DB Vol 1 Part 12

That curse became strongest in this generation that’s feuding with the Ji family. Unusual wavelength. Sang-cheon’s gaze fixed on one of Ji Won-woo’s characteristics.

‘Guide Rank: D-class-low

Guiding wavelength range: all round’

Wavelength range is usually expressed in numbers, so seeing the word ‘all’ gave him goosebumps. However, looking at the rank made him sigh. Like Espers, Guides are also divided into ranks from A to D, and each rank is further divided into high, medium, and low. Ji Won-woo was ‘low’ even among D-rank. It seemed his rank was low despite such a wide wavelength range.

Considering only the wavelength, Ji Won-woo is exactly who the brute is looking for, yet they have to use him to find other Guides. The brute is pitiful, but of course, the most pitiful is himself stuck in the middle. This isn’t the time to worry about others. In the end, the brute will act as an AI until he finds the Guide information he wants, so he had no choice but to accompany this journey.

“If only Ji Won-woo’s rank was a bit higher, I could be free…”

Bang! Bang!

Sang-cheon stopped his monologue at the sudden sound of someone pounding on the door. He hid in the small warehouse, stifling even his breathing. Though he knew the iron door was securely locked and wouldn’t open, he closed his laptop as well, worried light might leak out.

“Hwang Sang-cheon! Hey, Hwang Sang-cheon! I know you’re in there. You know next week is the principal repayment date, right? In case you forgot, I came to kindly remind you. Hey, are you listening?!”

Bang, bang, bang!

This commotion was familiar to Sang-cheon, but he couldn’t act nonchalant about it. One of the places he borrowed money from was a predatory loan company that hired Espers to make threats. Next week, that’s right. He had to repay part of the principal next week. Sang-cheon sighed and looked around the warehouse, wondering what he could sell to raise money this time. It wasn’t the time to worry about the curse on the brute’s family. He might really have to sell his organs.

***

Has this bastard gone crazy? The Espers of Head Team 3 couldn’t help but wonder the same thing as they saw Won-woo appear. They say people change after a near-death experience, but this was strange. He should be scared facing three Espers he wasn’t on good terms with, but Won-woo’s reaction completely missed expectations. He was smiling, twisting his lips. To their eyes, it was clearly a sneer.

“Hey, what are you so happy about, grinning like that?”

“Am I smiling?”

The three came to the same conclusion again. He’s lost it.

“Do you have any idea why you were called here?”

Esper Ki-hyun, who asked the question as if he was dumbfounded, was in his late 20s and, unlike the other two, had a suppression piercing in his ear. The espers at the center considered it shameful to wear suppression piercings, but espers with a guide matching rate below a certain level had to wear them according to policy. Ki-hyun’s case wasn’t severe, but there were very few compatible Guides for him at the Center.

That’s why Ki-hyun’s name came up as one of the reasons Ji Won-woo was brought to Head Team 3. No matter what Ji Won-woo’s guiding ability was, his matching rate was surprisingly high. Because of that, his name was mentioned every time they cursed Ji Won-woo in the team.

“It’s because of you that Ji Won-woo is stuck here,” he received such half-joking criticism. So Ki-hyun took the lead in bullying Ji Won-woo. This time too, while it was Chang-hee, the Esper in his 30s, who suggested teaching him a lesson, Ki-hyun stepped forward to pick a fight. The other two were too dumbfounded to speak.

“Right. I don’t really get it. Why are you all here?”

“This bastard hit his head and can’t tell shit from beans anymore.”

Ki-hyun clicked his tongue and stepped forward.

“You can’t figure it out even looking at us?”

“Nope. There’s no way we were on good terms.”

“‘We’?”

It was Chang-hee who echoed the word. He looked at Won-woo with a crooked posture and twisted his lips.

“Who the hell are you calling ‘we’, you bastard?”

Tall and thin, Chang-hee was classified as an offensive type among physical Espers. He would be even more intimidating to ordinary people, but Won-woo faced him with calm eyes as if he had lost his fear along with his memories.

“What? Is there a problem with how I’m addressing you?”

“Is there a problem? Wow, even your tone of voice is disgusting.”

