The car swerved sharply, causing his body to tilt to the side. He still kept his eyes shut tightly, unable to summon the courage to look. His whole body trembled like a leaf, terrified that they might crash into something at any moment.
Bang! Bang!
Thunderous crashes rang out nearby. A chilling fear gripped him—that if he got hit by one of those attacks, he might die instantly. Cold sweat poured down his back. He didn’t want to die. Not here. Not like this.
“Nothing’s going to happen.”
But Cha Jae-woo’s voice, spoken in such an utterly calm tone, instantly swept away the fear that had been suffocating him.
In the violently rocking car, he finally opened his eyes. At that moment, his gaze locked squarely with Cha Jae-woo’s, who was already looking at him.
“Wh-who’s attacking…?”
How could someone remain so unfazed in the middle of an assault powerful enough to topple buildings? Wasn’t he afraid? Or was it because attacks like these couldn’t kill someone like Cha Jae-woo?
Even if Cha Jae-woo was safe, he wasn’t. He needed to grasp the reality of the situation. Cha Jae-woo might survive—but he would die. He wasn’t an Esper!
“I’ll die! If one of those hits me—ugh, aagh!”
He tried desperately to explain to Cha Jae-woo, but the relentless barrage of attacks gave him no chance. Another blinding flash came hurtling toward them, and he reflexively squeezed his eyes shut again. Maybe not seeing was better.
“I’m telling you, you won’t die.”
Even in the midst of this chaos, Cha Jae-woo remained utterly nonchalant. There was even a hint of laughter in his voice.
Ridiculously, that lighthearted tone almost made him feel reassured. He shook his head violently. No, this was not a situation to feel relieved about. On top of that, the constant jerking of the car made him feel nauseous.
In truth, the out-of-control driving scared him more than the attacks flying at them. Clenching his trembling hands, he nervously muttered toward Cha Jae-woo, almost pleading.
“C-car crash… I’m scared. Cars…”
The words stumbled out of his mouth so disjointedly that even he wasn’t sure what he was trying to say. He clenched his trembling hands into fists, but the sweat kept pouring out, practically dripping from his palms.
‘Ah, it’s the car…’
Only then did he finally pinpoint the source of his growing terror, so strong it sent chills through his whole body.
He was afraid of an accident. He hadn’t been there himself, but he had lost his parents to a car crash. Was this what his parents had felt back then? Had they been trapped in the same gut-wrenching fear? The thought made his head spin.
Screech—!
“Huh…!”
Just when he thought he might lose consciousness, the car slammed to a stop. His body, which had been flung forward, snapped back into place.
The moment he realized the car had come to a complete halt, he cautiously opened his eyes. Clinging to the faint hope that maybe—just maybe—the attacks had stopped.
“Cha, Cha Jae-woo! Something’s flying right at us—!”
Of course, that hope was crushed immediately. A fresh wave of attacks was racing toward them at breakneck speed, aimed straight at their stopped car.
“Stay here for a second.”
He yelped in panic, but Cha Jae-woo remained perfectly calm. Without waiting for any reply, Cha Jae-woo swung the driver’s door open.
At the same time, something like a transparent shield—almost like glass—expanded in a dome around the car. It looked like a barrier.
“Ah…!”
Incredibly, the barrier wrapped around the car just 0.1 seconds before the incoming attack hit. The ferocious flash, which had been barreling toward them, lost all its force the moment it touched the barrier—fading out instantly, almost as if it had been absorbed.
“Haa…”
The attack hadn’t gotten through. Only after that fact sank in did his stiff, frozen body finally relax a little.
If you could do that, you should’ve done it from the start, he thought irritably, but more than anything, he was just relieved they had a way to fend off the endless assaults now.
“Wait here.”
Cha Jae-woo said it like a reminder to him, now slumped and drained inside the car. Before he could even think to respond, Cha Jae-woo shut the door and stepped out beyond the protection of the barrier.
The attacks were still raging, but Cha Jae-woo didn’t seem the least bit concerned. Instead, the one at a complete loss was him.
“Cha Jae-woo…”
Why was Cha Jae-woo stepping outside after setting up a perfectly good protective barrier? Why couldn’t he just stay inside? He had so much he wanted to say, but somehow, it felt like Cha Jae-woo wouldn’t listen anyway. And he couldn’t exactly follow him out there either. So he stayed put, quietly, inside the car. That way, Cha Jae-woo would have one less thing to worry about.
Still, anxiety gnawed at him. He stared tensely at Cha Jae-woo, who was walking away at a steady pace. Another attack was flying toward him, this time a yellow-tinged flash that seemed even more powerful than before.
There were too many unknowns—what was happening, who was behind the sudden onslaught. But right now, the most urgent thing was Cha Jae-woo’s safety out there.
“Ha, …wow.”
Before long, however, he realized how utterly pointless his worry was.
Watching Cha Jae-woo walk straight into the oncoming attack without dodging made his stomach churn with fear. Yet Cha Jae-woo casually swatted the attack aside with one hand, as if batting away a bothersome insect. The assault that had seemed so terrifying to him crumbled into nothing before Cha Jae-woo’s effortless strength.
Only then did real relief flood through him. He leaned his head back against the seat and let out a long, trembling breath. The tension was gone, but his arms and legs still wouldn’t stop shaking.
