Epis0de 14
Roommates of the Same Age
Drip. Drop. Drip. Drip-drop.
“Ugh…”
In a dim, dusty storage room, the manager — once a self-proclaimed eternal protector at the nursing hospital — groaned from the floor.
“Ugh…”
His glued-shut eyelids barely peeled open. His whole body started trembling like a leaf in the wind.
The cold wasn’t the real reason.
It was the man sitting not far away, legs crossed — he was the real cause.
They said he was stuck inside the Busan S-Class Dungeon and couldn’t show up at the Ilsan Gate.
So how the hell was he here?
A ghost?
A clone?
The not knowing made it worse — more terrifying.
“Ugh…”
The fear made him groan like an animal. His instincts screamed to crawl away, to run — but his body wouldn’t move.
Step. Step.
The man unfolded his legs and got up, walking toward him.
The manager froze in complete terror.
Just the man’s presence felt suffocating — like dying under invisible weight.
“I won’t bother introducing myself,” the man said calmly.
“Uuuhhh…”
“Because you already know who I am.”
And the manager’s mind instantly flooded with everything he’d ever heard about him.
Esper Seo Siyong. Title: “Scale of Judgment.”
South Korea’s No. 1 S-Class Esper (of 8 total).
World Rank: S-Class No. 2 (out of 94).
The first Korean S-Class chosen personally by the World Tree, which declared it would “select the most beautiful being in this field.”
The man who ended the Yeoksam Gate Incident.
Founder of the Yeoksam Center Headquarters.
The man who single-handedly cleared the Yeouido Dungeon, turning Korea into a literal oil-producing country.
Current occupation: Mayor of Seoul, unaffiliated with any party.
Public nicknames: Seoul Mayor Dragon Papa, shortened to Seo-si-Dragon.
Other nicknames: Yun Dongju Dragon, Yongfather, Yongmom, and countless others.
Of course, in the underground world, people preferred a different nickname: Seo-ssiX Dragon (where the “X” part is usually muted out).
Always the No.1 candidate for future president — but never once ran.
The reason he didn’t run last time? “Too busy to double as president.”
The time before that? “Didn’t meet the age requirement.”
Now forty-three, though he looks barely thirty. His lovers change every couple of months, sometimes living with him — but he’s never been married.
Still, everyone knows he’s practically a single dad to three dragon-like “kids.”
As for his looks? Beyond argument — flawless, textbook handsome.
The fact that he’s only the second strongest esper in the world is probably the most “human” thing about him.
“Getting caught by Lee Changgyeol would’ve been better for you.”
Tap tap.
“Don’t you think?”
“Hhhhhh…”
“The Center people — they’re lawful, right? All straight-edged, noble guys.”
Thud.
The tip of his shoe lightly brushed the manager’s cheek.
“Even Kim Yeohyeon, huh? Guess he can’t deny his blood. Righteous to a fault — the kind of guy you’d wanna co-sign your loan.”
“Uhhhgh…”
Since Seo Siyong’s rise, the public had gone mad in love with him.
They couldn’t help it — for countless reasons.
“Too bad for you, huh? You got caught by me. That’s… unfortunate.”
He was strong.
He’d saved Seoul with that strength.
Made Korea rich.
He was beautiful, kind, smart, hardworking — perfect in every way.
“You know what they say…”
The people of this country especially loved his cruelty — the ruthless justice he delivered.
“I don’t give a damn about your human rights.”
Because the Scale of Judgment always tilted toward cruelty.
“So, help me weigh this. Tell me — what really happened in Banpo that day?”
Shing.
“Say it all. Every detail you remember. Let’s see if it’s enough to keep me from abandoning my city… and my country.”
‘Heaven…?’
Yeongwon thought she had arrived in paradise.
The 200-pyeong penthouse overlooking the Han River was beyond imagination.
“Wait… did I die in that car crash and end up in the afterlife?
Was everything before this just the intro to entering heaven?”
“Guess all those good deeds finally paid off.”
“Past me, I take back everything I said. You went through hell, but thank you. I owe you one.”
“To my past self — cheers!”
Pop!
She opened a bottle of champagne by herself.
Sip.
“Ahhh… divine…”
Bubbles nearly overflowed as she sat on the sofa facing the river view.
Sink
The sunset covered the sky in orange and gold.
The view, the comfort — everything was perfect.
Even the water jets shooting up from the Han here and there looked poetic from this height.
“Yep… high floors are the best floors.”
Satisfied, Yeongwon turned on the luxury audio system.
Crystal-clear sound filled the air.
