Chapter 55
“…What?”
Chahun gestured toward where the spider had hidden itself. With his other hand, he was pointing at a brightly glowing green button.
“You choose, hyung. I never agreed to continue.”
Chahun raised both hands and then sat down on the ground. He watched Yeonwoo, who had crossed his arms and was looking back and forth between him and the spider.
Chahun knew that Yeonwoo took good care of him. That’s why when he planned to leave the Center, he intended to take Yeonwoo with him rather than leave alone. He had heard before that Yeonwoo had an exceptionally talented younger sibling, but he’d just been told that the Center wouldn’t easily let Yeonwoo go because of how remarkable this sibling was.
Not that he planned to give up, but still…
Chahun looked at Yeonwoo, who was holding the rebellious Sili and seemed at a loss for what to do.
I wish hyung would just give up quickly. No, but… No, I can’t do anything without hyung, but why him? Hyung came in here following me, right?
Once the doubt surfaced, his thoughts continued to spiral. Chahun needed Yeonwoo, but Yeonwoo didn’t need him. Yeonwoo had a proper team and knew everything. He wasn’t even on bad terms with the Center Director or Sangwon. So why be so nice to me?
…Could it be.
Chahun, who had been rubbing his burning ears, covered them completely. As the sudden ringing in his ears subsided, leaving a sense of emptiness, he jumped to his feet.
“Hyung!”
Yeonwoo was facing off against the spider while holding the green-glowing Sili. This hyung, seriously! The spider, foaming at the mouth and trembling, gathered its last strength and clicked its fangs. Rising on its burning body, it charged straight at Yeonwoo.
“This thing is crazy.”
Mana gathered in Chahun’s hand as he stepped in front of Yeonwoo. When Chahun swung his sky-blue glowing sword, the spider backed away. Chahun struck down on the head of the retreating spider, then turned to look at Yeonwoo with narrowed eyes.
“Are you satisfied now?”
At his fierce voice, Yeonwoo, who had been looking down at his feet, raised his head. Seeing his pale face, an inexplicable anger rose within Chahun.
“Maybe you’re satisfied, but I’m not. You think I’d be happy about getting a graduation certificate from the military academy when you’re in that state? What do you take me for?”
Chahun glared at the silent Yeonwoo before pressing his lips together tightly. There was so much he wanted to say. He wanted to demand why Yeonwoo was going this far, and he wanted to beg him not to do this again. One such experience was more than enough. He never wanted to succeed through someone else’s sacrifice again.
When Chahun struck the convulsing spider’s body with his sword, the blade shattered, causing a rain of ice. As fist-sized ice chunks poured down, pulverizing the spider’s body, a red magic stone was revealed.
Chahun channeled mana into the whirlpool pattern that appeared on the magic stone. The dungeon mana responded to Chahun’s mana, gathering to form a gate. After checking that it wasn’t a trap, Chahun supported Yeonwoo. Just before their feet touched the gate, Yeonwoo grabbed Chahun and whispered softly.
“Don’t fight.”
“Why not?”
Weren’t you the one who told me to call them out before? When no answer came, he turned his head to see Yeonwoo blinking his drowsy eyes before closing them. Chahun looked down at the now-sleeping Yeonwoo without responding and placed his hand under his nose. Even though he could clearly feel the faint breath, he still felt anxious and uneasy. Supporting Yeonwoo’s knees, Chahun lifted him up, and as soon as they exited the gate, a guide came running.
“Esper Kang Chahun!”
Chahun showed Yeonwoo to the approaching guide. Seeming uncomfortable that it wasn’t his team’s guide, Yeonwoo avoided the guiding and burrowed into Chahun’s arms. Holding Yeonwoo close, Chahun felt his racing heartbeat and rubbed his chest.
“Congratulations.”
At Sangwon’s greeting, ice erupted from beneath Chahun’s feet. Sangwon raised a curtain of fire, easily avoiding the flying ice shard. Chahun ignored Sangwon, who was grinning as if daring him to try more, and supported Yeonwoo.
“Excuse me.”
When someone tapped his shoulder, Chahun held Yeonwoo closer and swung his spear. The healer backed away in surprise at the brightly glowing spear tip. Chahun’s glare was even more frightening than the spear aimed at their heart.
The healer wanted to ignore this situation, but as luck would have it, the collapsed person was Han Yeonhwa’s brother. Clasping trembling hands together, the healer spoke in a deliberate voice.
“Esper Kang Chahun. I understand you’re on edge after just completing a dungeon raid, but the same applies to Esper Han Yeonwoo. It seems he’s been using his ability without guiding, which is probably why—”
“Should I try again?”
A guide who had been circling like a hyena raised their hand. Among those guides, Chahun was looking for Jo Heeseo while glaring at the healer who was stroking Yeonwoo’s hand.
“The more Esper Kang Chahun reacts this way, the harder it will be for Esper Han Yeonwoo. I understand your concern, but having an Esper nearby when a mana core is unstable isn’t very helpful.”
At those words, Chahun’s grip loosened. The watchful healer carefully pulled Yeonwoo away, leaving Chahun’s arms feeling empty. Reflexively reaching out, Chahun grabbed Yeonwoo’s wrist. After staring at Yeonwoo for a long time, he carefully let go. The healer then supported Yeonwoo and moved away.
