* * *
“……No, you did well.”
Seo Jaewon forced the words out of his constricted throat to praise him.
Joo Youngha swung a power that was more terrifying than overwhelming as if it were child’s play, and he was a man whose inner thoughts remained a total mystery—but Seo Jaewon had to do this.
He had to be the one to control this power and Joo Youngha.
That was why he had come back.
If there was any meaning to this miracle, that was surely it.
At the hard-won compliment, Joo Youngha made an ambiguous expression that might have been a smile.
“You’re giving me a lot of praise today.”
……Thanks to that, Jaewon’s mind, which had been momentarily paralyzed by awe, snapped back to reality.
“……Do you really think that was a compliment? I said you did ‘great’! What about the people below us?!”
Despite the scolding, Joo Youngha gave a light shrug.
Then, as Seo Jaewon instructed, he began a slow descent.
Seo Jaewon hopped out of Joo Youngha’s arms and scanned the area.
Blood-soaked beads and bone fragments crunched beneath his boots.
“What is this?”
“Who knows.”
An ominous vibration traveled through the soles of his shoes.
It seemed the structural integrity of the layered floors had been weakened by Joo Youngha’s display of power.
Countless hairline fractures spiderwebbed across the solid stone floor, and in the distance, a segment of the wall slid down and crumbled.
The noisy creatures had fallen silent; only the dungeon insects with shimmering carapaces scurried busily through the collapsed soil, seeking new hiding spots.
‘I hope everyone is okay.’
He figured they would be fine since they were high-rank Espers, but since the very floor they were on was collapsing, he couldn’t be certain.
Seo Jaewon reached for the radio at his waist.
Just then, Hwi Saul’s voice drifted from somewhere.
“Jaewon-ah!”
With a roar, thick tree trunks sprouted from the cracked floor and wedged themselves into place.
It looked like a giant reaching out its hand.
Only Hwi Saul could pull off something like this.
Before the trunks could even settle, his teammates were seen leaping onto them.
“Sara Noona!”
Seo Jaewon shouted, more in shock than in welcome.
Min Yoomin, face pale as a ghost, was clinging desperately to the back of Hwi Sara, who had transformed into a bear.
Ji Myunghoon and Hwi Saul followed behind.
Hwi Saul was relatively slow as he focused on controlling the tree trunks, and Ji Myunghoon was providing cover for him.
Barriers of short, intense flames flickered around them periodically.
He was doing a fairly decent job of blocking the jungle branches swinging like whips and the sharp rock fragments.
‘I thought he was just a guy with mindless firepower, but that’s a pretty good application.’
Seo Jaewon felt a bit of admiration despite the situation.
With a bit of polishing, he might actually be…….
“Aaaaah…… Euaaaaaaaa!!”
……In the midst of all this, Min Yoomin was screaming bloody murder.
Whether the human on her back was screaming or not, the bear intentionally performed a flashy jump and scrambled up the tree trunks in one go.
One could only imagine what the ride felt like.
“Youngha, help them out a bit.”
“Mmm? I can’t hear you~.”
Joo Youngha ignored Min Yoomin entirely and feigned ignorance.
Where did the guy who was so efficient a moment ago go?
Fortunately, Hwi Sara didn’t dump Min Yoomin on the floor and made it safely to the front of Seo Jaewon.
As soon as she stopped, Min Yoomin slid down to the ground like a cracked raw egg.
Ji Myunghoon, turning white with shock, asked:
“What the hell was that just now?!”
Under normal circumstances, Jaewon would have asked why he was acting like an amateur, but……
This time, it was understandable.
Half of a floor had collapsed due to Joo Youngha’s ability.
In the process, even the floors below must have crumbled like a row of dominoes.
If Hwi Saul’s tree trunks hadn’t held up the collapsing levels to carve a path, the team members wouldn’t have escaped so easily.
Who could remain calm in such a situation?
“Uh, this is…….”
Seo Jaewon found himself at a loss for words.
Anything he said to explain it would sound absurdly grandiose.
Yet, compared to what had actually happened, any explanation seemed insufficient.
But before Seo Jaewon could say another word, Hwi Sara let out a roar.
“JOO YOUNGHAAAAA!”
He thought a bear was barking…… but Hwi Sara had already shifted back into human form.
She was just a human yelling like a bear.
“Have you lost your mind? Were you trying to kill us all down there?”
“What? A person did this……?”
Astonishment colored Ji Myunghoon’s face.
He still seemed intimidated by Joo Youngha, but riding on the momentum of Hwi Sara’s fury, he timidly added a word.
“Do—do you think you’ll get away with this? This is grounds for disciplinary action!”
If an Esper pulls something stupid during training or a raid, they are bound to be punished.
