Chapter 88
“It’s coming, it’s coming again!”
“Seong-min! Lee Seong-min!”
The desperate scream of another Guide who recognized their pair Esper even from a great distance stabbed at my heart. After this same scene repeated three or four more times, I finally realized why Espers without barrier skills remained at the relatively safe base camp.
They weren’t here for defense. They were here to quickly retrieve Espers who were severely injured or incapacitated in battle as soon as they returned.
The moment I realized this, my body involuntarily trembled and my fingertips went cold. It felt like something was pressing down on my lungs, making it difficult to breathe properly.
It hadn’t been a week since the battle started, not even a day. We’d only been fighting for about two hours, and already I was seeing Espers returning in combat-disabled states. This was a first for me.
From that moment on, it was truly like having my blood run dry. My gaze couldn’t leave the direction where the attack squad had advanced, and every time battered Espers returned even from a distance, my heart seemed to constrict. Even though it was just the first day, I felt like I would develop a nervous breakdown soon.
Then I sensed something strange and turned around. I saw some of the Guides, who had been standing guard with stiff faces, entering their personal tents. Not understanding what was happening, I mustered the courage to speak to Choi Young-sun despite the awkwardness.
“Excuse me, why are those people going to their personal tents?”
Choi Young-sun’s face was also more rigid than usual. However, it didn’t seem to be because of me.
“They’re probably preparing for guiding. Since we don’t know when our Espers will return…”
At those words, I momentarily blanked out. Given everything I knew and my ample experience, I immediately understood what Choi Young-sun meant.
“Ah, I see… Thank you.”
Choi Young-sun acknowledged my thanks with a nod. I continued staring at the same place before quietly getting up shortly after. Having understood, I too should prepare in advance.
Once inside my personal tent, I unfastened my pants belt without hesitation. I applied lotion I had brought in my waist pack to my fingers, then pulled down my underwear slightly and brought them to my intimate area.
I felt no sexual excitement whatsoever. I almost had a moment of reality shock wondering what I was doing, but thinking of later, I forcibly inserted up to three fingers to loosen myself up.
Afterward, it was a continuous anxious wait. Though it felt excruciatingly slow, time did pass. The sun set and it grew dark around us. Someone went around shouting for everyone to eat dinner. At that call, some Guides stuffed the food they had brought into their mouths.
“Eat something, Su-hyeon.”
Jung Hee-seon noona, the most senior Guide selected from our guild, looked after me. But I was in no state to put anything in my mouth. Despite having packed plenty of food with the intention of eating well, I felt like I would choke on just one bite.
“You go ahead. I’ll eat a little later.”
When I tried to smile, the corners of my mouth trembled uncontrollably. Hee-seon noona looked at me with eyes that seemed to understand everything without me saying a word, then took out a small chocolate bar and handed it to me.
“Then at least eat this. You can’t run out of energy when you’re providing guiding.”
“…Yes. Thank you.”
“Eat it right now.”
At her urging, I had no choice but to unwrap the chocolate bar. I put it in my mouth and chewed, but it felt like chewing tree bark—I couldn’t taste anything.
Throughout all this, my gaze continued to focus in one direction. How much more time passed? Almost simultaneously, several people suddenly stood up, and I too roughly got to my feet, knocking over the chair I had been sitting on. I could faintly sense something like a distinctive human presence, an energy that was difficult to explain in words.
It wasn’t an illusion. As everyone was now looking in the same direction, finally, from far away, the attack squad group appeared.
“Wow, they’re here!”
I heard someone shout from behind me. The moment I saw the wavering silhouettes, my body moved instinctively. Thanks to the Espers guarding the barrier who made way as if accustomed to it, everyone could run forward without hesitation.
“Ji-hyeok!”
Even though it was dark and there were many people, I found Song Ji-hyeok at once. As soon as I got close, I frantically checked his condition.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Song Ji-hyeok said he was fine, but the pungent smell of blood wafted over, making it impossible for me to feel at ease. I urgently grabbed his hand as if snatching it. When I checked his internal state, I detected energy coagulated in various places. It was especially noticeable near his chest close to his heart, so without time to think, I headed straight for the dedicated tent.
As if his calmness had been an act, as soon as we entered the tent, Song Ji-hyeok embraced me and roughly kissed me. Instead of pushing him away, I also embraced him back and immediately began guiding.
