Chapter 12: The Price of Guiding

“Ah, f*ck.”

When Jung Hanseol awoke, grotesque creatures had erupted from the ground around the tree roots where he lay, much like bamboo shoots.

Ryu Yishin, who had muttered a low curse, swiftly shot the creatures’ heads, ending their lives one by one with astonishing speed.

Their elongated bodies instantly froze, then shattered, sending fragments scattering into the air.

Jung Hanseol, once again mesmerized, found himself simply staring at the spectacle.

“Team Leader!”

From a distance, an urgent voice called out Ryu Yishin’s name.

Jung Hanseol’s attention was momentarily drawn by the sound, only to then spot Ryu Yishin biting his lower lip as he aimed his gun toward a massive tree.

A grotesque creature, with its elongated body, was coiled around the tree—a tree so vast it would be impossible to embrace it with outstretched arms.

The moment the creature’s head, which had been turned away, came back into view, Ryu Yishin pulled the trigger without a hint of hesitation.

Jung Hanseol had instinctively squeezed his eyes shut at the deafening rupture, a sound far louder than the gunshot. Sensing something amiss, he slowly pried them open.

The tree, split precisely in half as if struck by lightning, was now tilting its right side directly toward Jung Hanseol.

Driven by an extreme survival instinct, Jung Hanseol instinctively rolled his body, narrowly escaping the horrific fate of being crushed beneath the falling tree.

Though he disliked exercise, his athletic reflexes were far from poor, making such a quick maneuver possible.

“Hah…”

Jung Hanseol, finally letting out a short sigh of relief as he gazed at the tree that had crashed with a dull roar, found his eyes meeting Ryu Yishin’s, who stood opposite him as if in a standoff.

Ryu Yishin clicked his tongue, a clear sign of his displeasure, and with a subtle tilt of his head, he once again hoisted Jung Hanseol into the air.

“H-huh…”

“You’re bothering me. Stay put.”

Jung Hanseol, flailing his limbs in the air like a drowning man, instinctively curled his body, unable to even breathe properly at Ryu Yishin’s sharp words.

For some reason, Ryu Yishin felt more terrifying and menacing than the snake monster, leaving Jung Hanseol utterly speechless.

Meanwhile, a man approached Ryu Yishin, glancing briefly at Jung Hanseol suspended in mid-air before shaking his head slightly to compose himself and continue speaking.

“All hostiles in the two o’clock direction have been neutralized.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes, they’re all coming this way. But… their condition isn’t good.”

The man who reported to Ryu Yishin with such gravity was none other than Kang Seungmin, the sub-team leader of Team 1.

He occasionally glanced at Jung Hanseol, who floated and shivered in the air, yet he made no move to intervene.

As Ryu Yishin exhaled a short sigh, ran a hand through his disheveled hair, and let his face fill with irritation, the quiet space was soon filled with a chaotic mix of ragged breaths and heavy footsteps.

Jung Hanseol, who had been busy observing Ryu Yishin, winced slightly at the dull, piercing ache in his temples.

Though still bewildered and struggling to grasp the situation, Jung Hanseol could sense it.

‘Espers who had pushed their mental limits through excessive use of their abilities in a short time were approaching this location.’

‘And not just one or two of them.’

The higher a Guide’s rank, the better their Guiding abilities, and the more exceptional their innate intuition for accurately discerning an Esper’s condition.

Jung Hanseol instinctively tensed, his body stiffening at the surge of energy emanating from the direction Kang Seungmin had come from.

Three espers joined the group.

Their waves were so unstable that it wouldn’t be surprising if all of them immediately went berserk.

Jung Hanseol felt his own stomach churn in response, and he swallowed hard, trying to suppress the rising nausea.

Ryu Yishin, who had been scrutinizing his team members with a frown, fixed his gaze on Jung Hanseol, still flailing helplessly in the air, then gave a slight, downward tilt of his head.

Once again, giving Jung Hanseol no time to prepare, Ryu Yishin’s subtle gesture sent him plummeting directly to the ground.

Fortunately, he landed on his backside, softening the impact compared to before, yet a throbbing ache still lingered in his body.

It seemed the presence of unstable espers nearby was intensifying the pain even further.

As Jung Hanseol suppressed a groan of pain and struggled to his feet, Ryu Yishin, who had been silently observing the scene, spoke with an air of disbelief.

“Are you just going to dilly-dally? Can’t you see how serious the situation is?”

“Huh?”

Jung Hanseol, having barely collected himself, met Ryu Yishin’s gaze and replied to his incomprehensible words.

Ryu Yishin, making no attempt to hide his sharp annoyance, began to snap at Jung Hanseol.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you Guiding?”

“Me…? I-I should?”

‘No, where’s Team 1’s Guide? Why me…?’ Perplexed by the sudden command, Jung Hanseol’s gaze flickered between the panting espers and the comparatively stable Ryu Yishin.

No matter how he looked, there seemed to be no other Guide like himself anywhere nearby.

‘Had Team 1’s Guide been stranded somewhere like him? Or had they been injured and returned to a safe lodging?’ As Jung Hanseol pondered various hypotheses, he caught Ryu Yishin’s piercing glare and clamped his lips shut.

Fear had suddenly enveloped his entire body.

“Me? Ha, Senior. I didn’t mishear you, did I?”

