The corners of Moon Woo-shin’s eyes, who discovered Hae-il, crumpled slightly. The gun barrel that had been aimed at the monsters instantly changed direction. Toward this way. As soon as they faced each other head-on, he pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang! Along with a sharp sound, the bullet that flew passed by Hae-il’s side and lodged into the monster that had been rushing from behind. Kieek! The monster’s eerie crying sound rang right next to his ear. Goosebumps rose.
However, an even more sinister voice soon followed.
“I told you to wait.”
“But….”
Unfortunately, there was no time to make excuses right away because of the monsters that kept rushing.
Hae-il urgently gathered the remaining water and swung it long in all directions around. While the monsters were pushed far away, Moon Woo-shin pulled Hae-il with rough hands. The two people’s arms collided long, and then their backs touched.
The sensation of Moon Woo-shin exhaling rough breaths behind his back was felt completely. In front of his eyes were only monsters.
“Let’s clean up first.”
“Yes.”
Immediately, Hae-il, who had condensed wavelength to his fingertips, began to newly draw out the maximum amount of water possible.
A giant wave that bloomed from his fingertips surged at a fast speed. The water that had swept up about half of the monsters in front filling the space at once reduced its density as if being compressed.
Taking advantage of the gap while the monsters with blocked airways were drowning inside the water, Moon Woo-shin took out several flares and flashlights and threw them in different directions.
As the darkness lifted and visibility was secured, the surrounding scenery was clearly revealed. Hae-il unknowingly exhaled a short breath.
“Ha….”
It was spectacular in a bad sense.
Monsters filling the space so densely that neither gaps nor ends could be seen were ceaselessly surging toward the two people.
The animal-type monsters with sharp teeth had threateningly long claws, and their surfaces were wrapped in hard shells.
Moon Woo-shin, who leisurely gripped the gun again, began firing indiscriminately at the monsters on the opposite side. Moon Woo-shin handled the monster-processing gun that operated only with Esper or Guide wavelengths as if it were his own ability.
Sharp gunshots, the sound of water surging, and the creepy sounds the monsters made rang out ceaselessly.
Understanding each other’s situations only through the sensation on their backs, the two continued only combat silently for a while.
Though there were disgustingly many individuals, it didn’t take very long until the situation was somewhat organized.
“I think there are no more now?”
Hae-il, who confirmed that the movements caught in his vision had disappeared, asked while drawing out water long. The water that extended forward just like that washed away the space stained with the monsters’ purple blood while simultaneously pushing and piling the monsters’ corpses to one side.
Even while Hae-il was clearing the path on his own, Moon Woo-shin was silent. Only after shining a flashlight and meticulously checking all directions did he turn toward Hae-il.
“Any injuries?”
“None. What about you, senior?”
Instead of an answer, a hand reached out first. He, who had grabbed Hae-il’s wrist, checked the watch screen first. 65%. It was still an okay level.
Even though Moon Woo-shin should know better, guiding began to flow from him. Hae-il, who had been quietly waiting for the wavelength to touch, flinched.
It was because he could faintly feel Moon Woo-shin’s mood was bad from the wavelength more fierce than usual.
“Seo Hae-il.”
“…Yes.”
As expected, the face he met was chilly.
“I must have said it to the point of being sick of it throughout training. Move only as instructed, only as much as instructed.”
The sharp gaze and hardened face were revealing the clearest emotion he’d seen until now.
“Does the team leader’s instruction not sound like words?”
Since it was true that he hadn’t followed the last instruction he’d heard, Hae-il obediently apologized first.
“I’m sorry. I judged it would be better for at least one person to follow when there was a chance.”
“Why is a rookie with no Gate strategy experience making judgments, so presumptuous?”
However, the excuse he added to try to explain seemed to have stoked the anger instead.
“I’m the head of the team. Don’t try to climb up when you can’t even properly play the role of limbs yet.”
…Still, wasn’t that judgment correct as a result? If he hadn’t followed, it would have been difficult for Moon Woo-shin alone to kill all these many monsters without a single injury and escape.
