DB Vol 2 Part 3
“Let go, fuck! That bastard just threw a knife at me! Unless he’s insane… gasp!”
Once again, the whistle of wind brushed past his ear. This time, he felt the cold blade actually touch his skin. The guide in his thirties frantically dove to the side, covering his ear with his hand. He tried to instinctively shout a curse, but no sound came from his open mouth. Three small daggers were held between Won-woo’s fingers.
“I’m not insane. I was just curious about how you’d get your throat slit, so I showed you. Do you need more confirmation?”
“Hey, how the hell did you… the knives…”
“I don’t remember, so I don’t know. Maybe I practiced slitting throats because living like a dead mouse was too boring.”
The guide in his thirties now kept his mouth shut tight. As Won-woo stood up, leaving the pale man behind, the man flinched and scrambled to the opposite side of Won-woo.
“You… don’t tell me… you mean you want to kill me?”
Won-woo pulled out the daggers embedded in the cabinet and the window frame and turned toward him. Even though he simply let his arm hang with the daggers between his fingers, fear spread across the man’s face.
“Did you do something worth dying for?”
“I—what did I…”
“Then I won’t kill you. However.”
The guide, who had unconsciously felt relieved, flinched again. However?
“If you keep speaking informally to me, I’ll consider it a challenge to a fight, and I’ll have no choice but to pay attention to you.”
Won-woo moved a chair to the window and sat down, casting a blunt gaze. The guide remained frozen for a moment before finally managing to speak.
“…So as long as I don’t speak informally, it’s fine?”
“Of course.”
When Won-woo agreed so easily, the man instead looked appalled.
“That’s the only thing that bothers you?”
“Yes.”
“The fact that I cursed and spoke rudely… ah, forget it.”
“If you’re a colleague who got in through family connections and doesn’t even work, it’s natural that curses would come out.”
He looked at Won-woo again with a speechless expression. Did he just admit that cursing was acceptable?
“Cursing is okay, but speaking informally isn’t?”
“We aren’t close enough to speak informally. Using formal language maintains a level of courtesy appropriate for our distance.”
Though he couldn’t understand it, he could tell Won-woo was clearly drawing a line. If he used to draw that line with silence, he now expressed it with words. Either way, his desire to avoid contact with others remained unchanged.
“You haven’t become a completely different person, then.”
At those words, Won-woo wore a strange smile. As expressions appeared on a face that had been entirely blank, the atmosphere changed completely. With a single faint smile, his impression softened instantly, as if a spring breeze were blowing. The two guides were momentarily captivated by that expression.
“I see. You aren’t entirely different.”
It was a voice that sounded both bitter and relieved. However, the smile and low voice soon vanished as if they were an illusion, returning to a blank expression.
“If you’re done here, stop worrying about me and get back to your work.”
Won-woo turned his head toward the window, but the two guides couldn’t take their eyes off him for a long time.
When he returned after intentionally leaving the room for about an hour, Won-woo knew the moment he opened the door that his suspicions were correct. There was a faint scent of perfume. He found it amusing, and in a way grateful, that the stalker couldn’t resist intruding into the room. Thanks to that diligence, it seemed he could easily catch them if he set a trap.
“Is there a problem with the room?”
Turning his head toward the voice on the left, he saw Il-hae, an Esper on the same team. He was the person who had handed him the documents to sign when he first arrived at the hospital. Perhaps he had trained and showered in the meantime, as his hair was wet and a long towel was draped around his neck. As Won-woo stared at him, Il-hae asked warily.
“What is it? Don’t tell me you don’t remember me again?”
“Do you happen to wear perfume?”
“Why suddenly about perfume… I don’t.”
He frowned and shook his head. When Won-woo continued to observe him for a moment despite the answer, Il-hae muttered irritably.
“Good grief, I asked because I wondered what was going on.”
“Do you use the room next door?”
“Yes. I use that room. No Esper wanted to be in the room next to Ji Won-woo-ssi, so I was forced to take it.”
