Chapter 42: What He Couldn’t See

‘Guides?’

That couldn’t be right.

They were all clearly… Espers.

As I blankly replayed the situation in my mind, Hyung laid the pillow down, telling me to go to sleep.

He didn’t try to touch my body.

“You sleep too.”

When I tried to take his hand again, this time he even stepped back.

“After you wake up, Hyung. Let’s talk again then.”

Perhaps because I was being a nuisance, even Hyung’s voice became stiff.

At this, the tears that had only been welling up began to fall, one or two drops at a time.

I shed tears without making a sound.

“Call me if you need anything.”

Chul-soo hyung turned his back and was about to leave the bedroom.

At the sight of his retreating back, words slipped out without thought.

I should have waited until after I woke up to bring it up, just as Hyung said.

“Why did you lie.”

“……”

“Your rehabilitation therapy ended three hours ago.”

I trailed off, saying I had heard everything from the desk employee.

My dizzy head was making me spew words without control.

“What were you doing that you had to lie?”

“And you, Hyung.”

Hyung, who had stopped on his way to the living room, swallowed a sigh.

“How honest have you been with me?”

Without even looking at me, Hyung muttered under his breath and started walking again.

I felt like I couldn’t let him go like this.

My subconscious screamed at me to hold onto him.

“Don’t go.”

I threw off the covers and sat up on my knees, facing Hyung.

If I couldn’t stand, I was ready to crawl to hold him back.

“You, you didn’t get your Guiding today.”

Hyung and I had started doing Guiding every day.

It was becoming a routine, just like how I would get his phone for him every morning.

Chul-soo hyung liked my Guiding.

I know that even if he dislikes me, he needs my body.

As I sent out my Guiding, Hyung, who had been turned toward the door, looked at me.

I released a stronger wave of Guiding, pulling him in.

Thankfully, Chul-soo hyung followed my Guiding and walked toward the bed.

Even his heavy footsteps sounded angry.

The only thought in my mind was that I needed to give him Guiding to calm him down.

I reached out my hand to the approaching Hyung, and Chul-soo hyung grabbed not my hand, but my sleeve, and pulled.

“You’re thinking of sleeping with me with this arm?”

The blotches hidden under my clothes were revealed.

Different colored handprints and bruises still covered my arm.

“I did this, didn’t I.”

Hyung had seen it.

“Since when has it been like this?”

Chul-soo hyung let go of my body and took a step back.

He was certain he had done it.

He was the kind of Hyung who could grasp any situation at a glance without needing a lengthy explanation.

“No.”

Knowing him, I still denied it.

‘You didn’t do it.’

I thought I could deceive the younger Chul-soo hyung.

“You didn’t do it. Really—.”

Hyung threw the water glass he was holding.

The glass bounced off the wall, and without breaking, rolled across the floor with a loud clatter.

“If not me, then who. Tell me. Who.”

Hyung’s voice was calm.

His cool expression also seemed composed, but the emotions crammed inside were being transmitted to me.

I had to calm him down first.

“I’m okay.”

Reading Hyung’s Wavelength through my skin, I got out of bed.

Making other excuses would only make him angrier, so I spoke honestly.

“It’s true. I’m really okay. I’m dull to pain.”

‘Should I have said I was sorry for hiding it?’

But Chul-soo hyung hated it when I apologized.

‘Or not?’

The current Hyung might be different, so I babbled whatever came to mind.

“I’m sorry for not telling you. I was afraid you wouldn’t sleep with me if you knew…. You, you just grabbed my arm in your sleep, that’s all. You let go as soon as you heard my voice, and you didn’t even grab it hard. If it hurt, my bones would have broken. But look, I’m perfectly fine.”

I rubbed my arm, shook it hard, and held it out to him.

It really was nothing.

It only looks serious because I bruise easily.

‘What’s the big deal about something like this?’

“Then what if it did break. What would you say then.”

“……”

“It’s okay because I didn’t die?”

A twisted smile formed on Hyung’s face as he rubbed his lips.

Then, looking at the water glass he had thrown, he slowly began to shake his head.

With such a weary face.

“We’d be better off staying apart.”

Before Hyung could even finish his sentence, I pulled him into a hug.

6. Seo Yeong-u Guide

The roars of monsters echoed endlessly from all directions.

The ever-increasing number of Gates today had left the Espers’ faces looking more and more gaunt and haggard.

The low-rank Espers stationed in Sector 3, in particular, were having a hell of a time.

Who would have thought they would see Red Code Gates, which used to only appear in Sectors 1 and 4, on a daily basis?

“I, f*cking really…!”

A Barrier user who had come to support a low-rank Attack-type team was slowly reaching his limit.

He too was not high-rank, so it was not easy for him to fulfill his role.

A single swing of a Red Code giant monster’s arm would shatter his Barrier to pieces.

“Please maintain the Barrier properly!”

“Did you come here to play?!”

He no longer had the strength to retort to the constant nagging from the Attack-type Espers.

They blamed the Barrier user every time they got hurt, even though it was their own weakness that got them hit.

Attack-type Espers and Barrier users had always had a relationship of biting and tearing at each other.

“Ugh.”

Eventually, the Barrier user’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.

His body was just as wounded as the Attack-type Espers.

