#82
As the infamous Esper appeared with his eyes tinged blue, the Guides’ shoulders stiffened. The training instructor, who also noticed Oh-yul, approached with a momentarily surprised expression.
“Esper Oh-yul. What brings you here?”
The polite question was laced with a faint wariness towards an uninvited guest. If it were another Esper, they might have just thought indifferently that he had come, but since this was an Esper who could force guiding against a Guide’s will, his presence was as uncomfortable as a wolf among sheep.
Oh-yul gently placed his hand on Ho-woo’s shoulder in response to the focused gazes. The gentle touch completely covered Ho-woo’s shoulder and slid down like flowing water. He gripped Ho-woo’s arms with moderate strength, leaned forward, and lightly pressed his lips to Ho-woo’s ear. His slightly downcast eyes gleamed strangely, mixing sweet affection and possessiveness.
“I brought my Guide, who wanted to participate in the training.”
While showing this subtly intentional touch, the Esper briefly kissed Ho-woo’s earlobe. The small “chu” sound seemed unusually loud.
“Wha-what are you doing!”
Ho-woo shouted in alarm, quickly moving away. Oh-yul sent a regretful glance towards Ho-woo, who had escaped (or rather, been released from) his embrace, and calmly replied. His crescent moon-shaped eyes sparkled blue.
“Expressing affection.”
That answer was so brazen and nonchalant that Ho-woo thought he might have overreacted. But even for lovers, isn’t there a time, place, and occasion for expressing affection? The timing might be one thing, but the place and situation were completely inappropriate.
“Did you dislike it?”
The man who smiled prettily like a fox and gently insinuated that he wouldn’t do it again if Ho-woo disliked it was too weak.
Ho-woo let out a breath that resembled a sigh.
Unlike the troubled Ho-woo, the Guides watching them gaped in shock. What on earth were they seeing? They had never dreamed of seeing that damned cold-blooded Esper smiling prettily with aegyo and wagging his tail flirtatiously.
“Am I dreaming?”
One of the gathered Guides muttered blankly. With a numb expression as if he had pinched his own face, he struggled to accept that what he was facing was reality. To think that a guy who knew how to act like this had been behaving so terribly all this time!
Sighs rippled among the Guides. While they all twitched their fingers, wanting to post insults about Oh-yul on anonymous boards, the instructor, who had regained his senses first, cleared his throat and tried to refocus the atmosphere.
“Ahem, hem-hem. As much time has passed, we’ll start the education. Would the accompanying Esper please wait a bit away?”
If he had said “get lost” instead of “please wait,” everyone would have cheered, but the instructor’s courage only went that far. Tension swirled on his wrinkled face as he uttered words drawn from courage he barely had.
As there was no way to force compliance if Oh-yul didn’t follow, the instructor sent anxious glances, but when Oh-yul retreated more compliantly than expected and leaned diagonally against a distant wall, he let out a sigh of relief. The instructor briefly glanced at Ho-woo.
As a Guide of this city who had left the training center, there was no way he wouldn’t know him. He had been serving as an instructor at the training center for quite a long time, and Guides of Ho-woo’s age should have certainly entered when he was at the training center.
He wanted to ask various questions, like whether Ho-woo had come from another city or if he was really a Guide, but he wisely kept his mouth shut due to the eerie gaze languidly watching him. The more you know, the further you are from a peaceful life. He didn’t want to make his life chaotic out of mere curiosity.
He picked up the prepared pistol, loaded it, and took his stance. It was a stable posture that minimized recoil, with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and elbows and knees slightly bent.
“Don’t bend your arms and knees too much. Remember to align the sight accurately with the monster’s brow.”
As he took his stance and pulled the trigger, with a loud noise, the brow of one of the distant panels was precisely pierced.
Startled by the louder-than-expected sound, Ho-woo’s eyes widened at the heavy weight of the gun naturally placed in his hand after just one demonstration. Everyone else was naturally taking their stance and preparing to fire their issued guns.
Wait, isn’t this supposed to be a lesson?
Perhaps reading Ho-woo’s perplexed expression, Cha Geon-woo next to him let out a small laugh. Expecting Ho-woo to be flustered since he hadn’t been educated at the training center, he leaned slightly and whispered quietly enough for only Ho-woo to hear.
