* * *
“I have a bad feeling about this…….”
In this industry, the best tip was always: if a monster starts doing something weird, don’t just stand there watching—run.
“Why? What’s wrong? What is it? I’m scared!”
Seo Jaewon didn’t need to answer.
As if Min Yoomin’s voice had reminded the creature of their existence, the monster slowly turned its massive body toward them.
Dozens of corpses bulged inside various parts of its body.
Horrifically, the mermen it had swallowed could be seen squirming and moving within its entrails.
Those dozens of corpses moved sluggishly, forcibly stitching together the holes in the monster’s body.
Arms overlapped with arms to fuse, and even more sprouted out like tentacles or spikes from all directions, swaying.
It was hideous.
“Ugh.”
Min Yoomin couldn’t stand it and gagged.
It was a beast so massive the eye couldn’t take it all in.
Whenever the fish brushed precariously past the air bubble, its scaled body seemed to stretch on forever.
It felt like a giant train passing by.
Eerily glowing, bizarre patterns shifted constantly across the fish’s flank, changing shape without rest.
The sheer scale of it made his mind go blank.
‘Is there even a chance of winning?’
An A-rank Gate on the verge of a Break was as dangerous as—or even more than—an S-rank.
Right now, the only one who could truly fight was Joo Youngha.
To have to entrust something that would be tight for four people to just one man.
‘If only I were an Esper…….’
He couldn’t help but think it.
Seo Jaewon instinctively clenched his fists.
However, his palms were merely lukewarm and damp.
He couldn’t feel even a hint of that crisp, biting cold.
Ice is water.
Water is ice.
In his past life, this place would have been the ultimate battlefield for Seo Jaewon, a cryokinetic.
Here, he might have been able to exert power as overwhelming as Joo Youngha’s.
No, he wouldn’t have even let his feet get wet in the first place.
The moment the walls began to crumble, he could have encased the entire dungeon in an ice barrier.
But now, he was just sitting inside a small space Joo Youngha created, doing nothing but consuming air.
Instead of being helpful, he was nothing more than baggage.
‘I’m powerless.’
Joo Youngha watched the fish’s transformation carefully, then tilted his head again.
He looked unimpressed by the change.
“This is getting bothersome…….”
After looking down and sinking into thought for a moment with his long eyelashes casting shadows, Joo Youngha spoke up.
His cold gaze turned toward Seo Jaewon.
“What? Why?”
“Because it’s a bit annoying.”
Seo Jaewon flinched instinctively.
The only reason this life was unfolding differently from his last was because Seo Jaewon had become a Guide.
Because he had a Guide, Joo Youngha had spared him and the teammates, and even now, he was protecting them because Jaewon was a Guide.
Now, Seo Jaewon was useful to Joo Youngha.
But what if the inconvenience outweighed that usefulness?
He couldn’t let that happen.
“Joo Youngha, you can do it, right? You’re my Esper.”
The gaze returned.
Joo Youngha met Seo Jaewon’s eyes with a clear, unreadable stare.
Just that alone made Jaewon feel like his insides were being dug through; he swallowed hard.
He wanted to look away.
He felt like his bluff was about to be caught.
Nevertheless, he brazenly held his ground.
“You have to do well to get Guiding and to be loved by me.”
Hoping his voice wouldn’t tremble as much as his heart, he appealed to his usefulness once more.
Just in case, he added a cheap provocation out of desperation.
“What, can’t you do it? If you keep acting like this, I’d be better off just being a Center Guide. I have no intention of being held back by you.”
Joo Youngha didn’t answer.
He simply looked into Seo Jaewon’s eyes for a long moment and smiled faintly.
For a second, Jaewon had the illusion that those pale champagne-colored eyes were wavering like the edge of a sunset.
‘Ah, did I fail already?’
At the moment his heart felt like it was about to drop, the guy tilted his head.
“I guess I have no choice then……. I’d rather be a pretty Esper than an incompetent one who gets abandoned.”
Joo Youngha spoke without blinking.
“Will you wait here quietly? I’ll be back soon, so you have to save the fun stuff for when I’m around…….”
Joo Youngha added one more thing with an even more meaningful look.
“And don’t stick too close to that guy.”
Min Yoomin, who had been clinging to Seo Jaewon’s leg while watching the two of them, scrambled away.
Joo Youngha looked down at that sight with a somewhat smug face.
“Ha…….”
A rush of relief hit Jaewon at Joo Youngha’s nonsensical behavior.
His legs felt weak.
‘Did it work……?’
Joo Youngha added playfully.
“And can’t you trust me a little?”
Then, like a pouting child, he puffed out his lips and let the corners of his eyes droop.
Because of his handsome face, he really looked like an idol or something, which made it even more absurd.
“……?”
“You said you wouldn’t die.”
Seo Jaewon was momentarily speechless.
“Um…… what about me? Are you not going to save me?”
Min Yoomin cut in with a small voice.
He was shaking like a leaf, but his bewilderment came through clearly.
Joo Youngha looked at Min Yoomin indifferently.
He gave no expression and no answer.
“I am actually a very independent Guide.”
Min Yoomin pulled the corners of his mouth into a stiff smile and moved even further away from Seo Jaewon.
He seemed to have realized that he shouldn’t expect anything from Joo Youngha.