“I’ll take him to my treatment room. Meanwhile, Esper Kang Chahun, go for a walk outside. Um, it would be good to shake off those… ominous things.”
“No, let’s go to Zone A. Guides will be waiting with potions, so we can do both treatment and guiding. Really… What’s going on here? Esper Han Yeonwoo is suffering because of Esper Kang Chahun.”
Clicking his tongue, Sangwon approached Chahun.
“Want me to help? Nothing’s better than sparring for shaking off dungeon mana.”
Ignoring Sangwon’s offer, Chahun watched Yeonwoo leave the training grounds.
“By the way, isn’t Esper Han Yeonwoo truly amazing?”
Sangwon, who was looking in the same direction as Chahun, asked the Deputy Director. The Deputy Director, who had been standing a step back, quickly nodded at Sangwon’s question.
“Indeed. I believe this was his first training, but the way he calmly found the path and even knew how to neutralize the monster was truly impressive.”
“If the Center Director were here, he would have been truly amazed.”
Speaking of which… Chahun, finally noticing the Center Director’s absence, glared at the Deputy Director. Even though Chahun wasn’t affiliated with the Center, an Esper belonging to the Center was unstable, and yet nobody took measures despite watching this happen.
“Looking for the Center Director? He had an urgent matter and stepped out briefly.”
Right? The Deputy Director nodded with an awkward smile at Sangwon’s words.
“Since this was the Deputy Director’s first supervised training, I apologize on his behalf if there was any discomfort.”
Chahun, letting Sangwon’s words go in one ear and out the other, repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist as he felt Yeonwoo’s mana growing more distant. After confirming Yeonwoo was far enough away, Chahun headed for the exit.
“Oh, by the way, Esper Kang Chahun. You haven’t contracted with the Center yet, right?”
“No, not yet.”
At the Deputy Director’s words, Sangwon opened his mouth while looking at Chahun.
“Then I guess we can recruit Esper Han Yeonwoo to our team.”
With a sharp sound, Sangwon caught the ice shard that flew toward him, maintaining his smile as he used his ability. As the flames that rose melted the ice, Sangwon laughed deeply through the misty steam.
“It’s true. Esper Han Yeonwoo belongs to the Center, and I can recruit any Center-affiliated Esper into my team. I heard he’s about to be expelled from his team, so I might as well pick him up.”
This was ridiculous. It was Sangwon who had mocked Chahun, saying he could understand the phrase “birds of a feather flock together” when seeing him hanging around with a C-class Esper.
“I was wondering about the rumors of unstable abilities from a family member of Esper Han Yeonhwa… but isn’t he quite useful at that level?”
“Haha. It seems there was a misunderstanding.”
Chahun knew that bringing up Yeonwoo was a provocation. He wanted to punch Sangwon, who was smiling so sweetly, but instead, Chahun rubbed his ear with an attitude that suggested he was ignoring barking dogs. It wasn’t like a dying wish or anything. It was because of Yeonwoo’s request not to fight, made just before he collapsed.
“If you don’t like that, would you like to join my team now?”
“Perhaps it would be better to decide that after consulting with the Center Director, Esper Kang Chahun?”
Bullshit.
Chahun looked at the Deputy Director, who was fidgeting as if afraid Chahun might accept Sangwon’s offer. What did these people eat growing up to turn out like this?
Unable to hold back, Chahun let out a derisive laugh as he looked at Sangwon and the Deputy Director. One was a person desperate to devour him, and the other, along with his boss, had dragged Chahun to the Center only to neglect him and then cause all kinds of interference. After all that, Chahun couldn’t understand why they wanted to keep him tied to the Center.
Forget two weeks—he wanted to leave this wretched Center right away.
But then what about Yeonwoo?
Except in very special cases, the Center didn’t collaborate with Espers from other affiliations. While guilds cooperated and helped each other, the Center only managed designated areas and focused on preventing dangerous zones from expanding further.
Whenever Chahun wanted to leave the Center because it was petty and dirty, the worry that he might never see Yeonwoo again if he left now held him back.
“Think about it carefully. You can both join together if you’d like.”
Combining Sangwon, Yeonwoo, and dungeon in his mind, Chahun recalled the image of Yeonwoo huddled weakly, and Sangwon, so leisurely composed in front of him.
Chahun silently stared at Sangwon. He wanted to make him exactly the same way. He wanted to throw him into a dungeon where no one would help him, leaving him to die slowly.
‘Don’t fight.’
It wasn’t like some kind of shackle. Chahun fiercely snatched at the ice crystals flying around and headed for the door. After looking down at the empty space beside him, he moved toward the treatment room.
Walking almost at a run toward the treatment room, Chahun suddenly stopped. Ice crystals were still flying fiercely around him. Recalling the healer’s words to shake off those ominous things before coming back, Chahun turned his steps toward the training ground.
As soon as the training room door closed behind him, Chahun used his ability. Ice shot up from his toes to the ceiling and exploded with a boom, sending fragments flying in all directions. The more he used his ability, far from feeling relieved, he felt short of breath as if his mana was wearing thin. It was a feeling he had never experienced when Yeonwoo was by his side.
If hyung were here, he would have told me what to do.
Chahun roughly pushed his hair back, created an ice dagger, and threw it behind him.
“Oh my, careful!”
The person who opened the door and came in was Yoon Seokhyun.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
