# Chapter 120
It would be a lie to say Jiwon hadn’t resented Suhyun for entering on his own. If he had died alone in there, Jiwon would never have forgiven him.
But Suhyun had survived.
He was no longer Riska’s medium. Now he didn’t need to put himself in danger anymore.
‘…I’ll let it go just this once.’
‘……’
‘Never leave me behind again.’
‘Yes. I absolutely, absolutely won’t do that.’
So Jiwon felt relieved, and his rising anger melted away like snow.
Moreover, he couldn’t stay angry when Suhyun couldn’t stop crying. He must have been extremely worried since Jiwon had remained unconscious for more than a full day, despite being treated by several healing Espers.
‘This wasn’t because of you, Esper-nim, so don’t blame yourself.’
‘……’
Though Suhyun nodded at his words, he seemed to have difficulty letting go of his self-blame, unable to even hold his head up properly, which couldn’t help but concern Jiwon.
Given the situation, Jiwon couldn’t fully express the feelings of betrayal and resentment he had felt. At the very least, it was better for him not to say anything unnecessary rather than letting Suhyun writhe in guilt.
‘Just don’t do it again. That’s all I need.’
‘I’m sorry.’
So Jiwon retreated, accepting Suhyun’s promise that he would never do it again.
It was also enough that Suhyun was no longer in a state where he might go berserk at any moment.
With that, being held in Suhyun’s arms finally gave him the feeling that everything was over.
“Everyone’s working hard.”
“We’re taking shifts, so it’s fine.”
Of course, Riska hadn’t disappeared. Numerous ores were still piled in Riska’s lair, and the Riskas were fighting desperately to prevent their power from being taken.
“Are there any injuries?”
“None except Guide Jiwon and Esper Suhyun.”
“…Do you really have to point us out specifically?”
“It’s the truth, so.”
At Jo Wooyeon’s words, Jiwon narrowed his eyes before looking at Suhyun. Suhyun, who had been watching Jiwon, nodded slightly.
“Thankfully, you both survived…”
Jo Wooyeon’s gruff voice was filled with concern. Jiwon responded with a slight smile.
“That’s right. We’re safe, the other ability users are safe—it all worked out well in many ways.”
Jo Wooyeon glanced sideways at Jiwon’s nonchalant tone. But he didn’t seem intent on saying anything more, as his mouth remained closed.
“By the way, how is Guide Choi Sojeong? Is he okay?”
Jiwon asked, suddenly remembering his face. He had been so distracted by everything that he hadn’t asked about his well-being yet, despite having left Suhyun entirely in his care.
“He’s fine. He suffered some internal injuries, but he recovered quickly. No issues with guiding either. Still, I told him to stay away from the site for a while.”
“Ah, that’s a relief.”
Jiwon exhaled in relief. If Sojeong had lost his guiding ability, he would have felt terrible.
Probably such a thing wouldn’t happen again, but…
‘It’s not certain.’
When they meet, he must thank him and apologize.
Considering that Suhyun’s stability was over 40 when he showed up at the hospital, it seemed like Sojeong might have done everything Jiwon had asked him to.
He must have struggled quite a bit to raise it from rock bottom to that level.
‘He must have been scared too.’
He might have wanted to give up. Because if Suhyun had gone berserk, he would have died.
But he endured, trusting the plea not to give up. He was practically Jiwon’s benefactor.
“It’s fortunate that we can freely move in and out of Riska’s lair. If we couldn’t leave the dungeon, it would have been quite troublesome. The same goes for both of you.”
Jiwon nodded and looked at the entrance connected to Riska’s lair.
The entrance, which should have been inside the dungeon, was now exposed in the real world. This was because the dungeon, which had been like a shell, had disappeared.
“Riska probably didn’t expect this to happen.”
“Since it’s the first time their lair has been attacked, they probably didn’t have a proper way to deal with it.”
Jiwon clicked his tongue. He wasn’t entirely pleased by the fact that this was the first proper attack against Riska and they had only been victims until now, but they had indeed benefited from it.
When the ability users entered the lair and started attacking, Riska seemed to have devised a way to drive everyone out.
If the remaining monsters are eliminated, the dungeon’s exit opens. Once the exit opens, Riska could no longer attack Espers.
Perhaps when the exit opens, the dimensions of Riska’s space and the dungeon separate? Thinking about it this way, Riska’s actions made some sense.
To avoid being attacked, they judged that they needed to separate the dimensions and expel the intruders, so Riska themselves killed the monsters.
Of course, what they hoped for didn’t happen.
“I thought we’d have to fight inside the dungeon, and was concerned it would take too long. But it actually worked out better this way.”
“Indeed.”
The dungeon and dimensions did separate. However, perhaps because many Guides were focusing their efforts on opening the entrance to Riska’s lair, only the dungeon covering it vanished.
In the end, Riska had blocked their own escape route, and the ability users were able to move more easily between reality and Riska’s lair.
“It doesn’t matter how long it takes to eliminate those ores.”
Jo Wooyeon spoke in a cold voice.
Ability users who had grown tired or weakened from dealing with Riska came outside to rest, while others who had rested sufficiently went in to eliminate the ores.
Now, time was entirely on humanity’s side. The only thing left was for Riska’s power to disappear.
