The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 126

Blood from Han Yeon-woo’s body streamed down the steps, flowing from one stair to the next.

The bleeding was so severe that I could smell the metallic scent of blood in the air.

Whether it was because of the Giants or the vines, Park Min-seok and Nam Woo-jin had been crouching in a corner of the staircase, silently crying.

Only after they spotted me did they finally gasp for breath.

I stood frozen for a moment before carefully making my way toward them, avoiding the roots that had burst through the ground all around us.

Park Min-seok’s face was a complete mess of tears.

His lips trembled.

“N-Noona… what do we do? Han Yeon-woo… he won’t open his eyes…”

I didn’t even need to ask what had happened.

They hadn’t been walking across flat ground.

They had been struggling up a flight of enormous stairs.

Their attention had been fixed on the Giants and the insects.

How could they possibly have avoided something that suddenly erupted from beneath their feet?

The medicine and supplies I had given them beforehand were useless in a situation like this.

After Park Min-seok, Nam Woo-jin looked at me desperately.

“Noona… please…”

But there was nothing I could do.

To begin with, I wasn’t used to seeing people this badly injured.

Guides were the ones being protected.

Unless they were paired with utterly incompetent Espers, they rarely got hurt themselves.

Espers were naturally tough as well, so serious bleeding wasn’t something I saw often.

Whenever we entered truly dangerous Gates, we prepared countermeasures beforehand.

And if someone with a support-type Awakening was present, they’d desperately keep everyone alive, allowing even serious injuries to heal quickly.

Of course, emergencies still happened, so I’d received basic first-aid training.

But none of it was useful now.

“Noona… please help him… p-please…”

“…First… first, let’s get somewhere safe. It’s dangerous here.”

“W-What about Han Yeon-woo? If we pull this out… h-he’ll bleed even more.”

His cautious question made me freeze again.

Right.

If something had pierced the body, you weren’t supposed to remove it carelessly.

The root skewering Han Yeon-woo’s abdomen was as thick as my wrist.

He was already bleeding heavily.

If we pulled it out now, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he died on the spot.

Cutting the root would only make the Guardian Tree rampage even harder.

But we had no other choice.

I handed my knife to Park Min-seok.

“I’m going to carry Yeon-woo down. The moment you cut through the root, follow me immediately. It might go berserk, but it can’t actually pinpoint our location, so as long as you watch the ground, you’ll be fine. Woo-jin, when I give the signal, throw the grenade I gave you as far away as you can. Got it?”

I was the only one who could carry Han Yeon-woo safely while still moving quickly.

Both of them understood that.

Neither hesitated before nodding.

Suddenly, another shrill scream echoed inside my head.

Whether it was real or just my imagination, we couldn’t waste another second.

I positioned myself to lift Han Yeon-woo and signaled to Park Min-seok.

Taking a deep breath, he jammed the knife beneath the root and began sawing furiously while pulling it away.

The veins bulged across his face and the backs of his hands as he gritted his teeth.

The root slowly tore apart with harsh cracking sounds.

But perhaps sensing the attack, the other roots immediately began writhing violently.

Park Min-seok and Nam Woo-jin both flinched.

As soon as the nearly severed root came free completely, I scooped Han Yeon-woo into my arms and stood.

“Let’s go. Like I said before, these things can’t tell exactly where we are, so they’re just striking randomly. Watch your footing carefully. And don’t let them touch you.”

“Y-Yes.”

One answered in a strained voice.

The other hurriedly wiped his eyes before nodding.

Han Yeon-woo’s body felt cold in my arms.

Even through his clothes I could feel the chill settling into him.

If it weren’t for the faintest trace of breathing, I would have thought I was carrying a corpse.

As we descended the stairs, my thoughts refused to settle.

Clearing the Gate…

That could be done eventually, even if it took time.

But Han Yeon-woo wouldn’t last much longer.

Even if we escaped the Gate, there was no way to treat injuries this severe.

Park Min-seok and Nam Woo-jin had realized that as well.

Neither made a sound anymore.

They simply cried in silence.

My chest tightened.

Then guilt followed.

If I’d firmly refused to help them from the very beginning…

The three of them would have stayed somewhere safe.

