# Chapter 40
Usually, gates show energy formation patterns before they appear, so the Association controls areas where gates are likely to open in advance. But in the case of emergency gates, even the Association couldn’t easily predict them. They suddenly opened and sucked in nearby living organisms.
Dohyun thought it was fortunate that he was alone. Even though he wasn’t a combat-type, he was still an Esper, so he ended up with just a broken leg.
Dohyun took out the potions he had kept ready. He couldn’t use them all at once, not knowing what monsters he might encounter. He cupped his palm, poured a very small amount of water, and infused it with energy. Just a little. Just enough to check his surroundings momentarily.
Dohyun looked at the water that had turned pink and swallowed it right away. If there was a difference in effectiveness between drinking and applying it, then Handam’s ability, which only injured an arm when the pink water burst, would be the same.
Dohyun’s thinking was correct. Soon, a very small ball of fire appeared in the air. The unbursted ball lit up the surroundings like a candle.
“What is this?”
Still, only about a 1-meter radius brightened, so he couldn’t recklessly move forward. Just as the guides did when he first entered a gate, he had to guard the entrance of the gate.
A gate that has opened once continues to generate energy and bring monsters. When the energy disappears, the exit opens and the gate vanishes, but gates that haven’t been conquered explode.
When a gate opens, someone must be inside it. If there’s no Esper who can regulate the energy from building up inside, the gate’s energy gradually accumulates and eventually explodes.
Dohyun pondered. He couldn’t conquer it himself, but couldn’t he at least tell those outside what kind of gate it was?
The area where Dohyun was currently located was a neighborhood where many Espers lived. If news of a gate opening spread, many Espers would gather quickly. Especially in the case of an emergency gate, Espers would come to help regardless of their rank or guild affiliation.
After organizing his thoughts like this, Dohyun, who had been following the emergency response guideline of ‘When caught in an emergency gate, stay as close to the entrance as possible without moving’ for a long time, suddenly felt a question.
“Why… isn’t anyone coming?”
Since they say you lose your sense of time in darkness, Dohyun guessed that not much time had passed compared to what he thought. Regular gates begin to close within 5-10 minutes after someone enters, and emergency gates close their entrances within 30 minutes to an hour. Then, when all monsters inside are defeated, the exit opens again. So a conquest team should be entering before the door closes…
He was anxious because he couldn’t accurately check the passage of time. Phones don’t work in gates, and the watch on his right wrist was, as always, stopped at 3:10.
It’s fortunate I can use a potion with Handam’s ability in it. Without the ability, he would have been stuck in darkness where he couldn’t see an inch in front of him.
Dohyun called his ability “copying.” That seemed the most accurate way to describe it.
His leg seemed to be healing as the movement in his ankle gradually became easier. Should I make a healing potion? No, it seemed better to conserve energy.
Dohyun sat with his buttocks on the red dirt floor, knees pulled up and wrapped in his arms. The crouched position gave him a sense of security. Squatting in a corner between walls would give him even more security, but he couldn’t move further away from the gate entrance.
He reduced the output of the fire. Since he didn’t feel cold, it was enough to illuminate just his surroundings. He could use Handam’s ability while the potion was in effect, but he didn’t know when the effect would wear off.
I need to conserve energy as much as possible. Since creating and maintaining the ball of fire used Dohyun’s own energy, he needed to be more careful. Also, he never knew what kind of monster might come. It was safest to make himself as invisible as possible and stay in a corner.
This situation was familiar. If he folded his body as much as possible, extinguished the light, and held his breath, soon a drunk man would come in, pour out a stream of curses, and close the door.
‘Where did this bastard go! Just wait till I catch you!’
Since it was quite painful if caught, he had to run away. It had been a long time since he’d had that thought. It was a memory of a painful wound, but Dohyun was fine now.
Thinking about the scars he left was a bit stinging, and occasionally pressing on them would cause severe pain, but still, memories could be covered with other memories. Dohyun covered that memory by giving the Association a recording, sneakily filmed video, and his diary.
‘The person you abused is a potential Esper. I cannot live with you anymore.’
It was somewhat relieving to recall the man who contorted his face at Dohyun’s calm words.
Dohyun had to become an adult. Since no one treated the wounded Dohyun as a child, he had to become an adult who could dust himself off and get up even after being hurt. He had to hide his pain. Even if he was hurt alone, he shouldn’t tell others. That was how he avoided being ignored.
“When… will they come.”
Still, sometimes he wanted to cry. When trapped in dark memories, even Dohyun wanted to cry.
Until now, he had been surrounded by people who told him not to cry, to be strong, to push himself, so occasionally when something happened that was hard even for Dohyun to endure, he wanted to cry pitifully. Dohyun buried his head between his knees.
A considerable amount of time passed like that. Dohyun counted internally, one, two, three- seconds. He had counted 600 seconds, so though not accurate, wouldn’t it be about 10 minutes? He drew a tally mark on the red dirt floor.
