Chapter 6
“…!”
I could tell Kyun In was quite flustered seeing that.
It was the moment when the belief that a dungeon would be successfully conquered as long as an S-rank Esper stepped in was crumbling.
Watching the monster’s movements, I realized my thinking had been wrong.
It hadn’t reverted to when we first arrived; rather, it had become faster and stronger.
Kyun In attacked as he did at first, but he couldn’t stop the monster charging toward him.
He was no longer making languid, indifferent gestures as if bored, and although Kyun In seemed to be properly focusing and drawing on his abilities, it made no difference.
Kyun In was gradually pushed back, and his attacks weren’t working.
Seeing this, an Esper with barrier abilities quickly deployed a barrier, but the monster tore through it and emerged.
‘Damn.’
It seemed my plan to avoid people’s attention was going to fall apart.
I passed by Kyun In, who was backing away in confusion, and his hair and clothes fluttered in the wind I created.
The monster turned around when it saw me passing in front of it, and I jumped up from the ground, stepping on its back and climbing onto its head.
No matter what being it is, the head is fatally weak.
And it would never be able to dodge this attack.
I pushed off from its shoulders, flew up,
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Then hit its head with my fist like this,
THUD-
No matter how strong a monster is, it can’t do much.
If the attacker is a physical enhancement type.
Moreover, if the person who awakened in that Esper’s body was once called the greatest under heaven in the martial arts game world.
Even if this creature that appeared this time was an odd one, it couldn’t survive.
As I landed on the floor beside the falling monster, I felt uncomfortable gazes.
Even without looking back, they were as clear as if I were facing them head-on.
Damn.
I had been hiding my presence well until now, but somehow this time my plan seemed to have failed miserably.
***
In the car on the way back, Kyun In kept watching me.
I tried not to mind it, but I couldn’t help being conscious of it.
How could I not notice when he was shooting lasers from his eyes?
I knew he had a lot to say to me.
After returning to the center, Kyun In followed me.
He didn’t seem to care that we stayed in different places.
I thought he might speak to me first, but that wasn’t the case.
Maybe he hadn’t decided what to say or ask yet and was still choosing his words.
As we arrived, Guides who had been waiting approached.
Lee Ha-min wasn’t visible.
While I was looking around for Lee Ha-min, my Guide approached, and I shook my head.
He seemed very concerned about Kyun In beside me, but when I shook my head, he didn’t ask twice and turned away with a bright expression.
“Esper Seo Eunwoo. Let’s talk.”
Kyun In finally spoke, seemingly having made up his mind.
“I’m tired and would like to rest.”
“It won’t do a lower-ranked Esper any good to ignore a higher-ranked Esper’s words.”
At those words, I turned to look at him, thinking he had spoken well.
I had been wanting to say something about that when the opportunity arose.
“Actually, that’s not necessarily true. If you don’t want anything, you don’t have much to lose. I don’t think I absolutely need to stay at the center either.”
“…”
Kyun In seemed visibly flustered, as if he hadn’t expected me to respond that way.
“No, why are you being so extreme? I just asked to talk, and you’re talking about leaving the center. If you’ve awakened as an Esper, you should have a sense of duty and do your best to protect people. You’re impossible.”
“I’m going in.”
“You’ll have dinner at that time tomorrow, right? Then let’s meet at the cafeteria tomorrow. Get some rest. You worked hard today. And next time, you’ll be on the same team as me. I’m going to ask for our teams to be adjusted.”
Ah, why?
As I glared at him with a face full of things to say, Kyun In put on a sweet expression.
He looked very pleased that I had shown an active expression after being indifferent to him the whole time.
“I knew you’d like it. We’ll get along well. I’ll teach you well. You’ve heard until your ears hurt about how capable an Esper I am, right? From now on, you’ll be able to learn by seeing them directly. Esper Seo Eunwoo will know what an honor this is.”
If I said I didn’t like it, would there be any possibility of change?
I thought about it briefly, but I felt that if I opened my mouth, Kyun In would only do more of what he wanted to do, so I went back to my room first.
After throwing myself on the bed, regret washed over me for what I’d done.
