GN Chapter 2.1

In the deep pre-dawn hours after a pitch black night. An empty field with several large flood lights set up around a white gate.

 

Five Espers stood in a semicircle in front of the massive gate about ten meters wide.

 

Two more Espers stood at a distance from the gate.

 

Harsh wavelengths that seemed to tear through the atmosphere intermittently burst forth from the white gate, along with irregular vibrations that made a humming sound.

 

The way it pulsed violently, emitting wavelengths strong enough to make the field quake, gave the ominous impression that the gate might explode, though that shouldn’t be possible.

 

Even the six or seven light powder butterflies that had been leisurely fluttering around the field had vanished without a trace.

 

About 18 hours had passed since Kang Jaeyun, the #1 ranked combat Esper in Korea, had entered this S-class reddish gate alone at 5 AM to subjugate it while intentionally going berserk. The gate had formed just a day prior.

 

Reddish gates were known to generally contain physical-type monsters and have relatively small dungeon sizes inside, though there were exceptions of course.

 

Considering Kang Jaeyun’s combat ability and power compatibility, it was estimated that even without going berserk, 10 hours at most would be sufficient to complete the subjugation.

 

It was expected that the rampage would begin soon after entering, and that within minutes, not hours, the dungeon would be devastated, the dungeon core reduced to dust, and the gate’s color would turn white.

 

In fact, most people expected the latter, given Kang Jae-yun’s condition.

 

…That’s what everyone had expected.

 

However, as it approached 17 hours since entering, the crimson gate color showed no sign of turning white, leading to suspicions that Kang Jae-yun Esper had lost consciousness instead of rampaging.

 

Slightly after the 17-hour mark, as opinions were emerging about whether to enter the gate to check, the gate color suddenly turned white, and the black sparks subsided.

 

As soon as the gate turned white, only seven Esper who had been waiting remained, and the rest of the civilians left in their cars. P Five combat-type Esper surrounded the gate in a semicircle. And the non-combat type, the teleport Esper and the healing Esper, stood at a distance, waiting for their moment.

 

Not long after the gate color changed, intense shockwaves erupted as if the gate was about to explode, and a resonating vibration shook the field.

 

It was proof that Kang Jae-yun Esper had rampaged.

 

Theoretically, whatever happened inside the gate, the outside should remain unaffected and unchanged. That was only in theory.

 

Contrary to that theory, the gate shook violently, emitting all sorts of roaring sounds. If the rampaging Esper crossed the gate, the five combat-type Esper in front of the gate had to lure the rampaging Esper back inside.

 

That was why this mission, which was almost a suicide order, was the worst ever.

 

The reason this gate, located in a remote corner of a sparsely populated area, in an uninhabited field, was chosen was also for that reason. If that rampaging Esper came out of the gate, the Korean peninsula could disappear.

 

It was a rare and dangerous mission that brought together seven domestic S-class Esper in one place for a single task.

 

If the rampaging Esper’s survival response disappeared, they had to enter the gate, confirm the body of the deceased rampaging Esper, and retrieve it, which was essentially watching over the Esper’s death process.

 

The special wrist watch that allowed them to detect survival responses during the rampage was bound to be reduced to dust, so it was actually fortunate that shockwaves were overflowing and raging beyond the gate like this.

 

Apart from being fortunate, the intense shockwaves and vibrations emanating from beyond the gate were difficult even for S-class Esper to endure.

 

The sharp shockwaves coming from the gate gradually weakened, and from the two-hour mark, it became completely silent. The meaning was clear. Kang Jae-yun Esper had died.

 

Among the Esper who had been tensely guarding their positions, The Esper with blue curly hair swallowed a low moan like a sob. The silver long-haired Esper with iridescent reflections lowered his head.

 

The remaining Esper breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Considering the usual case where an Esper dies in about an hour after rampaging, the two-hour record could be seen as a final confirmation of the strongest S-class’s power.

 

The Esper exchanged glances, discussing when to enter the gate. Should they wait longer and enter safely later? Or could they enter now?

 

Three out of the five Esper shook their heads, indicating that it was not yet time. Trying to finish an hour or two early could lead to dying an hour or two early.

 

As the Esper stared blankly in different directions in a gloomy atmosphere, the calm surface of the gate rippled, signaling that something was coming out. The Esper quickly assumed combat positions. The air suddenly tensed as if it would burst.

 

The figure that hurriedly rushed out of the rippling gate was holding something in its arms and uttered words close to a lion’s roar.

 

“Save my Guide! Right now! By any means necessary!”

 

Kang Jae-yun came out of the gate alive!

 

Kang Jae-yun was shirtless, holding something wrapped in his combat uniform.

 

The Esper were frozen in shock for four reasons.

 

First, Kang Jae-yun, who had rushed out of the gate, was alive, and second, Kang Jae-yun’s eyes had changed from golden eyes to their original deep navy blue. And third, he was using his gravity power to float and carefully hold his ‘Guide’ in his arms, telling them to heal him, and fourth, that ‘Guide’ was a tattered, bloody mess that could not be considered human.

 

The only parts that barely allowed them to infer that the bloody mess was a person were the head covered with black hair, which seemed to be the crown of the head, and the old shoes attached to the ends of the strangely twisted legs.