‘What the hell is going on…’
Now that the immediate fear had passed, curiosity took its place. He strained his eyes, trying to see who was behind these endless attacks.
Who could it be? Why were they attacking like this? Was Jo Gyeong-hoon involved somehow? What was he thinking, if so? Had he forgotten that Cha Jae-woo was an S-Rank Esper? He clicked his tongue in annoyance at himself for having doubted Cha Jae-woo just moments ago.
“Whoa…”
But those idle thoughts quickly fled when he saw it: a bright blue light blooming from Cha Jae-woo’s right hand.
He knew Cha Jae-woo was an Esper, but this was the first time he had actually witnessed him using his powers. Thinking back on it, the barrier, the effortless swatting of attacks—it all seemed even more extraordinary now.
Cha Jae-woo really was an S-Rank Esper. Seeing his power firsthand rather than just hearing about it made it feel far more real.
“…….”
Meanwhile, the blue light in Cha Jae-woo’s hand stretched out, growing longer. It looked almost like a long rope.
With a flick of his wrist, Cha Jae-woo hurled the glowing strand outward. It didn’t feel exactly like an attack—it was more like… cracking a whip.
Now that the tension had left his body, all sorts of weird thoughts bubbled up. He slapped his own cheeks lightly and forced himself to focus on what was happening outside again.
“Ah.”
Then he understood why Cha Jae-woo had sent out that rope of light. The glowing strand had wrapped itself around something in the distance and was now pulling it back toward him, tightly bound.
In other words, with just a flick of his fingers, Cha Jae-woo had captured their attacker.
‘Was the opponent that weak?’
That was the first thought that crossed his mind.
No matter how powerful Cha Jae-woo was, it felt almost too easy to subdue someone like that.
But then again, if he looked back, several buildings—at least five stories tall—had crumbled from just a single attack. By that measure, the attacker couldn’t be called weak.
‘Still… looks like an Esper.’
He frowned slightly, trying to get a better look at the man Cha Jae-woo had dragged over.
Yet there wasn’t any visible psychic wave. If the man had been driven mad from an out-of-control surge of power, his psychic energy should have appeared twisted and chaotic. But there was no sign of that.
“…….”
Still, the man writhing in the glowing bindings hardly seemed sane. Even while restrained, he continued to use his abilities, showing no signs of rational thought.
Before long, faint ripples of psychic energy began to manifest around the man—still weak, but visibly distorted now. It seemed that overusing his powers was beginning to warp his psychic wave.
‘Should I go out there…’
He hesitated. Cha Jae-woo appeared to be questioning the man, but the latter was too preoccupied with unleashing his abilities to respond.
At this rate, it wouldn’t be surprising if he fully lost control and went berserk. Of course, Cha Jae-woo wouldn’t just let that happen…
After a long moment of deliberation, he finally decided to leave the car. He figured Cha Jae-woo must have heard the door opening, so if he was ordered back inside, he’d return immediately.
But even as he approached, Cha Jae-woo didn’t stop him. That small reassurance made his steps quicken.
“Does he look like he’s going berserk?”
Soon, he found himself standing right in front of the man who was now tightly bound. Cha Jae-woo asked, as if he had been waiting for him to come closer.
He didn’t need to think long before shaking his head.
“No… I mean, if we leave him like this, he might eventually go berserk, but right now his psychic wave doesn’t show the signs.”
“Right?”
Cha Jae-woo frowned and let out a short sigh.
“Then he’s just completely lost his mind.”
At those words, he turned his eyes back to the man, studying him more carefully.
Up close, it was even clearer that something was wrong. The man looked like he was consumed by a single thought—to attack.
What was even more disturbing was that, throughout it all, the man’s gaze never left him.
“…It seems like he wants to attack me.”
The man’s gaze was so intense, so persistent, that even knowing he was tied up, it still made him instinctively flinch back. He shuffled a step away, feeling genuine fear. Cha Jae-woo didn’t deny his observation.
“Looks that way.”
“Why… is he doing this…?”
The cautious question was aimed more at the man than at Cha Jae-woo.
But there was no answer. The man said nothing; he only kept straining against the glowing restraints, his psychic wave growing more and more distorted with each passing second.
“At this rate, his psychic wave’s going to be completely twisted before he even reaches a berserk state.”
“…Haa, unbelievable.”
Cha Jae-woo let out a deep sigh. At the same time, the glowing ropes binding the man tightened visibly, wrapping even more firmly around him. He chose to pretend not to notice.
“Call Kim Sol.”
Cha Jae-woo turned his eyes away from the man and spoke. Blinking at the sudden mention of Kim Sol’s name, he could only stare blankly for a second.
Fortunately, Cha Jae-woo was kind enough to offer an explanation.
“His matching rate is decent with Kim Sol. He’s basically assigned to handle this guy most of the time. So, call Kim Sol.”
“Ah, yes! I’ll do that!”
Finally understanding the reason, he scrambled to fish out his phone and dial Kim Sol’s number. He instinctively stepped farther back, uneasy at the sight of the man still thrashing within the glowing bindings.
Despite his rising urgency, the call tone dragged on, seemingly longer than usual. And then, in the distance, the sound of sirens began to echo toward them.
