“Please… stop…”
I could feel something unknown pressing against my skin, laughing. It dawned on me that my struggling was nothing more than amusement to it. As I gave up the fight and went limp, the thing biting into my neck whispered softly.
“Are you pretending to be dead?”
It didn’t stop, continuing to consume me. The ground I thought was solid beneath me vanished.
“Interesting.”
I kept sinking deeper and deeper, into an endless descent.
***
What finally woke me from that nightmare was the gate alert. Since the Center’s night shift Awakened are always on guard, the alert wouldn’t sound for a low-tier gate.
That meant this was a high-tier alert. This gate was classified as B-tier, and all Center Espers were dispatched to Sector C-12, where it had appeared.
The gate’s time limit was three days from the date of its creation, and it had to be neutralized within that period.
And today marked the second day since the gate emerged. The sky had already darkened, with midnight approaching.
‘They said the expected time to neutralize the gate was in the morning, didn’t they?’
“Ugh, I’m dead tired. I can’t squeeze out any more energy. Whether it runs wild or eats me alive, I couldn’t care less.”
Ji-soo muttered as she stepped out of the capsule, sounding like she was at her wit’s end. She had been guiding on-site until the afternoon before returning to the Center. If the gate wasn’t neutralized by dawn, Creature Waves would start forming.
“Guides from other branches have been drained for a while now. They said it was brutal starting from the mid-boss.”
“Pathetic wretches.”
“But why does it all fall on our team?”
“When did it officially become our team’s responsibility?”
Song-yi’s displeased remark was met with playful responses from the team members. It seemed that since Branch A’s Alpha Team had more high-ranked guides, the injured were being funneled here. However, we weren’t exactly flush with energy ourselves.
“It seems like it’s wrapping up… wait, never mind. Another group just came in. Does anyone still have any energy left?”
Hee-woon, an Alpha Team guide, sighed, looking out the waiting room window at the incoming emergency response team members from Oscar Team, who were pushing beds.
“This is a disaster.”
“Anyone willing to scrape up any spare energy from somewhere…?”
“At this rate, we won’t have any energy left to guide our own Espers.”
The Alpha Team guides all looked exhausted. I realized that neither Han-gyeol nor Yu-geon had returned to the Center yet.
They’d likely received on-site guidance, but I was still worried. Especially for Yu-geon, who probably had little energy left even before entering the gate.
Out of habit, I checked my smartwatch, looking through the list for any Espers on the verge of a runaway. Thankfully, no new names had appeared on the list yet.
“I’ll take over. Everyone, go get some rest.”
I got up from my seat. It was only a matter of time before energy ran short, but I’d barely used half of my reserve.
I planned to save enough energy to guide Yu-geon in case of a runaway and exhaust the rest.
“But you’ve been handling every Esper coming to the Center. Are you okay?”
“A guide’s rank should count for something. This is what they pay me for.”
S-class guides were treated differently at the Center. My salary was several times that of the average guide.
And even in emergencies, I never participated in on-site guiding. Despite being the most beneficial in the field, I wasn’t even allowed access.
The Center’s intent was clear: to completely isolate S-class guides from potential Creature threats. As I wasn’t sent to the field, my role was to handle internal affairs.
“But it’s not just a few people…”
“She’s right. Isn’t this hard on you too? And have the other team guides even been matched up?”
“Yes, of course…”
The team members looked at me with concern, aware of my relentless guiding. Song-yi, taking the lead, questioned an Oscar team member almost accusingly, who responded in a hesitant tone.
“It’s just that some of the other guides have fainted… so a lot of them have been sent over to Alpha Team.”
It seemed the other guides had collapsed from pushing their energy reserves to the limit.
‘What should we do…?’
A rough count showed around a dozen injured Espers, with another half-dozen who were depleted of energy.
The Alpha Team guides were all exhausted, and the other teams didn’t seem to have much leeway either. The situation was worse than I’d anticipated.
It was time to make a decision. After a brief hesitation, I sent a request to Han-gyeol for radiative guiding authorization, which was approved within three seconds. Despite being busy in the field, his response was swift. A message arrived shortly after.
「AES Baek Han-gyeol: I’m trusting you with this. Follow the radiative guiding safety protocols to the letter. If you get hurt, you’ll have hell to pay.」
His concern came through clearly. I immediately instructed the Oscar team members.
“I’ll conduct radiative guiding. Leave only the injured and exit the room.”
“Huh? All of us?”
“What?”
Both the wave managers and the Awakened in the room looked at me, eyes wide.
“Lie down those with energy deficiencies and fasten the restraints securely. I need three Esper security guards in protective suits to remain. From this moment on, all gate casualties will be handled by Alpha Team for the next twelve hours. Relay this to the field as well.”
