Chapter 99: The Trap

‘The subjugation team members are all being examined in the main branch’s special isolation room.’

Suddenly, Ri-hyun’s words came to mind.

He had said it was an order given because their health might have been compromised due to heavy exposure to poison inside the gate.

Even if that wasn’t the case, most of them were covered in wounds and needed swift treatment.

“Woof!”

“It’s nothing.

Let’s go, Poppy.

We need to stop quickly if you sense any human presence, okay?”

I shook my head and pushed aside the pointless delusion.

It was more convincing that the area around the gate was relatively quiet to hide the fact of the SS-rank esper’s disappearance from the public.

If high-ranking officials from the Center and the Support Administration suddenly swarmed the place, the reporters would surely sense something was off.

I can’t stop searching for Jaeyul because of a small, one-in-a-million nagging feeling.

I have a purpose: I must find Jaeyul, no matter the risk.

I urged Poppy to move a little faster into the interior.

“Woof!”

“Not here either?

Does that even make sense…?”

I don’t know how many hours I’ve been wandering this gate.

Fortunately, thanks to Poppy, I was able to easily escape the labyrinth that had given the subjugation team so much trouble.

We even reached the corpse of a giant monster that seemed to be the gate’s master without any problems.

“How can we not run into a single search party member?”

I hadn’t encountered a single living creature on the way here.

Only the corpses of monsters were piled up like mountains.

“Woof, woof!”

“Another way?”

Poppy failed to pick up Jaeyul’s scent even in this area.

But he started running again, as if to go somewhere else.

I had only followed the path Ri-hyun had described first; there were more paths, big and small, inside the gate.

A sliver of hope bloomed again in my momentarily despairing heart.

It’s still, still too early to give up.

“Don’t tell me… could he be in a place like this?”

I don’t know how much I’ve rummaged through the gate.

I had gone back and forth so many times, checking and rechecking, that I could probably draw a map of it.

Then, I found a space I hadn’t discovered at first.

Crawling through a narrow hole, a large cavern with a spring filled with water from an unknown source appeared.

The word cavern might not be fitting, as unknown grasses and trees were growing thickly around the large, lake-like spring.

If I had encountered a place like this during a subjugation, it would have been a perfect place to rest and replenish stamina.

Though it’s a place I have no need for now.

“Woof!”

Poppy, who had quenched his thirst with the spring water, looked at me and informed me that he couldn’t smell Jaeyul here either.

“Really…?

Then let’s go somewhere else.

There must be a place we haven’t been to yet.”

“Woof, woof!”

I was about to get on Poppy’s back again, but he asked a question with a serious face.

“…Is Jaeyul really in here?

Of course he is….”

Suddenly, my mind snapped to attention.

Looking back, everything was strange.

It wasn’t just because I hadn’t encountered the search party.

Everything that had happened to me was all strange.

“Woof, woof!”

Before I could even sort out my thoughts, Poppy started pulling at my clothes.

Poppy, heading for the cavern entrance, squeezed through the small tunnel first, and I followed behind.

Poppy moved so quickly that I didn’t even have time to ask what was going on.

The moment I was just about to exit, Poppy grabbed my clothes and threw me into the air, catching me on his back.

Then he started running like mad.

“Go faster, Poppy!”

Without exchanging a single word, we both instinctively knew that the situation was not normal.

Where on earth did all this begin?

The fact that we couldn’t find any trace of anyone in the gate.

The fact that all the staff guarding the gate area were from the Support Administration.

Ri-hyun, who suddenly appeared in a helicopter.

Even before that, the fact that my stay at the Busan Center had been unnecessarily prolonged.

My phone, which had gone dead on the way to Busan.

No.

It should be seen as starting from the unscheduled business trip to Busan.

The more I went over my memories one by one, the more suspicious the series of events seemed.

There must have been countless opportunities to notice.

All the events had occurred as naturally as flowing water, but when examined individually, there were some unsettling parts.

I hadn’t noticed because I had thought of each event separately.

This all happened because I still hadn’t properly realized just how evil a person can be.

The answer I came to was that this entire massive gate was a trap to catch me.

The moment Jaeyul decided to participate in the subjugation team, the plan must have been set.

Meticulously, and elaborately, one by one.

Who could do such a thing?

Only Ri-hyun, who has the incredible backing of the Agency Head.

“You really can’t fix a person, can you.”

The fact that he had used Jaeyul, of all things, to create a trap was so infuriating.

