# Chapter 164
When exposed in large quantities, the Nightmare Elephant’s hallucinations completely destroy the mind. Although Iyeon was a hunter, so the progression would have been slower, the outcome would have been the same. Certain death.
Jaekyung couldn’t turn his back on the face that had entered the black door without hesitation, calling his name.
“Thank you.”
Instead of asking for an explanation for the disjointed words, Iyeon just patted Jaekyung’s shoulder and smiled. Jaekyung didn’t respond to that, but his ears appeared slightly flushed through his disheveled hair.
Around that time, the core cradled in Jaekyung’s arms completely lost its light. The destroyed energy source crumbled feebly. Crack… The remains scattered helplessly across the corridor floor.
“Can we get out now? How did you get in?”
When Iyeon belatedly turned to Sano and asked, Sano nodded with an indifferent face. The floor immediately opened up, revealing the lower level. It didn’t seem like he controlled minerals as usual, but rather forcibly made a hole in Dabalsin’s body, but it didn’t matter as long as they could get out. Iyeon exclaimed “Ooh” in admiration and naturally moved closer to Sano. It was instinct from his multiple experiences using Je Sano’s elevator.
After pulling Jaekyung close to stand nearby, Sano pulled Iyeon’s arm to separate him from Jaekyung. Seeing how he placed them with Sano in the center rather than having Jaekyung next to Iyeon, it seemed he found it easier to use his ability in a circle centered on himself. Thinking nonchalantly, Iyeon joked to Jaekyung across from him.
“It happened unexpectedly, but we’ve completed the request with this.”
“Huh? Oh, right. Since we experienced it firsthand, we’ll have a lot to write in the report. Um, about the payment, if you calculate it and send it to me, I’ll tomorrow…”
“I won’t charge you this time, specially.”
“What?”
Jaekyung’s eyes widened. Iyeon grinned.
“B-but you went through so much trouble, Iyeon-ssi…”
Jaekyung mumbled awkwardly. During the recent incident, Jaekyung realized that Iyeon wasn’t just a simple Tier 2. It would have been stranger not to notice, having witnessed up close how vastly different his actual ability and usage were from what he had originally explained. Plus, he had roughly figured out Sano’s identity as well. It might be hard to recognize from one encounter, but this was already the second time. There was only one person in this city who used abilities that way.
They were high-caliber personnel, too valuable to use for free, and… he no longer wanted to give the impression of exploiting them. As Jaekyung hesitated, Iyeon stared at him directly and casually said:
“Jaekyung-ssi, you didn’t really come to make a request, did you?”
The food he had brought, heavy in both hands, the happy eyes as he reported recent news, the face that had shared every detail about his new job. The request, which should have been the main point, was described as something that could be done or not. Even willingly joining to give Iyeon an experience he hadn’t had before.
Iyeon knew another expression that could explain all of this.
“Just think of it as a job congratulations gift.”
His mild face shrugged lightly.
“Friends exchange things like that, don’t they?”
Once they exited the building, Hyegang, who had been circling the area, brightened and raised his hand. He seemed to have been worried, as there were marks between his eyebrows from frowning.
“Is everyone okay?”
“Yeah. Were you worried?”
“Don’t even ask. I thought you’d set up house in there.”
When the two didn’t emerge after 10 minutes, Hyegang and Sano realized something was wrong with the situation. They tried to go up to the second floor, but strangely, the path was blocked and they couldn’t enter. Even using Sano’s ability didn’t work.
A space-controlling variant that couldn’t be easily penetrated even with a Mugunghwa Tier 5’s power. Sano, who had only dealt with high-level variants before, immediately recognized what it was.
Though it looked like a building on the outside, it was actually the body of a variant. It was an area Sano couldn’t control. He tried to break the outer wall and force his way in, but since Dabalsin was a variant specialized in defense and also possessed a core, it wasn’t easy to enter.
Just when he decided on a backup plan—something too flashy to use in the city center and had been postponed—to completely destroy the building and reduce it to dust, Sano mysteriously sensed that the variant’s power had weakened. He rushed in immediately to wedge into the gap, and as soon as he entered, he encountered the thoroughly disheveled Jaekyung about to be attacked.