The penthouse of Esper Kim Yeohyeon was mostly in shades of grey, but warm wooden furniture here and there kept it from feeling sterile.
Minimal, but classy — the essence of modern luxury.
She could’ve snapped a random photo and sent it to a lifestyle magazine — no one would doubt it was an ad for designer furniture.
“The air’s so clean. And I can even go outside?”
She’d worried that high-rise apartments had bad ventilation — turns out, she was wrong.
Pressing a button made an entire glass wall slide open, letting in the real air of Seoul.
On the rooftop was even a tiny garden — hers to enjoy.
Her assigned room was connected directly to it, so it felt like her own private yard.
“Seriously, how is this imprisonment?”
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t see how this could be called captivity.
If “not being able to freely leave” counted as imprisonment, then everyone on Earth was technically living in Earth Jail.
“Yeah, being in heaven is basically heavenly imprisonment.”
“What a great life…”
“Pure bliss…”
Crunch. Crunch.
Yeongwon bit into a canapé topped with cheese and avocado, pairing it with champagne.
“God… It’s insane how good this is.”
So good she almost wanted to die again just to taste it forever.
Sometimes, Yeongwon wondered if her so-called SSS-class guide ability came with an SSSSS-class time-wasting skill.
Then she realized — nope, it wasn’t a skill. It was the gear.
“Smartphones are the ultimate SSSSS-class time-wasting item. No one can argue that.”
Phone in hand, she rolled across the huge bed, wasting time like a pro.
“The sun’s up — morning already. What’s for breakfast?”
“Oh wow, it’s pitch black now? Night already? Time flies.”
To her, the gap between those two thoughts felt like… five minutes.
Sure, it didn’t have the thrill of procrastinating before a deadline, but she didn’t miss that panic one bit.
“Goodbye, Center dorm life.”
“It was disgusting. Let’s never meet again.”
No one was forcing her to study guiding techniques anymore, so she started getting genuinely curious about power itself — and with that curiosity, she began browsing the net, digging through anything that looked interesting.
[Awakeners Wiki]
She read every useless TMI about top rankers and loved every minute of it.
[Awakeners Book]
[Esper Channel]
[Esper Star]
Thanks to all that, she felt oddly close to the big names — as if she knew them.
In this world, rankers weren’t just fighters — they were like a mix of idols, athletes, and national heroes who saved their country during disasters.
They had fanbases that made entire armies look small.
The top four S-class rankers were as famous as the president himself.
#1 Seo Siyong — Illusion-type Esper
Title: “Scale of Judgment.”
“Man, that title just sounds… heavy. Probably ‘cause it’s the only one with an object instead of a person in it.”
#2 Baek Yul — Illusion-type Esper
Title: “Magician of the Flower Field.”
“Long hair, flawless looks, national treasure image — but in private chatrooms, apparently the biggest drunk uncle energy ever. Basically, the ‘Queen Yuna’ of this world.”
#3 Kim Yeohyeon — Physical-type Esper.
“No words needed. Attack power? Unmatched.”
#4 Choi Hwanseong — Hybrid (Illusion + Physical).
Title: “Kind Demon King.”
“Probably the main character of the original story. Would appreciate it if he just picked one — kind or evil, illusion or physical. One thing at a time, bro.”
Liking Kim Yeohyeon was considered an unusual taste.
He had almost zero public appearances — practically a famine of content — so it wasn’t hard to see why.
It was like stanning an idol who released one 3-song mini album every 3 years, never did interviews, never showed up on TV, and didn’t even have a fan café.
Or like supporting an Olympic athlete who only showed up once every four years, won gold, and disappeared again.
Or maybe like fangirling over a nameless hero caught on one blurry convenience store CCTV saving hundreds of lives — and then gone forever.
But even then, some people fall too deep to ever get out.
Because he was one of a kind.
Because Kim Yeohyeon was special.
Yeongwon was sure: even if she’d never met him in person, he would’ve become her ultimate bias anyway.
She rewatched every single clip of his battles — again and again — frame by frame, memorizing every move, every second.
Sometimes she imagined herself beside him — helping him, fighting with him.
“Of course, just in my head, just imagining…”
“No matter how much I love my bias, going through hell for him would totally break character.”
Those thoughts only lasted a few seconds before her strong sense of self snapped her back to reality
Then finally, after several days, the impossible happened.
The owner of the penthouse actually came home.
“Guide Shim Yeongwon.”
Knock knock.
“Can we talk for a bit?”
After all that time, he’d finally returned.
They hadn’t exchanged a single message before this —but neither of them had ever truly forgotten the other.
