Chapter 137: One Chance to Save Him

“Guide Gong Tae-jun will withdraw now.”

“What do you mean by-”

“Do you really have to ask?”

“Ah…”

Tae-jun’s hands trembled violently as he failed to answer. He knew it as well. Chaewon was currently in a critical emergency state.

Considering the immense damage caused even when a B-class guide goes berserk, one could easily imagine how catastrophic the consequences would be if an S-class Esper lost control.

But even knowing that, Tae-jun couldn’t easily step back.

Of course he feared encountering an Esper’s rampage for the first time in reality, but the sight of Chaewon, who had saved everyone here and was now dying, kept haunting him.

“…Are you planning to die with him?”

Gi-yoon’s voice rang out again beside the hesitating Tae-jun.

Before they realized it, the area had been surrounded by Espers fully armed in combat gear. Tae-jun could already tell that authorization to eliminate Esper Lee Chaewon had been granted.

In the end, Tae-jun forced his trembling legs to move and stepped away from Chaewon.

An unbearable sense of self-loathing washed over him, but there was nothing else he could do.

He wasn’t capable of guiding Chaewon, and he had no justification to stand in their way and protect him.

They couldn’t endanger everyone present just to save one person.

Just as the Esper team that had surrounded the space Tae-jun vacated prepared to attack…

“I can do it.”

A firm voice cut through the air like a ray of hope.

Gi-yoon, who had been looking down at Chaewon writhing in agony, lifted his head to see who had spoken. His expression turned ambiguous.

Standing between him and Chaewon, breathing heavily, was Lee Chaewon’s guide, Jin Su-ha.

****

Su-ha genuinely thought someone had stabbed a knife straight into his heart.

The pain was unmistakably physical. If it had only been an emotional sensation, it couldn’t possibly hurt this much.

He hadn’t even touched Chaewon, yet he could vividly feel the agony Chaewon was experiencing.

After receiving a call from Ye-seon, Su-ha had rushed to the scene while desperately swallowing down his anxiety again and again.

They said it was a fire scene, and Chaewon had only been assigned to rescue people from the rear lines.

He hadn’t been sent to subdue criminals or fight monsters.

So Su-ha kept reassuring himself that everything would be fine.

The teams on site were veterans beyond description.

If the situation had truly been dangerous for Chaewon, Ye-seon would never have sent him there so irresponsibly, even if Chaewon himself insisted.

So it would be fine.

Chaewon wouldn’t be in danger.

He ran while forcing those fears away.

But the moment Su-ha saw Chaewon collapsed on the ground, his entire body battered and pushed to the brink of a rampage, no one could possibly imagine what Su-ha felt.

“Guide Jin Su-ha. Step back.”

The one who blocked Su-ha’s path was Joo Gi-yoon.

It wasn’t because he disliked Su-ha personally. In fact, Gi-yoon was sincerely worried about him.

He didn’t want to see a talented guide risk his life trying to save an Esper who had already gone beyond his limits, only to be destroyed alongside him.

“I can guide him.”

But Su-ha repeated the same words and took another step toward Chaewon.

Once again, Gi-yoon blocked him.

“He’s already entered the rampage stage. If you try guiding him in this state, you might get dragged in too.”

“…”

“Think rationally, Jin Su-ha.”

Gi-yoon himself wasn’t calm either.

Chaewon was one of the rare Espers Gi-yoon cared about and liked, despite usually showing little interest in anyone outside his own team.

On the surface, his reasoning was simple: if Chaewon joined the Disaster Response Team, they could save more people more safely.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

Surprisingly, Gi-yoon actually liked Chaewon on a personal level.

Even though he believed Chaewon’s gentle nature, unusual for an S-class Esper, would eventually become his weakness, whenever he met him, Gi-yoon felt strangely at ease.

They didn’t even have particularly meaningful conversations, yet his mood always improved.

Behind his desire for Chaewon to join the Disaster Response Team was a deeply personal wish, that someone who had lived such a hard life might finally experience some peace and happiness here.

But no matter how sincere those feelings were, they could never outweigh the safety of others.

Here, in this very place, were the team members who trusted and followed Gi-yoon.

Beyond them were numerous civilians who knew nothing about the situation.

An S-class Esper’s rampage was not something you gambled on.

Even if Chaewon were the most important person in the world to him, Gi-yoon would have made the same decision.

“Team leader.”

But Su-ha didn’t step back.

He looked Gi-yoon straight in the eyes.

There wasn’t the slightest trace of hesitation in his gaze or voice.

Gi-yoon frowned and was about to issue another sharp order, but Su-ha spoke first.

“You remember what happened with Esper Jin Se-jin.”

“…”

“I’m not being stubborn just because Esper Lee Chaewon is my paired Esper. I succeeded even in situations with far less hope than this. I’m not irresponsible enough to gamble with all these people’s lives, and I believe I’ve already proven that.”

Gi-yoon had expected Su-ha to beg desperately.

But Su-ha’s voice was nothing like that.

His eyes were clearer than ever, and his voice carried an undeniable certainty.

Su-ha was completely calm now.

When he first saw Chaewon, his chest had felt like it was tearing apart and his mind briefly went blank, but that state didn’t last long.

Begging emotionally wouldn’t save Chaewon.

Su-ha knew that.

The only person who could save Chaewon here was himself.

Not Gi-yoon.

Not Ye-seon.

Not anyone in a higher position.

No one else could give an order to sacrifice everything just to save Chaewon.

Su-ha had to do it.

As Chaewon’s paired guide, the only one capable of calming him, he alone could pull Chaewon back from a fate more miserable than death.

So Su-ha judged the situation more rationally than ever before.

He evaluated his own abilities with cold logic, whether he truly could calm Chaewon in this situation.

If even one unnecessary sacrifice occurred because of him, Chaewon would live with unbearable pain even if he survived.

So more than anyone else, for Chaewon’s sake, Su-ha analyzed everything objectively and reached his conclusion.

“Please trust me.”

“…”

“I… can do it, Team Leader.”

He could calm Chaewon without sacrificing a single person.

Gi-yoon bit his lip.

He had to decide quickly.

Chaewon’s condition was deteriorating by the second, and the scene itself hadn’t been fully secured yet.

There was no time left to deliberate.

Would he choose the safe option, sacrificing one person to protect many?

Or would he take a risk to save everyone?

Finally, Gi-yoon looked directly at Su-ha and issued his command.

“If even the slightest abnormal reaction occurs, eliminating Lee Chaewon becomes the top priority. Jin Su-ha’s safety will not be considered.”

A faint smile appeared on Su-ha’s face.

Those words meant he was being given a chance.

As soon as Gi-yoon’s order was given, the surrounding Espers stepped back slightly, encircling the two and completing their aim.

Even amid the chaos, the civilians sensed the Espers’ tense vigilance toward Chaewon and began to grow uneasy.

“Thank you, Team Leader.”

Su-ha bowed his head briefly to Gi-yoon before approaching Chaewon.

He knelt beside him and gently took hold of Chaewon’s wrist.

“Ah-!”

At that moment, Su-ha bent forward sharply as if his breath had been blocked.

The pain he had vaguely sensed before surged through his fingertips, multiplying several times over and crashing down on him.

Chaewon himself was only trembling silently, unable even to groan, but in Su-ha’s ears, it felt as if Chaewon were screaming in agony.

Did Chaewon not know it would turn out like this?

Had he simply thrown himself into danger because he wanted to save people?

Or did he know?

Perhaps he had known that this might be his last moment, yet still willingly risked his life.

If that were the case…

What had Chaewon been thinking in that final moment?

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