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Join the ServerWhat on earth happened? My heart plummeted the moment I saw Park Hyeon-seo’s photo, illuminated by a gray flame.
In that instant, an unsettling thought flashed through my mind.
‘Could Yoon Geon-woo possibly have… harmed Park Hyeon-seo?’
The image of him aiming the taser at the fallen Park Hyeon-seo. The crimson bloodstain on his cheek. And his failure to immediately answer when I inquired about Park Hyeon-seo’s whereabouts—everything felt shrouded in suspicion. While it was possible that Park Hyeon-seo’s elimination wasn’t Yoon Geon-woo’s doing, the circumstances left me no choice but to be suspicious.
In truth, even if he had attacked Park Hyeon-seo, who was on the opposing team, it wouldn’t have been a significant issue, given that we were in the midst of a death game. The very rules of the game dictated shooting the opposing team’s guide to eliminate them. In a way, Yoon Geon-woo had simply taken care of what needed to be done.
What troubled me, however, was his abrupt change of words after claiming he was going to rescue Park Hyeon-seo in my stead. If Yoon Geon-woo had intended to attack Park Hyeon-seo from the start? Given his personality, he would have openly fired his gun rather than resorting to deception and secrecy with me, his own teammate.
‘Could there have been a compelling reason for him to attack?’
An S-rank Esper, with all their power, would hardly have faced a life-threatening danger from a Guide utterly devoid of combat ability. Unless it was merely a fit of his usual capriciousness, I felt there must have been an unavoidable reason for Yoon Geon-woo to lay hands on Park Hyeon-seo.
Yet, the more I entertained such hypotheses, the more unnecessary suspicions bloomed, so I shook my head, dispelling the intrusive thoughts.
“This isn’t the time for… Ugh.”
I tried to slowly push myself up, but the arm that had been cradling my head felt utterly devoid of strength. A sharp, stinging pain accompanied its limp, useless dangle, confirming that my right shoulder was likely broken.
My luck was truly terrible. With no other choice, I laboriously reloaded my gun using my left hand. Scanning the area where Yoon Geon-woo was likely to be, it appeared a fierce battle was raging. Amidst flashing blue light, I saw the Ophedian writhing.
CRASH—
RUMBLE—
Powerful forces clashed, causing the entire training ground to shudder. As a result, the pile of temple debris I was perched upon swayed precariously. There seemed to be no need for me to intervene in a battle of such a different caliber. Therefore, my task must be to handle everything else.
‘Since things have come to this… I need to get everyone out of the training ground as quickly as possible.’
As Yoon Geon-woo’s battle with the beast raged on, I could see the students beyond the boundary line growing increasingly disoriented by the violent tremors. The students, who had been sniping at each other, seemed to have noticed the abnormal phenomena within the training ground, as they began to scatter and seek cover.
‘What on earth are the teachers doing?’
Boundary line or not, a disturbance of this magnitude should surely trigger abnormal phenomena across the entire training ground. The teachers in charge of today’s class should have been well aware of it, yet there had been no news from them, causing my frustration to boil over.
‘A-rank pair from the Central Agency or not, their handling of this is utterly botched.’
I let out a string of curses under my breath. There was no other choice. I had to step up. Taking a deep breath, I finally managed to push myself to my feet, and the entire training ground spread out before my eyes.
Currently, there were six survivors apart from Yoon Geon-woo and me. If all of them were eliminated, we would naturally be able to exit the training ground.
‘Can I really do this?’
It was my first time holding a gun with my left hand, rather than my dominant right. I knelt on one knee, steadying my posture. Soon, I began to systematically take down the closest targets.
Yet, sniping at my classmates as they screamed and fled felt stranger than I had anticipated. Even with the scope, firing with my unaccustomed hand meant the eliminations weren’t as clean as I wished.
It took anywhere from two to five shots per person before the indicator light on the ceiling flickered off, signaling their elimination. After enduring such arduous effort, only one person remained.
In the interim, Yoon Geon-woo, who had been locked in combat with the beast, also appeared to have brought the situation under control to some extent. It was clear at a glance that Yoon Geon-woo had seized victory. The area within the boundary line was saturated with Yoon Geon-woo’s blue ability and what appeared to be the Ophedian’s green bloodstains, leaving no doubt.
“Just… one more.”
My stomach still churned, and my hand cramped from supporting the weight of the taser with only one limb. The training uniform I’d borrowed from Yoon Geon-woo was soaked through with sweat from the sheer tension.
I can do this. I can absolutely do this. I whispered affirmations to myself, steadying my breath. Once my breathing seemed somewhat calm, I soothed my trembling fingers and aimed at the last fleeing target.
BANG—
Damn it, I missed. My errant shot had only heightened the opponent’s wariness. Now, there was no choice but to use my last resort. I mustered every last ounce of my remaining strength and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the person attempting to flee into the structure.