“Yes.”
Jiwon answered briefly.
Looking back at the mine, its size was, in fact, absurdly vast. It was frightening to even try to estimate how many had been sacrificed.
If they had had to face it only inside the dungeon, they might have had to let Riska go. There’s a limit to how long one can survive inside a dungeon.
‘We were lucky.’
To find Suhyun’s ore in this enormous mine.
He had wandered around thinking it was too vast, but he hadn’t realized it was this extensive. If he had properly surveyed it, he might not have even dared to try anything, overwhelmed by its immensity.
“…Our power! Cannot be stolen! In our land…!”
Jiwon’s body trembled at the chilling hypothetical. What caught his attention was the resounding voice of a foreign Esper.
In the short time he had been standing in front of Riska’s lair, he had seen it at least three times.
It was an Esper who had fallen under Riska’s mind control, desperately fighting to survive.
“Get out! Get out! No! Our power…!”
Restraints were fastened to the arms of the Esper being dragged out of the entrance.
The restraints, prepared under the assumption that Espers could be mind-controlled by Riska, were serving their purpose well.
“There are fewer than at first.”
Nevertheless, the number of Espers being controlled by Riska was gradually decreasing.
Not only that, but Riska dungeons had also noticeably decreased.
From what he had heard, when they first started ruthlessly breaking the ores, Riska dungeons had exponentially increased worldwide.
It must have been a measure to gather the disappearing power, but it probably didn’t help at all. Because no one entered the dungeons.
Riska not only failed to gain the desired power but also consumed the power they had in creating dungeons.
While they shouldn’t let their guard down because there’s no telling what Riska might do to survive, Jiwon dared to assert that the tide had turned in favor of humans.
“Haah.”
“Why the sigh?”
Jiwon, watching the ability users with eyes full of that belief, asked about Jo Wooyeon’s sigh.
“I can’t believe you opened that by yourself.”
Jo Wooyeon promptly pointed with his chin toward the entrance of the lair as he replied.
The entrance that Jiwon had opened alone, driven by the determination to save Suhyun inside. At the place he had rushed into without any certainty of success, there were now three or four Guides stationed.
That many were needed to keep the entrance open. In reality, it was nearly impossible for one person to do it alone.
“I am S-class, after all.”
Jiwon thought it was possible because he didn’t care what happened to his body, because he was that desperate, but he couldn’t say that outright.
He had considered saying it was the power of love, but then Suhyun, who was keeping quiet, would also get teased.
“Well done.”
“Thank you. Right, Esper Suhyun?”
“……”
Suddenly calling his name seemed to have caught him off guard, as Suhyun smiled with an embarrassed expression.
“Huh, are you openly laughing outside?”
In response to Jiwon’s teasing, Jo Wooyeon looked at him as if disgusted before shaking his head.
“Go home and play.”
“Huh? I came to do some guiding…”
“I said go home.”
“…Yes, sir.”
Suhyun didn’t agree, but in truth, Jiwon had intended to help eliminate some ores while he was here.
Since he had come all this way, he couldn’t leave without doing anything.
But with Jo Wooyeon’s sharp refusal and Suhyun’s anxious gaze, Jiwon couldn’t insist.
His body had already fully recovered, but everyone was still overly concerned.
‘I should understand, but…’
Jo Wooyeon turned abruptly. Jiwon stared at his back as he entered the entrance without a word, then turned his head toward Suhyun.
“He says to go home. We don’t have anything else to do, so shall we?”
“Yes.”
Suhyun responded quickly, as if he had been waiting for just these words.
It was typical of him, as he had been restless from the moment Jiwon said he wanted to come here, suggesting that he should rest more.
“I’m really fine, but everyone’s treating me like a patient.”
“…Still, it’s good to rest when you can.”
“I’ll return those exact words to you. Esper-nim should remember that too.”
“…Yes.”
Suhyun answered, lowering his gaze. Jiwon sighed briefly and grabbed his hand. Only when Suhyun’s fingertips gently curled around his did he raise his head again.
Walking together with Suhyun to return home, just before getting into the car, Jiwon once more looked at the entrance where ability users were gathered.
‘Maybe Wooyeon hyung too…’
He clearly remembers the moment he found and guided the ore containing Suhyun’s power.
At that time, setting aside the pain as if his body was breaking apart, he had felt frustrated because guiding the ore wasn’t going as smoothly as he wanted.
Finally, Jiwon found Suhyun’s ore and guided it.
And simultaneously, he felt something blocked suddenly burst open. It felt like something that had been blocking his body, preventing him from guiding, had been pierced through.
‘If I had been in a state where I couldn’t guide, like Wooyeon hyung.’
Using abilities too excessively can render one unable to guide anymore. Since Jiwon had also performed excessive guiding for Suhyun, there was a good chance of it happening.
But at the moment when he felt the sensation of breaking through, Jiwon thought that perhaps even the loss of guiding ability was due to Riska’s influence.
So he had been somewhat hoping that once Choi Young’s ore disappeared, Jo Wooyeon’s power might return as well.
‘I hope so.’
Since it’s not certain, he can’t say it. But he hopes he’s right.
Therefore, he hoped that Jo Wooyeon would be the first to notice that Choi Young’s trapped wavelength had been safely released.
