# Chapter 49
Haegang’s words were a bit exaggerated, but not entirely wrong.
What would happen if one could freely use someone else’s ability, even temporarily? One could probably handle attack, defense, and healing all alone. The barrier stopped being generated after about 20 minutes.
“Almost like a one-person army.”
“We’d need to experiment to be sure…”
Dohyun handed the remaining potion to Haegang.
“What should I do?”
“I think you should drink it.”
Since it was black, even Haegang seemed reluctant and couldn’t immediately bring it to his lips.
After taking a deep breath, he finally swallowed the potion. Though the water was black in color, it tasted like regular water. As soon as he drank the potion, a barrier was immediately generated. It seemed he couldn’t use it directly himself, as it activated instantly. Though they appeared to have drunk similar amounts, Haegang’s barrier was much smaller.
This meant that when others drank or used the potion, they could immediately activate the ability contained in it. They couldn’t control it directly like Dohyun, and it was still one-time use.
“So we need to verify if this applies the same way to Espers, right?”
“Do you know any Espers?”
Dohyun wasn’t oblivious to Haegang’s underlying question about whether there were trustworthy Espers. But the only Espers Dohyun somewhat knew were Guild Master Somyeong from Somyeong Guild and…
“Esper Ye Handam…?”
“Not bad. He has a good reputation among Guides.”
“…You’re suggesting we go in with Esper Ye Handam?”
“I’ve confirmed the effect when an ordinary person drinks it, so wouldn’t it be better to directly verify the effect when an Esper uses it too?”
“But revealing the ability as much as possible…”
“It’s not better to leave it in an ambiguous state without knowing the exact range of use.”
“That’s… true.”
It was such a unique ability. In a situation where ‘Han Jiwhan’ was pursuing him, he couldn’t avoid using his ability indefinitely, and for that, it was important to have a clear understanding.
“That’s why Esper Ye Handam is not a bad choice. As an A-class Esper, his strong abilities reduce the risk when entering low-grade gates, and he has a good reputation among Guides for being tight-lipped. If you ask him to keep your matters confidential, he will honor it as long as it doesn’t cause problems for the guild. He’s not an Esper who has requested privacy for his personal information.”
Although Dohyun felt somewhat reluctant to tell Handam before telling his friend Chan, after some consideration, he slowly nodded.
Isn’t it better to complete tasks promptly rather than postponing them?
❖ ❖ ❖
Dohyun stood in front of a vacant lot where a D-class gate was scheduled to open. While Dohyun’s expression was solemn, Haegang’s was sour.
“Why are there so many people?”
“You asked if two people would be better than one A-class, so…”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to minimize the number of people who know?”
“…It just turned out this way.”
Haegang looked concerned about Dohyun, who had given in unexpectedly easily. Of course, Dohyun had his reasons.
When Dohyun couldn’t properly sense energy, Handam had helped him reduce output to continuously use his explosion ability. Dohyun had even considered giving Handam part of his contract fee as thanks, but when Chan told Handam about it, Handam hastily declined with trembling eyes, so the idea was dropped.
Thanks to that, Dohyun learned Handam wasn’t someone easily swayed by material things, so he hesitantly confided in him.
‘Actually, the potion’s ability isn’t just that. Could you possibly help me experiment with using my ability?’
When Dohyun suggested entering a gate to test it directly on monsters, Handam readily agreed. Despite the confidentiality clauses regarding what happened inside the gate and Dohyun’s abilities, Handam smiled and said it was fine. Instead, he added the condition that his younger sibling should join the conquest too.
‘Even if it’s a low-grade gate, if many monsters appear, it can be tough even for me.’
For a D-class gate, Handam, being an A-class Esper, could conquer it alone. But Handam’s priority was the safety of Dohyun and Haegang, who would be participating in the conquest. He said they needed one more person for that.
Since many guilds were already targeting F-class gates, the gate that could be assigned to all four—Dohyun, Haegang, Handam, and Handam’s younger sibling—was the slightly higher D-class.
Dohyun thought an E-class would be fine too. However, E and F-class gates, which don’t spawn boss monsters, were primarily assigned for awakened schools’ practical training, so they had to give up on those.
