Chapter 5: Standing Until They Fell

Lee Ju-ju wiped the cold sweat trickling down his forehead.

‘Right, if he’s still aiming a gun at me, he isn’t human.’

There was no way the rampage situation could have ended with a level of guiding that was merely a poke with a finger.

Still, was it at least a first-aid measure?

Lee Ju-ju, who had been examining the Esper’s face without lowering his guard, finally murmured quietly.

“I’m having a hard time.”

Standard procedure dictates that ordinary Espers become restless when a Guide whines.

That was why he tried whining.

However, this dangerous Esper on the brink of going berserk did not get restless at all; instead, he just stared at Lee Ju-ju with a face full of evident bewilderment.

Rather, it was the other Espers who began to not know what to do, fearing something might go wrong with Lee Ju-ju.

“Colonel, he doesn’t seem to be a civilian, but he doesn’t seem to be a demonic beast either.”

“…”

“Could it be a superability that assists Espers?”

“I see.”

Realization dawned on Colonel Shan Pei’s face at the mention of ‘a superability that assists Espers.’

Similarly, a few other Espers also looked as if they had just realized something.

“He is undoubtedly a mental-type Esper. Everyone, stay sharp.”

Supernatural power began to boil up and shimmer from Colonel Shan Pei’s entire body.

Lee Ju-ju, who had been watching how the situation would unfold with an easygoing look, suddenly snapped to attention.

‘He’s going to go berserk at this rate!’

“I told you I’m not an Esper!”

Whether he was a Colonel or whatever, it seemed he hadn’t put his own safety on his priority list at the very least.

“I gave you guiding, didn’t I?”

Out of frustration, a petulant tone slipped out.

“Do you want to become monster food in the Gate?”

‘Wow, seriously, what an elegant way to tell me to shut up.’

“…”

Lee Ju-ju pressed his lips together tightly as if he had never been shouted upon.

He didn’t forget to glare at him sorrowfully with a dissatisfied face.

He had touched him with the resolve to die in order to save the Colonel (and to save himself as well), but receiving extreme vigilance in return felt unjust.

“Shall we bind him?”

“No.”

The Esper next to the one who had defended Lee Ju-ju just a moment ago spoke up.

The Colonel replied with a frigid face without even shaking his head.

“You must not touch him. It seems he exerts his ability strongly upon contact.”

“Is that so?”

Naturally, the Espers glanced at Lee Ju-ju.

Lee Ju-ju turned his eyes to the Esper who had suggested binding him; that Esper’s hair shone ash-grey under the moonlight.

‘Ah, I like sleeping with Espers who have pretty hair colors.’

Lee Ju-ju, who had been looking at him with a gloomy face, paused for a moment.

‘What am I looking at right now?’

And then, he rubbed his eyes with both hands.

‘Crazy.’

The ash-grey haired Esper’s eyes were also flashing an ominous black.

Lee Ju-ju had to cover his mouth with both hands to suppress the scream that was about to burst out.

‘Why are there two Espers on the brink of rampage?’

Not only did he suddenly become quiet, but as Lee Ju-ju began to retreat backward while scooting on his butt in shock, the Espers’ gazes focused on him all at once.

“What is it?”

“Is it a monster?”

Some Espers even raised their guns again and scanned the surroundings.

Then, the moon, which had been half-covered by clouds, revealed itself completely, and bright moonlight flooded in through the broken emergency exit window.

‘Good God.’

Lee Ju-ju held back the tears threatening to fall.

The eyes of every single Esper were pitch black.

Lee Ju-ju fought off the urge to faint with a mental fortitude brimming with tears.

If he fainted here, he was definitely scheduled to die at the hands of the Espers who had gone berserk as a group.

To survive, he had to manage these Espers here and escape this damn facility, no, this Gate.

When they confirmed that there were no monsters, let alone a shadow, no matter how much they looked around, the Espers looked at Lee Ju-ju suspiciously, their ominous black eyes shining.

Eyes glowing black like embedded obsidian.

“…I wish this were a dream.”

At the hollow murmur, the Espers’ gazes followed.

The Espers’ eyes moved sharply in accordance with the shape of Lee Ju-ju’s parting lips and his slight movements.

Fortunately or unfortunately, since he had sprinkled a little bit of radiating guiding, it was understandable that the Espers were focusing all their attention on Lee Ju-ju.

Lee Ju-ju would swear he was the first Guide to ever encounter so many Espers on the brink of rampage.

He sighed deeply and stood up from where he had been sitting.

