“Grrr…”
Zero let out a low, animalistic growl. Kang Min and Yu Je-hyun stepped in front of the door, blocking the way. Yu Je-hyun infused more power into the metallic dome protecting Lee Haru and Ji Yeon-woo.
Kim Hyun-seo and Shin Ji-soo tensed, assuming battle stances. If Zero charged at them, even holding out for a single exchange would be difficult—but standing by and doing nothing was not an option.
However, instead of attacking, Zero simply stood there, trembling violently. His body shook as if seized by chills. Just as Yu Je-hyun narrowed his eyes at the strange sight—
“…Bring Ji Yeon-woo.”
Zero’s eyes briefly returned to their original state before turning pitch-black again. His face twisted in agony, drenched in cold sweat.
“There’s really not much time left. I’m not trying to kill everyone, like you’re all thinking… Just bring Ji Yeon-woo.”
Yu Je-hyun exchanged glances with Kang Min. Whether Zero was telling the truth or not was uncertain—but ignoring his demand outright could be dangerous.
After a moment of hesitation, Kang Min gave a small nod.
“We’ll ask Guide Ji Yeon-woo first. We won’t force him to face you.”
Just as Hong Seong-jun had been obsessed with Lee Haru, perhaps even more so, Zero seemed fixated on Ji Yeon-woo.
It wasn’t unusual for an Esper to obsess over a Guide, but there was something fundamentally different about the way these two did.
The fact that Ji Yeon-woo was the reason Zero had temporarily regained his sanity was astonishing—and terrifying.
Kang Min gave Yu Je-hyun a subtle signal. Leaving the restraining metal plates in place, Yu Je-hyun stepped out of the room.
“Are you sure about this?”
“We’ll make it work.”
Kim Hyun-seo had also overheard Zero’s words. As an A-rank Esper, even he felt a chill just looking at Zero. Could Ji Yeon-woo really stand in front of him and stay composed?
Yu Je-hyun waved his hand, and the top of the metallic dome opened in a neat circle. Lee Haru and Ji Yeon-woo, curled up inside, looked up in surprise.
“I don’t know why, but Black’s leader wants to see you. He’s on the verge of a Rampage. Of course, you can refuse.”
Ji Yeon-woo’s expression darkened. Yu Je-hyun said he could refuse, but the very fact he phrased it like that meant he was hoping he wouldn’t.
He had already heard from Kim Hyun-seo that Zero’s condition was serious. What confused him was why Zero wanted to see him.
To that man, wasn’t he just a Guide to be used and discarded?
That thought made Ji Yeon-woo bite down on his lip.
Zero was calling for him because of the Guiding. And Yu Je-hyun wanted to bring him along because they couldn’t afford for Black’s leader to lose control.
His body shook violently. The pain he had endured each time he Guided Zero came rushing back to him in vivid detail. But he couldn’t run away.
Ji Yeon-woo slowly stood up. The front of the dome vanished right on cue.
He would have stepped out immediately—if Lee Haru hadn’t taken his hand. That gentle, steady grip brought his feet to an abrupt stop, like magic.
“I’ll Guide Black’s leader. If Guide Ji Yeon-woo tries to do it right now, it could end terribly.”
Lee Haru rose, placing Ji Yeon-woo behind him, and met Yu Je-hyun’s gaze. While the reason was unknown, the compatibility rate between Ji Yeon-woo and Black’s leader had dropped to dangerously low levels.
If they had any chance of stopping a Rampage, it would be better for him to try.
Yu Je-hyun looked at their joined hands, then let out a deep breath.
“I’m not taking him there to Guide. That guy’s already beyond saving. Even if you, Lee Haru, try to Guide him, there’s no guarantee he’ll come back. And what do you take me for, thinking I’d throw you at him?”
At best, two high-compatibility S-rank Guides might be able to bring him back. Might.
Kang Min and Yu Je-hyun were willing to comply with Zero’s request because they believed the man might want to end his own life. It was also to prevent him from going berserk and charging at Ji Yeon-woo or Lee Haru.
“Then I’ll go with you. Is that allowed?”
The words Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? rose to Yu Je-hyun’s lips—but when he locked eyes with Lee Haru, he knew nothing would change his mind.
There wasn’t time to argue. Cracks had begun to spread across the wall next to the door. The building, already battered by shockwaves, was starting to groan ominously.