“Does an Esper necessarily have to be in the room next to me?”
Ha, a laugh escaped Il-hae’s lips.
“You’re saying exactly what I wanted to say. The Center’s guidelines state that an Esper must be in the room next to a Guide so they can help in case of danger. That’s why I’m forced to save even a Guide I don’t want to save. It’s truly annoying.”
“Ah, I understand.”
Understand? When Il-hae asked back, unable to comprehend, Won-woo answered seriously.
“You’re saying Guides also have to forcibly save Espers they hate if they’re in danger? It’s truly annoying.”
Setting aside the fact that Won-woo was mimicking his words, Il-hae wondered what on earth he had just heard.
“Is that your way of saying you don’t want to provide guiding? What kind of Guide says something like that?”
“Why is it that you can say things like that, but I can’t?”
“That’s because you’re a Guide who exists for the sake of Espers.”
Won-woo’s lips slowly curled upward. Il-hae, who had been raising his voice, unconsciously held his breath upon seeing that smile. Clear and transparent eyes, like glass beads, stared intently at him.
“No one exists for the sake of another. Not me, and not you.”
For a moment, Il-hae’s eyes widened slightly. Why did he say ‘and not you’? While puzzled, he grit his teeth to steady his heart, which had been startled by those words. A psychic-type with physical strength no [[unauthorized copy]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">Read on Read BL Novels]different from an ordinary person, and a B-rank Esper at that.
Even among fellow Espers, people were reluctant to build friendships with him because he was a psychic-type, so Il-hae had lived a life on the fringes. Naturally, psychic-types could never be the protagonists within the Center. They were supporting actors who backed up other high-capability Espers. He had always taken it for granted that a life lived for someone else was the norm. That even Guides, who were below him, had to live for the sake of great Espers.
It felt as if Ji Won-woo had just kicked away the standards he had barely accepted after giving up on his dreams and suppressing his greed. He felt surprised, ashamed, and his pride wounded, as if his hidden inner thoughts had been exposed by that single phrase.
“Ha, you’ve just started talking nonsense after hitting your head… Fuck, come to think of it, you don’t even have the ability to save an Esper through guiding, do you?”
“Fuck, you’ll be much better off shutting your trap than continuing to spout such bullshit.”
At the sudden intrusion of harsh profanity, both men turned their heads. Seo-na was standing in front of the room to Won-woo’s right. Il-hae flared up and frowned.
“I wasn’t talking to you, so what does it matter?”
“Oh, really? You were barking like a dog loud enough for everyone to hear, so I thought you were saying it for everyone. But my ears are already contaminated from hearing it, so what do you want me to do?”
Il-hae looked at Seo-na in disbelief, then his face hardened as he noticed Won-woo smiling slightly. Are the two of them close? Well, if they weren’t, who would be crazy enough to help a D-rank Guide like that.
But even so, speaking to someone he’d never even exchanged a word with in such a manner… As Il-hae was about to retaliate, he noticed Seo-na’s ears. Five suppression piercings. The moment he realized she was a walking bomb, he grimaced and stepped back.
“Why am I wasting my time with people like this.”
As he turned and fled down the hallway, Seo-na immediately let out a dissatisfied voice.
“Why were you listening to that dog’s nonsense?”
“I was checking the scent.”
“What scent?”
Seo-na sniffed the air.
“Huh? I think there’s a faint scent. Perfume? No, is it fabric softener?”
Seeing her seriously trying to catch the scent, Won-woo couldn’t help but smile. Feeling suddenly self-conscious, Seo-na took a half-step back.
“Why? Was I too much like a dog?”
“Yes.”
“…I said the scent was faint.”
“That too, but I just thought that you’re still the same—doing even the smallest things sincerely and diligently.”
Seo-na’s face gradually stiffened. Only then did Won-woo realize he had made a mistake. With a blank expression, Seo-na asked in a low voice.
“I don’t believe I’ve met you before. Ji Won-woo-ssi, you speak as if you know me well.”
