Chapter 27: The Weight of a Bullet

When I was younger, drifting from battlefield to battlefield, I had been shot in the calf once.

I lost consciousness instantly and only woke up two full days later.

And when they dug the bullet out of my flesh, the pain had been unbearable.

It felt less like they were cutting into my leg and more like they were tearing through my brain.

In a place where lives were lost every day, there was no such thing as anesthetics or disinfectant.

They removed the bullet while I was fully conscious, and I blacked out again shortly after.

“f*ck, your lifeline’s tougher than whale tendon. Let’s see now. This time I’ll make sure both of you die.”

I had lost track of how many times I’d bled recently.

Was this some sort of delayed misfortune arriving now that I was finally about to leave the Center?

Whoosh—

“And who exactly are you planning to kill?”

Two men suddenly appeared out of nowhere in empty space.

Faced with the utterly unrealistic sight, the terrorist who had been raging like a madman froze with his mouth hanging open.

It was Kim Seokhwan and Kwon Yiyul.

“Kwon Yiyul, stop wasting time talking and focus on securing the hostages.”

“Alright. But Seokhwan-hyung, do you really have time to nag me right now? There’s a lot to handle.”

“…I was leaving already, so stop being sarcastic.”

“Sure. Good work. See you.”

Kim Seokhwan’s ability was teleportation, and within the team, few powers were more useful than his.

Anything he touched—or anything connected to his body—could be moved instantly to any location regardless of size.

Kwon Yiyul patted Kim Seokhwan’s shoulder in thanks, and Seokhwan disappeared as quickly as he had arrived, as though his role ended there.

“You there. Why aren’t you answering me?”

“W-What are you talking….”

“Who exactly are you planning to kill?”

Not figuratively, but literally in the blink of an eye, Kwon Yiyul had infiltrated the middle of enemy territory and calmly questioned the man writhing beneath his feet.

The terrorist hurriedly aimed his rifle at Yiyul’s face, but the desperate struggle of an ordinary human meant nothing before a monster.

“Haha, this is interesting. Are you actually trying to fight back?”

Kwon Yiyul twisted the gun barrel aside with a single finger before grabbing the man’s face in one hand.

The terrorist clawed at him, hit him, resisted with every ounce of strength he had.

But Kwon Yiyul merely watched the prey’s final resistance with complete indifference.

Dark shadows lingered across his expression.

Crack—

The pulse thrashing within Kwon Yiyul’s grip stopped.

The man’s skull shattered entirely.

Fragments of bone mixed with blood.

The horrific scene looked like something straight out of a horror film, yet it felt strangely unreal rather than frightening.

“H-Hey, what the hell is that bastard?! Shoot him! Shoot!”

The terrorists, finally snapping out of their shock after witnessing their comrade’s death, scrambled into formation to confront Kwon Yiyul.

Honestly, I almost felt sorry for them.

Judging by their appearance, it looked like they had simply tried to rob the department store without much planning.

Considering how crude and simple their methods were, there was a high chance they were illegal immigrants who had only recently escaped the conflict zones.

And if that assumption was correct, then it wasn’t surprising they didn’t know about Kwon Yiyul, the Center’s hero and the world’s strongest Esper.

I silently offered condolences for the obvious future awaiting them.

‘What a shame.’

I did feel pity for them.

But regardless, they were still terrorists.

Murderers who had slaughtered civilians indiscriminately.

Illegal trespassers who had crossed into the upper districts without authorization.

In short, they weren’t people worth sympathizing with.

“You really shouldn’t fire guns. Causing any more casualties would be troublesome for us too.”

“W-What?”

“I already got lectured enough about not acting recklessly because there are so many hostages here. So considering all the effort I’m putting in, I’d appreciate it if you quietly wrapped this up now.”

The bullets fired by the terrorists stopped in midair.

Not just one or two, but thousands of bullets floated above the room like hanging mobiles.

Kwon Yiyul was using telekinesis.

Every Esper’s ability had different characteristics, but telekinesis in particular required extremely delicate control and inflicted terrifying mental strain, making it a power most Espers avoided using unless absolutely necessary.

Using his fingers as a catalyst, Kwon Yiyul gathered every bullet suspended in the air.

Naturally, he also stripped the terrorists of every weapon they carried—guns, knives, everything.

The men stared blankly as if unable to comprehend that the very weapons they depended on for survival had been stolen so effortlessly.

Or perhaps they simply couldn’t believe a human possessing such monstrous power could truly exist.

“Shut the f*ck up, you crazy bastard. Hey! Don’t we have more guns left? Weapons?”

