one of Morae’s favorite hunters.
Under normal circumstances, she’d be flushed with excitement—but not now.
Whether a human marshmallow was standing in front of her or not, confirming Songyi’s safety came first. Morae didn’t lower her guard.
“What happened to my friend?”
“Your friend is fine.”
“Let me see her. Right now.”
“You’ll be able to meet her shortly.”
“Why are you doing this to me? Is it really okay for a government agency to act like this?”
“We sincerely apologize for bringing you here without consent. It was an emergency situation involving national security, and we didn’t have time to request your cooperation. We ask for your understanding.”
“…….”
“If you’ll just calm down and answer a few questions, we’ll let you go immediately. Please.”
Shin Jiyul’s voice was dry and blunt—not soothing, just factual. That made it feel oddly trustworthy.
Suppressing her anxiety, Morae sat down, never taking her eyes off him.
He looked to be in his thirties, with wire-rimmed glasses that suited his cool, handsome features. Whatever he researched, the job fit his appearance.
Definitely Songyi’s type.
As that thought crossed her mind, her gaze shifted—and met Go San’s. He winked playfully, trying to ease the tension, but Morae didn’t smile at all.
After staring at the radiant beauty for a moment, she looked away.
“What do you want to confirm?”
“Name: Kang Morae. Awakened as a Tamer at age eleven. Currently twenty-three. Freelance Awakened with no guild affiliation. Correct?”
It seemed they’d investigated thoroughly while she was unconscious. Morae nodded.
“Yes.”
“You were in Giheung due to a commission?”
“Yes. I was hired to remove a beehive.”
“A beehive? How did you handle it?”
“I persuaded the queen bee to relocate to the mountain behind the house.”
“That’s true.”
Go San, who had been listening with a smile, interjected. Truth verification was one of his abilities.
Shin Jiyul continued.
“So your encounter with Hunter Gyeon Suho was coincidental.”
“Yes.”
“What happened after that?”
“After finishing the job, my friend and I were heading home when we encountered Hunter Gyeon Suho in a Code Red state. So…”
Morae trailed off.
Would they really believe that she’d calmed Gyeon Suho using taming?
Moreover, Awakeneds were prohibited from using their abilities on other people unless it was an emergency.
The rule was even stricter for mental-type abilities, and violators faced severe punishment.
But lying wouldn’t work—Go San would see through it immediately. And she’d only helped someone on the brink of rampage. Surely they wouldn’t condemn her for that.
Morae glanced at Go San, then answered.
“His condition was bad, so I helped him a little.”
“Please explain in detail how you helped.”
“Um… his energy felt tangled, so I loosened it a bit with taming. I don’t think it helped that much. I think Hunter Gyeon Suho overcame it with his own willpower.”
“…….”
Once someone entered the pre-rampage stage, it was extremely difficult to recover without stabilizers.
For high-rank Awakeneds, it was practically impossible.
After staring at Morae for an uncomfortably long time, Shin Jiyul turned to Go San. Go San scratched his cheek with a peculiar expression.
“Sounds true to me.”
“‘Sounds’?”
“You know I can’t judge conjecture.”
A flicker of something new appeared in Shin Jiyul’s cold eyes.
So it was true—this Tamer had stabilized Gyeon Suho while he was in Code Red.
“Hunter Kang Morae, may I ask—are you E-rank?”
“…Yes.”
For a split second, a smile appeared on Shin Jiyul’s icy face.
“I see. Thank you for your answers.”
“…Is that it?”
“Yes. You may return home now.”
That was… easier than expected.
As Morae stood up, Shin Jiyul spoke again.
“Ah, before you leave, there is one matter for which I’d like to ask your understanding.”
