Beep-beep, beep-beep!
Da-woon reacted to the pager's signal at once. His body moved reflexively, pulled toward the alert before his mind could catch up.
“Sorry, I'll be right back.”
Quickly throwing his clothes on, Da-woon called a teleportation Esper through the pager while giving the cat a brief pat.
“I'll buy food, so wait here a little.”
The cat hurriedly grabbed Da-woon's wrist with both front paws. But Da-woon had no choice but to shake off that soft, white hand.
“I'm sorry. Be patient even if you're hungry.”
Knock, knock. The teleportation Esper who'd arrived in front of Da-woon's room rapped on the door. At the same time, the pager's vibration grew fiercer, as if urging Da-woon on.
In his haste, Da-woon didn't even grab his shoes. Instead he slipped on the indoor slippers from his room and went to the waiting teleportation Esper.
“I'll head out right away.”
At the pager's frantic alerts, the teleportation Esper moved swiftly too. Thanks to that, Da-woon made it to the site without being late.
“Hgh.”
The moment he stepped out of the teleportation gate, the acrid, contaminant-laced air choked off his breath. As Da-woon let out a small cough, someone shouted at him.
“Jung Da-woon! Over here!”
Da-woon ran toward the voice. Again, a reflexive movement.
Zone GA-19, where a towering canyon stretched out. Even among the zones where high-danger A-rank gates appeared, this was a rocky region pelted by falling rocks, so casualties ran high.
A number of Healers had already been deployed, but they weren't enough, which was why the support request had reached even Da-woon.
“Eight wounded in total. Just enough to get them combat-ready, please.”
A high-ranking Esper who appeared to be the zone manager briefed Da-woon on the situation. Beneath the protective barrier a Barrier User had cast, eight Espers waited for treatment, drenched in blood.
“If the internal damage is severe, they can't fight. Those two look like they won't make it.”
Da-woon calmly surveyed the wounded first, then ran toward the critically injured. The two Espers, on the verge of losing consciousness, were barely stanching their own bleeding. Judging by how severely their abdomens were swelling, it seemed their internal organs had ruptured.
“Hck, hgk...”
The critically wounded recognized Da-woon the Healer and sent rescue signals with anguished eyes. Da-woon met their gazes steadily as he quickly stripped off his gloves.
“I'm starting treatment.”
The moment Da-woon's hands touched them, relief seeped into the Espers' eyes.
“It's all going to be fine. Don't worry about a thing.”
Even if he was only a low B-rank, watching Da-woon pull his wavelength up to the maximum to treat them put everyone at ease. From his refusal to spare himself, they felt a strong determination that he would, at the very least, heal every one of them.
Reading their relief, Da-woon threw himself into the treatment with even greater heart and effort.
After finishing emergency care on the critically wounded, he immediately reached out to those whose body parts had been torn off by monsters or whose legs had been crushed under falling rocks.
A high-rank Healer could have treated them without contact, but Da-woon, with his low rank, couldn't. So even as he gave it his all, sweat dripping, he felt a pang of apology.
“Da-woon, can you keep going?”
The manager approached Da-woon, who had finished treating all eight. Per Da-woon's instructions, the critically wounded had been sent back to the Center.
“Yes, I can.”
The moment he finished treatment, Da-woon wiped the sweat beading on his forehead as he watched those who'd been thrown straight back into battle. All of them were still exhausted, yet they forced their wavelengths up to eliminate the monsters. He couldn't just turn around and leave people like that.
Many of the Espers chewed on guiding pills to manage their wavelengths. It was a danger zone where even the air was contaminated, so Guides, whose bodies were no different from ordinary people's, couldn't enter. Even capable Guides were barred from on-site guiding in this zone.
Everyone out in Zone GA-19 was a high-ranking Esper. The only ability users B-rank or below were Da-woon and the handful of Healers who'd rushed out as support.
“We'll handle the monsters. Please just focus on treating the wounded.”
“Yes, understood. You don't need to worry about me.”
Da-woon waved a hand at the manager, who kept his eyes on him.
The manager forced a nod, but a cold sweat ran down him. If Da-woon had been an ordinary B-rank Healer, he wouldn't have looked after him this much. He was only worried because the man was a Healer belonging to Sawoo Guild.
What's more, if something happened to Jung Da-woon... Guildmaster Ryu Tae-ha wouldn't let it slide.
Of course, Da-woon didn't know the reasons went that far. He simply assumed they were looking after him because he belonged to a famous guild.
KRAANG!
Catching his breath for a moment, Da-woon watched the rocks falling from every direction. From the gates scattered throughout, all kinds of monsters were bursting out.
There were many, sure, but the moment they emerged they were beaten down by the high-ranking Espers or had their necks lopped clean off in the blink of an eye.
Just as the manager had said, it didn't look like Da-woon needed to step in to take down monsters. Da-woon put his gloves back on and moved off in search of the wounded.
