Chapter 45: Reaper at the Edge of Escape

I don’t know whether to call this fortunate or unfortunate.

If I had to define it in terms of likes and dislikes, Yoon Sera was definitely a dislike.

Honestly, there wasn’t a single thing about her that I liked.

I don’t particularly like people who hide their true intentions.

Still, witnessing someone turn into a corpse right in front of your eyes isn’t exactly pleasant.

Even death has its own dignity, and that was far too gruesome.

A body that lost its head first, and then even the remaining torso was mercilessly torn apart by flying monsters.

Before long, the person known as Yoon Sera was completely erased.

She now existed only as fragments inside the stomachs of countless monsters.

“…Are you okay, Jaeyul?”

The moment I realized that Yoon Sera’s head disappearing was the monster’s doing, I immediately took Jaeyul to a safe place.

We hid our bodies in a gap between piles of ruined buildings and waited for the flying monsters to disappear.

But then I remembered Jaeyul and grew worried.

This must have been the first time he’d ever witnessed someone die like that.

When Jaeyul dealt with the Six-Pointed Star before, everything vanished without a trace in a massive explosion.

So it was only natural that he wasn’t yet used to monsters and brutal deaths.

No matter how much Jaeyul would become “X” in the future, right now he was still just an immature human.

“I’m… okay….

As long as you’re okay, hyung, I’m fine too.”

I looked at Jaeyul with concern, but his expression was calmer than expected.

He didn’t look frightened or shocked.

Instead, he faced me with a slightly stiff expression.

Then again, it wasn’t as if this was truly his first time witnessing death.

He had personally blown away Tak Younghoon and the Six-Pointed Star before.

Even so, I couldn’t help but worry.

No matter how big he grows, in my eyes he’s still kind-hearted, gentle Jaeyul.

“Let’s think of it as a good thing.

With Yoon Sera gone, there won’t be anyone chasing us for a while.

Things like this are happening all over Seoul right now, so cleanup alone will take ages.”

Boom, crash! Bang!

Even as we spoke, the sounds of buildings and roads exploding echoed from everywhere.

This state would probably last for days.

Now the question was… where do we even run to?

“But hyung.

Strangely enough, you look used to situations like this.

That shouldn’t be possible….”

Of course it was possible.

I couldn’t even count how many times I’d handled gate breaks.

I could barely remember all the names of colleagues who’d died to monsters.

It had been part of everyday life, so there was no way I wouldn’t be used to it.

Even though five years had passed, my body still remembered it instinctively.

“…I need to keep my head straight to protect you, Jaeyul.

Just hold on a little longer.

Let’s get somewhere safe.”

I couldn’t tell him the truth.

Even if Jaeyul was practically my only family, how could I tell him I’d died five years ago and come back to the past?

He’d think I was insane.

Still, thinking about protecting Jaeyul helped me decide on a destination.

In the current situation, there was no truly safe place anywhere in Seoul.

And we couldn’t exactly walk all the way out to Gyeonggi Province either.

Even so… there was exactly one place in Seoul that could be considered safe.

“Where to?”

“Yeouido.

If we can at least get near there, we’ll be safe.”

I still remembered it clearly.

When this incident happened before, more than half of the Seoul Center’s special ability users were stationed around Yeouido.

With the National Assembly and major state facilities there, it was designated the number one defense zone.

“Ang!”

…That startled me.

Right.

I’d been wondering why something felt missing—

I’d forgotten Poppi.

The silver-furred little fluff poked its face out of Jaeyul’s backpack.

I’m sorry, Poppi….

You’re family too—how could I forget you?

I really am a terrible bastard.

“You can’t eat right now.

What food at a time like this, you idiot.

Read the room.”

Clueless Poppi was whining that it was hungry.

Jaeyul was scolding Poppi for it.

Still, seeing Jaeyul and Poppi together like that eased my heart a little.

It felt like an ordinary day, as if nothing terrible had happened to us at all.

“…Wait a second, Jaeyul.”

I picked Poppi up in my arms.

Why had I forgotten Poppi?

This lucky little treasure.

“Poppi, you’re hungry, right?”

“Ang, aang!”

