By Zephyria 
I stared at my pitch-black pupils reflected in the glass, lost in thought.
Since I was heading to China, I wanted to leave with a light heart, forgetting about Vasily just this once. However, after the phone call with him, I realized that was impossible.
It was only natural that I felt confused. Vasily had always been cold and aloof; he had never shown a weak side in front of me.
Yet, he had held onto me with a low, trembling voice, begging me not to go. That voice continued to echo in my ears like a hallucination.
‘…He should have just gotten angry and told me not to go.’
If he had, my mind wouldn’t be this complicated, and my steps wouldn’t feel so heavy as I faced departure.
I let out a long sigh. As expected, I couldn’t leave because I was worried about Vasily, whom I had left behind alone. I unbuckled my seatbelt and stood up.
“Esper-nim, I’m sorry. I don’t think I can do this after all.”
“You’re not going to China?”
“…Yes. I’m sorry, especially since you went through the trouble of making the offer.”
“No, it’s fine. I only wanted to repay you because I learned some great information thanks to you.”
Huai Yan let me go readily. I had been worried he might stop me, saying it was too late to get off since takeoff preparations were already complete, so it was a relief.
After apologizing repeatedly to Huai Yan, I stepped off the plane just before it departed for China.
Upon returning to the waiting room, I saw the chartered plane carrying Huai Yan taking off. I continued to stare at the plane as it crossed the sky until it vanished from my sight.
I felt a bit of regret, but my mind was actually more at ease. If I had just left, I wouldn’t have been able to focus on anything the entire time I was in China.
Right, I’ll go to Vasily, apologize, and just wait for six months. A mere suppression chip—if I just endure the discomfort, six months will pass in a flash.
I left the airport and boarded the subway heading back to Seoul.
I took out my smartphone and touched it to check the time, but only a black screen appeared. Ah, come to think of it, I had turned the power off after hanging up with Vasily.
I turned it on belatedly. After waiting a while, a simple default wallpaper greeted me. Along with a relentless stream of emergency disaster alerts.
Disaster alerts?
Thinking a Gate might have opened nearby, I quickly scanned the contents, but that wasn’t it. It was an alert about an Esper’s rampage.
[An S-Class Esper is currently rampaging near Mapo Bridge. Citizens in the vicinity are urged to evacuate immediately.]
“What?”
S-Class? While I was doubting my own eyes, an announcement echoed through the station.
Trains heading toward Seoul Station will operate only up to the current station due to an Esper’s rampage. All passengers, please disembark from the train.
Even the subway had stopped operating. Flustered, I froze in place, unable to move.
In my memory, there were no S-Class Espers who rampaged until the time I died before the regression. The only time I had witnessed one was when Vasily rampaged inside the Gate.
Then who is rampaging now?
“No way…”
Naturally, Vasily’s face was the first thing that came to mind.
I followed the crowd of people chatting anxiously as they got off the subway. In my anxiety, I turned on the internet, but the pages wouldn’t even load, as if the servers had crashed due to high traffic.
While I was repeatedly pressing refresh, a call came in from the association’s number.
Right, asking them would be more accurate. With trembling hands, I answered the phone immediately.
Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi! Are you perhaps on the plane right now?
As soon as I answered, a staff member asked urgently from the other end. I calmed my heart and replied.
“No, I got off just before takeoff. But by any chance…”
Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi didn’t board the plane!
The staff member shouted, cutting me off. He was likely relaying the situation to other employees nearby.
I asked my interrupted question again.
“Is the Esper who is rampaging right now Vasily?”
Yes, that’s correct! Where are you now?
“I’m at Hongik University Station. The subway stopped while I was returning to Seoul, so I got off midway.”
Please come out to Exit 1! We will come to pick you up immediately!
“Understood.”
After calmly hanging up, I looked at the ceiling and muttered quietly.
“Damn it…”
I had prayed that it wasn’t Vasily rampaging… I had momentarily forgotten that misfortune is always on my side.
