#13
"This is…"
Before Yonghyun could collect his emotions and get a proper word out, the waters of the Han River beneath their feet began to churn. The water, which had been flowing gently with a shimmering glow, started to surge violently.
The gate energy detection device attached to Yonghyun's chest vibrated strongly in time with the churning movement. It meant the energy was changing drastically.
In other words…
-Section Chief, can you hear me? Section Chief? Damn this gate energy…!
"Yes. I can hear you. It seems communications are back."
The voice of a dispatch department staff member in charge of communications came through the wireless earpiece in Yonghyun's ear. Yonghyun readjusted his hold on Wonwoo and focused on the transmission.
-Thank goodness! The gate's energy is decreasing now. Did you by any chance succeed in subjugating the monster? If it's not an emergency, please provide a situation briefing.
"Right now…"
Just as Yonghyun was about to speak.
With a sound like water draining from a sink, a whirlpool formed. Fearing he might get caught in the vortex, Yonghyun created stairs of ice to move a good distance away from the water's surface.
As if to prove Yonghyun's worries were not in vain, the whirlpool swallowed the monster and everything else around it in a single gulp.
And just like that, the AA-rank gate and the monster, which could have been recorded as a great disaster, disappeared.
"The monster… it's gone."
-Section Chief, the gate has disappeared!
Following Wonwoo's words, the frantic voice of the staff member was heard.
"...Dispatch team, please stand by for now. And get the operations room on the line."
-Yes, yes!
***
'So this is what the system meant by "freezing it whole and then boiling it"?!'
Wonwoo stared at the surface of the Han River where the whirlpool had swept through, where the monster had been just moments before, and gulped.
He felt like a student whose nonsensical, all-night, deadline-fueled paper had received rave reviews and a perfect score from the professor. But it didn't end there; he now felt like he was being ordered by the professor to explain his paper in front of the other students. Wonwoo couldn't tell if he should be happy about this or not.
Whenever a gate was conquered, an Esper or an employee from the Bureau who was at the scene would always step up for a news interview to reassure the citizens and explain the situation.
'How did you conquer the gate this time?'
'I froze the monster, and then the gate sucked the monster up with the water and just disappeared!'
'If you freeze the monster whole, it would be even harder to destroy its core. What made you think of such a thing? How did you know the method of conquest?'
'Well… it's because I was craving seafood stew!'
Wonwoo, unbeknownst to Yonghyun, stopped the interview he was conducting in his head. He decided to laugh instead.
"Haha. Haha… It's gone. The monster."
It vanished as if it had blinked out of existence. The AA-rank gate that appeared in the middle of Seoul, threatening to cause a great disaster and immense chaos, was gone in an instant.
"It seems that freezing the monster whole or incapacitating it is the strategy. We were lucky."
Wonwoo nodded vigorously at Yonghyun's words, signaling his agreement. Of course, his agreement was with the part about being lucky, not the strategy.
"Yes. Really… really."
Some troublesome types of gates would cause an explosion or a massive fire upon their destruction after being conquered. If that had happened, Yonghyun might have been fine, but Wonwoo, who was no different from a civilian, could have been in mortal danger. It was a relief in many ways.
"In that case, Guide-nim."
Here it comes…!
Wonwoo gulped once more. He had managed to approach Yonghyun in a roundabout way and succeeded in guiding, and he even completed the gate conquest by freezing the monster. How wonderful it would be if they could just shout 'Good work!' and end it with a round of applause.
But that couldn't happen.
Meeting S-class Esper Yonghyun, successfully guiding him by chance, and conquering the gate by freezing the monster was, metaphorically speaking, fastening the first button. Now, it was time to fasten the second.
Yonghyun created step-like footholds out of ice to return to the Dangsan Railway Bridge, where he carefully set Wonwoo down. Despite holding a grown man for quite a while, he showed no signs of fatigue.
Only then realizing he had been held by the same man for a long time, Wonwoo's ears belatedly turned red.
"Would you give me some time to talk… as we write up the incident report?"
Wonwoo, recalling the 'How to Solve the Gate Problem' PowerPoint file dormant on his phone, nodded eagerly.
***
When many of the Han River's bridges are closed to traffic, it creates that much more congestion. Jinho, stuck in a car for 30 minutes on a trip that would normally take 20, was reminded of this fact once again. Normally, he would have taken the traffic into account and moved on his own. But the sudden call had made him forget.
This was clearly his mistake. Jinho bit his lip for no reason.
"Excuse me, driver. How much farther is it to Dangsan Station?"
"I'm sorry… It should be quick once we're past the control zone, but the traffic is so bad getting there…"
After the dangerous AA-rank gate appeared under the Dangsan Railway Bridge, more than thirty Han River bridges, including the Dangsan Railway Bridge, were closed to traffic, and an evacuation order was issued for the area.
