175
“What the hell! You were pretending to understand!”
Siwoo inwardly exploded with anger as he clutched his head. He had communicated so well with Geonho that for a moment, he thought the man understood everything he said.
Of course they couldn’t communicate properly. He was a dog, and I’m a cat. Siwoo sighed deeply, tensed his body, and squeezed his eyes shut.
He tried returning to human form, but it was useless. No matter how many times he closed and opened his eyes, all he could see were his cat paws covered in thick white fur.
I need to convey the plan quickly. What should I do?
“I think he wants us to do something with that wall,” Geonho said, scratching his head and making a rough guess.
Meow!
‘That’s right!’
Siwoo’s long tail puffed up excitedly. He hit the wall with his white paws and tried to explain the plan again.
Meow! Nyaong! Nyaaa— Nyaang! Meow?
“Um… hey, slow down.”
Geonho stared at Siwoo and scratched his head even more vigorously. Jihan looked at Geonho as if to say: does cat language become human speech if you speak slowly?
“I think he wants us to break the wall,” Seojun muttered, watching Siwoo closely. That must have been the right answer because Siwoo moved in front of Seojun and wagged his tail.
“Break the wall? Why?”
“That’s not possible. What if the protective barrier breaks too? That’s what’s keeping us safe right now.”
Jihan objected, but Geonho and the youngest had different thoughts. The two blinked once and looked like they’d realized something.
“You want us to break the protective barrier that black guy put up, right?”
“So the enemy will come to us.”
Finally, they understood.
Siwoo went back and forth between Geonho and Seojun, pressing on their knees. That was exactly it. Before Kang Taebeom could do anything dangerous, they needed to do something even more dangerous.
Then he would definitely come back.
“Be reasonable,” Jihan cut in with an uncharacteristically cold tone.
“Without the protective barrier, we can’t protect the guide. Remember, all of our abilities are blocked.”
He raised his hand to stop Siwoo from interrupting.
“Kang Geonho, Ha Seojun. You two are in the most danger right now.”
If either of them had an episode, the situation would become even worse. That had to be avoided at all costs.
“Conserve your strength here. We’ll put our heads together again after I find the leader.”
Jihan’s gaze dropped as he was calmly speaking. Siwoo had bitten his ankle firmly.
No one would be going alone. That determination was clearly visible in Siwoo’s sharp eyes.
“How are you going to find our brother?”
“That’s right. His teleportation is blocked right now.”
Geonho and Seojun, who had been momentarily speechless, joined in. But Jihan didn’t back down easily even in this three-against-one fight.
“It’s much faster for me to move alone than all of us together. There’s no need to break the safe protective barrier and put everyone in danger. Besides, we need a place to hide when we return.”
Siwoo shouted at Jihan, who spoke as if his argument was obviously correct. Of course, no one could understand him.
Nyaong! Nya, mmph!
Geonho covered Siwoo’s mouth to stop him from shouting anymore. It seemed like his small throat might burst from all the yelling.
“It’s better if we’re all in danger together.”
He spoke in a low voice reminiscent of Taebeom while gently stroking Siwoo’s agitated body.
“It’s better to do everything together. If I have an episode, you can stop me.”
Geonho’s gaze fell on his bracelet. Jihan’s brown eyes wavered slightly as he followed Geonho’s line of sight.
“Don’t worry. We won’t die easily.”
Despite knowing what the bracelet did, Geonho confidently lifted his chin. Seojun also stepped forward and grabbed Jihan’s wrist. He had the same expression as Geonho.
“We can’t win by just hiding and avoiding.”
Geonho muttered quietly as he tucked Siwoo inside his top, preparing to break the stone wall.
You punk. Well said.
Siwoo licked Geonho’s chin, impressed by him. He wrapped his tail around Geonho’s chest to stay close to him.
Jihan couldn’t argue anymore as he watched them. Honestly, if he were in their situation, he would have said the same thing.
There’s no way he could feel at ease after sending his family-like teammates into danger. As Geonho said, perhaps it really is better if they all face danger together.
Our leader will be furious if he finds out. But he upset us first, so it’s fair.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll prevent you all from having episodes.’
Siwoo released his guiding with a reliable expression. He thought it would be harder to control his power in his original form, but surprisingly, it was easier.
Siwoo enveloped his espers with much more guiding energy than usual.
“Don’t overdo it.”
‘Just don’t die.’
His blue eyes glared intensely at Geonho, Jihan, and the youngest.
‘Promise me you absolutely won’t die.’
The guiding surrounding them grew even stronger. It was almost like a powerful barrier.
“Alright.”
Geonho answered on behalf of everyone. He hugged Siwoo tightly as the cat continued meowing and kissed his angry eyes.
“When we get back, I’ll give you a million Churu treats. You can eat them all yourself.”
That’s not what I asked for. Siwoo looked sideways at Geonho’s random comment but then nodded.
After all, to give Churu, he needs to stay alive. If they die or get hurt, they can’t do anything. They can’t eat Churu, and they can’t do the dirty things they enjoy.
So together. Let’s definitely survive together.
Geonho nodded after making eye contact with Siwoo. Then he punched the wall. Seojun also joined Geonho in breaking the wall.
Bang! Boom! Boooom—!
With a violent tremor, a cloud of dust swirled up. Through the cracked wall, an eerie energy flowed in.
It was evidence that the man’s barrier had been broken.