“Are you okay, sis? We don’t know when the gate will be cleared…”
Song-yi, watching from the side, asked worriedly. According to my smartwatch, gate clearance was at 95%. It was nearing completion.
But the percentage hadn’t budged for hours, and I’d decided we couldn’t keep spending energy recklessly.
This was a long-term issue. At this rate, Alpha Team would also run out of energy soon.
“I have Han-gyeol’s approval. I’ll handle it until morning. Everyone, recharge your energy in that time and resume guiding in the afternoon.”
If I could hold out for twelve hours, my team members could fully replenish their energy. Although it was a reasonable solution, the Alpha Team guides hesitated, clearly uneasy about leaving me alone.
‘Do I really have to make them feel at ease, too?’
I felt an exasperated annoyance with them. I was tired and irritable myself, and a sharp remark was on the tip of my tongue.
Ji-soo clapped her hands together with a sharp sound, drawing the team’s attention before speaking in a clear voice.
“Alright. Let’s get some rest. Recharging our energy is how we can support Sa-weol in this situation. Come on, let’s head to the break room. Move quickly.”
“Yes…”
“Understood.”
Only then did they begin to file out of the waiting room, one by one.
***
It was past 4 a.m. The Espers lay on their beds, securely restrained at the wrists, ankles, and torso, each having been given sedatives to ensure they slept soundly.
The lights were dimmed halfway to help them rest deeply.
With the subdued lighting and everyone but me lying asleep, it felt like I was secretly hiding in a morgue. The atmosphere was eerily silent and still.
“Aren’t you tired?”
As I quietly closed my eyes, focusing on the guiding process, a sudden voice interrupted me. I turned sharply to find Ian standing there.
“This area is restricted.”
He was wearing a full-body protective suit, designed to shield against energy waves during radiative guiding, and held out a warm cup of coffee.
“I didn’t see any Esper stopping me.”
The guard Espers, worn out by the constant vigilance, were dozing off here and there.
They were stationed here due to safety regulations, which mandated that at least three Espers accompany and protect a guide during radiative guiding to prevent any incidents.
‘As if they’re in any shape to protect anyone.’
I gave them a brief, disdainful look before looking away.
“You don’t think there could be a culprit among all these Espers?”
“For someone so worried, you certainly took your time getting here.”
“I’m a busy man with my own responsibilities.”
He smiled slyly. Despite his previous threats to keep an eye on me, he hadn’t shown up once in the past two days—apparently due to his workload.
Meanwhile, I’d had a particularly unsettling dream just before the gate appeared. In that dream, I’d heard a voice eerily similar to Ian’s.
“Just relax. It’s fine. It’ll all be over in the blink of an eye.”
In the dream, that person seemed to be ravenously pursuing my blood, like the culprit who was after me.
While I chalked it up to a jumbled dream fueled by all I’d learned from Ian about the culprit and the beach plans I’d discussed with Han-gyeol, it still left an uneasy feeling in my chest.
“Ian Esper, you’re not looking to become a Cremon yourself by hunting down the culprit, are you? Or could it be… you’re the culprit?”
I asked bluntly, voicing my suspicions directly. Ian glanced over the sleeping Espers, a smirk of amusement tugging at his lips.
“That’s a dangerous accusation.”
“You have to admit, you’re awfully suspicious.”
“What makes you think that?”
“I’ve been thinking over what you said the other day… and the feeling I get is just… something’s off.”
I made my response lighthearted, despite bringing up a serious topic. I didn’t have any solid logic behind it, but ignoring my suspicions would only make him seem even more questionable.
“Guide Gu Sa-weol, it seems I don’t have a very positive image in your eyes. Still, I only intended to warn you for your own safety and to keep an eye out. Hearing this makes me a little… disappointed.”
“Your main focus isn’t my safety, is it? You’re monitoring to see when the culprit might approach, aren’t you?”
I spoke with a sarcastic edge, and Ian laughed out loud, clearly enjoying the situation.
“I don’t understand why you’re so wary… you’re acting as if you have something to hide.”
His words struck right at the core.
“It seems like you’re the one hiding something from me, Ian.”
“I’m not hiding anything. And if you suspect me of being the culprit, you’re way off the mark. If I were the culprit, why would I bother warning you about potential danger?”
It was a fair point. Ian had been the one to stir up the case when it was beginning to settle down. Additionally, there were rumors that the culprit was a mental-type.
Mental-types were rare, even at the Center. In Branch A, there were only two: Kang Ji-han from my team and one Esper in Delta Team.
While the chance that the culprit was a Center Esper was extremely low, starting the investigation with them would be the logical move.