Thus, the van carrying Jinho was heading towards Dangsan Station, going against the countless cars of evacuees.
"...Driver. I'll get out here. You should head back as well."
The most important thing in gate-related work was time. The number of casualties depended on how quickly as many civilians as possible could be evacuated, and how fast the Espers could arrive at the gate conquest area.
That's why the Bureau, as well as private guilds, dispatched support with Espers who had mobility skills. However, Jinho, a freelancer, had no choice but to travel by car or on foot like this.
So, unless it was an extremely urgent situation, Jinho would pay a fee to a private guild or the Bureau to borrow the power of a mobility Esper, or he would travel in the car of the manager he hired for his freelance activities.
Hearing "Han River bridge," he had instinctively taken a car without even considering going himself. It was his mistake, if any. He should have moved on his own from the start instead of taking a car.
The gate that appeared under the Dangsan Railway Bridge was a dangerous AA-rank. Yonghyun and other Bureau employees who were closest rushed to the Han River, and other guilds were also busy making their move.
Jinho, who was relatively close by in Cheongdam, decided to move alone. But the result was wasting 30 minutes in a traffic jam.
'...Of all days for a gate to burst open.'
Of course, gate appearances are treated as a type of natural disaster, so it wouldn't be strange for one to open at any time. But thinking was free, so Jinho grumbled inwardly.
And for good reason. Today was the day he could meet his destiny. Jinho had made thorough preparations, getting treated at an aesthetic clinic since the morning. After lunch, he was just about to contact the 'System Guide' to ask what he should do next. But then, the news of the gate's appearance suddenly rang out.
Because of that, Jinho had to rush out to conquer a gate with his face shining from the beauty treatment.
After complaining in his mind for a while, Jinho shook his head. It is because situations are this unpredictable that they are called disasters. And this time, it wasn't just any gate, but an AA-rank one, with an extremely high danger level.
His job in this situation wasn't to wait for his destiny while getting skin care, but to support the gate conquest so there would be no more damage.
If anything, it was a relief. If he hadn't booked the aesthetic clinic today, and if he hadn't cleared his schedule for his day of destiny, he would have been the one in Geoje Island instead of the Geonyeong Guild.
Baek Juwon of the Geonyeong Guild is a very strong Esper. But due to the nature of his ability, he couldn't use his full power on water, and he had bad compatibility with Yonghyun.
Therefore, he was better suited than Juwon for dealing with the octopus-type monster that appeared in the Han River. It was likely that him joining would save more people than if Juwon went.
Jinho kept thinking as he used his ability to pick up his running speed. Jinho's ability was to control his body weight at will. Thanks to reducing his weight significantly, he was able to run faster, and a small breeze ruffled his hair.
The day he received the message from the System Guide. Jinho had a dream for the first time in a long while. A dream of being buried in a cotton candy cloud the size of a house, flying through the sky holding someone's hand, surrounded by a sweet scent.
Ever since his awakening, the foul smell that always plagued Jinho's sense of smell due to his ability's side effect followed him everywhere, regardless of the place. This was true even in his dreams. As his ability grew stronger and the more people he saved, Jinho was slowly drowning in misery.
But for the first time since becoming an Esper, Jinho had a dream full of a sweet scent, free from the foul odor.
When he woke from the dream, Jinho cried his eyes out right there. The comfort he had enjoyed before he used his ability, before he became an Esper, made him cry.
And he realized. The dream he had was related to the 'destiny' the System Guide had spoken of. The one who held his hand was his 'destiny.'
So, as soon as he woke up, he sent a message to the System Guide.
[...Master, you were right. Yesterday, I couldn't believe you, so I said I'd think about it and contact you again, but I've finished thinking. I deeply regret not believing your words. So, could you please tell me more about my destiny? Does 'return to Korea' mean my destiny is in Korea?]
Thus, while exchanging messages with the System Guide, he received the date 'May 8th'. He waited for that day, grooming himself and working on what he could do so that he wouldn't be ashamed whenever he met his destiny.
Jinho had never once resented or thought negatively of his fate as an Esper.
Being able to save people was enough. But it was unavoidable that with every use of his ability, a nauseating smell would wash over him, and on top of that, he would be exhausted by a pressure that felt like his whole body was being crushed.
A single hope had appeared for Jinho, who suffered not only from the olfactory side effect but also from various others. Jinho didn't want to miss it. That's why, for that hope, he decided to first do the things he had to do, the things he could do.
'...And if I'm lucky, couldn't I meet them while conquering the gate?'
Jinho put strength into his legs and ran as if he were slicing through the air. Towards the place where the Bureau had requested dispatch support, as fast as possible.
All the while, he didn't forget to make the effort to look as neat as possible by tidying his bangs.
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