By Zephyria 
“Just wait a little longer. I’ll come right away as soon as I finish work.”
―…….
“Besides, even if you come, there’s nothing for you to do.”
―…….
“And you’re a special publicity soldier now, right? You’re not a combat soldier, so you have no responsibilities.”
―Not yet.
“What do you mean ‘not yet’? It’s basically the same since the approval will come through anyway. And…”
Hae-jun checked that no one around was listening before lowering his voice to a whisper.
“You still need to be careful.”
The night the first Gate appeared. Lee A-gon killed the two Espers who had tried to assault Hae-jun.
There was no time to cover it up. Monsters immediately emerged from the Gate and the world turned upside down. In fact, by the next morning, even Hae-jun had completely forgotten about that incident.
He only found out later how the matter was handled. Their deaths were concluded to be the work of the man-eating plants. It was said that some of the broken stems of the man-eating plants, severed during the Espers’ attack, had scattered, with some heading toward the welfare center.
The deceased were believed to have hidden in the welfare center out of fear when the Gate appeared and met their end there. A blessing in disguise, one might say. It was good news for Lee A-gon.
Of course, there were rumors that the coroner’s opinion differed, but still, no one linked the two Espers’ deaths to Lee A-gon. Not yet, at least.
―No one knows.
“Still, keep a low profile and be careful.”
Hae-jun continued whispering. It hasn’t been that long since the incident happened. Don’t show off your abilities and stay quiet. Even if you come, there’s nothing for you to do anyway. You’ll just get in the way of work, so stay at the hospital. Absolutely do not come. I’m trusting you, so I’ll hang up now. After quickly reciting only what he needed to say, Hae-jun hung up.
‘Was I too harsh?’
He felt he might have been a bit harsh, but he thought he wouldn’t be able to change Lee A-gon’s mind unless he spoke that firmly.
Hae-jun slowly scrolled up. The texts they exchanged daily always contained words about wanting to see each other.
A month had passed since Lee A-gon woke up. And during that month, Hae-jun had been extremely busy.
He was a Guide, and this was the first time in human history that unknown monsters were appearing through Gates. Espers were undergoing training comparable to wartime to face the new enemy, and accordingly, they required more frequent Guiding.
In such a situation, Hae-jun, who had been cooped up in the hospital for three months nursing Lee A-gon, now had to fulfill his proper role.
Amidst the busyness, he visited whenever he found a gap, but at best it was once every three or four days; sometimes he couldn’t see him for a week after accompanying a specialized survival training session.
Such meetings couldn’t possibly satisfy Lee A-gon. They had only just accepted each other. Lee A-gon, of course, and even Hae-jun were worn thin.
He wanted to meet even a day sooner, but that place was not in front of a Gate. Hae-jun sent a final, nail-in-the-coffin text.
[I’ll get angry if you come down]
Lee A-gon was deathly afraid of Hae-jun getting angry. Hae-jun thought he would have understood by now and closed his phone.
Having Guided without rest, he was truly fatigued. Hae-jun returned to his bed and fell asleep quickly.
Around 6 PM, the bees completed their hive.
The completed hive was massive enough to encompass three entire floors of the apartment building, and its interior connected to the building’s central corridor.
This meant the entire apartment building was connected to the hive.
The bees that finished the hive began their activity. Buzz, buzz—with a chilling flutter of wings, they took to the sky.
Those creatures drank human blood instead of honey.
In the early stages after the Gate opened, three villagers and two Espers were attacked by the bees. The Espers survived after receiving blood transfusions at the hospital, but among the older villagers, there were already fatalities.
Beyond the containment line was the city. It was only a 20-minute drive away. The Espers desperately held the containment line to block the bees.
The strategy was simple. If the hive was disturbed, the bees wouldn’t leave its vicinity. The Espers succeeded in capturing their attention.
“Jeong Han-sol, block them!”
Jeong Han-sol, called upon, sprang forward. As Jeong Han-sol, possessing C-class Psychokinesis and A-class Spatial Barrier Ability, spread his arms wide, pentagonal vertices appeared in the air.
Instantly, those vertices connected to each other, forming an intangible barrier. When Jeong Han-sol clenched his hands with force, the bee trapped inside turned to mush and burst.
This method was invincible as long as it trapped them within the barrier, but unfortunately, the effort-to-result ratio was poor. The reason was that while the swarm numbered in the thousands, Jeong Han-sol could only kill about one bee per minute.
