“Seriously, you’re stressing over something so trivial. Are you trying to brag or what?”
The words came out bluntly, but Bae Jieun’s tone held a subtle hint of comfort. Lee Tae-rim gave a sheepish smile.
“Well, that’s a relief, then.”
The mood brightened a little. But across the room, Choi Jiwoon sat by himself, still sulking. Honestly… it was understandable. He’d been scolded by Jung Jae-heon and then again by Lee Yeong-jun. Even so, Tae-rim had no intention of helping him—not after confirming the guy was a full-blown manipulative bastard.
“Jiwoon, why do you look so beaten down again? You messed up, fine. Just say, ‘Sorry,’ and move on.”
Exactly. Even if Tae-rim wasn’t going to step in, Lee Yeong-jun had Bae Jieun in his corner. Only then did Jiwoon finally get up and give Lee Yeong-jun a stiff bow.
“I’m sorry.”
“Alright, as long as you get it. Don’t let it happen again.”
“Yes, sir…”
Judging from the way Jiwoon responded, Tae-rim had a hunch he still didn’t understand why he’d been scolded in the first place. Maybe it was because Tae-rim had fully bought into the whole “protagonist with a dark twist” theory, but whatever the reason, he just couldn’t bring himself to see Jiwoon in a favorable light. In any case, Jiwoon trudged back to his seat, completely deflated.
Unless Kwon Hae-beom himself suddenly showed up, Jiwoon’s gloom wasn’t going anywhere. Actually, even if he did, it might not make a difference. Jiwoon’s luck was just plain rotten today.
And to make matters worse, Kwon Hae-beom might end up seriously hurt. Tae-rim hoped that wouldn’t happen, but considering how seven gates had erupted the moment Hae-beom appeared, it seemed like the big events were rolling forward just as they were supposed to. Tae-rim anxiously resumed waiting for the Espers to return.
“I wish we could at least help out on the front lines.”
“Same here. But we don’t really have a choice. Our first priority is Guiding the S-ranks.”
If they ran out to assist the lower-ranked Espers and an S-rank came back seriously injured in the meantime, it would be a complete disaster—a case of putting the cart before the horse. As much as it pained them, they had to tune out the screams echoing from outside. Reminding themselves that District 1 still had enough Guides to handle it.
***
“Damn, he came back even more intense.”
“Fully recharged, obviously.”
“He looks pissed too, though.”
“Ah, that’s probably ‘cause Tae-rim was Guiding other Espers. It’s a full-on emergency right now. Honestly, I got a hug-Guiding session earlier too.”
“Daaamn~ Lucky you, hyung.”
Jung Jae-heon didn’t answer—just smiled faintly. If he’d ignored Tae-rim and gone back to the Dorm for Guiding like usual, it could’ve ended badly. Thankfully, Tae-rim had coaxed him into it with a hug-Guiding, recharged him fully, and sent him back out into the field.
Tae-rim usually stuck to handshake Guiding, so getting a hug-Guiding from him felt amazing. Hug-Guiding from an S-rank was on a whole different level compared to an A-rank. Just thinking about what it would feel like if that last 10% of his capacity unlocked made his heart race.
Seon Juho, unlike usual, was holding his Wavelength tight and fighting with precision. The guy learned freakishly fast. Last time, he’d only taken on B-rank monsters on-site, but now he was tearing through A-ranks and even S-ranks like it was nothing. Good thing Tae-rim didn’t see any of this.
Seven S-rank gates had opened, but with nine S-rank Espers on-site, things were tight but still manageable. Even when someone got injured, there were three S-rank Guides available, so they could get Guiding quickly and rotate back in. As long as only one or two spots were empty at a time, they could still hold the line.
And they had Kwon Hae-beom—one of the top five strongest Espers—and Seon Juho, who was supposedly even stronger. The two of them were dominating the battlefield.
But none of that meant things were actually going well. With seven S-rank gates bursting open at once, the situation was complete chaos. There was no time to wonder why this was even happening. All they could do was fight—cut down monster after monster, over and over again. Jung Jae-heon glanced at his watch. 75%. He was cutting it close.
“Guiding!”
At his shout, S-rank Espers began shifting positions to cover for each other. Jung Jae-heon took off toward the Guiding Room. As much as he hated it, heading to the A-rank room was pointless now—those Guides were probably at the edge of collapse. So he made a beeline for the S-rank room instead.
S-rank Guides didn’t handle lower-ranked Espers, thankfully. That helped a lot. The downside was, there were fewer of them, so each one had to take care of multiple Espers—but with energy tanks like Lee Yeong-jun and Lee Tae-rim, even a heavier workload was doable.
