DB Vol 1 Part 14

Seona’s voice carried the bewilderment she felt at that time. She continued,

“At first, I thought they were crazy. No, they’re really simple-minded, you know. They’d ask if politics or ideology was something you could eat. Besides that, their family was a prestigious Esper family. So when I asked why they were jumping into the war, and they said, damn it, the artist who drew the work we liked posted an announcement. The artist said they were part of the anti-Esper camp and couldn’t draw until the war was over. So, to see the ending quickly, we have to end the war, right? They can’t kill the artist as an enemy, so in the anti-Esper camp, that is. Isn’t my friend really simple-minded?”

Seona burst into a bitter laugh, still finding it absurd even now, and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she told the outcome of her friend in a lowered voice.

“But before they could cross over to the anti-Esper side, they were caught by Espers. The funny thing is, it was their family who reported them. Damn it, it was that little brother they loved the most who snitched. My friend wasn’t someone who would lose to anyone in terms of power, but they died with their limbs torn apart, unrecognizable. And their family just stood there watching.

I was the one who gathered the fragments of my friend’s bones and flesh piece by piece. After barely managing to bury them, I came straight here. That’s my reason. I just lost all affection for Espers and couldn’t stand breathing the same air as them.”

Seona furrowed her closed eyes as if straining, breathed heavily, and finally opened her eyes. Looking at Won-woo who was looking down at her, she cursed again.

“Damn it, I was planning to tell you exactly on the day it had been a year. It would have been a year working with you in just two weeks… Shit, I let my guard down today. Oh fuck, it hurts like hell.”

After the harsh curse, Seona vomited a bowlful of blood. Only after coughing several times and spitting out the blood blocking her airway did she lie down properly again. However, her voice became faint as if all her strength had drained away.

“I’m joking. It doesn’t hurt enough to die.”

She said it jokingly, but all the color had already drained from her body. Even without the blood she vomited, there was severe bleeding elsewhere. Seona looked at Won-woo and sighed. He was just holding onto her, unable to say anything.

“Won-woo, stop crying. I’m not dying. Hey, if I die… who will curse for you? You can’t even curse… Damn it, how could I die leaving you…”

Seona’s mumbling voice cut off. As if she had tried not to die until the very end, her eyes remained wide open. So Won-woo couldn’t close her eyes. Even though he knew that as time passed, the corpse would stiffen and it would be difficult to close the eyes, even though there was no more life in those unfocused eyes, he couldn’t touch them. 350 days. Seona was the second longest-lasting colleague by Won-woo’s side.

***

-Back to present-

Whoosh!

The whirlwind column surrounding Won-woo suddenly shot up to the sky. The objects attacking Won-woo were caught in the rapidly spinning wind and began rotating together. Then, like flower petals opening, the whirlwind suddenly split and the wind spread in all directions. The objects trapped in its force also fell to the ground like rain.

Boom! Crash! Bang!

Heavy tools and metal objects fell onto the building and parked cars, creating an eardrum-shattering noise. However, even in this chaotic situation, Seona’s sharp voice clearly reached everyone’s ears.

“Damn it, that bastard is about to rampage, what the hell are you all doing?!”

The person Seona pointed at was Chang-hee, whose eyes had turned completely red. No, not just his eyes. His whole body had turned red, and his muscles were swollen to the point where veins were popping out. It literally looked like the man was about to burst. But Ki-hyun beside him just stepped back in confusion, and Woo-rim, the spatial movement ability user, was nowhere to be seen, having fled at some point. Chang-hee, now struggling to control his power, fell to his knees and let out a monstrous groan.

“Urgh…!”

The problem was that all objects around him began to rattle and writhe. Even the building behind them shook.

“Gasp, hyung… hyung, how…”

As Ki-hyun blurted out stupidly in shock, Seona shouted again.

“Damn it, what are you just staring at?! Put the suppression piercing on that bastard!”

“M-mine?”

Ki-hyun stepped back, covering his ears with his hands. Seona cursed again and ripped out one of the suppressors from her own ear. She hesitated for a moment with it in her hand, but then seemed to make up her mind and threw it at Chang-hee. Whoosh, like a bullet, the suppressor flew quickly through the air and embedded itself in Chang-hee’s face.

