DP Episode 29

Deep Pivot, Episode 29

Blood and flesh, smeared everywhere, began to gather in a defined pattern, merging like a single organism. Yeon-woo stood frozen, blankly watching this scene of despair before him suddenly change.

Crack. Crack-crack-crack.

From that eerie organism, black vine-like tendrils sprouted as if a plant were budding. Seo-joon’s upper body, sprawled lifelessly on the floor, twisted violently and swelled.

Crunch, crack, crackle! The scattered remains rapidly combined, pushing Yeon-woo aside and expanding into a grotesque shape.

Yeon-woo stood rooted to the spot, unable to tear his gaze away from the entity before him. Within seconds, it had completed its explosive transformation. It resembled a massive alien, or perhaps a deep-sea monster created by grafting various grotesque creatures.

Meanwhile, the Pasa lifted its head. Startled by the explosion and the overwhelming size of the newly appeared enemy, it was already furious.

The entity facing the Pasa, baring hundreds of terrifying teeth, swelled even further. The tendrils that extended outward writhed menacingly at Yeon-woo’s feet.

“What, what is that, Fuckk…?”

Jang Hyunsoo’s quivering voice could be heard from one side. To him, the sudden appearance seemed like nothing but a monstrous abomination.

But Yeon-woo knew better. The entity in front of him was neither an abomination nor a deep-sea monster.

It was the man he wanted to protect. The man he had longed to meet so desperately. Just because his appearance had changed didn’t mean his essence had.

A sigh of relief mixed with shock escaped Yeon-woo’s lips.

“5th floor, Building C. Uh, Agnes engaging the Pasa. Requesting support, …requesting support.”

Clinging to his sanity, Yeon-woo stuttered into the radio. He felt as if he had been dragged out of the hellish few seconds after seeing Seo-joon blown apart by the grenade, back to reality.

Then the Pasa, head raised high, lunged forward and sank its teeth into the enemy before it. The tendrils surrounding it immediately tightened their grip on the Pasa, binding and constricting it.

Bang! Boom! Bang! The enormous body of the Pasa thrashed around, destroying the walls of the building until it could no longer withstand the weight of the enemy clinging to it and plummeted to the ground.

Bang! Crash-crash-crash! The two tangled beasts fell through the collapsed floor.

“Kid! Are you okay?”

Someone roughly grabbed Yeon-woo’s shoulder. It was Lieutenant Kang Chae-won, the berserker. Her body was bloodied and torn, evidence of her earlier battle with the Pasa.

“Lieutenant… Lieutenant Ji…”

“Hey. You’re hurt.”

It was only then that he became aware of the pain in his side.

“Hold still.”

Supporting Yeon-woo as he stumbled forward, Chae-won inspected his wound.

“It’s shrapnel from the grenade. You’re fine. We can treat it.”

“Ji Seo-joon, the Lieutenant, he—”

“Yeah, yeah. Your Lieutenant isn’t going to die right now, so let’s get down first.”

She tried to sling Yeon-woo over her shoulder, but he pushed her hand away and shook his head.

“I’m fine. I can go on my own. But the Lieutenant needs…”

“We have an injured man here!”

Jang Hyunsoo shouted from one side. Spotting him, Chae-won approached with a menacing expression and roughly grabbed him by the collar.

✽✽✽

Thud!

Jang Hyunsoo was sent sprawling after a hard kick to his chest.

“Stand up.”

He was barely able to steady himself when Cheong-oh lifted his foot again and ruthlessly kicked his shoulder.

“Ugh…”

As Jang Hyunsoo lay completely sprawled on the ground, a pair of stiff military boots approached.

“Did my words sound like crap to you?”

“No… No, sir.”

“So, you shoved the ‘no grenades or firearms’ order up your ass, huh?”

“The Pasa charged, I had no choice.”

“The Pasa charged, you had no choice.”

Cheong-oh turned his head to look into the empty air for a few seconds before slamming his fist into Jang Hyunsoo’s face.

“The Pasa charged, you had no choice, huh.”

Thwack, thwack! Thud! Bam! The brutal sounds punctuated each word, and the blows were so savage it seemed like they would crush his facial bones. Finally, Park Mingeon, unable to bear it any longer, intervened and pulled Cheong-oh away from Jang Hyunsoo.

“Captain Jin, calm down.”

But calming down was not an option for Cheong-oh. If he could, he would have killed Jang Hyunsoo right then and there.

The Pasa that emerged from this gate was an upgraded version, different from previous mutations. However, such things weren’t unusual in this field, and although unexpected factors had complicated things, they would have been resolved as always.

If that idiot hadn’t fired his gun, the Pasa wouldn’t have abruptly changed direction. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the wretched fool also threw a specially crafted grenade.

If the Esper who arrived hadn’t been Ji Seo-joon but another Esper, they would have died instantly.

Even if Espers possess superhuman abilities, they’re still human. If all their limbs are torn off, they’ll die. But Ji Seo-joon, because he was a No-Named, survived. In a way, that made it even more horrifying.

Ji Seo-joon must have endured the agony of his body being ripped apart while fully conscious.

