# Chapter 29
I closed my eyes right there and felt the wind blow.
That wind also seemed to be created by Woo-jin.
Just as I was surprised that he didn’t stop at simply creating illusions but could even generate wind, I felt heat.
That was definitely more surprising.
With a pattering sound, raindrops began to fall, then suddenly dark clouds gathered quickly, and lightning struck.
I launched my body to avoid the lightning that was striking toward me.
The lightning transformed into a giant reptile and chased me several times even after I dodged.
Thanks to my body enhancement ability allowing me to dodge in all directions, I escaped the attack, but Woo-jin’s attacks were truly astonishing.
It disappeared nearly thirty minutes after Woo-jin’s illusion began.
When the illusion vanished, I saw him standing in front of me with a dumbfounded expression.
But I had no time to waste looking at his face.
There was too much I wanted to tell him.
“Are you feeling tired right now, Esper?”
“…What?”
He seemed confused by my question, as if he hadn’t expected me to ask that.
“If you’re not too tired, may I share a few thoughts with you?”
“Yes.”
He spoke with an expression that suggested he was too tired to be surprised anymore.
“May I ask how much energy you use when creating those illusions?”
It might be something like a trade secret, but I asked because if he told me, I thought I could give him much more effective advice.
Woo-jin hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“I increased the intensity from the start. It was the level of intensity I would use in high-risk dungeons.”
I see.
He might have actually been trying to kill me.
But I didn’t feel bad about it.
“Did it take more energy when you used lightning?”
“Of course. Obviously. What I used at the end was the intensity I would use when tackling the highest-risk dungeons.”
“…”
“…I gave it my all without realizing. I’m sorry.”
It was also funny how readily he apologized in that situation.
“But since you were dodging so effortlessly, I thought maybe it wasn’t working well.”
I nodded at his words that seemed to ask me to believe him.
“May I tell you what I observed?”
“Yes.”
“The attack just now felt too wasteful. Thinking that because other monsters have fallen to that attack, future monsters will too, seems overly optimistic. The idea that something would choose death to escape extreme pain is your judgment, and I think you shouldn’t attack that way.”
His face, which initially seemed to be just listening to what I had to say, gradually distorted.
He probably had no desire to hear such things from me.
I too would naturally feel uncomfortable if someone intruded into my domain and told me I was doing something wrong.
“Then what would you suggest I do?”
Instead of getting angry, Woo-jin asked me.
“It’s an ability only you can use. I think you could attack monsters more efficiently with that ability. You could make monsters see illusions and guide them to predetermined positions.”
“Predetermined positions?”
“Yes. Attack together with other Espers. For example, I’m a body enhancement user, but I can also kill monsters using a sword. Still, fighting monsters rampaging in dungeons directly would be difficult. But if you block the monster’s movements and bring it where I want, I could focus and successfully attack from that position.”
His eyes brightened.
“How can I herd monsters?”
“Imagine the ground collapsing in front of them. The floor starts caving in rapidly from over there. Quickly. They would have no choice but to back up.”
Woo-jin’s eyes shone.
He seemed to have an idea of what to do.
“Shall we try again now, Eunwoo?”
When I nodded, he immediately began playing.
Any concern about people dying if they directly saw his illusions had completely disappeared.
He focused solely on changing the terrain in front of me, as if he was thinking of me as a monster.
“Try making it faster. And this level of ground collapse doesn’t create a sense of danger. It needs to collapse dramatically. With lava-like substance inside splashing up as the ground collapses, and anything it touches melting away – can you create that effect?”
I made requests as I watched the illusions he showed, and Woo-jin accomplished them.
These were the things that proved he wasn’t S-class for nothing.
I nodded.
“Let’s make the speed faster. So there’s no choice but to back up.”
Woo-jin did as I said, and I nodded.
“I think it would be good to add a restriction behind too. Like a wall. That would make the attack area more defined, making it easier to attack.”
As soon as I finished speaking, a wall appeared behind me.
“You could even make the front a cliff. Then they couldn’t escape and would have to stand in place.”
Woo-jin transformed the area into a sheer cliff as I suggested.
Now I was trapped between an endless cliff in front and a blocked path behind.
Even knowing it was an illusion, I didn’t feel like taking a step forward.
‘Should I try it anyway?’
I stepped into the empty space.
When I put one foot forward and lifted the other.
Nothing happened to me.
That’s how it should be with an illusion, but it actually felt strange.
Woo-jin seemed to realize what I had done by looking at my feet.
“Shall we stop?”
When I nodded at his words, the illusion disappeared.
I could have broken through his illusion myself, but it didn’t seem respectful to him, so I waited.
When I faced Woo-jin, he had an extremely encouraged expression.
“I think I know what to do now. I have so much to think about.”
I nodded, thinking he would be able to do well.
“I hope a dungeon appears soon. It would be great if a Gate appeared too.”
“But then you would die, wouldn’t you?”
Ah… was I too honest?
Woo-jin sighed deeply.
I was a verified D-class Esper, and it must have hurt his pride to hear such things from me.
“Should we try once more?”
Woo-jin seemed to like practicing with me.
After all, by practicing against me, he could get feedback on what I saw and we could discuss it, which would be helpful.
“But even though this is training, won’t using abilities so much make your wavelengths dangerous?”
When I said this, he checked his condition as if he had just realized it.
Then he tilted his head strangely.
“That’s weird. I’ve used my ability quite a lot, so at this point it should be really dangerous. I used much more power now than when I went to Ha-min’s room for Guiding before, when he was still a Guide, I mean Esper.”
If that was true, we should be careful from now on, but he shook his head.
“Let’s try it anyway. I have many ideas right now and want to try them. I don’t think I’ll be able to implement them later.”
“Ah, if that’s the case, we should try. If you collapse, I’ll call Ha-min.”
“That should work. Then I’ll begin.”
He excitedly played the violin.
It was funny how excited he was while trying to change the terrain to trap me.
Woo-jin altered the landscape so that I had to move.
He needed to create obstacles that would restrict my movements in some way, and this time he seemed to be assuming I was a bird of prey type monster.
He could have just told me that.
From then on, I was caught by him for three whole hours and watched as the terrain around me changed terribly.
The meaning of “terrible” had changed from the beginning.
Black water surface.
Sky so high the ground couldn’t be seen.
Crevices in walls I couldn’t figure out how to enter.
Fear that felt suffocating came relentlessly.
In the end, an illusion was created where only the tips of my toes were on solid ground while most of my feet floated in empty space, and I screamed without realizing it.
The space in front was a cliff with no visible bottom, making me feel like my body would fall at any moment.
Even knowing it was an illusion, I screamed and eventually fell to the ground.
Woo-jin quickly withdrew the illusion and helped me up, looking moved by the fact that he had perfectly controlled his mental imagery.
“Is it better than before?”
He asked while dusting off the dirt on my palms.
“Yes. It’s definitely better. How do you feel about your energy consumption?”
“I feel like I’m using my ability much more efficiently now than at first. I should have practiced like this sooner.”
Then he smiled.
“If it wasn’t for you, Eunwoo, I wouldn’t have thought of showing my illusions.”
I had thought that Espers didn’t want to reveal their abilities in front of other Espers, and Woo-jin would especially be that way.
His ability was practically mind control, and if there was too much discussion about it, people might find ways to resist.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
