20XX Love Chapter 14.2 - 13. EXPLOSION

“Hah… If only we could get out of here… I’m really going to fuck him so hard. I’m going to fuck him so good. I’m going to cum inside him. I’m going to cum so much inside him. Even if he cries and runs away telling me not to cum inside him, I’m going to grab him and cum deep inside, huh, huhh!”

A hot energy flowed into Jo Heechan from his back, causing his legs to tremble, his whole body to melt, and gasps to escape his lips.

“Huh, huh, huh, ah, huh,”

As the hot, swirling power instantly filled his entire body, Jo Heechan staggered and gasped.

“Heechan, hurry!”

Only after hearing Seo Jungin’s urging voice from behind him did Jo Heechan come to his senses. He clenched his teeth and gathered his ability in his right arm. Then, the cold energy, combined with the amplification power already filling his body, shot out brilliantly from his fingertips.

For a fleeting moment, he saw the Creepions roaring and rushing towards them like a horde of zombies from deep within the 4th floor. The emergency exit entrance was filled with a massive block of ice, and as if that wasn’t enough, exploding cold air swirled around.

As he stepped back slightly up the stairs, making the ice barrier thicker and more solid, Seo Jungin’s hand left his back.

“Ha. Haa, Hyung….”

Jo Heechan turned around and looked up at Seo Jungin. His face was flushed red, and he was panting as if he were about to push Heechan down right there.

“Hyung, haa, just one kiss…”

Seo Jungin silently looked down for a moment at Jo Heechan’s face, pleading like a puppy, panting and whimpering.

Nam Taeyong, dumbfounded and exasperated, started down the stairs a few steps, intending to smack Jo Heechan, but Seo Jungin had already bent down, brought his face close to Jo Heechan’s, and was gently kissing him.

“Mmm…”

Jo Heechan closed his eyes and savored the sweetness of Seo Jungin’s lips. The soft, supple lips rubbed gently against his, and at the end, he even sucked lightly on his lower lip.

With a smack, their lips parted, and Jo Heechan opened his eyes, feeling regretfully unsatisfied. Seo Jungin caressed Jo Heechan’s cheek and spoke kindly.

“Alright? Let’s go quickly. We have to find the separator on the 5th floor.”

“Mm-hmm, Hyung, I love you.”

Jo Heechan, with his eyes still soft and unfocused, suddenly confessed.

“Yes. I love you too.”

“Love you. Hyung, love you.”

“Yes. I love you too.”

“Don’t indulge him every time, Seo Jungin.”

Nam Taeyong interjected, his expression deeply dissatisfied.

‘Ah. Why do I feel so fucking shitty?’

He knew it wasn’t simply because he disliked Jo Heechan’s behavior. Knowing that made him feel even more nauseous.

“Come to the middle.”

Nam Taeyong grabbed Seo Jungin’s hand and pulled him firmly. He moved him to the center of the Espers, past Jo Heechan and Hwang Woohyun, and continued up the stairs, still holding his hand.

Nam Taeyong suddenly felt a tingling sensation in his chest from the warmth emanating from Seo Jungin’s soft hand, which fit perfectly in his. In his puzzled mind, everything Seo Jungin had done for him flashed by.

The warm energy he’d infused while holding his hand. His smiles. His comfort. All the times he’d cried for him.

Then, everything he had done to Seo Jungin came to mind.

His scorn. His criticisms. The hurt he’d inflicted. The insults. The violent thrusts and the careless way he’d treated him.

Despite all that, what would the time he could have with Seo Jungin after escaping this place be like?

If he rested his head on his lap, Seo Jungin would probably be embarrassed. If he grumbled, he would listen. If he pressed a cold can of cola against his cheek as he looked out the window, he would be startled and flustered. Would he be happy if he bought him sweets? If he gave him alcohol, he would talk about the things that upset him. Then he would stroke his flushed cheeks. Hold him in his arms. Kiss him. Make him cry. And after making him cry…

“Taeyong.”

“…”

Nam Taeyong stopped abruptly and looked up at the 5th-floor entrance without a word.

Seo Jungin, his hand held by Nam Taeyong, looked up at his cold, unyielding back. The grip on his hand gradually tightened until it became painful.

“Taeyong…?”

“…”

A bitter smile touched Nam Taeyong’s lips. He felt terrible.

What kind of soft future am I dreaming of and bullshitting about? A piece of shit like me.

I should be worried about turning into a Variant and rampaging before I die. Since when was I so sentimental?

I said all those grand things about getting out alive, but I’m the one who killed my Variant by messing with time. Maybe that’s an unchangeable future.

But what am I trying to do, indulging in these sentimental thoughts? Do I want to have a relationship with Seo Jungin or something?

Nam Taeyong furrowed his neat eyebrows fiercely, let go of Seo Jungin’s wrist, and strode up the stairs, passing Choi Suhyuk and Kim Yikyung.

Seo Jungin looked up at Nam Taeyong’s angry back and smiled faintly.

He’s always getting angry and irritable like that. I know how affectionate he is underneath it all. I can still feel his trembling touch on my skin, the touch that healed me. His cracked and hoarse voice, whispering as if sobbing, still echoes in my ears.

Those words no one else heard. Those words whispered, unaware that I had heard them.

[I’ll heal you. I’ll make you better. I’ll make it so you don’t hurt. I’ll… Fuck, I’ll…]

A sharp, stinging pain pierced Seo Jungin’s heart, and he pressed his hand, the one Nam Taeyong had been holding, tightly against his chest.

“The sensors are clear. The 5th floor still seems clear.”

Arriving at the steel door of the 5th-floor emergency exit, Kim Yikyung checked his watch and looked down at his team members as they climbed the landing.

“Ha…”

They were all a mess, enough to make him sigh.

Uniforms torn and tattered from the last fierce battle, hair matted with blood from the Bloodhole. On top of that, they were covered in black blood from fighting the Creepions on the 4th floor, making them look dreadful.

But they were alive. They were all still alive. Kim Yikyung, filled with emotion, looked at each of his team members.

‘You all did well to get this far. You all survived well. Thank you.’

He was truly grateful.

“Once we enter, we’ll split into two teams and search the Mother’s nest first. We’re looking for something discordant. If you find it, don’t destroy it on your own; signal with your watch. Understand?”

Everyone exchanged glances at Kim Yikyung’s operational instructions. It was time to enter the 5th floor.

This might be their last chance. Perhaps someone might die. They might even be wiped out.

Still, they would seek the best way to survive until the very end. The best way they could.

Kim Yikyung gripped the doorknob.

Click.

At that moment, Seo Jungin felt a terribly ominous feeling, and a piercing tinnitus stabbed his head. And an indescribable premonition, mixed with the tinnitus, became a chilling noise the moment the door opened.

Bzzzt. Fizz-crackle.

Black fragments scattered and glittered. In front of the 5th-floor nursing ward information desk, a dark Obsidianhole was already wide open, ready to spew out X-Creepions.

“Hah, fuck! I knew it.”

Nam Taeyong cursed, pulling out his positron gun.

