The most widely known method for raiding a gate was to destroy the core, the nucleus in the heart of the gate’s main monster. This method was so standard that not only Espers but also ordinary citizens knew about it.
However, there were also gates that couldn’t be raided even if the core was destroyed. For instance, some gates were only raided after dealing with all the randomly appearing monsters, while others had to be burned with fire. There were even gates that would only disappear after a sacrifice was offered.
There was also a gate that was raided only after stuffing all the animal-doll-shaped monsters that came out of it back inside; the sight of the bureau staff searching for the scattered monsters was once featured in the TV documentary, ‘An Esper’s 3 Days.’
“What’s the point of telling me that it’s difficult to raid through normal methods….”
Wonwoo chewed the inside of his mouth, fidgeting restlessly.
If the gate couldn't be raided by normal means, he had to tell Yonghyun, who had rushed off to stop the monster.
'If I shout from here, will my voice reach him? Or should I get a little closer and talk to him….'
Wonwoo agonized over and over.
***
And while Wonwoo was agonizing, Yonghyun was approaching the octopus-shaped monster. The first directive for raiding a gate was to identify the gate’s location and prevent the monsters that emerged from it from approaching civilians.
The gate energy detection device in Yonghyun's chest pocket was vibrating strongly. The detector's role was to inform the user of the gate's danger level or destructive intensity through vibrations. The stronger and more frequent the vibrations, the more dangerous the gate.
'But something… is strange. I keep getting the feeling that I'm missing something.'
As he approached the monster and the gate, Yonghyun couldn’t shake the thought that the vibrations he felt from his chest were weaker than expected. The gate that had spat out this monster was an AA-class gate, a fusion of A-class gates. If the machine was working properly, it should be vibrating much more strongly and frequently than this.
Yonghyun parried a leg lunging at him with his fist and climbed onto the bridge’s railing. The writhing suckers froze in an instant and then shattered like breaking glass. Each time, the monster’s leg moved violently as if expressing its agony with its entire body.
The monster’s legs were large enough to wrap around the Dangsan Railway Bridge in one go, and they had just as many countless suckers. Rather than freezing the large legs all at once, Yonghyun decided to weaken the monster by removing the suckers first.
'It’s weak for a monster from an AA-class gate.'
Yonghyun had also been on the raiding team for the worst gate in history, an A-class gate that resulted in over two thousand injuries and over one hundred deaths. Standing on the front lines leading numerous high-ranking Espers, Yonghyun had created ice shields to block waves of monsters while continuously throwing ice spears to subjugate them.
Back then, dealing with the monsters had been incredibly taxing. Sharp ice fragments had spread from the tips of his toes to the tip of his nose, tormenting him, and every time he exhaled, ice crystals were spat out with his breath, making it difficult to even breathe.
But right now, it didn't feel that difficult. It wasn’t just because the sharp pain of the ice that always tormented him was gone. It felt strange how the monster’s legs, which kept moving as if to pounce on him, were freezing and breaking so powerlessly.
As he froze and shattered those countless suckers and legs, Yonghyun looked down below the bridge. Then, toward the spot where the gate was presumed to be, he froze the air to create ice stairs and descended. In between, he didn’t forget to punch away the legs that attacked him.
-Gurgle!!!
The moment Yonghyun got close to the gate that had spat out the octopus-like monster, the creature moved in a large, bizarre way. Its bloodshot red eyes, which had been glaring at Yonghyun, let out a strange noise as it spewed ink.
The ink missed Yonghyun and splattered onto the bridge pier. A foul smell, like rotting fish, was accompanied by the sound of the steel frame corroding and melting. The amount of ink was very small, about the size of a small milk carton, but the part of the railway bridge it touched melted away to the point where it wouldn’t be strange if it collapsed right away.
He swallowed nervously at the precarious sight, which looked like it would crumble with the slightest force, and for a moment, the terrible, foul smell made it difficult to breathe.
Yonghyun quickly made temporary repairs to the gaps melted by the ink with ice, thought, and then realized. The AA-class rating measured by the wave scanner was by no means a miscalculation.
If this monster were to move away from the gate on the Han River and into the city center, the number of casualties from the A-class gate incident would pale in comparison.