Chang-hee sneered, openly mocking him.

“You seem to be trying hard to act composed, but I can see you trembling inside, you bastard.”

“That’s quite an impressive and useless ability you have there.”

The smile disappeared from Chang-hee’s face.

“This son of a bitch is getting cocky because we’ve been too nice, huh?”

As Chang-hee started to raise his hand, Woo-rim, the youngest, quickly stopped him. Raising his hand horizontally was Chang-hee’s activation motion.

“Hold back, hyung.”

Only then did Chang-hee lower his hand, and Ki-hyun asked Won-woo curiously,

“You really don’t understand why we called you here?”

“Your circumstances are none of my business. I just need to confirm what I want to know.”

What did he want to know? It sounded as if he knew they were waiting, which is why he wasn’t scared seeing them. As the three were getting annoyed, Won-woo voiced his curiosity.

“Why are there no women in our team?”

“Ha, that’s what you were curious about?”

To the three who were dumbfounded, Won-woo nodded.

“I was wondering if there might be someone on this team that women avoid.”

The expressions instantly vanished from the three’s faces. Won-woo slowly looked at each of them one by one.

“Is there a scumbag on the team who mistreats the weak, like women, Guides, or ordinary people?”

Among the three, Ki-hyun glanced slightly to the side with wavering eyes. In the silence where no one answered, Won-woo spoke again.

“Ah, I see.”

Though it was as quiet as a murmur, it was clearly heard by everyone in the silence. Then came the sound of footsteps. It was Chang-hee who stepped forward with a fierce aura.

“So what? What are you going to do if there is?”

“Nothing much. I just wanted to check if people stay the same even when the environment changes.”

What the hell is he talking about? Annoyance appeared on Chang-hee’s face.

“What nonsense are you spouting, damn it. Hah, this is ridiculous. A scumbag who mistreats the weak? Fine, I’ll tell you. As it happens, the reason we called you here was similar, so I might as well make it clearer.”

Chang-hee slowly scanned Won-woo’s body with lowered eyes.

“I heard you offered your ass to Hong Seung-wook every day?”

“Ah, me?”

“That memory loss is quite convenient, isn’t it? You remember ‘scumbags’ but can’t remember wagging your ass like a dog. Don’t worry. If you stick your ass out and wag it like a dog here, you’ll remember everything.”

Won-woo lowered his indifferent gaze between Chang-hee’s legs.

“You think that little thing can make me remember?”

“You fucking bastard.”

With the curse, there was a dragging sound. A truck behind Won-woo approached threateningly, scraping the floor. As Chang-hee, the telekinetic Esper, displayed his power, the two Espers on either side turned to look at Won-woo with arrogant gazes. This time, neither of them intended to stop Chang-hee.

They really thought he was insolent. To think that Ji Won-woo, who had been living like he was dead, would spout such words. Daring to speak without fear to an Esper.

They thought it would be enough to scare him, even if Chang-hee wouldn’t immediately crush him with the car. Look, he’s frozen looking at the car, unable to even run away, right? They all leisurely waited for Ji Won-woo to tremble and fall to his knees.

They had to completely crush the spirit of this bastard who had become so arrogant as if he was a different person. Only then would he take their cocks without complaint. However, Won-woo’s voice remained calm as he confirmed the huge work truck coming towards him.

“I believe your power usage limit is just over 2 tons, right?”

What’s with this sudden statement? While wondering, Won-woo turned his head from the truck. And looked straight at Chang-hee.

“Ah, that was the power to lift things into the air. Seeing you move that truck, I guess you can push heavier things? Well, you’d have to be able to move a truck at least to save face as a B-class high Esper.”

“…Hey, what nonsense are you spouting?”

“Monsters usually weigh about as much as that truck. So you can push monsters away, but you can’t lift them into the air, can you?”

At some point, the sound of the car moving had stopped. Instead, only Won-woo’s voice continued.

“That’s why you always considered the terrain when going on missions. Everyone thinks it’s just because of your selfish personality, but you avoid areas with many obstacles that need to be lifted into the air because your lack of skill might be exposed. Isn’t that right?”