But there was no other way.
‘The others didn’t seem to notice. I wonder if this happened in other dungeons too? If so, there must have been many injured people today.’
After lying down for a while, I showered and went out.
I wanted to hear about the situation of the people who had gone out together.
Lower-ranked Espers were gathered in small groups, talking.
As I had expected, many people had been seriously injured, and the center was in disarray.
“I heard Esper Shim Woo-jin was badly injured too.”
“I heard that too. They say a monster that had completely collapsed started moving again. If it weren’t for the Esper, everyone who went there would have died. But he’ll be okay, right?”
“They say he was already in a severe runaway state when he arrived here. It seems like it happened because he suddenly drew on his abilities too much.”
“He’ll be fine though.”
The basis for saying he would be fine wasn’t faith in Guides.
Nor was it faith in Shim Woo-jin; it was stubbornness.
Because there couldn’t be any problems.
That’s why they stubbornly tried to believe that.
I was thinking of going to where Lee Ha-min was, but I gave up, figuring I probably wouldn’t be able to meet him anyway.
‘I wish he would contact me when it’s over.’
As I was thinking that and slowly turning around, I heard a scream from somewhere, followed by a series of harsh impact sounds.
“Urgh!! Help me, please!”
Sounds of wind being cut and dull thuds continued.
A runaway Esper was mercilessly kicking and beating a Guide who was screaming for help.
“Uwaaaaagh!!”
Whether Guiding had failed, the Esper was howling as if in agony.
A B-rank Esper.
Looking at the emblem on his shoulder, I thought the Guide might not survive today.
They were people with so little presence they weren’t even mentioned in the novel.
No one would care about a Guide’s death.
That should have been the same for me too.
Even if I stepped forward, I knew there was nothing I could do, so why was I heading there?
Get a grip, Seo Eunwoo. What are you trying to do right now?
Even as I said that to myself, I had already launched my body and grabbed the arm of the Esper who was fiercely flying toward the Guide again.
His arm was so thick I couldn’t even grasp it with one hand, but he was unable to move his arm once I caught it.
He didn’t seem to think that would happen.
“Drop that thought that you’ll run out of control, be consumed, and your life will fade away. If you want to live, you need to pull yourself out of there. Does killing a Guide extend your lifespan? Even if it did, who said your life is more important than the Guide’s? If you can’t overcome that, just die.”
He glared at me as if shocked.
He seemed surprised by his own state, being held by the wrist by a lower-ranked Esper and unable to move.
Whether because of that shock or whatever reason, he calmed down, and I felt the surroundings become quiet.
‘Ah, please.’
I just hoped everyone had gone inside.
That they hadn’t gone quiet because they were looking at me.
As I desperately hoped and slowly turned around, my wish seemed to have gone unfulfilled once again.
Numerous gazes were directed at me.
To make matters worse, even Byun Tae-young was standing among them.
With an extremely interested look on his face.
I thought he might be smoking, but he was putting a lollipop in his mouth.
‘That’s right. Lollipops were that man’s signature.’
His dark brown eyes sparkled with interest.
While the time in the dungeon might have been troublesome for others, Byun Tae-young seemed to have completed his task flawlessly.
It seemed he didn’t even have time to change clothes after returning from the dungeon, yet there was no trace of monster fluid on him.
I had the unrealistic thought that maybe the people here would forget what they just saw if I didn’t cause any more commotion, so I carefully moved away.
Whether because Byun Tae-young had appeared there, no one made a sound.
Thinking this might be my only chance, I quietly left the place.
Deliberately ignoring the gazes that clung to me.
I’d caused trouble twice in a row.
And both in one day.
‘Not good. Not good. Think, Seo Eunwoo. What are you planning to do?’
After hitting my head, I fiddled with my device.
Seeing the state of the Espers, I was more worried about Lee Ha-min.
From what I heard, it seemed Shim Woo-jin had gone out of control too.
An S-rank Esper’s rampage was like a natural disaster.
Even a mere B-rank Esper was beating a Guide almost to death, so if it was Shim Woo-jin…
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
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