‘He’s making a fuss even when I saved him.’
At this point, Hae-il was also slightly offended.
“But this was an unexpected situation. The radio was cut off and the entrance was closing, so if I had waited as instructed, senior could have been in danger….”
“Do you think I haven’t experienced this kind of situation? I’ll come out alive on my own. But you.”
Moon Woo-shin, who cut off his words with a hollow laugh, mechanically recited other situations that could have occurred in succession.
“If the place you jumped into connected to another location. If you couldn’t join me and were trapped alone. If you faced a monster you couldn’t handle alone. If an even more dangerous variable occurred while looking for you who moved on your own.”
It seemed like concern for a moment, but Moon Woo-shin’s wavelength wrapping around them pressed against Hae-il as if stabbing. On top of that, a voice spat out as if chewing settled down heavily.
“My instruction is the conclusion considering all situations beyond your short thoughts. Everything that happens inside the Gate is my responsibility. So don’t add unnecessary variables to the formula already made. Still can’t understand?”
It’s true that he jumped in with only the sense of crisis about the situation before his eyes and intuition, without thoroughly preparing for subsequent situations.
But doesn’t the future always flow in unexpected directions? For Hae-il, variables were variables because they couldn’t be considered in advance, and choosing the most reasonable action according to the situation each time was the best course.
He couldn’t turn away from someone who had fallen into a crisis right before his eyes because of assumptions that hadn’t occurred yet and weren’t even certain to become real.
However, there was nothing more to gain from arguing further.
Though it felt a bit unfair, Hae-il obediently bowed down instead of rebutting further.
“I understand. I’ll make sure not to disobey instructions from now on.”
The gaze that had been looking down at Hae-il like a warning was soon withdrawn. The wavelength that had been sharply stabbing at his skin also became slightly duller.
Moon Woo-shin, who irritably pulled out his earpiece, rummaged in his chest and took out a new earpiece to connect. It seemed the radio had been cut off because it had broken while falling.
The next instruction fell above Hae-il’s head as he glanced at him.
“Prepare to move.”
“Yes.”
As soon as he answered shortly and quickly, he reorganized his disheveled equipment and took the lead. However, he was immediately pushed back by Moon Woo-shin.
“Don’t crawl into just anywhere again and follow from behind.”
“Yes….”
Hae-il, who stood looking at his back, belatedly felt slightly regretful.
Looking at how his voice got colder than before, it seems making a good impression and getting close is already a lost cause.
***
The two people, standing front and back, found their way back to the ground while handling monsters that appeared sporadically without exception.
- The cleanup around here is complete for now.
“Move slowly in the existing direction first. It’ll take some time to join up.”
Moon Woo-shin asked about the progress above at every opportunity even while walking ahead, and gave the next instructions.
Hae-il, who stood behind him, was looking for a place to break through by stabbing the soil in all directions with a long rod. Since only blocked paths appeared even after walking for a long time, he was thinking of making an entrance and getting out.
The rod he’d been roughly poking up suddenly plunged deep toward one corner.
Unlike other places that had been only hard, a response came as soon as he stabbed it. Soil fell down rustling and a large hole formed toward the top.
Hae-il, whose face brightened, quickly stopped Moon Woo-shin.
“Senior, over here!”
He, who stopped walking, approached beside Hae-il and examined it.
“Try breaking through upward.”
“Yes.”
As soon as he answered briskly, he drew out a long stream of water and shot it upward at a fast speed.
The water stream that rose piercing through the soil like a spear opened a path to the ground in one stroke. While drawing out water until faint light leaked in, he wrapped the surroundings with thin water so the falling dust wouldn’t touch the two people.
Hae-il, who neatly finished the work, glanced back.
“Still, I’m useful since I’m here together, right?”
“Instead of time to say useless things, lift this up.”
“Yep.”
During training, even if there was no direct praise, at least he didn’t deny what was done well. I guess I probed too hastily this time. It seemed he needed to pretend to be obedient for a while, properly doing what he was told.
