When those guys committed something completely irreversible against Go Yeonwoo, leaving not even a shred of possibility left.
That exact moment would be his chance.
Park Jaerim intended not to miss that opportunity.
He planned to wedge himself somehow into one corner of Go Yeonwoo’s heart and pour his feelings out.
Besides, he also knew that even if he handed him over now, Go Yeonwoo would eventually return to them.
At least before they left the gate.
Team 1’s bastards were desperately hiding the fact that Go Yeonwoo was alive and had awakened as a guide.
That was a fact you could figure out with just a little bit of thought.
The espers and guides from the center were basically all Koo Hyukjun’s eyes.
Therefore, showing this kind of sight to other bastards would do them no good whatsoever. It would just end up stirring up unnecessary suspicion.
Park Jaerim exchanged a silent look with Seok Kiwoo.
Seok Kiwoo’s aggressively upturned eyes completely softened soon after.
He had realized the meaning behind the look Park Jaerim was sending.
It meant that they had to wait for now, and that an opportunity would definitely come later.
“Are you certain, Han Jihyeok?”
“What if I am?”
“Hey, Seok Kiwoo. Hand over the flying squirrel.”
Seok Kiwoo slowly handed Go Yeonwoo over with a displeased expression.
Just as Han Jihyeok was about to take him, Shin Heeseung, who had been pacing back and forth while biting his nails anxiously, quickly rushed over and snatched Go Yeonwoo away.
“He’s my fucktoy.”
Holding Go Yeonwoo tight as if someone might snatch him away, Shin Heeseung turned his back on Han Jihyeok.
Han Jihyeok slightly furrowed his brow, let out an annoyed sigh, and pulled something out from inside his coat.
Outwardly, it looked like a small mechanical device.
“Shin Heeseung. Send a current into this.”
At Han Jihyeok’s words, Shin Heeseung finally glanced back over his shoulder.
His eyes were still filled with suspicion.
It was a gaze that seemed to question whether this was some unnecessary trick to take Go Yeonwoo away.
“Do it fast. We don’t have time.”
When Han Jihyeok urged him without caring, Shin Heeseung reached out a hand and sent a current into the machine.
At that, the grayish machine lit up with a red glow.
Han Jihyeok brought the lit device close to the broken items.
Then the suppression device and disguise device slowly began to function.
However, it felt somewhat unstable, as if it wasn’t working properly.
“Did you get it to run temporarily?”
When Lee Dohoon asked from the side, Han Jihyeok nodded. Han Jihyeok’s gaze remained fixed on Go Yeonwoo.
Go Yeonwoo’s appearance slowly began to change.
The guiding energy radiating from his body also gradually grew faint, and his presence shrank.
“One hour is the max. We have to get out of the gate before then.”
“That’s tight…”
Murmuring, Lee Dohoon soon turned his head and looked at Park Jaerim.
“The boss monster?”
“We took care of it. I’d expect the exit to open a little while from now.”
Unlike S-rank gates below that tier, an S-rank gate’s exit didn’t open immediately even after defeating the boss monster.
In most cases, the exit only appeared after a certain amount of time had passed.
A fair bit of time had already passed since they defeated the boss monster, so it was about time for the gate exit to start showing up.
However, there was no guarantee that the gate exit would appear within an hour.
Just as Lee Dohoon said, one hour was quite a tight window.
While Lee Dohoon’s brow twitched slightly, Shin Heeseung dressed Go Yeonwoo’s nearly bare body like a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
In the process, the upper garment tore a little bit, but he didn’t care at all.
Wrapping his body tightly in clothes as if he didn’t want anyone to see Go Yeonwoo’s naked body, Shin Heeseung suddenly bit down hard on his lip.
“…He’s my fucktoy, this is so annoying.”
Although Shin Heeseung still didn’t have his focus properly back, he wasn’t so out of it that he couldn’t grasp the situation.
At least he knew he couldn’t keep holding onto Go Yeonwoo.
The fact that he had to hand Go Yeonwoo back over to those two made Shin Heeseung feel damnably displeased.
The hands holding Go Yeonwoo trembled faintly with rage.
At that moment, Han Jihyeok called out to Shin Heeseung.
“Shin Heeseung.”
“I know!”
Even though he had merely called his name once, Shin Heeseung snapped back angrily.
With his gaze losing focus once more, he glared at Park Jaerim and Seok Kiwoo.
Shin Heeseung wanted to twist the neck of Park Jaerim, who was shrugging with a nonchalant face.
The same went for Seok Kiwoo right beside him, who was reaching out a hand toward him as if asking for Go Yeonwoo.
Feeling the presences they had sensed far in the distance drawing gradually closer, Shin Heeseung breathed heavily and handed Go Yeonwoo over to Seok Kiwoo.
No, just as Shin Heeseung hesitated, putting strength into his arms to hold on, Seok Kiwoo pushed his head forward.
“Aren’t you going to hand him over already? He’s not your fucktoy, he’s my bunny.”
When Seok Kiwoo whispered in a stealthy voice with his eyes crinkled into crescents, Shin Heeseung’s face completely distorted.
His glossy eyes flashed bizarrely.
“You, I’m going to kill you…!”
“I told you to get a grip. If you can’t even tell which end is up, get out of the team.”
It was Han Jihyeok who stopped Shin Heeseung from using his ability. Catching Shin Heeseung by the wrist, Han Jihyeok stared at him coldly.
After trembling violently for a few seconds, Shin Heeseung roughly brushed off Han Jihyeok’s wrist and completely handed Go Yeonwoo over to Seok Kiwoo.
Turning his back fiercely, Shin Heeseung walked some distance away and started venting his anger by punching an innocent pillar.
Crunch, smack!
Through the gaps in the pillar where sand was fluttering down, the personnel who had entered the gate together began to come into view.
The group, walking while scanning their surroundings, paused briefly upon seeing Shin Heeseung punching a pillar as if out of his mind.
“…What’s up with that bastard Shin Heeseung?”
“Who knows. Must’ve gone crazy again.”
“Shin Heeseung’s not right in the head anyway. Just ignore him.”
“This guy’s right. If you talk to him for no reason and get unlucky, your head’ll fly off, so watch out.”
The espers belonging to the center muttered among themselves and shifted their gaze behind Shin Heeseung.
Park Jaerim and Seok Kiwoo, who had been dragged underground and disappeared into the earth at night, were there.
In Seok Kiwoo’s arms, the civilian-affiliated guide was limp and disheveled.
And right beside them stood Team 1, who had vanished from sight during the battle earlier.
