Chapter 4
He was a combat-type Esper. To be more precise, a combat-type Esper who used magical abilities. Because of this, unlike physical combat Espers who enhanced their physical capabilities, his build was more slender. Rather than a burly bear, he was better compared to a jaguar—sleek black fur with piercing blue eyes gleaming through the darkness.
“Mister!”
A cheerful voice rang out behind Dohyuk as he tried to finish adjusting his in-ear device. The person approaching, waving her hand vigorously from a distance, was a girl with her not-too-long hair tied up tightly. Her eyes were sharp, but her face still retained some baby fat, making her oddly cute. Was that a school gym uniform? Her face, buried in a blue tracksuit with bright yellow stripes, was even paler than in Dohyuk’s memory.
Though he’d privately promised himself to visit her someday, Dohyuk hadn’t imagined he’d see her so suddenly. With a dazed expression, he belatedly responded.
“Seah. What brings you to headquarters?”
“What do you mean? The facility and annex are close by, you know. I came to see you, Mister.”
At her straightforward manner of speaking, Dohyuk closed his mouth, unable to answer. Approaching even closer, Seah added, still grinning.
“They said you were coming today, and you really did! I thought Park Seungmin was lying.”
“…Yeah.”
Only then did Dohyuk manage a brief reply. The back of his neck dampened slightly from nervousness. Finding it amusing that such a large man was fidgeting before tiny her—who barely came up to his chest—Seah burst into laughter.
“Why are you so frozen? Are you still shy around people, Mister?”
“…You’re still as energetic as ever, middle schooler.”
“I’m a high schooler now!”
Seah shouted in response to Dohyuk’s comment, then formed a V-sign with her fingers. It was a gesture meant to lighten the mood. Since there wasn’t any reproach in her eyes, Dohyuk could exhale, feeling his welling anxiety subside a little. How much did she know? Had Seungmin said something strange? Had she heard any exaggerated rumors? Dohyuk secretly examined the two eyes facing him, but those eyes twinkling like stars gave him no answer.
“When was I a middle schooler? Really. I’ll be able to go into dungeons next year. I’m sick to death of just doing simulations at the center all the time.”
Finding an opening, the girl promptly hopped onto the table next to Dohyuk and swung her legs freely. The legs swaying gently looked as refreshing as a summer downpour.
Was it because they shared the common ground of being orphans?
Or was it because Dohyuk had rescued her when she was on the verge of going berserk after awakening earlier than expected, and connected her to the facility? From their first meeting, Seah had particularly attached herself to Dohyuk.
Even now, after two and a half years had quickly passed with Dohyuk leaving silently without any contact, she showed no sign of resentment, treating him as if they’d met just yesterday. She pretended otherwise, but she was a child with so much affection. Dohyuk looked forward to the day when Seah would grow up in an instant to become a full-fledged Esper, but he also wished that day would come a little more slowly.
Only then could Dohyuk smile at Seah the way he used to.
“The simulation is boring now? I thought you were worried about passing the ability response test before.”
“Now it’s like breathing! I should say it’s as easy as eating cold rice. My ability response speed is 0.4 seconds.”
As if she’d been waiting for Dohyuk’s words, Seah proudly boasted.
“Really? I’ll be deployed with you soon then. I’ll be counting on you in advance.”
“Of course. Oh, right. Mister, quickly hand over your phone.”
A snow-white palm approached Dohyuk and waved in the air. With a dumbfounded expression, he reflexively handed over his phone. Seah, with a half-frowning face, entered a number into Dohyuk’s phone and pressed the call button before he could stop her.
“Who are you calling?”
“Who else?”
Soon, a ringtone sounded from Seah’s possession. After checking her phone screen, Seah clicked her tongue.
“You changed your number! No wonder you weren’t answering my calls! You really went too far, Mister!”
Having arbitrarily saved her number as “♥Strongest Esper Jung Seah♥” in Dohyuk’s phone, Seah pouted and handed the phone back to him.
“Don’t change it. That’s your punishment.”
“…Okay.”
Having committed a sin, Dohyuk answered obediently. Even with such a docile response, Seah was far from satisfied and added.
“Reply promptly when I message you. That’s your punishment too.”
“Okay.”
As Dohyuk nodded, Seah finally looked satisfied and grinned. Her appearance was like a hamster that had fiercely stomped its hind legs on the ground, then had its mood brightened after receiving sunflower seeds, causing Dohyuk to touch the corners of his mouth.
***
He paid his respects to Esper Park Seungmin’s descriptive abilities, who had summarized the situation at headquarters as “having to conserve even your breath just to rest.”
From his first day of work at Seoul headquarters, Choi Dohyuk was constantly running himself ragged again.
