13 – TDG 13

“Ji-hyuk, ​if ​we ​take ​the car just ​a ​little ​further ​from ​here, there’s a really ​delicious ​restaurant. Let’s go ​there.”

As I scrambled ​to ​get ​up, ​Ji-hyuk ​grabbed ​me and pulled ​me ​back ​down to sit.

“We ​can just order in.”

“Order ​what? I ​said let’s ​go out.”

However, ​Ji-hyuk was ​just ​as ​stubborn. He sat ​firmly in ​place and refused to ​budge.

“I like being home ​more than going to ​a restaurant.”

“…….”

Ha. ​This ​guy is really something. I didn’t ​see him this way, ​but ​was ​he ​a ​homebody? I didn’t ​want to ​feed ​him delivery food, ​but ​I lacked the skill to ​cook, and ​we ​didn’t have any ​ingredients. ​Ji-hyuk, ​as ​if ​to prove ​my ​point, urged ​me to just order quickly.

“This sauce is ​a bit bland.”

To ​make matters worse, ​the food that finally ​arrived wasn’t ​satisfying. I didn’t ​fight ​Kim stolen contentYoo-hwan and ​bring my stolen contentprecious ​favorite here ​just ​to feed ​him ​something like ​this…

“Here, ​let me ​see.”

Ji-hyuk ​took ​the sauce from ​my ​hand, tasted ​it, ​and ​immediately ​stood up.

“Can I look in the fridge?”

“I don’t mind, but there probably isn’t much….”

What he brought back were sugar and vinegar.

He added a little of each alternately, mixed it lightly, and when I tasted it again, the bland sauce had transformed into a much deeper and richer flavor.

As I stared at him with wide eyes in admiration, he shrugged.

“Nothing beats sugar when you want to bring out the umami.”

Right, max-level cooking.

It had been forgotten because there was no chance for it to be revealed, but that was part of his setting. While I was spacing out, Ji-hyuk asked why I wasn’t eating and pushed a piece of food into my mouth.

After cleaning up the food and idling for a while, the time to return soon approached.

My mind was troubled even as I got into the car. I shouldn’t have made such bold promises. I regretted fueling his expectations only to spend the whole time sleeping.

While driving, I kept glancing at Ji-hyuk in the passenger seat. His beautiful profile, as he rested his chin on the window and looked outside, remained peaceful throughout. I couldn’t read what he was thinking, but as he said, he didn’t seem particularly dissatisfied.

That was a relief, but it didn’t mean I had done a good job.

While driving along the road for a while, I noticed black smoke rising ahead. It looked like a fire had broken out.

“Was there an accident?”

Or perhaps it was a gate break.

I immediately turned on the rear blinker and gradually slowed down. When I pulled over to the shoulder and approached, the scale of the accident was considerable.

A chain-reaction collision involving seven or eight vehicles.

My prediction was correct. In the distance, I could see a damn gate emitting a blue light and vomiting out monsters. Since that appeared in the middle of the road, how could an accident not happen? The sight of just cleaning up the accident scene was dizzying, but adding the monsters pouring out of the gate like mushrooms after rain made it a hopeless situation.

The vehicles the creatures were approaching in lines still had injured people inside.

“Help me!”

“Help!”

People who couldn’t escape their cars screamed in terror as they saw the approaching swarm of monsters.

Those who were less injured were trying their best to rescue others, but it wasn’t enough.

As I pulled out my phone to report it, I first checked the remaining distance between the monsters and the vehicles.

Unfortunately, the distance was too short. At this rate, they would reach them in an instant. I had to evacuate at least the people who were still okay.

“Get back! Get away from there!”

As I ran and shouted, those who were tearing away crumpled car doors stopped in surprise.

Just then, the call connected and a voice came through. The moment I opened my mouth in relief, something pounced from the side, grabbed me, and threw me through the air.

I flew through the air without even a chance to scream. No, rather than flying, the speed was more like being launched.

Crash!

At the same time my vision flipped, a deafening roar shook the heavens and the earth.

A sharp ringing in my ears swallowed every sound. It was only after that my consciousness, which had vanished for a moment, returned.

“Hyung, are you awake?”

Without even opening my eyes, I nodded blindly. It wasn’t surprising that I felt disoriented since I had just been spun around several times. I heard the sound of Ji-hyuk breathing a sigh of relief.

What had hit us was a massive container truck.

I didn’t know the exact reason—whether the driver, startled by the appearance of the monsters, turned the wheel the wrong way, or whether they missed the braking timing due to drowsy driving—but the container that skidded on the road slid toward us like a current and crashed into this area.

I was speechless when I discovered my father’s sedan, crushed beyond recognition between the containers. Beyond the despair, it was a chilling realization. If Ji-hyuk hadn’t saved me by a hair’s breadth, I would have ended up like that.

The reason I was perfectly fine without a single broken bone despite the violent slide was entirely because he had shielded me.

I quickly composed myself, reported it to the police, and then contacted the Center’s Crisis Management Team.

After I explained the situation, the response was to stay put as they would send rescue teams and helicopters.

In other words, it was a command not to use Han Ji-hyuk.

Even without being told, [unauthorized copy]I had visit our sitenot the slightest desire to deploy the still-unstable visit our siteHan Ji-hyuk into an accident scene.