“…!”
I was startled by the feeling of energy being suddenly drawn in, but Song Ji-hyeok wasn’t intentionally attempting reverse-guiding. Realizing that his body was instinctively craving the Guide’s energy, I let as much energy flow as possible.
Eventually, Song Ji-hyeok unfastened my pants belt with impatient hands. Understanding his clear intention without words, I cooperated by turning around and slightly arching my waist.
“You don’t have any lube or anything?”
“Just put it in… I prepared already.”
I answered despite the embarrassment. At my words, Song Ji-hyeok hesitated briefly, then probed the entrance as if to check. Then I felt a finger abruptly invading inside.
“You really did. When did you prepare?”
“Earlier. Just, enough already.”
When another finger was added, the pressure increased significantly. Unlike my clumsiness, Song Ji-hyeok was uninhibited. After inserting fully and stirring inside once, he immediately pressed his lower body against mine.
“Ah, hng, hnnngh!”
Tear-mixed moans escaped from my open mouth involuntarily. Even saliva dripped down with no time to swallow, but I had no mind to notice it.
After reaching climax once in standing position, Song Ji-hyeok moved to a makeshift bed in one corner of the tent. Still connected, he made me bend over on the low bed, placed his left foot on the ground, and thrust mercilessly.
The slapping sounds echoed so loudly that I instinctively wondered if my hole would be torn apart. Song Ji-hyeok, who had been focusing solely on his hip movements without saying a word, at some point uttered a short curse through his teeth. It was a signal that he was close to ejaculation.
Sure enough, after thrusting shallowly and rapidly a few times while deeply buried, he finally thrust powerfully and I could feel him climaxing inside me. Almost simultaneously, thin semen burst from my own genitals as well.
My vision turned black from the intense pleasure. I convulsed lightly, forgetting even to breathe for a moment, when Song Ji-hyeok turned my head back and overlapped his lips with mine.
“Mmm, haaa…”
At some point during our coupling, the guiding had ended, but just in case, I let more energy flow. I could feel the black energy that had been coagulated like a dark mass completely disappear, leaving everything cleanly purified.
Ah, what a relief.
It was a moment when I truly felt the reward for my efforts, giving my all in the most literal sense. There was more good news—despite pouring out energy without thinking of the consequences, there didn’t seem to be any side effects from the guiding.
Meanwhile, the kiss had changed to light pecks. After pressing our lips together like stamping a seal a few times—smack, smack—Song Ji-hyeok slowly withdrew from me.
As much as I wanted to just lie down, I pushed myself up with my arms. What I immediately saw was a wet mark soaked as if someone had urinated. If I had collapsed face down, it would have been disastrous.
I pulled up my pants and underwear that had been hanging over my boots without properly taking them off. Checking my wristwatch, it was almost nine o’clock. The last time I had checked the time was around six, so I concluded that I had been in the tent for almost three hours.
And even in this situation, the priority of needs was clear. Perhaps it was the relief that Song Ji-hyeok wasn’t injured and the guiding had ended safely. The hunger I hadn’t had time to feel all day suddenly hit me.
“I’m hungry.”
“Me too. I’ll go get something to eat.”
“No, let’s go out together.”
I got up from the bed, curious about the situation outside. Despite the lingering soreness in my overused lower parts, I went outside trying not to show it.
The base camp looked even more chaotic and busy than expected. Shouts for finding something or someone erupted from all over, and the noisy footsteps never stopped. Just as I was wondering if it was okay to eat in such an atmosphere, a familiar face caught my eye.
“Gitae hyung!”
I ran over immediately, urgently checking on his condition.
“Are you okay? Did you receive guiding?”
“I got it a while ago. What about you, Su-hyeon, did you finish guiding well?”
“Yes.”
“You must have worked hard.”
With an expression that seemed to understand without words, he patted my shoulder. Then he continued with another question.
“Have you eaten?”
“No, not yet. But with the atmosphere like this…”
“Especially at times like this, you need to eat even more desperately and stay strong. That’s the normal atmosphere. Especially you—since you have to handle Ji-hyeok, it must be twice as hard as for others, so you need to eat well.”
Now that he mentioned it, I did see someone gobbling down what looked like a lunchbox in a tent far away. “Wait here,” Gitae hyung said before turning away. He soon reappeared and placed two large sausages in my hand.
