# Chapter 112
The problematic reddish-black ore was broken into several pieces.
“As expected, it doesn’t disappear, just breaks apart.”
R&D Division Director Seo Rang muttered as if she had anticipated this. Suhyun sighed quietly and stepped back.
Just like Riska, which had remained unaffected by Suhyun’s attacks, the reddish-black ore was the same.
“…May I try now?”
Jiwon, who had been waiting patiently, stepped forward. Both Seo Rang and Suhyun turned to look at him.
‘Guide Jiwon’s suggesting… that a Guide can handle the problematic ore?’
‘Yes. Through guiding.’
There was one thing they had learned from the Riska dungeon that had nearly killed them.
Guides were like natural predators to Riska.
“Whether Guide Jiwon succeeds or fails, I’m worried either way….”
Seo Rang said with furrowed brows.
“It’s fortunate if anyone succeeds.”
Jiwon calmly replied as he placed his hand on one of the ore fragments that Suhyun had broken.
At that moment.
“…Ah.”
“……”
Perhaps because it was already broken into small pieces, the reddish-black energy rapidly drained from the ore that Jiwon touched, causing it to corrode and turn to powder on the spot.
This happened even before he could properly begin guiding.
“…It’s true.”
Jiwon looked up with a smile. Seo Rang gave a bitter smile, while Suhyun just looked worried.
The reason they thought guiding would work against Riska was simple. Jiwon had seen it firsthand during his encounter with Riska.
When Suhyun had rushed toward the last monster to prevent the wavelength from becoming chaotic and going berserk.
Riska had charged ferociously toward Jiwon, intending to lure Suhyun.
Though Riska had said it wouldn’t attack him, honestly, Jiwon had been scared.
He thought that even if Riska had no use for him, if he became an obstacle to attacking Suhyun, it might attack him just like it would clear away any other monster.
Jiwon had fled with all his might, but he couldn’t match Riska’s speed. No matter how fast he ran, the distance between him and Riska only narrowed.
Fortunately, before Riska could catch him, Suhyun had pointed his blade at the monster. Jiwon had crouched down, raising his arms to protect his head.
He had decided that minimal defense was better than getting hit in a vital spot while running.
He didn’t want to get hurt. He didn’t want to worry Suhyun. Even if he took one big hit, he needed to minimize the injury.
With the enemy right in front of him.
At that moment when all it had to do was strike him down.
‘Riska couldn’t attack me. Rather, it tried not to touch me.’
Riska had sharply changed direction. Though its arm had brushed against Jiwon’s as it suddenly twisted its attack, it didn’t hurt.
Instead…
‘It knew that contact with a Guide would cause part of its power, that is, the reddish-black ore, to corrode.’
A vision flickered before his eyes, and like before, he saw Riska’s lair.
In that fleeting moment, what Jiwon saw was a tiny portion of the reddish-black ore losing its color and crumbling like sand.
He had thought Riska was going to attack Suhyun again, but that wasn’t it. Riska had twisted its body to avoid Jiwon.
Come to think of it, Riska didn’t need to use him as bait. It could have captured him or taken him hostage.
It wasn’t that it chose not to—it couldn’t. Because it shouldn’t make contact with him.
“Guides will need to enter Riska’s lair too.”
Jiwon said to Suhyun. He had been concerned that only Suhyun might have to go, but now he felt rather relieved.
“True. The question is how to get in.”
Jiwon nodded in agreement with Seo Rang’s words.
“By the way, I can’t believe Riska loses power just by making contact with a Guide. If Guide Jiwon hadn’t touched it, we would have been lost for a long time.”
Unfortunately, Suhyun’s face darkened. He seemed troubled by the fact that he had rushed toward the monster, leaving Jiwon behind in a situation where Riska was attacking.
“The biggest gain is knowing that even if Riska attacks a Guide, they absolutely won’t be hurt.”
Jiwon waved his arm at Suhyun demonstratively. Despite the contact being strong enough to tear his clothes, there wasn’t a single wound on his arm.
“Haa….”
Jiwon grinned as Suhyun sighed and turned his head away.