After hearing explanations alternately from Iyeon and Jaekyung and learning the whole story, Hyegang patted them both, saying it was fortunate that everything aligned at the right time. Only then did Jaekyung exaggerate about almost dying, and Hyegang teased that his hair certainly looked like it had been hit by a bomb. The atmosphere slowly returned to normal.
“But is it okay to leave Dabalsin like that?”
“Well, the core is gone, and we’ve dealt with the Nightmare Elephant… I’ve filed an emergency report to the Superpower Management Office, so they’ll be here soon.”
Iyeon waved his phone. As soon as they left Dabalsin’s interior, the phone signal was perfectly strong.
“Wow, come to think of it, the low-level Nightmare Elephant totally manipulated Dabalsin with its core. Isn’t this similar to what happened with Mungchi?”
Hyegang’s eyes sparkled with interest. True, Iyeon nodded. There was the time when a Flock Phoenix ran away with Cheongho’s core, and then this situation just now. It was a fresh realization that variant levels weren’t absolute but were divided according to human convenience.
“Why? What happened with Mungchi?”
“Oh, previously a Flock Phoenix ran away with Mungchi’s core, and Mungchi chased after it. I nearly fainted when a Level 2 variant suddenly appeared in the middle of the city.”
Iyeon explained lightly with a laugh. But at those words, Jaekyung tilted his head.
“Ran away with the core? How?”
“I don’t know exactly how it happened, but somehow it was stolen. Flock Phoenixes have crow-like tendencies…”
“No, what I mean is, it can’t be stolen?”
“Pardon?”
When Iyeon asked in confusion, Jaekyung replied in a somewhat businesslike tone. It was the distinctive explanatory tone of a researcher.
“The core is the nucleus of a variant, right? Naturally, it should be inside the variant. We were able to take the core from Dabalsin just now because we were inside the variant. What variant exists that can put its core in and out of its body like it’s some kind of mobile phone?”
This was something Iyeon had never thought about before. Feeling perplexed, he couldn’t answer immediately, and Jaekyung stroked his chin with a “hmm.”
“There are few specimens of variants with cores so far, but still, most core characteristics are similar… Especially Cheongho, which is a typical physical combat type. This is quite interesting. I’ll look into it too.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
Since it was late at night, they parted ways with Jaekyung at the crossroads where they each headed home. After sending Hyegang home as well, Sano and Iyeon walked slowly through the night streets. Unusually, Sano simply walked quietly without using his elevator.
Iyeon glanced sideways at his handsome profile as if stealing a look.
‘Still, priorities can change as you live.’
Iyeon’s priority was family.
But because Iyeon’s priority was Iyeon’s priority, they died.
It happened completely against his intention, but the result was clear. No matter what excuses or justifications were made, the facts remained unchanged. The realization that he was the cause of his loved ones’ deaths was horrifying whenever it crossed his mind.
He admitted liking Sano because Sano was a strong person.
Sano was different from his parents. He was someone Iyeon had saved. He seemed like someone who would live on by enduring more firmly than anyone else. Watching him standing steadfast in any situation gave Iyeon sudden hope that everything would turn out well. That’s why he liked him.
But liking someone and wanting to date them were different. What if he grew to love Sano as much as his parents, and then they broke up? What if Sano rejected him, saying he couldn’t stand the sight of him? …What if Sano died?
Iyeon didn’t have confidence in handling such a loss again.
‘Well, it’s not like I could date him just because I want to.’
He had never imagined confessing, but it would undoubtedly be awkward and uncomfortable. Yes, that’s right. A person who hadn’t even thought of looking for him for ten years suddenly being told that he was liked… Sano might ignore it even after hearing it. He might even laugh scornfully, asking if Iyeon hadn’t gotten enough sleep.
Somehow, such a scene was so easy to imagine as if he had actually experienced it, that Iyeon lowered his gaze sheepishly.
Just becoming friends was already good enough. The stirring feelings he had whenever he saw Sano were something Iyeon could bear alone inside.
Rather, just continuing to live like this was good.
