“You’re asking how I feel about this little reunion?”
It was fucking miserable.
Every last one of the Secreti members and Baekho Unit agents had blank, lifeless eyes.
They just stood there, staring ahead in a daze.
Even with Ban Noah—our primary target—right in front of them, it was like they couldn’t see a thing.
Something was very wrong.
“What the hell did you do to them?”
I asked through gritted teeth, seething with rage.
Ban Noah gave me a pitying look, as if I were a fool for not figuring it out already.
That smug, superior gaze of his made me want to punch something.
“What else? They’ve been brainwashed by my ability.”
He toyed with the crimson beaded earring dangling from his ear.
Only now, there were bright red beads on both ears. As if that wasn’t enough, he was flaunting matching necklaces too, showing them off like a damn trophy.
“No way. If it were just an illusion, sure. But the Baekho Unit would never fall to a stolen, second-rate psychic ability like yours.”
At that point, I still felt confident.
Being attacked by my own allies is a shitshow, yeah… but the odds are still in our favor.
Je-ha had told me before—Ban Noah had tried to brainwash him and the Baekho Unit in the past, but their resistance skills completely nullified the attempt.
The same technique that worked on Jin Yi-rang would never work on them.
So I’d assumed Ban Noah had no way to control the Baekho Unit.
They’d agreed to take part in this dungeon assault despite normally hiding in the shadows. That confidence could only come from believing they’d take Ban Noah down if they faced him head-on.
“Give it up. Your cheap tricks are see-through.”
I sneered at him, but Ban Noah just curled his lip in a twitching smile.
And not because he was offended by my words…
“Pfft. Do these really look like illusions to you?”
Puhahaha!
He couldn’t help himself. My question had him doubled over in laughter.
“…?”
I blinked, confused, and he took it upon himself to explain like I was too dumb to get it.
“You’ve always been the type to believe actions more than words.”
“Shut it. What the fuck do you know about me?”
“Such a sharp tongue… Just like always, Ahn Ga-hyun. I must say, it’s admirable how little you’ve changed.”
Then, with that same mocking tone, he added:
“Though unfortunately, today’s the last day I’ll have to tolerate that attitude.”
“What?”
“You’ll see soon enough. I think I’ll just sit back and enjoy the show.”
He waved a hand at the Secreti members and Baekho Unit standing behind him.
“Now then. Go on. Kill the very comrade you were so desperate to protect.”
And just like that, the ones I’d mistaken for illusions leapt like butterflies—charging me in a flash.
“Urgh!”
KANG. KAKANG. KAKAKAKANG!
Spells and debuffs rained down on me.
Fire and light, water and wind, and countless other attacks and curses surged at me all at once, trying to kill me.
Je-ha’s weapon—I need to use it now!
I yanked out the sword Je-ha had given me before we entered the dungeon—he’d said it was for self-defense.
I barely managed to deflect the incoming barrage, stumbling out of the danger zone while shouting like mad.
“Ra Ho-yeon! Seo Yoon-chae! Shin Tae-boem! Cha Si-yoon!”
“……”
“What the hell are you doing, standing there with dead fish eyes?! Wake up! You’re under Ban Noah’s control! Open your goddamn eyes!”
“……”
“FUCK!”
No matter how loud I screamed, the Secreti members didn’t flinch.
Ban Noah’s brainwashing didn’t just control them—it seemed to unlock their full combat potential. They weren’t just using basic combat techniques Je-ha had taught them—they were evolving and improvising them on the fly, pushing me hard.
BOOM—KRA-KRAK-KRA-KRAK!
“Gah!”
A blazing pillar of light and fire exploded behind me, chasing me down. A whirlpool of frozen water and slicing wind tried to swallow me whole.
“Haah, haah…”
At this point, my only reliable asset was my own two legs, pumping desperately to escape.
Shit. Don’t tell me… they’re not illusions?
I gritted my teeth and focused on evading the relentless onslaught.
I tried yelling at the Baekho Unit too.