Chang-hee, having lost his senses considerably, didn’t seem to notice the suppressor piercing his skin and continued to gasp monstrous breaths. The sight sent chills down everyone’s spine. Too late. Only this word came to mind.

The suppressor stuck in his face immediately reacted and turned red like blood, but it seemed Chang-hee’s rampage would come first before it could blow his head off. Damn it, it’s too late. That’s when Won-woo’s voice spread, breaking the tense atmosphere.

“Put up a shield.”

A shield? Seona turned around in surprise and saw Won-woo looking at Ki-hyun. Ki-hyun also looked at him in surprise, and Won-woo repeated.

“I said put up a shield.”

“What? But…”

“He’s about to burst. Hurry.”

It wasn’t a loud voice, but strangely, Ki-hyun found it hard to disobey. Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy to extend his hands forward, and Ki-hyun’s body trembled. Won-woo’s voice was heard again.

“It’s okay. Do it.”

A lower but kinder voice. It was unclear why hearing Won-woo’s voice gave him courage. No, it wasn’t certain if it was courage. Just suddenly, the energy inside his body gathered so solidly in his hands that it felt like holding a ball. Ki-hyun usually used his hands to release power, but he had never had such a stable and large amount of power gathered in his hands in his life.

But he couldn’t just marvel at this wondrous experience. Chang-hee in front of him looked like he was about to burst at any moment. Ki-hyun stopped thinking and concentrated his power around Chang-hee. Soon, a shield of power like a heat haze formed around the collapsed Chang-hee.

“A defensive ability user?”

As Seona muttered, an explosion sound rang out. It was a much louder noise compared to the earlier commotion.

BOOM!!!!

Seona instinctively used her ability to protect her shaking body, but it was an explosion that would have sent ordinary people flying backward. Sure enough, Won-woo had rolled on the ground several times and was now sitting covered in dust next to a truck. As she was about to go towards him, a groan from the front made her turn her head.

“Urgh.”

Ki-hyun clutched his chest and collapsed. It seemed he had suffered internal injuries from exerting his power. Well, he had tried to stop a rampage. If he was in Head Team 3, he must have been at least a B-rank ability user. If he hadn’t blocked it with his shield, not only the decontamination room but the entire Tower 2 would have turned to dust. So on the other hand, it was puzzling. Even for a shield ability user, to block a rampage to this extent? Seona approached Ki-hyun, wondering. Is he an A-rank ability user?

“Hey, are you alright…”

The question didn’t fully come out. Ki-hyun looked somewhere and suddenly turned pale, then started vomiting.

“Ugh, urgh!”

Seona stopped and glanced at where he had been looking. Where Ki-hyun had blocked with his shield, the remains of the rampaging Chang-hee were scattered like a burst tomato. And belatedly, a loud emergency siren started wailing.

Along with the emergency siren announcing an Esper’s rampage, people poured into the decontamination room. At first, everyone mistook Ki-hyun, who had suddenly used his power, for the rampaging Esper, but soon they noticed the remains of the exploded Esper and roughly understood what had happened.

Ki-hyun, who needed guiding most urgently, was carried out first, and Seona stayed behind briefly to explain the situation. However, she also needed immediate guiding due to using her power, so she couldn’t give a long explanation. Noticing her unstable energy, the person in charge quickly pushed her toward the Guide room, telling her to go.

At that moment, a person entered her field of vision. Someone standing leaning against the truck, looking straight at her. It was Won-woo. Despite being covered in dust and looking like a beggar, his handsome features stood out. Maybe it was because of the piercing gaze fixed on her.

He looked like someone just waiting for her to finish her business. In fact, Seona had no intention of coming here. Even if the bastards from Head Team 3 said they would take care of a Guide, she had no intention of interfering since it wasn’t her business. But what Umji had said bothered her.

‘Head Team 3? Ah, there’s one worm there famous for messing around with his dick.’

So she just, really just came to check, just in case. And suddenly, this rat or worm or whatever was about to attack the Guide? In the end, she stepped in without thinking. She didn’t regret it even now, but she was a bit angry. Seona walked steadily towards Won-woo, who was staring intently at her while cursing.

“Damn it, you should have run away if it was dangerous, what were you thinking facing an Esper? Don’t you know how dangerous Espers are? Look even now, you saw him rampage because he couldn’t control himself, right? If it weren’t for me, you would have died… right?”

