Over six hundred hours had passed since they entered the dungeon. Nearly a full month, if you counted by days. Their supply of drinking water and combat rations was finally starting to run low. Even with strict rationing, they’d be lucky to last another five days. And that was only possible because the Guides had taken over the Espers’ shares too.
The Guides, physically weaker by comparison, had been dropping like flies. It was no longer unusual to see an Esper casually pick up a collapsed Guide and carry them on their back. The rule against physical contact between non-Bonded Pairs had long been forgotten. In the face of crushing fatigue and exhaustion, no one had the strength to enforce formalities.
Even so, the team’s overall mood wasn’t bad. Thanks to the Healing Esper in their ranks, anyone in bad shape could be treated instantly. Aside from being dead tired, no one had sustained serious injuries. And despite the hardship, a sense of camaraderie had taken root. Voices were hoarse, but people still talked about grabbing a beer together once they made it out—clinging to that simple, hopeful promise.
The First Squad had deemed the dungeon’s monster population nearly wiped out and officially declared further survivor searches unnecessary. Their objective was now the barrier stone. The location picked up on radar was only ten kilometers ahead.
Nine kilometers, eight, then eight and a half… The closer they drew to their goal, the stronger their steps became. Monster encounters had dwindled to a trickle.
The last battle came when they were just four kilometers from the barrier stone. The monsters swarmed in the hundreds, insect-like in appearance. That alone was unsettling—but what made it worse was the sheer size of them. Even the small ones were as big as an adult’s palm, and the larger ones rivaled pool floats. Buzz. Whirrr. The rapid fluttering of wings was enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.
Without thinking, Park Woo-jun cut off all air movement in the surrounding area. Stripped of air resistance, the monsters fell like overripe fruit from a tree. Thud. Thunk, thunk. They hit the ground with heavy, sickening splats.
But that wasn’t enough. These things didn’t rely on oxygen. Worse, the centipede-like ones started wriggling forward with frightening speed, using dozens of legs to charge straight at the team. Fighting them only became more of a hassle.
The Espers nudged Park Woo-jun’s shoulder and teased, “How’re you gonna take responsibility for this, huh?” Their tone was lighthearted. Sure, the numbers were high and the look of them was downright disgusting, but monsters of this level weren’t difficult to handle.
And they all instinctively knew it—this was the final fight before they got out. The tension had eased, replaced by relief. The mood among the group was anything but grim.
Word passed quickly from front to back, mouth to mouth, like a live broadcast. Laughter echoed freely, genuine and unfiltered. One of the Guides jokingly asked Lee Han-seo, “Are you sure that’s not your Pair?”
In response, Han-seo glared through the scope—though no one could see his eyes behind the lens—and it did absolutely nothing. His dramatic gesture only made everyone laugh harder.
“Don’t even think about teasing my Esper.”
“Oh? So it’s only a problem if I think about it?”
“Hey!”
“So I can tease him all I want—as long as I’m not thinking about it, right?”
The playful jab came from Sara, a Danish A-Class Guide who’d grown close to them during the mission. With a grin, she gave Han-seo a little push forward.
“Make way, make way! The Blader’s coming through!”
“Don’t call him that.”
“You’re such a picky prince. Why are there so many things we’re not allowed to say around you? Still, better than calling him the ‘blender power button,’ right?”
“Sara!”
“Yes, yes, S-Class Guide-nim. I’ll behave.”
Julian Moore had been slated as the main striker for the team, but his unstable condition and lack of Guiding support made it impossible. That left Park Woo-jun, their secondary striker, carrying the load in every battle.
With the ability to control air—more specifically, manipulate gases—Park Woo-jun had two main ways of taking down monsters.
Against those that breathed, it was clean and simple. Cut off the oxygen—every last bit of it. Even the strongest-looking monsters couldn’t last twenty minutes before dropping dead.
If only they were all that easy. Unfortunately, most dungeon monsters didn’t breathe. For them, Woo-jun compressed air into razor-thin, invisible blades and shredded them to dust—just like a blender.
It sounded simple, but monster hides were anything but soft. There were other A-Class Espers with wind-based abilities, but few could compress air with enough precision to cause meaningful damage. Fewer still could maintain those invisible blades through the entirety of a fight.