“I knew you well. A Han Seo-na-ssi that you don’t know.”
What does that even mean? Seo-na suspected him again. Does he lose his mind occasionally? Of course, since he was a super ultra mega S-rank Guide, anything was plausible. If you have super ultra mega abilities, your mind might shake a bit.
“Well, let’s just say that’s the case.”
Won-woo looked at her, puzzled by her cool reaction. She’s just letting it slide?
“But if someone curses at you or says something, don’t just let it go. Curse back at them.”
“I promised someone that I wouldn’t curse.”
What a useless promise. Seo-na looked at him with a pitying gaze. Won-woo tightened his lips to suppress a laugh and made a request.
“Han Seo-na-ssi, please curse on my behalf.”
“Is that something you want in exchange for something?”
“No.”
Seo-na hesitated, unable to answer easily. If it were an exchange, it would be clean, but since it wasn’t, it sounded as if he wanted to get close to her. However, she had a personality that didn’t easily become close to people. Because of that, she spoke bluntly on purpose.
“Well, we’ll see.”
After answering, Seo-na felt somewhat embarrassed and tried to [visit our site]enter her room quickly. But Won-woo called her.
“Aren’t you curious about what I’ll be doing tonight?”
Of course she was. That was why she had even volunteered to come to this lodging.
“It’s not like you’re going to tell me.”
Won-woo shook his head with a bewildered face.
“No. I’m going to explain it.”
Ah, it wasn’t a secret? Won-woo smiled at the now-awkward Seo-na.
“Because of the operation, you’ll be heading straight into the Farm, right? I’ll keep it brief.”
Since Il-hae had no other place to go after leaving the lodging, he headed back to the operation camp. The camp was set up at the entrance of the Farm, and the boundary line of the Farm, connected by a long and high iron fence from the lodging to the entrance, came into view. Due to human efforts to obtain seeds, farms that grew those dangerous monster trees were created, but the timing of when the eggs would burst could not be determined by any method.
An egg the size of a fist could grow giant and burst in just a few dozen minutes. Since humans could not control the growth rate, they could only make predictions [unauthorized copy]by collecting all sorts of signs and creating data through sensors attached to the trees. Since an alert had Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[Read on Read BL Novels]been triggered, it was likely that one of the eggs was growing at an abnormal speed.
Therefore, a vanguard team would enter first to remove the problematic egg in advance, and if the danger level became too high, the main team would be deployed. Perhaps in this operation, they wouldn’t even see a single monster leg. That’s why everyone grumbled that it would be boring, but Il-hae felt the opposite.
Since he wasn’t physically outstanding, monster extermination operations were always a burden. However, his family had worked for the Center for a long time, and Il-hae had also accepted working at the Center as a given since childhood.
‘No one exists for the sake of another.’
Ji Won-woo’s monotonous voice wouldn’t easily leave his mind. Just a Guide. How dare he say that to me, an Esper. He was angry, but it wasn’t enough to overshadow other emotions.
It was something anyone could say and anyone could think. But the moment those words were directed at him, they became special.
Il-hae shook his head, trying not to assign meaning to it. The opponent is Ji Won-woo. There’s no need to care about the words of someone whose head is already messed up…
“I thought you went back to the lodging?”
At the familiar voice, Il-hae stopped and recognized his colleague.
“I just came back out.”
“Why? Did something happen at the lodging?”
Il-hae hesitated but soon shook his head.
“Nothing happened. It’s just unpleasant that Ji Won-woo-ssi is in the room next to mine.”
“Ah, Ji Won-woo. What kind of strange things is he saying?”
Il-hae looked away and spoke as if making an excuse.
“No. It’s just that he seems to be on good terms with Deputy Team Leader Han Seo-na of the support team, and it was a bit unpleasant to see.”
“…With that woman, Han Seo-na?”
The expression vanished from the colleague’s face, but Il-hae didn’t see it and tried to head toward the camp. Then, as if remembering, he held up the towel around his neck.