As she spoke, her voice rose in anger, but when she saw the other person’s face, it became as small as a radio with its volume suddenly turned down. No, why are you smiling? Is this person crazy? Seona’s expression hardened in shock, but the other person couldn’t hide his smile. Moreover, he even grabbed her hand.

“Hello. I’m Won-woo.”

“No, this is not the time for hellos…!”

Seona, who was trying to pull her hand away because it felt uncomfortable, suddenly gasped as if surprised. Suddenly, she felt dizzy as if all the strength in her body was draining away. She staggered for a moment, but fortunately, Won-woo was holding her hand firmly. So she couldn’t try to pull her hand away anymore.

No, she couldn’t think of anything else. Seona felt her strength gradually returning, and at some point, her eyes widened. Her pupils filled with astonishment. What is this? Why did my cloudy power suddenly become clear… Huh? She looked down at her held hand in a daze. Won-woo introduced himself to the frozen Seona in a suppressed voice.

“I’m a Guide working at the East Center with Han Seona-ssi. Have we met before? I’ve lost my memory, so I apologize if we’re acquainted.”

“…No…”

“More importantly, do you have a dedicated Guide?”

“…Huh?”

“Is there no dedicated Guide system here? I’d like to work together, should we be on the same team then?”

“…Huh?”

Seona suddenly made stupid sounds as if she had forgotten how to speak. No matter what she said, Won-woo continued speaking as if excited.

“Ah, people are coming. I’ll contact you later. I’ll definitely contact you. Oh, it’s a good day for chugging cider in one shot.”

Won-woo saw Center people approaching and let go of her hand before disappearing. Seona just stared blankly at his retreating figure. Meanwhile, a Center person who had come to her side quickly informed her.

“Esper Han Seona-nim, you said guiding was urgent, right? We contacted the Guide room, but they said there’s no one suitable right now. Instead, they said they’re calling an A-rank Guide with a low matching rate.”

“…”

“Esper-nim?”

“No… D… He was definitely D-rank, and even ‘low’ rank… But… No, this wasn’t guiding… It felt like that… Why, how…”

“Um, are you okay?”

When the Center staff grabbed Seona’s arm, she finally raised her dazed eyes. The Center staff looked at her with worried eyes. As if it wasn’t bad enough that one Esper had just rampaged and exploded, the Esper in front of them had several suppressors in her ears, so they couldn’t help but worry. However, fortunately, the color of the suppression piercings was normal. Huh? Weren’t they glowing red just a moment ago? Did I imagine it? The Center staff tilted their head and asked Seona.

“Esper Han Seona-nim, are you really okay?”

“I’m… fine. In fact… This is the first time I’ve been this okay…”

“Then do you not need guiding?”

Seona looked down at her hand again. She really didn’t need it. For some reason, she didn’t need guiding right now. Although it wasn’t much, after using her power like that, the energy inside her body should have been rippling like waves.

These waves were like blades, spreading sharp pain every time they subsided. This pain had followed her all her life since she was born as an Esper. But now, Seona’s inner side was like a calm lakeside at dawn without a breath of wind. Had her mind ever been this clear since birth? No, definitely not. Then, did Ji Won-woo…?

“Esper-nim?”

At the sound calling her again, Seona swallowed hard.

“Guiding… I don’t need it right now.”

As she turned away after refusing, Seona suddenly remembered what Won-woo had said and her eyes widened. Wait, he definitely said it was a good day for chugging cider!

“Huh?!”

The Center staff looked at the shocked Seona with worried eyes again. But now Seona couldn’t see anything. She belatedly realized the meaning of those words. It was a famous line spoken by Seona’s favorite 2D character.

Although three days had already passed in this new world, about 1% of doubt still remained in Won-woo’s heart. Could this all be a dream? Am I having a mental breakdown? But when he found his backpack in the decontamination room, it finally felt real.

The bag that had been taken away for decontamination, the staff must have only done the outside roughly. If they had thoroughly checked the inside, they would have been shocked the moment they opened the bag. The inside of the bag was full of items from Won-woo’s original world. Most were weapons, but since they might not exist in this world, Won-woo decided to only take things that wouldn’t stand out. First, he took out a knife about half an arm’s length, removed the case, and checked the blade.