# Chapter 108
“I couldn’t find Riska’s base.”
Suhyun said in a regretful voice.
“Were you attacked? D-did you get wounded? Then…”
Jiwon frantically examined Suhyun, not knowing what to do. He looked ready to tear off Suhyun’s tightly wrapped clothes immediately.
“Ah.”
Suhyun briefly sighed at Jiwon’s behavior and shook his head.
“No. I wasn’t attacked. I don’t have any wounds.”
Jiwon, who had naturally assumed that Suhyun had been attacked upon hearing of the failure, hesitated before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.
“Failed because you couldn’t find the base…”
“Haah, why would you say you failed! You should have first said you weren’t attacked! You scared me!”
His voice rose unintentionally. Jiwon, who unconsciously slapped Suhyun’s arm quite hard, widened his eyes in surprise at his own action.
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
Suhyun only smiled apologetically, as if it didn’t even hurt despite the force Jiwon had used.
“Were you very worried?”
Then he asked such an obvious question.
“I was very worried. Why ask such an obvious thing?”
Jiwon narrowed his eyes, imitating Suhyun’s speech pattern.
Still, it was a relief that he hadn’t been attacked. As his mind eased, the tension dissipated, and a series of sighs flowed out.
“I knew it would be like this.”
Jiwon murmured with his head lowered.
“I knew you would go. But I believed you wouldn’t.”
“…”
“You’re not an idiot. It was obvious you’d become more urgent, knowing they might not appear if your stability level dropped because I didn’t guide you. Yet I didn’t even think about that…”
He didn’t know how much he had regretted it while Suhyun was in the dungeon. Despite that, he should have accepted that they needed to confront this and agreed to cooperate…
In the end, it was he who had hastily pushed Suhyun away.
“…I’m sorry for going without saying anything. Please don’t be angry.”
Suhyun carefully apologized while reading Jiwon’s expression. Jiwon shook his head.
“I’m not angry at you, Esper Suhyun, but at myself. I didn’t consider that far. I should have let you enter after sufficient discussion and preparation…”
Easy to say. Honestly, he wasn’t sure. He thought he should have done that only after finding out Suhyun had entered the dungeon alone.
If he hadn’t known, he might have pretended not to know until the end, disliking the idea of Suhyun being in danger. It was selfishness.
“…Guide, you made the best choice.”
At that selfishness, Jiwon’s gaze sharpened.
Even if he hadn’t viewed the situation objectively and had kept stopping him, Suhyun would have persuaded him. Then he would have reluctantly nodded.
“Enough. Don’t comfort me now. It’ll just make me angrier.”
Jiwon grumbled needlessly. The obedient Suhyun immediately closed his mouth.
Anyway, he couldn’t bring himself to be even momentarily upset with him.
“Hah, so… Esper, did you enter the dungeon intending to contact Riska’s base? The only failure was not making contact?”
Jiwon, whose trembling hands had calmed and who had somewhat regained his composure, asked in the most steady voice he could manage.
Suhyun glanced at Won Jungyeom, who had been standing silently. He, too, seemed curious about the situation inside as he looked at Suhyun.
“I thought I might find a clue if I counterattacked Riska when it tried to attack me. At the very least, I thought I might be able to take a part of Riska’s body like before.”
When Riska rushed to attack him, Suhyun had hesitated. Maybe it would be better to be affected here. He had considered becoming a medium anyway.
‘Hah…’
However, Suhyun couldn’t bring himself to passively accept the attack. It was because Jiwon’s face came to mind.
It wasn’t enough that he had entered the dungeon on his own; he couldn’t also make this decision by himself. He wanted to resolve this situation but didn’t want to hurt Jiwon.
So Suhyun had avoided Riska’s attack and counterattacked with all his might.
‘It disappeared.’
But Suhyun’s attack still had no meaning. The dungeon wall crumbled and the floor caved in, but the feeling of something watching him didn’t fade.
In this way, he couldn’t inflict any damage.
“I felt there was no point in repeating this, so I came out.”