“Oh, thanks for lending me the towel.”
The iron fence in front of Won-woo was so high that an ordinary person couldn’t climb it by crawling. One had to tilt their head back to see the top, but it was a height a monster could jump over in a single bound. To stop the monsters, a strong current probably flowed through it. However, if they were fully grown adults, they would push through even if they were charred black by slamming their bodies into the current.
Because they were insects that swarmed like locusts. With their giant, rock-hard bodies, they were unbelievably agile, making it impossible for ordinary people to deal with them. Won-woo had seen far too many times how monsters would vanish instantly and kill humans far away as if teleporting.
That is why monsters are the embodiment of fear to ordinary people. Espers, who can deal with monsters, dismiss the danger of the weak as a trivial matter, all while emphasizing the benefits of the seeds.
But in the face of death, weighing losses and gains was meaningless. No matter how great an energy source the seed was, what use was it if one died without being able to use it? In Won-woo’s world, this point was considered more important, so the standard for life was set according to the weak. That’s why monster trees became targets for removal.
However, in the beginning, there were many who defended the Espers, claiming that life would collapse without the seeds. Ironically, they changed their minds when they realized they could live just fine without monster seeds.
The sacrifice the Espers claimed was not great. It was simply a matter of enduring a bit of inconvenience and getting used to it. Won-woo thought that life might be the same. One must let go of what is held in the hand to meet something new and grasp something larger. Just as all Purifiers do, Won-woo had awakened a completely different power when he let go of and emptied everything in the face of death.
“Deputy Team Leader Han!”
He heard someone calling her name loudly, but Seo-na’s mind was still confused, so she couldn’t react immediately.
“Deputy Team Leader Han Seo-na!”
Only when her name was called again did Seo-na look up and hear her superior shouting as if screaming.
“I said Block 22 is cleared, so take two kids and go finish it up.”
“Yes,” she answered and turned around, but even as she moved, she couldn’t shake off the words she had heard from Ji Won-woo. It was a truly nonsensical, impossible story, but she didn’t know why her heart was beating like this. It was as if her sixth sense knew it was true.
‘I am a Purifier. Guides’ abilities differ by rank, but Purifiers have no limits. The way we handle energy is different. So, we can do more than just stabilize energy; we can influence it more directly.’
‘How?’
‘By pushing the power out of the body, or amplifying it.’
‘…’
‘It’s possible regardless of the target’s rank. Whether it’s a person or not.’
As Seo-na recalled the unbelievable story, she suddenly stopped walking. There was something she hadn’t realized at the time. There was a word in those unbelievable words that she needed to carve into her mind.
Whether it’s a person or ‘not’. Not a person? Seo-na’s eyes gradually moved upward. Above, she saw the fruit hanging from the monster tree. …A monster?!
Boom!
The sound of a monster egg bursting echoed through the Farm like a firework. The sun had almost set and a dark red darkness had fallen, so today’s operation would likely end soon. However, Won-woo had no intention of letting them rest yet. So, he closed his eyes and detected the surrounding energy as if inhaling a breath he had been holding. He picked up dozens, hundreds of monster eggs with strong energy. The closest one was just inside the iron fence.
Whether an Esper or a monster, an individual born with strong power has a core that generates energy like an engine inside them. Awakening that power is incredibly easy. Even though it had been a long time, it was so easy it almost made him laugh. But since it was the first time, he should do it weakly. Very weakly. Today’s protagonist is Seo-na.
And after a few seconds had passed, the moment Won-woo opened his eyes, massive alarms began to erupt simultaneously, loud enough to shake the entire Farm. They were dozens of alerts signaling that monster eggs had awakened.
‘Wiiiiiiing—’
The alarms ringing outside the Farm were loud, but in the middle of the Farm, they sounded faint, like a distant bell. However, the members of Head Team 3, who weren’t even making a sound of breathing, couldn’t even hear that noise. They were using all their senses to locate the monsters.
