The store had cracks all over its walls, making it look like it could collapse at any moment. The iron door, which had been painted gray, was now rusted red, with the paint peeling off in places. Jisoo knocked on the door.
"I'm going out. Oh, you're here? You're a little late? Jeonghan hyung has been waiting for you for so long!"
“Did Jeonghan wait long? Hey, aren’t you going to get scolded by Jeonghan?”
"Hey, no way. No way."
“…Yeah. No, right.”
“That’s right. Jeonghan hyung didn’t seem angry! … Maybe.”
"Maybe so, it's ominous."
Seungcheol and Jisoo's faces were particularly pale and tired. Hansol checked the notification on his smartphone screen and opened his mouth with a tired look on his face.
“… Go in first. I just got a message from Jeonghan hyung. He said to stop doing that at the door and come in.”
“Wow, this guy is scary. Seriously… Okay, let’s go in.”
“I’ll go down to Jeonghan hyung first. Are you getting ready in the basement?”
“Huh? Uh. Um…, that’s right! I told you to tell me something when you get here!”
"What is it?"
“Uh…, so….”
A boy who resembled a hamster stood in the hallway, deep in thought. Then, a child whose hair was still damp, as if he had just gotten out of the shower, came and stood next to the boy.
“Hyung Soonyoung, are you doing this because you can’t remember those few words?”
"No! You know? You know!"
"What is it?"
"therefore…."
“See? Don’t you remember?”
“Sigh….”
Soonyoung glanced at the child and went inside. The child stared at Soonyoung's back, then turned his eyes in the direction of the group and continued speaking.
"I'll pass on exactly what Jeonghan told me to pass on. He said, 'Seungcheol, Jisoo. You're clearly part of the advance team, so why are you here now? You two, come to the underground training center today for a one-on-one meeting.'"
“…Oh, man. I’d rather die.”
“Haha, you wouldn’t kill me, would you? … You wouldn’t kill me, would you?”
Seungcheol and Jisoo's expressions suddenly darkened. Then, as if something came to mind, Seungcheol looked at the child and spoke earnestly.
"Oh, then Chan-ah. Can you please take Seol-hoo to the basement and leave her there for me to pray for my soul?"
“No, why do you always make me do all the hard work day and night? Is my unique ability that easy?”
"Okay, I'll be more orderly next time, just this once. Okay?"
"Look, I'm not going to say anything even if I die. Do it yourself. I'll pray for your soul."
“… Tch.”
“… Haa, you’re the eldest brother even though you’re fighting with the youngest? Aren’t you embarrassed?”
Myeongho shot back with a tired expression, but Seungcheol pretended not to hear, avoided eye contact, and spoke to Seokmin.
“Seokmin, isn’t it hard to stay asleep?”
"Huh? It's okay! I still have two hours left."
"Really? That's good. Let's finish quickly and rest."
Passing through the front hallway, a spacious living room appeared. Unlike the exterior, which looked like nothing more than a commercial building, the interior was decorated like a spacious home. The only thing that indicated that it had been remodeled from a commercial building was the staircase leading from the outside. Meanwhile, while Seungcheol was fighting with Chan, Hansol went down to the basement.
“Hyung Jeonghan, were you preparing first?”
“Oh, you’re here? You must have had a hard time. I’m sorry for asking you when you must be tired.”
“No, it’s okay. I didn’t have to use my abilities today, so it wasn’t difficult.”
“But… Ah, then should we do it in a way that makes the illusion move as little as possible? It’s hard to do it carefully, so leave the talking to someone else.”
"still…."
“Don’t make that face. I’m not giving you special treatment. All the kids who went out today were already well-prepared for guard duty, so they must have had a hard time. I’m telling you to rest a bit.”
"yes…."
Hansol nodded as if he understood what Jeonghan said. Then he quietly closed his eyes and focused on something. When Hansol opened his eyes, only a shadow that seemed to be a human shape was silently shaking before Jeonghan's eyes.
"Well, it would be good to make it look like there are more people, and they move too much like shadows. Maybe it would be better to make them not move at all?"
