The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 127

As I carefully set Han Yeon-woo down, Park Min-seok and Nam Woo-jin asked at the same time if he was okay. They were keeping their voices very low because they were wary of the giants.

Han Yeon-woo, who was still looking up at me with a strange expression, belatedly nodded.

“It hurts a little, but I can handle it.”

“Why? I mean, it’s not like I don’t like it. I’m freaking happy…… I really thought you were dead just a moment ago. But you suddenly got better?”

“Hey, the bleeding stopped too. Just a moment ago, it was slowly leaking out.”

After wiping away the blood, I saw that he really wasn’t bleeding anymore. Although the vine that had pierced through him was still there, one thing was certain: he had gotten past the critical moment.

The two of them just blinked with expressions that showed they had no idea what was happening, but I could guess the reason.

‘Did Guiding happen through contact?’

I hadn’t consciously used my power. If anything, I had been suppressing my energy because I was wary of the giants. But since the difference between Han Yeon-woo’s rank and mine was so large, even simple contact had clearly affected him.

It was a little different from what I had intended, but I had won the gamble.

Han Yeon-woo also seemed to realize that the change in his body was because of me. Since he was quick-witted, he would eventually figure out that I was a Guide too. He might have already guessed it.

But he wisely said nothing and stopped looking at me suspiciously.

‘This time, I really did save his life, so he probably won’t go around blabbing about it.’

Of course, I would ask him to keep quiet before we parted.

He could tell the truth to the ‘Captain’ whose identity I didn’t know, but that wasn’t something I could control, so I decided not to worry about it. If a problem came up, I would deal with it then.

Nam Woo-jin and Park Min-seok kept looking over Han Yeon-woo’s body in amazement before letting out a groan.

“If we pull this out, he’ll start bleeding again. What do we do?”

“Exactly. But if we don’t pull it out, won’t that cause problems too? It came from a monster…… If we leave it there and he gets infected or something…….”

“……If that kind of problem were going to happen, I’d already be dead, you idiots. You should be more worried about my organs being damaged.”

At the word ‘infection’ and their disgusted expressions, Han Yeon-woo’s face turned pale again as he sighed.

That was definitely the problem. Excessive bleeding was one thing, but he had been pierced right through the abdomen.

The reason Han Yeon-woo was holding on right now wasn’t because his body had recovered, but because his mental strength had grown stronger and his body had become a little tougher.

So, to fully recover, he would either have to find an Esper with healing abilities like Lee Shin-ra and get treated, or grow stronger on his own by clearing Gates. Espers’ self-healing abilities also increased as their ranks rose.

Of course, neither option was easy in a world like this. Especially now that the ESP Association had been destroyed, the latter was close to impossible.

There was no need to hide this, and I didn’t want to hide it either, so I briefly explained it to Han Yeon-woo.

“We need to somehow find an Esper with healing abilities. The other option is for you to become strong enough that it won’t matter even if you act like you have several lives, but realistically, that’s impossible.”

“I understand what you mean, noona. Thank you so—”

“Sniff, a healing Esper? Where are we supposed to find someone like that?”

“…….”

Finding one was a problem, but getting that person to help us would obviously be just as difficult.

They were troublesome people to begin with, and now that it had become difficult to receive Guiding on time, there was no way they would heal an injury like this for free.

To be more honest, Han Yeon-woo would probably die before we even found a healing Esper.

‘The best option would be to have him follow me while I keep Guiding him, and then help him even after we find a healing Esper.’

But there was no reason for me to be that kind to them. There wasn’t, but…….

‘How can I not care when I’m supposed to pretend I didn’t see this?’

If I had met these guys at the Association, I might have felt a little bad about it, but I would have simply told them to go their separate ways and left immediately after clearing the Gate.

But they were still just ordinary civilians who had only recently awakened. Watching people like that cling to each other and cry their eyes out made my throat feel rough.

‘I’m not just meddling. I’m basically being a complete pushover.’

Even I thought it was stupid, but what could I do?

However, there was a way to change ‘having him follow me’ into ‘taking him with me.’

I looked at Han Yeon-woo, who was clenching and unclenching his hand with a troubled expression, and asked seriously.

“Yeon-woo. Do you want to come with me after we leave the Gate? I can at least make sure you don’t die.”

“……Huh? Uh, I mean…….”

