The End of the Path We’ve Walked (10)
Contrary to Han Yoon-jung’s words, the situation at the lodging was more grim than expected. The Espers were all sprawled on the floor, sleeping as if dead, while the Guides had disappeared without a trace. Seeing them lying there without any injuries, they seemed to have simply fainted. Apparently, being put to sleep by a monster wasn’t included in the “threat” criteria designed by the laboratory.
“…Ah.”
“Hey, hey…! Are you okay? Hey, wake up!”
“What the hell happened? Where did all the Guides go? Are they hiding?”
Sa Hae-geon’s actions were frantic as he searched for Chae Do-min, who was nowhere to be seen in the lodge lobby. But he couldn’t find Chae Do-min anywhere.
“…Hyung.”
Realizing that Chae Do-min wasn’t in the lodging, his head throbbed unbearably. This entire situation felt so surreal.
“I can’t find him anywhere. Looks like the monster took him.”
“What? No… Why would a monster specifically take only Guides? That doesn’t make sense.”
Despite the noise of others talking, Sa Hae-geon just stood there blankly, blinking his eyes. Why would a monster that had stolen a human body take Chae Do-min away from him? Without even knowing what Chae Do-min meant to him. What was it planning to do…
Just imagining Chae Do-min captured and unable to move made his blood boil. Seeing Sa Hae-geon breathing heavily and clenching his fist tightly, Lee Cheol-min rushed over and patted his shoulder.
“Calm down, calm down. We’ll find him. There’s no blood or anything like that. It seems like they were just taken somewhere. There are some traces left, so we can follow them. And… it looks like Yoon Seon-hoo was the monster. Everyone’s asleep, but Yoon Seon-hoo is missing.”
“…That person.”
“Yes. Seems like what we saw then was right.”
Sa Hae-geon remained silent. He recalled the image of the guy who had suddenly offered to shake hands with Chae Do-min and continued to flirt with him despite Chae Do-min’s discomfort. If Yoon Seon-hoo was really a monster, had he been targeting Chae Do-min since then? The irritation he felt whenever he saw the guy, though he pretended otherwise, might have been a signal from his instincts.
If only he had noticed Yoon Seon-hoo’s strangeness a little sooner. If only he hadn’t left Chae Do-min’s side.
No. If he had stubbornly insisted on staying at the lodging, he wouldn’t have lost Chae Do-min so helplessly.
“N-no way… How could my hyung… He was a bit light-hearted, but he wasn’t, wasn’t at all… Why…”
Meanwhile, Yoon Seon-hoo’s younger brother, Yoon Seon-ho, muttered in a devastated voice, unable to believe the situation. His large eyes trembled helplessly, seeming extremely confused.
“Esper Yoon Seon-ho, calm down. Your brother was just being used by the monster. It wasn’t Esper Yoon Seon-hoo who did wrong.”
“Then, then what happens to my brother? Is he alive? Will he come back if we eliminate the monster? Huh? That’s it, right? Please tell me that’s the case… Please. I’m begging you. Please?”
Han Yoon-jung exchanged glances with An Jong-hyeok, then frowned and shook her head. Sadly, no one had ever returned after having their body taken by a monster. To eliminate the monster, one inevitably had to attack the body itself. But seeing Yoon Seon-ho’s tears, Han Yoon-jung couldn’t bring herself to say this and kept her mouth shut.
Meanwhile, the Espers, having finally collected themselves from the shock, whispered among themselves. Come to think of it, Yoon Seon-hoo had been a bit strange from the beginning. The way he was excessively friendly with Guides, and how he approached unfamiliar Espers pretending to be friendly and blending in naturally. There were many odd things about him.
Each time these comments were made, Yoon Seon-ho’s head drooped lower.
“Everyone, quiet. This is not the time to discuss such things. They’re still in the dungeon. There was no signal indicating the gate forcibly opening. We need to follow the traces before we lose them. Get ready.”
At An Jong-hyeok’s words, the Espers hesitated and asked again.
“But do we really have to go too? You saw it earlier. We were no match for that tree monster spewing acidic fluid. Can’t just… the S-class Espers go?”
“Y-yeah, we wouldn’t be much help anyway…”
The Espers, frightened by the tree-shaped monster that had spewed acid, were reluctant to follow and made various excuses. They’d just be a burden, they said, or they felt dizzy because they hadn’t received Guiding. As all kinds of excuses emerged, An Jong-hyeok’s brow deeply furrowed.
Just as An Jong-hyeok was about to speak out in frustration, Sa Hae-geon spoke first.
“I think it would be better to depart quickly rather than wasting time on meaningless arguments.”
For Sa Hae-geon, who already thought they were too late, this situation was just frustrating.
