“Cough, kuh…!”
Everything before his eyes grew hazy. His vision blinked in and out, brightening and darkening repeatedly. A viscous liquid trickled from the corner of his lips. He already knew well enough that it was his own blood.
‘…Not even a nosebleed.’
It was strangely fascinating. This was a first even for him, and in his dazed state, such a ridiculous thought crossed his mind. But that, too, lasted only a moment. He squeezed his eyes shut again and pulled the thrashing body in his arms even tighter.
Jung Hyun-soo’s struggles had significantly weakened compared to the beginning. When he had first grabbed her and started guiding without any plan, he had seriously thought he might pass out right then and there.
The moment he started guiding, a wave of nausea hit him, and it felt as if every muscle and joint in his body were being ripped apart. Blood had spurted from his mouth with a choking sound. His internal organs felt so hot it was as if they were ablaze.
“Hah, haah… urgh.”
He hadn’t expected it to be easy. He had never even heard of anyone calming a rampaging Esper through guiding.
It was a gamble. If he hadn’t done it, it wouldn’t have been the incoming flood of slimes from outside that killed him—it would have been the person inside the same classroom with him.
In the end, he was still alive, so his choice had been the right one. For that, he was immensely relieved. Even though he had exhausted all his mana and had to pour out every last ounce of strength to the point that his whole body felt like it was disintegrating, if it meant Jung Hyun-soo would stop rampaging, that alone was enough.
“Haa… cough! Kuh!”
But now, even that was reaching its limit. His vision blurred. He was hanging on with sheer willpower, but it was becoming impossible to endure any longer.
‘Why isn’t anyone coming?!’
A wave of sorrow rose up, and Cha Jae-woo’s face surfaced in his mind.
He understood that no one had expected the gate to open here. Still, wasn’t it taking far too long for rescue to arrive? There were so many people here.
‘…No, they’ll come. Just a little longer.’
He forced himself to calm down and poured every last bit of strength he had into guiding Jung Hyun-soo once more. He clung desperately to his slipping consciousness and continued the guiding without pause.
At least there was one stroke of luck: Jung Hyun-soo’s rank didn’t seem to be particularly high. On top of that, their compatibility rate didn’t seem to be terrible either.
‘That must be why I’ve managed to hold on this long.’
He saw the vivid distortion, the tangled mass inside Jung Hyun-soo. Even after all this time guiding, the inside of Jung Hyun-soo was still a complete mess. He simply wasn’t letting that wild force explode outward anymore.
“…Ha, Hyun-soo. Just a little more, okay? Please… you can’t…”
How long could he keep her like this? Every time Jung Hyun-soo’s body twitched, his anxiety spiked again. He had the terrible feeling that she might lash out at him at any moment, and if she did, she would also end up hurting everyone who had fled into other classrooms.
And if that happened, the slimes, which must have already entered the building by now, would swarm up to this floor and find them all.
That couldn’t happen. If it did, everyone would die. Only Jung Hyun-soo would survive.
‘Horrible.’
An Esper who killed everyone and lived alone. If it were him, he would never be able to keep his sanity afterward.
That was why he held onto her even more tightly, pouring out what little strength he had left.
It wasn’t that he was trying to completely stabilize her. He was just trying to buy time—just long enough until someone came to save them.
“Hngh, urk…”
But could he really manage it? The same doubt rose up again. His head was steadily drooping toward the floor.
Whenever he read articles about heroes who died after saving others, he had always thought, “I could never do something like that.” And yet, now he was on the verge of becoming just like them.
“Ha…”
Thinking such things, he found himself dumbfounded. In the midst of it all, images began to flash through his mind—Kim Geon-ung, Jo Ha-eon, and Park Yeon-ho, who were surely anxiously pacing about in another classroom, and even the faces of the parents who had long since left his side.
Was this what they called a “life flashing before your eyes”? The kind you saw right before death.
…Ah, he didn’t want to die yet. He had thought he might die if Cha Jae-woo drained all his energy, but he hadn’t expected it to happen like this.
Pointless thoughts continued to tumble through his mind. Meanwhile, his body swayed more and more, and the strength was draining from the arms that clung to Jung Hyun-soo.
“Ah….”
Still, he couldn’t give up. He squeezed out the last dregs of his strength and pulled Jung Hyun-soo into a tighter embrace. It was because, almost as if mocking him, the turbulence that had seemed impossible to stabilize suddenly loosened—and then began to rapidly settle.
