DMG Episode 2

“Well, it hadn’t been long since they’d set it up in Seoul. Lucky timing, huh? If it had been when they needed to renew the barrier, it would’ve been a total disaster. It’s still bad, but… makes you wonder if Heo Do-kyung planned it all out.”

Choi Soo-bin trailed off, then continued,.

“They wanted to punish him, but since he’s an S-class Guide, there’s not much they can do. And punishing him too harshly would be risky. What if he refuses to Guide anymore? Honestly, Guides are rarer than Espers. Plus, Heo Do-kyung apparently comes from an influential family. I heard he’s only being temporarily demoted as a formality, but I didn’t expect him to come here.”

With Choi Soo-bin’s long explanation over, the team quickly began cleaning up the scene.

The most important part of cleaning up was removing the core from the monsters, especially those classified as C-class or higher.

Monsters of C-class or higher all had a core, the source of their power. Without their core, monsters lost over half their strength.

Han Kang-jin cut open the monster’s belly and retrieved its core. Depending on the size of the monster, the core could range in size from a finger to a palm.

The core in Han Kang-jin’s hand looked like an ordinary colored stone. While the monster was alive, the core held energy, but as soon as the monster died or the core was removed from its body, the energy evaporated, leaving behind a solid, useless stone.

Although the core’s energy couldn’t be utilized, the core itself was valuable. Ordinary weapons were ineffective against monsters, which required specialized “monster-killing” weapons. These weapons were made from the cores harvested from monsters. Kang I-won’s dagger was also crafted from such a core.

After retrieving the core, Han Kang-jin gathered the monster’s remains, which would later be collected by a cleanup team.

Once they were nearly done, Kim Youngho asked.

“So, do you think this Heo Do-kyung will be our team’s Guide?”

“I told you not to get your hopes up. I doubt it, but if he does, it’ll probably be temporary. He’s S-class, after all.”

“Even if it’s temporary, I hope he ends up as our Guide. The current temporary Guide’s matching rate is so low, it doesn’t even feel like I’m getting Guided at all.”

“Don’t worry, if you go berserk, I’ll step in and take care of you.”

Choi Soo-bin said with a grin, making a slicing motion across her neck.

Kim Youngho jumped up and shouted, “I don’t need that! And I’m not going berserk!”

Ignoring their banter, Han Kang-jin turned to Kang I-won and asked.

“How are you holding up?”

Kang I-won checked himself. A dull headache was pressing in, his stomach felt queasy as if he’d been running on an empty stomach, and a phantom pain lingered in his arm where the monster had bitten him. His overworked body was screaming for rest. Rotating his wrist, Kang I-won responded nonchalantly.

“I’m fine. This is nothing.”

“Tch, nothing, huh.”

Han Kang-jin said disapprovingly.

Kang I-won, unfazed, responded with a shrug.

“Really, I’m fine. I’ve got this, after all.”

He pulled out a small, individually wrapped syringe from his pocket. It was a Guiding drug provided by the Center, free of charge. Seeing it, Han Kang-jin clicked his tongue.

“Stop using that stuff. Even if the matching rate is low, getting Guided by the temporary Guide is better than relying on those drugs.”

“I am getting Guided. Besides, it’s pretty much the same thing.”

“How is it the same? The side effects are completely different. Tch, I know your ability helps, so I’m not too worried, but seriously, you need to start being more efficient, okay? If you keep being inefficient like this, you’ll just wear yourself out.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m doing everything I can to get us a permanent Guide, so even if the temporary one isn’t great, bear with it and get Guided. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Having finished his lecture, Han Kang-jin walked ahead, and Kang I-won followed behind.

---

Beep, Beep— Beep, Beep—

A red light flashed on the wrist device.

The device’s lights conveyed different meanings depending on the color. Blue meant a designated team call, green indicated an individual call, and red was an emergency call sent to all nearby Espers, signaling that urgent assistance was needed.

Kang I-won, who had been running on a treadmill, pressed the accept button on the device and stepped off the machine. He quickly wiped off the sweat, grabbed his weapon, and hurried to the location displayed on the device.

It wasn’t far from the center, so he quickly made his way there on foot. As he moved, he spotted a man furiously pressing buttons on his device while muttering curses in a corner of an alleyway, his head hanging low.

“Damn Espers. It’s always the same ones showing up. Do they even have any sense of duty? Selfish jerks,” the man grumbled.

It was a familiar face. Probably the C-class Guide from Team 9. Guides who accompanied their teams to the field were rare, making him easy to remember. Kang I-won recalled the man’s details as he unconsciously made his way over.

The Guide, sensing someone approaching, quickly raised his head. His face brightened when he saw Kang I-won, and he waved his arms energetically.

“Oh! Esper Kang I-won! Over here, over here!”

Kang I-won approached the Guide, who started talking at a rapid pace, almost like he was rapping.

“Esper Kang I-won, thank you so much for coming today! Our team is barely holding on over there because an unexpectedly high-grade monster appeared… Two more support Espers should be coming, but could you go ahead first? I’ll wait for the others and come with them.”

Kang I-won nodded and immediately headed in the direction the Guide had indicated.

Before long, he spotted the monster. At the end of the alley, where it connected to a pedestrian path, a massive three-headed snake, about 3 meters tall, was tightly wrapped in sticky, web-like threads that resembled spider silk.