 

“What are you doing! Healing Esper!”

 

Jae-yun unleashed a lion’s roar filled with his ability and pulled the dumbfounded healing Esper towards him with his gravity ability.

 

“Uweeaaack.”

 

The healing Esper, who had been spaced out, was pulled from a distance of about 100 meters at near-instantaneous speed and stopped in front of Jae-yun, bending over to the side and vomiting from the shock.

 

But as if he didn’t even notice, Jae-yun began to express his anger, detonating tangled shockwaves as a sign of urging.

 

The healing Esper, who roughly wiped his mouth with his white sleeve, hurriedly reached out his arm to the bloody mess in Jae-yun’’s arms, trying to place his palm on it.

 

“How dare you touch my Guide!”

 

Jae-yun let out an angry shout and kicked the healing Esper in the abdomen with his combat boots.

 

Thwack!

 

With a tremendous sound like hitting a large drum, the healing Esper flew dozens of meters, crashing and rolling in the field.

 

The blue curly-haired Esper, startled by the terrifying impact sound, hurriedly soothed Jae-yun in a gentle tone.

 

“Hyung! Hyung, calm down. The healing Esper needs to touch him to scan the Guide’s condition. He’s not trying to take your Guide away, so calm down. It’s okay. Huh?”

 

Jae-yun glared at the blue curly-haired Esper with murderous intent in his eyes, his anger not yet subsided, and then pulled the healing Esper, who was still stuck in the corner, back.

 

“Ugh… Uweeack.”

 

The healing Esper vomited a mouthful of blood this time. He raised his trembling hand, glanced at Jae-yun, and placed his palm on the bloody mess.

 

The healing Esper’s eyes widened as if they would pop out. He immediately turned around and urgently called out to the teleport Esper who was slowly approaching.

 

“Esper Park Sun-woo! We need to move these people to the Ability Agency Medical Center Central Branch right now! Me too, I have to go too! And the rest of you, please use your watches to call the highest-ranked recovery ability Esper and purification ability Esper who can come to the Central Branch Medical Center immediately!”

 

The healing Esper urged them to move, saying that every second was crucial. A faint green light was spreading from the palm he had placed on the bloody mess.

 

With a gesture from the approaching teleport Esper, they disappeared from the field, leaving only four Esper who were still spaced out and one blue curly-haired Esper standing alone, shouting something into his watch.

 

⚜︎ ⚜︎ ⚜︎

 

Jae-yun was sitting alone on a multi-person chair along the white walls of a long hallway. His hair, skin, and combat uniform were still stained with dried monster blood and fluids, and he was sitting with his large frame crumpled, his head buried in his hands.

 

The metal-framed multi-person chairs lined up along the wall were crushed to the point where they were unrecognizable in places.

 

Jae-yun’’s wrist was fitted with an ability-restricting device with a thumb-sized red gem embedded in it.

 

He seemed to be anxious, tapping his long legs nervously, looking at the clock on the wall once, and then at the closed door at the end of the hallway, compulsively repeating the act of burying his head in his hands.

 

The hallway was filled with a violently tangled shockwave, swirling and surging with an anxiety that made his heart feel like it was being torn to shreds.

 

His eyes sank deeply into a dark navy blue. From the outside of his eyes, a golden glow like that of a tiger slowly rose from the outside of his eyes to the inside of his pupils, shining brightly before disappearing and sinking back into a dark navy blue.

 

Just as Jae-yun was about to tap his legs again, look at the clock once, look at the closed door at the end of the hallway once, and bury his head in his hands, the metal door burst open.

 

Jae-yun stood up with a tense expression. A woman in a white coat who came out of the door with a sign that read “Intensive Care Unit” slowly approached the tense Jae-yun.

 

The woman was Moon Jung-mi, a doctor and the head of the Ability Research Center affiliated with the Ability Agency, a non-combat intelligence-type A-class Esper.

 

Moon Jung-mi was a longtime acquaintance of Jae-yun anda colleague he could rely on.

 

“Fortunately, we’ve just put out the immediate fire.”

 

Jae-yun, who had been pale with tension, collapsed back into his seat without a sound.

 

Jung-mi, who had tied up her bright chestnut hair that reached down to her back in a messy bun, seemed to radiate a subtle light from her intellectual and refined features despite her tired complexion.

 

“We’ve only put out the immediate fire, there’s still more than half of the treatment left. I came out to tell you about the progress because I’m worried about your shockwaves raging like crazy beyond the treatment room. Even if it’s hard, please do something about those shockwaves. The purification Esper is getting scared of your shockwaves and keeps foaming at the mouth and trying to faint.”

 

Jung-mi, standing in front of Jae-yun, who was crumpled back on the chair, held a tablet in her hand and tapped it left and right, searching for data.

 

“First, let me tell you about the child’s original physical condition. Two cervical discs and three lumbar discs were ruptured, and this was so severe that it was causing numbness beyond pain in his arms and legs. Especially the neck disc, the spinal cord was so severely compressed that he was on the verge of full-body paralysis if he sneezed wrong, just before the nerves were severed.”