All Espers are sensitive to discipline.
The penalties vary from mandatory education to suspension or pay cuts, and they are all incredibly annoying.
However, Joo Youngha looked indifferent.
“I’ve never received anything like that before.”
……And since these things are decided by people, there is a certain “flexibility”—or rather, unfairness. Joo Youngha had never been disciplined, no matter what he did.
Partly because he was the nation’s proud EX-rank, and partly because he didn’t listen to a damn word anyone said, disciplined or not.
“Should we see how far I have to go to get one? What do you think, Jaewon-ah?”
As he said this, Joo Youngha rested his chin on Seo Jaewon’s shoulder.
‘What do I think? I think I’d like to hit you just once…….’
Seo Jaewon let out a sigh.
Ji Myunghoon trembled like a snail covered in salt.
“You—you, you……!”
At that moment, Hwi Saul, who had been standing behind with a look like he was about to vomit, raised one hand and slumped to the floor.
“Can we just rest for a second……?”
He tried to sit cross-legged, but gave up and sprawled out flat on his back.
Seo Jaewon hurried over to check his condition.
“Hyung, your wrist.”
Being able to freely view teammates’ vitals with Leader authority was something that wouldn’t happen for a few more years.
‘I feel like petitioning to let me see them right now.’
Seo Jaewon suppressed his frustration.
Hwi Saul obediently handed over the wrist wearing his watch.
He felt Joo Youngha’s gaze stinging him a bit, but Seo Jaewon ignored it.
“You don’t seem to have any injuries…….”
Aside from mild dehydration, there were no physical issues.
However, the overload gauge was in the yellow.
Plant-based abilities have great versatility, but they require a lot of energy for growth, making it difficult to spam major skills.
It seemed the strain of supporting the collapsing dungeon while keeping the team safe had taken a heavy toll.
“Now, you too.”
When Seo Jaewon held out his hand, Ji Myunghoon looked bewildered.
Seo Jaewon forced his wrist over just to check the color.
This one was already a yellow bordering on orange.
Among flame-type users who consume a lot of energy, Ji Myunghoon was known for having poor fuel efficiency.
No wonder a team Guide was attached; it was likely an arrangement for both Hwi Saul and Ji Myunghoon.
Indeed, seeing him fight, he was mindlessly using high heat for everything.
Well, it was frustrating, but it wasn’t as if there was no room for improvement.
Once they got out of the dungeon, he’d have to put him through the wringer to make him control his power more delicately.
“I’m still in the green.”
Hwi Sara shook her watch in Hwi Saul’s face mockingly.
Durability and efficiency were the perks of physical-type abilities.
Hwi Saul closed his eyes as if he couldn’t be bothered.
“Let’s do a quick regroup first. We’ll find the core after that.”
Now, it seemed nothing was left in the department store except for the crumbling structures.
The enemies that had numbered well over a hundred had been mindlessly slaughtered by Joo Youngha.
In other words, this was a dungeon that was practically cleared; they just needed to find the core to finish it.
But even so, one must not let their guard down.
Based on experience, the chances of more monsters popping out after a sweep like this were low, but a dungeon on the verge of a Break was always unpredictable.
Rather than wasting time searching for the core while panting for breath, it was better to regroup now and proceed quickly.
“Guide Min Yoomin, can you perform Guiding right now?”
Min Yoomin, who had been lying down long before Hwi Saul, sluggishly sat up.
“Sorry, the motion sickness…… I can do it.”
Guides receive basic combat training, but they aren’t taught how to ride a rampaging bear.
Despite his pale face, Min Yoomin showed his professional spirit and began Guiding immediately.
He took Hwi Saul’s hand, who was in the worst state, and interlaced their fingers.
The flow of energy passing from Min Yoomin to Hwi Saul shimmered like a nearly invisible transparent haze.
At the same time, Hwi Saul’s watch detected the Guiding and displayed the energy levels on the screen.
The numbers dropped fairly quickly, and the screen gradually shifted closer to green.
It was a decent speed, but there was only one Guide and three Espers.
Considering there were two A-ranks and one S-rank, it looked a bit overwhelming for Min Yoomin alone.
Watching this made Jaewon feel a twinge of guilt.
‘I’m technically a Guide too…….’
Seo Jaewon narrowed his eyes and scanned Ji Myunghoon from head to toe.
‘Wouldn’t it be better to practice a bit on someone where it wouldn’t matter much if things went wrong? For Joo Youngha’s sake too? And while I’m at it, I can save the ‘real’ Guide, Min Yoomin, some trouble…….’
“No.”
Along with a voice as soft as a feather, a cool hand covered Seo Jaewon’s eyes.
* * *
