Their eyes on Nabin were steeped in suffocating disgust, as if just looking at him was enough to choke on.
More than any Esper he’d ever met in the parlors, more than even Kim Minsu, their gaze was packed with a contempt that shredded what was left of his heart.
Kim Minsu had been the one who dragged him into the filth. The one who took his first time the moment he turned twenty and used him until he was worn thin. Whatever disdain Minsu felt was nothing more than spitting in his own face.
The Espers who came to the illegal guiding parlors weren’t much different. They were outcasts, broken enough that they had to rely on such places. They vented their bitterness on Nabin, but deep down they knew their lives weren’t all that different from his.
But these men weren’t the same. From the moment they awakened as S-rank Espers, the whole world had praised them. Unlike Nabin, who awakened as a D-rank Guide and fell straight into hell, they had lived lives of luxury that anyone would envy—lives flaunted in the splendor of this mansion.
He had thought he’d finally escaped hell… only to find himself in something far worse.
And his instincts were right. No sooner had he sat up in alarm than a thunderous pounding rattled the door hard enough to shake the bed beneath him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Hey! Open the door!”
A husky, boyish voice shouted for him. The door shuddered like it might break apart. Nabin ripped off his blanket and hurried over.
The moment he touched the handle, the door burst open, nearly smashing his face. Han Jigang stood there, urgency etched across his features, and without a word he seized Nabin’s wrist.
“W-what’s going on…?”
Something felt wrong. He didn’t know what, but his gut screamed not to let himself be dragged away. He dug his toes into the floor, resisting with what little strength he had. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for Han Jigang to notice.
“No time to explain. Just follow me.”
It was the hardest expression Nabin had ever seen on him, words spat out like shards of glass. His grip on Nabin’s wrist tightened.
Even as he hauled him forward, Jigang’s eyes stayed fixed on the end of the hallway. His brow was deeply furrowed, tension radiating off him, but beneath it there was a flicker of worry. One thing was certain—that worry wasn’t for Nabin.
Nabin stumbled helplessly in his grip. His wrist screamed as though it might snap, but no amount of twisting could shake him free. Jigang only clamped down harder, dragging him like cargo.
At the stairs to the second floor, Jigang hesitated. Nabin’s legs were locked with fear, and hauling him step by step would take too long.
The pause didn’t last. Jigang hoisted him over his shoulder without a second thought. Nabin pounded at his back, shouting to be put down, but Jigang climbed steadily, unwavering.
“This is urgent. Don’t fight me—just stay still.”
The world flipped upside down before Nabin could even adjust. Blood rushed to his head, dizziness making his limbs go limp. When he sagged, a sharp smack landed across his backside.
Startled into silence, he hung motionless as Jigang quickened his pace toward a door. In front of it, Tae Yishin paced anxiously, his usual smile nowhere to be seen.
“What took you so long to bring him?”
“Move. We don’t have time to argue.”
Without another word, Nabin was hurled into the room like baggage. Pain flared as he hit the floor, but there wasn’t even time to think it hurts.
Just before the door slammed shut, he caught a glimpse of rose-colored eyes staring down at him, shadowed with guilt.
Clack.
The door closed fast, as if it had never been open. Voices faded, footsteps retreating quickly. Nabin soon realized why they had left in such haste.
Grrrr…
A guttural growl rumbled behind him. Trembling, Nabin turned his head just enough to glance toward the sound.
Curled in the corner of the room was something covered in bristling black fur.
The last Esper in the mansion. The one he hadn’t yet faced.
But he was no longer human. Even at the Center, when Nabin first met him, he’d seized Kim Su-ryeon by the throat mid-Beastification. But back then, there had still been some trace of a man left.
Now Gong Min’s eyes held no reason at all. The air bristled with killing intent sharp enough to sting Nabin’s skin. Worse, it was so heavy with mana that every breath made his chest ache.
Like a wounded predator, Gong Min radiated an aura far more savage than when he attacked Su-ryeon.
“Hic—ugh…”
Nabin clamped both hands over his mouth, trying to stifle the hiccups bursting out from fear. Tears welled in his wide eyes, streaming hot down his knuckles.
His instincts screamed: Don’t provoke him.
In the dim light, those vertical slit pupils gleamed—not the eyes of a man, but a beast.
There was still distance between them, but the primal terror pressing down made Nabin feel like his throat could be torn out at any second.
“Get… out…”
The words scraped past twisted lips, raw and harsh. For an instant, reason flickered in Gong Min’s gaze.
He was massive now—twice the size he’d been before. Scraps of clothing clung to him, but his body was blanketed in sleek black fur. Tufts bristled at his ears, and his torso was so covered that bare skin was rare.
Every breath made his enormous chest heave, fur rippling with the motion.
His features remained—still sharp, still almost too handsome—but his bloodshot eyes, dripping crimson, gleamed with pure madness.
It was a warning. Nabin realized that. His frozen hands crept toward the door handle. Luckily, Jigang had thrown him right in front of it.
If he’d landed farther away, he doubted he could have crawled there. His body shook violently, as if wracked by seizures.
Clatter. Rattle.
But the door wouldn’t budge. Sweat slicked his palms, slipping off the knob again and again. He gripped it desperately, rattling, but the sound was hollow. The lock held firm.
The air thickened with killing intent, suffocating him. He could almost feel Gong Min ready to spring at his back, cold sweat dripping down his forehead in heavy beads.
“P-please, open the door… Please, let me out… I’m begging you…”
His voice cracked, pleading with the unyielding door. At that moment, he would have taken rescue from anyone—even Tae Yishin—if only someone would pull him out.
“Urgh…”
But his pleas ended when a crushing grip clamped onto his shoulder. Gong Min had risen and crossed the distance in silence.
Agonizing pain shot through him, as though his shoulder blade was splintering under the pressure. That massive hand, fur running down to his fingers, dug mercilessly into bone.
Nabin lifted his head. Whatever trace of reason had flickered before was gone. His eyes burned wild, filled only with savage instinct.
The thought struck him—I’m going to die here. The terror was unlike anything he’d ever known. A pure, primal fear that turned his heart black.
Gong Min wasn’t in his right mind. Raw mana churned violently inside him, unstable enough to swallow them both whole.
“P-please… forgive me… I-I was wrong… I’ll leave right away… Please…”
On his knees, hands clasped together, Nabin begged. Kim Minsu had snapped before, trying to kill him, and every time Nabin had thrown away his pride and reason, groveling for his life in unbearable fear.
But Gong Min’s killing intent was thicker, darker. Worse than Minsu’s. For all his cruelty, Kim Minsu had only been human.
Gong Min was an S-rank Esper. And now, fully Beastified, his massive body loomed larger than several of Nabin’s put together. So massive the ceiling seemed low, he looked strong enough to crush him with a single hand.
“Grrrr…”
The more Nabin begged, the more Gong Min’s face contorted. Then, with one furred hand, he seized Nabin by the nape and hurled him onto the bed across the room.