“Suhyuk! Fire attack inside the hole. Amplified, quickly!”

Kim Yikyung shouted sharply. Based on their experience so far, Choi Suhyuk’s extreme high-temperature power, amplified by Seo Jungin, possessed the power to ionize matter and increase its density, so it clearly had some effect on the gaps in spacetime. Since it had created a lull several times when directed at the Bloodhole, he judged that it would work on the Obsidianhole as well.

Black obsidian shards, swirling around the K814 team who rushed inside, assaulted their hearing with an unpleasant noise.

Choi Suhyuk, standing directly in front of the terrifying hole, like a gaping black hole, immediately stretched out both arms. His hair fluttered wildly in the whirlwind of glass fragments emanating from the hole.

“Jungin!”

“Yeah, Suhyuk!”

Seo Jungin hugged Choi Suhyuk tightly from behind. He wrapped his arms around his chest and buried his face in his warm back.

Choi Suhyuk glanced down at the white hands clasped around his chest, and as the amplification power surged from Seo Jungin, he gathered his ability in his outstretched hands, aimed at the black hole.

A shimmering heat haze arose from his fingertips, and Choi Suhyuk felt a power surging within him, almost too much to bear. Just as that explosive power was about to be unleashed from his fingertips…

“…?!”

Two white hands stretched out from within the jet-black hole like ghosts.

“Shoot quickly!”

“Wait!”

Kim Yikyung’s shout and Nam Taeyong’s shout erupted almost simultaneously.

The white hands and arms slowly emerged from the darkness, followed by white feet. Then, a naked body, so white it was almost transparent, slowly revealed itself. Black liquid streamed down the contours of the body, and two hands were stretched forward plaintively, as if pleading for help.

Dark blood vessels were clearly visible beneath the transparent skin, which looked as if it would tear at any moment. It was…

“…Jungin…”

It was Seo Jungin, walking out with blood-red eyes wide open, his face contorted in pain.

Everyone froze instantly. They couldn’t move a muscle.

The sight of black blood vessels crawling over his pale white face was horrifying. His transparent skin was so thin it looked as if it would rip at any moment, and black blood flowed ceaselessly from his bright red eyes like tears. From his nose, too. And his mouth. His ears. Between his legs. Black blood flowed from every orifice of his body. With each slow step he took, a footprint of black blood was left on the floor.

Painful moans escaped continuously from his half-opened mouth, smeared with black blood.

“Ah… Ah… It hurts…”

Choi Suhyuk gasped, staring at Seo Jungin’s Variant form with a face of utter despair.

“Heuk, euk, Ju, Jungin, Jungin.”

“Ah… It hurts… Ah… It hurts…”

Choi Suhyuk could see something the others couldn’t. He could see the flames he had poured into him. The bright yellow, flaming nerve bundles tangled with the Variant’s black blood vessels.

Because of the ability he’d poured into him. Because he’d become an Esper. Because his toxicity levels had risen. Because he’d become a Variant.

“Haa, heuk, heut, Jungin, Jungin.”

The amplifying power was exploding relentlessly within Seo Jungin’s body. Exploding again and again, tearing his insides apart, crushing, melting them. With every step, with every movement, his melted internal organs gushed out from every orifice.

“Ah… It hurts… Ah…”

“Aah, Ju, Jungin, heuk, Jungin.”

Choi Suhyuk was spiraling into a state of panic, looking at the Variant’s horrifying appearance.

Kim Yikyung, stunned into shock, suddenly snapped his head up at the smell of blood mixing with the air. Bloody vapor mingled with the black glass fragments in the air.

At that moment, a long crack appeared on the opposite side of the jet-black Obsidianhole, instantly bursting open into a crimson Bloodhole, pouring out drops of blood like a waterfall. The Obsidianhole and the Bloodhole were open, touching each other like the front and back of a piece of paper.

“Grrrr… Krrrr…”

The cries of monstrous creatures could be heard.

The sound was like a mockery directed at them, heading towards annihilation, and Kim Yikyung felt as though he was falling into a bottomless abyss.

‘Is that… my Variant form? Is that…?’

That form, dripping with black fluid, fumbling around with empty eyes, is that the fate that awaits me? That form, with its insides burst and melted, dragging its wretched body, wandering in eternal pain.

He felt an indescribable sense of déjà vu, confronting his future self in his present form, in this unreal situation. The tinnitus ringing in his chaotic mind grew louder, like a scream tearing his eardrums.

No. That was a real scream.

Creepions, screaming, began pouring out of the Bloodhole that had opened on the other side of the Obsidianhole. The Creepions, emerging from the other side of the black hole, were gnashing their sharp teeth, their jet-black eyes gleaming, their claws extended, rushing to tear them apart.

Yet, they couldn’t move. They couldn’t even move a finger. The entire K814 team was the same. They all had the same thought. They just wanted to reach out and hold those white hands stretched out in pain.

“Kyaaaack!”

It was Kim Yikyung who first activated his power in that desperate moment. Kim Yikyung unleashed an electric field attack on the Creepions that were rapidly filling the 5th-floor hall. The screams of the Creepions caught in the sizzling, sparking power echoed throughout the space.

Hwang Woohyun and Jo Heechan, snapping out of their trance, ran towards the Bloodhole and began unleashing their ability attacks on the쏟아지는 Creepions.

The monstrous roars and screams of the Creepions, the crackling of electricity, the exploding sounds of ice spheres merged with the images reflected in Seo Jungin’s retinas, and his drifting consciousness was abruptly pulled back to reality. This was not the time to be lost in thought. If they stayed like this, they would all die. They would all be killed.

Seo Jungin shouted at Choi Suhyuk’s back.

“Suhyuk! Attack quickly! Burn them all! Burn everything!”

Burn them quickly. Burn everything. Burn away that horrible, that future I have to face, burn it all away!

Seo Jungin poured his amplifying ability into Choi Suhyuk’s body. He wanted him to burn everything.

He wanted him to burn the Creepions that were lunging at them with their gaping black maws. He wanted him to burn and erase that wretched body of his, steeped in endless pain and floundering helplessly.

“Please…!”

Choi Suhyuk, gripped by a despair that plunged his very soul into the abyss, confronted the amplifying power flowing from Seo Jungin.

Should he unleash this power and end Seo Jungin’s pain? Should he shatter that body, trapped in eternal agony, searching for peace?

“Ah… It hurts… I… Ah… It hurts…”

The Variant was moaning in pain as it approached, step by step. Leaving bloody footprints as it walked. Taking one lonely, desperate step after another, its hands outstretched towards Choi Suhyuk. Meeting those bright red eyes, shimmering with tears of pain, Choi Suhyuk finally drew upon the high-temperature power. Granting Seo Jungin’s wish, ending his suffering, was the only way to help him.

Just as the ability emanating from Choi Suhyuk’s two hands was about to engulf the wretched naked body, someone rushed forward and embraced it.

“…?!”

It was Nam Taeyong. Seo Jungin felt his breath catch in his throat as he watched Nam Taeyong embrace the Variant.

“No! Taeyong! No…!”

