# Chapter 94
“You’re saying you want to use monsters now?”
“Yes.”
Dohyun answered immediately. He presented the method he had thought of to Dr. Yoon.
“If we open the western entrance, all the monsters coming out of the gate will rush that way. Then they’ll swarm toward the building where Choi Geonwoo is, since it’s closest to the western entrance.”
At these words, Dr. Yoon strongly objected.
“Are you in your right mind? It’s not just Choi Geonwoo in there! Lee Jaehee Guide is there too!”
If they did as Dohyun suggested, Jaehee would surely be seriously injured!
“And Lee Jaehee Guide is in an extremely weakened state right now. He has absolutely no strength to escape from monsters!”
Monsters preferred higher-ranked ability users as prey. A Guide with no strength to resist would be especially good prey among them.
“Then what do you think will happen? Esper Kang Dohyun, it’s obvious without even seeing it, if we do as you say!”
Dr. Yoon exclaimed excitedly.
“Lee Jaehee Guide will be the target of all the monsters! If something happens to Lee Jaehee Guide…!”
“No, that won’t happen.”
But Dohyun spoke firmly. As he said this, Dohyun’s face looked utterly resolute.
“Choi Geonwoo would never let Jaehee get hurt.”
Dohyun had seen firsthand in the gate how Choi Geonwoo protected Jaehee, and what Jaehee’s injury meant to him. Therefore, he could be certain of this one thing. Choi Geonwoo would absolutely never let Jaehee get hurt.
“Because Jaehee is in a weakened state, Choi Geonwoo will try to handle the monsters alone to keep Jaehee from getting involved in the battle.”
Dohyun said this and looked at Dr. Yoon.
“Then, since he can’t leave the weakened Jaehee alone, he’ll likely entrust Jaehee’s protection to you, Dr. Yoon. After all, you’ve been in charge of Jaehee’s treatment all this time.”
“And then, you plan to take him during that time?”
“Yes. I plan to take Jaehee and escape the Center then.”
To a place where Choi Geonwoo won’t be able to find Jaehee. That’s what Dohyun said.
Dr. Yoon frowned and sank into thought. He needed to judge what the right course of action was.
“I’ll help too.”
Suddenly Jiwoon stepped forward. He had been quietly listening from behind, but now he came forward and spoke to Dr. Yoon.
“I just heard from the Center Director. A proposal for me to become Choi Geonwoo’s dedicated Guide.”
At these words, everyone looked surprised.
“What did you decide?”
Dr. Yoon asked, somewhat tense. Choi Geonwoo’s dedicated Guide. That was also a request Dr. Yoon had made to the Center Director. Right now, Choi Geonwoo was like a time bomb that could rampage at any moment. But the weakened Jaehee couldn’t handle Choi Geonwoo. They desperately needed someone who could become Choi Geonwoo’s dedicated Guide.
“I just told him I would do it.”
Dr. Yoon’s expression changed upon hearing Jiwoon’s words. He made eye contact with Dohyun and nodded slightly. There was no other option in this situation. Though dangerous, with Jiwoon too… they might have a chance.
Dohyun immediately gave instructions to an Esper.
“Go open the western entrance now. And.”
To keep him tied up as long as possible, they needed Choi Geonwoo to face the monsters alone. Dohyun looked at Hyeono.
“Jeong Hyeono.”
“Yes?”
Hyeono responded with surprise at being suddenly called.
“I want you to evacuate all the Espers in the west.”
At Dohyun’s words, both the Esper and Hyeono hesitated briefly. But soon they nodded slightly and ran off to perform their assigned tasks.
Meanwhile, Dr. Yoon and Dohyun elaborated on the plan. Jiwoon, watching the two, withdrew his faint smile and turned his head toward the window. Numerous gates were forming around the Center. Jiwoon’s gaze as he looked at them was infinitely dry. It was also a familiar look.
‘It’s starting again.’
But in Jiwoon’s eyes reflected in the window was an anxiety he couldn’t hide.
***
“Stop…!”
Jaehee pushed against Geonwoo’s chest, trying to escape from him as he approached. But he didn’t budge. There was no way he would.
“Guide-nim.”
With this sweet call, a hand touched the tip of Jaehee’s chin. Slowly his head was lifted, and gentle hands prevented him from lowering his face. Geonwoo came close enough that their lips almost touched. Knowing it wouldn’t work, Jaehee still grabbed Geonwoo’s shoulders and pushed him away. But soon even those hands were caught.
With no escape route, Jaehee bit his lower lip. In response, Geonwoo gently took that lower lip between his own, as if telling him not to do that.
Jaehee’s lips trembled. It was because he feared the hands touching him, the lips meeting his. From Geonwoo, who unhesitatingly pressed his flesh against him… he desperately wanted to escape.