“Geum Na-ro! Ha Ri-ra! Snap out of it, all of you!”
“……”
“Aaagh! This is fucking insane! You guys have psychic resistance skills, just like me! What the hell happened? Did your combat instincts rust to shit or something? That can’t be it!”
They’ve been fighting for twenty years while I was dead. At this point, it wouldn’t even be weird for me to call them sunbae.
“This is fucking disgraceful! Getting done in by Ban Noah’s psychic ability—really? You’ve trained your whole lives for battle, and now you’re getting tossed around like puppets? Cut it out before you get me killed!”
By the end, I was nearly screeching in frustration, my voice cracking with rage.
I just wanted their frozen, lifeless gazes to break.
But of course, that was too much to ask.
“……”
No matter what I said, the Secreti members and Baekho Unit kept charging, intent on killing me like it was their mission.
“Shit! SHIT!”
What the hell was I supposed to do?
Wait—Je-ha.
He wasn’t here.
If Je-ha were brainwashed, Ban Noah would’ve made a big show of it. No way he’d hold back—he’d be out there gloating and rubbing it in my face.
So… maybe Je-ha was safe. Maybe he was still out there, wandering the red desert like I was.
Part of me believed he could handle it. He’d make quick work of his own brainwashed comrades and come out on top.
But another part of me… was just relieved he wasn’t here at all.
“This is getting boring. How long are you planning to run around like a rat in the sewer?”
“That fucking bastard…”
The rage bubbled up in my chest.
Still… if Je-ha had been the target, Ban Noah wouldn’t be sitting around watching smugly—he’d be out there himself, joining the fight.
So yeah, the fact that I was the target was… actually a relief.
I wasn’t the type to just take this lying down, so I decided to fire back with some well-placed insults.
“Hilarious. So scared of losing to a Guide like me that you’re hiding behind my brainwashed teammates?”
“…What did you just say?”
Oh, look at that—doesn’t matter how chaotic the battlefield is, his ears work just fine when I insult him.
I was getting out of breath, my body covered in cuts and scrapes—but I couldn’t help laughing.
“So this is what you were doing all that time you vanished? Looking for a way to brainwash people who already had resistance skills?”
That jab hit the mark. For the first time, Ban Noah’s smug smile cracked.
The look on his face was pure, undiluted inferiority.
“Ha! Are your eyes made of sawdust or something?”
“The fuck did you say to me?”
“This is my original ability—amplified to its absolute limit. I’ve applied a buff that maxes out the potential of the power I already possessed.”
He grabbed the crimson necklace around his neck and shook it proudly.
“In the face of overwhelming power, some weak-ass resistance skill you picked up along the way is meaningless. That’s what this means.”
“……”
“I’ll admit, the Baekho Unit’s resistance skills were a nasty surprise. But those are, what, C-rank at best?”
He wasn’t wrong.
I had a C-rank resistance skill myself.
It was enough to ward off most psychic attacks… normally.
But Ban Noah’s base psychic ability was already at A-rank—and now he’d stacked it with buffs. No wonder even the Baekho Unit had fallen under his control.
Potato trembled, barely able to hold it in.
[Urgh… something’s really wrong. That necklace—it’s giving off an S-rank aura.]
…You’re sure?
[Yeah. It’s bad. Really bad. That’s likely an ability from an S-rank Buffer—and if so, the brainwashing effect could last a long time.]
Shit.
If that buff doesn’t wear off anytime soon, all I can do is stand here and watch my teammates get used like puppets.
Fucking hell! All these attacks are coming at me from every direction—dodging is all I can do.
The wounds I’d taken so far weren’t serious—my body was healing after a few seconds.
But every time I healed, another barrage came down, reopening the same cuts.
Like I was some powerless, pathetic Guide who couldn’t do anything.
Ban Noah, meanwhile, had set up a damn camping chair.
He sat back with a smug smirk, sipping iced americano like he was watching a show.
“Why don’t you just give up already?”