As the thin skin on the Variant’s body peeled away and dissolved where Nam Taeyong’s hands touched, Nam Taeyong recoiled in horror and poured his healing power into it.

“Ah… Ah… Ah…”

As the healing power poured in, the Variant’s gaze, which had been lost in the void, slowly shifted to Nam Taeyong, who held its body.

As Nam Taeyong embraced the Variant’s body, he could vividly feel everything that was happening inside it.

It was continuously exploding. Exploding and exploding again, tearing down, crushing, and melting its insides.

“Jungin. Ha… Seo Jungin.”

He felt the pain. The excruciating pain that the Variant felt as it breathed was transmitted directly to him.

The torn skin healed under Nam Taeyong’s healing power, and the transparent skin was filled with white, but various parts of the body continued to thin and become transparent again, as if the exploding toxic power was rampaging within. No matter how much he healed it, the power seemed to leak out as if he were pouring it into empty space.

This Variant body, unable to die even with the power of the toxic force holding it, would wander the world in eternal pain. It would simply drift forever, ceaselessly destroying itself and everything it touched, searching for unattainable peace.

Nam Taeyong felt a rending pain in his chest as he poured his healing power into the Variant’s body held within his arms.

“I’ll make you better. I’ll make it so you don’t hurt.”

“Ha… Ah… Ah…”

The Variant’s breath brushed against Nam Taeyong’s ear. The breath was so cold that it felt as though Nam Taeyong’s heart was freezing. At that moment, the reversed amplifying power surged from the Variant into Nam Taeyong.

“Keuk, cough.”

A groan escaped Nam Taeyong’s lips.

The reversed ability power, formed by the toxic force, couldn’t help the Esper because it was a force that resisted and countered. Nam Taeyong could clearly feel the power flowing from the Variant engulfing his ability and attacking and destroying his internal organs. Nevertheless, Nam Taeyong continued to pour his healing power into the Variant.

“Ah… Aah… Good… Ah…”

“Heuk, heuk, good? Jungin. You feel, better now, don’t you, huu.”

“Ah… More… More…”

The Variant’s hand embraced Nam Taeyong’s back. The dark amplifying power poured into Nam Taeyong’s body. Nam Taeyong continued to push his healing power in, feeling the agonizing pain of his insides being ripped apart. The Variant’s skin alternated between being filled with white and becoming transparent as the healing power and the toxic force moved through it.

‘I want to heal you. I want to make it so you don’t hurt. I want to make you better.’

Nam Taeyong felt as though his whole body was being stabbed repeatedly with sharp knives. His body was becoming scorching hot as if it were about to explode due to the effect of the amplifying power composed of toxic force. Despite this, a sense of relief welled up in Nam Taeyong’s heart as he felt the Variant’s pain subside.

The Variant clung tighter to Nam Taeyong’s body, which was relieving its terrible pain, and whispered in his ear.

“More… More… More…”

“Good… Ah? Seo Jungin, it doesn’t, hurt anymore, does it, huu.”

“Good… Ah… More…”

“I won’t, huh, huhh, I won’t let you hurt. I’ll, huh, huhh, I’ll heal you.”

Nam Taeyong looked into the Variant’s face. A faint smile, free from pain, was spreading across the face smeared with black blood.

Only that made Nam Taeyong happy. Only that also made him sad, and he kindled his healing ability like a fierce bonfire, kissing the Variant deeply.

The reversed power, fiercely expanding its amplitude, pounded inside Nam Taeyong, turning his insides into a pulpy mess. Each time, the healing ability healed Nam Taeyong’s body and also the Variant’s body, rapidly depleting itself. As the Variant’s skin filled with white, bumpy, toxic blisters began to bubble up on Nam Taeyong’s skin.

“No, Taeyong, stop!”

Ah. That voice. Jungin’s voice.

Seo Jungin’s voice was faintly audible amidst the desperate cries and the sizzling, popping, and exploding sounds of abilities filling the hole. Even so, Nam Taeyong couldn’t stop. He could feel the pain lessening in the body he held in his arms. He could feel the pain lessening in the pitiful white body, so Nam Taeyong couldn’t bring himself to stop.

Beep beep beep beeeeeeeeeep.

Nam Taeyong’s watch began to blare, alerting him that his toxicity level had reached a critical point. It was because of the healing ability he had poured endlessly into the constantly deteriorating body of the Variant.

“Mmm… Mmm… Ha… More… More… Mmm…”

“Co, Cold, ha… Jungin, cold.”

As Nam Taeyong exchanged tongues with the Variant, he fell into a distant sense of fulfillment, accompanied by the horrific pain that was tearing through his entire body. Blisters rose on his eyeballs, and the toxins penetrated his brain, clouding his judgment. Nam Taeyong parted his lips from the heated kiss and looked into the Variant’s face, where the flesh had returned to a white hue, whispering,

“Haa, it doesn’t, hurt anymore, does it? Uh, huuh, Jungin. Now… Ah, ah?!”

At that moment, an excruciating pain, as if all life within the embraced body was being extinguished at once, transmitted itself to Nam Taeyong, and the Variant’s crimson eyes momentarily shone with a fiery intensity. Then, like embers dying down, the light in those shining eyes slowly faded.

“Ah, aah… Jungin?”

The Variant’s body went limp in Nam Taeyong’s arms, losing all its strength. Catching the head as it lolled back with his hand, Nam Taeyong collapsed to the floor, cradling the Variant.

He couldn’t understand what had happened. He felt like he was going insane from the penetrating toxins and pain. He was just puzzled that all life had drained from the Variant.

Nam Taeyong looked down at the Variant, then raised his blister-covered eyes. There stood Seo Jungin, tears streaming down his face, a positron gun in his hand. Seo Jungin had shot the Variant in the temple.

“Ah, ah, huh, huh, Jungin… Ah.”

Seo Jungin’s face was a picture of despair. He trembled, holding the gun, then collapsed, grabbing Nam Taeyong’s wrist. The toxicity level displayed on the watch, half-buried in his blistered wrist, was exceeding 90%. The Variant transformation had begun.

“Heuk, heuk, why… why did you do that, why! This is a Variant, it’s not the real me, why did you do that, you fool!”

Nam Taeyong, panting as he stared at Seo Jungin’s furious face, lowered his head and looked down at the Variant’s face, now stained with black tears of blood. He used his blistered hand to wipe away the black blood smeared on the white face. He wiped the corners of the eyes where tears of blood had welled up and, with a trembling hand, closed the eyelids over the vacant red eyes.

The clear face, its skin restored to white by Nam Taeyong’s healing, looked peaceful, as if free from pain.

To see this face. Because I wanted to see this face. Because I couldn’t bear to see your face in pain.

“Hu, huhu, huuuh, heuk.”

A hollow laugh escaped his lips. The Variant’s body, carefully laid out straight on the floor, almost looked as if it had fallen into a peaceful sleep.

“Haa, ha, heuk, huuuh, keuuh, kruuh.”

Nam Taeyong began to tremble and convulse. Unbearable pain surged through his body, now filled with toxins. The toxicity level, having exceeded its limit, began to rage out of control.

