HIDDEN CARD: Hidden Card

ESPER: Psychic [01]

The words written on a dark sign in an eerie atmosphere: Controlled Area S-1.

A flock of pitch-black crows, matching the atmosphere of the place, cawing noisily as they watched the woman standing before them.

Pass-through–

The woman began to walk around, stepping on the already dried and twisted fallen leaves.

김여주

"Oh, those little crows are real. Be quiet before I kill them all."

No matter how harshly you speak, crows won't understand human speech.

Despite the warning, the crows continued to cry, so the heroine reached out her hand towards them, then stopped and withdrew her hand again.

한서준

— Aren't you going to take another innocent life? If you've made a circle, come back quickly.

김여주

“…Again. If someone saw me, they would think I really got rid of it.”

한서준

— You, you're threatening me with your hand. You're going to blame yourself right away, aren't you?

김여주

"...Okay. From now on, don't accept any reports unless they're definitive. I was trying to go to bed early for the first time in a while, and what is this?"

Seojun's voice, telling her to come back quickly, could be heard through the earpiece, as if he knew what the heroine was doing.

It's been three years since Seojun and Yeoju started dating. Seojun's words sounded like he knew Yeoju well.

Knowing him like that, the heroine took her time and changed the subject, and turned off the earphones while saying that she would go back right away.

김여주

"ha…."

Same time every day, same place every day, same thing every day.

Yeoju, who had lived here since she was six and had never experienced complete freedom, sighed as she looked around her familiar yet boring surroundings.

Yeo-ju, who had just taken a quick look around outside, collapsed on the sofa and closed her eyes without even saying hello to Seo-jun, who was sitting on a chair reading a book.

Black sofa, black wallpaper, black table, even black chairs.

Everything here, except for books and flower pots, was black, and there was nothing that did not reflect the female protagonist's taste.

한서준

"There was nothing suspicious?"

김여주

"You know everything, so why don't you ask? It's exhausting."

Seojun closed the book he was reading as he watched the female protagonist pull the blanket from under her feet and cover her face with it.

한서준

"Wake up for a moment. I have something to tell you."

김여주

"If it's not important, let's talk tomorrow. I'm tired right now."

한서준

"It's important. It'll only take a moment, so get up."

Seojun took out the documents he had kept between the books and placed them on the table right in front of Yeoju.

Yeo-ju, who had been lying still without saying anything, slowly got up only after feeling Seo-jun's presence.

The gaze of the awakened female protagonist was directed at a stack of documents that were quite thick.

As I looked at Seojun with a look that seemed to ask, "What is this?", he leaned back in his chair and nodded.

한서준

"Information on the kids transferring to our school this time that you should know."

김여주

"Why are there so many kids here? Did the school get blown up or something?"

한서준

"Oh. It got blown up. That's why everyone's coming to our school. Don't you even watch the news?"

김여주

"…what?"

Are you seriously talking about such amazing nonsense?

I tried to laugh it off, telling him not to joke around, but Seojun gestured for me to look at the documents.

한서준

"The anti-government movement has finally gone mad. They say the animals, using their powers, attacked students at a special school in the North, as if they were secretly conducting biological experiments on the state. The school was blown up in the process."

김여주

"Wasn't it an unspoken rule not to touch civilians or special school students?"

한서준

"That's what's important. The anti-government forces have started to cross the line."

While listening to Seojun, Yeoju quietly flipped through the documents and read them.

It contained information that the female protagonist would not be particularly interested in, such as the names, ages, abilities, and special characteristics of the seven male students.

But there was something that caught the heroine's eye.

That's right, class.

All seven people in this document were S-class.

김여주

“…What are these guys?”

If it's a big shot like this, there's no way it wouldn't win an award.

The heroine frowned and threw the documents she was holding onto the table.

한서준

"S-Class like you. They're quite well-known even in the North."

김여주

"So, why are you giving me this information?"