“The best training is real experience.”
“……”
The Guide who had lived outside the city for a long time loaded his gun with a familiar click.
“It’s a Glock 17. It’s a light and decent gun.”
Cha Geon-woo, who even explained what the gun was, seemed so familiar with shooting that he didn’t particularly need this training. While other Guides clearly looked awkward holding their guns, this man fit perfectly with it.
“You look really familiar with it.”
Ho-woo looked down uneasily at the heavy weight. The weapon meant to put bullets in monsters’ brows had probably put more bullets into human bodies before monsters appeared.
Bang! Bang!
The smell of gunpowder stimulated the nose, and the loud gunshots echoed across the open space.
“I lived outside the city with Eun-chan for a long time.”
Cha Geon-woo fell silent briefly, as if choosing his words.
“You’ve never been outside the city, right, Ho-woo?”
“Well…”
Until recently, Ho-woo had been nothing more than an ordinary person A. He had only just visited the sea yesterday, which was included in the city area but was a controlled zone. So the world outside the city was like a dream to Ho-woo. Those without any powers were destined to live their entire lives within this city and meet their deaths within it as well.
“You know this, right? That machines emitting frequencies disliked by low-grade monsters are installed in the city center.”
“Ah, you mean the barrier, right?”
Ho-woo nodded. The barrier was an important device that kept monsters at bay. It was exceptional when an A-grade monster entered and rampaged in the city center recently. Usually, higher-grade monsters were intelligent enough to know that they would be hunted if they entered the city, so they didn’t even come near.
And while B-grade and lower monsters couldn’t enter the city due to the barrier, they endlessly gathered around the city. It was one of the Espers’ tasks to hunt them before their numbers exceeded a certain level.
“That’s right. Since the city itself is protected by the barrier, Guides working inside the city don’t particularly need to learn such self-defense skills, but I often go outside the city, so I had to learn to survive.”
Cha Geon-woo proudly said he had caught a C-grade monster with a gun a few months ago. Though it’s called C-grade, monsters from C-grade up have speed and strength that ordinary people can’t handle.
At least Guides, though not as much as Espers, were sturdier than ordinary people. Having to take in and purify Espers’ violent energy, their eyesight, reflexes, and physical strength were superior to average people.
C-grade monsters were the limit that such Guides could handle. And that’s with the precondition of being well-trained Guides.
“The mortality rate is especially high for Guides of Espers guarding roads outside the city.”
“……”
“It’s an aspect where you have to make efforts yourself to survive.”
When it was his turn, Cha Geon-woo stood in the booth and took his stance. His aim was accurate, and there was no hesitation in the finger pulling the trigger.
Five consecutive gunshots followed his precise movements targeting the brow. Exactly round holes remained in the brow of the erected monster panel. The instructor clapped in surprise and praised him.
After showing off his impressive skills, Cha Geon-woo made way for Ho-woo.
Ho-woo awkwardly stood in the booth and took his stance. As there were numerous points to correct in his posture alone, the instructor furrowed his brow and adjusted Ho-woo’s stance.
“Spread your feet more, extend your arms a bit more. No, no, now bend them a little more.”
Ho-woo seriously aimed the gun and took his stance. As he aligned the sight with the monster, the erected panel seemed even more distant. What had looked so easy when Cha Geon-woo did it became incredibly difficult when actually aiming the gun himself.
Still, Ho-woo aimed the sight while holding his breath as much as possible. His trembling hands quickly found stability. As he concentrated, his awkward and clumsy expression settled into a blank one.
Bang!
A loud sound echoed across the open space. Ho-woo was surprised that the recoil didn’t feel as strong as he expected. The single fired bullet accurately pierced the brow. Whether it was beginner’s luck or unexpected talent, the instructor calmly instructed Ho-woo to aim again instead of rejoicing.
Ho-woo gathered his breath again. A slight excitement made his fingertips tremble finely. He hadn’t even expected to hit the target.
While thinking it was a coincidence, he started to have expectations. Ho-woo suppressed his excited breath and aimed the gun at the next panel.