“Keu… Keuuuuu.”

Nam Taeyong knelt down, clutching his head, and let out a groan of agony. Seo Jungin, gripped by panic, held onto Nam Taeyong’s body.

“No. It’s already started. Euheuk, if this continues, you… you’ll turn into a Variant, a Variant.”

“Huh, huh, huhh.”

Toxicity… Variant… Seo Jungin’s Variant.

Nam Taeyong roughly grabbed Seo Jungin’s wrist.

“Ah…! Taeyong.”

“Huh, huh, huh.”

Seo Jungin’s watch was completely powered off. Nam Taeyong glared at Seo Jungin, his unfocused eyes wide open, the whites showing.

“You, what are you going to do, what are you going to do, fuck… the watch…”

Nam Taeyong realized that Seo Jungin had turned off his watch to hide his rising toxicity level.

“Your toxicity, since when, huh, huh, si… since when, keuuuuu.”

“Heuk, heut, worry about yourself, you fool, now’s not the time to worry about me.”

“Choi Suhyuk, Kim Yikyung… Haa, haa, stop Jungin’s amplifying power… Seo Jungin, this idiot… trying to hide… his rising toxicity…”

Nam Taeyong’s weakened voice didn’t reach Choi Suhyuk or Kim Yikyung. Nam Taeyong felt like he was losing his mind. As he pulled on the wrist he held, trying to turn on the watch, Seo Jungin forcefully shook him off, his voice choked with tears.

“It’s okay. I’m okay. I can’t even guide, so whatever it is, if I can just help you guys… if I can just help…”

That’s when it happened.

“Uh, uaaack!”

“Jo Heechan!”

Jo Heechan’s scream and Kim Yikyung’s shout followed one after another from the direction of the Bloodhole. With his defenses weakened by the rising toxicity, he had been caught in a surprise attack by the쏟아져 나오는 Creepions.

“No…! Heechan,”

Seo Jungin, horrified by the gushing red blood, clearly visible even from afar, scrambled to his feet.

While Hwang Woohyun yelled and unleashed bolts of lightning across the electric field, Kim Yikyung pulled Jo Heechan out from among the swarming Creepions. However, before he could drag him to safety, another wave of Creepions swarmed Kim Yikyung, and blood spurted in all directions. Seeing this, Nam Taeyong’s eyes widened.

“That, fuck…”

“Ah…! Taeyong!”

Nam Taeyong staggered to his feet, then clutched his stomach and collapsed to the floor. The toxins had begun to penetrate his organs.

“Keu… Kuaaaack!”

“Taeyong!”

In excruciating pain, Nam Taeyong clutched his stomach and let out a horrifying scream. Seo Jungin rushed to support him, but he couldn’t alleviate the pain Nam Taeyong was experiencing.

Nam Taeyong couldn’t bear the agonizing pain twisting his insides. It felt as though his guts were being ripped out while he was still alive. His eyes burned and ached as if they were about to be gouged out. It felt as though someone was stabbing his brain repeatedly with a knife, telling him to die.

“Keuuu… Kyaaaa!”

The screams weren’t only Nam Taeyong’s. Jo Heechan, after one last scream, lost consciousness, and Kim Yikyung, who had been struggling against the Creepions, collapsed on the floor, spewing blood. Hwang Woohyun shouted and ran forward, unleashing a thunderbolt, and Choi Suhyuk yelled something and spread a wide fire field across the hole.

Everyone’s watches were blaring their guiding alarms. Like screams just before death.

“Ah, aah, aah, ah.”

Seo Jungin, in a state of panic, looked around at everyone. He felt as though everything was his fault.

He should be guiding them. These kids needed guiding. What they needed now was guiding to soothe their pain.

‘A guide who can’t guide is the worst. A completely useless existence. I shouldn’t have been on this team. I shouldn’t have.’

With every cough, bright red blood gushed from Nam Taeyong’s mouth. His internal organs, melted by the toxins, were bleeding.

As soon as his self-healing ability provided some relief, Nam Taeyong groaned and pushed himself up again.

“Euheuk, Taeyong. Taeyong.”

Nam Taeyong was trying to heal Kim Yikyung and Jo Heechan. There was no stopping him. And there was no way to help him. Seo Jungin felt like he was going mad with helplessness.

Nam Taeyong, leaning on Seo Jungin, stumbled and slipped, yet he stubbornly continued towards Kim Yikyung and Jo Heechan.

Hwang Woohyun, controlling his lightning ability to clear a path for Nam Taeyong, was shocked to see his condition. Covered in blisters and gasping for breath, he looked almost like a Variant.

Nam Taeyong, his eyes half-rolled back, finally reached Jo Heechan and forced his hand inside his uniform to find bare skin. Jo Heechan had lost so much blood that, judging by his eyes alone, he already seemed to be in another world. Lying in a pool of his own blood, he looked no different from a corpse.

“Huh, huh, this bastard… without any regard for hierarchy, keuk, trying to die first.”

Nam Taeyong muttered, disregarding hierarchy when there wasn’t much left of it, and poured his healing ability into Jo Heechan’s body. Knowing it was inevitable, Seo Jungin burst into tears.

“Heuk, heut, Taeyong, you can’t, can’t heal him. If you use your ability any more… heut, you’ll become a Variant, a Variant.”

“Ha, fuck… then should I just let him die? This blood-soaked bastard, keuk, keuuuuu.”

“Heuk, heuk, amplification… amplify your healing ability…”

Nam Taeyong lifted the corners of his lips and emitted a faint light from his hand. It was just a comforting gesture. They both knew that the healing ability wasn’t affected by amplification because it wasn’t an offensive power.

“Mmm… Mm…”

Jo Heechan moaned softly as if trying to wake up. Although Nam Taeyong’s healing was slower than usual because he was on the verge of transformation, Jo Heechan steadily recovered and, after a while, his black eyes flickered open, and he sat up abruptly.

“Whoa… Shit, I really thought I was going to die.”

“Euheuheuk, Heechan, Heechan…”

“Uh… Huh! Jungin Hyung, why are you covered in tears…? Uh, because you thought I was dying…?”

Seeing Seo Jungin’s tear-streaked face, Jo Heechan, assuming he was crying because of him, felt his heart flutter with excitement as soon as he woke up.

“Hyung’s Variant. What happened to Hyung’s Variant? Should… should we take him with us too? Hyung’s, Variant? I don’t think we can just leave him here… wouldn’t that be wrong…?”

Jo Heechan hadn’t seen what had happened to Seo Jungin’s Variant by the Obsidianhole because he had been fighting by the Bloodhole. Moreover, he had lost consciousness after being attacked, so he was completely unaware of the situation.

Nam Taeyong wanted to smack Jo Heechan for his belated, nonsensical chatter the moment he woke up, but he gave up, lacking the energy even to raise his hand, and instead crouched on the floor, panting, and said,

“Shut up… you idiot. It’s all over, huh, huh, just drag Kim Yikyung over here…”

Only then did Jo Heechan look at Nam Taeyong and, seeing his horrific condition, his eyes widened in shock.