Originally, they wore the monster trackers distributed by the Center on their wrists, but unfortunately, they were useless in the Farm. The tracker’s sensors recognized all monster trees as monsters. Therefore, they had to rely on their sixth sense.
With every nerve on edge, they struggled to find the direction of the monsters. At first, everyone focused on the sound. But there was [visit our site]no need. The monsters announced their presence through the ground. Woong, the surface vibrated as if the earth itself were shaking.
“…3 o’clock direction, at least five or more.”
Geon-young muttered while looking down at the ground. The color drained from the faces of the remaining team members. They were already short one member, and now more than five of them? It was absurd.
Since this team was a head team primarily responsible for reconnaissance, Geon-young was the only proper offensive Esper. How were they supposed to handle a swarm of monsters? As Woo-rim, the youngest, tried to take a step back, Geon-young’s voice rang out.
“Park Woo-rim. Move toward them and get an accurate count. Ki-hyun-ssi, put Il-hae-ssi behind you and get ready to deploy a shield. Il-hae-ssi, be ready to create an illusion to stop the monsters when I give the word.”
Only then did the frozen members begin to move at the urgent commands. Woo-rim, who could teleport short distances, disappeared first, and Ki-hyun pushed Il-hae behind him while assessing the terrain. Il-hae gripped his long sword tightly and followed closely behind Ki-hyun.
Geon-young stepped forward and turned on his communicator, but the loud static made it impossible to communicate properly. Occasionally, mega monsters—far larger than ordinary monsters—appeared on the Farm. The problem with these creatures was that they possessed special powers, much like Espers.
One of the known abilities of a mega monster was communication interference. In other words, a mega monster was present here.
“T-Team Leader… I can’t hear anything through the comms.”
Ki-hyun reported in a trembling voice. Geon-young didn’t want to frighten him further, as he was already stiff [unauthorized copy[visit visit our siteour site]style="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]with fear, but there was no point in hiding it in this situation. Instead, he replied as if it were no big deal.
“So what? Maybe there’s a mega monster.”
“…”
“Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a mega.”
Geon-young stepped forward with a deliberate smile. It was only a single step, but his legs moved stiffly, strained with tension. However, he couldn’t let his nervousness show, even as Woo-rim reappeared with heavy breathing and reported in a shaking voice.
“It’s not five… there are well over ten. They’re swarming toward us. Team Leader, what do we do?”
“What do you mean ‘what do we do’? Park Woo-rim, draw your sword. Everyone knows the monsters’ only weakness, right?”
Geon-young concentrated strength into both hands, feeling the ground rumble as if an earthquake were occurring. The monsters had hard exoskeletons like insects. It was like armor, making them impervious to guns.
However, the exoskeleton below the neck was scale-like, allowing a sword to penetrate between them. While not necessarily a fatal blow, a strike there would noticeably slow the creature down. Geon-young looked back to check and shouted at Woo-rim, who was standing awkwardly.
“Fuck, grip your sword properly! You’re the <[Read on Read BL Novels]/span>only one who can keep up with their speed, wake up!”
The moment Woo-rim gripped his sword tightly, Ki-hyun alerted them.
“They’re coming!”
No sooner had he spoken than a swarm of monsters charged toward them, appearing like a giant wall. Simultaneously, Geon-young tilted his head to the side and reached out.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
With loud sounds of air bursting, the condensed atmosphere in front of the monsters began to explode like bombs. Though everyone was terrified, their bodies instinctively performed familiar actions. Il-hae deployed an illusion in front of them to obstruct the monsters, and Geon-young rushed toward the halted creatures.
No matter how much energy he condensed and exploded around them like bombs, it was useless. The most effective method was to place a hand on the monster’s body and detonate the power from within. As soon as Geon-young leaped as if flying onto the nearest monster, he pressed his hand against its body.
“Die, you bastard!”
Thump!
With the sound of something exploding inside, the monster writhed convulsively. Geon-young’s body plummeted rapidly toward the ground, but Ki-hyun expertly caught and protected him with a shield. In the meantime, Woo-rim attempted to teleport beneath another monster’s neck to drive in his sword.