“Stay right beside me.”
If Zero lost control, Yu Je-hyun planned to protect Lee Haru with his own body. He pulled Lee Haru close to his side.
Ji Yeon-woo, free of Lee Haru’s grip, fidgeted with his hand for a moment, then took a hesitant step toward the room where Zero was waiting.
The moment he stepped past the door, he felt Zero’s gaze pierce right through him.
Zero was staring directly at him, his face now fully visible.
The trembling in Ji Yeon-woo’s body worsened. That all-too-familiar face made his chest feel like it was being crushed.
“Why… do you want to see me? What right do you think you have?”
His voice came out rough and broken. But even as resentment bled through every word, Zero didn’t respond. He just stared at him silently.
Those pitch-black eyes sent chills down his spine. It felt like at any second, Zero might leap at him, desperate for a Guiding intense enough to shatter his body.
“If I could just get my revenge, I thought I wouldn’t care about anything else in this world.”
Ji Yeon-woo’s eyes trembled violently.
Still staring at him, Zero pushed his fingers into his own chest.
Even as his flesh tore, he didn’t so much as flinch. His bloodied hand pulled out a small object, wrapped in plastic, from deep inside his chest.
Zero hurled the object at Kang Min, who caught it easily. He unwrapped the plastic and looked inside—it was a USB drive, no larger than the tip of a finger.
“The day your mother betrayed me… that was the day I may as well have died.”
The word mother from Zero’s lips made Ji Yeon-woo stagger. Startled, Lee Haru quickly rushed to support him.
“…That’s not possible.”
At the orphanage, some of the kids knew who their birth parents were. Even though they’d all been abandoned, Ji Yeon-woo had always envied those children.
He didn’t know who had left him behind. He didn’t even have a name—nothing to trace, no clues, not a single syllable.
As he grew older, he tried to find out. But the only thing he ever discovered was that his name was the only remnant of them.
“Your mother was an S-rank Guide too. You’re the spitting image of her. Even your compatibility rate is just as high.”
He wanted to say something—but no words came. His mouth stayed frozen. All he could do was grip Lee Haru’s hand tighter. Haru, too, had nothing to say—only warmth to offer.
“Everything… it’s all on there.”
Zero’s speech came in broken fragments, punctuated by ragged breaths. His last lingering regret stood right in front of him.
The woman who had thrown him into hell was already dead. So instead, he turned her son—the one she had worried about until her dying breath—into the vessel for his revenge.
He had destroyed the life of that bright-eyed boy who used to look up at him and smile.
He didn’t regret it. But he couldn’t let go of it, either.
“Your name… I’m the one who gave it to you… Just that one thing—ghk…!”
His voice cracked into a scream mid-sentence.
Lee Haru instinctively pulled Ji Yeon-woo back, gripping his hand tightly.
Yu Je-hyun and Kang Min had already stepped in to block the two of them.
Even as he was being pulled away, Ji Yeon-woo couldn’t take his eyes off Zero.
The ground beneath Zero cracked outward in concentric circles. The air grew oppressively heavy, weighed down by a surge of violent energy.
[He’s Rampaging. Run—now!]
The voice inside his body screamed in warning.
Still holding Ji Yeon-woo’s hand, Lee Haru glanced around frantically.
But there was nowhere to go. The ceiling, already weakened, had started to collapse. Debris rained down in a deadly shower.
A single misstep could get them crushed.
“Lee Haru!”
Yu Je-hyun ran toward them, pulling Lee Haru into his arms. Haru gasped, breathing in short bursts as he was wrapped in the warmth of Yu Je-hyun’s body.
Even in the chaos, Ji Yeon-woo remained frozen—trapped by Zero’s unwavering gaze.
“Yeon-woo…”
Zero called his name.
Ji Yeon-woo wanted to kill this man—and yet, everything he’d said spun wildly through his mind, leaving him breathless.
He wanted to ask—what did it mean that he had named him?
But it was Zero who moved first.
His bloodstained lips parted, silently mouthing something. And the moment Ji Yeon-woo recognized the two syllables— Zero plunged his hand into his own chest and ripped out his heart.
It pulsed violently in his fist before being crushed, spraying blood in every direction.
The body that once seemed so monstrous crumpled to the ground like a rotting tree.