Jeonghan smiled as he pointed out what needed to be fixed in Hansol's illusion. What was surprising was that not only was Hansol far away from where he had first been, but he was also smiling at the spot where Hansol was standing, as if he could see through the illusion, even though he couldn't see it. Hansol put the illusion away and opened his mouth.
"I'll do that. Oh, there's something I want to ask you, hyung."
"huh?"
“… No. Is there anything else you would like me to fix?”
“Um… not really…? Oh, that would be better. Let’s do that.”
“…Say it. How would I know if you say so?”
"If we do this, Seol-hu will be pushed too close to the wall. It's easier to keep an eye on Seol-hu if he's in the middle of the room. Hansol, what do you think we should do to make the welcome feel better while making the most of our personnel?"
“Um… I think it would be okay if it was sandwiched between welcomes?”
"Right. So, what should we do then?"
“I guess I should be welcomed. Including myself.”
"The illusion caster can't stay in the illusion. What are you going to do about that?"
"You can just show me your illusions where I'm standing. I've done this many times before. And you can just stay there for a while."
"Can you do that for me?"
“Of course. But I’m in lower elementary school? Why don’t you just be blunt?”
“Oh, I have a younger sibling, so I get used to it… I’m really sorry if I offended you.”
“It’s okay. But….”
"Huh? What is it?"
"Brother, is your unique ability really only one? How do you know where I am when I'm in an illusion? At first I thought you had lifted the illusion, but when I found out that wasn't the case, do you know how confused I was?"
“Are you surprised? I feel a little sorry. But as I said before, I only have one unique ability. Really.”
Hansol looked at Jeonghan as if he couldn't believe it, but the person receiving that gaze was shameless, as if it was nothing special. Hansol sighed upon seeing that reaction. Then, as if something came to mind, he approached Jeonghan.
“It seems like quite some time has passed since then, so why hasn’t he come? It’s been over 30 minutes since he came.”
"That's right. I told you to come by at least 3:30, but how come no one is coming? I'm waiting, I'll bring you down."
As Jeonghan reached for the doorknob, the door flew open. Seokmin, who had opened the door, found Jeonghan fallen over, hitting his forehead on the door.
“I’m sorry I’m late… Huh, bro? Did you hit your forehead? On the door? Does it hurt a lot? I’m really sorry….”
“Seokmin, be careful… But why are you so late?”
“That’s… I’m really sorry….”
“No, it’s okay. It’s just that mealtime is delayed….”
“Really? You should have come sooner….”
“It’s okay. It would have been the same even if you came earlier. Seungcheol and Jisoo haven’t arrived yet.”
“Still? You left earlier than us?”
Chan looked at Seung-kwan, who had entered last, as if he was flustered, but Seung-kwan didn't seem to notice. Jeong-han opened his mouth as if he was dumbfounded.
“…What on earth are they doing that makes them late?”
“That’s right….”
After waiting in silence for about 5 minutes, Seungcheol and Jisoo came in through the open door, carrying Seolhu in their arms.
“Hey, you guys. Don’t you remember what time I told you to come by….”
Jeonghan closed his mouth as if he was speechless. Silence flowed in the basement as the others seemed to be thinking the same thing. Myeongho opened his mouth.
“Hyung, what happened to Seol-hu? I think Seung-cheol knows.”
“Uh… you were arrested…?”
“I know who tied it… but where did the rope come from?”
“Uh, so….”
"So what is it?"
"maybe…."
"Maybe?"
“My room storage….”
Seung-kwan, who had been listening to their conversation, noticed Jeong-han's expression, and Ji-hoon washed his face without saying a word. What should I do with that idiot? A voice of lament seemed to come from somewhere.
"Choi Seung-cheol, add 30 minutes."
"No, I didn't give him the string. He rummaged through the storage room and took it out! I didn't even know there was something like that in my room's storage room! Oh, that, Mingyu. You know. I didn't organize the storage room, so my stuff is only in the front and most of the stuff in the back is left behind by the previous building owner!"
“…Really?”
"Oh, that's right. Jeonghan hyung. Seungcheol hyung asked how I could clean up inside and if I couldn't just leave it there! That's why I just left everything in front of the door. Really."