Tat-tat-tat-tat—
BANG— BANG—
It was a ruthless spray of gunfire, bordering on a wild rampage. Attacking a fellow student in such a messy manner bothered me deeply. I resolved to offer a simple apology once we were out of here.
“Haa… It’s finally… over…”
As the tension drained from me, I found I couldn’t even twitch a finger. A tingling pain shot through my cramped hand, starved of blood flow.
I yearned to collapse and rest immediately, but it wasn’t the time yet. Managing to compose myself, I checked the display board on the ceiling and saw the signal indicating the end of the practical training.
[ GAME OVER ]
[ Duration ┃ 52:02 ]
[ Remaining Participants ┃ 02/34 ]
Only two survivors remained within the training ground: Yoon Geon-woo and I. With the students’ safety now secured, I turned my head, searching for Yoon Geon-woo, who must still be confronting the Ophedian.
[ WARNING ]
[ WARNING ]
[ WARNING ]
For some reason, a blaring siren erupted, and the display board on the ceiling began to glow crimson. With the ominous glow of the warning message, the entire interior of the training ground began to shake violently, as if poised to collapse.
As the temple debris I was standing on began to crumble, I immediately lowered my body, attempting to regain my balance. However, the speed of the collapse was a step ahead of me.
Instead of discarding the taser I still clutched, I grabbed onto a protruding section of the structure, clinging on for dear life. Could Yoon Geon-woo’s warning to “hang on skillfully” have been meant for a situation like this? Though I exerted every last ounce of strength, it was only a matter of time before I fell.
RUMBLE—
Sure enough. After a couple more violent tremors, the strength in my grip finally gave way. I was flung away with the collapsing temple, unable to hold on for much longer.
Falling from such a height, it was clear this wouldn’t end with a mere injury. A horrifying pain erupted in my abdomen, as if I’d been impaled by debris.
It hurt. The pain was so intense it felt as though my internal organs would spill out of my mouth. The moment I squeezed my eyes shut, a sturdy embrace enveloped me, accompanied by a blue aura that seemed capable of incinerating everything around us.
BLAZE—
I didn’t need to look to know who had caught me in their arms. Slowly, I raised my head, and my gaze met a pair of chillingly blue eyes.
“I told you to hang on skillfully, didn’t I?”
A faint red line marked Yoon Geon-woo’s left cheek as he spoke calmly. It appeared to be a wound sustained during his battle with the beast. But that wasn’t the only change in his appearance. His entire body was coated in a suspicious, viscous fluid. Given its green hue, it was likely the residue left after dealing with the Ophedian.
When I hastily pulled away from his touch, the viscous fluid transferred from him stretched into sticky, thin lines. Damn it. I thought I had barely saved my life, but this was an emergency.
“Haa… You never pay attention in class, do you?”
At my rebuke, Yoon Geon-woo furrowed his brows, as if asking what nonsense I was spouting after he’d just saved me. The fact that he didn’t refute it seemed to confirm his consistently unenthusiastic attitude toward classes. The pain in my abdomen intensified, so I sighed softly and spoke.
“Ugh… Ophedians… carry a fatal poison… in their blood… Haa…”
“…Poison?”
“The antidote… is the Ophedian’s heart… *pant*… the magic stone inside the heart… the magic stone…”
Yoon Geon-woo, an S-rank Esper, should possess a poison resistance commensurate with his rank. But I, a mere B-rank Guide, did not. Even as I continued to speak, my head already felt dizzy. I couldn’t tell if it was due to the toxins from the Ophedian’s blood or the bleeding from my abdomen.
“Magic stone? Wait… why are you bleeding…?”
Seeing him hesitate, it seemed he had belatedly discovered the wound in my abdomen. Through my blurry vision, I saw him moving frantically.
‘Surely, I’m not going to die again, am I?’
My head spun. Yoon Geon-woo shook my body, which had begun to sag as all my strength drained away.
BANG!
At that moment, an unidentified gunshot rang out. Yoon Geon-woo’s body twitched in response. There shouldn’t have been any survivors inside the training ground apart from us, so who could have fired the shot?
I wanted to identify the culprit, but fierce blue flames erupted around us, completely obscuring my vision.
“f*ck.”
Fortunately, it seemed he had blocked the shot… Along with the curse, sticky blood splattered onto my face as I lay there. It appeared to be from Yoon Geon-woo, who had overused his ability.
I mustered my last reserves of strength to check Yoon Geon-woo’s contamination level.
[Contamination Level 88%]
How much ability had he used in that short time? His contamination level had already exceeded the danger threshold.
If I left him like this, he would likely go berserk… What should I do? Even as I lost consciousness, my mind was filled with various worries.
“Sogum! Snap out of it!”
Yoon Geon-woo’s urgent voice echoed in my ears.
Why do you only call me by my name at times like this? It’s unsettling.
My eyelids, heavy as lead, slowly closed. Just like before, my vision flickered—then went out.
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Read : Looking For My Child's Father
