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“Damn, that’s annoyingly fast.”
The man cursed under his breath and quickly put up a barrier. He could have teleported away immediately, but for some reason, he tried to remove the tentacles first.
“You guys stay put.”
He stepped forward, strengthening his barrier, seemingly intending to face the tentacles alone. The rotten octopus-like tentacles began to wrap around and squeeze the barrier tightly. A sticky, mucus-like substance oozed from the tentacles.
The man created a weapon in mid-air. Just as he was about to push back the tentacles with his psychokinesis to find their core, which was their heart, Jihan signaled to Geonho with his eyes.
“Geonho.”
Before Jihan could even open his mouth, Geonho was already moving. The man gasped as he watched Geonho fearlessly pry open a gap in the barrier and step outside.
“I told you to stay put!”
The man shouted angrily, but his lips parted in shock. He was left speechless as he watched Geonho instantly burst the tentacles with his bare hands and locate the core.
Tentacle monsters were not easy opponents. Dozens of high-ranking espers had fallen victim to them. Even multi-ability users, who were considered formidable, often struggled against the tentacles that attacked from all directions.
“Guide, look how slow Geonho has become. It’s not cool at all, right?”
The man’s face showed even more confusion as he heard Jihan whisper to Siwoo.
That’s considered slow…?
After removing the core, a new tentacle monster emerged from the ground. Geonho’s movements as he dealt with this new threat were flawless. He moved so fast that even Siwoo, the guide, could barely follow with his eyes.
“What do you mean slow? He’s doing great.”
“Eh, I could do that much too.”
Jihan hugged Siwoo, who was marveling at Geonho, and grumbled playfully. The man’s surprise grew as he observed their lack of tension.
He had seen many guilds before, but he had never encountered people like this. Those who participated in gate entry operations were always risking their lives. Naturally, everyone was usually tense or on edge. The man himself had been like that in the past.
“Yoo Jihan, watch your mouth.”
Geonho warned, throwing a still-wriggling tentacle at Jihan after killing the newly appeared monster. Jihan caught the tentacle and threw it far away, but in the process, some of the monster’s mucus splattered on Siwoo’s face.
“Ugh! What is this!”
Some of the mucus from the burst tentacle got into Siwoo’s mouth. Geonho immediately rushed over and wiped off the mucus with his bare hands.
“Did it get in your mouth?”
“Why are you throwing things around!”
Siwoo hit Jihan with a ‘thwack’ and got angry at him, not Geonho. He scolded the one who started the trouble first and spat out the sticky liquid remaining in his mouth. The fishy taste made him feel nauseous. It reminded him of something he didn’t want to think about.
“You… what are you?”
At that moment, a stunned voice approached Geonho. The man widened his already large eyes and looked Geonho up and down.
“What?”
“You, what are you?”
“What?”
“I’m asking what you are!”
“What the hell are you talking about!”
Jihan stepped in to mediate the frustrating conversation between the two.
“Geonho is an SS-rank psychokinesis ability user. He’s the first to manifest in Korea.”
Despite having teased him earlier, Jihan proudly introduced Geonho. Even Siwoo, standing nearby, felt his shoulders rise with pride.
“SS-rank…?”
The man stared at Geonho again in disbelief. He had expected him to be strong when he broke through his barrier, but he never thought he would surpass himself.
“Someone like that is walking around freely? An SS-rank?”
As the man muttered in a confused voice while staring intently at Geonho…
“Urgh.”
Suddenly, Siwoo staggered and covered his mouth with both hands. He seemed to be feeling his throat, then started dry heaving.
Geonho and Jihan supported him from both sides and asked what was wrong. Siwoo groaned with a pained expression, pressing his chest after his throat.
“Ugh, urk… hnngh.”
Jihan, who had first helped Siwoo sit on the ground, asked the man,
“Is there any poison in the substance the tentacles secrete?”
“No, there shouldn’t be.”
The man shook his head ambiguously. He had never seen a tentacle monster with poison among those he had encountered so far. However, it was still possible. He couldn’t answer with certainty because most people who encountered tentacle monsters ended up dead.
“Guide, just throw it all up for now. It’s okay.”
Jihan urgently rubbed Siwoo’s back. Geonho just stretched his arms out into the air. His hands, which had moved so swiftly in front of the monster, were now stiff as if tied with rope.
It was all because he had carelessly thrown the tentacle. The mucus had entered Siwoo’s mouth and was now causing him pain.
Seeing Siwoo suffering because of him, Geonho was half out of his mind. Jihan was equally flustered.
As they were trying to figure out what to do, suddenly an earthquake shook the cave.
“Let’s move to a different location first.”
The man calmly took a stance and activated his teleportation ability. Heeding the warning not to move, Jihan tightly hugged the sobbing Siwoo. Geonho, overcome with guilt, couldn’t even touch Siwoo.
The man’s teleportation didn’t happen instantly. It took a little more time because he was using the teleport ability without physical contact. That’s why he had dealt with the tentacle monster first.
In the meantime, the vibrations grew stronger. The wavelength of the monster that had approached very close was ominous.
The man bit his lip and took out a small glass bottle from his pocket. He crushed the dried leaves inside into small pieces and threw them far towards the passage.
Then, the monster’s wavelength that was heading towards them began to change direction towards the passage. Thanks to this, they successfully teleported safely.