“Yeah.

It is about time to eat.

But this place is way too dangerous, so we can’t eat here.

So how about we go somewhere safe and eat there?”

We had such a precious means of transportation right here—

Why would we walk all the way to Yeouido?

The corners of my mouth naturally lifted.

Boom, crash!

“Poppi, monster ahead!

Dodge slightly and charge straight through!”

“Wang!”

It was unbelievably comfortable.

The ride quality wasn’t great, but the speed was so incredible that such minor issues didn’t even matter.

We were moving so fast that most monsters couldn’t even catch up, so there was no real need to avoid them.

“Jaeyul, hold on tight.

We’re almost there, so let’s get off after just a little more.”

Jaeyul wrapped his arms tightly around my waist.

This kid… is he scared?

He’s clinging on like he’s about to snap my spine….

Looks like we should get off a bit earlier and walk.

We’d only been riding Poppi through areas so ruined that you couldn’t find a single person even if you tried.

After just a few more blocks, we’d reach a zone guarded by agents anyway.

“Let’s walk from here.

There should be a safe zone up ahead.”

But then, Poppi—who had been running at full speed—suddenly started acting strangely.

“…Grrr…!”

It stopped abruptly and stared in one direction.

“Hyung.

Get down.”

Jaeyul did the same.

The Jaeyul I thought was calmly holding onto my waist slipped off Poppi’s back in an instant and grabbed my arm.

“W-Why…?”

“It’s way too quiet around here.

Not just people—there’s not even a single monster sound.”

That was strange.

Back when I worked as an esper, my senses were considered quite sharp.

That wasn’t about being an esper or a guide.

Sometimes a D-rank esper had better senses than an A-rank one.

Even after awakening as a guide this time, I was confident my senses were still keen—

Yet somehow, Jaeyul was far ahead of me.

Poppi being an animal was another matter entirely.

“Grrr… wang!”

Poppi bristled its tail and growled while staring in the direction of Yeouido.

Naturally, Jaeyul and I followed its gaze.

And that was when we saw it.

“…Why… is that… here….”

A figure that looked like a person wrapped in a pitch-black cloak.

From the hood pulled low over its head, two blood-red eyes glowed fiercely.

It was far taller than a human, and if not for the absence of legs, one might mistake it for a person.

That ominous appearance had earned it a nickname.

“What… is that…?”

“Rea… per.

Reaper.”

The nickname was taken from the Grim Reaper that symbolizes death.

And it wasn’t named that just because of how it looked.

It was a name of terror earned from slaughtering countless people.

No one knew how many special ability agents had died to that absurdly powerful monster.

But why was it here…?

“Hyung, do we need to run?”

In moments like this, Jaeyul was better than me.

While I stood there staring blankly at the Reaper, Jaeyul was the first to regain his senses.

“…There’s nowhere to run.

The direction it came from is toward Yeouido.”

As far as I remembered, it had been hunted down before it crossed the Han River.

But this time, it seemed to have already swept through Yeouido and crossed over.

Ah… maybe this deviation was inevitable.

In the past, the attack team I belonged to had killed that monster.

This time, I was here instead.

Still, it was hard to believe that no one could stop even a single monster like that.

“Still, let’s run somewhere first.

That thing is way too dangerous.”

The distance between us was still considerable.

It should be enough to escape.

Or at least, that’s what I optimistically thought.

Kkir, kkireureu—.

The moment Poppi turned its body to sprint back the way we came, responding to my words—

A pitch-black shadow fell over us, and a chilling, unpleasant cry crawled along my bones.

Ah… of course.

The world really isn’t on my side.

I didn’t want to look, but I raised my head to confirm the opponent.

As expected… figures.

The pitch-black body belonged to the Reaper.

The moment I looked up, my gaze met its blood-red eyes, gleaming with danger.

Strangely, I felt as if those eyes were smiling at me.

“Poppi, run!”

I shouted the moment I recognized it.

It might already be too late, but I had no intention of becoming its prey.

No—at the very least, I had to protect Jaeyul.

“Hyung, stop!”

I kicked off Poppi’s back and hurled my body straight toward the Reaper.