# Chapter 21
Faces that looked haphazardly kneaded together and enormous bodies. The monsters, whose bones rattled as they moved along their crookedly formed skeletons, looked like corpses risen from graves. Corpses with dead flesh still attached.
The grotesque monsters were dripping saliva as they stared at him. Although he had continuously encountered these creatures since entering the dungeon, facing them one-on-one felt strangely novel.
Not in a good way, of course.
“Huk…”
Who in their right mind would be happy to see monsters whose eyes gleamed brightly as if they’d found prey?
They weren’t strong monsters. But that only applied if you were an Esper.
“Sheek… shek! Sheek!”
Sounds like air escaping filled the area from all directions. As if they’d heard a signal flare, they all began rushing toward Jiwon at once.
This room was even larger than any he’d encountered so far, and there were more monsters too. For a moment, his thoughts froze, and resignation came quickly—I’m going to die like this.
BOOM! CRASH!
“……”
“Esper-nim….”
But that didn’t happen. Because Suhyun, who had noisily torn through the veil that Jiwon had crossed without restriction, was suddenly standing beside him.
The moment Jiwon saw Suhyun, he felt relief at the thought of survival. For Suhyun, these monsters would be nothing.
However….
THUD! THUD THUD! BOOM!
“Esper-nim!”
Jiwon shouted in horror at Suhyun’s merciless attacks. It was because Suhyun, who had somehow reached Jiwon’s vicinity, had completely blown away the monsters and immediately began using his abilities without even a moment’s pause.
Translucent spheres created from his hands poured out in every direction. The attacks were extremely threatening, but even to Jiwon, their accuracy seemed lacking. It felt strangely off.
“Esper-nim, wait! Stop, stop!”
First, he needed to stop Suhyun. Although the monsters were disappearing without a trace when hit by his attacks—making a mockery of their undead nature—the problem was the stability of his wavelength.
“I said stop! Esper-nim!”
They say ominous premonitions always come true. Jiwon was witnessing with his own eyes how Suhyun’s wavelength was becoming tangled at a tremendous speed.
63.
51.
47.
39.
The rate at which the wavelength stability was dropping was also serious. The first digit changed with every blink. The stability, plummeting like it was in a vertical orbit, had already reached a dangerous point. Suhyun needed to stop attacking right now.
“Seo Suhyun Esper-nim!”
“……”
But no matter how much he called out, Suhyun didn’t answer. As if programmed to attack in any direction, he continued without any regard for his wavelength.
A sharp coldness dripped from his expression.
“Esper-nim! Stop, please!”
CRACK, BOOM! CRASH!
“You’ll go berserk at this rate!”
THOOM! THUD! THUD!
“I said stop!”
Suhyun wasn’t in his right mind now. Just screaming at him to stop was useless.
At this rate, Suhyun going berserk was the natural progression. And if that happened, Jiwon would inevitably be caught up in it.
‘I can’t just stand here…’
Die this way or die that way. If it’s all the same either way, he might as well try something before dying.
Jiwon ran straight toward Suhyun.
“Hey! Fuck! Seo Suhyun!”
Suhyun’s movements momentarily stopped as Jiwon charged toward him, seemingly ignoring his attacks. At the end of his fierce gaze, as if searching for an enemy, he caught sight of Jiwon, and a strange light flashed in his previously vacant eyes.
THUD!
“Ugh…!”
The translucent long blade that had somehow appeared in Suhyun’s hand was directed at Jiwon. However, what fell with a thunderous sound was the monster that had opened its maw right next to Jiwon.
“Huh…”
Jiwon, who thought he was going to die by Suhyun’s hand, took rapid shallow breaths and embraced Suhyun. More than the relief of being alive, he felt a sense of duty to somehow stabilize Suhyun’s wavelength first.
“What are you—”
Suhyun, who had been silent all along, finally opened his mouth as if to reproach Jiwon. But he couldn’t finish his sentence due to Jiwon’s indignation.
“Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?!”
11.
Suhyun’s wavelength stability was at its worst. The fact that Suhyun was still holding onto his sanity was really just good luck. At this level, it wouldn’t be strange if he went berserk at any moment.
“Fu…”
Jiwon bit back a curse and hugged Suhyun tighter. A painful wavelength flowed from his stiff body. Pain surged as if crushing bones, wringing internal organs, and pounding at his head.
“Didn’t you say, huh, you could… handle it yourself!”
