# Chapter 61
My heart was beating rapidly. I suppressed my legs, which were trying to move on their own.
I had to wait. It was Won Jungyeom, not Suhyun, who was under mind control. I needed to trust Suhyun.
“…Are you acting? Or has Riska made you believe I’m strange?”
“What are you talking about, urgh! Are you crazy? Suhyun Esper, right now, huff, which one of us has lost their mind…! Aaagh!”
Chewing on my lips that had turned pale, I watched the two of them. Though Jungyeom’s painful screams concerned me, the person I had to trust was Suhyun. I had to believe in him.
“I’m not sure.”
Suhyun stretched his hand toward the dungeon while looking at Jungyeom. A sphere formed in his hand flew directly into the dungeon.
Bang!
There have been many cases of attacking dungeon entrances. However, no matter how strong an Esper’s attack was, the entrance never took any damage.
So, Suhyun’s action shouldn’t have had much significance.
“Ugh, urgh…!”
But something strange happened to Jungyeom after the attack on the entrance. He, who had been hounding Suhyun with words, groaned painfully and shook his head.
At that moment, Suhyun attacked the dungeon entrance again. Though nothing seemed to change on the surface, Jungyeom could barely speak and just thrashed about.
“Aaaagh!”
Jungyeom, who had momentarily stopped attacking, started using his ability again.
“Esper-nim!”
Continuously using his ability was dangerous. Fortunately his wavelength was usually stable, otherwise he would have had problems long ago with how recklessly he was using his power.
No matter how much force he used, he couldn’t escape Suhyun’s power. Suhyun attacked the dungeon entrance again with his brows furrowed.
“Aaaaurgh!”
Agonizing screams echoed loudly. I felt like covering my ears. Jungyeom was now under Riska’s control. But the one feeling the pain was Jungyeom himself.
“Suhyun Esper-nim! This, this first!”
Imagination and reality are different. No matter how prepared you are, when the situation actually happens, your mind goes blank.
I called out to Suhyun while waving what I held in my hand. Then, the moment Suhyun’s gaze met mine, I threw it toward him with all my might.
“…Thank you.”
Though my throw lacked strength, somehow Suhyun pulled the object toward himself.
It was a restraint that prevents A-class or lower Espers from using their abilities.
It was useless for Suhyun, but it was something that could be used on Jungyeom, so we had prepared it in advance.
Suhyun quickly secured the restraint around Jungyeom’s wrist. I watched anxiously. Drops of blood had formed on my lips from constantly biting them.
“Huff, huff…!”
Jungyeom twisted his body violently. But from the moment the restraint was secured, he couldn’t use his ability.
“Guide-nim.”
Only then did Suhyun nod, as if saying it was okay to come closer. I rushed toward them without delay.
“Ah…”
Jungyeom was in a far more pitiful state than he appeared from a distance. Translucent cords bound him from head to toe. Even though we used the restraint, it seemed Suhyun hadn’t released the bindings, not wanting to let his guard down completely.
“I would like you to perform guiding.”
I understood intellectually, but my heart was torn. Suhyun requested in a low voice to me as I grimaced. I immediately nodded.
“If it seems dangerous at all, then again…”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
Before Suhyun could finish speaking, I answered and knelt down. Then I placed my hand on the crow’s feet around his eyes that had formed from his usual smiling. With his entire body bound, the only exposed area was around his eyes.
“Urgh…”
As soon as I started guiding, his chaotic wavelength engulfed me. But very fortunately, it wasn’t a dangerous state. The fact that he had been receiving regular guiding and was stable must have been a big help.
Reassured, I tried to focus more on guiding, hoping Jungyeom would regain consciousness.
“Hehe, ugh, hahahahaha!”
But Jungyeom failed to come to his senses even with his ability restrained. He twisted his body while laughing loudly.
Am I doing this right? Is this correct? My hands trembled with rising anxiety.
“Don’t worry, just continue.”
Suhyun spoke as if comforting me. I suppressed my anxiety and nodded with a resolute face.
