By Zephyria 
A four-Mugunghwa emergency was triggered at dawn.
Mugunghwa was a term similar to the military’s Jindo Dog Alert or the police’s Gap-ho Emergency Order; it signified an emergency state for the Esper-Guide Corps—specifically, the appearance of a Gate.
This was the first occurrence in about four months since the first Gate. By this time, a considerable amount of data had been accumulated due to the global phenomenon of Gate appearances, allowing for a more composed response.
The monsters that emerged from the second Gate were bees. They were the size of an adult man’s upper body, and they would drive their stingers into a person’s body to paralyze them before gnawing away at their blood and flesh.
“Block them!”
An Esper with fire abilities fired blasts of flame, but the bees were too fast. The monster bees flew in like a swarm, buzzing through the air and darting their heads back and forth. Their chitinous heads, equipped with pitch-black eyes, were nearly the size of a child’s head, making them utterly repulsive.
“Guide!”
A Pyrokinetic Esper returning from the front reached out to Hae-jun. Thirty Pyrokinetic Espers took turns receiving guiding energy every thirty minutes. This had been going on for eight hours already.
According to the Espers, using their abilities caused physical exhaustion equivalent to sprinting at full speed.
Hae-jun’s job as a Guide was to restore them to peak condition so they could sprint again after thirty minutes of full-out effort.
Hae-jun took the Pyrokinetic Esper’s hand and pushed guiding energy into him. Immediately, the next Esper reached out. He was also a fire ability user.
“There’s no end to this.”
“If the containment line collapses, it’s over.”
“If casualties start occurring…”
The Gate had opened in a rural village in Danyang. In front were green rice seedlings freshly planted in flooded paddies, and behind were small houses with slate roofs huddled together. Beside them, four fifteen-story apartment buildings rose up in an incongruous fashion.
It was a sight commonly seen in the Korean countryside. Beyond those apartments lay the city center.
Out of the four apartment buildings, the bees flew toward Saemaeum Apartment Building 2, the closest to the Gate, and began building a hive.
Emergency measures had been taken as soon as the Gate appeared, and residents were evacuated immediately, but they couldn’t let their guard down. Although hundreds of bees had already been burned to death, new bees continued to crawl out of the Gate. Far from entering the interior of the Gate, they were struggling just to defend the containment line.
“How did they handle it in Canada?”
“I heard the bees in Canada were ground bees, so they dealt with them by throwing fire and pouring mud on them.”
The operational meeting continued, but no significant results were achieved. However, there was no disagreement that the hive had to be destroyed as quickly as possible, as it grew larger with every passing hour.
“Let’s try using helicopters. That’s the only way to approach from the air.”
Saemaeum Apartment Building 2 had been completely overtaken by the bees. The interior was swarming with them, and a hive was being constructed on the outer wall of the 15th floor. An aerial approach was the most rational option.
Once a consensus was reached, attack helicopters were prepared. The helicopters were equipped with autocannons and anti-tank missiles, but since human scientific weapons were useless against Gate monsters, the Espers ultimately had to clash with them bare-handed.
At 3:11 PM on June 12th, ten hours after the Gate appeared, attack helicopters soared over Saemaeum Apartment Building 2 in Danyang. Inside were a pilot and three Pyrokinetic Espers.
Seeing the helicopters appear with a thunderous roar, the bees vibrated their wings. When the bees filling the interior of the Saemaeum Apartment vibrated their wings simultaneously, the entire 15-story building shook. This caused several windows to crack.
“Get us as close as possible!”
The Esper aboard the helicopter shouted. The pilot tried to bring the aircraft as close to the hive as possible and hover, but he was repeatedly pushed away by the fierce attacks of the bees before returning again.
Using abilities inside a shaking helicopter was no easy task. While the Espers blocked the bees trying to enter the helicopter, a swarm of bees surrounded the aircraft.
Buzzing threateningly, the bees flew at full speed and slammed into the helicopter. A few managed to climb onto the fuselage and attempted to break the windows with their stingers.
Sensing that the bees would eventually break inside if they held on any longer, the pilot increased altitude to move away from the hive.
The bees chased the retreating helicopter. Some of them threw themselves into the propellers and were ground up. The propellers were destroyed in an instant.
“No!”
The helicopter began to spin toward its tail and descend. The pilot gripped the controls with all his might, but he couldn’t stop the fall.