The monster's attack didn't end there.
The monster's half-severed leg, which Yonghyun had been freezing, shattering, and cutting until now, swelled up greatly and burst. The sight of the severed end swelling up was reminiscent of a grotesque water balloon. Yonghyun hurriedly pressed the button on his wireless earphone and spoke.
“Dispatch, respond. Requesting civilian access to be restricted on the Han River bridges, including Dangsan Railway Bridge, as quickly as possible. And….”
The monster’s instantly regenerated leg began to extend toward Yonghyun again.
***
[The moment to realize ‘Esper MEETS Guide’!]
[The Esper is fighting hard, so shouldn’t the Guide do what they can, too? (•̀ω•́)✧]
“R-right…. I have to do the Guiding. But how?”
'He already seems to be fighting well, will me getting involved actually make things better? Wouldn’t it just make more of a mess?' Wonwoo, still restless, clutched his phone tightly and looked around.
While Wonwoo was debating whether to shout or not, Yonghyun had climbed onto the railing and dropped straight down, leaving Wonwoo standing there alone on the wide bridge—no, alone with the System.
The monster’s legs, which had been acting as if they would crush everything on the bridge including himself at any moment, disappeared below, as if chasing after Yonghyun.
[What on earth can user ‘Wonwoo’ do?!]
[□■□■□■…….]
[To perform Guiding, what must be done? ヾ(•ω•`)o]
“Hand….”
Wonwoo recalled the system’s message that he had to hold hands for Guiding. At the same time.
-GRUUUUCK!!!
With a bizarre roar, the ground beneath Wonwoo’s feet shook and his body tilted.
With the railing and the ground beneath his feet shaking and tilting, Wonwoo almost fell over again. The moment he righted himself and raised his head, Wonwoo had to face the monster, which was ominously flashing its bloodshot red eyes from its round head that had risen over the railing.
Moreover, as if the leg that Yonghyun had worked so hard to freeze and cut had come back to life, the seven legs from a moment ago were now eight again.
“That leg, don’t tell me it regenerates even if you cut it?”
'It's not like a lizard’s tail…. This is useless.' Wonwoo chewed the inside of his mouth and worried.
At this rate, there was no telling how long it would take to catch that monster. There was no way to know how long Yonghyun could last against a creature that kept regenerating its legs no matter how many times he cut them, nor when another S-class Esper might arrive for support.
Wonwoo climbed onto the railing and looked down to where Yonghyun had fallen. The regenerated leg wriggled bizarrely, acting as if it would charge at Yonghyun.
“Sy-System. Do I just need to hold his hand? Will that solve it?”
-Bbirong bbirong!
[How about an octopus in a spicy seafood stew for dinner tonight?]
[Hand in hand~! (*ㅇ▽ㅇ)╯╰(ㅇ▽ㅇ*)]
[Freeze the whole octopus! Move it, boil it, and enjoy a delicious meal~ (●ˇ∀ˇ●)]
“The whole thing… Ah, ah.”
Wonwoo recalled a certain message.
[…the Esper’s abilities will also be enhanced and stabilized, allowing them to solve even more gate problems!]
His ‘Guiding’ enhances an Esper’s abilities. That meant if he held Yonghyun’s hand, he could upgrade his ‘Freezing’ ability.
If so, it might be possible to freeze not just one leg, but the entire body.
He didn't know if Yonghyun freezing only one of the monster's legs was his choice or the limit of his ability, but Wonwoo found a hint in the Guide's message.
'First, let's freeze that octopus bastard whole! And then, let’s think about what’s next!'
“You better not be useless!”
Wonwoo took a deep breath. Then, in a loud voice, he shouted downwards.
“Shin, Yonghyun-ssi!! Can you hear me!!”
There was no time to explain to Yonghyun about vitality drinks or Guiding, nor was it the right situation.
So, Wonwoo first climbed onto the railing. After calling Yonghyun and confirming that he had nodded his head, Wonwoo raised his voice again.
“I’m going to throw myself off!! Will you catch me!!!”
And after saying that, Wonwoo squeezed his eyes shut and, threw himself like Yonghyun had done earlier.
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