“Ah, this is why people say never to associate with uneducated idiots.”

“…What….”

The neck of the man commanding the terrorists disappeared.

Literally disappeared.

The neck that had been perfectly attached moments earlier separated from his body and rolled across the floor together with the scattered shell casings.

His corpse collapsed into the pool of blood gathering around the fountain.

Blood splashed everywhere with a wet splatter, painting a gruesome scene.

Creeeak—

“Hyung, did you really have to drag me here too? You could’ve handled something at this level alone.”

“In theory, yes. But Suchang-ah, I can’t manage those two by myself. Siram is one thing, but you’ll have to take Jaeyoon yourself.”

“…f*ck, you only ever dump the annoying jobs on me.”

The one responsible for that terrorist leader’s death was Park Suchang, who had entered the building shortly after Kwon Yiyul.

Using random debris scattered around him, he ripped apart the heads of the terrorists charging toward him one after another.

Their corpses were mangled so grotesquely they looked like wild beasts had torn them limb from limb, and the stench filling the air was unbearable.

“I knew this would happen the moment those two said they were going out together. Seriously, they’re like some cursed pied piper duo. Trouble follows them everywhere.”

After wiping out most of the terrorists waiting on the second floor, Park Suchang found Choi Siram and me instantly even amidst the chaos.

Judging from the violent psychic waves radiating from him, he was furious.

“Suchang-ah….”

“Stop crying and wrap this around yourself. I’ll finish things up and come back.”

“…Okay.”

“That aside….”

Ignoring me entirely despite the bullet graze on my shoulder, Park Suchang focused solely on Choi Siram.

It was already the middle of winter, and with the heating system no longer functioning, the building interior was freezing.

Park Suchang draped his jacket over Choi Siram’s shoulders and curtly stated they would discuss the details after returning to the Center.

“Hey, refugee.”

Then his attention shifted to me.

“Yes.”

“Are you out of your damn mind?”

“…I’m not sure what you mean again….”

“You should’ve stopped him.”

Park Suchang cut me off and monopolized the conversation.

“If you’ve spent that long at the Center, then at the very least you should’ve properly taught Choi Siram how dangerous it is to go out without team members. Even if today’s outing was his idea in the first place. Then at minimum you should’ve brought guards or Center staff with you. Do you know how shocked we were when the control room tracked your location after the incident happened?”

“…….”

“…More specifically, Choi Siram’s location.”

Park Suchang corrected himself in a way that left absolutely no room for misunderstanding.

To them, I was disposable.

Choi Siram, on the other hand, was their irreplaceable exclusive Guide.

I understood that logically, yet my chest still burned painfully.

It wasn’t as though I wanted praise for getting hurt in Choi Siram’s place.

And yet every word Park Suchang spoke felt cruel.

‘Right. I was wondering why this was being ignored so quietly.’

I was an adult, and so was Choi Siram.

In fact, Choi Siram was the same age as Kwon Yiyul—six years older than me.

Then shouldn’t he at least be responsible for himself?

Shouldn’t he be allowed to handle his own problems?

I was not Choi Siram’s servant.

Nor his guardian, babysitter, or bodyguard.

I had no reason to sacrifice part of my daily life for him.

No reason to lower my pride just to constantly prioritize his existence.

“I do not feel even the slightest guilt regarding this incident. Honestly, I don’t even understand why I should.”

“…What?”

“However, I will apologize.”

The moment I cut the conversation short, Park Suchang looked even more enraged and pressed against my wounded shoulder mockingly, as if daring me to continue.

“…Ha. So you’re saying this situation isn’t your fault, but you’ll apologize anyway? Why? Why would someone with such a noble, stubborn personality bother doing something so troublesome?”

“Because that’s what you want, Park Suchang-ssi.”

“…….”

“So I’ll apologize. I’m sorry, Choi Siram-ssi. Next time, I’ll try harder to support you properly.”

The instant I gave a perfunctory bow toward Choi Siram, Park Suchang suddenly grabbed my collar and began choking me.

The monstrous strength crushing my throat made it feel as though the bones connecting my spine and skull would snap at any moment.

My feet lifted completely off the ground.

Tears welled in my eyes, but I hypnotized myself into believing it was merely an instinctive physical response to facing death.

“You little piece of shit….”

“Hey, Park Suchang! Let go! Let him go, are you insane?”

Choi Siram rushed over frantically and struggled to pry Park Suchang’s hand away from my throat.

But Park Suchang showed no intention of loosening his grip, even with Choi Siram trying to stop him.

My consciousness gradually blurred as my vision repeatedly faded in and out.