Han Yeon-woo blinked with a dazed expression. Han Yeon-woo’s eyes said, ‘Me?’ while Park Min-seok and Nam Woo-jin’s eyes said, ‘Him?’ and I let out a hollow laugh for a moment.

When trying to persuade someone, showing them through actions was faster than words, so I grabbed Han Yeon-woo’s arm as if I were checking his injury.

I didn’t need to Guiding him separately this time either. The frown between Han Yeon-woo’s brows relaxed, and he looked even more lively than before.

I let go of his hand and casually added,

“I’m not planning to clear Gates. I’m going to look for a healing Esper. As it happens, one of the people I’m looking for is a healing Esper. I don’t know if I’ll be able to meet them, but if you go back like this, you’ll die anyway.”

“…….”

“N-noona. Why would you say something so scary? Han Yeon-woo isn’t dead yet. He’s not dead……. Sob…….”

Perhaps because he felt guilty that everyone had been dragged into this because of him, Nam Woo-jin silently cried while looking at Han Yeon-woo.

Park Min-seok openly sobbed on his knees. I wondered if there was really a need to cry this much, but then I realized that ordinary people would have already mentally broken down in this situation, so I quickly spoke.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I know he isn’t dead yet. Yeon-woo isn’t going to die.”

It was just when I instinctively started to reach out and pat Park Min-seok on the back, then remembered contact-based Guiding and curled my hand into a fist.

Park Min-seok wiped his tears with the back of his hand, and the small scratch that seemed to have appeared earlier while moving the bag and climbing the stairs disappeared.

“…….”

It was night, and the only light came from the moon because I hadn’t turned on the flashlight in case insects came crawling out, but my eyesight was extremely good, so there was no way I was mistaken.

As I stared at the back of Park Min-seok’s hand without even blinking, Nam Woo-jin and Han Yeon-woo flinched too. Park Min-seok was the most surprised of all.

“Wh-why are you looking at me like that?”

“……Min-seok.”

“Yes, yes. I don’t know what I did, but I think I did something wrong.”

“No. You didn’t do anything wrong…….”

Come to think of it, Han Yeon-woo’s awakened ability was to check traces left behind by people, while Nam Woo-jin seemed to have an extremely good sense. He had noticed the signs that a Gate was about to appear.

But I hadn’t seen Park Min-seok’s awakened ability. I couldn’t even guess what it was.

To make sure, I bent down to meet Park Min-seok’s eyes and asked,

“What’s your awakened ability?”

“My awakened ability…… Ah, my wounds heal faster than other people’s. They said it was a self-recovery ability. I should’ve been the one who got hurt instead of Han Yeon-woo.”

“What are you talking about? Being a little better than normal doesn’t mean anything. If you had been attacked, you would’ve screamed loud enough to shake the world and collapsed.”

Han Yeon-woo clicked his tongue and answered indifferently. Nam Woo-jin nodded too.

Judging by their reactions, neither Park Min-seok himself nor his closest friends knew his real awakened ability. And the people around him probably didn’t know either.

If his healing power was weak and the medium was tears, that made sense.

Anyway, the important thing was that Park Min-seok might be able to heal Han Yeon-woo.

Unlike Han Yeon-woo, he was also rather slow, so he probably wouldn’t notice even if he received Guiding, and even if he did notice, it didn’t seem like it would cause much trouble.

It was better than having me drag Han Yeon-woo all over the place.

My heart, which had become a little heavy, felt much lighter. I smiled brightly, grabbed Park Min-seok firmly by the shoulder, pushed him toward Han Yeon-woo, and said,

“Okay, Min-seok. Now try crying again.”

“……Huh?”

“I said cry. Think that Yeon-woo is dying like you did a moment ago and cry quickly. Hurry up and cry, or else…….”

I gently tightened the hand gripping Park Min-seok’s shoulder.

Gulp. Holding his breath and lowering his head, Park Min-seok began silently shedding tears. Even forced tears would probably work.

I also grabbed Han Yeon-woo’s hand as he tried to recoil in disgust and carefully watched the tears from Park Min-seok’s eyes touch Han Yeon-woo’s wound.

The skin torn open by the vine twitched very slightly, then changed into a smooth, rounded pattern.

There was no doubt about it. Park Min-seok’s awakened ability was a healing ability.