I had to do this properly. Somehow, I had to make him regain his senses.
The Esper who volunteered first for the Riska dungeon when no one else was willing to step forward. He was just as necessary to this world as Suhyun. Therefore, he had to overcome Riska.
“Haah…”
I closed my eyes tightly. Then, not even realizing I was breaking into a cold sweat, I guided with all my might. I was prepared to continue until he regained consciousness, no matter how long it took.
“Haha, ha… we are, ha, evolving.”
At that moment, Jungyeom, who had been laughing for a while, began to spout incomprehensible words.
“By trampling on your hopes, we overcome and evolve.”
“…”
“That’s why you can’t defeat us.”
The giggling sound was grotesque. Are these the words of Riska? Despite the shocking situation, I focused more on guiding. I believed that the more Jungyeom groaned in pain, the closer he was to returning.
“Eventually… like that… perish…”
“…”
“No matter how hard… you try… it’s inevitable…”
Jungyeom’s voice broke off. He had lost consciousness.
His strength drained and his eyelids closed. I flinched but didn’t stop guiding. The guiding, which had felt blocked somewhere, suddenly gained momentum. His unstable and murky wavelength was rapidly returning to its original state.
***
“That’s all.”
A sense of silence hung over the conference room. Everyone’s faces were extremely troubled. Even Suhyun, who had just finished speaking, didn’t look too good.
“…And the condition of Esper Won Jungyeom…?”
To the Association chairman’s question, one staff member immediately answered.
“He wasn’t seriously injured, so he recovered quickly and woke up 3 hours ago. He doesn’t remember anything about this incident.”
I pressed my temple. Just then, a researcher’s voice came from the communication system.
“According to the wavelength examination results, the same phenomenon that occurred with Esper Seo Suhyun did not happen with Esper Won Jungyeom. Esper Won Jungyeom is still not free from mind control.”
Even though I already knew this fact, it was still uncomfortable. Was it not possible with just one attempt? Or was Suhyun truly special after all?
Jungyeom ultimately lost consciousness without regaining his reason. It seemed that Suhyun’s attack on the dungeon entrance had an impact.
As soon as he lost consciousness, Suhyun contacted the Association to move Jungyeom far away from the dungeon. Because he might be influenced again if he woke up.
And he also needed to receive more perfect guiding from his dedicated guide.
“Then…, haah.”
The chairman’s sigh deepened. It was the same for me.
“It seems we have to consider Esper Seo Suhyun as a… mutant. It would be better to abandon the expectation that other Espers could also be free from the Riska dungeon.”
“…”
“It’s okay. We didn’t have high expectations for this part anyway. It can’t be helped.”
I had hoped. I wanted to have that ability. But I couldn’t insist on more experiments. Not after seeing what happened to Jungyeom.
“The problem is… what Esper Won Jungyeom said while under Riska’s control…”
Riska is evolving. Evolving by trampling on our hopes and overcoming. Therefore, we cannot defeat Riska. Eventually, we will perish.
A sense of dismay settled on everyone’s faces. They all must have known that Riska was gradually changing. They were growing, using failures as stepping stones. Making Espers kill their guides first was part of that.
But hearing Riska’s words directly from a mind-controlled Esper made the situation seem even more serious. It’s certain that they are evolving, but we haven’t found a way to stop them yet.
We had placed our hope in me, but my guiding seemed ineffective.
“If… no, never mind.”
I knew that everyone here was thinking the same thing.
They explicitly said they are evolving. Trampling on our hope—in other words, all our efforts to survive the Riska dungeon.
That statement was like a conclusion that even Suhyun, who is currently not affected by Riska’s control, would eventually kneel before them.
Everyone was worried about the situation where even Suhyun would succumb to the Riska dungeon.
“…”
People’s gazes inevitably turned toward Suhyun. They were probably expecting him to say everything would be fine.
But Suhyun didn’t say anything in the end. He, too, couldn’t be certain of anything, just like the rest of us.