Jeong Han-sol tried to extend the length of the vertices, but the wider the vertices became, the weaker the barrier’s linkage grew, and the trapped bees kept escaping.
Finally, as Jeong Han-sol grew exhausted, Pyrokinetic Espers stood at the forefront of the road. The flames of the Espers, who had been dragged out with little rest, were less powerful. They couldn’t even get close to the massive hive built high up and only continued with exhausting attacks.
Nevertheless, the Espers couldn’t rest. If they rested, the bees would clearly break through the containment line, fly out, and slaughter civilians.
“Most bees return to their hive in the evening.”
“Will those things do the same?”
“We have to hope so.”
5 PM. The sun gradually set. By 5:10 PM, the sunset was distinct, and by 5:20 PM, dusk had darkened.
Go to sleep. Please go to sleep. Looking up at the 15th floor of the apartment, the Espers prayed with one heart.
They looked like bees, but those things weren’t real bees. It was unknown if they slept at night like Earth’s bees.
Around 6:30 PM. The bees returned to the hive. Only then did the Espers breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed they did sleep at night.
They caught their breath but couldn’t relax. When tomorrow came, those bees would be fully recharged and come out to hunt humans. The hive had to be destroyed before then.
“We need to cause an internal explosion.”
“Destroying that won’t be the end. There are bees throughout the entire apartment building.”
“After destroying the hive, we enter the apartment and handle it with fire.”
“Let’s just collapse the apartment building.”
“Talk sense. That would just cause the bees to scatter in all directions.”
“First, let’s figure out how to approach the hive…”
Various opinions poured out. They had to approach closely without waking the sleeping bees and clear out the interior as quickly as possible. Now, with that many bees gathered in one place, was the opportune moment.
“What about sending a teleporter?”
Someone suggested an opinion regarding a teleporter, but the commanders all shook their heads, opposing the idea.
The Teleportation ability, which seemed like a panacea, had serious risks. The location to teleport to had to be completely empty, the coordinates couldn’t be moving or shaking, and most importantly, the distance to move must not exceed 1 meter.
An American Esper once got stuck in a concrete wall during a teleportation experiment. Trying to get out, the Esper used the teleportation ability once more, but only the upper body moved, leaving the lower half behind. Ultimately, that Esper died with their upper and lower body separated.
There was also an Esper who teleported along with a single fruit fly. That Esper showed a live-action version of the horror movie The Fly (a horror film about a scientist whose DNA mixes with a fly during a teleportation experiment via a teleporter) and then died.
There was also an Esper who teleported on a shaking ship; it’s said that each time the ship rocked, they appeared at the destination location in a distorted form, pushed like a crackling frequency. That Esper’s left side reportedly flowed down about 15 centimeters compared to their right side.
As the teleportation distance exceeded 1 meter, errors increased even more. In the end, no teleporter wanted to use their ability.
“Don’t you remember what happened to the Esper who mixed with a fruit fly? Who knows what would happen if a bee and a human mixed?”
“Then what do you suggest we do?”
“There’s no other way. We have to send Pyrokinetic Espers.”
“So how?”
The meeting, which dragged on indecisively for nearly an hour, eventually returned to square one. They had no choice but to use fire somehow.
The method to get Pyrokinetic Espers close to the hive was decided: using Espers who controlled wind. Initially rejected as too dangerous, it was ultimately accepted. There was no better method.
The apartment building occupied by bees was Building 2. Saemaum Apartments consisted of four buildings. The Pyrokinetic Espers, wearing spandex suits for skydiving, began practicing moving between Buildings 3 and 4. Two teams of Aerokinetic Espers split between the ground and the rooftop to assist the Pyrokinetic Espers.
The faces of the Espers beginning the practice grew noticeably stiff. Soon, they would have to execute something they had never done before in their lives. If this mission failed, hell would break loose tomorrow morning.
The Aerokinetic Espers succeeded in gently manipulating the wind to place the Pyrokinetic Esper on the rooftop of the opposite apartment building. They repeated this training multiple times and gained confidence.
11 PM. The sentinel bees guarding the hive entered the hive.
11:20 PM. All the Guides and Espers resting in the safe zone assembled.
11:40 PM. The Pyrokinetic Esper went up to the rooftop of Building 1.
11:50 PM. Operation commencement.