“Forget binding or whatever, let’s get out of here quickly. We’ll all die at this rate.”

“Unidentified Esper. Explain yourself clearly. Have you grasped something about this Gate?”

Lee Ju-ju did not yield to Colonel Shan Pei’s stiff voice.

To be accurate, after facing a large group of Espers on the brink of rampage, there was nothing left to fear.

Lee Ju-ju stared straight at the Colonel.

“I told you my name is Lee Ju-ju.”

The Colonel’s eyes, which had taken on the color of a terrible, pitch-black abyss, had brightened slightly.

Lee Ju-ju gauged his original eye color while staggering to barely lift his body.

“It’s S-Class Guide, Lee Ju-ju-nim.”

“That sound about being a Guide again.”

The Colonel muttered as if he were hearing the word ‘Guide’ for the first time.

It also sounded like a tone implying that the attempt to deceive him was commendable.

Just in case, Lee Ju-ju introduced himself as a ‘Guide’ again, but when the result remained unchanged, he spat out a curse.

“Oh, f*ck.”

However, all that returned was a gaze that had grown even colder.

Lee Ju-ju looked around, thinking he felt lonely enough to die.

“Right, you all look like you don’t have your own Guides.”

Sons of bitches.

No matter how overflowing Guides are, Espers are all within the palm of a Guide’s hand.

Even if Lee Ju-ju muttered hollowly, they simply furrowed their brows to understand the word they were hearing for the first time and did not respond to Lee Ju-ju’s words.

“I don’t know how you’re all still intact. Am I dreaming?”

But if it were a dream, he would have woken up long ago.

They were Espers who couldn’t understand even if he told them, but Lee Ju-ju announced his guiding to them according to protocol.

“Starting radiating guiding.”

Lee Ju-ju, who had glared at the Espers resentfully, squeezed his eyes shut.

And then, he began the radiating guiding in earnest.

****

For radiating guiding, the standard was to think of one’s body as a watering can and imagine sprinkling water while drawing a large circle within the radius where the Espers were gathered.

The problem was that a watering can was not enough to soothe Espers on the brink of rampage.

Fortunately, Lee Ju-ju was an S-Class Guide with exceptional talent for guiding.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have done it because it was a waste of energy, but in this situation, he couldn’t think of a better idea.

‘Watering can, my foot.’

Lee Ju-ju imagined not a watering can, but a rubber hose shooting out water in a violent straight line.

He would grab the rubber hose with his hand and shoot guiding at the Espers violently, as if firing a water gun.

It wasn’t bad for a method he came up with for the first time.

The effect was immediate.

The Espers, who stood their ground for about 10 seconds, began to melt down in less than a minute, starting with the ones at the very back.

Watching that sight, Lee Ju-ju realized that these Espers were organized just as well as they appeared.

The strongest Esper was positioned closest to Lee Ju-ju, and the further away the Esper was from Lee Ju-ju, the weaker they were.

It was a violent guiding that would have easily gotten him referred to the Esper Human Rights Committee if it were known that he performed radiating guiding in this manner.

And the stronger the Esper, the longer they could resist this kind of guiding.

They were surrounding the dangerous element (?) in order of strength.

The method where the weaker Espers supported the strong Espers from the back, it was quite clever.

‘I thought they just rounded up Espers on the brink of rampage randomly…’

With faces half-melted, the Espers began to kneel or lie down one by one.

Colonel Shan Pei, who was taking the guiding right in front of Lee Ju-ju, was no exception; he stumbled greatly, braced himself against the wall, and glared at Lee Ju-ju.

‘The closer they are, the stronger the intensity of the guiding, but he’s quite impressive.’

Lee Ju-ju did not go easy on him and increased the intensity of the guiding more, and more, and more.

“Stop.”

The Colonel commanded in a completely hoarse voice, but he was not Lee Ju-ju’s superior nor was he Lee Ju-ju’s Esper.

Lee Ju-ju was still radiating guiding with all his might.

“Be quiet.”

Lee Ju-ju murmured while looking into the Colonel’s eyes, which were starting to clear up.

The Colonel’s eyes were originally blue.

Although they were still a dark color because he hadn’t received proper guiding, Lee Ju-ju liked the original blue light that glimpsed through.

He couldn’t even breathe properly, gasping as he received Lee Ju-ju’s guiding.

The other Espers were the same.

This suffocating standoff continued for over an hour.

Maybe it was two hours.

After what felt like an eternity, Lee Ju-ju was only able to relax his stiffly standing body with a deep sigh after all the Espers resisting the radiating guiding had collapsed.