The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 129

“An Esper’s ability is influenced by their natural talent, but it can also become stronger through effort and training. For example, a healing-type Esper I know could only heal simple wounds at first, but her ability gradually became stronger, and now she can restore someone to their original state as long as they are still breathing, even if their arms or legs have been cut off.”

Lee Shin-ra always stayed ahead of other Espers because she had both outstanding natural talent and the willingness to put in the effort.

Seeing the two people who had been focused on me widen their eyes, I continued.

“But if an Esper uses their ability too often and too powerfully, it can cause mental problems and make them go berserk. They’re basically like ticking time bombs. You can’t just release people like that among non-Awakened people, and if you heal some people but not others, that wouldn’t be fair either.”

Well, there were probably places overseas that deliberately engaged in ‘unfair behavior’ in order to receive generous support and sponsorship from people in power. There was no such thing as perfect fairness and equality in the world.

The reason they had competed with each other to offer me good conditions and take me away might have been to give those people even more benefits. After all, with just one powerful Guide, they could make unlimited use of the mysterious and incredible abilities of Espers.

Of course, now that the whole world had become a mess, such interests no longer mattered.

The powerful people who had enjoyed their special status might have survived by building bunkers somewhere, but there was no way Espers who had acted however they pleased even when they were under the Association’s supervision and protection would cater to those people.

‘Thinking about it again, I’m glad I turned down all those scouting offers.’

At the time, I had worried that I might become internationally wanted or that I might be taken advantage of because I didn’t know much about the world, but if I had been overseas, I probably would have died inside a Gate a long time ago.

Even if I had barely survived, those important people would definitely have reduced me to a tool for using Esper abilities, so once again, it was right to avoid something that felt wrong.

Thinking that far brought the Director-General, who had worried about and cared for me rather than trying to use me despite disappointing me many times, back to mind, along with those three guys who had believed my lie about losing my memories and willingly acted like my servants.

They say there’s always a deeper bottom beneath the bottom. I suppose the comparison was so terrible that the lesser evil felt much better.

It might also have been because I kept encountering strange phenomena inside a Gate that I had thought would be easy to clear.

After listening to my explanation, Park Min-seok and Nam Woo-jin talked among themselves and put their heads together, wondering how they could strengthen their abilities once they returned.

Han Yeon-woo sat silently, but he kept sneaking glances at me as if he were deep in thought.

‘That familiar feeling of being scouted…….’

I wasn’t a dull person either, so I could guess what Han Yeon-woo was thinking. It had become certain that he had realized I was a Guide.

But in the end, he didn’t say anything, so I pretended not to know either. Even if he made me an offer, I had no intention of traveling with them anyway, and there was no reason for me to bring it up first.

I turned my attention away and carefully examined Park Min-seok and Nam Woo-jin.

They had relaxed after getting some rest and letting go of their tension, and thanks to gaining a walking first-aid kit in the form of a healing-type Esper, their fear seemed to have disappeared. But the exhaustion they couldn’t hide showed clearly on their faces.

I desperately wanted to get out of this tiresome Gate as quickly as possible, but there was nothing I could do in this situation.

I took two blankets out of my bag and said,

“Let’s rest here until it gets light.”

“What? Without clearing it?”

“It’s not that we aren’t doing it. We can’t. I don’t think the method I know will work. The Sacred Tree is too aggressive, and the giants are too suspicious. It’s better to wait for daylight than to tremble in the dark without knowing what might jump out at us.”

“Exactly……. I really thought my heart was going to stop earlier.”

“Yeah. During the day, they smiled so warmly and didn’t look dangerous at all.”

It was definitely a situation unlike anything I had ever experienced. Fortunately, they hadn’t attacked or followed us, but it was clear that it was connected to the condition of the Sacred Tree.

Without anyone needing to say it first, everyone sighed and settled down.

Thanks to having taken water and food from the food storage, we were able to fill our stomachs without going hungry. There was plenty of water left, so there was no problem washing up a little either, but we only had one spare toothbrush. I gave it to Park Min-seok, who had gone through the most trouble, and took out a large bundle of gauze for the other two.

