# Chapter 44
“…Enough, just get out quickly. Seriously, why did you come in here?”
Dohyun changed the subject, his face bright red. When a gate opened, someone needed to go inside. If no one entered, there was a risk of energy rising and causing an explosion. Although he couldn’t conquer it, Dohyun thought if he stayed inside, he could at least reduce the energy.
To reduce the gate’s explosion range, he needed to decrease the number of monsters. The darkness made it difficult to see exactly where the monsters were, but he could attack them if they came a little closer.
Dohyun pointed to the entrance, telling Haegang to quickly get out of the gate. But Haegang just shrugged his shoulders.
“I have a barrier device.”
“…Oh.”
“I came to get Esper Baek Dohyun out. The Espers gathered outside will handle the conquest. But…”
Haegang stared intently at the ball of fire floating in front of Dohyun. He had seen it a few times before. It was the ability Handam had used to test Dohyun’s power when he still couldn’t sense energy.
“So you can do more than just make healing potions, I see.”
“…What do you mean by ‘so’?”
“You blew up the sink that time while doing the dishes, remember?”
I just left some scorch marks, I didn’t exactly blow it up.
Actually, it would have been stranger if he hadn’t been caught. When Dohyun sealed his lips like a mute who’d swallowed honey, Haegang briefly observed the ball and the surrounding monsters before taking Dohyun’s hand again. Dohyun could feel the Guiding Vigor flowing over.
“Since you’re already using it, why not try blowing them up?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Those things seem to be trees that can’t approach because they’re weak to fire. I’m saying cause some havoc. If something goes wrong, I can provide Guiding right away. Even if you don’t like my Guiding, bear with it this once.”
That’s not the issue! Dohyun couldn’t even think of a rebuttal and just let out a sigh. Asking a non-combat Esper to kill monsters was something that could earn a warning if reported to the Association.
No, it was something the Association wouldn’t even comprehend. Because Dohyun was a non-combat Esper who had never received combat training. And while he had observed the post-conquest procedures once from over someone’s shoulder, he had never experienced it directly. Dohyun shook his head.
“How could I…”
“Just so you know, if you clear this place alone and get out, all the conquest reward money goes to Esper Baek Dohyun. You know that the higher the gate rank, the more reward money drops, right?”
The moment Haegang finished speaking, the fireball instantly grew larger.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Are you insane?”
Chan, who had rushed over in alarm, spat out a single sentence upon seeing Dohyun.
“What, why, what’s wrong. What.”
Faced with Dohyun’s confident demeanor, Chan pressed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
Today was scheduled for a high-ranked gate conquest, and all of Somyeong Guild’s representative S-rank Espers, including the Guild Master, had entered that location. So when Chan heard that Dohyun had been swept into an emergency gate, he gathered all remaining Espers at the guild and headed to the gate.
He was in the middle of submitting a list to the Association to somehow match personnel appropriate for a B-rank gate and to mobilize as many nearby Espers as possible for safety…
But when he arrived, he could only gape at what the Espers there told him. Just before the gate’s opening time reached its limit and the Espers were about to enter, Dohyun and Haegang had emerged. They said Dohyun was being held docilely by Haegang after whatever had happened inside.
Of course, for an S-rank combat Esper, a B-rank gate would have been manageable. But even for strong Espers, defense-type gates with numerous monsters, albeit weak ones, could cause problems, so they wouldn’t enter alone.
Yet somehow, despite being S-rank but non-combat, Dohyun had not only found a Guide but also emerged with them, and as soon as he came out, the gate disappeared. That meant the conquest was complete… How was this possible?
Chan grabbed the front of Dohyun’s clothes as if to seize him by the collar, then let go and jumped up and down in frustration.
“Are you really not going to tell me properly?”
“Don’t try to dig into someone’s abilities like that.”
“Hey, I’m an employee of your guild.”
“I’m a contract Esper. My contract period is just a bit longer than others.”
Dohyun firmly shook his head. Even though they were friends, he couldn’t tell him. To begin with, if it became known that he could also attack while being known as a potion maker who makes healing potions, he might be drafted into combat roles. Dohyun wanted to avoid such a situation as much as possible.
