I Wish They’d Just Leave Me Alone 72

Chapter 72

“I’ll be counting on your help.”

The Guides had gathered in one place.

For safety, there was an Esper with the ability to create protective barriers and another Esper who could cast Haste in case they needed to escape.

The defensive Esper was surprisingly the same senior who had protected the Guide during our first Gate in middle school.

“Sunbae, hello. Were you with Chaehwa?”

“It’s been a while. I wasn’t originally. I was cast by Chaehwa. Thanks to that Gate’s rank increase back then, I received a pretty good offer.”

This was another detail that had changed from before the regression.

Because there had been several occasions when I had to go out with Chaehwa’s Espers while being part of the Association, I remembered most, if not all, C-class and above Espers.

Especially a defensive type who could generate shields—an ability useful anywhere—there’s no way I wouldn’t remember.

“I’ll definitely keep you safe today, so don’t worry. If you get even slightly injured, those two probably won’t leave me alone, so you absolutely need to stay in the back, okay?”

I just quietly nodded to the senior who was speaking playfully.

Since those two guys must have heard this conversation, I thought I should really stay quiet.

If I went to the front or did something strange, they’d rush to protect the Guide they had imprinted on.

Apart from telling them not to get hurt, because I was the Guide they had imprinted on, I absolutely had to be careful with myself.

“Soo-young, come here.”

Uncle, knowing this, seemed to want to protect me first in case I got hurt.

“Where’s Auntie?”

“She’s up front.”

Uncle’s face was full of worry.

Even though she was the only healing-type among all the Espers who had entered, and despite being surrounded by people protecting her, he seemed uneasy.

If Auntie gets overwhelmed by monsters, it means we won’t be safe either, but I don’t think we need to worry.

“But those vines…”

“Bainu. About 40 years ago? A vine monster that first appeared in a Gate that opened on an island nation. See how the tips of those vines move to grab their targets? They have almost no aggression, but they’re annoying.”

“Annoying? Can’t we just cut them?”

“What the hell!”

No sooner had I asked for clarification than one of the Chaehwa Espers shouted.

At first, the vine only wrapped around their ankle, so they cut it, but it didn’t seem to matter where it was cut—it was climbing up their leg.

“It doesn’t have killing power, but it grows back even if you cut it. Once your body is tied up, it’s hard to move.”

“Shouldn’t we help them? If it grows back after being cut, how do we save them?”

“It’s fine. Even as a monster, it’s still a plant.”

I was flustered, but the adults around me were extremely calm.

A fire-type Esper from Calling approached the bound Esper and set fire to where the vine had been cut.

The vines that had been growing and wrapping around the body stopped growing as soon as the fire touched them.

Soon after confirming they had stopped, several Espers rushed in and tore the vines away with knives.

It didn’t look as difficult as I thought, so I just blinked while standing behind the protective barrier.

Perhaps because the image of the Blood Slime from the previous C-class Gate remained in my mind, the solution seemed too easy.

It’s not even me fighting, yet it feels easy—isn’t that just arrogance?

I exhaled to stay alert.

I’m not the one fighting; it’s the Espers standing up front.

Thinking various thoughts in my head, I asked:

“This is a C-class Gate, but are there only these Bainu vine monsters? I don’t see anything else around.”

“Of course not. That mob commonly appears in various Gates. But it can’t catch its prey alone, so it gets help from other monsters.”

“Other monsters?”

“Yes. As you saw earlier, this monster’s strength is that it grows back after being cut and wraps tightly around the body, right? It binds the target it recognizes as prey, and then other creatures appear to attack together.”

Look there. Uncle pointed to a spot in the distance.

Something large was running toward us.

It looked like a dinosaur I’d seen on TV or in movies when I was very young.

The differences were that it had extremely long, sharp front claws and white fur running from its head along its back to its tail.

“If you get hit once, you’d die immediately, right?”

“Never go to the front, Soo-young. Understand?”

“I know my life is important too.”

Never stepping forward or going out—that was my unchanging goal.

Calling’s Espers took positions to face the approaching monster from afar.

They seemed to have spotted it earlier due to their better dynamic vision, but they appeared to be discussing their positioning.

The Chaehwa guild members had stepped back slightly, as if it had been decided they wouldn’t participate in the battle.

“It’s a Galrok. It won’t be difficult to catch.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We can handle it just fine among ourselves. But there are some variables.”

“Variables…”

I turned my head to look at the group that included the pink-haired person.

Thinking “Wouldn’t they be a top-tier guild too?” I turned my eyes back to Uncle.

“We’re an amazing guild, Soo-young. Calling is the first guild they call for suddenly appearing Gates.”

“What about other guilds?”

“Other guilds can handle it too, but there’s a saying that if you want to end it safely, call Calling. We’re famous at the Association.”

I nodded and said, “Yes, yes,” seeing Uncle’s proud expression.

I’ve never heard that before…?

It was something I had never heard during my time working at the Association before the regression.

I was about to think it was a joke, but Ye Han-dam glanced over as if he had heard our conversation.

Feeling embarrassed, I mouthed, “That’s not my opinion.”

Ye Han-dam saw me and shook his head.

Then he mouthed back, “That’s correct.”

It was true…?

Uncle saw my expression and continued with a smile:

“Seems like you didn’t believe it. Well, the higher-ranked Guides tend to focus on individual activities rather than guild activities.”

“Was that your boasting, Uncle?”

“A little bit? And unlike other guilds, we also have a high-ranking healer.”

It seemed more like he was boasting about his wife rather than himself.

I turned my head at Uncle’s doting words.

Leaving behind Uncle, who was saying I was being cold, I became lost in thought.

Why didn’t I, an Association employee, know that fact?

There were quite a few Espers among them who could restore fatigue to some extent.

But Espers who could heal external wounds were extremely rare, which is why Auntie became one of the most famous Espers, counted on fingers.

When Auntie died preventing Yoon Cheong’s rampage, the Association was heavily criticized for requesting support from Ji Seon-young, a recovery/buff type Esper, to stop a telekinesis type Esper’s rampage.

Was it intentional? I don’t want to be suspicious when looking at the Guide-friendly Association, but every time I compared my old memories with what’s being said now, something felt fishy.

Since it hasn’t happened yet and I’m not at the Association now, there was no way to confirm.

Since I couldn’t confirm it right now, I decided to just remember it for now and check later.

“We caught them easily in other Gates before. So our guild already has the answer on how to deal with them. The problem is over there…”

Uncle frowned slightly as he looked at Chaehwa’s Espers.

Seeing this expression from Uncle, who usually smiles at most things, meant he really didn’t like something.

“Is there a problem?”

“No. The problem isn’t with them, but that our guild members are too good at what they do.”

“Ah, I see…”

At my “Is that so?” response, Uncle again looked hurt.

You look too much like Ji Yeohoon, so please don’t make that face. You’re not Ji Yeohoon, Uncle, and no matter how similar you look, I won’t be weak to your face.

“It’s because our approaches are different. We have our own method that works for us, and we’ve been raiding with that method, but when Chaehwa joins in, it might clash.”

“But you seemed to dislike them a lot more than that would warrant.”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Very.”

“Can’t help it. Some things just don’t meet my standards. From our perspective, they’re too chaotic.”

“Well, Calling does have a precise way of doing things…”

“From our perspective, they’re too chaotic.”

“…Uncle?”

“Hm? What?”

The words repeated.

Uncle didn’t say it twice for emphasis.

While everyone else seemed not to notice and continued what they were doing, I looked around trying to find the sense of dissonance.

It was as if something had forcibly erased the middle of time and made it go back again.