In the heart of Seoul, a purple-colored rift appeared above the Gangnam Station intersection. This was the A-rank gate to which the Alpha Team, which Gu Baekyoung belonged to, had been dispatched.
Inside the gate, where only ominous light flickered, all members of Alpha Team were actively engaged.
While the gate was being cleared with surprising ease for an A-rank gate, one person’s movements were particularly lighter than usual.
“Team Leader. Gu Baekwon, that guy seems to be in a really good mood.”
Yoon Jihyuk, an enhancement-type esper who mainly took on the tanker role, had nothing to do today. It was thanks to Gu Baekyoung, who flew freely through the air using telekinesis.
He melted the monsters that appeared before his eyes in the blink of an eye. It was Erosion (浸蝕), one of his other abilities.
“Thanks to him, it’s easy for me too.”
Having said that much, Na Geonwoo swung the small wand he was holding.
“Flame (炎火).”
As soon as he chanted the spell, flames engulfed the monster that had been approaching Gu Baekyoung from behind.
Na Geonwoo was a Sorcerer, commonly called a mage.
He mainly handled fire-type magic, but he was an S-rank esper who could freely use magic from other elemental types as well.
“Still, I think we need to watch his back carefully.”
“Leave it to me!”
Cha Hyeran, holding a long spear, leaped high. She was a spear wielder with considerable skill in close combat.
Without fail, a monster’s head rolled where Cha Hyeran had jumped. She prevented monsters from approaching Gu Baekyoung’s back in the first place.
Alpha Team had protected each other’s backs for a long time, so they knew what to do without being told.
Thanks to Gu Baekyoung, they reached gate clear in record time. His condition was so optimal that he didn’t even need guiding.
“Gu Baekwon, you must be brimming with energy now that you’re dating.”
Yoon Jihyuk wrapped his arm around Gu Baekyoung’s shoulder and teased him, but Gu Baekyoung’s mind was filled only with thoughts of Onyul, whom he’d left at the convenience store.
“I’m a night shift part-timer. I need to get there on time.”
“Pfft, are you seriously going to do that?”
“Yoon Jihyuk. Do you think part-time work is a joke? I’m a night shift part-timer, and the convenience store is a livelihood for my honey.”
Gu Baekyoung was serious.
Since he couldn’t make him quit that damn convenience store right away, he wanted to at least make sure Onyul wouldn’t get tired. Even if he had to work the night shift himself.
In terms of stamina alone, he was second to none in the Management Bureau. Gu Baekyoung didn’t feel tired even if he didn’t sleep for days on end.
Moreover.
<If you want to get closer to me, you need to do things that I’ll like.>
He thought that doing a great job at the night shift might be something Onyul would like.
A gentle smile spread across Gu Baekyoung’s lips as he thought of Onyul.
“Ugh. This guy is more seriously absorbed than I thought.”
But at Yoon Jihyuk’s horrified reaction, Gu Baekyoung’s face quickly hardened.
“Shut up.”
Gu Baekyoung roughly pulled away Yoon Jihyuk’s arm that had been teasing him and flew toward the gate entrance.
Just as they were about to return safely.
“Everyone, stop.”
Gu Baekyoung, who had been flying through the air, stopped abruptly.
Gu Baekyoung stared seriously at the entrance where nothing had happened. Like someone anticipating that something was about to go wrong.
Before long, a fierce tearing sound echoed.
KWAAAAANG—!
In an instant, a cloud of dust rushed in and covered the Alpha Team members.
When they reopened their eyes that they’d briefly closed to avoid the dust, an astonishing sight unfolded before them.
Numerous red lines were engraved at the gate entrance, which had been fine moments ago.
Na Geonwoo, who noticed the change first, spoke in a stiff voice.
“…Rampage?”
Na Geonwoo thought it was definitely a gate rampage.
But it was a strange phenomenon that couldn’t be explained. Normally, gate rampages occurred when the clear time was exceeded.
Alpha Team had cleared the gate faster than anyone.
Then there was only one possibility…
Did someone artificially cause it to rampage?
Na Geonwoo’s eyes beneath his glasses sank coldly. He hadn’t said it out loud, but in fact, this wasn’t the first time he’d had that suspicion.
He couldn’t continue his thoughts any further. As if trapped in a storm, the air that had been calm began to churn madly.
KUGUGUGUGUGU—!
The space wailed as if screaming. Even Na Geonwoo, who was S-rank, felt a pressure strong enough to make him shrink his shoulders.
It was different from the pressure a person exudes. It was a resonance that hinted this space would soon disappear, meaning only destruction.
If they delayed here, they would surely meet their end buried in the collapsing space.
If they didn’t get out of the gate before the space collapsed, there would be trouble. Gate rampage was a threatening situation even for S-rank espers.
At that moment, there was someone moving toward the gate entrance that blazed like a boiling furnace.
“Gu Baekyoung…!”
It was Gu Baekyoung, who had lost someone precious to a gate rampage. As if he’d never been exchanging silly jokes with Yoon Jihyuk, he moved forward with bloodshot eyes.
Gu Baekyoung appeared to have even overcome the pressure that Na Geonwoo was feeling.