Chan turned his attention to Haegang.
“Guide Choi Haegang.”
“Well, my Esper doesn’t seem to want to talk about it.”
“…Are you going to be like this?”
“Yes. I contracted with Esper Baek Dohyun, not with Somyeong Guild, unfortunately.”
Chan was the one in a difficult position. It was understandable that an S-rank Esper like Dohyun could conquer a B-rank gate alone. Hadn’t Guild Master Cheon Somyeong also conquered an A-rank gate alone before? But she was an attack-type Esper, ranked among the best even among combat Espers.
‘No, but how does a potion maker who makes healing potions conquer a gate and come out?’
Chan wore a frustrated expression, muttering that he had befriended the wrong person, but Dohyun was desperate. When Haegang suggested that it might be better to just tell them, Dohyun adamantly shook his head.
‘Well, then do as you please. It’s Esper Baek Dohyun’s decision, so I won’t say anything.’
Though his tone conveyed frustration, there was an underlying intention not to press the issue even if it was annoying. Thanks to that, Dohyun could shake his head even more confidently at Chan.
“Hey, there’s no way rumors about you handling it alone won’t leak out. We need to coordinate our stories somehow!”
“I’m telling you, it was just good luck…”
How can this be explained by luck! Chan shouted. From Dohyun’s perspective, he had no choice. He had to keep his trump card hidden. For whatever reason, there was someone targeting him. And abilities, once known, made it easier for enemies to prepare against them.
Dohyun wanted to remain known only as a potion maker who creates healing potions. It would be revealed eventually, but not right now. To avoid having it documented, he had to hide it even from Chan.
“But the reward money for this conquest will come to me, right?”
Since Dohyun and Haegang were an Esper and his exclusive contract Guide from Somyeong Guild, the credit naturally went to Somyeong Guild. Still, Dohyun was expected to receive the full reward money.
“Yes, that’s right. Hey, Bbakdo. Are you really not going to tell me?”
“Stop asking. Just make something up…”
“How am I supposed to make up an explanation for how a person known as a potion maker conquered a B-rank gate, you unhelpful friend…”
In his disoriented state, Dohyun had come out without even collecting by-products, let alone handling post-conquest procedures. As a result, Somyeong became a guild that conquered a B-rank emergency gate, but they were in an awkward position, unable to explain what kind of gate it was.
“Fine, then the reward money.”
“Is the reward money that good? Huh? Is it that good?”
Dohyun nodded at Chan’s frustrated voice. Money is everything. Chan lamented.
“Hey… There are things more important than gold.”
“Like what?”
“Now. Right now, you bastard… You almost died, you know.”
Dohyun silently received continuous Guiding while being held in Haegang’s arms. The position was quite embarrassing, but he did need quick recovery after using his abilities until his energy was depleted. He could barely respond to Chan’s frustration.
It was awkward to explain. All Dohyun had done was infuse energy into making potions. He made a pink potion that could use Handam’s ability and burned all the tree monsters to death. Since time flowed differently inside and outside the gate, less than 30 minutes had probably passed outside…
‘How long has it been?’
‘A little over two hours, I think.’
Dohyun and Haegang had endured quite a long time inside the gate. That’s why Haegang had asked Dohyun to conquer it.
‘How much time has passed outside?’
‘When I came in, about 20 minutes had already passed.’
It would have been unreasonable to hold out longer. They had to prepare for the possibility that the gate might close. And since they couldn’t gauge how time was flowing, they also had to consider that Dohyun’s strength might give out first.
It also helped that Dohyun’s power had good compatibility with the monsters inside the gate. When he created a large explosion, the resulting fire burned the monsters. Dohyun and Haegang just had to create fire and wait for the tree monsters to burn and fall quickly. When the fire grew, other monsters couldn’t approach.
‘But why don’t they run away? These monsters know they’ll die if they touch fire so they’re staying away, but why…?’
‘There’s a theory that the energy within gates resembles the energy used by Espers.’
‘Resembles…?’
‘They’re trying to devour you, Dohyun.’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