Ri-hyun, who had been hiding his true intentions so perfectly all this time, waiting for this moment.

In a way, it’s a terrifying obsession that gives me the chills.

To think he would wear a mask and act for such a long time for a single act of revenge.

It’s a kind of viciousness I’ve never experienced in my life.

‘J-Jaeyul… hic, he’s missing….’

Even the act of announcing Jaeyul’s disappearance with a face covered in tears and blood must have been a lie.

That gaze and expression that seemed so full of sincerity, all of it.

How much joy must he have felt watching me rush to Seoul, fooled by his words.

Just the thought of it makes my teeth grind.

I will get out of here and smash my fist into Ri-hyun’s face.

“Woof, woof!”

“…What?

You think the gate is closing too?

That can’t be….”

Poppy’s words felt like a hard blow to the back of my head.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t confirmed if the monster in the cage at the entrance was moving.

I had assumed it was a weak monster kept in captivity, as most subjugation teams do, and moved on.

What if that monster had died a long time ago…?

“Don’t worry about me, just sprint with all you’ve got!”

I gripped Poppy’s mane and lowered my body as much as possible.

Whether it was because of the rushing wind or because I had realized Ri-hyun’s terrifying plan, goosebumps rose on both my arms.

It seems he wasn’t just trying to mess with me, but to kill me along with the collapsing gate.

Using every means and method he could, with all his might.

But I can’t understand why the Agency Head chose to abandon me.

Although not comparable to an SS-rank esper, how could he think of killing an SS-rank guide?

Was there something to be gained that was worth taking such a risk?

But right now, escaping from here safely is more important than figuring out his intentions.

I had been trapped in a gate once before.

At that time, I was able to escape through a hidden path.

Would that be possible this time…?

I can’t be sure.

If every gate had a back door, Poppy probably wouldn’t be running like this.

The fact that he’s running for his life must mean that even if there is a back door, it would be difficult to escape easily.

So in any case, it was better to go out through the gate entrance.

But this gate was too wide.

Just running from the entrance to the end would take over an hour.

Thanks to Poppy, we were moving much faster than a person could run, but the light of the gate entrance was still not visible.

I just prayed that we would have enough time to reach it.

“There!

Just a little more, Poppy!”

How much longer did we run like that?

Finally, a green light began to appear in the distance.

It was the exit I had longed to see, so my voice naturally grew louder.

I let out a long sigh, exhaling all the anxiety that had filled my chest.

But it seems I was relieved too soon.

Even though we were running at a tremendous speed, the light of the exit seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, as if it were getting farther away.

200 meters… 100 meters… 70 meters….

“…Poppy… stop running….”

I stroked Poppy’s back and stopped his running.

“Whine….”

“It’s not your fault.

It’s because I was stupid….

But at least Jaeyul isn’t in danger, so that’s a relief, right?”

There was no need to waste energy meaninglessly.

No matter how fast we ran, the path to escape through the shrinking exit seemed distant.

Because the speed at which the exit was collapsing was much faster than the speed at which we were approaching it.

Poppy seemed to think the same as me, as he walked listlessly towards the exit.

The green light, oblivious to our plight, shrank even faster, as if it had accelerated.

“This is the end, really.”

Amidst the emptiness, I felt a sense of relief.

Amidst the rising anger, I was relieved again.

It was a comfort that the situation wasn’t one where something had happened to Jaeyul.

We’ve only been apart for a few days, but I miss him so much.

It’s probably because we might not see each other for a long time… or maybe forever.

Even considering the distance, the green light looked faint.

It meant that its collapse was imminent.

Poppy, who was walking with precarious steps as if about to collapse, transformed into his puppy form and nestled in my arms.

“Rest easy, Poppy.

I’m sorry, it’s my fault.”

This time, I walked, holding Poppy.

Just as the exit seemed about to close completely, something black flew in from outside the gate.

I couldn’t tell what it was, buried in the darkness and the distance.

And soon, the exit completely disappeared.

The black object that had flown in just now seemed to be a person.

As time passed, a human figure came into view first.

What kind of fool would enter a collapsing gate…?

The distance between us rapidly closed, as if the person was also approaching us.

Tall, with broad shoulders.

A man who hadn’t even had time to change out of his combat suit.

Lips gasping for breath, and a gaze that was a mixture of anger and rage, who approached and hugged me tightly….

“Hyung.”

…Jaeyul.

The fool who had jumped into a collapsing gate was none other than Seon Jaeyul.