By Zephyria 
Even as I flew in the helicopter, it was hard to believe that Vasily had gone into a rampage. I felt as if Vasily might appear from somewhere at any moment, telling me that this was all just a plan to lure me back.
However, I soon had no choice but to accept reality.
As we ascended, the site of the rampage became clearly visible. A fierce blizzard was swirling violently only around a towering skyscraper in the distance.
The entire apartment building, centered around the home Vasily and I shared, was encased in ice. Even now, the ice was slowly expanding its territory. If the exterior walls were in this state, I could easily imagine the situation inside without even looking.
The wind grew stronger as we drew closer. The helicopter shook so violently that I wondered if we might crash. However, the heavy military helicopter steadily delivered us to our destination.
“We will enter first, so please descend when we give the signal.”
“Understood.”
The original plan was for the Espers to break the windows and enter the house, but the windows had already been shattered.
The Espers entered the house through the broken windows and held a ladder from below so that I could descend safely. I climbed down the wildly swaying rope ladder, grabbed the hand the Team Leader extended, and safely entered the house.
“Haa…”
The moment I stepped inside, a chill that felt as if it would freeze me to the bone seeped deep into my skin. Even though I was wearing thick winter gear over my combat suit, it seemed insufficient to block the cold.
Exhaling a cloud of breath, I looked around. The interior was already frozen stark white; there wasn’t a single spot that looked intact.
‘I’ll have to move again.’
Of course, that was assuming the rampage was stopped successfully.
If I were to be caught up in Vasily’s rampage and die this time, would I regress to the past? The question was quickly replaced by negation. Anything could happen inside a Gate, but this was outside a Gate. It would be difficult to expect such a miracle.
“The bedroom is clear! Moving further inside!”
Once we entered the bedroom, Vasily was nowhere to be seen. As I followed the Espers out of the room, the unmade bed suddenly caught my eye. The post-it note I had attached to the pillow was gone.
I broke through the frozen door and stepped into the living room, but Vasily wasn’t there either. That left only one place.
As expected, he was here.
Upon arriving at my room, I saw his back as he stood motionless in the center of the room. He was staring silently at the empty room.
Vasily was holding something in his hand. Looking closer, it was the memo I had left behind.
I exchanged glances with the Espers and nodded. After quietly signaling each other, I entered the room alone and called out to Vasily.
“Esper Vasily.”
However, Vasily showed no reaction to my call. Could he not hear me? I cautiously approached and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Vasil, ugh…”
A sting. The moment I touched him, I immediately pulled my hand away due to the pain felt at my fingertips.
A burn? No, it’s frostbite.
Anxiety surged as I realized the cold was strong enough to pierce through special equipment in an instant. If I proceeded with guiding Vasily in this state, I wasn’t confident I would survive by the time the guiding ended.
While I looked down at my reddened hand in tension, Vasily, sensing my presence, finally turned around. His glowing blue eyes stared at me silently. My body stiffened at the cold gaze from which no emotion could be read.
“Esper Vasily, are you coming to your senses?”
“….”
“Look around you. You’ve gone into a rampage.”
Vasily’s eyes slid across the surroundings. He looked as if he couldn’t understand why everything had become such a mess.
It was a typical symptom of a rampage. Seeing that he didn’t remember the situation before the rampage, it seemed the initial stage—where a rampage could be easily calmed—had already passed.
“Ah… right, that happened.”
After a long silence, Vasily muttered softly as if he had finally remembered. Just as I opened my mouth, thinking we could now communicate, Vasily spoke a bit faster.
“But why is Guide Kwon Gi-dam here? You should have left… Ah, am I seeing a hallucination in my subconscious?”
“I’m not a hallucination! I got off the plane right before departure… ugh!”
Vasily grabbed my wrist and squeezed tightly, as if trying to verify if I were real. The cold seeped through the point of contact, making me grimace sharply.
“Quite vivid for a hallucination. I’d believe it if you were real.”
His tone was monotonous and devoid of emotion. I frowned slightly at his attitude, as if he were dealing with an object.
I raised my hand to stop the Espers who were about to rush in to restrain Vasily. Not giving up hope that he would snap out of it if we had a proper conversation, I tried to persuade him.
“Please calm down now. You are in danger if this continues, Esper Vasily.”
“No, I have no intention of stopping.”
“Yes… what do you mean by…”
“Rather than returning to a time when there were no Guides, it would be better to rampage and die here where Guide Kwon Gi-dam is, even if it is a hallucination.”
Muttering this, Vasily slowly pressed his lips against the back of my hand.
My expression froze, not because of the sudden action, but because of the words that came out of his mouth. Could it be… I wanted to believe it wasn’t…
“Did you rampage on purpose?”
“Well… I don’t remember the situation right before the rampage clearly, but I probably did.”
Perhaps because he truly believed I was a hallucination, Vasily casually confessed his inner thoughts, which he normally would never have revealed.