“Aaaagh!”

“Help me! Help!”

In the meantime, the swarm of monsters clung to the rear of the vehicles. Piercing screams for help filled the air.

“…….”

The crisis wasn’t just the approach of the monsters. Oil was leaking from the broken vehicles and smoke was billowing. If the engine oil caught fire, a massive explosion would occur.

Knowing full well how dangerous it was, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.

Even if I couldn’t kill the monsters, I had to go and break the car windows so those people could get out.

“Ji-hyuk, you stay here.”

As I rolled up my sleeves to step forward, Han Ji-hyuk grabbed me.

“I’ll do it.”

“No! It’s an order from the higher-ups to protect you!”

“Protect?”

His eyebrows knit together crookedly.

“…You haven’t received the government’s suitability approval yet. If you use your abilities in this situation….”

Severe disciplinary action could follow. It might feel unfair, but those were the rules….

Seeing my troubled expression, Ji-hyuk readily nodded.

“Alright. I won’t use my flame abilities.”

What?

“You’re the one in danger, Hyung, so stay right there.”

Han Ji-hyuk moved far away from the bewildered me and dashed off as if he were flying.

“What the… Hey! Han Ji-hyuk! Ji-hyuk!”

By the time I snapped out of it and tried to stop him, he was already far away.

He said he wouldn’t use his abilities? At first glance, it sounded quite reckless, but it wasn’t something he said to show off with baseless confidence. It was an answer that accurately understood my meaning and the concern contained within it.

Approaching the swarm of monsters in an instant, Han Ji-hyuk delivered a powerful attack backed by acceleration. With a single roundhouse kick, three monsters were sent flying.

“?!”

My jaw dropped at the unbelievable sight.

Ji-hyuk, who flexibly avoided the pouring attacks by leaning his waist back, pulled his body in and immediately began landing a series of rapid blows. Thud, thwack! It was a reckless onslaught, but since the monsters were so crowded, every hit was effective. The monsters’ bodies began to crumple and tear like cotton dolls.

What on earth am I seeing right now?

No matter how weak those monsters are, they are faster and stronger than the strongest human. If you underestimate them just because they are small, you’re likely to end up like the humans in Jurassic World.

Moreover, those were 2-meter class. An ordinary person’s bones would be crushed just by being grazed by their powerful tails. One shouldn’t even hope to survive; it would be a miracle if their limbs remained attached to the corpse. Only a few among Espers were capable of engaging in hand-to-hand combat with such absurd monsters. But? Our protagonist is doing it with his bare body.

Han Ji-hyuk continued to throw and push away the approaching kaiju, while simultaneously ripping apart the crumpled accident vehicles to pull people out. He was indeed not using his flame abilities at all, just as promised.

“Kieeeek!”

Ji-hyuk coolly kicked a monster trying to cling to his [Read on Read BL Novels]leg. With a thwack—! The [Read on Read BL Novels]creature’s head separated from its [unauthorized copy]body and flew away, creating a spray of purple blood.

It took me a full two years to get used to the disgusting and hideous appearance of monsters.

I mean, I got used to it in name, but they are still scary, and my heart sinks just looking at them from a distance. It would be a lie to say I’m not afraid of monsters that kill and eat humans.

Being an Esper doesn’t mean one is exceptionally brave. We simply gained special abilities; we needed to adapt to the monsters just like anyone else. When first going into the field, I’ve seen many people collapse and pee themselves, or cry and run away, saying they were too terrified to fight.

Han Ji-hyuk was different. His eyes, which quickly scanned the surroundings after taking down the attackers, were not filled with excitement. Rather, he was cold and calm, as if he were simply doing what needed to be done. It was a sight I couldn’t believe even while seeing it with my own eyes. How could he be so calm in front of monsters?

The movements Han Ji-hyuk was showing now were completely different from those at the training center. Movements within a fixed simulation tend to be stiff, but since there were no restrictions here, he was faster, stronger, and more dazzling.

Strength and intellect that transcended humanity, and a ruthlessness that annihilated the enemy without a shred of pity. He was the very specimen of the ‘new humanity’ spoken of today, and the term ‘butcher for the war against monsters’ suited him terrifyingly well.

Although Han Ji-hyuk was clearing out the monsters as he caught them, the number swarming in was too many for one person to handle.

‘It’s dangerous like this… It would be better to use fire…!’

Perhaps because of his promise to me, Han Ji-hyuk focused solely on hand-to-hand combat even while surrounded by monsters, as if he had no flame abilities to begin with.

Anxious, I craned my neck and looked around urgently. When on earth is the rescue team they said they’d send arriving?

“You there! Are you okay?”

As the saying goes, speak of the devil; I saw a figure approaching at high speed from a distance.

At first, it looked like a dot, but in just a few seconds, it became close enough to recognize the form. He was so fast that a long cloud of dust rose in his wake. The sprint, like a runaway locomotive, stopped precisely in front of me. Despite the abrupt braking, he seemed perfectly fine, as if he were completely unaffected by inertia.

There was only one Esper in South Korea with such an ability.

‘Song Hyun-ho.’

Song Hyun-ho, like Han Ji-hyuk, was a precious S-rank Esper. His ability was Multi-functional Physical Enhancement.