The Invisible Ace

With the center thrown into an uproar over its newly re-awakened, one man in the research lab was drawing every eye in the building.

"Wow! Shin Woo-jin! Seriously, isn't this unheard of?"

"I heard there'd be a rank adjustment, but can it really jump this far? I figured B-Rank at best, even if it went up."

The man in question had assumed the same. Even if his rank was re-evaluated, Woo-jin had figured he'd be lucky to reach B. Instead, it had leapt five whole steps — S-Rank.

His ability was Sensory and Mental Domination. At D-Rank it had barely managed to dominate the minds of low-grade monsters, which made it all but useless. S-Rank, though, was another story entirely: range, speed, duration — every metric now sat at the absolute top, and he could bend even high-grade monsters to his will, making him a superb asset in joint operations with other espers.

So the esper matched with Lee Seo-ah... is a combat type.What a relief. That means I can actually be of use to her.

His ability meshed especially well with espers who fought with their own bodies, and Woo-jin rejoiced inwardly.

"Even on a day this momentous, the kid's still glued to his monitor."

"Leave him be. The man's married to his research. We've gotten plenty of good results thanks to that."

"Hard to believe he's S-Rank now and hasn't changed one bit. And his match is Guide Lee Seo-ah, of all people."

"Man, I wonder if our Woo-jin's about to get eaten alive, though."

The researchers tossed remarks back and forth, laced with jealousy and envy in equal measure, but Woo-jin paid his surroundings no mind at all.

Her ability values were raised this much... and yet her rampage rate never rose at all. Amazing.

To think he could analyze core synchronization with his own two eyes. Woo-jin had been chasing nothing but her wavelength ever since Seo-ah entered the gate.

So this is what Seo-ah's wavelength looks like. The wavelength before him was beautiful — uniform, stable. Even the color it took on when it mingled with another's felt unmistakably like her.

He could hardly believe he was doing research about her with his own hands. And to think that he, of all people, dared to become her partner. No — nothing was confirmed yet, so he shouldn't let himself be happy already. Just as everyone said, there was every chance he'd be turned down.

Woo-jin was a capable researcher at the center, but to the people around him he was all but invisible. Day after day he kept his head down, buried in his work — and Seo-ah was always the one to greet him brightly.

"Hello! A different checkered shirt today. That color suits you too."

"Did you change your glasses? The thickness looks a little different somehow."

She picked up on every little thing no one else ever noticed. She clearly had a meticulous nature. The truth was, there was nothing Woo-jin didn't know about Seo-ah — he had fallen for her at first sight the very first day she came to the center, and he had been secretly pining ever since.

Watching Woo-jin remain utterly unmoved by the researchers' chatter, the lab director came over and propped his chin on his arm atop the monitor.

"Hey, Shin Woo-jin. How's it feel, being re-awakened? Everyone's dying to know, apparently."

Woo-jin answered without lifting his eyes from the screen.

"If you're asking about physical abnormalities following re-awakening, I've compiled the relevant data here. All the necessary control groups are included as well — wavelength readings, the balance of the body's energy, and so on."

"...No, not that. Your feelings. Like whether you're happy."

"Ah. I am happy."

At his answer, the entire lab staff shook their heads. Woo-jin blinked slowly at their reaction, his expression seeming to ask whether something was wrong with what he'd said. The director heaved a deep sigh and looked him over.

Same outfit as ever, without fail. The shaggy bangs hanging low enough to nearly hide his eyes, the glasses, the eternal checkered shirt beneath the lab coat. His unreadable face, too, was the same today as yesterday.

Had he put on a few airs, everyone would have understood. But rank or no rank, Shin Woo-jin was still Shin Woo-jin.

"Figures. What good is a higher rank from re-awakening anyway? People don't change."

At the director's words, Woo-jin pushed up his glasses and replied — he genuinely couldn't fathom why the man was stating the obvious.

"To date, there have been no recorded cases of re-awakening altering a person's personality."

"...Forget I said anything."

He had only answered the question he'd been asked, yet the director looked utterly nauseated. Woo-jin watched the man walk away for a moment before returning his gaze to the monitor.

"Guide Lee Seo-ah is on her way! She'll be here any minute!"

At the sudden sound of her name, Woo-jin shot up from his seat. She was coming here? It wasn't even a scheduled visit day. What could this be about? His eyes raced across the calendar on his desk. There was no reason for her to come to the lab.