“Taeyong Hyung? What’s wrong with you, Hyung!”

So he really didn’t see anything.

Nam Taeyong grimaced, pointing at Kim Yikyung with his blister-covered hand.

“Shut up and hurry… huh, huh, I can’t even get over there…”

Kim Yikyung, lying nearby, had his eyes half-open, but he was writhing in a trance, unable to think clearly. Jo Heechan quickly got up, put his arm under Kim Yikyung’s armpit, and dragged him to within reach of Nam Taeyong’s hand. Nam Taeyong, with a trembling hand, barely managed to reach inside Kim Yikyung’s blood-soaked uniform.

As Kim Yikyung’s body was enveloped in a faint light, Nam Taeyong’s blisters began to boil and burst at an accelerated rate, oozing pus. As Nam Taeyong’s body erupted, new flesh grew on Kim Yikyung. Tears welled up in Seo Jungin’s eyes as he watched.

A moment later, as soon as Kim Yikyung opened his eyes after being healed, Nam Taeyong gasped roughly and said,

“Huh! Huh! Kim Yikyung, copy, copy my ability, healing ability, the team needs it, keuuuuu… I’m, I’m going to turn into a Variant now, a Variant!”

Kim Yikyung’s eyes widened in horror at the devastating words he heard upon waking. Nam Taeyong was in a truly unbearable state. Blisters covered his entire body, oozing pus, and blisters had even risen on his eyeballs, making him look horrifying.

“No, heut, Taeyong, no, no, euheuk”

Tears streamed down Seo Jungin’s face, his expression contorted in despair. Nam Taeyong turning into a Variant was unthinkable. He absolutely couldn’t let that happen.

“Ah! Aah! Kim Yikyung, hurry! Hurry! Uaaack! Kruuuk!”

At that moment, overcome by a surge of pain, Nam Taeyong collapsed, banging his fists on the floor. Blisters rose and burst all over his body, oozing pus, then reforming and bursting again and again.

“Kruuu! Kruuuu! Please hurry, hurry!”

“Ah, alright, I got it, Taeyong!”

Kim Yikyung quickly grabbed Nam Taeyong’s hand and replicated his ability. A lump of ability power surged out of Nam Taeyong’s body.

“Taeyong, Nam Taeyong, no, euheuk, Taeyong.”

Nam Taeyong sprawled on the floor, gritting his teeth, his chest heaving, and began scratching the floor with his fingernails. The toxicity began to attack his entire body relentlessly. If he were left like this, he would unleash a toxic attack on his surroundings and ultimately become a Variant.

Kim Yikyung looked down at Nam Taeyong with a grief-stricken face. There was nothing he could do. Unless he was guided immediately, there was no way to prevent him from becoming a Variant. The only way to help him was to end the pain of transformation. Nam Taeyong himself would know that very well.

‘So, Taeyong. I’m sorry, Taeyong…’

Just then, he heard Hwang Woohyun’s strained gasps. He was beginning to be pushed back, unable to withstand the speed at which the Creepions were pouring out of the Bloodhole. Kim Yikyung immediately returned to his role as team leader and gave instructions to Jo Heechan.

“Heechan! Quickly support Woohyun from the rear. His attack power has weakened due to the toxicity.”

“Ah, alright.”

As Jo Heechan jumped to his feet, Seo Jungin abruptly raised his head.

“Yikyung Hyung. I’ll amplify Woohyun, I’ll amplify him.”

At that moment, Nam Taeyong grabbed Seo Jungin’s wrist as he tried to stand.

“Stay here, you! Huh! Huh! Here, next to me!”

“Taeyong. Heuk, euheuk.”

Seo Jungin looked down at Nam Taeyong’s whitish, swollen eyes, then clasped his pus-covered hand and wept in anguish.

Jo Heechan looked down at Nam Taeyong, his face crumbling.

“Taeyong Hyung. Don’t turn into a Variant while I’m gone. Okay… Okay!”

“Keuuu…! Get lost, fuck…! Shut up and go quickly, go!”

Jo Heechan took one reluctant step back after another, then finally, with cold energy swirling around his hands, he ran off at the roars of the Creepions.

Kim Yikyung was the same. He couldn’t stay by Nam Taeyong’s side as he underwent this tragedy. He could see Choi Suhyuk struggling on the other side. His ability barrier and attack power were significantly reduced because his toxicity had reached a critical level, and even Choi Suhyuk couldn’t withstand the overwhelming number of Creepions swarming towards him.

“Nam Taeyong. Thank you. For everything you’ve done. Thank you. I mean it.”

“Ha… Fuck, am I dying? What are you doing… go quickly, huuuh!”

“…”

Kim Yikyung silently looked down at Nam Taeyong. Because he understood the pain he was feeling now. The choice he was about to make. And perhaps… Nam Taeyong’s current state would soon be the state all of them would face.

“I’m sorry…”

Relieved that Seo Jungin was by Nam Taeyong’s side, Kim Yikyung jumped to his feet.

“Yikyung Hyung…”

Kim Yikyung, just turning around, widened his eyes and looked back at Nam Taeyong.

“…Did you just call me Hyung…?”

“Kruu… I just tried it, fuck… since you like being called Hyung… huh, huh,”

“…You bastard…”

“Huh, huh, you’re finally being honest, haha.”

Kim Yikyung tightly closed his eyes against the blurring vision, gritted his teeth, turned around, and ran towards Choi Suhyuk. Did Nam Taeyong see the glistening tear that fell just then?

Seo Jungin watched as Nam Taeyong’s eyes became completely covered in blisters and his face turned deathly pale, his breath catching in his throat.

“Ah! Aah! Kr…! Keuuuu, kyaaaack! Aaack! Keuuuu!”

Nam Taeyong thrashed around in agonizing pain, scratching the floor with his fingernails.

“Euheuk, Taeyong, don’t do that, you’ll rip your fingernails out, Taeyong, euheong, eong eong, hueong,”

“Huh! Huh! Auuu, I, I think I’m dying! Jungin, it hurts! It hurts so much! It hurts so, so much! Ha-euk, it hurts!”

Nam Taeyong rolled around on the floor, banging his fists against it.

Seo Jungin felt like he was going crazy. No. Taeyong. How can I make his pain go away?

I have to guide him. Guide. I have to guide him.

“Heuk, inside my body, euheuk, try coming inside me. Maybe it’ll work. Huuuh, maybe it’ll work, Taeyong, fuck me. Please fuck me…!”

Seo Jungin fumbled with Nam Taeyong’s belt buckle, trying to undo it, but Nam Taeyong was thrashing around too much. Besides, he knew, because it was his own ability, that guiding wouldn’t work no matter what he did.

“Huhh! Huh! Aah, it hurts, it hurts so much I think I’m dying, Jungin, it hurts so, so much!”

Nam Taeyong screamed, clutching his hair, his eyes squeezed shut. Pus oozed from his closed eyes.

Seo Jungin felt as though his heart was being ripped apart. He was heartbroken that he couldn’t ease Nam Taeyong’s pain.

