I’m right here.

I stared directly at the scientist who had awoken.

Samuel jumped up and strode to the patient.

“Go back to sleep, idiot.”

“...Yehyeon.”

But John Mühlen didn’t seem to be listening to him.

“I have something to report.”

“You talk too much, don’t you?”

Yun, sitting with his legs crossed, threw the words at him.

Mühlen didn’t react to Yun either. Instead, he pressed his lips shut and stared at the ceiling. What kind of man was this? I faltered, then pulled myself together.

As if this were the first eccentric person I’d met.

I rose and walked closer to the scientist.

“Um, that’s me.”

I stopped beside the doctor, leaning forward.

Samuel turned wide eyes on me. John Mühlen rolled his gaze downward. I met his blue eyes, a different shade from Samuel’s.

Mühlen’s voice was as deep as Yun’s.

“How did you end up in the Portal?”

“Oh, I was just... suddenly outside of one without knowing how. That was about a month ago...”

“...Not that. The transit.”

“I barely have any memory from before.”

“At least you can hold a conversation.”

My mentor muttered to himself from the chair.

“So the situation really is serious.”

What kind of standard was that?

Mühlen didn’t acknowledge Yun. Or perhaps he simply ignored him as natural.

He stared at me for a moment, then turned his eyes back to the ceiling.

“Yun.”

“What.”

When the scientist called his name, Yun uncrossed his legs.

Yun came toward us.

“What’s the problem.”

“Call Yehyeon.”

Yun stood silently over him.

The one who prodded him was, surprisingly, Doctor Han. He jabbed Yun with an elbow, muttering, “It sounds urgent, so why not just call?” The doctor’s eyes were deadly serious.

So this scientist behaving like this was unusual.

Yun slowly pulled out his phone.

We watched as he called Yehyeon. The conversation wasn’t long. Yun said, Commander, Mühlen has something to report, then listened in silence, and finally ended it with a brief, Yes.

He shoved the phone back into his pocket and relayed the result.

“Unless it’s absolutely life-or-death urgent, he’ll respond within three hours.” 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Silence again.

The man lying like a corpse, not twitching a finger, finally spoke only when we were starting to think the conversation was over.

“Hand this man over to me.”

...What?

Which man.

He couldn’t mean me?

I wasn’t the only one caught off guard. Samuel looked at him like his malnutrition had finally ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) driven him insane.

But my mentor didn’t bat an eye.

He refused cleanly.

“Sorry, I claimed him first. Officially he’s under my training on weekdays.”

“Weekends.”

“Hey!”

It was Samuel who exploded at Mühlen’s curt, shameless reply.

I was honestly touched that the doctor was angry on my behalf.

“He’s not an object to be passed around! What the hell do you mean weekends. What are you planning to do with him then?”

“...”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Yun chuckled low, amused.

“No one more interesting has turned up in ages. He probably has a dozen experiments he wants to try.”

“You want to drag a rookie in on his days off for god-knows-what kind of experiments?”

“Well, I don’t mind sparing half a day.”

All eyes swung to me.

The sight of these seasoned men staring at me in pure shock was almost comical. Even the scientist, who’d been staring at the ceiling, opened his eyes wide like a startled rabbit to look at me.

Why was he surprised—he was the one who suggested it.

They looked at me like I was some alien.

“You’re out of your mind too.”

Samuel finally spoke.

“You don’t even know what might happen to you.”

“I don’t think he’ll kill me.”

“Then why not come to me?”

Yun’s words were chilling. That... well. Both Yun and John Mühlen were cut from the same mad scientist cloth, but if I had to choose, Mühlen seemed slightly safer.

Or did he?

As I looked at Yun, uncertain, Mühlen cut in.

“Splendid.”

Samuel’s jaw dropped.

Even Yun snapped his head toward him, staring in disbelief, as though he’d never heard such words from the man before.

My mentor fixed his gaze on the gaunt figure.

“Was that meant for Hilde? I’ve never once heard you say something like that to anyone.”

Day by day, Yun’s interpretation of character grew richer.

Inside, I felt oddly proud hearing my mentor’s incredulous tone.

As usual, the scientist gave no reply. Instead, he pushed himself upright.

Was he even fit to sit up?

“Lie down!”

The doctor barked.

Mühlen ignored him. Straightening his back, he looked at me.

The gray-haired, pale scientist spoke gravely.

“Tomorrow morning.”

“It’s a weekday tomorrow.”

Yun countered.

Mühlen shut his mouth. Of course—this man, with no sense of days, probably didn’t even know what day it was.

Samuel shouted again.

“Lie down, damn it!”

“You’ve been played.”

Yun turned his head to warn me.

