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The atmosphere in the safe zone suddenly became chaotic.
Startled by Seojun’s sudden attack on Jihan, people misunderstood that he had lost his mind. Even the barrier casters hesitated to approach, wondering if a beastkin outbreak had occurred.
“If you’re going to yell, get out!”
Siwoo shouted even louder at those who were calling for Seojun to be subdued, treating him like a monster. He physically pushed back the barrier casters, preventing them from approaching Seojun carelessly.
“I said get out!”
Siwoo had already explained to them that it wasn’t the real Yoo Jihan, but no one believed him. Instead, they seemed to think Siwoo had lost his mind too, as someone called for sedatives to be brought.
Giving up on persuading them, Siwoo rushed to Seojun. Seojun had half-crushed the fake Jihan’s face. Upon hearing Siwoo’s faint mutter, he knocked Jihan down without hesitation. He believed Siwoo’s words implicitly, without any explanation.
“Ha Seojun, let’s go.”
Siwoo approached Seojun and pulled his shoulder. Seojun immediately stood up and tightly embraced Siwoo, who had spread his arms, telling him to hold on.
“Esper Ha Seojun! Stay where you are!”
The barrier casters blocking Seojun and Siwoo’s path raised their weapons. They seemed ready to attack even though Seojun was holding a guide.
“Move.”
Seojun flashed fierce eyes and nodded towards the barrier casters. Convinced by his unfamiliar attitude that Seojun wasn’t in his right mind, they prepared to attack.
A sword coated with sedatives and a hammer studded with spikes flew at Seojun simultaneously. Seojun blocked their attacks by raising an ice wall.
“You don’t seem to understand words.”
With a chilling voice, Seojun shattered the barrier with his bare fist and froze the ground. Taking advantage of the barrier casters’ loss of balance, he froze their limbs.
“Guide-nim.”
Before Seojun could tell him to hold on tight, Siwoo already firmly grasped his neck. Supporting Siwoo steadily, Seojun turned his head before leaving the safe zone.
His gaze briefly met Jihan’s, who was coughing up blood. Jihan was reaching out towards them with his broken arm.
After a momentary glance at the mouth struggling to speak, Seojun immediately moved, reading Siwoo’s signal pressing his neck as if urging him on. He mentally considered who might be impersonating Jihan hyung.
“Ha Seojun, above!”
Just as they left the safe zone, a swarm of frogs poured down from the sky.
Three-headed frogs swung their long tongues, searching for prey. Their tongues were studded with venomous barbs that could tear flesh with just a graze.
Seojun stretched his arm towards the sky, freezing all the frogs. There were too many to kill outright. Eliminating the gates was more urgent than dealing with each monster individually.
First, Seojun climbed a high rock to assess the open gates around them. As he paused to catch his breath, Siwoo suddenly kissed his neck.
“Guide-nim…?”
It wasn’t just a peck; he sucked hard. Surprised, Seojun rolled his eyes to look down at Siwoo. The tickling sensation lingering on his Adam’s apple made him swallow involuntarily.
“You’re bleeding.”
Siwoo murmured, pressing his soft lips against Seojun’s neck. His voice was full of irritation. It was directed at the Esper impersonating Jihan.
Bastard. How dare he mar our Baekya maknae’s neck.
Siwoo gritted his teeth, cursing the unknown Esper who had deeply wounded Seojun’s neck. Judging by the shape of the wound, it seemed to have been made by a sharp weapon like a knife.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt.”
Seojun gently held Siwoo, who was carefully licking the wound he hadn’t even noticed. Thanks to his guiding, the bleeding stopped quickly. He couldn’t even feel a faint pain.
Siwoo sucked on Seojun’s Adam’s apple, checking for any other injuries. Fortunately, it seemed only his neck was scratched.
“Here too.”
As Siwoo was about to pull away, Seojun leaned in first. Pressing his wet lips together, he parted his teeth with the tip of his tongue.