But the monster was faster. It swung its scythe-like foreleg toward Woo-rim. Terrified, Woo-rim vanished as if fleeing, dropping his sword in the process. Because of this, the sword fell to the ground, and the monster began to rampage even more violently.
Boom! Crash!!
Debris from trees knocked down by the monsters rained down upon the Espers.
“Park Woo-rim, get it together!”
Geon-young stood up and fired random energy bombs at the other monsters struggling within the illusion. Though they were bound by the illusion, it wouldn’t last long. He had to kill at least one more before then. Just as Geon-young was about to leap onto another, Il-hae shouted.
“The monsters have noticed the illusion! We have to move!”
Geon-young placed his hand on a monster’s body to detonate its interior again, but the monster vanished in an instant. Consequently, he fell through empty air and rolled across the ground. Simultaneously, a monster’s saw-like forepaw swept down toward Geon-young’s head. Just before his body was pierced by the saw, it hit a shield with a loud bang! Geon-young rolled on the ground, stood up, and scrambled backward.
“7 o’clock! Deploy the illusion again and cover me with a shield!”
‘Wiiiiing—’
The alarm blaring incessantly outside the Farm was loud enough to deafen. The voices of the guards shouting through the noise were drowned out by other explosions, making them barely audible to the two Guides.
“Hurry up and detonate the bombs under the fence!!”
“But the civilian laborers are still gathered near the fence! The casualties…”
“You son of a bitch!! Just blow it up!!”
At the guard captain’s shout, a subordinate tried to run, but another subordinate arrived first with news.
“The monsters have crossed the fence!”
The guard captain froze, his face turning pale. The two Guides, Dae-yeong and Jang-seon, who were listening nearby, felt the same. To think so many monsters had awakened. While major problems like this occurred once or twice a year, the Center usually sent enough offensive Espers to prevent monsters from leaving the Farm.
What should they do? Should they run? But fleeing and leaving the Espers behind would result in being kicked out not only from the Center but also from the Guide Center.
“Hyung, what do we do?”
“What else… we have to hold out here, whether we hide or die.”
At those words, Jang-seon looked around for a place to hide, but there was no hope in his eyes. Monsters sense the vitality of living beings. No matter how deep one hides underground or how high in a building, they track you down like ghosts, piercing and slicing with their saw-like scythes before chewing through the bones.
Since monsters only want the bones, anyone or anything caught by them is torn into pieces, leaving only remnants. Jang-seon collapsed as if the strength had left his legs. Then, a useless Guide from his own team suddenly came to mind.
“W-what about Ji Won-woo?”
“Who knows. He probably hid on his own. Or he’s dead. You think we have time to worry about that bastard right now?”
“W-where are w-we hiding?”
Dae-yeong had no answer and kept his mouth shut before finally moving his body.
“Get up. We can’t leave this area for now, so let’s retreat as far back as possible…”
Just then, the guard captain’s high-pitched voice caught their attention.
“What? The monsters left the civilians alone and went back into the Farm?”
“Yes. That’s… that’s how I was able to survive and make it back here.”
The guard reported the unbelievable news with a vacant expression.
“Everyone was hiding in the small outpost outside the fence. Because the monsters awakened inside the fence, there wasn’t enough time to escape… We were just waiting to die, when someone looked out the window and said the monsters were going back. They had definitely broken through the fence. So I looked out too, and it was true. And it was a massive mega monster.”
“A mega monster? That explains the communications… But why did it go back?”
“I don’t know,” the guard replied, muttering blankly. “B-but there was someone. I think there was a person in front of the monsters…”
“Who? An Esper?”
The guard shook his head.