Inside the food warehouse.

Or beneath the staircase.

Anywhere but here.

Han Yeon-woo would never have ended up like this.

It was hindsight, of course.

But I was the only one here with experience inside Gates.

Instead of assuming a C-rank Gate wasn’t that dangerous, I should have been even more cautious because it was one.

Regret was pointless now.

It was better to think about how to save Han Yeon-woo.

Proper treatment is impossible anyway… so I have no choice but to gamble.

That gamble…

Was Guiding.

Guiding was fundamentally a method of stabilizing someone’s mind.

But Han Yeon-woo was also an Awakened.

Surely it would benefit his body somehow as well.

If I knocked Park Min-seok and Nam Woo-jin unconscious first, they would never know.

The only concern was how the monsters would react to Guiding.

A safe place would mean somewhere far away from every monster.

But crossing this vast land wasn’t easy.

Especially when Han Yeon-woo could stop breathing at any moment.

Still… this is the best option I have.

Better to try and regret it…

Than regret never trying at all.

For now, escaping the village safely came first.

I forced every other thought aside.

But the moment we finally reached the bottom of the stairs, unease flooded my mind again.

Something felt wrong.

Why is it so dark?

The brazier before the temple was still burning.

Yet somehow everything seemed dimmer.

The shadows felt unnaturally deep.

Instinctively, I looked up.

Then I realized what had been bothering me.

The sky…

Was black.

The countless stars and enormous moon I’d seen earlier had vanished completely.

As though something were blocking them.

Don’t tell me…

Suddenly, I remembered something.

Despite the ground being torn apart by the Guardian Tree…

Not a single Giant had appeared.

And the two Giants that had been guarding the temple entrance had disappeared as well.

My breathing caught.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Each slow blink revealed a little more of the shapes above us.

Then I understood.

The Giants hadn’t disappeared.

Nor had they simply failed to come.

They were standing there.

Towering over us.

Packed so densely together that they blocked out the entire sky.

“…”

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, their enormous forms became clearer.

Nam Woo-jin and Park Min-seok noticed something was terribly wrong as well.

Without making a sound, they pressed themselves close to me.

I could feel them trembling.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the Giants.

Those once-kind, gentle faces…

Without their smiles…

They were unbelievably unsettling.

It was only supposed to be a C-rank Gate.

I still believed I could clear it alone.

But one unexpected event after another had begun feeding an ominous feeling.

Don’t tell me… the Gates are merging again…

No.

Please don’t.

Setting aside how much more dangerous that would make everything…

If another Gate merged this time…

I’d never be able to shake the suspicion that somehow I was the cause.

And I really didn’t want to regret sticking my nose into other people’s problems.

With a quiet sigh, I started walking.

Several Giants’ eyes slowly rolled, following our movements.

For a moment, I felt like an ant being observed.

But that was all.

The Giants simply watched us.

They never attacked.

Not even once.

They continued staring until we finally left the village.

At that point, I became certain.

The Giants couldn’t hear the Guardian Tree’s voice.

And their intelligence was even lower than I’d imagined.

Their nature, meanwhile, was gentler than I’d expected.

Relieved that nothing had happened, I gave a brief explanation to the bewildered Park Min-seok and Nam Woo-jin.

“The roots started going wild, so they gathered around the temple to stand guard. But since we didn’t actually do anything… I think they decided to just watch us.”

My attempt to pour the oil had ended before it even began.

The oil bags Park Min-seok and Nam Woo-jin had been carrying had long since been thrown away while tending to Han Yeon-woo.

Because we hadn’t actually done anything…

The Giants never attacked us.

…But if I use Guiding, they’ll probably sense the waves and go berserk.

Maybe I should release it right in front of the Guardian Tree.

It might throw everything into chaos.

With intelligence that low…

They might even attack the Guardian Tree they revered.

That… actually might work.

Just as I was thinking it wasn’t a bad idea and looked down to check Han Yeon-woo’s condition…

I froze.

Han Yeon-woo was awake.

He was staring up at me.

The deathly pallor had faded from his face, replaced by a faint flush.

And he was looking at me with an expression I couldn’t quite describe.