What should I do? What am I supposed to do? Huh? Taeyong. Taeyong. Tell me. Show me. What I’m supposed to do.

“Huh, huh, Jungin, Jungin, Jungin, Seo Jungin.”

“Euheuk, Taeyong, yes, I’m here, Taeyong.”

“Can I… Can I… kiss you? Jungin. Can I kiss you?”

Nam Taeyong, who always acted as he pleased, without permission or consent, was asking for permission. Asking Seo Jungin for permission to kiss him.

“Euheuk, yes. You can, Taeyong, you can kiss me, you can fuck me, you can fuck me up the ass and the pussy, you can do anything, euheuk”

Seo Jungin, crying, moved closer to Nam Taeyong. Then, Nam Taeyong’s large hands cupped Seo Jungin’s cheeks.

He gently cupped his cheeks, brought their faces close, and kissed him sweetly and tenderly. It wasn’t a hasty or desperate kiss driven by pain, but a lyrical one. At that moment, Seo Jungin felt as if time had stopped.

He couldn’t hear the screams of the Creepions, the crackling flames of lightning and fire, or the swirling frost. All Seo Jungin could feel at that moment were Nam Taeyong’s soft, moist, and supple lips rubbing lovingly against his.

You always did as you pleased, you always did whatever you wanted. Why are you kissing me so tenderly now? Why are you so warm? Why are you asking for permission?

As Seo Jungin’s lips parted, Nam Taeyong’s tongue gently slipped in, intertwining with Seo Jungin’s. He nuzzled his soft tongue, wrapped around his supple tongue, and licked and caressed him tenderly.

When the lovely kiss, which felt like it had lasted an eternity, ended, the corners of Nam Taeyong’s pain-ridden lips curved upwards. It wasn’t the mocking smile he usually wore. It was a gentle, pure, and clear smile, like a boy’s.

“It’s tingling… are you aroused…?”

Tears welled up in Seo Jungin’s eyes. Nam Taeyong whispered,

“I’m not going to apologize…”

“…?”

Words he’d heard before. When…

“So get angry. Jungin. Get angry at me…”

What do you mean? What do you mean by that?

Why.

Why.

Why are you saying that?

Something Nam Taeyong had said. Something he’d said to him…?

Something he’d said after forcibly guiding him when he was first on the verge of transformation…?

No. It was an auditory hallucination. It was the chilling, unsettling premonition that had been haunting him. It was this voice now. The words that had foreshadowed Nam Taeyong’s end.

As Seo Jungin’s eyes widened in realization, Nam Taeyong took the Detoxin capsule he’d pulled from his uniform’s front pocket, poured it into his mouth, and swallowed.

Seo Jungin’s wide eyes widened further, and his mouth fell open. He thought he could hear screams from everywhere. But it was an illusion.

The scream he heard now was his own. It was a scream pouring from his own mouth. In the midst of the scream, Nam Taeyong clutched his heart with both hands.

Then, looking directly into Seo Jungin’s eyes, his breath hitched a few times, he sighed deeply, and then no more breath escaped his lips.

“—————————!!”

Seo Jungin screamed incessantly. He couldn’t stop screaming, frantically touching Nam Taeyong’s lifeless body.

The misbehaving hands that had restrained Seo Jungin and acted so selfishly lay limp on the floor. The secretly affectionate eyes, hidden within the cool gaze that had hated the world, were swollen white. The red lips that had tormented him with lewd words were slightly parted, no longer uttering a single breath.

Whose name did you call with your last breath? Did you call my name, the one you shared a kiss with? I can only scream. I can’t do anything for you. I don’t think anyone can stop this scream.

Lies. You’re lying. You’re lying about dying.

You’re not going to apologize? You’re not going to apologize after dying like this?

Seo Jungin grabbed Nam Taeyong by the collar and shook him. He pounded on his chest. Just as Nam Taeyong had told him to, he raged, violently and uncontrollably.

“Apologize! Apologize! Apologize for dying!”

Bang!

“Kraaaack! Kuaaaack!”

The elevator doors flew off, and Creepions began crawling up the elevator shaft. The Creepions on other floors had smelled the blood on the 5th floor through the shaft.

“Heechan! Block the elevator entrance!”

At Kim Yikyung’s desperate shout, Jo Heechan unleashed a torrent of his freezing ability. Meanwhile, Kim Yikyung spread his arms and created replica Kim Yikyungs. The four replica Kim Yikyungs scattered in all directions, indiscriminately unleashing toxic attacks and firing their positron guns at the approaching Creepions.

The air was thick with the ashes of Creepions scattered by the flames, mixed with glass shards and blood droplets, making it difficult to breathe. However, the intensity of Choi Suhyuk’s flames was steadily weakening. The power of Hwang Woohyun’s lightning bolts was also diminishing, and Creepions that had survived the field attacks were bouncing off and crawling everywhere.

A shadow of despair fell over Kim Yikyung’s eyes as the tide of the battle turned increasingly against them.

Kim Yikyung looked at Seo Jungin’s back, clinging to Nam Taeyong’s body. Seo Jungin had stopped raging and was now sobbing. He was huddled over Nam Taeyong’s body, trembling and weeping.

With his kind-hearted nature, he would be blaming himself for everything. The illusion shown by the Separator could have been more than just an illusion. He had to instill a sense of responsibility in Seo Jungin, who was drowning in guilt. Otherwise, he would stay like that indefinitely, eventually pulling out a capsule and swallowing it.

Kim Yikyung rushed over and grabbed Seo Jungin’s arm, trying to lift him up. Seo Jungin shook off Kim Yikyung’s hand and collapsed back onto Nam Taeyong’s body.

“Jungin, Seo Jungin!”

“Taeyong will be here! Euheuk, Taeyong won’t leave me. I’ll be with Taeyong! Heuk, heuk.”

“Seo Jungin! Get up, pull yourself together and get up!”

Kim Yikyung put his arm under Seo Jungin’s armpit and forcibly pulled him up. Seo Jungin struggled violently, resisting fiercely.

“No! No! Let go of me! Taeyong, Taeyong!”

Kim Yikyung roughly pulled Seo Jungin, who kept trying to cling to Nam Taeyong’s body, to his feet, wrapped his arms around his waist, and kissed him.

“Mmm!”

He pressed their bodies close, cradled the back of his head, thrust his tongue deep inside, caressed his mouth, and sucked on his tongue.

“Mmm, heuk, mm, mm…”

As Seo Jungin’s struggles subsided in Kim Yikyung’s embrace, Kim Yikyung pulled away.

“Jungin, come to your senses. Look at us.”

“Haa, heut, heuk, euheuk.”

“We’re still alive. You have to protect us too. You have to protect us.”

At those words, a small light returned to Seo Jungin’s eyes.

“Everyone’s weakened. Because of the toxicity. We can’t do this without you. If you don’t amplify us, we’ll all die.”

Those words, the words that needed him, brought Seo Jungin to his feet.

“Help us. Protect us.”

Those words, asking him to protect them.

Gurgling. Bubbling. Kuaaack!

