Unexpected Kindness

Of all things, it was the word 'physical' that brought to mind a funny post he'd once seen on the internet. Someone had hypnotized a person to believe that an onion tasted like an apple and kept feeding them raw onions until they admitted it tasted like an apple.

Choi Go-yo thought he might end up being that person in this onion-apple hypnosis experiment. Finally, he fully understood Cha Eui-jae's smile.

"I'll keep up the physical therapy until you forget everything."

So, Choi Go-yo answered confidently, like a quiz show contestant certain of the correct answer.

"Where am I?"

In response, Cha Eui-jae nodded approvingly, his face beaming. A perfect answer.

After peacefully reaching an agreement without any bloodshed, Cha Eui-jae began dragging the unconscious kidnappers and lining them up. He separated the one who splattered ink on his face and the mustached one who had passed out with a bloody nose.

In any case, Cha Eui-jae planned to wake up the sturdiest one among them to extract information and get some revenge. It was a two-birds-one-stone situation. And if he could force some seawater down their throats, all the better.

Sitting off to the side, Choi Go-yo raised his hand politely, like a student about to give a presentation.

"Part-timer-ssi. I don't know where we are or what happened, but can I open a door?"

"A door?"

Cha Eui-jae glanced at Choi Go-yo. Choi Go-yo clasped his hands together and gave a mechanical smile.

"My ability is to open doors. I can transport people to the location they want using a door, as long as I have the street address."

'…That would be handy for deliveries.'

Cha Eui-jae's eyes sparkled like a professor discovering a promising student to bring to grad school. His first thought was appropriately practical for someone working part-time at a hangover soup restaurant. But then he erased the business ideas popping into his head. Such a useful ability must come with a significant drawback.

Especially since, due to some quirk of the system, space-moving abilities typically had major flaws. Cha Eui-jae grabbed the sturdiest looking kidnapper and lifted him by the collar.

"Does your ability have any penalties?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, it does."

For some reason, Choi Go-yo's eyes trembled slightly. Cha Eui-jae nodded, urging him to continue.

"It's okay, just tell me. I need to know the penalties to decide if I should ask you to open a door or not."

"Uh, um, well…"

"Yes?"

Just as Cha Eui-jae was about to punch the sturdy kidnapper awake while simulating the appropriate force in his mind, Choi Go-yo suddenly shouted.

"I pass out!"

"What?"

At that moment, Cha Eui-jae was about to land a punch to wake the sturdy one. Choi Go-yo quickly explained his penalty, almost rapping the words out.

"If I know the street address or map coordinates, I can open a door to that location, but I use the current location as the axis point, you know? The further the distance between the axis point and the destination, the longer I pass out!"

"Can multiple people pass through the door?"

"Yes? Yes, as long as the door stays open."

"How long does it stay open?"

"Until I pass out."

Cha Eui-jae pondered deeply. An ability that could transport multiple people at once was very rare. Moreover, the penalty, while severe, wasn't too bad.

'Let's check it out.'

He took out his phone to check their current address. But… the precious screen was shattered!

'Damn.'

Cha Eui-jae hurriedly unlocked his phone to check its status. But the screen, shattered to pieces, only showed a kaleidoscopic mess instead of the usual display. His body might be S-grade, but his precious phone couldn't withstand the beating and had failed.

In a grim voice, Cha Eui-jae called out to Nexby.

"Hi, Nexby. What's the current street address?"

—Using GPS data to search for the current street address.

Luckily, the phone wasn't completely broken, as Nexby responded properly. Nexby diligently recited the address. Cha Eui-jae closed his eyes, staring at the shattered screen.

'Damn. Still got a long time left on the contract…'

He muttered gloomily.

"Assuming I open a door to Seoul from here, Incheon, how long do you think you'll pass out?"

Choi Go-yo quickly replied.

"A day and a half? Maybe two days if it's long."

Despite Incheon port to Seoul not being that far, the passing out duration seemed significant. Cha Eui-jae, purely out of curiosity, asked another question.

"So, if you opened a door to Washington, D.C…."

Choi Go-yo's eyes filled with tears. His reaction was intense. Clearly, he had experienced something similar before. Choi Go-yo wiped his tears with his sleeve and spoke politely.

"Not Washington, but I did open a door to Toronto, Canada, for the Guild Leader's urgent business trip…"

"And?"

"When I woke up, the seasons had changed."

"…"

Such a good ability came with a hefty penalty. Cha Eui-jae pulled out his phone to check the time but failed again and asked Nexby instead. It was 2:20 AM. From Incheon port to the hangover soup restaurant would take about two hours by taxi. Including the time to call for a cab, it would be tight to prepare for the restaurant's opening. Cha Eui-jae scratched his temple with a frown, then turned to Choi Go-yo.

"Sorry to ask, but… could you open the door for us?"

"Oh, yes, of course!"

"If you pass out, I'll take you to the hospital, so don't worry."

"Oh, that's not a concern."

The romantic opener placed his index and middle fingers on his temples and closed his eyes tightly. He seemed to be concentrating. Eventually, he extended both arms forward and shouted powerfully.

"Open, Anywhere Door!"

It was a name that sounded like it could infringe on two copyrights simultaneously. It was also incredibly childish. But the effect was anything but childish. In the middle of the container filled with moaning, groaning kidnappers, a large wooden door appeared.

"Oh."

Cha Eui-jae, genuinely impressed, began tying up the unconscious kidnappers' wrists with cable ties, stringing them together like a bunch of fish. He planned to drag them all out at once rather than carry them individually. Once all the kidnappers were bundled together, he opened the bags they had carried in.

The bags were packed with thickly wrapped white powder. Cha Eui-jae stuffed all of it into his inventory and slung one bag over his shoulder.

'That should be everything.'

Nodding at Choi Go-yo to open the door, Cha Eui-jae signaled readiness.

Romantic opener Choi Go-yo, who had been as pale as a zombie since the door opened, approached it with trembling legs and opened it.

What appeared on the other side was…

"…"

"…"

It was Lee Sa-young.

'…Why?'

Why are you here? Lee Sa-young was sitting at a large desk in a spacious office, fiddling with his phone. For some reason, he was wearing glasses instead of his gas mask. The lacquered nameplate on the desk gleamed brightly.

'Pado Guild Leader Lee Sa-young.'

From the looks of it, this seemed to be the Guild Leader's office. Cha Eui-jae felt the urge to shut the door and hail a taxi with the Pado Guild's corporate card, and maybe even double the fare.

'He opened the Guild Leader's office door instead of where I wanted…'

A chilling gaze met his.

'Fuck.'

Lee Sa-young slowly took off his glasses. Cha Eui-jae turned sharply towards Choi Go-yo, needing an explanation for this absurd situation. But Choi Go-yo, his hands trembling like a phone on vibrate mode, gave a thumbs up with a serene smile, as if he had done everything right.

'This bastard, when he said the hospital wouldn't be a problem…'

It turned out Choi Go-yo had never intended to open the door to Cha Eui-jae's desired location. His only goal was to deliver Cha Eui-jae to Lee Sa-young, like a courier service to outer space!

Cha Eui-jae was furious with betrayal. No wonder Choi Go-yo hadn't asked for a destination!

Meanwhile, Lee Sa-young had risen from his seat and was now standing right in front of him. The two stood facing each other, separated by the door. His dull purple eyes scanned Cha Eui-jae from head to toe. He crossed his arms and smirked.

"I wondered what insane stunt you were pulling when they said you'd been grounded."

"…"

"You've ended up looking like a beggar, haven't you, Hyung?"