Seeing Hong Seong-jun being strangled, Yu Je-hyun finally snapped back to his senses. He smacked himself hard across the face.
No matter how convincingly Hong Seong-jun had transformed into Lee Haru, the fact that he had done nothing until the man was right in front of him was inexcusable.
“…You’re not a Guide.”
The one who attacked Hong Seong-jun was Zero. Kang Min, who had seemed lost in thought after hearing Zero speak, was startled by the sudden movement—but when he saw the target was Hong Seong-jun, he let it happen.
Only Hong Seong-jun struggled wildly, eyes bloodshot, trying to pry off Zero’s hand as it crushed his throat.
Yu Je-hyun quietly looked away. Since Hong Seong-jun was still wearing Lee Haru’s face, he feared he might instinctively step in to help.
Instead, he prepared to subdue Zero. But when Zero didn’t sense the guiding energy he expected through their contact, he quickly lost interest in Hong Seong-jun.
Wham—!
With a casual swing of his arm, Zero sent Hong Seong-jun flying into a wall.
Cough, cough…
Clutching his throat, Hong Seong-jun coughed violently. It felt like his neck had snapped. His throat swelled so fast he could barely breathe.
The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. Grinding his teeth, he struggled to regain his composure.
“Ugh…”
But before he could recover, scarlet ropes snapped tight around him and slammed him back to the ground.
“You might want to drop that disguise.”
Kang Min stepped forward. Looking at him in Lee Haru’s form stirred an overwhelming disgust.
Spit.
Ignoring Kang Min’s words, Hong Seong-jun spat on the floor, still wearing Haru’s face. The blood-tinged spit landed with a splatter. Kang Min flicked his fingers.
“Ghhhk…”
A pained groan escaped Hong Seong-jun as he looked down. Spikes had sprouted from the ropes binding him, piercing through his clothes and skin with ease, digging deep.
He had no choice but to transform. His body melted like boneless flesh, but Kang Min responded by covering him in blood.
The ropes turned into a thin, cloth-like substance and clung tightly to Hong Seong-jun’s form.
He tried to morph his body again to slip out—but the blood stuck like glue to his skin, refusing to let go.
“What now? Planning to kill me? Hic. The higher-ups wouldn’t approve of that.”
Reluctantly reverting to his true form, Hong Seong-jun glared at Kang Min, his eyes burning. Kang Min had always been someone he wanted dead.
Ever since realizing his feelings for Lee Haru, Kang Min had seemed like an unreachable peak.
No matter what he did, Lee Haru’s attention always—inevitably—gravitated to Kang Min.
That was part of why he teamed up with Zero. It wasn’t just about wanting Haru for himself—he also wanted to use Zero’s power to take Kang Min down.
Even now, when he was too weak to fight properly, he still couldn’t escape Kang Min. And Kang Min had suffered under Zero’s pheromones too. Both of them were off their game, but the difference in strength was undeniable.
So he tried to buy time, bringing up the higher-ups—because Kang Min’s blood, which now covered his body, was about to start seeping into even the pores on his face.
He was barely managing to block it with his own energy, but the strain had left him trembling.
“I’m not the one who’ll finish you off. There’s someone else who wants revenge far more than I do.”
Kang Min’s gaze darkened. He’d spent his life dulled by apathy.
Born with everything others envied—status, ability—yet always empty inside.
Whether it was liking or hating someone, it all just felt like a bother to him. But the one person who always stirred that indifference was Lee Haru. Even when he heard Haru had attempted suicide, he’d only found it troublesome.
After all, Haru had survived—he’d just end up clinging to him again. That was all he expected.
He had only found Haru’s changed demeanor curious at first. But at some point, Haru began to weigh on his mind.
Then he learned that Hong Seong-jun had approached Haru while disguised as him. That changed everything.
The emotions that had once been nothing but a nuisance had grown into something he could no longer define. By the time he realized it, it was already too late.
Kneeling down on one knee before Hong Seong-jun, Kang Min loomed over him. Alarmed, Hong Seong-jun tried to back away, but unless he could walk through walls, there was nowhere to go.
“Ghhhk…”
His eyes flew open in shock. A sharp, shattering pain radiated through his face.
Kang Min forced his mouth open, then poured his blood into it. All Hong Seong-jun could do was watch helplessly.
He tried to block the blood by tightening his throat muscles. Kang Min responded with a punch to the solar plexus.
The pain was blinding. Reflexively, Hong Seong-jun gulped. A flicker of dread crossed his eyes.
“Your fate will be decided by Guide Lee Haru. Until then, behave.”
Kang Min rose to his feet. The blood that had coated Hong Seong-jun’s body had already hardened back into ropes, binding him tightly in place.
Even though it was easier to escape now than before, Hong Seong-jun remained still. He had realized that with Kang Min’s blood inside his body, his life now hung entirely in Kang Min’s hands.
As Kang Min turned away, Hong Seong-jun clenched both fists. His fingernails dug into his palms, but the pain was nothing compared to the crushing sense of helplessness that gripped him.
After restraining Hong Seong-jun, Kang Min moved toward Yu Je-hyun, who was dealing with Zero. Yu Je-hyun glanced over and grumbled lightly.
“Really, Team Leader? You just dump this bastard on me without warning?”
Sure, he hadn’t exactly done a great job handling Hong Seong-jun earlier. That was why he was now focusing on holding off Zero by firing arrows to keep him at bay.
“Guiding… Guide…”
Zero’s condition was worsening by the second. He kept repeating similar words as he attempted to move toward the place where Lee Haru and Ji Yeon-woo were.
As if he could instinctively sense the presence of a Guide.
Even with arrows embedded in both legs and one arm, Zero thrashed relentlessly. Blood poured from his body, pooling on the floor beneath him.
A normal person would’ve died from blood loss long ago. And yet, Zero continued to spew torrents of fierce magic, like an endless spring.
Yu Je-hyun kept a cautious distance. He knew Zero could attack with pheromones at any moment. And since those pheromones were invisible, the only defense was constant vigilance.
To make matters worse, the veins that had risen to the surface of Zero’s skin were twitching more violently with time.
It was a clear sign that Rampage was approaching. Struggling to mask his growing unease, Yu Je-hyun turned to Kang Min.
“You’ve dealt with Espers on the verge of Rampage before, right? What happens if we kill him in this state?”
Whenever an Esper showed signs of going into Rampage, the Association’s policy was to drag them into isolation and keep them locked up.
Yu Je-hyun had never dealt with an Esper on the brink himself—but he knew the theory.
Never emotionally provoke them. The best course of action was to forcibly Guide them until their Rampage Risk Index dropped.
An A-rank in this state would already be a nightmare. But this was an S-rank. Killing him wasn’t a simple option either. If Zero entered Rampage the moment his heart stopped, there would be no stopping him.
“There’s never been a case of an S-rank Esper going into Rampage—anywhere in the world. The safest approach is to lower his Rampage Risk Index, but that’s not possible right now. Our only real options are to kill him instantly before he realizes it, or force him to take his own life.”
The problem was, Zero hadn’t lost his will yet. Even with arrows piercing his body, he remained obsessed with Guiding.
If they told him to kill himself for national security, would he immediately go berserk?
“Maybe we need to snap him out of it first.”
Yu Je-hyun gathered several arrows, shaping them into a thin metal panel. It sank into the soft ground as easily as if he were stabbing tofu.
Zero, stumbling forward like a broken machine, bumped into the metal plate and recoiled. He stared at it blankly for a moment—then his expression slowly began to twist.