“I don’t know. Their face was covered by a [[Read on Read BL Novels]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">Read on Read BL Novels]hood, and they were just wearing black clothes…”
The guard captain ignored his words and turned around. Blocking a swarm of monsters, including a mega monster, and forcing them to turn back was something even an Esper couldn’t do. Perhaps if there were an S-rank Esper, but the highest-ranking Esper here was the A-rank Hong Seung-wook. Therefore, the subordinate must have seen wrong. Reaching this conclusion, the guard captain hurriedly led his men outside.
“Everyone, take your swords and follow me! We must stop any monsters from leaving the Farm!”
Though they had only just begun fighting, the members of Head Team 3 were as breathless as if they had been running for hours. As the attacks continued, the creatures began to see through the illusions more quickly.
Once the monsters escaped the illusions, the only option was a direct clash, but the problem was that only Geon-young and Woo-rim were proper offensive members. However, Geon-young had to get close to the monsters for his attacks to work, and Woo-rim was too terrified to fight properly.
Thus, despite rolling and running until their breath tasted sweet, they had only eliminated three monsters so far.
“Gah!”
A monster suddenly appeared, dropping right above Ki-hyun, who had been continuously protecting Geon-young with a shield. Because he had focused his shield on Geon-young, his own protection was weak, and the monster’s forepaw shattered the barrier like a splitting watermelon. The tip of that saw finally reached Ki-hyun.
“Urgh…!”
Ki-hyun screamed and rolled on the ground, and Il-hae, who was within the same shield, hurriedly cast an illusion upon seeing the monster appear right in front of him. While the monster stopped moving, its vision blurred, he quickly dragged Ki-hyun’s body away.
The moment he saw the blood, which soaked his hands, he barely swallowed a curse. The flesh was torn in a long gash from the shoulder to the back. Il-hae hurriedly pulled emergency bandages from his bag, but he couldn’t treat his comrade. Despite their massive size, the only sound monsters made when attacking was a whistling wind. And now, he heard that sound behind his back.
‘Sshhh.’
Another monster was close. An ice-cold chill ran down his spine. Illusion, I have to hide with an illusion. His mind commanded it, but his body wouldn’t move. He simply stared blankly at the carnage unfolding before him.
Geon-young, the team leader, was clinging to a monster, his muscles strained to the limit. He was desperately trying to press his palm against the monster’s body to detonate its interior.
The cowardly Woo-rim was busy avoiding attacks using teleportation. This brief moment felt like a slow-motion video, as if a body sensing death were trying to remember the final moments of life.
‘Sshhhhh—’
A long breath was heard right above his head. Just as he inhaled, thinking it was the end, someone’s shout struck Il-hae’s ears.
“Get down!!”
Without time to think, Il-hae moved instinctively. Simultaneously, something flew rapidly over Il-hae’s back andstyle="position:relative;display:inline;">[stolen content] embedded itself into the monster that was about to pounce on him.
‘Kreeeeaaaagh!’
A gruesome scream, like boiling lava, erupted from the monster, and the ground shook with a loud thud. Startled, Il-hae looked back at the fallen monster. A long sword was embedded between the scales below the monster’s neck. But how?
The monster must have had its head lowered to attack him. No, monsters never tilt their necks upward to protect that sole weakness. So how did a sword flying from behind his back embed itself there? Il-hae’s question vanished the moment a person descended as if falling from the sky.
“These fucking bugs, how dare they, fuck.”
Seo-na spat out a curse and reached out; the sword embedded in the monster’s neck pulled out and snapped firmly into her hand as if drawn by a magnet. At the magical sight, Il-hae stared up at her blankly, unaware that his hair was fluttering in the wind.
“Stay put.”
Seo-na commanded without even looking at him and leaped straight up. Strangely, she leaped as if there were invisible stairs in the air. Then, she sneered at a monster that had appeared in the high air as if teleporting.
“Jump and fly all you want, you fucking bug. I can find you all because of your scent! Your smell is so foul, fuck!”
Seo-na leaped, stepped on the monster’s head, and jumped even higher. The monster, which had been flying in the visit our siteair, [stolen content]landed on the ground when its path was blocked by Seo-na. However, the ten eyes on its face were fixed on her.