He had a youthful face and hadn’t been awakened for long. Compared to the rest—every single one of whom, except Julian and Woo-jun himself, had at least ten years of hardcore dungeon experience across the globe—Park Woo-jun was a rookie, no question. And yet, this so-called rookie had bonded with an S-Class Guide almost the moment he awakened, much to the quiet curiosity of the other Espers. Some had tried to test him, subtly at first, but his sheer combat power had taken them off guard. They didn’t show it, of course—pride wouldn’t let them—but the surprise was real.
The nickname “Blader” was a half-joke, coined by the Espers themselves. Someone had once called him “blender,” but after Lee Han-seo gave them a scolding lecture, they’d compromised.
As Sara nudged him forward, Han-seo could feel it—the surge of Guiding flowing stronger through him with every step. And judging by how the monsters were getting shredded faster, Park Woo-jun had sensed it too.
Maybe it was because they were so close to the end, but no one was bothering to stick to formation anymore. As Han-seo pushed past the front row of the Third Squad, even the Espers from the Second Squad stepped aside without a word, clearing a path for him. The distance between him and Park Woo-jun’s back was now down to just a few steps.
Shoving Han-seo forward had just been a bonus—Sara’s real objective was clearly something else. With a bright, satisfied smile, she slipped off to rejoin her own Pair in the Second Squad, clearly done with whatever mission she’d set for herself. It was her way of saying, You take it from here. Han-seo shot her a squint that was more a scrunch of his nose than an actual glare, then stretched his stride and marched ahead without hesitation.
Didn’t matter if his legs were swollen with fatigue or if his feet were screaming from burst blisters. Nothing could slow him down now.
“Hey, Park Woo-jun!”
His voice rang out, sharp and clear. Practically lunging at him, Han-seo latched on while Woo-jun was mid-battle, unable to do anything but offer up his back. It was Han-seo’s first time making it all the way up to the First Squad, but the Espers there had been constantly moving back and forth to find their Pairs—faces had become familiar by now. All except one: Julian Moore.
Apparently, the relaxed attitude wasn’t just limited to the rear. Han-seo clung to Woo-jun’s back like a cicada on an old tree, and the others simply waved and laughed like it was all part of the show.
“Why are you the only one doing any work? Are they picking on you or something?”
He said it in Korean, assuming no one else would understand—but apparently the language barrier wasn’t as high as he’d hoped. One of the Espers nearby replied immediately, teasing, “Are you kidding? He’s terrified of you.”
Han-seo ignored the comment, swinging his legs playfully as he dangled from Woo-jun’s back.
“Yah, why aren’t you answering meee?” he whined with mock sweetness.
“It’s not them,” Woo-jun muttered, sulking. “It’s you. You’re the one bullying me.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“Do I really have to spell it out?”
“Wait—Woo-jun, no way…”
“…”
“You’re still mad about that?”
“…Hmph.”
It had only been a few hours since Woo-jun found out what happened—that Han-seo had accidentally Guided the sole surviving Esper. And sure, the end result had turned out okay, but in terms of the act itself, it had been more like stealing someone else’s Guiding than giving it. The part Woo-jun really couldn’t stand was that Han-seo had taken off his gloves and touched another Esper with his bare hands.
This was the same man who, back when other Guides were fainting and being carried off left and right, had insisted on floating Han-seo midair just to keep anyone else from touching him. Even if it meant wasting his own energy to do it. So of course he was taking it personally.
“You…”
Woo-jun could already predict the rest of that sentence. Why are you being so petty? You’re seriously upset over something like that in a dungeon? It wasn’t hard to guess.
He pouted harder, lips pushed out in frustration. It annoyed him even more that he’d been the last to find out. The other Guides had known. The Espers had told their Pairs. Everyone else was in on it—everyone but him.
But—
“Wow. You must really be in love with me, huh?”
If things had gone the way Woo-jun expected, then it wouldn’t have been Lee Han-seo.
“God, you’re so damn cute. Just wait till we get outta here. First thing I’m doing is kissing the life outta you.”
A warm hand cupped Woo-jun’s pouting lips.
Even if most of the Espers didn’t understand Korean, the scene made itself pretty clear. Groans and eye-rolls went around as everyone awkwardly looked away, pretending not to see. A few of them grumbled about still not having their own Pairs.
Meanwhile, the last of the monsters had been nearly wiped out. Maybe three or four were left. Woo-jun was just winding up for one final snap to finish them off—
BOOM!
A deafening bolt of lightning crashed into the ground out of nowhere, shaking the earth like divine wrath.
“…Too loud.”
It was Julian, standing silently at the rear of the First Squad, conserving his strength.