It was because he had poured his energy into others’ Barriers, leaving only a thin protective layer for himself.

Unable to bear the pain, the Barrier user finally stopped using his ability, and screams mixed with curses erupted from all around.

But he closed his ears, knowing that if he tried to create another Barrier here, he himself would go into a Rampage.

‘If I could just get some Guiding, I could last a few more minutes.’

But finding an on-site Guide was like plucking a star from the sky, so he just chewed on a Guiding pill and massaged his trembling hands.

“Wow, I…”

Just then, he saw the giant tail of a monster flying toward him and shut his eyes.

He didn’t even have the strength left to run.

It seemed it was his fate to die today.

BANG-!

Startled by the heavy gunshot, the Barrier user’s eyes shot open, and he gasped.

There was no need to search for the source of the sound; it was ringing right from behind him.

BANG, BANG!

What surprised the Barrier user wasn’t the uniform gunshots, but the Guiding that allowed him to breathe.

Guns were useless against Red Code monsters anyway.

They could only slow them down.

“Get back and stay safe.”

The Guide holding the gun said, releasing a strong wave of Radial Guiding.

He couldn’t believe it, but it was a real Guide.

Moreover, he seemed to be an A-rank Guide, as just a short burst of Radial Guiding was enough to restore strength to his body.

“You can move, right?”

The Barrier user looked at the Guide’s light brown head and doubted his own eyes.

The small Guide’s body was suddenly flying up into the air.

‘My god… does a Guide who uses abilities exist?’

His question was short-lived, as the body of the monster, which hadn’t flinched even when dozens of Espers attacked simultaneously, began to split in half.

The monster’s tearing scream ended in an instant.

At the same time, the Gate, having lost its light, shattered cleanly.

“……”

All the Espers watching could only stand with their mouths agape, unable to utter a word.

Without even needing to wonder what was happening, everyone was watching just one person.

There was only one person who could kill a monster without laying a hand on it.

Lee Tae-hwan Esper of Attack Team 1.

“I told you not to do any Guiding.”

“I didn’t! Let’s go!”

Floating high in the sky with his S-rank Psychokinesis, he embraced his Guide, who had been running around shooting, and they moved away.

Just like the rumors said, he really did carry his Guide on his hip.

“Wow…”

The Barrier user brushed himself off and stood up, watching them head toward the next Gate.

It was a shame he could only see their backs.

“Is this the time to be distracted?”

Just then, a tall Esper approached the Barrier user.

It was Aran of Barrier Team 3.

Recognizing her, the Barrier user quickly straightened his posture.

“I was just letting my guard down…”

The Barrier user, who was mumbling an excuse, flinched his shoulders and turned his head in the direction Aran was watching.

A new Gate was forming in a spot that had been empty just a moment ago.

Judging by the speed at which it was forming, it was a Gate from which monsters would pour out immediately.

The estimated rank was—.

“Retreat with us.”

“What?!”

Half of the Attack-type team, which had many injured due to the unstable Barrier, was in the process of retreating.

Aran, holding a crude axe in one hand, called her colleagues on her watch and sent the Barrier user away with them.

Even the Espers who still had the strength to fight were visibly exhausted, so she sent them all back.

“Why are you here alone again, sunbaenim!”

Hwang Gyu-tae Esper, who had rushed over, had just dealt with a nearby Gate.

He was holding a hammer with large cannonballs attached to long chains on both ends.

It was a weapon he had made himself.

“The kid who came for support stopped putting up the Barrier midway. Said he was sick of hearing the Attack-type guys b*tch.”

“Aigoo, looks like a little one came out.”

Aran first froze the already open entrance with a Barrier.

At her signal, Gyu-tae swung his hammer and shattered the Gate.

They had to finish it quickly before the monsters came out.

It was something regular Barrier users wouldn’t even dare to attempt.

“Gyu-tae.”

Gyu-tae, instantly understanding Aran’s call, stepped back and strengthened the Barrier.

A sticky liquid spewed out from inside the cracked Gate.

As the black liquid fell to the ground, it started to bubble and rot.

Whatever it was, it was a substance that shouldn’t be touched.

“Did you call Seung-jun sunbae too?! Sunbae’s stomach was torn yesterday, he must be having a hard time!”

At the sound of Seung-jun’s voice approaching from a distance, Gyu-tae grumbled at Aran with a worried face.

Contrary to his worries, Seung-jun walked just fine, pulling a sword embedded in a tattered monster’s body.

His expression was quite serious as he checked the condition of the sword while holding a phone to his shoulder, talking.

Aran, watching Seung-jun on the phone, suddenly took out her own.

She had just left it in her pocket since dinner.

She often put it on silent when she came to the field so as not to be disturbed while handling the Barrier.

Urgent calls came through the watch anyway.

Aran, who had created a double Barrier around the Gate spewing the mysterious liquid, frowned slightly.

There were three missed calls from Yeong-u.

“I get it, so you just stay home.”

The sound of Yeong-u’s tearful voice came from over Seung-jun’s phone.

Aran immediately asked Seung-jun.

“What’s wrong.”

Seung-jun, wiping the viscous monster blood from the long blade, answered first with a sigh.

“The Team Leader has left home.”