BP 21

After closing the door to the counseling room, Seung-hyun looked at his hand. It was twitching violently. It looked so weak that it triggered a sense of repulsion. He clenched his fist tightly, as if to crush the vibration.

Seung-hyun hadn’t understood the question Daniel had asked a moment ago. Before the words could enter his ears, the sound vanished, the forms collapsed, and the colors faded. What did he say? Since nothing had reached him, he couldn’t accept it or answer. What does he want me to say? I have nothing to say. Why is he asking that? I don’t want to say it. No. No. What was the question in the first place?

As he walked aimlessly, Seung-hyun’s footsteps grew heavy. They became so heavy that when he looked down, the ground was a mire. Mud as filthy as Oni clung in clumps around his feet. Seung-hyun’s brow furrowed sharply. An indescribable unpleasantness tangled and boiled inside his body. The strength left his pale fists, and he brought his hands up to his head. He irritably gripped his untrimmed hair.

‘Hyung is okay, so. Get a grip. You idiot.’

His gaze, containing nothing, wandered aimlessly. The hand gripping his hair moved down to press painfully against one eyelid. His slowly collapsing face was etched with clear signs of agony. The same scene was playing on loop in his head. Memories of that time—which he had turned away from because they hurt too much, which he had intentionally tried to erase but couldn’t bring himself to do and thus left abandoned—began to tear through his consciousness. A mumble, like a sigh, escaped from lips that trembled as much as his hands.

“I need to sleep.”

* * *

22:43. A pulse was detected on the outskirts of the city. Since it was a sparsely populated area, the risk of human casualties was low, but because there were few paved roads or flat ground, there were Read on Read BL Novels[Read on Read BL Novels]many holes for high-grade Oni to break through. Jae-il, who was on his original shift, had no complaints, but Giju, who had come as additional support, was pouting.

When night fell, the power of the Oni grew stronger. Espers considered this an advantage. Most Oni had no eyes. Even if they did, their vision was almost useless. Instead, their hearing and smell were highly developed, which was more than enough to track humans. They were especially crazed for the smell of blood, so on days when a pulse was detected near the university hospital, every Esper in the area had to be deployed.

While darkness might be another terror for humans who were slower than Oni, for Espers who were as fast as Oni, it became another ally.

A C-class Physical-Type Esper with little field experience was nervous, despite his large build. Beside him stood Giju, a rifle resting across his stomach, with “I’m incredibly bored” written all over his face. There was no motivation in his gaze as he scouted the wide field. His mind was filled only with the desire to go home.

Unable to hide his anxiety, the C-class Physical-Type Esper eventually spoke to Giju.

“I’ve never encountered an Oni grade 5 or higher, sir. Recently, a grade 6 appeared, and I thought I was going to faint.”

At the Physical-Type Esper’s intimidated words, Giju smacked his lips.

“Are you worried about Oni?”

“Of course. What are you afraid of, sir?”

“I’m more afraid of Goni.”

“Goni? Have you actually encountered a Gon, sir?”

The Physical-Type Esper’s eyes widened. Giju frowned with a look of disbelief.

“You’ve never dealt with a Gon?! Were you born in Haon?”

“I came from Erto.”

Erto was also a city developed on similar principles to Haon, rooted in safe land where the appearance of Goni and Oni was rare. Giju glanced at the man’s face. Since they were on different teams, he only knew his face and had no personal acquaintance.

“How old did you say you were?”

“I’m twenty-two this year.”

Despite his looks. Perhaps because he was young and low-ranked, it seemed he hadn’t been sent on operations to the dangerous parts of the city.

“The current situation is bad, so work hard on your simulation training.”

That way you’ll die a little later, he didn’t say.

“Are Goni really that great? Aren’t they just faster Oni? That’s how they felt in the simulations.”

Giju’s mouth hung open as he glared at the man. He was about to pour out a lecture but turned his head. At the end of his gaze was Ha Jae-il, standing with a rigid posture. Having a great interest in firearms, he was examining the H-company rifle he had been assigned this time.

“Jae-il.”

Jae-il didn’t even look over, merely shrugging his shoulders. Despite being close enough to hear the conversation, he was clearly conveying that he didn’t want to be involved. With a deep sigh, Giju looked at the man and spoke in a tone that suggested he was dying of annoyance.

“I… might give you an explanation, would that be okay?”

“Yes, please do.”

