The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 133

The three men anxiously stared at the Rift, which showed no reaction at all. They failed to notice the man’s muttering or the fact that his expression had become even stiffer than usual.

Han Yeonwoo, who had been nervously biting his lower lip with a pale face, suddenly realized something and belatedly turned around.

“Um, Captain. Did you happen to see anyone else inside? She’s a woman, and she kept helping us.”

Han Yeonwoo was genuinely worried. Could it be that the Captain thought Hyeya noona was suspicious and dealt with her?

It was not an unreasonable concern. Han Yeonwoo deeply respected the Captain who led them, but even if his mouth were twisted, he could never say that the man was an “altruistic and kind person.”

Their Captain was cold and sensitive enough that for about twenty-six days out of every month, they did not dare speak to him. For three days, he did not even come out of his room, and on the remaining one or two days, he would barely respond to their greetings.

Honestly, they even wondered why he had appeared here now……

He was like this even with his own teammates, and when it came to strangers—especially those who gave off even the slightest suspicious feeling—he showed no mercy regardless of their age or gender.

If he beat them up and drove them away, that was considered a good ending. Usually, he broke their bones or left them with permanent disabilities.

Of course, he only went this far when the other person clearly had malicious intent and murderous thoughts, but there were also people he threw into Gates.

They were people who had harmed others for their own benefit, or criminals who had committed unforgivable crimes and escaped after the world partially collapsed. Their Captain was frighteningly good at finding such people.

Yoon Hyeya did not look like such a villain at all, but honestly speaking, she was still a suspicious and strange person.

No matter how I think about it, she’s definitely a Guide, but there’s something strange about calling her a Guide…….

More than anything, the problem was that she trusted people far too easily.

The Guides Han Yeonwoo knew were no different from non-Awakened people in every way except for their ability called “Guiding.”

But that ability was so special that when the world fell into chaos, Guides were trampled down along with the weak and all went into hiding.

Yoon Hyeya had not openly said anything, but she subtly revealed her ability and only gave them hints. If she had been in her right mind, she should never have behaved that way.

He did not even consider the possibility that she was simply so kind that she could not ignore people who needed help, or that she was pure and innocent and knew nothing about how the world worked.

Besides, her physical abilities are way too good.

That was the second problem.

If she really was a Guide who could use an ability similar to Guiding and could not see the “Voice of the World,” then Yoon Hyeya should definitely have been weak.

She said she had trained in various ways, but the way she moved was anything but ordinary. If all Guides were like Yoon Hyeya, no one would ever have gotten hurt.

Anyway, to sum it up, the conclusion was: “She’s definitely not a bad person, but there are a lot of suspicious things about her.”

Still, if the four of them made it safely out of the Gate, he had planned to keep everything about Hyeya a secret. If it had not been for Yoon Hyeya, they would all have died or been seriously injured.

Putting everything else aside, she had helped them, so it was only right to repay her.

But there was no way their Captain would take something like that into consideration.

He was a man who could distinguish people not just through sharp instincts, but almost as if he could sense it by instinct alone. So there was a very real possibility that the moment he saw Yoon Hyeya, he had thought, “Something about her smells suspicious,” and knocked her unconscious on the spot!

The relief of finally reaching a safe place, combined with worry and anxiety about the person who had indirectly saved their lives, filled Han Yeonwoo’s head with so many thoughts that it felt like it might burst.

Then, a little later, the man who had been standing blankly finally opened his mouth.

“Name.”

“……What?”

“Your name. Say it again. What did you just say?”

“Uh, Hyea noona. Yoon Hyeya…….”

Han Yeonwoo swallowed nervously as he watched the eyes that were always so dry and emotionless begin to tremble.

Judging by his reaction, it did not seem like he had done something to her as Han Yeonwoo had feared. But the way his face went pale, his lips moved in confusion, and he turned around was truly unusual.

The man hurriedly reached toward the Rift.

When he acted as though he was about to enter it again, Park Minseok and Nam Woojin, who had been anxiously shifting their feet, let out short cries.