Siwoo willingly allowed the kiss. He’d need a lot of strength from now on.
“Hold on to me tightly.”
Seojun licked his lips after reluctantly releasing Siwoo’s plump tongue. Even with just a brief kiss, he felt his strength surge as if his mind had suddenly cleared.
“Wait a moment.”
Siwoo held back Seojun as he turned his head towards the gate.
“Don’t you smell that?”
“Smell?”
Seojun faced Siwoo and took a deep breath. He couldn’t sense anything other than Siwoo’s cozy scent. Ah, maybe he meant the stench of monsters?
“The grass smell. It’s there right now.”
Siwoo stared at Seojun intently, asking if he really couldn’t smell it. The unique grass smell that had bothered him became clearly perceptible as they left the safe zone. It wasn’t his imagination.
However, Seojun looked puzzled, seemingly unable to smell it. How could a high-ranking Esper like him not detect this scent?
Seojun sniffed again, straining his sense of smell. Just then, the frog swarm that had broken free from the ice charged at Seojun and Siwoo again.
Seojun shattered the rock with his strength, hurling stone fragments at the frogs. The rocks flew like shells, precisely striking the frogs’ vital points.
“What do you want to do?”
Seojun, skillfully dispatching monsters, asked Siwoo. Siwoo wore a very uneasy expression, clutching his dagger. The smell he mentioned seemed to be bothering him.
“I want to find it.”
Siwoo’s voice, tinged with hesitation, continued softly.
“I feel like we need to find it.”
Once again, it was just his intuition. Although he knew it was dangerous to act on mere intuition in this situation, he couldn’t resist. He felt an urge to immediately grasp the source of this smell lingering in his nose.
“Then I’ll move around widely, and you try to find it, Guide-nim.”
Seojun raised his eyebrows, asking if Siwoo could do it. Siwoo twitched his nose in response. Suddenly, his sharp nose turned light pink, and long white whiskers grew on either side.
Siwoo revealed his original form’s nose to enhance his sense of smell. While at it, he also brought out his pointed ears. He intended to use all his senses to find it.
“Ha…”
Seojun, momentarily distracted by Siwoo’s transformation, let out a sudden sigh. Siwoo looked up at him, wondering if he had made a mistake. His ears, sensitive to the sigh, twitched.
“No, it’s just that you’re cute.”
Seojun patted Siwoo’s back reassuringly and lightly rotated both ankles. Before setting off, he gently bit Siwoo’s round nose. He just couldn’t resist that.
Siwoo bared his protruding canines in irritation. However, he soon hunched his neck to avoid falling off Seojun, who started running at a terrifying speed.
Seojun ran at a pace monsters couldn’t match, stopping intermittently. He would wait for Siwoo to smell, then move again if Siwoo shook his head.
The two worked well together. When Seojun’s strength began to wane, Siwoo would instinctively emit radiative guiding to boost his power.
Kyaaak!
After the frogs came an annoying horde of creatures. Seojun, who had single-handedly subdued the frog swarm, bit his lip as he saw creatures pouring out of a newly opened gate. Moreover, insect-type monsters were approaching from afar.
It was more than Seojun could handle alone. Geonho hyung could have dealt with them easily, but Seojun’s rank wasn’t that special.
After creating an ice wall like a barrier, he first froze the gate entrance where creatures were flooding out. He killed the nearest creatures first, then froze the sky as much as possible to block the insect-type monsters’ attacks.
He planned to hold out as long as possible before contacting Geonho hyung. Geonho was surely in charge of Zone C now. Seojun also knew that the largest gate had opened in Zone C. That’s why he couldn’t quickly seek help from Geonho.
For now, he had to do what he could. As long as Guide-nim didn’t get hurt.
Kugugung-!
Just as Seojun was breaking the frozen creatures, the ground suddenly began to rumble. With the vibration, the earth split in an instant, and monster energy seeped out like fog.
Sensing danger, Seojun immediately tried to climb a high rock. However, Siwoo raised his head first.