Ryu Yishin repeated Jung Hanseol’s words, thick with bewilderment, as if chewing on each syllable, then asked Kang Seungmin. It seemed Kang Seungmin was equally taken aback by Jung Hanseol’s statement, as his expression, as he stared at the dumbfounded Jung Hanseol, was peculiar.

Feeling that his words had unintentionally caused a misunderstanding, Jung Hanseol hastily raised his voice.

“Th-that is! I mean, Guiding itself isn’t an issue, but…”

“……”

“After I Guide… I lose consciousness…”

His own team members knew about his Guiding side effect, and with Jinwoo’s teleportation ability, they could always handle the aftermath. However, he didn’t know if any of the espers here possessed teleportation abilities.

Team 1 was the only team Jung Hanseol had never provided Guiding support for, making the situation even more awkward.

Though still wary, Jung Hanseol managed to finish his explanation, sending Ryu Yishin an earnest look that pleaded for understanding. He figured being disliked twice wouldn’t matter much since he was already on Ryu Yishin’s bad side, but he didn’t want to fuel any unnecessary misunderstandings.

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

Jung Hanseol felt it in his bones: the espers gathering around Kang Seungmin were steadily worsening. Their volatile emotions seemed to synchronize with his own, making his body twitch involuntarily as if pricked by an ice pick, and his head began to throb unpleasantly.

Amidst this, what Jung Hanseol felt most distinctly was the sharp edge of Ryu Yishin’s emotions. Though Ryu Yishin let out a faint chuckle at the end, it was undeniably a scoff.

Even Kang Seungmin now looked down at Jung Hanseol with a slight frown. For Jung Hanseol, who prided himself on never having done anything to earn others’ dislike, these negative reactions were hard to bear. He felt a strange mix of injustice and sorrow, making his throat ache and the bridge of his nose sting.

“…Then, please… grant me one request…”

From the moment he was thrust into this situation, Jung Hanseol had only one choice, like a short-answer question with a single correct answer: to follow Ryu Yishin’s command and Guide. If he did, he needed to at least secure his safety.

Jung Hanseol barely managed to hide the tremor in his voice as he continued. It was a moment where courage, normally unthinkable, had manifested.

“I’ll Guide, I will… but when I lose consciousness, please just send me somewhere safe…”

“……”

“Ah, otherwise, I might actually die…”

More accurately, he meant that if they left him unconscious, he might die without being able to resist any grotesque creatures. However, with no mental leeway to properly explain himself, Jung Hanseol blurted out the truncated statement.

Hoping desperately that Team 1 also had an esper with teleportation abilities, he whispered his plea. Ryu Yishin, who had been quietly listening, soon let out a hollow laugh.

“So that’s why Jo Jinwoo always cleans up after you.”

Ryu Yishin casually perched on the tree he had split, nodding slightly as if he understood, and then stared intently at Jung Hanseol, who was gulping down dry saliva. Leaning forward with his chin propped on his hand, he gave a surprisingly agreeable answer to Jung Hanseol, who was trembling like a delicate herbivore.

“Fine. I’ll take responsibility and send you back, so show me your amazing Guiding.”

His left lip, crookedly turned up, didn’t inspire much trust, but Ryu Yishin’s low voice felt earnest. It was an irresistible tone, strong enough that Jung Hanseol could only believe him wholeheartedly and nod.

With a determined look, Jung Hanseol squeezed his eyes shut once, then opened them, before casually sinking to the ground and scanning the espers in his sight. He tried to suppress his instincts, which kept trying to dive into their unstable waves, and gathered his concentration as much as possible.

Ryu Yishin watched Jung Hanseol, who had clasped his hands together as if in prayer and bowed his head deeply, with a hint of interest on his face.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six… He slowly counted down, shaking off his impatience. A flicker of anxiety arose in his mind—the thought that Ryu Yishin might just take what he wanted and abandon him—but Jung Hanseol forcefully pushed away the negative thoughts.

Even though Ryu Yishin had frowned harshly and spoken rudely, asking what nonsense he was spouting, it was Ryu Yishin who had saved him when he was trapped and helpless by a grotesque creature, and it was Ryu Yishin who had pulled him out when he was about to be crushed by the tree.

Perhaps, despite his foul temper, he still retained a shred of humanity. Was he not, in his own way, contributing to world peace right here?

Jung Hanseol forced himself to think positively, gathering all his mental strength. To Guide multiple espers in poor condition simultaneously, he needed to concentrate more than usual. Moreover, the only S-rank esper in the country was also present.

He grew anxious, fearing his abilities wouldn’t satisfy Ryu Yishin, but Jung Hanseol intended to pour all his effort into Guiding, if only to have the excuse that he had at least tried.

Five, four, three, two… one!

Having barely finished counting, Jung Hanseol squeezed his eyes shut and curled his body. An invisible energy instantly spread through the surroundings. As an unfamiliar sensation pierced him from head to toe, the eyes of the espers who received Jung Hanseol’s Guiding instantly regained their vitality and sparkled.

Among them, only Jung Hanseol remained in an unstable state.

As Jung Hanseol collapsed into unconsciousness, Ryu Yishin, wearing a cryptic smile, gently floated him into the air and immediately pulled him into his arms. Jung Hanseol, his expression now serene, devoid of any fear, simply slumped and fell into a peaceful slumber.