# Chapter 15
There was such a description in the novel.
While Ha-min was running away, the fluids left by the three men came out of his body and flowed down his legs.
Even after that, their rampaging didn’t stop, and they hunted him like a rabbit in the forest to heighten their excitement.
I tensed up, thinking he was about to tell that story now.
I was wondering how to comfort him.
But what came from Ha-min was something completely different.
“I thought I could tackle any dungeon as long as S-class Espers were there. But not that day. The S-class Espers were badly injured too. Guiding was difficult, but that wasn’t the problem. It felt like my last line of defense had collapsed…”
Ha-min shook his head as if he was still scared when he thought about that incident.
“So I’m grateful when S-class Espers scold me. After the Gate appeared, people became completely powerless and frightened, like they were in shock. At that time, I just wanted them to snap out of it and scold me like they used to. So I deliberately did things to get scolded, like showing up late when there was a Guiding call.”
That sounded absurd, but I could see why.
To Ha-min, the S-class Espers might have seemed like untrained hunting dogs.
If he had been reassured thinking they would protect him from more dangerous things, it wasn’t hard to understand Ha-min.
“Guiding was really difficult. Everyone was suffering and going wild, and I had to control them. It was like trying to tattoo on top of a crazy bull. Fortunately, they all stabilized because they responded to the wavelength.”
I thought about how he had been Guiding Woo-jin.
Maybe I…
I seem to have entered an all-ages version of the novel I read.
While other Guides and Espers have deep sexual contact, does that not apply to Ha-min and the S-class Espers?
I had been thinking “no way” until then, but listening to Ha-min’s story, it seemed true.
“So after that day.”
Ha-min talked about that story for a full thirty minutes without stopping.
Because he was performing the original role of the novel’s main character, or rather, because he was created that way by the author, Ha-min hadn’t had proper conversations with others until he became friends with me, and now he seemed to want to say everything he couldn’t say before.
Usually, he didn’t have much to talk about, but once in a while, when a topic he knew well came up, he would talk enthusiastically and at length.
I couldn’t have talked about that story for so long.
“A Gate appeared in a dungeon, Espers got killed, and Guides had a hard time too. The end.”
That would have been enough, but Ha-min didn’t miss a single detail or expression of emotion, so I felt like I had lived everyone’s lives during that time, and I was really, really tired because of it.
I thought I should reconsider getting closer to Ha-min in the future.
I wasn’t this tired even after using the mind sword.
“…Huh? Come to think of it, I used the mind sword but I’m not extremely tired?”
That was strange too.
The mind sword usually consumes an enormous amount of inner energy, so even a master with plenty of inner energy and high-level martial arts would run out after using it once or twice.
The mind sword was something that even the best practitioners often couldn’t find a trace of after dedicating their entire lives to training.
But how could I be so energetic now? That didn’t make sense.
Did the setting of this novel’s world overcome the rules of martial arts games?
Since it’s a novel, anything is possible through the author’s power, but this is reality and life to me, and I don’t know how to accept it.
I also really don’t like the fact that my life depends on a few keystrokes from someone.
“Aren’t you tired, Ha-min?”
Ha-min had been doing the horse stance the whole time he was talking, and I thought he must be tired by now, even though he was enduring well.
“Ah, so you’re tired.”
From his response, I realized I needed to be more careful with Ha-min from now on.
He was so mentally strong that even if his body reached its limit and struggled, he would just endure it through willpower.
“Stop the horse stance now. It must be hard.”
“Thanks, Eunwoo.”
“Now let’s run.”
“Huh? Um…”
“Keep doing the horse stance and running even when I’m not around. And in a few days, we’ll start running while carrying logs, so when you have time, find a suitable log.”
Ha-min looked at me with a surprised expression.
“What? Don’t you like it?”
“No. Are you going somewhere?”
Ah… It seems he wasn’t surprised about carrying logs while running.
“No. But you never know what might happen. Life is unpredictable.”
“Eunwoo…”
Ha-min approached me with a sympathetic look and took my hand.
“You were scared. I understand. It’s natural to be scared. You probably weren’t in danger since Esper Woo-jin was with you, but you must have been shocked.”
“…Yes. That’s right.”
It was convenient that Ha-min misunderstood like that.
“I’ll help you a lot too, Eunwoo. Oh, and I told them about that thing. The stabilizer. It seemed like all the S-class Espers thought it was a good idea.”
“Really?”
Ha-min excitedly started to explain.
“First, I told Esper Kyun In. He said it seemed really good. He said if we did that, other Espers could take the stabilizer, and he would only need me to focus on Guiding him. When I told the other Espers, they all said the same thing.”
Anyway, I couldn’t help but laugh a little at how they all think exactly the same way.
“They must have really thought it was a good idea because they already told the Center researchers about it. The Center researchers can’t ignore what S-class Espers say, and with all three of them putting pressure, there will probably be results. They’ll have to show that they at least tried, no matter what.”
That was impressive…
I hadn’t thought things would turn out that way.
“I think a stabilizer would definitely be good. Sometimes accidents happen when Espers go into rampage mode on the way back from dungeons. With a stabilizer, we could prevent that.”
Ha-min nodded to himself, seemingly thinking about it.
It would work if Guides could wait at the site, but each Guide had many Espers to handle, and dungeons appeared in scattered locations, so it wasn’t easy.
If Ha-min was only responsible for one S-class Esper, he could go to the same dungeon and provide Guiding on site, but since he had three, he couldn’t go to the field with them. This might have been fortunate for Ha-min.
When I told him to start running now, Ha-min nodded once.
“Just me?”
“Yes, of course. I’m tired now.”
“Okay. I’ll start training then.”
“Good luck.”
I waved my hand and was about to return to my room, thinking I could finally rest, when Woo-jin appeared again.
I wasn’t even curious why he showed up there.
He probably wanted to talk about what happened one more time.
No matter how he thought about it, it must have seemed impossible and beyond his abilities.
So he might have concluded it was because of me.
The fact that he came now could also mean he had investigated me in the meantime.
“Even if he did, there wouldn’t be anything special to find out, would there?”
But there were a few things that bothered me.
There had been several times before when I unintentionally displayed my abilities.
“That’s the problem. It’s a sickness, a sickness.”
Still, if I pretended not to know, Woo-jin would have no choice.
Even if he had suspicions, what could he do if I denied it?
However, when he approached me, he didn’t mention any of that and just looked around.
“You come here often? I seem to have never been here despite living at the Center. I’ve never come to this side at all. I was looking for you, Eunwoo, and I’m glad I found such a nice place.”
“…”
Hearing that, I realized something new.
If he had never been to the forest, then the scene described in the first chapter of the novel had never happened in this world.
Woo-jin could be lying, but it didn’t seem like he would lie about something like that.
Especially when he had no idea what I knew.
“It’s a good place to meditate alone. No one comes here. I’m very tired, so I’m going to go in and rest now. Good job today, Esper-nim.”
After saying that and bowing my head, I walked past him, and Woo-jin couldn’t stop me.
When I got back to my room, I tried to recall the ending of the novel.
Since it wasn’t completed, I didn’t know the ending anyway.
But I definitely knew the ending for the character Seo Eunwoo that I had become, and now there seemed to be a bit of hope for that part.
“Even if Seo Eunwoo overcomes his personal problems, it’s the end if this world is destroyed. The overall atmosphere became more desolate towards the end… I don’t know if it was to increase tension, but unknown dungeons appeared, and dealing with monsters became increasingly difficult.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