At Won-woo’s question, Ki-hyun and Woorim, the youngest Esper, looked at Chang-hee with eyes wondering what this was all about. Of course, they expected Chang-hee to sneer and dismiss it as nonsense, but his face was contorted. He looked like someone whose secret had been exposed by Won-woo.

The two quickly recalled past missions. As Won-woo said, the missions Chang-hee participated in were always in open terrain or where monster trees were firmly planted in the ground. So it’s true? He couldn’t even lift a single monster into the air? Disbelief filled the two’s eyes for a moment. Was his skill only at that level?

“Fuck, no, that bastard is lying!”

Chang-hee shouted with a reddened face.

“You guys believe that son of a bitch Ji Won-woo?”

“Then lift that truck and drop it on my head.”

Won-woo’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was clearly heard by everyone. Chang-hee and the other two turned to look at him in surprise.

“What did you say?”

“If you lift that truck, we can easily confirm who’s lying.”

“So you want me to drop it on your head?”

“If my words are false, I should face that much at least.”

“Damn, this…”

“Just do it.”

With Won-woo’s expressionless utterance, the atmosphere around them suddenly changed. Chang-hee immediately fell for the provocation. He gritted his teeth as if drawing out his maximum power and raised his hand, and simultaneously the truck rose into the air. Seeing this, Ki-hyun shouted as if cheering.

“Oh? It’s floating…”

Thud!

Ki-hyun’s shout was immediately silenced by the sound of the crash. The truck that had risen about 1m into the air crashed to the ground as if an invisible string had been cut. The ground shook, and dust scattered everywhere.

Although the dust spread so thickly that it obscured their vision, they could see that the truck was on the ground. Ki-hyun and Woo-rim frowned in the dust and glanced to the side. Chang-hee was frozen like a doll, unable to move, with his eyes wide open. Then, as if suddenly realizing reality after being doused with cold water, he turned to his colleagues.

“No. This… this isn’t…”

He didn’t explain what he was denying, but anyone could understand. The two didn’t say anything, but contempt rose in their eyes. Chang-hee, flustered, took a step back from the two and then started shouting.

“Fuck, it’s not true. I’m telling you it’s not!!”

He shouted until his face was about to burst and turned his eyes full of killing intent towards Won-woo. When he met the eyes that had been watching expressionlessly, Chang-hee’s eyes filled with rage. The power inside him suddenly surged up like boiling water, making his head dull.

So he didn’t notice the smile forming in Won-woo’s eyes. Even if his head hadn’t been dulled and he had seen the smile, the result would have been the same. He couldn’t suspect that a mere Guide would arbitrarily draw out an Esper’s energy. A Guide who could only suppress energy waves.

But his dulled mind even paralyzed the reason that could have suppressed the power suddenly swelling up like a balloon. Chang-hee’s pupils began to turn red in an instant. As he raised both hands upward, he spat out as if crushing.

“What would trash like you know.”

Rattle, clang! Screech!

Small objects around Won-woo rose simultaneously with noisy sounds. And as if aiming guns, all the edges of the objects pointed at Won-woo. Only then did Ki-hyun and Woo-rim turn to Chang-hee in surprise and notice the state of his eyes. Reddening eyes were one of the precursor symptoms of a rampage.

“Hyung, no!”

Ki-hyun belatedly shouted and hesitated for a moment. His ability could create a protective barrier to block attacks, so he wondered if he should use his power now to stop Chang-hee. Otherwise, Ji Won-woo would really die. But when he saw Ji Won-woo’s expression, he forgot this worry.

He was expressionless even though there were numerous weapons floating high above that could tear and crush him. Not as if he had given up on everything, but as if he didn’t care what fuss the Esper was making.

So when he turned his head, it seemed like he had found something else of interest. This sight seemed to provoke Chang-hee further, and his hand moved.

“Die, you bastard.”

And the objects floating in the air simultaneously poured down towards Won-woo. Ki-hyun belatedly tried to draw out his power to protect Won-woo, but before the protective barrier could form, something else enveloped Won-woo’s surroundings. It was like a tornado.