The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 13

On top of that, Yeon Do-gyeong had replied, “Then I’ll just beat them with my bare hands, I guess,” which finally made the director give up altogether.

Yeon Do-gyeong was the type who could do anything once he snapped, and watching Jung Ha-ram keep poking at him made my insides burn with anxiety.

Why are espers, every single one of them, all like this?!

I’d already hated the idea of merging with Geumgang Squad One to the point of insanity, but seeing this mess made it clear—I’d cry and beg if I had to, but I had to stop it.

In reality, even if our squad protested, headquarters would have no choice but to accept it if Squad One strongly requested the merger.

They caused accidents often, sure, but they tackled raids more diligently than we did and generally followed headquarters’ orders faithfully.

And worst of all, Jung Ha-ram had heard that I’d been pretending to be weak on purpose.

If that gets reported, headquarters will just want to work me even harder, won’t they?

My head throbbed, but for now I had to stop the fight before it escalated. Collective responsibility was the last thing I wanted.

Letting out a sigh, I looked at Cha Eun-hwi.

“Captain.”

Do something. You’re good at playing captain—now’s the time.

Our gazes met in midair.

Cha Eun-hwi stared at me expressionlessly for a moment, then turned his head away.

“If you’re going to fight, do it somewhere safe.”

That’s not the point!

Espers really are an unmanageable species!

Just as I was about to step in to stop Yeon Do-gyeong myself—

Beyond the ring of flames, the wall of tentacles behind Cha Eun-hwi split cleanly in two.

Once again, there was no sound. No presence.

What emerged from the split wall was a gigantic sheep, rotting and melting as it moved.

The sheep charged straight at us.

“AAAAH!”

What I did next was pure reflex.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and darted behind Yeon Do-gyeong and Lee Shin-ra.

Thankfully, my desperate shriek made the espers turn instantly. Yeon Do-gyeong flinched at the massive sheep stopping right in front of us and spat out a curse.

“Ah, shit! You scared me. What the hell is that—Barometz? Why’s the Named Monster here?”

Espers could see a monster’s name and HP.

If Shin-ra shared his vision, I could see it too—but this wasn’t the time.

Now that I thought about it, Cha Eun-hwi had said Barometz was also called the Lamb of Tartary.

And yeah—it really did look like a sheep.

But why is it rotten?

No matter how I looked at it, there wasn’t a trace of gold.

The moment Lee Shin-ra reinforced the barrier and Yeon Do-gyeong ignited his flames, Barometz seemed to sense the threat and retreated.

The way it moved was bizarre. Its body stayed rooted in place, yet the distance between us increased.

Then it began circling us, as if observing.

Only then did I realize Barometz’s body was connected to tree trunks.

It really is a plant…

Each time its pus-dripping maw opened, a foul stench leaked out.

Cha Eun-hwi clenched his fist in the air, then released it. A writhing tentacle swelled up like before and burst apart.

An A-rank teleporter, Cha Eun-hwi could move not only people but inanimate objects.

As long as he made contact—even with air—he could transfer it elsewhere, detonating a distant monster’s body. It was one of his attack methods.

But powerful abilities always came at a cost.

Wiping a thin trail of blood from his nose with the back of his hand, Cha Eun-hwi sighed and turned to Jung Ha-ram.

“Esper Jung Ha-ram. The only reason we complied with the order to attach you to our squad was your detection ability. I didn’t ask for anything unreasonable—yet you keep performing like this. We don’t need incompetence here.”

“N-no, I am focused. Really. But those things—I can’t sense any life at all.”

Jung Ha-ram protested with an aggrieved expression, but it sounded impossible.

There’s no way something moving that freely has no life reaction…

People often say plants are alive—and plant-type monsters were alive.

Somewhere in their bodies was a core, functioning like a heart.

Unless that core was destroyed, they regenerated endlessly. That was what made them troublesome.

But it’s not like Jung Ha-ram would lie in a situation like this.

The fact that all three of them had failed to notice it until it was right on top of us was undeniably strange.

Then that meant Jung Ha-ram was right.

There was no life reaction.

Those sheep and tentacles were moving while already dead.

What is this—zombies or something?

Suppressing my revulsion, I carefully examined the Named Monster—and noticed something odd.

“That thing…”

When we’d first entered the forest, I’d seen white, egg-like foam clinging to the branches everywhere.

Now, the same eggs and mold were spreading across Barometz’s body.

And they were growing—slowly, but unmistakably.

I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward slightly to get a better look—

Suddenly, my hand was yanked hard.

I lost my balance and slammed into Shin-ra.

It was Lee Shin-ra who’d pulled me.

What—what was that for…?

Blinking in confusion, I looked at him. Shin-ra called my name.

“Hyeya noona.”

“Yes?”

“……”

“…?”

What is it? Why call me and then not say anything?

After hesitating, Shin-ra lowered his gaze and spoke quietly.

“…It’s dangerous.”

I froze, flustered by the mutter.

Had he been affected by the toxic spores outside the barrier? Otherwise, there was no way Shin-ra would look at me like that—with concern.

Staring at his youthful face, realization struck.

Right. This wasn’t concern.

It’s a warning—telling me to guide properly.

Whenever I’d shown even a hint of fatigue before, sharp remarks would immediately fly my way. It was a reasonable assumption.

If he really were worried about me, that’d be creepy in its own way.

Shuddering at the instinctive discomfort, I nodded.

“Okay. I’ll be careful. But there’s something bothering me…”

“What is it?”

Cha Eun-hwi, having wiped away the blood with his ever-present handkerchief, immediately asked.

Outside the gate, anything I said would be mocked and picked apart—but inside, he surprisingly listened well.

Since both my hands were still occupied, I stared at Barometz as I answered.

“The trees we passed earlier. There were white insect eggs stuck all over the branches, and mold growing on the bark.”

“Were there things like that on the trees?”

“I don’t know. The smell was so bad I didn’t pay attention to that.”

“Hyeya, you’re observant.”

“……”

No—this wasn’t about observation.

What baffled me more was how they’d missed something that obvious, but considering the stench still hanging in the air, I could understand.

An esper’s senses were on a completely different level from an ordinary person’s.

That applied to smell too—so like Shin-ra said, they probably didn’t have the mental bandwidth to look around.

Jung Ha-ram aside, Yeon Do-gyeong and Shin-ra were never the type to pay attention to their surroundings anyway.

They’d always been like that, and it’d only gotten worse after Cha Eun-hwi created an environment where they could run wild.

Even now, Cha Eun-hwi alone seemed to have realized something from my words. His brows drew together as he spoke.

“I thought this gate looked strange from the start… but it seems this gate might be connected to another one.”

It wasn’t just me who was caught off guard by that statement.

Lee Shin-ra frowned and asked,

“What do you mean, hyung? Connected to another place—are you saying two gates opened at the same time?”

“It’s still a hypothesis, but it feels like two different gates merged for some reason. One of them should be the ‘Nest of Barometz,’ just as headquarters confirmed and as displayed when we entered.”