“First, let’s flip the ground over. Right now they’re probably hiding and biding their time, waiting to strike—but if we turn their territory upside down, no way they’ll stay buried.”
“Yeah. And desert battles are better handled fast. There’s nowhere to camp out here, it’s scorching during the day and freezing at night… Definitely not the kind of place you want to stay for a week.”
After a long brainstorming session, the plan they came up with ended up relying entirely on Rion.
Rion would lift the entire party into the air and then unleash his power onto the ground alone to drag the hidden monsters out of their cover.
Bosses typically hid in their nests, but sometimes, once their minions inside the Gate were wiped out, they’d sense the threat and reveal themselves.
In the middle of a desert with not even a rock to hide behind, this was likely to be one of those cases. Following Gwang-hyeon’s judgment, everyone except Rion rose into the air.
“Rion can’t block the wind, so be careful not to get sand in your eyes. And wrap up your gear tight.”
“It might shake a bit, but I’ll do my best to keep you steady, so bear with it.”
“All set.”
After making sure everyone was safe, Rion took a quiet breath. If he struck too hard, it could harm the floating party members, so he needed to carefully control his strength.
Doing several things at once was tough—even for Rion, he couldn’t wield his abilities with total freedom. Not yet, anyway. He still lacked confidence in this particular skill, so it demanded an extra level of concentration.
Bang—!
Once he gauged the right amount of power, Rion unleashed his ability onto the desert terrain.
“Seriously, that power’s such a cheat. No wonder he’s S-rank.”
“There’s even a rumor he could lift an entire Center building if he used his full strength. Kinda starting to think that’s not a rumor.”
Because the strike hit such a wide area with such force, sandstorms kicked up into the sky, clouding their vision. Once the wind settled and the view cleared, just as Gwang-hyeon had predicted, monsters that had been hiding beneath the sand began to surface from the shock.
There were enough to completely fill the entire desert region.
“Deserts work in their favor anyway. Better to attack from the air.”
“Got it. But can you drop me a bit farther from the others?”
At Gwang-hyeon’s words, the Espers spread out. Each began using their powers to pick off the swarming monsters one by one.
“Ugh, we should’ve brought Lee Ju-chan.”
“True, he’d be perfect here. Even if he sets everything on fire, there’s nothing around to burn.”
Despite grumbling, Rion kept his focus on the monsters, continuing the hunt. The terrain was tricky, but this was still just a B-rank Gate.
In other words, against S-rank Esper Rion, these things were no more than pesky bugs. Of course, since he was multitasking, they were slightly more annoying than usual.
“Ugh… we’ve got the same ability, but this is seriously embarrassing…”
Hee-joo mumbled to herself as she steadily took down monsters. They were both psychokinesis-type Espers, but her strength was on a completely different level compared to Rion’s. It wasn’t just about raw power—his seamless combo attacks made it feel like he had multiple abilities at once.
“Hey, over there!”
Who knew how long had passed? It looked like the monsters’ corpses were being sucked into one corner of the desert—and suddenly, a huge hole opened up right in the middle.
“Huh. That’s not what I expected.”
It seemed the desert had just been the front entrance. A passage opened underground, sucking in monsters regardless of whether they were dead or alive.
“Guess we’re going in, right?”
“You do know we can’t clear this without taking out the boss, right? Let’s move.”
The group of Espers descended back to the ground. As if greeting them, a cold, ominous aura lingered in the air as they made their way down a set of stairs leading to a wide-open door.
“You don’t usually see something like this in a B-rank Gate.”
“Judging by the fact that all the monsters so far were basically trash mobs, I’d say the boss is probably really strong.”
“Strong or not, we’ve got Kang Rion. No problem.”
Gwang-hyeon reassured the uneasy Espers and nudged them inside. As they descended the stairs, the searing desert sun above was cut off completely, replaced by a bone-chilling cold that made them shiver.
“Ugh, I thought we were about to break the record for fastest clear…”
“Being underground makes it hard to get a grasp on the terrain. I don’t think this party’s well-matched for this.”
“There goes resting anytime soon. Weren’t the Guides all on night duty? Bet they haven’t even slept yet.”
The Espers glanced worriedly at the Guides. Aside from Yu-won, the other three had been pulled in straight from their overnight shifts, and it showed on their tired faces.