But the man’s arm simply passed through the Rift, and he could not enter it again.

As they watched the man desperately wave his hand around, Park Minseok and Nam Woojin stole sideways glances at Han Yeonwoo.

No matter how oblivious they were, even they could tell that their Captain’s behavior was strange.

Could our Captain actually know Hyea noona……?

It was not difficult to make such a guess.

Han Yeonwoo, who had been staring intently at the man’s back with a serious expression, also cleared his mind and came to a new, fairly convincing conclusion.

If Hyea noona really is a Guide, then it makes sense that she was always interested whenever the Captain came up. She wanted to know the Captain’s name.

Han Yeonwoo sighed. Ever since he first joined the group, he had simply followed everyone else and called him “Captain,” so there had never been a reason to tell her his name.

Yeon Dokyeong.

Actually, no one had ever asked him directly. Everyone called him Captain or Boss, whatever they wanted, but there were a few people who called him “Big Brother Dokyeong,” so Han Yeonwoo remembered his name.

He had learned his surname by accident, too. Around last year, an Esper who came to their group recognized him and called out, “Yeon Dokyeong!” That was how Han Yeonwoo found out.

Still, if Yoon Hyea had openly asked him…… he probably would not have told her. They had always been taught to stay cautious around outsiders.

As Han Yeonwoo continued making cautious guesses, Yeon Dokyeong, who had been staring blankly at the Rift for a long time, collapsed to the ground.

“Again…….”

His low, cracked voice trembled slightly. Seeing their Captain look so vulnerable for the first time, Park Minseok and Nam Woojin looked at each other before reaching out with all their strength.

However, their hands also passed straight through the cracked space.

A heavy silence settled over them again. Fortunately, the Rift did not disappear and remained there, but no one came out of it either.

One hour passed, then two. By the time the sky began to darken, Han Yeonwoo finally spoke carefully.

“Captain. Should we light a fire?”

Unless the Rift disappeared or the person they were waiting for came out, he seemed like he would remain here like a stone statue.

If it had only been the three of them, they would never have dared to light a fire or rest in such an open place, but with the Captain there, they were not worried.

Contrary to Han Yeonwoo’s fear that he might ignore them, Yeon Dokyeong tilted his head slightly and answered.

“Set up camp and rest. If you’re hungry, take something out and eat. If you’re injured, treat yourselves.”

As he said this, he threw the bag he had brought to Han Yeonwoo.

Han Yeonwoo barely caught the heavy backpack and looked inside. It was filled with bottled water, emergency food, medicine, and other supplies.

Han Yeonwoo blinked blankly before hurriedly speaking.

“Captain. How did you get all the way here? I mean, it’s only been a day since we were sucked into the Gate…….”

Even considering the time needed to scout the area and return, they still had several days left.

They had never entered the Gate before, and even when bad weather forced them to be delayed by a day or two, no one had ever come looking for them.

But this time, before even the expected amount of time had passed, the Captain himself had come. On top of that, the supplies in the bag he had just received seemed almost as if they had been prepared specifically for them, who had run into trouble.

When Han Yeonwoo asked his question along with the thought that had briefly crossed his mind, Nam Woojin rolled his eyes.

Han Yeonwoo, Han Yeonwoo. There’s no way the Captain is going to answer you.

Things were already awkward enough to make him want to die. How embarrassing would it be if he got ignored on top of that?

Nam Woojin fidgeted with his hands and feet as he swallowed a sigh, but once again, the response was different from what he expected.

“You said it’s only been a day?”

“Gasp, yes! Actually, it hasn’t even been a full day. It’s only been about half a day!”

So he answered instinctively, like someone who had suddenly snapped into military discipline.

Yeon Dokyeong narrowed his eyes as if thinking about something, then spoke.

“Ten days have passed outside. The second group that came to scout reported that a Gate had appeared next to the bicycles, so I came.”

“T-Ten days?!”

“That’s impossible…… We definitely weren’t even inside for a full day…….”

Park Minseok and Nam Woojin asked in shock, their trembling eyes fixed on the Rift.