The snake monster writhed in fury, attempting to break free, but every time it severed the webbing, an Esper would release more threads, trapping the snake again. The thin, white threads wrapped so densely around the snake’s body that it looked like a giant cocoon.

An Esper, desperately spewing sticky threads to restrain the snake, was struggling, while three others worked to clear away the smaller thread snakes that were swarming the area, but their numbers made it a daunting task.

One of the Espers noticed Kang I-won and called out excitedly.

“Hey, reinforcements! Are you alone?”

“Two more are on their way. Have you figured out the monster’s type?”

If the monster’s type was known, they could memorize its weaknesses and attack patterns, then handle it accordingly when faced with the same type in future encounters. Unfortunately, there were far too many variations of monsters.

Even among snake monsters, there were those with one head, two heads, three heads, some with two tails, or some with bodies that were like chains.

The small comfort was that similar creatures often shared characteristics, weaknesses, and attack patterns, so figuring out what they were dealing with was the first priority when facing a new monster.

For example, snake monsters typically died if their heads were cut off. In this case, with the three-headed snake, all three heads would likely need to be severed.

The Esper restraining the giant snake screamed.

“It doesn’t have any venom! We cut off one head, but it split into those thread snakes, and it regenerated from the severed part!”

“And the core?”

Kang I-won asked.

“It’s an external core! The location is the tail! The tail!”

Monsters generally fell into two categories: internal and external core types.

Internal cores were located within the monster’s body and usually retrieved after the monster was killed. External cores, on the other hand, were exposed, and removing them drastically weakened the monster, making it much easier to subdue.

However, extracting an external core wasn’t easy either.

The core was an energy condensation, and the energy waves surrounding it protected the core. To extract it, the Esper needed to dig out both the flesh and the core together.

While attacking from a distance was safer, long-range attacks often got deflected by the energy waves, which meant close-combat Espers were typically the ones to remove the core.

Many people who were unfamiliar with this process would often ask.

‘Why not just destroy the core?’

But that was impossible.

Only Espers with specific abilities could destroy cores, and even then, only after the core had lost all its energy, which typically happened after it was removed from the monster’s body.

In most cases, unless it was particularly troublesome, the standard practice was to kill the monster first and then retrieve the core, just as with internal core types.

This was one of those troublesome cases.

To kill the monster, all three heads needed to be severed. However, each time a head was cut off, hundreds of thread snakes would split off from the body. Although each one was weak individually, their sheer numbers made them a serious nuisance.

Therefore, extracting the core was the priority. And, as mentioned, that task usually fell to close-combat Espers.

Team 9 did have a close-combat Esper, but his weapon was a hammer, which wasn’t ideal for core extraction. That meant the task automatically fell to Kang I-won.

But the situation was dire. The monster had already split once, and hundreds of thread snakes were swarming the ground, making it difficult to get close to the main body.

Kang I-won gripped the hilt of his monster-killing dagger tightly as he slashed through the thread snakes jumping at him, his eyes sharp as he assessed the situation.

One Esper created a wall of water while another froze it, cutting off the monster’s escape route and trapping dozens of thread snakes in an ice prison.

However, the thread snakes that hadn’t been caught redirected their attacks toward the struggling Espers.

The thread snakes bit into Kang I-won’s body, sinking their fangs into his skin. Thankfully, they weren’t venomous, but their persistent biting and clinging were an annoyance. No matter how many he sliced away or shook off, more kept latching onto him—it seemed endless.

“Argh! Damn it, these stupid snakes! Can’t you just stay still for a second? Why do you keep acting up? Where’s the rest of the support? I’m going to lose my mind!”

One of the Espers, exhausted from overusing his ability, yelled out in frustration as he shot more threads at the giant snake monster, which continued to struggle violently.

Another Esper, wielding a hammer, crushed several thread snakes with a single swing and shouted.

“Hold on a bit longer! Hyun Ho-jun is almost here! Esper Kang I-won, once Hyun Ho-jun arrives, please handle the core extraction!”

Kang I-won nodded. He didn’t know who Hyun Ho-jun was, but based on the way they were talking, it seemed like Hyun Ho-jun had the power to deal with these bothersome thread snakes.

While waiting for backup, Kang I-won continued slicing through the thread snakes clinging to him and ripped off the ones biting into his skin. The sharp fangs left two long cuts on his skin, but they healed almost instantly thanks to his regeneration ability.

After holding out for a while longer, a voice filled with relief called out.

“Hyun Ho-jun’s here! He’s going to burn the thread snakes, so step back!”

Hearing this, Kang I-won quickly retreated. His body might regenerate, but his clothes would not.

As Kang I-won backed away, flames surged forward like a tidal wave, engulfing the thread snakes. Even from a distance, the heat was intense.

The fire, resembling a blazing wave, consumed the thread snakes, and soon the air was filled with the smell of burning flesh. Kang I-won took the opportunity to slice through the few surviving thread snakes and began making his way toward the giant snake monster.

Hyun Ho-jun’s flames continued to burn fiercely, incinerating only the thread snakes without spreading elsewhere. The flames quickly evaporated the ice walls blocking the path, along with the thread snakes trapped inside.

“Oh, shit! It’s melting! Put the fire out!” someone shouted.