“You think nothing will happen? You’ll regret it a hundred percent. But if you ever want out, just say the word. I’ll pull you out anytime.”

“Well... it’s true I’m a strange one, aren’t I.”

I forced down the wave of anxiety rolling toward me.

It wasn’t some foolish impulse that made me accept. I truly didn’t want more problems caused by me. If my recovery couldn’t be improved, then maybe at least the feature that drew creatures could be removed.

Of course, this tree-like scientist hadn’t promised to remove it.

Still, if participating in his experiments could prevent trouble later, I was willing to give up a half-day on weekends—or even a full day if success was guaranteed.

Suddenly, a phone appeared in front of me.

“...Number.”

Mühlen said.

The men were openly stunned. Yun’s eyes widened, blinking several times. Samuel’s jaw didn’t lift from where it had dropped.

I took the offered phone.

“I’ve entered it.”

When I handed it back, it rang immediately.

Mühlen had called me at once. While I saved his number, Yun and Samuel sat frozen, their expressions those of men who had lived long enough to think they’d seen it all.

Even when John Mühlen finally lay back down on the bed, obeying Samuel’s nagging, they didn’t move.

Wait—he actually listened this time?

“You’d better report this to Yehyeon later.”

It was the doctor who broke the silence.

“Tell him this scientist is trying to drag a rookie off every weekend.”

Once again, there was no reply.

The scientist lay clasping his hands, eyes fixed on the ceiling, while the men stared, dumbstruck.

Before long, I was ushered out of the hospital wing. The doctor even waved me off. Said it was over now, I should go rest. With weekends about to be taken from me too, I ought to get what rest I could.

***

Should I buy dinner on the way back?

I was mulling it over as I walked the company corridors when I spotted a familiar face.

Tall, strikingly dressed—he was easy to recognize.

I called to him among the crowd flowing through the science building.

“Ricardo!”

“Ah~... rookie...”

The man in combat gear, strolling lazily, lifted his head.

That habitual smile still tugged at his lips, though beneath it lay his usual sharp air. What was different were the stains of blood clinging to his clothes—not his own, I could tell at a glance, so I wasn’t worried.

Ricardo drifted toward me.

“Meeting again... you’ve been well~? Gone outside the Core yet?”

“Yes. I returned early yesterday morning. Looks like you just got back from duty. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Same job as always~... If you got back yesterday, you’d be on leave until today, right~? Then why are you coming from the hospital wing?”

Did I get hurt again? Ricardo stuffed one hand into his pocket as he asked.

People hurried past us. I shook my head and stepped closer. Ricardo, smile fixed, watched me approach.

“Just a routine checkup.”

“Ah... alone?”

“No. With my mentor and another senior. I just left earlier than them.”

“Which senior? A Badger?”

Ricardo started walking again. I matched his pace.

I still hadn’t learned my way around this vast place. I had no idea where he was headed, but since our conversation wasn’t finished, I followed.

I met his sharp green eyes.

“Senior Mühlen. We ended up together somehow, and... just exchanged numbers before I left.”

Ricardo stopped dead.

Startled, I halted too. Why so sudden?

But he didn’t explain. He just stared at me unblinking through his glasses.

What is it...

At last, after a long moment, he spoke again.

“Mühlen?”

“Yes.”

“John Mühlen?”

“Yes. From the science division.”

“You exchanged numbers?”

“Yes.”

“Phone numbers?”

“...Right.”

“You asked for it?”

“No, he requested mine first.”

“What the hell are you doing?”

His voice carried no hint of laughter.

The habitual smile was gone. His green eyes bore into me with grim seriousness. People passing in the hall glanced at us, but he didn’t twitch an eyebrow.

Pinned under his sharp stare, I muttered,

“Well...”

I explained briefly about meeting John Mühlen on weekends.

Ricardo pressed his lips into a thin line.

Silence fell again. Frozen air. He stood unmoving in the crowded corridor.

I waited quietly for him to speak.

But the silence dragged on.

Had I offended him somehow?

Unlike Yun, whose face was blank but honest, Ricardo’s unreadable expression made him harder to deal with.

Should I apologize just in case?

Fortunately, just as I was considering it, he broke the silence.

His green eyes crinkled with a smile once more.

“Hilde...”

“Yes, sir.”

“Shall we have a little talk~?”

Ricardo slung an arm over my shoulder.

I nodded obediently. He didn’t remove his arm as he walked, and I kept pace.

We turned left into a quieter space, stopping before the emergency stairwell.

The gray door loomed ahead. Ricardo stood with his back to the hall, still smiling soundlessly as he looked at me.

Then he asked,

“Were you threatened?”