The regenerated monster's leg wriggled bizarrely and charged violently as if to pounce on Yonghyun. Yonghyun let out a short breath and moved his body, blocking the monster's attacking leg with his arm.
Ice crystals formed on the surface of his black leather gloves, and then the part where the monster's leg made contact began to freeze little by little. Yonghyun's breath and the cold air mixed, creating a white vapor.
-GRUUUUCK!!!
The monster, crying out with a sound as bizarre as its appearance, swung its leg. This time, instead of blocking with his arm, Yonghyun twisted his body to avoid the monster's movement.
To Yonghyun's dismay, despite having frozen the leg again, the monster's momentum was still fierce. The leg he had gone to the trouble of freezing was melting, and accordingly, countless pieces of broken ice rained down, attacking Yonghyun in return.
'Is the only answer to freeze it to death in one go?' Thinking so, Yonghyun sized up the monster and clicked his tongue softly.
The monster's size was comparable to a decent-sized apartment building. No, considering that part of its body was in the river, its actual size was likely even larger. Yonghyun judged that he couldn't defeat this monster alone and quickly abandoned the plan to subdue it with only his abilities.
"Dispatch, please respond."
Yonghyun pressed the button on his earphone again and spoke. But no sound came from the other side of the earphone; instead, there was only an unpleasant sound full of static.
'...Has the communication been paralyzed?'
It was a common occurrence for nearby communications to be paralyzed due to the gate's wavelength. Yonghyun clicked his tongue once more.
Since it had come to this, he had no choice but to trust in Lee Mihee's judgment and leadership, and hold out while waiting for the dispatch of other Espers. The 'Bureau', seasoned by monsters and gates, and especially his subordinates, would know what to do on their own even if Yonghyun didn't contact them for a long time.
Yonghyun took a deep breath. In order to buy as much time as possible and to minimize civilian casualties, he had to stop the monster's movements and hold it down. Yonghyun thought about what he could do. Just then, he heard someone shouting loudly from above.
"Shin, Yonghyun-ssi!! Can you hear me!!"
Yonghyun stopped himself from instinctively replying, "What is it?" and raised his head.
When he looked up, he saw the man, the 'Guide', standing on the railing. The man was the one he had just told to wait a moment. But the Guide, why was that man up there?
Instead of answering, Yonghyun nodded his head so that he could see him.
"I'm going to throw myself!! Will you catch me!!!"
But seeing the Guide's subsequent action, he regretted not stopping him.
Before Yonghyun could even ask in bewilderment, the Guide jumped from the railing. To move like that without even hearing an answer, what if he couldn't catch him!
Flustered, Yonghyun forgot everything he had been thinking and approached the railing, spreading his arms.
Having run around here and there to resolve gate situations, Yonghyun had also participated in civilian rescues. Therefore, it wasn't a difficult task to safely catch him as he fell from a high place.
"I'm, I'm alive.... Thank you!"
As soon as he fell into his arms, the Guide grabbed Yonghyun's arm tightly and expressed his relief in a heartfelt voice. Not only his voice, but his hands were trembling as well. Seeing this, Yonghyun realized that the Guide was terrified.
'To be this relieved, to be trembling this much... why did you jump?'
But before Yonghyun could voice his question, the monster moved.
-GUEEEEK!
As if enraged at being ignored, it let out a rough cry and shot out ink. At the sudden attack from the monster, Yonghyun didn't even have time to tell the man to hold on tight and quickly jumped back from his spot.
And soon, Yonghyun was enveloped in a strange sensation.
'Strange. Something is definitely strange.'
His surroundings were filled with a blue light. At first, he thought it was the light reflected on the water's surface, but it wasn't. A blue light was shimmering around the man he was holding.
And his body felt light.
It wasn't just light; it was peaceful. He couldn't remember when it had been, but it felt as light and peaceful as waking up after a good 8 hours of sleep and basking in the morning sun.
Yonghyun's battles were always fierce. As a central figure in the Bureau, he had to solve problems while briefing on the gate situation. Not only that, he had to devise strategies with the dispatched Espers in mind, and rack his brain to minimize civilian casualties. On top of that, he had to move here and there to ensure that all operations went according to plan.
And he had to do all of this with the pain of ice shards piercing his body. That's why Yonghyun became dozens of times more sensitive than usual during battle, and the more intense the battle, the more on edge he had to be.
