# Chapter 79
“From today on, we will no longer conquer dungeons. Even if unconquered dungeons open and monsters from them attack people, we will no longer risk our lives for this cause. We will save the lives of our comrades who are with us and stay with them.”
At Kyun In’s words, the Espers momentarily stared at him with blank expressions.
It seemed to sound selfish and villain-like.
“Those who disagree can stay here and conquer the dungeons. If you survive and come to Central afterward, we’ll accept you.”
“But you won’t… help us?”
The Espers asked as if perplexed, and the S-class Espers nodded definitively.
The remaining Espers looked at each other.
Even without S-class Espers, if they joined forces, there were many dungeons they could conquer.
The possibility of conquest would be high.
But they too would eventually have to admit that there was no end to this work.
Even if they decided to eliminate all the dungeons today and leave tomorrow, new dungeons might appear tomorrow, and they realized they would be forever bound like this.
“Today, we’re going to Ipanema.”
At Kyun In’s words, people looked at him as if asking what he meant, while only those of us who understood smiled.
Ipanema Beach, where Kyun In had gone with his family when he was young, had remained his dream vacation spot for a long time, and he had always said that when all these damn dungeons disappeared, he would definitely go there.
“Can our families come too, Esper-nim? If some of our friends want to come along, can they join us?”
Some people asked urgently, and we nodded.
We had already agreed not to reject anyone who wanted to stop their life here and come with us.
And so that day, we went to Ipanema like that.
***
A new home.
It had been a long time since we came to Origin Central, after coming to conquer dungeons that should have been handled in Origin but weren’t.
“This is the first time since coming to conquer,” I said, and the S-class Espers and Ha-min almost simultaneously looked at me.
“Why… is that?”
“Did you forget in the meantime? You were kidnapped and brought here.”
At Byun Tae-young’s words, I exclaimed “Ah!” and glared at Cha Yoon, who discreetly turned his head and pretended not to know me.
I never thought I would become colleagues with the person who kidnapped me, but Cha Yoon’s recent contributions were so significant that it was now hard to imagine the Center without him.
Overall, S-class Espers disliked handling administrative work, but looking carefully, Cha Yoon was good at it and even enjoyed it, so we were very grateful for him.
There was much to prepare anew, but since we weren’t starting from scratch, we avoided the worst.
Since people had lived here until recently, it wasn’t difficult to reactivate the city’s functions.
The Espers completely agreed to maintain the same status system of the new Center, and here too, Kyun In would serve as the Center Director, with Byun Tae-young and Shim Woo-jin helping him to make important decisions together.
Ha-min would continue as the Special Task Force leader here, I would be in charge of training, and all remaining positions were dumped onto Cha Yoon.
We worried that Cha Yoon might refuse out of annoyance, but he seemed moved.
How fortunate that everyone had different tastes.
Cha Yoon seemed to think we greatly trusted him, and it seemed good if he would work hard while thinking that way.
“Well, let’s have fun today and start working tomorrow.”
At Shim Woo-jin’s words, we all agreed, but Cha Yoon left saying there was work to start right away.
That was even better news.
After all, Cha Yoon was a bit uncomfortable and all that.
Looking carefully, the other S-class Espers had similar expressions.
“The control room should be prepared immediately.”
At Ha-min’s words, Byun Tae-young nodded.
“The control room, research team, and a few other teams have already started work. They can work first and rest later.”
“Yes, that’s good. It’s great that everyone is finding and doing their work without procrastinating like before.”
The research team was working diligently on research as if determined to wash away their past mistakes, and the stabilizer they created had now reached the level of B-class Guide mucosal Guiding.
The production process was complicated, and since an Esper’s ability was needed to make the stabilizer, they couldn’t produce many, but their confidence seemed to grow as they succeeded in their research.
With the stabilizer being produced, Espers could relax, and Guides no longer needed to risk their lives for Guiding, resulting in high satisfaction for everyone.
“Let’s check the dungeon situation over there. That place is becoming Beta again. This time the name seems appropriate.”
Shim Woo-jin spoke as he turned on the television, and we all nodded in agreement.
We naturally tuned to BlackFish, where the situation seemed to be unfolding urgently.
After we left, people belatedly scrambled, wondering if they should return to Origin.
Due to uncertainty about what would happen with the dungeons, more people were strongly demanding Topaz to conquer them.
People who properly understood how dangerous the new dungeons were through <Center> seemed to feel greater fear and anxiety as time passed.
Why did they realize so late?
“What happens if those people say they want to come to Central?”
To me, it was completely like watching a fire across the river.
“The Center has decided to form a temporary government to control Central. People who want to come to Central must agree to pay 40 percent of their income as tax and also agree to respond to various labor duties. Cha Yoon has prepared something, do you want to see it too, Esper Seo Eunwoo?”
“No, I’m not that curious. But Esper Cha Yoon is really impressive. I don’t think I would have thought that far.”
“That’s right. He definitely has qualities as a villain. He seems like someone who couldn’t live after being wronged. But I wondered why he had been on our side acting like a pushover all this time, and it seems he was waiting for this moment. Even if we do such things now, we don’t look that bad.”
Byun Tae-young responded to my words.
Born to be a villain.
Perhaps Cha Yoon wasn’t a character that Sister hastily created to fill the quota, but rather an extra she initially meant to create simply, but as the story developed, she grew fond of him and increased his scenes.
“It would be good to let them know in advance to avoid wasted trips.”
Shim Woo-jin said while watching the broadcast, and Kyun In informed him that this information had already been conveyed.
It seemed right to assume that whatever we could think of, Cha Yoon could think of first.
“It would be good to remember that we didn’t come here to take revenge or spite people in Beta Central, and to prepare for dungeons that will appear here. We didn’t leave them behind hoping they would die from monsters.”
Silence fell at Kyun In’s words.
It was a complex issue difficult to address easily.
I also thought Kyun In was right.
We didn’t want to risk our lives for others, but we didn’t want them to die.
To be more honest, I now hoped to not be involved in their lives and to become strangers.
I had no desire to be a savior for people who just clung to me without doing anything themselves.
That’s what I had decided when I put an end to my life in the martial arts game world.
Anyway, after Kyun In’s words, we slowly dispersed.
We had clearly agreed to rest for today, but after hearing that, it became impossible.
“Ha-min, can you help with training the Espers? There are some parts that aren’t working well, and I’d appreciate your help.”
“Yes. Since the Special Task Force probably won’t have much free time, I’ll help when I can.”
I looked at Shim Woo-jin, wondering why he wasn’t asking me.
“Don’t you need my help?”
“Of course I do. But I didn’t ask because you have no choice in the matter.”
“Ah… but I could be busy too?”
“That won’t do. The difference between having you there or not is significant. When you’re present, the Espers’ tension changes. And after training with you, they become extremely agile in dungeons.”
I was glad that Shim Woo-jin had noticed that.
Actually, every time the Espers trained with Shim Woo-jin’s mental images, I would approach making small sounds and attack them.
I could eliminate those sounds entirely if I chose to, but I was doing it so they would respond to the sounds I made.
I thought it would be difficult for them to notice this fact unless I mentioned it, but that’s what Shim Woo-jin was talking about.
“The Espers are definitely growing faster thanks to your meticulously calculated training.”
I tried not to smile, but my grin stretched, and seeing that, Shim Woo-jin and Ha-min burst into laughter simultaneously.
“No, I’m not happy about it.”
Ah, why am I like this?
Even though I knew I should stop smiling, laughter wouldn’t cease as if infected by a laughter virus.
In the end, I fled saying I needed to see my office, and I could still hear the two of them laughing behind me.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