He counted 600 seconds again and drew another tally mark. When there were five tally marks, he drew one more mark across them. An hour had passed.
Surprised, Dohyun raised his head. Thankfully, the blue gate entrance was still wide open. It meant it hadn’t been an hour yet.
Dohyun started counting seconds again. One, two… That way, six more tally marks were drawn. However, the gate entrance was still shining, tearing through the void just as before. It meant that while two hours had passed according to his counting, in reality, no time had flowed at all. Cold sweat ran down.
Dohyun counted numbers again. Three hours had passed, but still, the entrance remained the same. No matter how quickly he counted the seconds due to tension, there couldn’t be such a difference. Dohyun finally acknowledged it.
The gate where Dohyun was now had a different flow of time from the outside. After acknowledging that, he became overwhelmed by how long he would have to endure in this gate.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Are we still far?”
Haegang urged the person on the phone. A perplexed voice came through from the other side.
-Well… today, there’s a high-grade gate conquest that can’t be delayed any further…
Haegang’s phone continued to vibrate with notifications.
<Awakening Headquarters> Today 14:57. Gate creation gauge fluctuation occurred in OO District, OO Neighborhood. Emergency evacuation advised.
<Awakening Headquarters> Those in OO District, OO Neighborhood, please evacuate immediately to nearby Esper-Guide dedicated School 4 or OO Elementary, Middle, High School.
<Awakening Headquarters> Correction: Esper-Guide dedicated School 5. Please evacuate in preparation for any possible situation.
<Awakening Headquarters> The gate occurring in OO Neighborhood is a B-grade gate. In preparation for gate explosion, residents of OO Neighborhood please urgently evacuate to nearby XX Neighborhood, 00 Neighborhood.
<Awakening Headquarters> Correction: As it has been confirmed to be a high-grade gate, please move and evacuate from schools in OO Neighborhood to nearby XX Middle School, 00 High School.
<Awakening Headquarters> Emergency gate occurred in OO Neighborhood. Espers who have received contact, please check the link we are sending and evacuate to the conquest.
<Awakening Headquarters> Please be prepared.
<Awakening Headquarters> OO Neighborhood emergency gate. B-grade gate. Awakened individuals of D-grade or higher, please check the map link sent to you and gather.
Haegang gritted his teeth at the relentless stream of messages.
“What’s the point of evacuating Espers?”
“Uh, this area isn’t School 4 but School 5…”
“They mean go to School 5. Let’s move first.”
“What about you, Guide?”
“I’ll be fine. Awakened individuals need to gather for the conquest anyway, so please move right away.”
The typos and corrections were rampant, showing how urgent it was. After evacuating the real estate agent who had come with them, Haegang stared at the gate that had opened as if tearing through the void.
Ten minutes since the gate occurred. Disaster messages kept coming, but despite being an area where many Awakened individuals lived, not many Espers had gathered.
“This is serious… For an emergency B-grade, more should be gathering.”
At the 20-minute mark, Haegang stared at the dark gate entrance. An emergency gate will start to close in as little as 30 minutes. Only about five Espers who were nearby had gathered.
Haegang recalled the small Esper who had pushed him away.
At first, he didn’t like him. An Esper with no expression changes, ignorant of the ways of the world, and who scratched at memories Haegang didn’t want to recall—a truly annoying Esper. That was Haegang’s initial image of Dohyun.
Haegang grew up with water from a young age. The fact that the image of Vigor is water, especially deep water, is probably because water is the easiest thing for Haegang to visualize. It was natural for him to start swimming.
After becoming a Guide, most of the news articles about him disappeared, but some who love and support sports still remembered Haegang. He was that great of an athlete.
Haegang always stood at the front. After starting swimming, he stood at the highest place on the podium, receiving both admiration and jealousy.
Haegang thought it was an achievement accomplished without anyone’s help. Even if he was called arrogant or had a nasty personality, in the end, the new records displayed on the big electronic scoreboard were achieved by Haegang.
He could manage fake compliments. When he came down with a medal around his neck and expressed gratitude to his coaches and directors, people who had been fuming the day before, saying someone as unlikable as him wasn’t their disciple, all watched Haegang’s reactions.
It was during his 4th year of elementary school when Haegang was diagnosed as likely to manifest as a Guide. He was already skilled enough to easily win over older students in elementary swimming competitions, so even with an expected manifestation, he didn’t think about giving up. Fortunately, Haegang didn’t manifest even as he entered high school after middle school.
Around that time, Haegang thought that even if he became a Guide, the country couldn’t stop him. This was because compared to the number of people active as Guides, there were significantly fewer who competed as swimmers and brought home medals. However, this was complete arrogance.
‘Mr. Choi Haegang. Since you’ve manifested as a Guide, you need to return to the country immediately.’
‘…? I have a competition soon. I’ll return after finishing the competition.’
‘It’s dangerous, so you can’t.’
‘This is the competition venue. This competition is the last one before the Olympics.’
‘You must return now.’
It was the year Haegang turned nineteen.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