He was already in a precarious state due to improper guiding. Would he lose control in this mission or the next? Their colleague, a ticking time bomb who could have gone off at any moment, was now below, pushing his limits to consume the Pasa.

Cheong-oh roughly shook off Mingeon’s restraining hand and exhaled deeply to suppress his rage. Jang Hyunsoo, who had been relatively unharmed except for a few scratches, was now bleeding profusely, his face half-crushed.

Cheong-oh gestured to the other rookie guides.

“Take him to the treatment unit.”

After a hesitant moment, a few approached and supported Jang Hyunsoo away. With his hand on his hip, Cheong-oh pondered briefly before opening the steel case on the table. He looked at the syringe inside with a troubled expression.

“First, administer a sedative through the Blinker and Binder.”

He paused and sighed again. Restraining a rampaging Ji Seo-joon was twice as challenging as taking down the Pasa.

The Ji Seo-joon down below could hardly be called Ji Seo-joon. He was now an unknown monster, not quite an abomination, devouring everything alive.

“…We need to guide him somehow.”

All those capable of guiding Seo-joon in the field right now were rookies. This was their first mission since replacing the team members lost in the Myeongjeong Station gate incident. While the new recruits were chosen specifically for Seo-joon, this was too difficult a mission for them at the start.

“Please, tell me what to do.”

At that moment, a low voice was heard from one side. Everyone’s gaze shifted in that direction. It was Cha Yeon-woo.

“If you tell me how to do it, I’ll do it.”

“Well, I think that’s fine. You’re capable enough on your own,”

Lieutenant Kang Chae-won added in support. But, unexpectedly, Cheong-oh, who had openly designated Yeon-woo as Ji Seo-joon’s dedicated guide from day one, shook his head.

“It’s admirable, but not today, Baby. You don’t have any experience with emergency guiding. We need to subdue him with as many Espers as possible first, and then involve multiple guides—”

“98.8% isn’t a number that just appears out of nowhere.”

His kind and unwavering eyes slowly scanned those who seemed doubtful.

“If I do my part well, shouldn’t that be enough?”

Cheong-oh frowned. Precisely because it was 98.8%, it wasn’t possible. How could they afford to lose such a valuable guide on his first mission?

The last mission at Hyoseok-dong was just a tutorial compared to today’s catastrophe, which was why they could take him. But today was different.

They couldn’t throw the special newbie they’d carefully nurtured into this extreme-level dungeon right away. They had planned to build him up securely as Seo-joon’s permanent partner.

“The Blinker and Binder can’t be deployed because they’re too injured. They might lose control themselves.”

“……”

“And the gate is showing signs of releasing a new abomination.”

But they had no alternative. After hearing what Min-gun and Yeong-gyo reported after assessing the situation outside, Cheong-oh looked back at Yeon-woo.

Several minutes passed. There weren’t enough Espers or guides available. After mentally running through various possibilities and alternatives, Cheong-oh let out a deep sigh, his face twisted. The decision was made, but he clearly didn’t like it.

“…Fine, Baby.”

Still, there was no choice. Any rash retreat could result in greater casualties. The best option was to minimize losses and face it head-on. With his focus set on extreme efficiency, Cheong-oh handed Yeon-woo the syringe.

“Let’s give it a shot.”

Despite his deliberately casual words, it was an extremely risky gamble.

A gamble that would put Cha Yeon-woo’s life on the line.

✽✽✽

—Kid, I’m going to go over it one more time even though you probably already know it, so listen carefully.

The abandoned subway station was in ruins after the two giant beasts had fought fiercely. Yeon-woo walked through the collapsed areas into a long tunnel, focusing on Cheong-oh’s radio transmission.

—Listen, just jam the sedative straight into the core, okay? That’s number one, got it?

Then Chae-won interrupted.

—Come on, do you think he understands that? He might not even know where the core is!

This time, it was Min-gun.

—Everyone, quiet. Kid, hold the syringes firmly in both hands. Got them? Now take a deep breath, inhale… exhale… And now, use mind control. I am strong. I am really strong…

Following Yeong-gyo’s radio, Cheong-oh, Min-gun, and other senior guides’ instructions all tangled together.

“I’ll handle it myself.”

Yeon-woo dismissed the overlapping voices in one go.

“…I’ve studied hard.”

The process itself was simple despite the senior guides’ chatter. Inject the sedative into the suspected spine or head, and begin guiding once it starts forming a vaguely human shape. That was it.

Yeon-woo tapped the receiver off with the hand holding the syringe and looked down the straight tunnel. The long tunnel extended endlessly into darkness, impenetrable even through night vision.

Whether he was hugging his two-year-old brother and facing a rotworm up close or encountering a nematode at the Hyoseok-dong containment zone, Yeon-woo had always been terrified.

But now, he wasn’t scared at all. His mind was calm, focused only on one clear goal.

Crunch, crack.

A strange sound echoed from the other side of the tunnel. Yeon-woo kept walking without stopping.

Suddenly, something rushed at him. An organism shot out from the darkness and wrapped around his waist. Without even blinking, Yeon-woo was pulled swiftly into the darkness.