Inside the Guiding Room reserved for high-rankers. Sitting alone on the sofa, Ryu Jin's pale face was filled with worry.
He gazed quietly out the window as though lost in deep thought, then sighed as he checked the wall clock.
“Why isn't he coming...”
Ryu Jin took out his phone and opened the chat window with the person who never replied. On the screen were only the long, heartfelt messages Ryu Jin had sent.
He'd sent messages packed with cute, kind emojis, but the other party always answered by leaving them on read.
[Hello, Go Yeo-ul! Are you still working?]
Ryu Jin's small fingers tapped diligently at the phone screen.
[You know our guiding's at 12 today, right? I'm waiting in the Guiding Room, so come whenever you're done with work!]
Today, as always, he worked hard composing a long message. Even with no reply coming back, he gamely went overboard with the emojis too.
The other day too, because Yeo-ul had been late to the appointed guiding time, Ryu Jin hadn't been able to do it for long. He always showed up late and then breezed off the moment the agreed time was up.
If he's late again today...
Just as his thoughts were about to deepen, the Guiding Room door opened. Thankfully, he wasn't very late today.
“You're here, Yeo-ul!”
Ryu Jin sprang up from the sofa with a bright smile.
“I just sent you a message, you haven't seen it yet, right? I figured you were working.”
Today too, Yeo-ul said nothing. With an expressionless face, he walked into the room and just plopped down on the sofa without a word.
“Looks like your work ran late. You worked so hard today too.”
Seeing Yeo-ul in his field gear, Ryu Jin took a bottle of water from the fridge. He didn't forget to set out the snacks he'd prepared in advance in front of Yeo-ul either.
“If you haven't eaten, please help yourself. The bread here is really good.”
Yeo-ul shook his head, folded his arms, and closed his eyes. His attitude said enough talking, just do the guiding. Sure enough, his refusal to do anything like physical contact was plain to see.
“Then I'll start the guiding right away. If anything feels uncomfortable, tell me right away.”
Ryu Jin accepted Yeo-ul's cold attitude with familiarity and began the guiding. Even though Yeo-ul wasn't watching, he kept a bright smile as he slowly sent out his energy.
“It's really hot today too. They say this summer's way hotter than last year.”
Knowing full well no response would come, Ryu Jin still tried to make conversation. It was to raise the guiding's effectiveness even a little.
He'd learned that with radiant guiding, conversation with the Esper helped, so he forced himself to speak. Weather, food, celebrity news, videos trending these days, and so on. Wringing out topics by force, he rattled on endlessly, sweating on the inside.
“There's a new bakery, and their salt bread is seriously delicious. I gave some to Da-woon too, and he immediately asked where I bought it.”
“Where?”
Ryu Jin, who'd been chattering away on his own, flinched and looked at Yeo-ul. He was startled that Yeo-ul, who'd kept his eyes and mouth shut throughout the guiding, had suddenly reacted.
“Sorry?”
“Where, I said. The shop's name.”
“Oh, one moment. I'll send you the shop's address by text.”
Ryu Jin hurriedly sent Yeo-ul a message. He'd thought Yeo-ul wasn't even listening to him. He was overjoyed that the man had shown interest for the first time.
“Everything there is delicious. Their tarts and slice cakes are famous too.”
Astonishingly, Yeo-ul took out his phone right away to check. His unread mark never disappeared within a single day, but today was the one exception. So he likes bread. Ryu Jin stole glances at Yeo-ul, his face a mix of wonder and delight.
“What bread did my hyung say he ate?”
At Yeo-ul's follow-up question, Ryu Jin's expression turned subtle.
“...Salt bread.”
Beneath the address Ryu Jin had sent, Yeo-ul typed the three stiff words: salt bread. It was the first reply Ryu Jin had ever gotten from him.
Watching Yeo-ul use their chat window as a memo pad, Ryu Jin slowly opened his mouth.
“Um, Yeo-ul. Could I maybe...”
Bzzzt!
Ryu Jin's shoulders jolted violently as he cautiously broached the subject. Startled by the sudden alert vibration, Ryu Jin hurriedly snatched the small tablet PC sitting on the desk.
It was a dedicated device that showed the wavelength changes and condition of his assigned Esper. The more critical the Esper's state, the stronger the vibration.
Bzzt, bzzzt!
Ryu Jin quickly checked the tablet screen. Before him, Yeo-ul, who'd scanned the screen first, immediately summoned a teleportation Esper.
The teleportation Esper who'd just arrived hesitated at the sight of Yeo-ul's expression. Ryu Jin too froze, unable to get a word out.
“Take me to wherever Da-woon was moved.”
At Yeo-ul's command, the teleportation Esper instantly created a transport gate. The slightest hesitation looked likely to cost him his head. And naturally, that wasn't just a figure of speech. Go Yeo-ul, in a foul mood, was the kind of man more than capable of snapping someone's neck.