“Gu Baekyoung! Fall back!”
Na Geonwoo shouted, noticing that Gu Baekyoung’s state was unusual, but Gu Baekyoung only moved forward as if he couldn’t hear that voice.
Of course, he knew that Gu Baekyoung was strong. But when a gate rampaged, the priority was to escape the gate without getting caught up in the rampage as much as possible.
If the space completely collapsed, even the life and death of an S-rank esper couldn’t be guaranteed.
Especially with Gu Baekyoung’s abilities, he couldn’t suppress a rampaging gate.
Only Na Geonwoo, a sorcerer, could suppress the gate for a very brief moment. They had to escape the rampaging gate by seizing that opportunity.
Gu Baekyoung surely knew that fact, but his appearance of stubbornly moving forward was incomprehensible.
“Team Leader, get behind me! I’ll clear the path, so please stop Baekyoung.”
When Yoon Jihyuk, who had enhanced his body, cleared the path for Na Geonwoo, Na Geonwoo began to advance forward step by step.
However, the distance that had opened up with Gu Baekyoung, who had gone by flying, wasn’t easily narrowed.
If he rampages like this…
The sight of Gu Baekyoung rushing forward with eyes turned bright red, unable to distinguish front from back, was familiar.
The memory of the day he rampaged and blew away half the Center flashed through his mind.
It seemed that the ‘gate rampage’ that had led Onyul to death had become a trigger. That day must not repeat itself. Absolutely not.
But the tearing sound that followed made Na Geonwoo even more anxious.
KWAAAAAAANG—!
Gu Baekyoung’s silhouette, which had been faintly visible through the dust, was no longer visible.
“Gu Baekyoung—!”
Na Geonwoo shouted as if his throat would tear. A voice close to a scream echoed.
But there was no answer in return.
***
After learning that Gu Baekyoung had been confined in a Box, Onyul had been feeling gloomy with an inexplicable sense of guilt.
However, thanks to the customers who soon came rushing in, he was able to escape from that guilt a little. At least while working, other thoughts didn’t come to mind.
Only after the sun had dimly set did the customers who had been coming sporadically stop. Only then did Onyul remember Gu Baekyoung, who still hadn’t returned.
By now, it should be time for him to return.
He had accidentally overheard what they were saying just before they went out to dispatch. It was that a gate had occurred in a place not too far from the convenience store.
Of course, it definitely wasn’t because he was worried about Gu Baekyoung that he eavesdropped!
Anyway, if it was the Alpha Team that Onyul knew, by now they should have cleared the gate unless something unusual had happened.
“Something unusual…”
Perhaps because he’d learned of Gu Baekyoung’s story, he felt strangely concerned. There shouldn’t be any major incidents for Alpha Team, the best esper team in South Korea.
Onyul turned on his phone just in case.
As soon as he opened the video streaming app, news related to Gu Baekyoung and Alpha Team appeared at the top of the feed.
[Breaking News! Alpha Team isolated inside rampaging gate… Rescue operation in progress]
[Breaking news, Alpha Team in life-or-death situation inside rampaging gate!]
“…!”
The gate… rampaged?
As soon as he saw the word ‘rampage,’ tinnitus rang in his ears. His whole body trembled so much that he couldn’t even stand in place.
Onyul crouched down under the narrow display shelf and hugged both knees. When he closed his eyes tightly, he recalled the day he had died caught up in a gate rampage.
The pressure crushing his whole body, the surroundings boiling like lava, the collapsing space, and his colleagues’ screams.
<Save me!>
<Pl-please save me…! I can’t die like this!>
All the colleagues who had yearned for life had died. Melted by the high temperature, cut by the sharp energy that bounced out from the rampaging gate, or… by their own hand.
There had even been someone who, falling into despair that they couldn’t escape the rampaging gate, took their own life.
All Onyul could do was use his therapy ability to stabilize them even a little.
But he couldn’t save anyone. He too had been consumed by the heat and died in agony.
“Heuuk…”
The pain of death that he’d tried not to think about revived as if piercing his skin.
Onyul couldn’t escape from memories of the past for quite a while. So much so that he even forgot the fact that Alpha Team was currently in danger.
However, at that moment, a voice pulled him out of the past.
<There was a hyung I liked.>
<How could I forget hyung?>
Gu Baekyoung, who still longed for him, whom he could no longer meet.
Gu Baekyoung, who recognized him at once despite his completely different appearance.
Gu Baekyoung, who acted as if he was already head over heels in love after meeting just a few days ago.
Gu Baekyoung…
He remembered him, whom he’d forgotten for a moment. When he also recalled the fact that he was in a life-or-death crisis, he was able to open his tightly closed eyes.
Gu Baekyoung was the strongest esper in South Korea, and the Alpha Team with him were also skilled, so they would be able to safely escape the rampaging gate.
Because he was completely different from himself, who could only do therapy.
But he was worried about what Gu Baekyoung’s condition would be like after escaping the rampaging gate. He feared that something might go wrong with a guy who didn’t even have a compatible guide…
He was afraid of repeating the past mistake of being unable to save anyone inside a rampaging gate.
In the end, Onyul gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