Meow…
‘This isn’t enough…’
Siwoo, wriggling in Geonho’s arms, searched for something. Geonho immediately looked in the direction Siwoo was staring.
“You want me to get that?”
Meow!
What Siwoo was looking for was the dried leaves the man had left behind. Seojun, who had taken the backpack and the bottle, handed Geonho the bottle containing the leaves.
Jihan sighed as he watched Geonho open the bottle without hesitation. He couldn’t bring himself to stop them, just watching his fearless teammates.
The moment Geonho sprinkled the leaves into the crack in the wall, an immediate reaction occurred.
Monsters hiding in the vicinity began to gather, attracted by the scent of the leaves. Siwoo waited for them to appear and cause a commotion.
The man had clearly said so. They could live here forever as long as they didn’t cause a disturbance.
In other words, making noise would attract enemies. With luck, Taebeom and the man might sense the commotion and arrive before the enemies did.
Siwoo clenched his teeth and focused his eyes.
He decided he wouldn’t welcome Kang Taebeom back at all. He would ignore him. Just like Taebeom had done to him.
“Han Siwoo, cover your face.”
Geonho covered Siwoo’s face with his large palm the moment he saw the first tentacle monster. Siwoo quickly hid inside Geonho’s clothes.
He wrapped his face with his soft paws and kept his ears perked up.
The sounds of monsters being slashed and burst filled the air. The noise became even more chaotic as creatures appeared after the tentacle monsters.
But so far, there were only monsters. No other special energy could be felt.
Due to their complete lack of information about the enemy, they didn’t even know what energy to look for. Siwoo heightened all his senses and vaguely waited for whatever might approach.
He released more energy to ensure that no one could touch even a fingertip of his espers.
Where is all this power coming from? Geonho and Seojun were amazed by Siwoo’s guiding even as they fought the incoming monsters. Guiding moving targets was difficult even for team leader-level guides.
But Siwoo managed it. He was guiding not just one, but three espers simultaneously during combat.
Is this even possible? The three were amazed yet puzzled, but then remembered Siwoo’s rank and understood.
Right, he’s SS-class. I almost forgot.
“Geonho, behind you!”
Geonho, who was slicing a tentacle that had burst from the ground, turned around at Jihan’s voice. A giant mole-like monster was charging toward him with its mouth wide open. The hazy smoke coming from its mouth indicated it was poisonous.
Geonho immediately broke the mole’s neck. Then, out of habit, he tried to use his telekinesis to block the saliva flowing from its burst mouth.
“Sh, it.”
But the sticky saliva penetrated his weakened telekinesis and touched his skin.
Hiss. At the sound of flesh melting, Siwoo, startled, meowed loudly.
“It’s fine. Just a graze.”
‘It smells like burning squid! Is that your burning flesh?!’
“I said I’m fine.”
Geonho firmly prevented Siwoo from trying to peek out. After that, more poisonous monsters rushed at Geonho.
For some reason, particularly dangerous monsters were all targeting Geonho. It was strange. Jihan and Seojun couldn’t help Geonho as they were busy dealing with their own monsters. But they were aware of the oddly unfolding situation.
Geonho’s movements became slightly sluggish after being poisoned. It was a subtle difference, but noticeable enough for Jihan and Seojun to perceive.
The poison seemed to not only melt flesh but also have a fatal effect on the body. Geonho’s complexion was gradually changing. This shouldn’t be happening—he shouldn’t be affected by monster poison.
‘Hey! You’re hurt! Are you hurt badly?!’
Siwoo detected Geonho’s faintly slowing heartbeat.
“I said I’m fine.”
Despite saying he was fine, his sighs deepened. He was deliberately exhaling deeply to hide his rapid breathing.
Was he injured by the monster’s attack? Anxiously, Siwoo rubbed his face against Geonho’s left chest and suddenly changed position.
“Han Siwoo…?”
Geonho tilted his head at Siwoo’s wriggling inside his clothes. Then, detecting movement downward, he threw away a monster in great surprise.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
Before Geonho could stop him, Siwoo quickly moved down to below his stomach. As the slowed Geonho belatedly tried to stop him, Siwoo escaped from under his top. Since Geonho was pressing down on him, he had no choice but to come out from below.
As soon as he emerged from Geonho’s clothes, Siwoo transformed back into human form and clung to Geonho.
He had tried again just in case, and thankfully, his body changed. Although he couldn’t hide his ears and tail, his mouth had returned, allowing him to perform mucosal guiding. That was enough.
“Guide, watch out!”
This time, a tentacle covered in slimy liquid sprang from the ceiling. At the same time, the sinister energy grew even stronger.
Geonho held Siwoo with one arm and threw a creature like a shell at the tentacle.
The tentacle swallowed it and grew larger as it charged at them. Siwoo ignored the monsters and concentrated solely on guiding.
He kissed Geonho’s wounded area, pouring guiding energy into it, then furrowed his brow. Of all places, Geonho’s injury was on his left arm.
Though it wasn’t a severe injury, it reminded Siwoo of the leader’s prosthetic arm, making his nose sting with emotion. Geonho held the sniffling Siwoo and jumped almost like flying to avoid the tentacle’s attack.
As he did so, the large coat covering Siwoo’s naked body flew away in the wind.
It was the jacket containing the barrier stone and acorns—the jacket Taebeom had draped over Siwoo before leaving.
Siwoo instinctively reached out toward the jacket. Even though he knew the situation was dangerous, his body moved on its own.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