Even though it was better than nothing, it wasn’t as convenient as a toothbrush, so both of them were still washing themselves as thoroughly as they could even by the time I had brushed my teeth, washed my face, and done some light stretching.

Since I didn’t know how much longer we would have to stay inside this Gate, I decided to gather two restored new toothbrushes and give them to them. If they asked, I could just say they had been buried underneath everything and I hadn’t noticed them.

One of the blankets I had taken out was thick and wide enough to use like a sleeping bag, so I had the three of them share it, while the other one was meant to be used as a pillow, so I covered myself with it alone.

Unlike me, who wasn’t used to sleeping directly on the ground, the three of them seemed quite accustomed to settling down, perhaps because they had slept outdoors several times before.

I also sprayed the insect repellent we had left from during the day until the container was completely empty. There wasn’t much of it, but it still made me feel a little safer.

Nam Woo-jin, lying there blankly, muttered,

“If we were outside, we would’ve lit a campfire and taken turns standing guard.”

“If we light a fire now, the bugs will come rushing out. But, noona. Are you really sure we don’t have to take turns standing watch?”

“It’s fine. If the giants come closer, there’s no way I won’t hear them, and if bugs come…… well, I’ll wake up because of the rustling sounds. I’m a light sleeper. It’s better to get some proper rest than to stay tense for no reason.”

“…….”

All three of them looked unhappy, as if they had remembered what happened during the day.

It was just as unsettling for me, but taking turns standing watch really was meaningless. No matter how carefully we kept watch, if a giant came running over, we would be stepped on before anyone could even wake us, and the bugs were the same since they usually crawled or flew around quickly.

All we could do was hope that the bugs valued their territory enough to sense the repellent spreading through the air and stay away from here.

A brief silence followed before Nam Woo-jin muttered again.

“You’re right, noona. We’ll just get some proper rest…….”

“I hope we can get out tomorrow. What if someone runs off with our stuff?”

I closed my eyes and listened to their quiet whispers when I suddenly remembered something and asked,

“By the way. On the way from here to headquarters…… I mean, the ESP Association, I saw several convenience stores. There was a bright red X painted at the entrance and chains wrapped around the door handles. Do you know why……?”

I slowly turned to the side and fell silent. The expressions on all three of their faces had become even more rigid than when we were talking about the bugs.

The first convenience store had felt ominous because I couldn’t see inside, while the second one had an empty interior visible through the windows, so I thought it simply meant that it had been looted. But judging by their reactions, there definitely seemed to be something more to it.

With the world in chaos, I thought it was better to know and regret it later than to suffer because I didn’t know.

I half sat up and carefully opened my mouth.

“Did you guys do that?”

“N-no. Other people blocked them off.”

“……What’s inside? The first convenience store was covered completely with flyers on the inside, so I couldn’t see anything, but the second one was empty except for some swollen cans and containers.”

Normally, sealing a place off that thoroughly meant there was something extremely valuable or extremely dangerous inside, didn’t it?

But judging by their unusual reaction, it definitely wasn’t something valuable. There was no reason to hide something like that in a convenience store in the first place.

Nam Woo-jin and Park Min-seok rolled their eyes around, then suddenly gagged, as if they had imagined something terrible.

I also grimaced as my stomach began to churn, and Han Yeon-woo spoke in a low voice.

“There are people who turned into zombies trapped inside. We didn’t see it with our own eyes, but we saw it in a video. If it’s true, they should still be in there.”

“……Zombies? You mean, the ones from movies……?”

Before joining the Association, I had seen a few movies that were broadcast as special features on TV.

I was too young at the time and found them so disgusting that I immediately changed the channel, but I knew that they were a very common subject in movies.

But people who had turned into zombies, not monsters that came out of a Gate……? I had never heard anything similar from the Director-General or anyone else.

I was wondering about it when Park Min-seok and Nam Woo-jin hurriedly began to speak.