Was the world really about to end? Dungeon rampage incidents, which used to occur about once every two weeks three years ago, were now endless.
As a result of Dohyuk’s diligent work throughout this week, the B-class dungeon on Seongmo Island where the Mokgwang had appeared was now stabilized, and the A-class dungeon on Gyodong Island was being conquered as planned. While they could say they’d prepared by starting to tackle the B-class dungeon the previous week, the sudden appearance of an A-class dungeon caused a commotion where about 1,450 households had to be evacuated to Ganghwa Island.
Although there wasn’t enough time and manpower to thoroughly evacuate animals, including livestock, it was fortunate they’d prevented human casualties by responding quickly.
Three days had passed since Dohyuk and his partner Seungmin—who was selected again—along with a support-type Esper—a total of three people—remained on Gyodong Island monitoring around the quiet dungeon, which had two A-class Espers, three B-class Espers, and one A-class Guide inside.
On average, it takes about ten days to stabilize an A-class dungeon. Seungmin and Dohyuk were scheduled to stay here for only five days before switching with the second team and returning to Seoul. Since there was a high possibility that monsters would emerge through the dimensional gap where the balance had collapsed as the gate opened and the dungeon formed, monitoring around the dungeon also required full concentration.
“Ugh, this feels like practicing asceticism.”
Seungmin stretched widely and scanned the vividly green, glistening fields under the blue sky. Despite the residents having evacuated, this small island was exuding innocent freshness as if it knew nothing. No matter how much death and life shared the same fabric, the soft, swaying color of the crops was simply beautiful even in such a dangerous situation.
“Focus.”
“I am. You stayed up all night yesterday, so you sleep today. Of course, I’ll sleep tomorrow.”
It was a gruff tone, but filled with concern.
Dohyuk just silently raised the corners of his mouth, smiling at Seungmin’s consideration disguised as pushing him away.
How long had they been sitting quietly like that? About 30 minutes?
Seungmin, who quickly lost focus, suddenly seemed to remember something and poked Dohyuk’s side with his elbow. Though it didn’t particularly hurt, Dohyuk frowned theatrically and twisted his body.
“When did you become such a drama queen?”
“As I get older, my body hurts even when I’m just sitting still.”
“You crazy bastard. Seah was cursing you out.”
“…That’s a bit unfair.”
“The former or the latter?”
“The latter’s obvious. The unfair part is the former.”
“You are a crazy bastard though.”
Swaaaa. The sound of leaves hitting leaves in the not-so-warm autumn wind echoed across the wide fields.
Dohyuk, who was about to calmly proclaim his innocence, turned his body.
It was clearly the movement of someone who’d keenly sensed something. On the other hand, Seungmin, who hadn’t perceived anything special, moved belatedly, following Dohyuk’s lead. At that moment, the B-class support-type Esper who’d been dispatched with them appeared like an apparition in the direction Dohyuk was looking.
Teleportation and scanning were among the abilities of Yoon Ayoung, the B-class support-type Esper.
Was it the intuition of an Esper who’d worked in the field for so long?
Meeting face-to-face with her—who’d moved like a flash of light—Dohyuk straightened his back with a strange sense of unease. Ayoung’s face looked much more exhausted and paler than either Dohyuk’s or Seungmin’s.
With increasing anxiety, Dohyuk’s sharp voice urged her. It was a superior’s tone that was completely different from his usual manner, which was indifferent yet strangely warm and affectionate.
“Report. Briefly.”
“A dimensional rift has occurred on Mt. Mani on Ganghwa Island, not Gyodong Island! A-class monster—Samchung!”
The dungeon gate opened on Gyodong Island, but the dimensional rift was on Ganghwa Island?
“Distance to the nearest evacuation shelter?”
“The nearest evacuation shelter is at a nearby university… located 12 kilometers away.”
Dohyuk and Seungmin hurriedly moved to the coordinates near Mt. Mani—where Samchung’s position was most recently scanned—through Ayoung’s power.
***
“Esper Yoon Ayoung! Report the current situation to headquarters and request additional manpower to protect the evacuees. Samchung has the habit of moving separately as Sangsi, Jungsi, and Hasi. Have you scanned them all?”
“I will report. According to the scan, only Jungsi and Hasi were on Mt. Mani. I need time to scan all of Ganghwa Island. It will take about 15 minutes.”
Dohyuk removed the leather gloves that had been binding his hands without hesitation. His long, straight fingers pushed the removed gloves into the inner pocket of his combat uniform.
“Faster! Esper Park Seungmin, follow me.”
It probably hadn’t been even 10 minutes since Yoon Ayoung reported, but the last known position of Jungsi and Hasi was just 1 kilometer away from the evacuation shelter.