He had to endure. There was no other answer. Jiwon shouted while enduring the vivid pain. His surroundings appeared pitch black due to the precarious wavelength.
“Is this, kuh, what you meant by, ah, handling, cough! Handling a berserk state well?”
That couldn’t be right. It shouldn’t be. After shouting, Jiwon shook his head vigorously.
In truth, he was afraid. The wavelength was such a mess that it was remarkable Suhyun hadn’t gone berserk yet. With one wrong move, he could ultimately lose Suhyun.
“Huh, hah….”
The fortunate thing was that Suhyun had stopped attacking. Moreover, he even wrapped his arms around Jiwon’s waist. Some semblance of sanity had returned.
This confirmed that Suhyun had indeed lost his mind earlier.
“Ha….”
Jiwon checked the time. 13. Should he consider it fortunate that it hadn’t decreased further? The stability that had only risen by a mere 2 made Jiwon anxious.
“Don’t… use your ability….”
His head was spinning from having guided somewhat forcefully due to Suhyun’s condition worsening so suddenly.
But for now, escaping this precarious stability was the priority. After all, getting out alive was more important than what happened to his own body.
“Ugh….”
“…Are you alright?”
“How could I, be alright?”
If the wavelength was this tangled, Suhyun must be in pain too, but there was no tremor in his voice. As if taking on Suhyun’s share of pain as well, Jiwon replied with difficulty.
BOOM!
In the meantime, a monster was slammed into the wall. Jiwon tightly closed and then opened his eyes, speaking in a low voice.
“I said… ugh, don’t use… your ability, I’m currently…”
“…I apologize. The monsters are swarming.”
Whether it was due to low accuracy or not, despite unleashing so many attacks, many monsters still remained.
It was a cursed situation. Even just swinging a fist to repel monsters caused the wavelength to become severely disrupted. Moreover, perhaps because he barely used his ability, the monsters that were sent flying by his fists were getting back up.
“Huk, cough!”
“Guide-nim.”
“Haa, I’d prefer if… you could, ha, just avoid them as much as possible.”
Jiwon spoke distinctly despite painfully coughing. He hoped Suhyun would properly understand his intention to buy time for now.
“…Understood.”
Fortunately, Suhyun nodded and carried Jiwon as he retreated. Thanks to the monsters’ slow speed, Suhyun could easily avoid them.
The problem was that even his movement was part of an Esper’s abilities, so it affected the wavelength.
“Ha….”
Still, it was much better than attacking recklessly. Thanks to him conserving energy and Jiwon guiding to the point where his vision blurred, the stability had exceeded 20.
Just 20. A number that might horrify someone else, but considering it was 11 when they first started guiding, the situation was improving.
“Ugh…”
By now, Jiwon was hanging limply from Suhyun. Even as his body’s strength completely drained away, he remained desperate. Suhyun firmly supported Jiwon to prevent him from falling.
At this rate, he would lose consciousness. Jiwon’s energy was being drained rapidly.
“How, how many… are left?”
“…Five.”
Jiwon desperately tried to think with his sluggish mind. Would it be faster to kill five monsters with bare fists or for him to lose consciousness?
Wouldn’t it be better to sweep them away at once with Suhyun’s ability? No, no. The stability was too precarious for that.
Only five low-level monsters remained, yet he had to make such a difficult decision. If only Suhyun hadn’t used his powers so mercilessly from the beginning… If only he had directly intervened before the wavelength dropped this far…
“Haa…”
That was a useless regret for now.
THOOM!
“Ugh!”
Meanwhile, Suhyun, who had been avoiding monsters, was cornered. He swung his fist at a monster, and it was embedded in the wall with a loud noise, but even then, it staggered back to its feet.
Jiwon widened his eyes further to avoid losing consciousness.
“We can’t, waste… time.”
Using abilities would be better. It would be an effective attack against the monsters, but at this rate, it was taking too long.
They also had to consider the possibility of other Espers bursting in. If they lost their minds and unleashed attacks randomly like Suhyun had…
It would be unstoppable.
Suhyun was an S-class Esper. Basically, his wavelength was more solid than other Espers and didn’t easily get disrupted. He just maintained a low stability because he hadn’t received proper guiding for a long time.
Yet, in this space where even Suhyun’s wavelength became disrupted in an instant, what about other Espers? They might go berserk after using their abilities just once.
“Quickly, haa… let’s end this quickly.”
Jiwon gritted his teeth.
Right here, right now, they needed to resolve this as quickly as possible. Just the two of them—Suhyun and himself.