‘I know…’
Moreover, judging by Geonwoo’s words and actions, he seemed to know that Jaehee was manifesting as an Omega. That assumption drove Jaehee even crazier.
“Hnngh…”
A sob was about to break through the pressed lips.
At that moment, a sudden commotion was heard. It was coming from outside. Soon, loud warning alarms sounded all around the building.
“……”
The pressed lips separated. Geonwoo caressed Jaehee’s lips as if reluctant to part, then pulled his upper body back. He released Jaehee’s hands that he had been holding with one of his own. As soon as his hands were free, the sobbing Jaehee immediately pulled up the blanket to hide his body.
Geonwoo looked at Jaehee for a moment before getting up from on top of him. He turned his body to pull aside the curtain of the window next to the bed to check outside.
Espers were evacuating. And in the distance, numerous monsters were crawling into the Center.
And at that moment.
Bang-!
A bizarrely shaped monster with a bird’s form clung to the window of the room where Jaehee and Geonwoo were. The monster rolled its hideous eyeballs, scanning the room as if looking for prey. Jaehee was fully captured in the monster’s eyes. Having chosen its prey, the monster tried to break the window using its beak.
But.
Crunch-!
That was impossible. With just one gesture from Geonwoo, the monster’s body crumpled. Instantly becoming as shapeless as a flattened ball, the monster fell to the ground without even making a proper attack. Soon, a loud “Kwang-!” sound spread around.
“What is this…?”
More and more monsters were gathering around the building. There were so many that you couldn’t see the end of them. Seemingly shocked by this, Jaehee trembled.
“It’s okay, Guide-nim.”
Geonwoo gently embraced Jaehee, soothing him softly. Unlike Jaehee, Geonwoo’s face was calm. It seemed as if he had already anticipated this situation to some extent.
It couldn’t be helped. Though Jaehee might not know, since the A-class gate incident, the occurrence cycle of gates around the Center had generally accelerated. Because of this, there were occasional instances of monsters entering the Center. Though this was the first time so many monsters had entered at once, Geonwoo had already seen similar scenes countless times in his dreams.
After all, the scenes in his dreams, even if they occurred at different times, were faithfully recreated in reality.
Soon, Geonwoo’s gaze turned cold.
The endlessly gathering monsters. They posed no threat to Geonwoo. It didn’t matter how many monsters came.
But it was different for Jaehee. Just like in the dream scenes, with even the smallest mistake, even the smallest danger, his hyung’s life easily slipped away.
And such dreams of his hyung… happened exactly the same to Jaehee.
Geonwoo feared that.
But Geonwoo wasn’t the only one who felt fear in the current situation. It was the same for Jaehee as well. Jaehee’s face turned deathly pale.
‘It’s the same as back then.’
Such an incident had happened before the regression too. The shortened gate occurrence cycle, which hadn’t existed in the original story, took place. Due to simultaneously occurring gates, even the Center, which had never been invaded, was frequently infiltrated by monsters.
Come to think of it, it was like that back then too. After Yoo Jiwoon, the main character of this story, appeared, increasingly major events occurred, as if telling him that the place beside Choi Geonwoo was not his.
And now it was happening again.
The misfortune that began with Lee Jaehee and Choi Geonwoo’s connection. It was starting again. That misfortune he had so desperately wanted to avoid.
Jaehee trembled with fear. It felt like he had created the scene before his eyes. Again, for the sin of being by Geonwoo’s side.
‘…No…’
In that moment, the final scene he had witnessed before the regression was vividly drawn before his eyes. The image of Geonwoo dying kept flashing in his mind.
If Geonwoo were to be harmed this time too… Jaehee couldn’t bear it. He wouldn’t be able to endure. His whole body trembled violently. To the extent that he couldn’t control himself, to the extent that it would make onlookers pity him… Jaehee was gradually being consumed by fear.
“Guide-nim, it’s okay.”
Geonwoo hugged Jaehee to calm him. He kept whispering that it would be fine because he was there.
All the while, monsters continued to gather around the building.
Geonwoo looked out the window once and then down at Jaehee. Jaehee’s trembling didn’t stop. The body temperature where they touched was rising. It was a situation where there wasn’t much time left until manifestation. At this stage, extra care was needed. Because both senses and nerves became extremely sensitive, to the point where even small stimuli could cause injury.
“I’ll clear away anything that bothers you, so don’t worry about anything, Guide-nim.”
Geonwoo held Jaehee in his arms, patting his back gently to reassure him.
“I will absolutely not let you get hurt.”
This will never be like the dream. The unspoken words firmly took root in his mouth like a pledge. If there was anything that endangered Jaehee, whatever it might be, he would eliminate it all.