“We’ll bring in other Guides for further experiments. Now we need to find the entrance to the lair.”
Meanwhile, Seo Rang spoke with a serious expression.
“We need to go in to eliminate their power.”
Riska had accumulated strength by devouring Espers’ wavelengths over a long time.
They weren’t beings that had existed from the beginning. They were creatures created and empowered by the wavelengths of Espers who had either died from going berserk in dungeons or struggled with tangled wavelengths.
If they could just eliminate that power, the creatures would disappear. The abnormal dungeons and the attacks on Espers with high stability would also cease.
Of course, they would need to ensure Riska couldn’t accumulate power again, but that was something to consider later.
“So in the end, we need to reconsider how Esper Choi Young managed to bring this ore back.”
Jiwon said while touching his chin thoughtfully.
“…It seems he first entered the lair and attacked the ore. He probably brought back fragments of ore that had been broken by an Esper’s attack.”
Suhyun replied without hesitation, as if he had been thinking about this all along.
Jiwon nodded, having thought the same.
“Just how did he do it?”
Seo Rang, who had been holding the ore all this time without finding a proper solution, frowned in displeasure.
Jiwon exhaled briefly before offering his theory.
“I don’t think he did anything special. In my opinion, he probably tried attacking Riska, just like Esper Suhyun did.”
“But Esper Suhyun didn’t gain anything from that?”
“…The situation must have been slightly different. Esper Choi Young had already been attacked once.”
It wasn’t something he particularly wanted to say, but it was the truth.
Choi Young had been injured by Riska. And shortly after, Jo Wooyeon became unable to perform guiding.
Later, when he entered the dungeon, what was he thinking? Did he find something suspicious? Did he go to investigate?
No, if that were the case, he would have at least informed Jo Wooyeon.
He entered the dungeon without knowing anything. Then he suddenly realized something was wrong and tried attacking.
If his guess was correct, the method of approaching Riska’s lair was likely something that could be suddenly realized and attempted without much preparation.
“…Haah.”
The question was whether it was right to have Suhyun attacked by Riska based on this assumption.
Currently, Suhyun was the only Esper who could serve as a medium. This was because there were no other Espers with stability ratings above 95.
Even if there were, they couldn’t just push that Esper into harm’s way.
’82 should be…’
Jiwon checked Suhyun’s stability.
It was a level he had maintained by resting for a while after returning from the Riska dungeon. With a bit more rest, it would probably rise again to the problematic level.
Entering the dungeon with high stability meant he would be attacked by Riska. Knowing this, Jiwon resolved to help raise Suhyun’s stability if that’s what he wanted.
And Suhyun would want to face Riska.
“…Let’s go fully prepared this time.”
Jiwon forced a smile. He was somewhat comforted by the fact that he now had a reasonable justification to accompany Suhyun.
Moreover…
“Our role is to find the lair and create a passage that other Espers and Guides can go through.”
Although they would have to face Riska first, the fact that Suhyun didn’t have to handle everything alone somewhat reassured Jiwon.
Even if opening the door might be Suhyun’s role, defeating the creatures was everyone’s responsibility.
Riska wasn’t just Korea’s problem.
If they succeeded in creating a passage, they could request cooperation from ability users of other countries to eliminate Riska together.
“The most important thing is safety.”
Could they be safe?
Despite trying to steel himself, Jiwon’s eyes dimmed slightly with rising anxiety.
He forced a smile to hide it, but it was difficult to escape Suhyun’s gaze.
Wishing Jiwon would set aside some of his anxiety, Suhyun nodded as calmly as possible.
Suhyun knew all too well the anxiety Jiwon was feeling. He was feeling it himself right now.
Still, he didn’t entertain the assumption that it would be better if he could eliminate Riska’s ore instead of Jiwon.
Even that much would have been his burden, and Jiwon wouldn’t even be able to smile now.
Of course, the regret that everything could have been his responsibility didn’t easily fade away.
But given the current situation, Suhyun had to strengthen his resolve.
“Yes, safely.”
Suhyun took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he answered.
He would protect Jiwon no matter what.
Nothing was more important than that.