‘Just a little more… maybe…’
Blood streamed from both his mouth and nose. His entire body burned as though he would melt away from the heat.
Some might call him insane. But he couldn’t let go of his greed. The resonance inside Jung Hyun-soo was reacting. If he just poured a little more strength into it, she might truly reach complete stabilization.
“Lim Haeyul!”
But he was no longer able to give any more. Someone yanked him away from Jung Hyun-soo, forcibly separating them.
He instinctively reached toward Jung Hyun-soo, but his sluggish gaze caught the person who had grabbed him.
“Ah… Cha, Jae-woo-ssi….”
“What the hell were you doing?”
Cha Jae-woo’s face was laid bare with shock—something completely out of character for him. For someone who rarely showed any change in expression, such raw emotion was astonishing to witness.
Lim Haeyul tried to twitch the corners of his mouth into a smile. But he truly had no strength left.
Ah, but Cha Jae-woo had come. Then everything would be fine now. That was enough. Since he was here, everyone would be safe. Relief washed over him, and with it, his consciousness faded away at a terrifying speed.
“Lim Haeyul. Stay with me.”
“Ugh…”
“Lim Haeyul!”
Cha Jae-woo shook him urgently, trying to snap him awake, but he no longer had the strength to answer. The last scraps of his energy were dragging him into darkness.
“Take care of….”
Please take care of everything.
Jung Hyun-soo, the people in the other classrooms, and the aftermath of this whole situation—he believed Cha Jae-woo would handle it all. He tried to whisper those words to him, but he couldn’t even finish the sentence.
Still, Cha Jae-woo must have understood.
***
“Urk…!”
The throbbing pain all over his body woke him up. So this was what it felt like to be jolted awake by sheer agony. For the first time in his life, Lim Haeyul opened his eyes from pain so intense it was impossible to endure.
“Are you okay? Haeyul-ssi, are you okay?”
The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was the lady who usually helped out with meals and various chores. She jumped up in delight, her eyes filled with worry.
“…Kk….”
He tried to say he was fine out of habit, but it was impossible. His body hurt too much. It felt as though every bone had been crushed and every organ ruptured inside him. Though he’d never experienced it firsthand, he could be sure that this was what it would feel like.
“Thank goodness. Oh dear, as long as you’re awake, that’s all that matters.”
“Ha… Cha, ugh….”
“Hm? What’s that? Who? Oh, are you asking for Cha Jae-woo Esper-nim?”
He hadn’t consciously intended to ask for him, but hearing her mention it, he realized he was indeed curious about where Cha Jae-woo had gone.
The woman gently stroked his hair as she answered.
“He stepped out for a bit. He’ll be back soon. Ah, you must also be wondering about your friends, right?”
Right. The others who had entered the gate with him—were they safe?
Whether it was the lingering haze in his mind or the pain clouding his thoughts, he couldn’t quite summon their faces. He was grateful the woman had brought it up first.
“Everyone’s fine, thanks to you, Haeyul-ssi. Everyone’s safe.”
…Ah, thank goodness.
Even as the searing pain crushed the breath out of him, her words made him laugh—ridiculously so. Though in reality, it was probably little more than a twitch of his lips.
The woman let out a small sigh and gently swept her hand over his hair again. She hadn’t been this kind before—maybe it was because he was injured? Either way, it didn’t feel bad. Even though he was in pain, if everyone was safe, maybe that was enough.
“It hurts, right? Just hang in there. I’ll have them bring more painkillers.”
“Ugh…”
He wanted to say “yes,” but only a groan came out.
The woman nodded as if she understood perfectly. Her gentle hand continued to stroke his hair.
It left him with a strange feeling. Come to think of it, aside from when he was very little, no one had ever stayed by his side when he was sick. No one had ever stroked his hair like this, either.
Maybe that was why—He felt a little less lonely. Whenever he had been sick before, he had always been alone. It had made being sick all the more unbearable.
He closed his eyes and quietly accepted her comforting touch. He heard someone coming and going. They must have administered another dose of painkillers.
Even so, the woman’s hand never stopped soothing him. The unbearable pain gradually dulled, and his eyelids grew heavier.
Feeling the effects of the remarkably effective painkillers flooding his body, Lim Haeyul slowly surrendered to sleep. The once warm and delicate hand resting on his forehead had grown cold and heavy.
Strangely, it made him feel even more at peace.