I stepped out of the station entrance and surveyed the surroundings. Sirens were blaring loudly from all directions as if it were a civil defense drill, and people were pouring out of buildings, buzzing with noise.
My smartphone had been vibrating incessantly with emergency evacuation texts from the Esper Association. I looked up at the clear sky, which felt incongruous with the situation.
It wasn’t even cold like when I froze to death inside the Gate, yet Vasily really rampaged? I couldn’t believe it.
Screeech!
Just then, an association vehicle arrived with a loud noise.
A black van stopped in front of me, drawing every eye in the vicinity. Clang! The door emblazoned with the Esper Association mark swung open violently, and an association employee poked his head out and called my name loudly.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi! Get in, quickly!”
I nodded and immediately climbed into the car.
“There’s no time. Change into this quickly!”
As soon as I entered the car, a combat suit followed by cold-weather gear were thrust into my arms. Knowing the urgency of the situation, I changed quickly while asking about the current state of affairs.
“When did Esper Vasily start rampaging?”
“He rampaged immediately after we heard that the plane Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi was on had taken off.”
“….”
At this point, I couldn’t deny it. I was the cause of Vasily’s rampage. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to escape reality.
“Since he rampaged at his residence, there are no civilian casualties yet. If we can guide him and calm him down quickly, we should be able to stabilize him safely…”
If he rampaged at home, the high floor would fortunately mean it would take some time for the cold air to reach the ground.
However, it wasn’t a relaxed situation. When Vasily rampaged in the Gate, he had frozen the entire vast interior of the Gate in an instant.
Seeing that the damage wasn’t extensive yet meant that some sliver of consciousness still remained. Therefore, I had to stop him before a full-scale rampage began.
“We’ve arrived. Please get out.”
I stepped out of the car, carrying a mix of anxiety and tension, wondering if I could pull this off. However, instead of a high-rise apartment, the familiar association building greeted me.
I nodded upon spotting a helicopter waiting in the open lot right in front.
Right. To get to Vasily’s side quickly, going by air would be better. If I climbed up floor by floor via the stairs like last time, I’d likely be caught in the rampage and freeze before I even reached the house. Moreover, with Vasily rampaging, even using the emergency stairs would be difficult.
With a stiff expression, I approached the helicopter. Espers who were to be deployed to the scene together were standing around the helicopter, and among them, I saw a familiar face.
“I thought we agreed not to see each other for a while, but if I knew we’d meet this soon, I would have said something else.”
It was the Team Leader. As I approached, the Team Leader waved and cracked a light joke as if to ease my tension.
“Were you called in while resting at home today as well?”
“Well, something like that. Today was my wedding anniversary.”
“You’ll have to return quickly if you don’t want to be scolded by your wife.”
“She told me she doesn’t care if I’m late, as long as I come back with all my limbs intact.”
“…I’ll try my best to make sure that happens.”
Though I spoke jokingly, the atmosphere lingering in the air was the exact opposite.
The Espers were all checking their equipment with grave expressions. If things went wrong, this could end only after all of Seoul had frozen over. If that happened, the casualties would be immense.
If Vasily’s rampage couldn’t be stopped here, other S-Class Espers would eventually be deployed to eliminate him. Recalling the voice that had held onto me over the phone, I grit my teeth. I had to prevent that at all costs.
Soon, the Esper overseeing the scene gave a brief briefing on the plan.
“From now on, we will move to Esper Vasily’s house by helicopter. The Espers will break the windows and enter the bedroom first, and then Guide Kwon Gi-dam will enter via ladder to provide guiding to Esper Vasily.”
“Understood!”
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, will you be able to do it?”
It was practically a special operation. Everyone seemed worried whether I, a civilian, could handle it, but I was confident.
Don’t underestimate six years of experience in the Gates.
“I can do it.”
I answered without hesitation and boarded the helicopter.