It was absurd that he looked down on them as just faster Oni. And an Esper from the Haon Academy, no less. Did he graduate through his backside? Giju cleared his throat.

“A stupid Oni can just be split by a Psychic-Type and blown up by a Physical-Type. And the bigger they are, the wider the surface area, so there are plenty of openings to attack. But Goni aren’t like that. Goni have this.”

Giju tapped his own head with his index finger.

“They know exactly where and how to transform to make it easier to kill their opponent.”

“…….”

“Oni just go crazy and charge if it’s human blood, but Goni use their heads to get it. Do you know how scary that is?”

“…….”

“They don’t charge humans immediately. They eliminate the ones who get in the way first. That’s why Espers like us are target number one. And they’re so fast that they don’t give Psychic-Types a chance to use Psychokinesis. They stretch and contract their bodies, and they do it with a human face… ugh, goosebumps.”

As Giju shuddered, the Physical-Type Esper finally realized the gravity of the situation and looked miserable.

“So, when dealing with a Gon, if you just blindly spray bullets or throw mindless punches, your life could vanish. Just think of it as fighting another Esper.”

As if remembering something, Giju gave a thin smile.

“You’ve heard of an OniCube, right?”

“Yes, I have.”

An OniCube referred to a swarm of Oni covering an entire building. They blocked all exits so that not a single point of light could enter and hunted the humans inside. Within that, Oni that consumed a large number of humans evolved into Goni.

“When dealing with a Gon inside an OniCube, Psychic-Types pull back. Unless they’re an Esper trained [stolen content]style="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]wm: stolen content -->to a very high level, they’re actually a hindrance. In my opinion, the day we see an OniCube in Haon is coming soon.”

Before the man, who had turned pale, Giju tilted his head slightly. A mischievous glint appeared on his face.

“Well, one might appear right now.”

The last part was a lie, but the man didn’t seem to hear it. Oh, if I poke him a little more, he might cry.

“Want to go home? Should I call your mom?”

Just then, Bern’s voice rang out from the radio. News arrived that five grade 4 Oni had appeared where the pulse was strongest. Adjusting his helmet, Jae-il brushed past the Physical-Type Esper, who was frozen like a stone and didn’t know what to do. The man’s fear wasn’t even worth considering. Giju, who had followed along, walked in step with him.

“How much you betting?”

Jae-il paused at Giju’s words. His indifferent gaze touched Giju’s playful face and then dropped.

“A hundred thousand won that you die.”

“You little…!”

He thought the deliberation time was a bit long, only for Jae-il to spit out such nonsense. As Giju flared up, the corners of Jae-il’s mouth, which had been stiff the whole time, curved slightly.

“Let’s bet again. Ten thousand won per core.”

Giju was a well-trained Esper for a Psychic-Type. The ‘Esper trained to a very high level’ he had mentioned earlier was referring to himself, but Jae-il opened the car door with a bored expression.

“I don’t know why you bet your life on a game you’re going to lose.”

“Ugh… you’re so damn annoying…”

* * *

The Oni were cleared quickly and cleanly. They benefited from the time and location. He didn’t [stolen content]use his [unauthorized copy]abilities much, so the gear’s Amplification Level was flickering at 40%. Although the headache was severe, it was a value that wouldn’t be a problem even if he left the guiding to the twin Guides tomorrow.

After packing his equipment and showering, Jae-il finally checked his phone. On a phone that rarely received calls because very few people knew his private number, several notification windows were popped up.

<2 Missed Calls>

[Daniel Gray pm 21:35]

[Daniel Gray pm 19:08]

He didn’t check his phone often to begin with, but since he had been deployed immediately after training, he hadn’t even had the leisure to check his messages.

After the missed calls, he tapped into the message box.

<4 New Messages>

[Are you training? Contact me. pm 19:10 – Daniel Gray]

[Jae-il. Look at this. It looks like you. Photo1 pm 20:51 – Joy Lee]

[I guess you went on a deployment this time? I really don’t know why you even need a phone. I spoke with Mr. Seung-hyun, but it didn’t go well. He seemed to have a strong aversion. Contact me tomorrow. pm 21:40 – Daniel Gray]

[I am sorry for everything. pm 23:10 – Guide Ji Seung-hyun (Backsplash)]

The hand drying his hair with a towel slowed down.

Jae-il scrolled up to read the messages again. Combining the texts from Daniel and Ji Seung-hyun, he was able to sufficiently deduce what had happened today. It seemed Daniel had made a move earlier than expected.