I felt the blood drain from my face. I never imagined he would do something akin to suicide just because he thought I had left him.
Thinking about it now, it was only natural. Up until this morning, Vasily had been in no condition to rampage. That was why I couldn’t believe the news when I first heard he had gone into a rampage.
If I had truly left for China with Huai Yan, he would have died here without a doubt. The first news I would have heard upon arriving in China would have been his obituary.
I knew he was a madman, but I didn’t know it was to this extent…
I couldn’t just stand by and watch. Vasily, having lost his reason, had no intention of stopping the rampage; he intended to spend his final moments here with me. However, I had no intention of dying, nor did I intend to let Vasily die here.
As I desperately racked my brain, I found a solution.
Guiding.
Once he realized through guiding that I wasn’t a hallucination, Vasily would surely come to his senses.
However, it was impossible with the current matching rate. I couldn’t convey warmth because the clothes were too thick, and I couldn’t prove I was real with weak guiding.
Fortunately, it was possible to temporarily stop the suppression chip. Just as Vasily had occasionally done to me, I only had to freeze the suppression chip so it wouldn’t function.
Moving his hand to the back of my neck, I spoke.
“Esper Vasily. Please freeze the suppression chip.”
“….”
“I’m a hallucination anyway, aren’t I? Take this opportunity to freeze the suppression chip and receive proper guiding one last time. Who knows if guiding works even on a hallucination?”
Even while thinking I was a hallucination, Vasily seemed reluctant to harm me. When I provoked his hesitation, only then did Vasily grab my neck and use his ability.
“Ugh!”
Along with the winter gear wrapping my neck, the nape of my neck froze rapidly, and a terrible pain surged.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam!”
“I’m fine!”
The Team Leader and the Espers, unaware that there was a suppression chip at the back of my neck, were horrified by the scene. They hurriedly tried to pull me away, but Vasily didn’t just stand by and watch the Espers’ actions.
Vasily trapped me in his arms and attacked them. Ice erupted from the walls and floor in an instant, sweeping over the Espers.
Crash!
The rapidly extending ice collided with fierce momentum and shattered into pieces.
I swallowed hard as I watched the fine shards of ice scattering before my eyes. Perhaps because his reason was paralyzed, I couldn’t feel any sign of him controlling the attack, unlike usual.
Some people might have been injured by the attack just now, but they were also A-rank Espers. I had to believe they hadn’t suffered major injuries.
However, Vasily didn’t stop there and attacked them once more. A thunderous roar echoed from beyond the ice blocking the door, and someone’s scream was heard.
“Wa-wait… Esper Vasily! Stop it!”
“….”
If the first attack was to create distance between them, this one was truly an attack for the purpose of killing. I urgently tried to stop Vasily, but he didn’t even pretend to listen.
If left like this, someone might actually die. I didn’t know if the chip had frozen properly because the Espers had intervened while it was being frozen, but I thought it would be best to attempt guiding for now.
‘If I touch him in this state, I’ll definitely be in danger too, but…’
There was no other way. I could only hope that Vasily would quickly come to his senses and stop the rampage.
I closed my eyes tightly and pressed my lips to his.
The moment our lips touched, a piercing cold seeped in, but the pain vanished in an instant. Seeing that my senses were paralyzed, it seemed my lips had already frozen.
Fortunately, it felt as if the suppression chip had stopped working, as the sensation of guiding became distinct. A cold and sharp wavelength surged into my body and raged violently, but Vasily’s clearly felt wavelength was welcome. It meant that the guiding was working properly.
To continue guiding further, I opened my numb lips and tilted my head.
As if noticing my intention, Vasily leaned toward me and accepted the kiss. Our tongues entwined and our breaths mixed. I closed my eyes and focused on calming his wavelength.
Even as the sensation in my mouth gradually faded, the feeling of his tongue softly wrapping around mine remained vivid.
“Ugh… hng…”
Cold breath flowed into my lungs, and my body temperature dropped rapidly. My body trembled violently, unable to withstand the cold.
Seeing the wavelength gradually subside, it felt like he would come to his senses if I guided him just a bit more. However, perhaps because the suppression chip had frozen unstably due to the Espers’ intrusion, the back of my neck grew hot, and I felt the guiding being cut off.
Just as I was wondering if I should freeze the suppression chip once more, I slightly pulled my lips away. Then, I heard Vasily’s voice.
“…Guide Kwon Gi-dam?”
My eyes met Vasily’s as he called my name, sounding bewildered. Life had returned to the eyes that had been dark and unfocused.
Has he finally come to his senses? It’s too late.
At the same moment a sigh of relief escaped me, the unstably frozen suppression chip began to activate again. The suppression chip heated up, and the back of my neck burned as if it were on fire.
‘Thump.’
Along with a small explosion audible only to my ears, a dull pain hit the back of my neck. In an instant, my vision was dyed black.