The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 121

“First of all, Giant Garden is classified as a C-rank gate. That means it’s relatively safe.”

“Safe… is it? It clearly said there were seventeen deaths…”

“Like I said earlier, even the insects here are gigantic. Do you think bugs are going to avoid creatures smaller than themselves?”

If anything, we’d be lucky if they didn’t see us as prey and charge at us.

I didn’t bother saying that part out loud, but the three of them seemed to catch on anyway. All their faces turned pale.

When I’d memorized the information about Giant Garden, I’d also felt uneasy after learning that most of the deaths hadn’t actually been caused by the giants.

So I understood their reaction…

Before they could let their imaginations run wild, I quickly continued.

“The giants living in this gate are peaceful and gentle by nature. As long as you don’t provoke them first, they won’t attack you. So there’s no need to be too scared. Like Minseok and Woojin said earlier, there have been cases where people were unlucky enough to get stepped on, so you should be careful about—”

“…”

“…Just stay away from the tall grass and move quickly. You’ll be fine. Really. If this were actually a dangerous gate, the death count wouldn’t be only seventeen.”

Granted, seventeen was still high for a C-rank gate, but I decided not to mention that for the sake of their mental health.

I wasn’t just making things up, either. The strategy guide had clearly said, “Safe as long as you proceed carefully.”

Just then, Han Yeonwoo spoke with a hesitant expression.

“Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Noona… you’re not an Awakened, are you?”

It sounded less like a question and more like he wanted confirmation of what he’d already guessed.

After all, I’d asked them to read the gate information earlier, so there was no way they wouldn’t know.

“Right. But I’ve had plenty of training, and I’m in pretty good shape. A C-rank gate is manageable.”

As I finished speaking, I pulled out my collapsible baton.

Han Yeonwoo visibly relaxed.

His eyes had widened the moment I’d mentioned “training.”

He’d probably assumed I’d been something like a soldier or police officer.

‘If that’s what he wants to believe, works for me.’

Back at the Association, I could pretend to be an Esper because I never entered gates.

Now that wasn’t possible anymore.

I might not have much muscle, but that wasn’t really important. If anyone asked, I could just say it was my body type.

Han Yeonwoo didn’t ask any more questions.

Seeing the look that said please continue, I went on.

“The Named Monster in Giant Garden is a tree called the Guardian Tree. It’s inside the shrine in the center of the village. Sneak in without the giants noticing, then set it on fire. That’s it. Simple, right?”

“Oh! That really does sound simple. But… Noona. How are we supposed to start a fire inside the village?”

Park Minseok asked innocently.

I shifted my backpack to the front and pulled out a box of matches.

“With these.”

“Matches are enough? If it’s in a giant village, then that Guardian Tree must be huge too.”

He’s sharper than I expected.

Recalling the illustration comparing the giants and the tree, I nodded.

“That’s right. It’s enormous. If you just light a tiny flame here and there, it’ll go out almost immediately. And if the giants notice, security around it will tighten, so you have to burn the whole thing down at once.”

“This gate’s been connected three times, right? The first group must’ve gone through a lot of trial and error. I heard they were trapped in here for nearly a month.”

“A month? Seriously?”

“So thirty-eight hours was actually fast…”

Exactly.

Even though the first people to enter Giant Garden had been Espers, not ordinary people, it had still taken them that long.

That was also when they discovered that the food stored in the village granary was safe for humans to eat.

Still, thanks to everything they learned during that first expedition, the second clear time had dropped to thirty-eight hours.

And now, on the third connection, I was confident we could finish even faster.

If the Guardian Tree had been an ordinary tree, there’d be no way a little box of matches could burn it down so quickly.

But since it was classified as a monster, there was another way.

“People always say plants are alive, right? Well, the Guardian Tree really is alive. Do you know what a dryad is? In mythology, they’re tree spirits. The Guardian Tree is one of those.”

The illustration depicted it as an enormous tree with the face of an old woman carved into its trunk.

I gave them a rough description.

The three of them exchanged uncomfortable looks before Nam Woojin awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“So… even though it’s gigantic… it still looks like a person?”

“I’ve never actually seen it myself, but… yeah, something like that.”

“And… it talks?”

“Yeah. Apparently you can’t communicate with it because it speaks a different language.”

“I… see…”

No one said another word.

All three of them slowed down.

At first, I couldn’t figure out why.

Then I realized.

For ordinary people, it wasn’t easy to attack a monster that looked almost human and could talk.

Even though these three had awakened, unlike the original Espers, they hadn’t gone through formal training or spent years clearing gates.

Mentally, they were still ordinary people.

There had been incidents because of that.

Among the countless gates, there were some where the monsters looked exactly like humans and lived lives that seemed completely normal.

Thankfully—or maybe not—I had never entered one of those gates.

Still, I’d heard that quite a few Espers and Guides needed counseling afterward because they couldn’t shake the feeling that they’d killed actual people.

‘Even I started thinking not every monster was dangerous when I stayed in Reclaimed Strange Paradise.’

But in the end, I’d reached only one conclusion.

There was no such thing as an absolutely safe, peaceful gate.

Even Giant Garden was only relatively safe.

It wasn’t completely without danger.

Being overly hesitant wouldn’t help clear the gate.

If anything, it’d only get in the way.

Still, I figured all those uneasy feelings would disappear once they actually saw the giants and the Guardian Tree.

Some things were easier to understand after seeing them once than after hearing a hundred explanations.

Instead of talking more, I simply picked up the pace.

As I walked ahead, the three of them hurried after me.

Woojin and Minseok chatted about random nonsense every now and then, Han Yeonwoo sighed at them, and I occasionally humored them.

After about an hour of walking—

“Huh? I think I see something! What is that? A really huge pillar…”

Nam Woojin narrowed his eyes, started speaking quickly, then abruptly fell silent.

I could clearly see his pupils trembling.

Han Yeonwoo and Park Minseok turned to look where he was staring.

Both of them froze with their mouths hanging open.

The “huge pillar” swaying in the distance was actually one of Giant Garden’s field monsters—

A giant.

Their skin ranged from pale yellow to reddish, deathly pale, or lightly tanned.

If there was one thing they shared with humans, it was their skin tones.

For the record, none of them had hair.

Their bodies were extremely plump.

Round, chubby faces.

Thick, rounded arms and legs.

Soft-looking bellies.

Their entire appearance practically advertised how comfortably they lived here.

On top of that, their proportions were only about three-and-a-half to four heads tall, making them look even more pudgy.

Despite the overwhelming size difference, they weren’t especially intimidating.

The reason lay in their faces.

“They… um… somehow… look really kind…”

Han Yeonwoo murmured absentmindedly.

Nam Woojin and Park Minseok nodded in a daze.

He was right.

The giants of Giant Garden all had gentle-looking faces.

Their eyes were narrow slits, curved upward slightly, and the corners of their lips naturally turned up, making them look as though they were always smiling.

But no matter how harmless they seemed, there was no mistaking that they weren’t human.

The only similarities were their skin tones, rounded ears, and the fact that they had five fingers and five toes.

I turned toward the three of them, who were still rooted to the spot.

Then I spoke.