Chapter 98: What Really Happened

I walked out to the living room with unsteady steps to find a pale version of my past self and a deeply frowning Hyun Taewoon in a standoff.

“I’m not going to be your exclusive anymore.”

“What kind of bullsh*t is that.”

At my words to quit being his exclusive, he spoke with a serious face.
I had thought he would be happy if I quit, but he was frowning, with one eyebrow furrowed.

“I said I’m quitting.”

My past self’s face looked as if tears would burst out if touched, and indeed, as soon as he spoke, tears flowed silently down my cheeks.
Then, he, who had been wearing a harsh expression until just a moment ago, didn’t know what to do and his face was colored with worry.

“What’s wrong with you? Did something happen?”

“I’m tired of being with you now.”

Knowing the circumstances and seeing it again, my past actions felt cruel.
However, whether I had misunderstood or not, the fact that the situation had deteriorated to this point was because of him.
If only he had looked at my efforts even a little and opened his heart…

“Lee Shinui, tell me exactly what’s wrong. I just don’t get it.”

“I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

I was about to leave the house just like that, but he grabbed my wrist, and I had no choice but to stop.
And at the ill-timed moment, the gate emergency alert sounded.

<S-Class Gate appearance in Sector 221. S-Class Gate appearance.>

“F*ck, an S-Class gate in this situation?”

He checked the Guiding Watch alert with a disbelieving face and then looked at me again with a worried face.
But my face had turned colder than ever.

“Let’s just do this gate and then end it. I’m going to leave this house, and I’m never going to see you again.”

He told me to stay home, but since I wanted to sort out my relationship with him after this S-Class gate, I argued with him for a while.
And in the end, I broke his will.

“Then, I’ll teleport, so promise me you’ll just stay in the guiding shelter.”

I could see my past self nodding perfunctorily at his words.
And then, he and I teleported to the shelter.

「Shall we move to the gate too? It’s finally the devil’s gate you wanted to know about.」

At Sung Yohan’s words, I, like my past self, also nodded slightly.
My head was in a daze from the bracelet incident, as if I had taken a strong drug.

He held my hand and quickly moved to the shelter.
Not far away, I could see my past self and him.

“Just wait here quietly. Let’s talk again after it’s over.”

As I kept my mouth shut stubbornly, not even looking at him, unlike usual, he became like a restless child, unlike himself.

“Shinui, please answer me.”

He hoped I would answer, but in the end, he couldn’t hear it and moved to the gate.

The inside of the shelter was silent, like a funeral home, with a heavy atmosphere.
Just being in this space felt like my breath was being squeezed.

As soon as he left, Wonjae came to my side.

“Hyung, I heard it’s your birthday today, congratulations. I think you must be upset that an S-Class gate opened on your birthday.”

There was no bracelet on his wrist.
Of course.
The same bracelet as his would be lying on my bedroom floor.

When I didn’t answer, he also moved away with a somber face, and Minseong came to my side, looked at the real-time monitor, and said.

“Shinui-ssi, Esper Hyun Taewoon doesn’t look so good.”

At those words, I immediately checked the monitor.
My face, which had been cold just a moment ago, was now dark with worry as I looked at his tired figure.

And as if to amplify that worry, a rampage warning message came from my Guiding Watch.

At the sight of him ignoring the return notification I had sent, heat rushed to my face, and my body became restless with anxiety.

When I saw him falling from the gate situation monitor, I finally stood up.
And so, my past self moved to the exclusive room, put on a special combat suit with Minseong, and held an energy gun in my hand.

From then on, it was a series of terrible events, so I didn’t want to watch.

He and I followed my past self outside.
The outside was even more horrific than I remembered.
The ground was covered with the corpses of people and monsters to the point where there was no room to step, and the air was filled with the stench of rotting blood, and screams echoed incessantly.

My past self, in a place teeming with monsters, forgot my fear and called his name until my voice was hoarse.

「You’re so desperate.」

I also remember being desperate.
I had hated him, but at that time, I still had feelings for him.

Before long, I saw my past self meeting him.
I told him to move to the shelter, but he had no intention of listening.
I also remember this clearly.
How relieved I was when he later said he would go with me.
But in the end, we couldn’t return to the shelter.

Soon, I saw the devil descending to the ground from the gate.
There was no fear in its elegant landing.

With a light gesture from the devil, the Espers’ bodies were torn apart, and they died, spewing blood.
Sung Yohan and the team leader-class Espers were confronting the devil.

I could see my past self, who was trying to move to the shelter with him, making eye contact with the devil.
And in an instant, blood flowed from my eyes and nose.

As the devil gestured as if conducting, my body floated high into the sky and was thrown far away.

It was a speed at which my body was not even visible.
I rolled on the ground incessantly.

I ran towards my past self without realizing it.
But before me, he moved towards my past self.
I arrived a few minutes after him.

My figure, which had been attacked by the devil, was horrific.
It could be said that half of my body was gone.
The remaining body was covered in blood.
In this state, I would have died even if a Healer-class Esper had come.

My face was pale with deep fear, as if I hadn’t grasped the situation.

“I told you to go back to the shelter!”

He shouted at me with a face as if he were about to cry.
He trembled his hands as if he didn’t know what to do and couldn’t even touch my body.
It seemed he was in shock at my horrific appearance.
Not long after, Wonjae also ran to my side.
He, who had seen my corpse-like figure, had a shocked face, but he soon came to his senses and shouted at him.

“Hurry up and bring a Healer-class Esper! A physical-type Esper too! He can be saved if he’s still breathing!”

At that time, I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I could tell that he was also desperate to save me.

I thought he was abandoning me and running away with him.
There was no way a positive thought could come to my mind in such a desperate situation.
Before leaving, he took my hand with his trembling hands, met my eyes, and said.

“Don’t worry. You won’t die. …You can’t die. I’ll be back soon.”

I held onto his clothes and told him not to go, but soon, he took my hand off and moved away with him.
Looking at the direction he had disappeared in, I was muttering an unknown word.
Only I knew that I was calling his name.

Until the moment death approached, I called his name and looked at the place where he had disappeared.

Gradually, the light in my eyes disappeared, and without even being able to close my eyelids, my breathing gradually stopped.
At that time, the time I was waiting for him felt really long, but now I see that it hadn’t even been 5 minutes.
My weak body, which had been attacked by the devil, died soon after.

Only the tears that had welled up in my eyes were telling me that I had been alive.
I didn’t know I had been making such an expression.

In the distance, I could see him running with a Healer-class Esper.

He must have also felt that something was wrong with my appearance, as he quickly ran over, held my cheek, and called me, but I, who was already dead, did not answer.
Even if I had been alive, my ears were completely damaged, so I wouldn’t have been able to hear his voice.

He held my dead face with his trembling hands.
He must not have wanted to accept my death, as he incessantly told me to get up and kept calling my name.

“No…”

A Healer-class Esper from the side said that I was already dead, but he yelled at him to heal me right away.

Even if the Healer-class Esper used his ability, there was no way a dead body could come back to life.

Before I knew it, he, who had embraced my body, was sobbing with a tear-streaked face.
He cried out loud, like a child.
Every time he shouted, his ability was also released, and the surroundings were engulfed in flames.

Team Leader Park must have felt that his condition was not normal, as he came, but no one could calm him, who had already lost his mind.

Hyun Taewoon’s guiding level, which was spewing out his abilities incessantly, dropped rapidly, and in the end, he began to rampage, with his body wrapped in black flames like the devil.