“And as they said, bringing them along won’t be particularly helpful.”
The Espers were speechless at Sa Hae-geon’s quiet remark. Of course, they made excuses because they didn’t want to go, and they were genuinely shocked and discouraged by the gap between the dungeon’s danger level and their own abilities. But surely they weren’t so pathetic as to be criticized by a green rookie.
Just as the Espers were about to burst out with some kind of justification, Lee Cheol-min stepped forward.
“The kid is right. Let’s depart quickly. It’s an urgent situation, isn’t it? Looking at how only Guides were taken, the monster must have learned quite a bit while mingling with us. We don’t know what it plans to do with the Guides as hostages.”
“I think the same. Senior An Jong-hyeok. And as others have said, it would be much more efficient for only S-class Espers to move.”
Woo Jae-dam stepped forward, agreeing with Lee Cheol-min. The agitated Espers glared at Woo Jae-dam and Sa Hae-geon, clenching their fists. It was somewhat unpleasant, as they seemed to view them as merely incompetent cowards.
Woo Jae-dam and Sa Hae-geon, who had surprisingly found common ground, stared at each other briefly before turning their heads away simultaneously.
Han Yoon-jung, who had been quietly observing the situation, asked in a serious voice.
“The opponent is not human but a monster. Given that it could pretend to be human, its rank is certainly not low. The laboratory predicts it’s either an S-class monster or the final boss of this S-class dungeon. Do you still think only S-class Espers should step forward? Do you really believe you cannot provide even the slightest help in this crisis?”
Han Yoon-jung looked around the disorderly lodging. Roughly two hundred Espers were avoiding her gaze and pretending to be busy.
“Without Guides, there are no Espers. Without A-class Espers, there are no S-class Espers. We are in a symbiotic relationship, helping each other. That’s why we entered this dungeon together. Will you abandon the determination you had to conquer this dungeon? Will you just watch as the daily lives of your loved ones crumble?”
The Espers hesitated at Han Yoon-jung’s question. To be honest, the acid-spewing monster wasn’t particularly unusual, at least not enough to justify their exaggerated fear. The problem was that this characteristic happened to belong to an S-class dungeon monster; the fear of acid was just an excuse. Volcanic ash and lava were equally dangerous.
And if they wore their combat suits properly and received help from defensive-type Espers, these substances rarely touched their bodies. They were just, just scared. When they first encountered the tree monster, the fear and pressure they felt was almost suffocating. They didn’t want to feel that sensation again.
But how long could they run away? How long could they turn a blind eye, claiming fear? Could they protect their people that way? The Espers clenched their fists tightly. They didn’t want to run away anymore.
If they only looked after their own safety with various excuses, what about the people they loved? They wanted to remain brave and reliable people, at least to those they loved. Not pathetic humans who were only known for being scared.
The Espers steeled their resolve, recalling Han Yoon-jung’s appeal to protect the people they loved and their daily lives. There was nowhere left to retreat. If there was no place to retreat, they could only move forward.
The eyes of the Espers following the traces leading outside the lodging were like well-honed blades. Recalling the determination they had before entering the dungeon, they moved forward without hesitation, as if ready to face death.
Sa Hae-geon also mingled with the conquest team Espers, tracing Chae Do-min’s trail. Though Chae Do-min didn’t know it, he had a habit of Guiding while asleep. It was a kind of habit that developed from his long insistence on radiation Guiding.
If Chae Do-min had lost consciousness like the Espers who remained at the lodging, he might be emitting Guiding wavelengths now too. There had been no notification to Han Yoon-jung, and there were no particular signs of resistance left in the lodging, so it was highly likely he was unconscious.
Sa Hae-geon was confident he could trace Chae Do-min’s trail better than anyone. He scanned various parts of the dungeon and then focused on a spot where he could clearly feel Chae Do-min’s wavelength, albeit faintly. Then, like a wanderer who had found an oasis in the desert, he moved as if entranced.
In the exact opposite direction of where the traces of the abducted Guides led.
“Hey, hey…! Hey, Hae-geon!”
Surprised by Sa Hae-geon’s unilateral action, Lee Cheol-min looked at An Jong-hyeok and Han Yoon-jung before hurriedly following him.
“Let’s follow them too.”
The Espers, who had been blankly staring at the rapidly disappearing figures of Sa Hae-geon and Lee Cheol-min, widened their eyes at Han Yoon-jung’s subsequent instruction. Follow them even though they were heading in a completely different direction from where the traces led? Would that be okay? What if they tired themselves out with a wild goose chase before even facing the monster…
Swallowing these doubts, the Espers moved in the direction where Sa Hae-geon had disappeared.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