But not now. Even while holding the man, he could easily avoid the poisonous ink spewed by the monster and the tentacle-like legs that stretched out as if to pounce on him.
'At this rate....'
He might be able to subdue that giant monster with his abilities alone.
His breath hitched at the thought. And as soon as he had that thought, the weight in his arms felt even heavier. The blue light that filled his vision was also dazzling.
'I can only guess... but the only thing different from my usual battles is this man... the Guide. If so, is this what they mean by strengthening my abilities?'
Yonghyun recalled the peace he had felt the first time he met the Guide.
In the meantime, the monster didn't stop at spewing ink; it began to extend its countless legs here and there, striking down. The Han River's water churned and splashed in time with its movements.
"Hold on tight."
"Ah, yes. Yes!"
Yonghyun froze the water splashing in all directions to use as footholds, and then darted through the air, avoiding the attacks. His lightened body gave him the leeway to have a conversation while dodging the monster's attacks.
"What made you jump? If I hadn't caught you, you would have fallen straight into the water."
"That, it was sudden... wasn't it. Yes. Haha...."
Yonghyun waited for the Guide, who was laughing awkwardly and catching his breath, to continue speaking. Even so, he didn't forget to think about how to raid the gate while avoiding the monster's attacks.
"Really, for a first meeting... this might sound strange. But I really can't... say it any other way."
Yonghyun focused on the Guide's words and estimated how much time had passed. It was about time for the dispatched team, consisting of the S-class Esper who had applied for support and the high-ranking Espers, to arrive. Yonghyun's mind, which had been preparing a briefing for them, stopped at the Guide's next words.
"By any chance, right now, has something changed... or do you feel refreshed? Do you feel anything like that?"
"...Pardon?"
"If so... my hand, will you hold my hand?"
***
Seeing Yonghyun's unconcealed bewildered expression, Wonwoo wanted to cry.
Wonwoo hadn't intended for this from the beginning either. In fact, Wonwoo had a plan of his own.
If he ever met an S-class Esper, he had planned to calmly explain the situation, whether they believed him or not, and then appeal to them by explaining what a 'Guide' was and what 'Guiding' was.
A PowerPoint file titled 'How to Solve Gate Problems' was dormant on Wonwoo's phone. It was mostly just an explanation of Guides and a summary of 'Guiding' based on the System's advice, but it was still something Wonwoo had prepared diligently in his own way.
But after facing the monster, Wonwoo had a hard time keeping his sanity. So, trusting only the message, he had half-impulsively climbed onto the railing and jumped without considering the consequences.
'...With that monster standing there like that, when would I have time to explain the situation, and how could I say, 'So let's hold hands and do the Guiding!' It's better to just jump and have him catch me.'
However, Wonwoo couldn't be 100% sure if holding hands would result in 'Guiding'. Of course, he had heard various instructions about Guiding from the System, and his surroundings were glowing blue as if to show that something was happening, but things like that and actual experience are two different things. Just hoping that his guess was right, Wonwoo looked at Yonghyun.
-Bbirong bbirong! Bbirong bbirong!
As he was waiting for Yonghyun's answer, the humming alarm sound stuck clearly in his ears. It was a drawn-out sound, as if it were more anxious than usual.
'No, in this situation, what am I supposed to do if you send a message.... You have to consider the situation before sending messages!
On top of that, it was right after he had said something strange to Yonghyun, something that would make anyone who heard it ask, 'Are you crazy?' Just as he was about to scold the System for not being able to read the mood, Yonghyun opened his mouth.
"Is that... the Guide-nim's ability?"
"...Yes."
It had worked. Wonwoo let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
"Just as Guide-nim said, many things have changed. The side effects of my ability have disappeared, and I feel stronger."
Even while avoiding the monster's movements, there was no wavering in Yonghyun's words or voice. At the sight of the arm holding him firmly and Yonghyun calmly avoiding the monster's movements, the monster in front of Wonwoo became a little, just a little less scary.
"Holding the Guide-nim's hand... means being with the Guide-nim's ability, I suppose. Is this a party invitation?"
Actually, Wonwoo hadn't been thinking as far as a party. It was just a proposal for Guiding in a state where it was difficult to explain the situation and he wasn't in his right mind.
But Wonwoo nodded his head eagerly. There was no need to refuse when the other side was putting a nice spin on it.
"Very well. I don't know what the Guide-nim's ability is, but I felt that it was extraordinary."
Yonghyun's arms tightened around Wonwoo.
Comments Box