At that moment, the Creepions, crammed and overflowing within the Bloodhole, crushed and piled on top of each other, creating a blockage, then erupted like a swarm of bees. The horde of Creepions surged towards Seo Jungin and Kim Yikyung.

For a split second, Choi Suhyuk caught sight of Seo Jungin’s pale face as he turned to look at the Creepions.

“Jungin!”

Choi Suhyuk’s eyes flashed like lightning, and he swung his flaming arm as if striking a blow. As Kim Yikyung embraced Seo Jungin, the cloud of Creepions disintegrated into ashes.

“Get back!”

At Choi Suhyuk’s shout, Kim Yikyung frantically dragged Seo Jungin backwards.

“Ah, wait, Taeyong!”

Seo Jungin looked back at Nam Taeyong’s body as Kim Yikyung pulled him away. His heart shattered at the sight of Nam Taeyong’s body, lying there in such a wretched state, being covered by the dismembered bodies and ashes of the disintegrating Creepions. And when he saw the swarming creatures trampling over him, Seo Jungin let out a scream mixed with sobs, shaking off Kim Yikyung’s hand and trying to run back to Nam Taeyong.

As several Creepions pounced on Seo Jungin, sinking their teeth into his arms and legs, Choi Suhyuk lost his composure, his eyes widening. He ran towards Seo Jungin, spraying flames indiscriminately. Along with the roars of the Creepions, Choi Suhyuk’s watch also screamed.

By the time Kim Yikyung had reached the edge of the electric field, after poisoning, throwing off, and shooting the creatures clinging to Seo Jungin, Choi Suhyuk arrived, embracing Seo Jungin tightly.

“Heuk.”

“Seo Jungin, ha…!”

Choi Suhyuk sighed deeply, relieved to hold a living body in his arms. Seo Jungin, his face streaked with tears, looked up and pleaded, gasping,

“Taeyong’s being trampled, being trampled on.”

Choi Suhyuk held Seo Jungin tightly with one arm and unleashed flames at the creatures swarming around them. Seo Jungin looked at Nam Taeyong over Choi Suhyuk’s shoulder.

His heart broke at the sight of his mangled body, trampled and crushed like trash. Choi Suhyuk also looked at Nam Taeyong’s body and, beyond it, at the trampled body of Seo Jungin’s Variant.

“Jungin. Amplify me.”

Choi Suhyuk’s body was now filled with toxins, and his own flames weren’t enough to burn everything here. He needed Seo Jungin’s power to burn everything and neutralize the hole. So that, as Seo Jungin wished, his precious Nam Taeyong’s body would no longer suffer. So that the tragically transformed body of Seo Jungin’s Variant could find peace. Choi Suhyuk whispered softly in Seo Jungin’s ear,

“I’m going to burn everything clean. So amplify me.”

Seo Jungin squeezed his eyes shut, and the tears that had been welling up streamed down his face. But now wasn’t the time to grieve. Because of the appearance of his Variant, everyone had panicked and missed the chance to neutralize the hole. So he couldn’t hesitate any longer. He had to fight again, for the sake of those who remained.

“Yes. Suhyuk. I will. I’ll do it.”

Instead of wiping away his tears, Seo Jungin hugged Choi Suhyuk’s broad back tightly.

“Everyone gather here! We’re going to amplify and launch a plasma attack!”

At Kim Yikyung’s shout, the members, who had been busy attacking from all sides, surrounded Seo Jungin.

As the amplifying power flowed into Choi Suhyuk, his large body trembled, and his muscles rippled. An amplified, ultra-high-temperature power began to emanate from his outstretched fingertips.

The roaring monsters, the dismembered and burning bodies. Seo Jungin’s Variant. And even Nam Taeyong’s body, all were being ionized within the space, absorbed as high-density energy.

The sapphire gem hanging from Nam Taeyong’s arm shimmered with a final blue light and disappeared. Seo Jungin imprinted Nam Taeyong’s final moments in his heart and buried his face in Choi Suhyuk’s back. He rubbed his hot tears against Choi Suhyuk’s shoulder.

‘I can’t cry. I won’t cry anymore. Everyone wants to cry. So stop crying. I have to protect these remaining kids. I will definitely protect them.’

As the power of the static subsided, the 5th floor became miraculously clean. The gaps in space affected by the plasma energy, the Obsidianhole and the Bloodhole, entered a lull, sinking into a quiet silence.

When Choi Suhyuk turned around, staggering, his eyes were glowing bright red. Had he lost his mind?

Seo Jungin, trying to calm Choi Suhyuk, lifted his chin and kissed him. Choi Suhyuk’s thinly lowered eyelids fluttered, then he suddenly coughed, pulling away from Seo Jungin.

“Cough, cough, cough, hack… cough…”

A gush of red blood sprayed from between his fingers covering his mouth. At the same time, Choi Suhyuk’s watch began to alarm.

Beep beep beep beeeeeeeeep.

The widget on the watch, visible on his wrist, flashed black.

“Su, Suhyuk…”

Seo Jungin’s face turned deathly pale. He didn’t need to check the toxicity percentage. He had unleashed the strongest attacks the most times, so it was natural that his toxicity level was nearing its critical point.

Choi Suhyuk wiped the blood from his mouth with his forearm. His pale face, trembling hands, and labored breathing made it impossible to even ask if he was alright.

Kim Yikyung held Choi Suhyuk’s hand and healed his external and internal injuries. However, healing couldn’t stop the toxicity from attacking his body. The residual ability power swirled throughout his body, relentlessly destroying the Esper from within.

“…Choi Suhyuk. From now on, only use physical attacks. If you use your ability any more, you’ll become a Variant.”

“…”

Choi Suhyuk’s stubborn gaze, fixed on the floor without responding to Kim Yikyung’s instructions, left no time for further nagging. They had to find the Separator before more monsters poured out of the hole.

“Anything discordant will do. Signal with your watch as soon as you find it. Understand?”

They had only bought themselves a little time; the Creepions would soon pour out of the hole again. They had to find the Separator’s nest quickly.

A total of eight nursing rooms. With time running short, the four Espers and the four replica Kim Yikyungs decided to split up and search simultaneously. Seo Jungin paired up with Hwang Woohyun, and the search began immediately.

As Choi Suhyuk and Jo Heechan, Hwang Woohyun and Seo Jungin ran down the hallway, Kim Yikyung and the replica Kim Yikyungs flung open the doors of the nursing rooms adjacent to the central hall, all at once.

And the ears of the four running down the hallway were assaulted by the chilling screams, curses, and monstrous roars of the Kim Yikyungs and the Creepions.

“Krrrr! Kuaaack!”

“Uaaaaah!”

“S, Shit!”

“Don’t open the door! You can’t open the door!”

Those who hurriedly turned around saw the Kim Yikyungs frantically firing their positron guns and unleashing toxic attacks at the doorways.

Every room was filled with Creepions. It wasn’t the Bloodhole, but a creature summoning technique. Creepions had been summoned into each of the nursing rooms, and the moment the doors opened, they lunged at the Kim Yikyungs, snapping and biting.

“Yikyung Hyung!”