한서준

"Well, he's going to join our Guardians."

김여주

"…what?"

Guardian. An organization formed by selecting top students from special education schools.

If you are of A-class or higher, you can enter the Guardian whenever you want, but you cannot leave the Guardian whenever you want.

The only way to leave Guardian is death.

It was the Guardian's destiny to fight against anti-government forces.

But, the S-class kids from the North are joining these Guardians…

It was certainly a good thing for the country, but it was a terrible thing for the female protagonist, who had started working as a guardian at the age of fourteen.

김여주

“…They want to come in?”

한서준

"How would I know that? I'm just doing what the country tells me to do."

김여주

“…Can’t you speak up, Senior? You’re the Guardian Chief.”

한서준

"From the country's perspective, I'm just a figurehead. In reality, you're doing all the work."

김여주

"…still."

한서준

"And, would the country let go of such talents? They're S-class, S-class. There are seven of them, which is only about 1% of the world."

김여주

"……."

한서준

“Well… including you, there are eight people in our country.”

At the end of Seojun's words, Yeoju clenched her fists with both hands.

I know. I know everything. That the North Koreans had no choice but to join the Guardians, that the country had no intention of letting me and those kids, S-class, go free, and… that Seojun was powerless. I know everything.

Even though he was still talking like that, he knew that Seojun was quite worried about him.

So… I couldn’t speak any more forcefully.

김여주

“…Okay. I’ll read it briefly tomorrow morning. I’m tired. I’ll go to sleep.”

The heroine hid herself back under the blanket with a dark expression on her face.

Seojun stared blankly at the female lead and then got up from his seat, telling her to rest comfortably.

The only thing Seojun could do for the current female protagonist was to give her some time alone.

한서준

“…Good night. There won’t be any calls tomorrow morning, so go straight to class.”

The door to the guardian room closed with Seojun's slightly locked voice.

The next day, Yeo-ju came to the classroom as Seo-jun had said, sat down, and immediately put her hood over her head and put her earphones in her ears.

The atmosphere in the classroom after a long time was noisy, noisy, really noisy.

Well, from the students' perspective, I could understand a little bit.

Kim Yeo-ju, the only S-class student in the school, and the three S-class students from the north who transferred in after the schools merged are in the same class.

When four S-class students appeared in one class, not only the students in the class but also the students in other classes started making a lot of noise.

김여주

"ha…."

The heroine sighed and looked at the three rumored figures sitting by the window.

From the left, it was Kim Taehyung, Park Jimin, and Jeon Jungkook.

I couldn't sleep all night, so I just read the documents and before I knew it, I remembered the faces and names.

It's already so noisy, how much more chaos will there be if they become guardians?

Feeling like she had already aged about five years, Yeoju closed her eyes and leaned her head against the window.

김태형

"……."

박지민

"What are you doing, Kim Taehyung?"

김태형

"Hey, is that her? The only S-Class in the south. Her name was… Kim Yeo-ju, I think."

At the end of Taehyung's gaze, he saw the female lead listening to the song with her eyes closed.

Jimin followed Taehyung and looked at Yeoju, then quickly turned his gaze and replied, "She looks ordinary." Jungkook, who had been listening to their conversation, just played a game on his phone in silence.

김태형

"This is the first time I've seen an S-Class other than ours. What do you think, Jeon Jungkook? Doesn't it seem a bit different?"

전정국

"……."

김태형

"Oh, isn't that a little different, kid?"

전정국

"……."

Jeongguk still has no answer despite Taehyung's repeated questions.

Taehyung had been through this situation before, so he lightly hit Jeongguk on the head and turned his gaze back to Yeoju.

“Um, Kim Yeo-ju….”

“He looks like a prickly guy.”

Taehyung's eyes sparkled with curiosity at the heroine's attitude of not caring at all about others, even while sniffing the wind.

I'll be adding descriptions of the work's worldview in the comments, so please read them. Please also click the heart button so more people can see them.