He turned and called after the director's retreating back.

"Director, did something go wrong after the gate entry? Her wavelength and readings are stable, so what exactly is the problem...?"

"Who said she's coming for you, Mr. Matched Guide? We called her in. We need her for ability analysis."

"Ah... so nothing is wrong, then. If it's ability analysis you need, I would have all of it organized already."

"We're taking one more look to see whether anything changed after the gate entry. ...Huh. Did this guy's eyes just get bigger?"

"No, sir."

Woo-jin pushed up his glasses once more with his hand and sat back down. His heart had begun to pound like it might burst.

Does she know I'm the esper she matched with this time? What if she hates it?

Even if she didn't like it, he was prepared to accept that. Being matched did not mean he would force his way into her life as her partner. Woo-jin's first priority was Seo-ah's heart: if she accepted him, he would become her partner gladly; if she refused, he would simply suppress his own rampages himself, with medication on the side if it came to that. Side effects were no concern of his.

Woo-jin clenched his fist. He already knew every rumor about Seo-ah, too — and what had truly kept him up at night was the thought of falling short of expectations below the belt and letting her down. So he had asked the Intelligence Bureau to keep it under wraps for a while.

The moment he heard he'd matched with her, Woo-jin had headed straight for the showers. He was the type to wash alone at dawn, or bathe in the dormitory when he pulled all-nighters. Choosing a time when everyone else was there served one simple purpose: to size himself up against the rest.

"Whoa, Shin Woo-jin. You son of a bitch — so this is why you've been showering alone? You've been hiding a monster this whole time."

"Hey, that's freakish, get over there. It's so big it's making me feel inadequate."

After surveying their reactions, Woo-jin notified the Intelligence Bureau that it was free to disclose his rank information and matching results.

Seo-ah had heard the news of her new match.

Had she been designated a dedicated guide, no further matchings would have been possible. But Seo-ah had refused the dedicated guide designation. Her official reason was that she wanted to put her abilities to broad use in service of the nation; in truth, she simply couldn't shake the feeling that it would be a waste.

What if she became a dedicated guide, and the esper turned out to be a dud? Just imagining it was horrific. It wasn't as if she'd be stuck with the same partner until death did them part, but once a guide went dedicated, undoing it was notoriously difficult.

It has been a while since I visited the lab.

I wonder if Woo-jin's doing all right. He seemed to have such a hard time fitting in when I first met him — it stayed on my mind.

They called him the lab's ace, but he always seemed to drift along the outside of everything, and that image had stuck with her. There was something a little heartbreaking about the way he worked so hard without ever lifting his eyes from the monitor. Even when everyone else went off to eat, he never left his seat.

Every time Seo-ah came to the lab, he was alone. During the measurements, when the results came in — he was always there beside her. Well, with his rank raised, people must be seeing him differently now. Maybe he'd even made a few friends?

Early that morning, she had spotted Shin Woo-jin's name among the rank adjustments. She'd been startled to see he'd jumped to the same S-Rank as her.

An S-Rank esper couldn't stay cooped up in the lab anymore. The center would never simply leave him be — top-tier talent couldn't be kept locked away in a research wing, so every department would be lining up to recruit him. The Operations Bureau might have already gotten to him.

Today's a good day for Woo-jin, too.

Seo-ah's steps toward the lab were light. The leech clinging to her side, however, was unexpected.

"By the way, why are you coming with me?"

"You said they're checking for changes after the gate entry. Then I have to go too."

"They only called me, though?"

"I'll just come along and ask them to take a look at me as well. What, is the lab smeared with honey or something?"

"Why would anyone smear honey on a lab? Go do your training."

Seo-ah narrowed her eyes at Eun-chan as he walked beside her, matching her stride step for step. Was he always this clingy, trailing after me like a lost puppy?

"I hear you got a new matched esper."

"Ahh. I don't even know who it is yet."

"But is it normal for a matching to involve more than one person?"

"Dedicated guides only get one."

"Then why are you getting matched to people besides me?"

"Because I'm not dedicated, obviously."

At Seo-ah's instant reply, Eun-chan's face crumpled on the spot.

What is with him? Don't tell me he's already developed a possessive streak?

This easily? From one round of sex?