“Looks like everyone’s still hanging in there.”
“Esper Jung Jae-heon.”
Lee Tae-rim shot up from his seat. Jung Jae-heon walked over, looking a little sheepish.
Tae-rim glanced at his watch, then pulled him into a hug without hesitation. With no brat hovering nearby, he could finally relax and enjoy this. Jung Jae-heon wrapped his arms tightly around Tae-rim, letting the cool, invigorating energy surge into him.
“You’re pretty banged up too, Esper.”
“Ah, well. Just some scrapes.”
He had a few tears and cuts, sure, but nothing serious. He’d already sprayed on some hemostatic agent. If only he was that 90-percenters with that absurd recovery… Jung Jae-heon let himself sink into the Guiding. Moments like this were rare. Usually, a certain kid would be standing nearby, watching him like a hawk.
As the Guiding wrapped up—short, but deeply satisfying—he found himself reluctant to leave. But the battlefield wasn’t going to wait. He thanked Tae-rim and quickly returned to the front lines.
Sure enough, the brat greeted him with a stare that could kill. The kind that screamed, You totally got another hug-Guiding from hyung, didn’t you?! Jung Jae-heon pretended not to notice.
“Zone 2 cleared!”
Finally, one of the gates had closed. Their first success—in five whole hours. S-rank gate clearing times were all over the place, but still, getting even one down was a huge win. Jung Jae-heon sliced down another monster in front of him.
Some Espers preferred using their bare hands—said they liked the feeling of ripping things apart. Jung Jae-heon wasn’t one of them. He preferred weapons. He used a sword-shaped construct that channeled his strength. Normally, it was just a hilt, but once he infused it with power, a blade would form.
He swung it like a sword, projecting telekinetic force with each slash to cut through monsters. Ambushes or ranged attacks could still catch him off guard, but since he mostly fought from a distance, he rarely got seriously hurt.
Compared to that, Seon Juho was a damn monster. He was casually tearing through enemies with nothing but flicks of his fingers. Kwon Hae-beom, dual-wielding guns and sniping monster cores with pinpoint accuracy, was terrifying in his own right—but Seon Juho still outclassed him.
When Jung Jae-heon first saw him in action, he’d been floored. That power—there was no other word but “monster” for it.
From day one, Seon Juho had been lazily waving his fingers, shredding monsters like it was boring. The same guy who’d just been clinging to Tae-rim like a puppy now looked like a different person entirely. Without Tae-rim around, Juho’s face was blank—he looked like someone else.
He was only twenty. Barely trained. Who knew how much stronger he’d get once he learned to really control his power?
Jung Jae-heon had taken a long road to reach this kind of composure. He’d stood on the edge of death more than once. Been through hell. But watching this kid—who was pulling off things most people couldn’t even imagine, like it was nothing—felt… unfair.
“Zones 3 and 5 cleared!”
Two more gates down. The monsters that had already spilled out were still crawling all over, but the fact that the gates themselves were shut was huge. If they could just close the ones that Seon Juho and Kwon Hae-beom were holding—those pouring out the most S-ranks—it would lift a massive weight off their backs.
The number of monsters was finally starting to drop, even if only a little. Three closed gates were making a visible difference. But it was still chaos. Jung Jae-heon kept slashing his way through the battlefield—until a voice rang out that made him freeze.
“Emergency! Critical! Kwon Hae-beom is down!”
Even as he kept swinging, he looked around. Sure enough—Kwon Hae-beom was bleeding heavily from his side, still fighting like nothing was wrong. The one who shouted was Choi Dong-ha, pale-faced and visibly panicked as he checked Hae-beom’s condition.
“Hae-beom, fall back!”
“I’m not done yet…!”
“Cut the crap and fall back! Choi Dong-ha, get him out of here!”
“Yes, sir!”
Choi Dong-ha rushed in and started dragging Kwon Hae-beom away. Even then, Hae-beom kept fighting, striking at monsters while being pulled back. The guy was relentless to the bitter end.
Jung Jae-heon stepped into the position Hae-beom had vacated, and the formation shifted smoothly around him. He and another Esper from Zone 5 took over the gate Hae-beom had been guarding.
“Of all the damn times…”
Jung Jae-heon bit down on his lip. Losing Hae-beom was a huge blow. The only consolation was that Seon Juho remained completely steady. The kid was the newest among them—and somehow the one performing best. The world really didn’t make sense.