That exact moment was what Seo-na was aiming for. While the monster’s attention was focused on her, she launched her sword as if she had been waiting. Only then did Il-hae understand why the monster attacking him had died instantly. Seo-na’s sword curved in the air as if it had a will of its own, accurately penetrating the narrow gap below the monster’s neck.
The monster writhed in agony and let out another gruesome shriek. Il-hae witnessed the scene, holding his breath. A sword that curved at will, a body that leaped through the air like stairs. It’s the wind! Seo-na was leaping through the air as if it were her own home, riding the wind. And she was using powerful currents of wind to accurately embed her sword where she desired.
He had resigned himself to the fact that only death remained. But seeing her rampage like a wolf among sheep, his breath returned. He could survive. That wind Esper could eliminate all the monsters. He was speechless at her unbelievable skill, but a question suddenly occurred to him.
‘Isn’t Han Seo-na a B-rank Esper?’
Moreover, she was always a target for rampage warnings because she didn’t have a matching Guide. Yet, the woman currently stomping on monsters like bugs displayed an overwhelming presence, as if she had unleashed her full power. What would happen if she rampaged like this?
Contrary to Il-hae’s worry, Seo-na was utilizing her wind attribute to the fullest, like a fish in water. Not only did she run through the air as if flying on the wind, but she also embedded her sword where she wanted using the wind, and when she lacked a sword, she split monster trees and showered sharp fragments like flying daggers.
Furthermore, she sensed the monsters’ scent with the wind. So even if they disappeared, she found their location and pursued them relentlessly. Han Seo-na was clearly demonstrating why nature-type users were inevitably capable.
Having eliminated five monsters in an instant, she landed on the ground and retrieved her swords with two sharp snaps. Then, without even taking a breath, she leaped back into the air.
Il-hae realized that the rampage he had worried about was not an issue. If it were a rampage, her face should have been distorted with [Read on Read BL Novels]style="position:relative;display:inline;">[visit our site]terrible pain. But Han Seo-na was smiling. No, in truth, her state was nearly identical to a rampage, differing by only a hair’s breadth. Eyes sparkling with pleasure, a grin revealing her teeth. She was currently exhibiting an untouchable madness.
“Ahahaha! You ugly cockroaches! Move faster! You fuckers!”
Chief Jung had a nice house that anyone would envy, but he spent less than a third of the year sleeping there. The other two-thirds were spent at the Gye Family estate where his office was located. No, he had no choice but to sleep there. This damn household had such an endless stream of incidents that they rarely let him go home.
Therefore, a separate room had been prepared for Chief Jung at the Gye Family estate. He clearly had a nice three-bedroom house, but at some point, this small studio became more comfortable. Of course, whenever that happened, he didn’t forget to whip himself, reminding himself that his own home was the best.
Today, in particular, he brainwashed himself more thoroughly. Because he had stayed even though there was no work. It’s absolutely not because it’s comfortable here. It’s because I feel like something is about to happen.
After washing up and lying down, Chief Jung felt the coziness of the small room, but he stubbornly denied it and closed his eyes. And did his words become a seed? He hadn’t even slept for thirty minutes when his phone rang loudly. The caller was the information team.
“Hello…”
[Chief, a Red Alert has occurred at a farm under the Eastern Center.]
Red? That meant a monster had appeared that was too dangerous for an Esper to handle.
“Was there no alert there? Were there no Espers?”
[No. I believe several teams from the Eastern Center were dispatched. I heard that the A-rank Esper Hong Seung-wook is also there.]
And yet it’s a Red Alert? It was a serious matter, but not enough to wake him from his sleep. That meant there was something more. The reason came in the following explanation.
[And I heard that Ji Won-woo-ssi is also there.]
“Ah, fuck.”
A curse escaped his lips naturally. Chief Jung placed a hand on his forehead and sat up in bed. Just thinking about how the brute would peck at him already gave him a headache.
“Sigh, can I get an update on the situation over there?”
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