Under the watchful eyes of the Esper corps, the helicopter narrowly missed the rice paddies and crashed onto an uninhabited mountain path. The Espers and the pilot hurriedly scrambled out of the doors, and shortly after, the helicopter exploded.
‘My god.’
Watching this, Hae-jun wiped his face with his hand. The bees, having finished off the enemy, returned to the hive. The chilling vibration of wings that had made even his heart tremble vanished.
The staff entered another meeting. They couldn’t get close with helicopters. The Gate remained open, but the number of bees emerging had decreased significantly. It meant all the bees had already crossed over.
The bees that had descended to the ground built their hive at the height of the apartment’s 15th floor. The interior of the apartment was swarming with bees, leaving no way to approach. As time passed, the hive grew larger. Hexagonal cells were completed, and a bell-shaped roof began to cover them.
Hae-jun looked up at the sight with concern. If missiles worked, they could wipe out such a thing in an instant. But modern weapons could not harm monsters that had crossed through a Gate.
“Guide Hae-jun. It’s time to switch.”
Just then, the Guide who would succeed him approached to signal the rotation. Hae-jun nodded and moved to the safe zone. It was a village hall about 15 minutes by car from the Gate. Ten Guides were taking turns resting there.
Entering the hall with a weary face, Hae-jun found the bag he had tossed there in the morning and packed a change of clothes. Even though he knew it was useless, artillery shells had been dropped in the beginning, and he had been covered in the fallout, leaving his body dirty.
After showering and changing, Hae-jun lay down on his assigned cot. He wanted to sleep immediately, but he still had something to do: contacting Lee A-gon. They were in a relationship where they exchanged messages almost every hour, so A-gon would be worried since Hae-jun had simply vanished after sending a text saying a Gate had erupted.
When he turned on his phone, as expected, there were dozens of missed calls. About thirty text messages had also arrived.
[What do you mean, deployed?]
[Are you going near the Gate?]
[Hyung, can’t you answer the phone?]
[At least tell me where you are.]
Messages filled with worry for him followed one after another. Hae-jun quickly scrolled down.
[It’s on the news now. Hyung, are you in Danyang right now?]
[You’re a Guide, so you’re not going near the Gate, right?]
[Hyung, please don’t do anything dangerous.]
The messages continued, unable to hide the anxiety that he might be in danger. Then, as he scrolled a bit further.
[I’m going to start the discharge process.]
[I’ll be there soon.]
A message appeared that could not be ignored. Hae-jun frowned. Discharge process? What is he talking about? There’s still about a week left until discharge. He immediately called Lee A-gon.
Lee A-gon’s leg, which had been melted by the digestive fluid of a carnivorous plant, had slowly regenerated over three months. When he found out A-gon’s body could regenerate, Hae-jun had been deathly grateful that A-gon’s Psychic Ability allowed him to control his own body.
Although it had regenerated cleanly, A-gon had not yet perfectly adapted to the leg. He had heard there were issues, such as the sensation being slightly dull.
It was a situation where one could die even when in peak condition. And Lee A-gon, whose leg sensation was still dull, was coming to such a place? He could absolutely not allow it.
Ring. Ring. A long dial tone passed. Lee A-gon did not answer. He tried calling once more, but the call still wasn’t picked up.
“Could you be a bit quieter?”
As Hae-jun, unable to hide his nervousness, shook his leg rapidly, the Guide resting in the next bed expressed irritation. Left with no choice, Hae-jun stepped outside the hall.
—Hello.
After the fifth attempt, the call connected. Hae-jun asked urgently.
“Lee A-gon, where are you right now?”
—I’m still at the hospital. Please wait a little longer. I’ll be there soon.
At the calm but wrong answer, Hae-jun wanted to scream, but he held it back and forced a gentle voice.
“What are you talking about? You’re still hurt. Don’t worry and just stay hospitalized. Okay?”
—It’s okay. I’m all healed.
“Don’t lie to me.”
—I’m not. I really am all healed.
His temper rose at the brazen answer. After that incident, Hae-jun had decided to be unconditionally kind to Lee A-gon. He intended to rebuild A-gon’s self-esteem, which had been shattered because of him. However, it was hard to contain his anger when a kid who hadn’t even received discharge permission insisted on coming down.
“I know your leg sensation hasn’t fully returned yet.”
—It’s not even painful to that extent. And while the sensation is a bit dull, there’s no problem with walking or running.
“Lee A-gon!”
He ended up raising his voice. Only then did Lee A-gon shut up, and Hae-jun caught his breath to force a soft tone.