Espers could rely on guiding when they were worn out, but for Guides who were already exhausted, there wasn’t much of a solution.
“Here, at least eat something and hang in there.”
Rion, looking at them with a mixture of sympathy and frustration, pulled out a paper bag he’d packed at home. It was full of health supplements he’d grabbed before leaving.
“It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing. And hey, you slept before this, so you’re in better shape than the rest.”
“…”
Rion’s voice carried a bit of a bite. He hadn’t exactly been well-rested either, but he was still salty and wanted to take it out somewhere.
But snark only works if you’ve got the rapport for it. When Rion glanced at Yu-won quietly looking into the bag, his conscience began to prickle. Reluctantly, he opened his mouth again.
“I mean, I just brought whatever was lying around… If you want some, just take it…”
Should’ve just shut up. Rion thought as he awkwardly held the bag toward Yu-won, who took it without a word.
“I’m fine. Let the seniors have it.”
“Huh, really?”
“I got to sleep, so I’m okay. And I’m the newest one here anyway.”
Ha! Try saying that to me. No matter how you looked at it, the guy wasn’t worth looking out for. Rion muttered under his breath and rejoined the Esper line.
What a waste of time.
Rion swept his flashlight across the underground dungeon.
“Remember that dungeon we did last time? The one where those bat-like monsters were swarming all over the walls? Ugh. At least this one doesn’t have that.”
Just like the vast desert from above, the dungeon stretched endlessly underground. They walked until their legs felt like they’d give out, and still, not a single monster in sight. The eerie calm was suffocating, like the stillness before a storm.
“Rear team’s totally wiped. Let’s take a quick break.”
With no natural light, the only way to check the time was Yu-won’s analog wristwatch. Rion asked him with a reluctant expression.
“What time is it?”
“Twelve-thirty in the afternoon.”
“So we came in around 4:30 a.m… Yeah, no wonder everyone’s beat.”
Gwang-hyeon gave the Guides a concerned look. One of them slapped her own cheek and said,
“I’ve been awake for over thirty hours… Need to stay sharp, but of all places, we had to end up here.”
Rion and Gwang-hyeon exchanged a few words as they scanned the area.
Clearing the Gate was important—but people came first.
No monsters in sight… A short rest should be fine, right?
Rion made a decision.
“There’s no rush. Try to catch at least an hour of sleep.”
“Yeah. If anything comes our way, we’ll wake you immediately. Let’s rest a bit.”
“We’re here to do guiding. What’s the point if we’re the ones sleeping?”
One of the Guides looked troubled as she glanced at the Espers. Even with fatigue etched all over her face, she still seemed more worried about them.
“What, we’ve got a fancy S-rank Guide. No need to stress.”
Rion pointed at Yu-won, who—unlike the other three—still looked perfectly composed.
“Guiding relies on stamina too. I’ll take care of any urgent cases, so please rest.”
Yu-won chimed in calmly, backing Rion up.
“Okay. But just for an hour. Exactly one hour.”
Only after repeated convincing did the Guides finally pull out sleeping bags and lie down right in the middle of the dungeon, falling asleep the moment their heads hit the ground.
No one knew how long it would take to defeat the boss, and they’d be pushing themselves to the limit regardless. A brief rest was absolutely necessary.
“Anyone need guiding?”
“M-Me!”
“Me too…”
“Count me in.”
At Yu-won’s offer, the Espers eagerly gathered around him. For B- or C-rank Espers, getting guided by an S-rank Guide would be a massive boost—even without worrying about matching rates.
“Never thought I’d get guided by an S-rank Guide in my lifetime.”
“I usually hate emergency calls, but if I get this kind of guiding once in a while… maybe it’s worth it.”
It wasn’t uncommon for low-ranking Guides to support high-ranking Espers, but the reverse was rare. Their excitement made sense—but it still rubbed Rion the wrong way.
Just a while ago, they’d all been pissed on his behalf, cursing “that guy,” and now they were all giddy over some guiding? Seriously?
It felt like betrayal.
By the time Yu-won’s session wrapped up, an hour had passed. The Espers woke the resting Guides, and they started moving again.
The dungeon stretched on endlessly, no matter how far they walked—and the usual swarms of monsters inside a Gate were nowhere to be found.
Rion’s mind brimmed with unease and questions.
Where the hell did all the monsters go?