“…Okay. Be careful not to notice that in the future. I’ll cancel the 30-minute extension. I’m sorry I didn’t know and told you. Instead, Seungcheol, Jisoo, talk to me for 10 more minutes.”
The two were divided in joy and sorrow. On the other hand, Wonwoo, who seemed to not understand the situation, whispered to Soonyoung, who was next to him.
"Hey, what's going on that makes you so desperate?"
“Even if we let it slide because it’s a military rope knot, the string that was tied after the snowfall is like that… a whip, so to be honest, even if you don’t treat it like that, if the genders are different and you tie it like that… it’s a bit weird, right?”
"… aha."
Jeonghan looked into the air for a moment, sighed, and laid Seolhu down on the floor, releasing the restraints.
“There’s already duct tape, so why bother tying it up? It’ll just be a hassle to untie it later. Why don’t you come down early and help prepare it? Even if the duct tape breaks, is the unique ability just a decoration? You can just subdue it again… Just a moment. Seokmin, how many minutes do you think you can hold out under control?”
“About… 30 minutes?”
“15 minutes… that’s not long.”
"No, part 30,"
"Okay, I understand. Don't push yourself too hard."
He gave Seokmin a quick reply, then turned around and spoke in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Seung-kwan, there’s a blue box in the warehouse next door. Bring it over. Han-sol, come here. We need to adjust the plan. Jun-hwi, just tie his hands with tape. Leave his legs alone. Seok-min, sit still on that chair over there.”
Everyone moved busily according to Jeonghan's words. Seokmin sat down on his chair quietly, observing Jeonghan's reaction while wondering how he knew that he had called the control time.
"I'm going to have Seol-hoo sit as close to the wall as possible. Han-sol, stand as close to Seol-hoo as possible. You have to be close enough that it doesn't show."
Hansol looked at Jeonghan as if he couldn't understand what he was thinking, but he adjusted his welcome according to his words.
“Well, is this okay?”
“Okay. And instead of the veil, wear the mask in the box Seung-kwan brought.”
"all right."
Preparations didn't take long. As Jeonghan gave the signal, Seokmin adjusted his mask and released his sleep control.
*
Name (Age) - Choi Seung-cheol (28)
Codename (Mask) - Non-el (black mask covering only the upper face)
Unique Ability - Salt Water Power (Status Change O)
Name (Age) - Yoon Jeong-han (28)
Codename (Mask)-???[?] (??)
Unique Ability-???(??)
Name (Age) - Hong Ji-su (28)
Codename (Mask) - Ofanim (a light gray mask covering the left side of the face)
Unique Ability-??? (??Rear Support??)
Name (age) - Moon Jun-hwi (27)
Codename (Mask)-???[?] (??)
Unique Ability-???(??)
Name (Age) - Kwon Soon-young (27)
Codename (Mask)-???[?] (??)
Unique Ability-???(??)
Name (Age) - Jeon Won-woo (27)
Codename (Mask)-???[?] (??)
Unique Ability-???(??)
Name (Age) - Lee Ji-hoon (27)
Codename (Mask) - Non-Alla (??)
Unique ability-???(??)
Name (Age) - Seo Myeong-ho (26)
Codename (Mask) - Cherubim [Kel] Cherubim (Hoodie Mask)
Unique Ability - Shapeshifting (Can take the form of any creature)
Name (Age) - Kim Min-gyu (26)
Codename (Mask)-???[?] (??)
Unique Ability-???(??)
Name (Age) - Lee Seok-min (26)
Codename (Mask) - Non-ellu (black mask covering the entire face)
Unique Ability - Sleep (Puts the opponent to sleep)
Name (Age) - Boo Seung-kwan (25)
Codename (Mask)-???[?] (??)
Unique Ability-???(??)
Name (Age) - Choi Han-sol (25)
Codename (Mask) - Virtuese (Dark Purple Veil)
Unique Ability - Illusion (making things that do not actually exist visible or audible)
Name (age) - Lee Chan (24)
Codename (Mask)-???[?] (??)
Unique Ability-???(??Strength??)