After explaining the situation in the dungeon and Riska’s irregular attack pattern in a calm tone, Suhyun hesitated for a moment before carefully opening his mouth.
“…I think we need a connection with them.”
“A connection?”
“I’m speculating that the situation might change if I’m attacked and a medium that consumes an Esper’s wavelength is implanted.”
“…You’re just trying to take more and more dangerous actions.”
Jiwon, who had been quietly listening to Suhyun, murmured.
Seeing his hardened face, Suhyun moistened his dry lips.
“If you don’t allow it, Guide, I absolutely won’t do it this time.”
He wanted to confirm it directly. And he wanted to resolve all of this.
But since his life was at stake, he needed Jiwon’s consent. He had to persuade him. Especially when he thought about Jiwon’s face, which would be pale white while waiting for him.
The reason he had avoided Riska’s attack in the dungeon and killed the remaining monsters was solely because he needed Jiwon’s opinion. It was his own life, but if he wanted to risk it, he needed Jiwon’s permission.
In some sense, this felt more cruel, but…
“Why do you think the situation will be resolved if you’re attacked?”
Instead of immediately shaking his head, Jiwon asked coldly.
“I think Esper Choi Young entered their space after being attacked by Riska inside the dungeon. So I’m speculating that I, too, need to become a medium to enter their space.”
Jiwon’s gaze sank. He understood what Suhyun was saying, but it was too weak a basis for the argument that he needed to be attacked by Riska.
“Guide, you saw Riska’s base. At that time, you were guiding Esper Won Jungyeom. I think you connected through Riska’s wavelength.”
“…”
“My thought is that something needs to be connected to make contact with Riska’s base. I don’t think we can enter using just physical methods.”
At Suhyun’s explanation, not only Jiwon but also Jungyeom couldn’t readily answer.
They would nod if the risk to be taken was reasonable, but this matter was too dangerous. Even if Suhyun’s opinion was quite plausible, it was an excessive adventure.
As everyone became lost in their thoughts, a heavy silence settled.
“So you’re saying you want to be attacked?”
What broke it was the sudden voice of Jo Wooyeon.
“Director?”
At his sudden appearance, Jungyeom immediately explained when Jiwon looked at him.
“Maybe it’s because he’s the Guide Director. Seems like he heard the news that Esper Suhyun had entered the dungeon. He suddenly contacted me, angrily asking if I was there too, and eventually came.”
Jiwon nodded. Meanwhile, Wooyeon stepped closer. He looked straight at Suhyun and shook his head.
“No.”
With a face as cold as ice, Wooyeon sharply cut off Suhyun’s opinion.
“But…”
“What if you die?”
His wavering eyes stared directly at Suhyun. It seemed as if all the pain he had experienced was contained in that gaze, making Suhyun unable to say that he wouldn’t die.
It wasn’t something he could be certain about from the beginning. Suhyun was aware that he could die. Jiwon must feel the same.
“The possibility of death is much greater. There’s no need to deliberately seek danger…”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s too much of a gamble.”
Agreeing with Wooyeon, who was trying to persuade Suhyun, Jiwon pulled him. Jiwon looked at Wooyeon and lifted the corner of his mouth.
“But… what if there’s no other way?”
“…”
“Then we have to do it.”
“…Guide Jiwon.”
“We’ll look for a safer method.”
Jiwon’s hand was trembling again. But he was speaking calmly, very coldly.
“But if there isn’t one, if this is the only way… I’m willing to take the risk.”
Jiwon’s gaze slowly shifted to Suhyun.
“I have no choice but to believe you absolutely won’t die.”
Jiwon knew Suhyun had already made up his mind. And he knew that if there was no better method, Suhyun would try to act. Although he said he needed Jiwon’s permission, he wouldn’t be able to bear seeing more people die.
Jiwon felt the same way. If it were his own life at stake, not Suhyun’s, he would have already made a decision on his own.
“Right?”
Jiwon asked Suhyun.
His cruel lover, who had made him decide whether to enter a dungeon where his life would be at risk, nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
His firm answer made Jiwon’s heart ache. Jiwon closed his eyes and prayed that his current choice was not wrong.