“He’s a close-combat Esper. Seems like he was called for protection.”
“Will it be okay?”
When Dohyun asked discreetly, Haegang nodded.
“If Esper Ye Handam is trustworthy, his sibling should be fine too. Anyway, after accurately assessing the situation, we’ll have to announce it. It’s not something we can hide from the guild forever.”
Dohyun agreed with Haegang’s words. They wanted to keep it secret as much as possible, but not permanently silent. Handam also understood it was purely to avoid the nuisance of the surroundings becoming noisy or other people requesting potions.
The four prepared and entered the gate. Inside was quiet. Dohyun’s eyes blurred at the sight of a dense forest filled with undergrowth and trees.
“If it feels like this, I think it might end before we can do anything…?”
Handam scratched his cheek embarrassedly. In truth, for a D-class gate, even if monsters with unfavorable compatibility with his ability appeared, Handam could still handle them to some extent. However, in a gate like this with a perfect compatibility advantage, there was a high probability that the exit would appear instantly if Handam just slightly used his ability.
With a contemplative expression, Handam moved a bit away and caused small explosions with weak output against some monsters. After wiping out several monsters at once, Handam seemed to get a feel for it and was just inflicting wounds on the monsters.
“Didn’t you say it was for an experiment?”
The silver-haired Esper walked closer to Dohyun. As Haegang had said, he seemed to be there to protect Dohyun and Haegang—he had daggers at his waist but didn’t seem inclined to draw them yet. Dohyun, who had only brought a bottle filled with water, felt awkward. The Esper, observing Dohyun’s expression, shrugged.
“Anyway, I’m not affiliated with any guild, and I don’t deeply interact with many people besides my brother. I have no intention of talking about any experiment outside, so feel free. My brother will probably proceed with the conquest slowly for Esper Baek Dohyun’s experiment.”
Dohyun nodded slowly and swallowed. The cap of the water bottle filled with water. About a cup of water received Dohyun’s energy and instantly turned pink. The Esper reacted with an “Oh,” finding it interesting, but that was it.
“If you don’t mind, could you drink this?”
“…What?”
Drink something without knowing what it is? He made a confused expression.
“My ability is potion-making. It contains energy, but it’s basically just regular water.”
“Ah…”
“It was fine for an ordinary person to drink it.”
Dohyun glanced at Haegang. Following his gaze, the silver-haired Esper widened his eyes in surprise. Fed it to a Guide? This water? The Esper looked at the bottle with an absurd expression, but when Handam said it was okay, he took the water and gulped it down. Dohyun and Haegang’s gazes focused on him. No change occurred in the Esper.
“Can you move your energy, by any chance?”
“Hmm… It feels no different from usual.”
This time, Dohyun filled a small glass vial with water and handed it to him, while giving another vial to Haegang.
“Could you throw this at that monster over there?”
The Esper and Haegang threw the vials at the approaching monster. Then, fireballs emerged from both vials. However, the vial thrown by the Esper transformed faster, shooting like a cannonball while engulfed in flames. The Esper’s golden eyes grew large.
“Guide Choi Haegang.”
“What I threw definitely activated later.”
Handam’s ability had activated for both. But the vial of the Esper, who naturally possessed energy, activated a bit faster, while Haegang’s vial only activated after breaking upon impact. Dohyun noticed that the energy gathered a bit later in Haegang’s potion. Being the creator, it was easy for him to discern.
“That’s, the thing my brother uses, um…”
Dohyun asked the silver-haired Esper who was exclaiming in a daze.
“If it’s okay, could you attack me very lightly?”
What on earth is this Esper thinking? The silver-haired Esper wore an expression of disbelief, and Haegang exhaled a deep sigh.
“Please don’t do that.”
Despite Haegang’s protest, Dohyun enthusiastically laid out his explanation. When he said his ability was something like ability copying, the silver-haired Esper seemed to understand roughly and raised his sword toward Dohyun.
“Wait,”
Before Haegang could stop him, an energy-filled sword slash reached Dohyun. Slash! It was the moment blood burst from his arm.
“Esper Baek Dohyun!”
Haegang, with his face scrunched up, grabbed Dohyun’s arm.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