The man moved them to a new cave. Compared to the previous space that was cozy like an ant colony, this new cave was very spacious, like a den where a giant bear might live.
It was a structure with two small caves connected to a large central cave. There were sleeping bags and blankets piled up in the corner, suggesting that people might have lived here before.
“Lay him down here.”
The man pulled over a sleeping bag with his psychokinesis and spoke to Jihan. Jihan dusted off the sleeping bag and carefully laid Siwoo down. Geonho, standing one step away from them, remained silent.
“Guide, it’s okay to throw up. Don’t hold it in, spit it all out.”
Jihan put his hand to Siwoo’s mouth as he continued to dry heave. However, Siwoo couldn’t vomit. Even when he tried to force it, only stomach acid came up.
“Don’t you have any medicine with you? Like an antidote or painkiller?”
The man sighed deeply and asked, caught off guard by the sudden situation. What he had brought with him had run out long ago. He had already used up all the medicine he had.
Jihan wiped the cold sweat from Siwoo’s face and shook his head at the man.
“I guess you wouldn’t. You said you were suddenly sucked in.”
As the man was nodding to himself in understanding, he suddenly perked up his ears and took a defensive stance.
“Hey, they’re here.”
His fake hand guiding the two espers was reaching the entrance of the cave. This cave’s entrance was also covered by a wall he had created. They were about to arrive.
“Should I let them in?”
Jihan and Geonho looked down at Siwoo, who was breathing heavily, and shook their heads simultaneously.
They decided to avoid any potential combat situations until Siwoo stabilized. They needed to be even more careful, having put Siwoo in danger by letting their guard down.
“Then I’ll send them elsewhere.”
At the man’s words, Siwoo stirred and grabbed Jihan’s hand. It seemed like he wanted them to be let in, but Jihan shook his head.
“It’s dangerous right now. They already know the location anyway.”
As he was comforting Siwoo, suddenly a loud ‘boom!’ echoed from the wall covering the entrance.
“Well, well.”
The man let out a dry laugh at those who had noticed his fake wall. He had tried to lure them elsewhere but ended up revealing the location. These young ones must have good instincts. Well, their brain cells are probably in peak condition.
“Hey, you brat.”
The man slapped Geonho’s back with his fake hand and nodded towards Siwoo.
“Don’t just stand there, protect him properly.”
He snapped Geonho out of his daze and aimed his weapon at the cracking wall. At the same time, a large hand broke through.
“Guide!”
Jihan let out a deep breath at the familiar voice that came through the broken wall. Geonho also didn’t stop the wall from being destroyed.
“Guide, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?!”
Seojun, who had shattered the solid stone wall in an instant, rushed to Siwoo lying on the sleeping bag. Taebeom, standing behind him, also entered and looked down at Siwoo. Jihan immediately informed Seojun and Taebeom of Siwoo’s condition.
“The monster’s mucus got into his mouth.”
“It got into his mouth?”
Seojun, turning pale, examined Siwoo. His already pale complexion worsened even more. Siwoo struggled to open his eyes and met Seojun’s gaze as he leaned in close.
Despite his suffering, a sense of relief flooded his blue eyes. ‘I’m glad to see you.’ His shaking eyes conveyed his feelings.
“The leader came too.”
Seojun informed him that Taebeom had also come. Jihan also turned so that Siwoo could see the leader.
Siwoo tried to raise his head to look for Taebeom but ended up dry heaving again. Unable to see Taebeom, he bent over the ground and only spat out thin stomach acid.
Seeing this, Taebeom approached Siwoo first.
He knelt on one knee and stretched out his left arm. After pulling a blanket from between the sleeping bags to cover Siwoo’s body, he forcibly lifted him up.
Jihan and Seojun’s eyes briefly hardened at the rough handling. Geonho had a similar reaction.
“Han Siwoo.”
Taebeom called out to Siwoo as he steadied his swaying body. Siwoo barely lifted his head at the low voice.
As soon as their eyes met, a hot sensation rushed to Siwoo’s eyes. Tears quickly formed and fell down his pale cheeks.
“Explain clearly where it hurts.”
Taebeom addressed Siwoo in a cool voice. One might have expected him to waver at the sight of the crying face, but he maintained his usual cold demeanor.
“Here, my chest…”
Siwoo looked at Taebeom, tears still falling. While diligently explaining his symptoms, he also examined Taebeom with his eyes.
The more he saw the swollen bridge of Taebeom’s nose and his one eye deeply sunken and closed, the more tears burst forth. Red bloodstains, not yet wiped away, covered Taebeom’s entire body.
It must have all been his own blood. Knowing this better than anyone, Siwoo couldn’t stop crying. What if his condition worsened? His worry for Taebeom doubled.
“What about your chest?”
“Hic, ugh, it’s throbbing, hic… and feels like it’s being stabbed.”
“And below that?”
Siwoo, breathing wetly, indicated with his hand that it hurt exactly up to here around his chest area. After confirming this, Taebeom suddenly opened Siwoo’s mouth with his cold left hand.
“Throw up.”
Startled by the cool sensation, Siwoo groaned before he could even be surprised.
“Urgh, hnngh…! Ugh!”
Nevertheless, Taebeom pushed his finger all the way into Siwoo’s mouth. Even when Siwoo tried to stop him, grabbing his hand and saying that was enough, he didn’t stop.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