“Yikyung Hyuuuuung!”

Since all the Kim Yikyungs had replicated Nam Taeyong’s ability, they were only capable of close-range toxic attacks. Therefore, they were helpless against a simultaneous attack by multiple Creepions.

The Kim Yikyungs used their bodies to block the Creepions trying to rush out through the open doors, desperately poisoning them, punching and kicking them, and firing their guns.

Choi Suhyuk, Jo Heechan, and Hwang Woohyun shouted and ran towards the Kim Yikyungs.

Seo Jungin could see everything happening as if in slow motion. As if it were being etched into his mind, even though he didn’t want to see it. As if it were being imprinted, even though he didn’t want to know.

The sight of Kim Yikyung, his body held fast by a dozen Creepions, his hand slipping from the doorframe as he was dragged into the room.

The sight of Kim Yikyung, pouring toxins onto the heads of the Creepions trying to escape, then being bitten in the stomach, his intestines spilling out into the air.

The sight of Kim Yikyung being clawed and grabbed, his body torn apart by dozens of hands reaching out like demons from the pile of bodies heaped on top of the Creepion that had stumbled out into the hallway.

“You bastards!”

As Jo Heechan unleashed his ability, amplified by Hwang Woohyun’s lightning wave, lightning and frost raged through the narrow hallway. Every time they checked a room, a replica Kim Yikyung breathed his last, collapsing and disappearing into thin air.

Choi Suhyuk shouted and grabbed a Kim Yikyung who was being dragged into a room by his ankle, then incinerated the heads snapping and biting like demons from the open doorway.

Everyone was frantically burning, sizzling, and freezing.

Seo Jungin screamed and ran over, grabbing Jo Heechan’s arm and pouring in his amplifying ability. As they retreated towards the central hall, they filled a room with ice, then another room, and then the room across the hall.

Just as he was about to unleash his freezing ability into the last room with an open door, Seo Jungin’s eyes met Kim Yikyung’s, who was lying beneath a pile of Creepions, looking at the open door.

Did their eyes meet? No, their eyes didn’t meet. Kim Yikyung’s eyes, as his body was being tossed around by the Creepions devouring his stomach like ravenous ghouls, were no longer focused on this world.

One of the surviving Kim Yikyungs grabbed Seo Jungin as he instinctively tried to run in, his face contorted in horror.

“He’s already dead! The link’s broken! Freeze it! Heechan!”

Kim Yikyung’s words faintly reached Seo Jungin’s ears as he felt like he was about to faint, looking at the vacant eyes staring back upside down.

Dead? The link’s broken? But… why…?

“Jungin Hyung, amplify me!”

Seo Jungin, lost in shock, instinctively grabbed Jo Heechan’s arm as instructed. With the incoming amplifying power, Jo Heechan filled the room with crackling ice. Kim Yikyung, still being devoured, was buried within the ice, encased in layer upon layer of thickening ice.

“The hallway too, freeze the hallway too, Heechan, quickly!”

At Hwang Woohyun’s urgent voice, Jo Heechan tried to activate his ability, but the amplifying power wasn’t coming from Seo Jungin’s hand.

“Jungin Hyung!”

But Seo Jungin just stared blankly, pulling on the arm of the Kim Yikyung standing next to him and looking up at his face.

The same Kim Yikyung. The Kim Yikyung from before. All the same Kim Yikyung.

“Jungin Hyung!”

Finally, at the urging shout, the power surged from Seo Jungin, and Jo Heechan unleashed a terrifying wave of freezing air. As the entire hallway of the nursing rooms was encased in ice, the retreating Espers gasped for breath.

“Ha, haa, haa,”

“Huh, huh, huh,”

“Are you okay?”

“Is everyone alright?”

Kim Yikyung checked on the condition of his team members. Choi Suhyuk, lying face down, clutching his chest, looked particularly bad. He had overexerted his ability when he shouldn’t have used it any more. Choi Suhyuk lay there, panting, his whole body trembling.

‘He might become a Variant.’

Kim Yikyung, about to rush to Choi Suhyuk’s side, stopped and pulled on Seo Jungin’s shoulder, seeing him standing frozen, staring at the block of ice. Even then, Seo Jungin’s gaze remained fixed on the hallway.

“Jungin.”

Seo Jungin stared intently at the hallway, a silent tremor running through him. The dull ache in his head, which had been throbbing, now intensified, as if being hammered. Tinnitus filled his ears. The guiding alarm from his watch, the red alarm from headquarters, the black siren, the white signal – all the emergency alerts and screams mixed with the tinnitus until he could no longer distinguish one from another.

He just kept seeing the image of Kim Yikyung being devoured, replaying vividly before his eyes.

“Jungin. Are you hurt?”

Seo Jungin looked up at Kim Yikyung. In contrast to Kim Yikyung’s worried expression, Seo Jungin’s eyes were wide with shock, as if he were looking at someone who had returned from the dead.

“Jungin. Calm down. It’s okay. It’s alright.”

“…Why didn’t he disappear?”

“…What?”

“You said he was dead. That the link was broken. Why didn’t he disintegrate…?”

“…”

Kim Yikyung was speechless. Everyone began to grasp the meaning of Seo Jungin’s words, and shock, like a blow to the head, swept over them.

“Yikyung Hyung, the one being devoured by the Creepions… the Hyung we encased in ice… that was the original. The original, right?”

“…”

The fact that he hadn’t crumbled like sand when he died, like a replica should…

“The original Yikyung Hyung… is, is, huh, huh, is, is, dead.”

Seo Jungin began to stumble backwards, gasping. It was clearly written in Kim Yikyung’s eyes, which had widened in surprise then lowered sadly.

Resignation…

Seo Jungin felt like the world was spinning. Like he was plummeting to the bottom of the world. Falling even deeper.

As if he were being dragged down into a sticky, inescapable swamp. Hands emerging from the swamp wrapped around his nose and mouth, pulling him down to the bottom.

He felt like he was suffocating, his throat constricting, his heart being squeezed.

Kim Yikyung was dead.

“Seo Jungin…!”

Dead. He’s dead. The leader of our precious team is dead.

“Jungin, your blood…!”

Dead. He’s dead. My precious Kim Yikyung is dead.

“Jungin Hyung!”

“Jungin…”

Even as Hwang Woohyun and Jo Heechan rushed over, wiping and examining the bright red blood flowing from Seo Jungin’s nose, down his mouth and chin, Seo Jungin just stared at Kim Yikyung’s face in front of him.

After 24 hours…

That elegant bronze hair, those neatly dark eyebrows, that sharp, handsome nose, those thick, clearly defined lips, those beautiful brown eyes hidden behind black-rimmed glasses.

I won’t be able to see them anymore. I won’t be able to see them again.

Hwang Woohyun urgently grabbed Seo Jungin’s wrist. The watch was completely powered off.

“Seo Jungin, you…!”

Hwang Woohyun, filled with disappointment and self-reproach, bared his teeth fiercely and turned on the watch. As soon as it powered on, the watch’s alarm blared loudly, and the widget flashed. It was shifting from red to black.