In the novel, Kang Haeyong never properly used his ability until he became the key to destruction.
If this really wasn’t a dream, Haeyong had no intention of living like that. He gnashed his teeth.
He vowed never to forget this painful situation, even as his white eyes became bloodshot.
‘How much time has passed…’
Haeyong blinked, raising and lowering his heavy eyelids.
It seemed quite some time had passed since he had been laid out in the center of the large, clearing-like cave with his belly pierced.
The number of monsters that had poured in like crazy at first gradually decreased.
Soon, no movement could be felt around Haeyong.
The same was true for Yoon Minjoon.
He hadn’t been able to eat or drink anything, but he didn’t feel hunger or thirst.
All his nerves were focused on his abdomen, which had been pierced by the sharp stone.
Since Kang Haeyong’s body was also an Esper, it tried to heal the pierced abdomen.
Since the stone wouldn’t come out, it tried to heal with the stone still inside.
Every time it did, the stone stuck in his abdomen spun quickly inside Haeyong’s body.
Then, the blood would spurt out again.
“Cough, huff… huff, huff…”
He let out hot, ragged breaths. His head was spinning.
Thinking about the life of Kang Haeyong, who must have endured while being treated like this, he felt a distant emotion.
Through this pain, Haeyong realized to his very core that this was reality.
A dream couldn’t possibly be this painful.
“He’s still alive.”
“Watch your words, Seungmin. What will our team do if Haeyong dies?”
“What do you mean, what will we do? This fucking team will just go from a shitty team to a goddamn team. What are you staring at?”
He certainly hadn’t felt any presence, but the three people who had approached at some point looked at Haeyong and spoke.
Yoon Minjoon clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers.
At that moment, the stone stuck in Haeyong’s belly crumbled away with a dry sound.
Looking down at his belly, the stone had completely turned to dust and disappeared.
Something he couldn’t pull out no matter how hard he tried had vanished with a single gesture from Yoon Minjoon.
“I think this every time, but is he really an S-class? Does it make sense that he can’t pull it out even if it is Minjoon hyung’s ability?”
Lee Seungmin approached Haeyong and tilted his head while checking his condition.
His eyes were full of contempt for Haeyong.
Lee Seungmin reached out, opened the bag Haeyong was wearing at his waist, and took something out.
Only then did Haeyong realize he had a bag.
Well, just like before, he didn’t have the luxury of caring about such things now.
“Aaargh…! Huff, ah, it hur…! Hic.!”
Just because the stone was gone didn’t mean the pain was gone.
He could vividly feel the pain of his organs being pierced and twisted.
With a movement full of irritation, Lee Seungmin opened a bottle cap and shoved the mouth of the bottle into Haeyong’s mouth.
“Do you want to try it? To see if you can pull it out or not.”
“…I’m fine. You should try it plenty yourself, hyung. I’ve had enough.”
Lee Seungmin spoke as if he were fed up with Yoon Minjoon’s sly words.
Yoon Minjoon smacked his lips as if he were disappointed.
During that time, Haeyong was busy swallowing the liquid pouring into his mouth.
Haeyong knew very well what this was.
He didn’t remember when the employee first gave him the bag, but he could remember now.
It was a healing potion made with the ability of a healing Esper.
It wasn’t all-powerful, but it was enough to help heal most wounds quickly.
Espers have excellent self-healing abilities, but that was also achieved through wavelengths.
There were limits to healing when the wavelength was unstable.
In particular, when the belly is pierced like this, it takes a very long time to recover without receiving guiding.
Keeping Haeyong like this inside the gate was a secret known only to the three of them.
So, it wouldn’t be right for Kang Haeyong, who is an S-class Esper, to be weak even after going outside.
Especially if he couldn’t even receive guiding…
“Pah, huff, haa…”
Lee Seungmin, confirming the bottle was completely empty, took his hand off the bottle.
When the bottle fell to the floor, Haeyong breathed heavily.
He felt a sharp pain every time he breathed. Just because he was healed with the healing potion didn’t mean the pain vanished.
No, even if the pain wasn’t felt in his body, it felt like it was still there mentally.
“You’re more out of it than usual today, Haeyong. Are you okay?”
Choi Juhoon leaned down, bringing his face uncomfortably close to Haeyong’s.
Haeyong didn’t answer; instead, he gnashed his teeth in silence.
He wanted to spit out a curse—to ask if he really looked “okay” right now—but he didn’t even have the strength to do anything other than struggle to breathe.
Clicking his tongue, Choi Juhoon signaled to Yoon Minjoon with a tilt of his head.
It was almost time for the Gate Sweepers to arrive.
Despite the name, they were a team that entered Gates to mine and collect anything of value.
Once the Boss monster deep inside the Gate was eliminated, a “Core” would appear in its place.
If that Core wasn’t destroyed, the Gate wouldn’t fully close.
However, the Gate wouldn’t stay open forever.
If the Core wasn’t destroyed within 12 hours of its formation, it would explode—along with everything inside the Gate.
Some mistakenly believed that because a Gate was a separate dimension, the explosion would be contained within, but that was a fatal error.
A Gate’s explosion directly devastated the surrounding area in the real world.
Because of this, the Sweepers never spent more than six hours cleaning.
After those six hours, an Esper following them in would destroy the Core.
Since the missing persons had already been found and sent outside, it was only a matter of time before the Sweepers moved in.
“Doing the absolute most, aren’t you. Fuck.”
“Heugh…!”
“Stay still. You think I’m touching you because I want to? Stop squirming, you brat.”
As Yoon Minjoon irritably hoisted Haeyong over his shoulder, Haeyong’s injured abdomen was pressed directly against Minjoon’s rock-hard shoulder.
The pain was already excruciating, but the added pressure made Haeyong instinctively thrash.
In response, Yoon Minjoon gripped Haeyong’s legs with enough force to nearly break them.
Once Haeyong stopped struggling, Yoon Minjoon headed out of the Gate with Lee Seungmin.
Choi Juhoon stayed behind momentarily to cover the bloodstains where Haeyong had been lying with dirt.
Since the blood of a monster and the blood of a human were noticeably different, the evidence had to be erased.
As the team leader, Choi Juhoon felt that if he had to deal with a “problem child,” he should at least get these kinds of benefits.
Kang Haeyong was helping people in his own way, and Juhoon was succeeding thanks to his quick work and “excellent leadership.”
There was a reason people said “all’s well that ends well.”
After erasing all traces of Kang Haeyong, Choi Juhoon calmly left the scene.