“Ha Seojun…!”
A strong grass smell rose from between the cracks in the ground. Seojun swallowed a sigh as he read Siwoo’s expression.
It was dangerous to stay on the ground. There was a limit to dodging monster attacks. If he were alone, he might have faced them while taking some hits, but he couldn’t do that now.
“You said it was a grass smell, right?”
“Yes.”
As soon as Siwoo answered, Seojun abruptly encased him in a thick ice shell. Then he flung Siwoo far into the sky.
“Ha Seojun!”
Ignoring Siwoo’s surprised voice, Seojun remained alone on the ground. He ran across the violently shaking earth, aiming for the widest gap.
Bang!
He created an ice sword and thrust it into the gap. A mole-like monster emerging from the ground burst as it was stabbed by Seojun’s sword.
Seojun killed the emerging monsters one by one while digging deeper into the split. He kept stabbing with his sword relentlessly until he found the grass Siwoo was looking for.
Kyaaak!
A creature that lunged at Seojun’s back bit into his broad shoulder with sharp teeth. Seojun focused solely on reinforcing the ice shell protecting Siwoo. He had no spare capacity to dodge attacks coming at him.
His body had sunk so deep it was almost hidden in the ground. The grass Siwoo was looking for wasn’t visible. Seojun couldn’t detect the smell either.
But I still need to find it.
Remembering Siwoo’s desire to find the source of the smell, Seojun thrust his sword deeper. At that moment, a giant centipede emerging from underground aimed its sharp claws at his neck.
Keeeeuk!
Just as the poisonous claws were about to pierce Seojun’s neck, the centipede suddenly made a strange cry and twisted its body.
Kugugung-!
With an even stronger earthquake, Seojun’s body was pushed out of the ground. Geonho had pulled him out with his psychic power.
“Where’s Han Siwoo.”
As soon as he saw Seojun, Geonho looked for Siwoo first. Seojun immediately pointed to his ice shell floating in the air.
“Don’t leave him alone.”
Geonho threw Seojun towards the ice shell and continued to cause earthquakes. After artificially breaking the ground, he pulled out a strange plant form from deep underground.
Seojun hugged Siwoo, who had been inside his ice shell, and watched the ground below.
“Guide-nim, Geonho hyung found it.”
Siwoo, still in Seojun’s arms, silently looked down at the plant Geonho was holding. Seojun sat on a safe rock with Siwoo, observing the situation.
Those inside the nearby safe zone’s barrier also witnessed the amazing spectacle. When Geonho threw the unidentified plant far into the air, all the rampaging monsters flew towards it at once.
When enough monsters had gathered, Geonho compressed and killed them all at once. Then he extracted only the mysterious plant and used it to lure new monsters.
“As expected of Geonho hyung.”
Seojun exclaimed in admiration, trying to shake off his dejected feelings. Siwoo, seemingly shocked, only slightly opened his mouth while leaning against Seojun. He didn’t even glance at Seojun’s shoulder, which was wet with blood.
Seojun tried not to feel hurt. He decided to be content with holding Siwoo, who was sitting still against him like a doll.
However, he suddenly felt uneasy as Siwoo’s body temperature was unnaturally imperceptible. Thinking it was just his imagination, he hugged Siwoo more tightly.
“Ha Seojun.”
At that moment, Geonho approached the high rock in an instant. He met Seojun’s eyes and abruptly asked a strange question.
“What?”
Feeling suddenly deafened, Seojun asked back with a dumb expression. He couldn’t understand Geonho’s question.
Geonho, looking down at the puzzled Seojun, grabbed his collar and lifted him up. His eyes and breathing conveyed excited emotions. However, his voice was relatively calm. It sounded like he was barely suppressing his anger.
“Open your eyes properly and answer.”
Geonho gripped Seojun’s collar even tighter as he wore a confused expression. Then he asked again.
“Where is Han Siwoo?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