Joo Youngha quickly lost interest in him and looked back at Seo Jaewon with an oddly appealing gaze.
“What?”
“Don’t get too close. Seriously.”
“……?”
Is he insane?
Joo Youngha threw one more disapproving look at Min Yoomin, then stepped out of the air bubble.
“Hey!”
Seo Jaewon raised his voice instinctively in surprise.
The pale face and shimmering hair were instantly submerged in water.
‘Does this guy even know how to swim?’
But as if mocking the passing worry, Joo Youngha walked calmly through the water.
If it weren’t for his hair swaying slowly like a jellyfish, one might have believed he was in the night sky rather than underwater.
“He can do that too?”
He looked no different than when moving through the air.
His light movements, seemingly unaffected by water pressure or currents, were as natural as a creature born in the water.
A jellyfish? A merman……?
No, it wasn’t anything pretty like that.
A water ghost would be more fitting.
He looked back at Seo Jaewon one last time and waved his hand without any tension.
Then, he soared toward the monster.
KUOOOOO—
The fish perceived him and turned its massive head.
entacles sprouting from its translucent body spread and swayed as if craving a horrific embrace.
It felt as though a mountain was moving; the sense of reality began to fade.
Joo Youngha’s figure standing before it looked so fragile and fleeting that Jaewon’s mind felt faint.
In front of it, Joo Youngha calmly raised one hand.
His white, clean fingertips traced a small circle, and a finely vibrating pulse of energy lightly shook the surface of the air bubble Jaewon was in.
Soon, a cluster of twinkling lights rose around Joo Youngha like starlight.
‘Spears.’
Broken spears, blades, arrowheads…….
Weapons used by the mermen, severed rebar, and countless glass shards.
They dizzily reflected the light of the dungeon core on the fish’s forehead.
A multitude of blades rose all at once at the call of their new master.
A torrent of scattering light shot toward the boss.
It looked like a school of fish with shimmering scales.
The sight of the small “fish” forming a massive legion to face the enemy was spectacular.
“Whoa.”
Min Yoomin let out a dazed exclamation of wonder.
Looking down, he was peeking through the gaps in his fingers, covering his eyes as if watching a horror movie.
Actually, it was a scene too good to miss.
While a Guide cannot wield energy like an Esper, their ability to sense energy is much more sensitive.
Thanks to that, energy that used to feel vague like temperature, wind, or a heat haze now felt much more visualized.
Joo Youngha’s telekinesis was much closer to pure energy than abilities like fire or ice.
This meant that to a Guide’s eyes, Joo Youngha’s power was visible in a much clearer form.
‘Crackle, snap…….’
Joo Youngha’s energy, colored like the complex luster on a pearl’s surface or oil on water, was moving dynamically toward the enemy.
Though the intent was merely to find an opening and inflict a wound, it looked brilliant and beautiful on the outside.
“As expected, the amount of energy an EX-rank has is on a different level.”
“I suppose so.”
Seo Jaewon nodded.
While there were a few other Espers famous for telekinesis, Joo Youngha was the only one who could pour out energy like this.
Joo Youngha was executing complex attacks without showing the slightest sign of fatigue.
Even though he had entered the dungeon with a yellow necklace and had just finished a battle against mermen single-handedly.
Furthermore, since he was perfectly maintaining the air bubble holding the Guides, his multitasking ability was also incredible.
Even a typical high-rank Esper would have entered a berserk state instantly after being overworked this much.
The meaningless jealousy and awe he had felt by Joo Youngha’s side all his life stirred again.
……Right now, even that was a sensation he missed with a thrill.
As the blades grazed its body, the fish twisted its waist and threw a fit.
Each time, its body flashed with a crackling blue light. It clearly seemed annoyed.
But…….
Crackle, snap…….
‘It’s not working.’
No matter how many blades rained down, no scratches appeared on the fish’s hide.
Not even a hairline fracture.
It was as if they couldn’t pierce the skin.
It wasn’t for a lack of sharpness.
Even a small piece of lead becomes a bullet if fired with enough force. Joo Youngha was an Esper who could easily do that, and even more.
It was strange for the opponent to be so unharmed when Joo Youngha was sincerely trying to kill it.
Kwang!
Struck by telekinesis again, the fish’s body flashed blue.
From the point of impact, an eerie light flickered in a strange pattern and spread across its entire body.
Seo Jaewon suddenly realized.
“That pattern.”
It wasn’t just decoration.
The patterns glowing on the fish’s scales were similar to what he had seen before the dungeon collapsed.
Something like a magic circle, made from the mermen’s blood.
Seeing the blue-lit characters flash and rise every time it was attacked, it seemed that was what was protecting the creature from external impact.
As the stalemate continued, Joo Youngha seemed to get a bit irritated.
He swung his telekinesis repeatedly with a displeased face.
KUWOOO!
The fish, struck roughly, thrashed in anger.
A roar that vibrated through his very heart made Jaewon’s spine tingle.
But Joo Youngha merely raised his hand gracefully with a face devoid of fear.
Energy hummed like a beast, responding to his call.
At the same time, the fish’s eyes, which had been unfocused, ‘stared’ at him with eerie precision.
“Joo Youngha, watch out……!”
* * *
