The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 33

She was desperately acting, disguising the cold sweat pouring down her body as fear.

Hyeya was fine. Her memories were intact, and she wasn’t injured anywhere.

Inside the gate that deserved to be called a paradise, she had been living more happily than anyone else.

Scenes from the past flashed through Yoon Hyeya’s mind like a revolving lantern.

 

 

****

 

 

“I… really hate you, noona.”

Oh, what nonsense. I hate you too, you know? I hate you even more, actually?!

As she entertained those childish thoughts she couldn’t say out loud, the incident happened—suddenly, without warning.

The ground caved in beneath her feet, and her body dropped straight down.

“Kyaaaaah!”

“Hyeya noona!”

She reflexively tightened her grip on the hand she was holding, but it was already too late.

As if it had been greased, their hands slipped apart, and she fell.

Just before her vision went dark, she saw it—

Lee Shinra’s face, frozen in shock.

She closed her eyes and screamed as she plummeted downward.

As she fell vertically, she instinctively curled her body inward. In that brief instant, the thought that flashed through her mind was regret.

If I’d known I was going to die like this, I should’ve smacked those bastards’ mouths at least a hundred times!

Almost at the same moment tears burst from her eyes in bitterness, her body slammed into the ground.

With a squelch.

“…?”

Yes. Squelch. It really was squelchy.

She felt a faint impact, but instead of stone, the ground was soft—spongy and yielding.

When she finally opened her eyes, it was too dark to see anything.

She sat there blankly, until a sudden thought crossed her mind and cold sweat broke out.

Don’t tell me… I got eaten?

Both the dragon and the snake had been enormous. And they kept opening their mouths whenever they saw her— given the situation, the likelihood that she’d been swallowed whole was high.

“At least I didn’t get crushed by teeth…”

Whatever had swallowed her, it was better to be alive down here.

If she’d fallen straight onto bare ground, she would’ve died instantly.

“Thank god I brought my bag with me.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, she unzipped her bag.

Fumbling around, she opened the survival kit pouch and took out a mini flashlight.

Her phone had a flashlight function too, but inside a gate, electronic devices other than the communication gear produced by headquarters didn’t work.

When she turned it on, a bright beam shot out, impressive for its small size.

Squinting, she shone the light around—and sighed again.

Yeah… I really did get eaten.

Everywhere the light touched was lined with pink, fleshy walls, like the inside of a living creature.

It wasn’t grotesque enough to make her scream, but it definitely triggered a mild instinctive revulsion.

Still, compared to that purple tentacle wall I saw before, this is way better.

Tilting her head back, she shone the light toward where she’d fallen from—but escaping that way was impossible.

Usually, if you go in through the mouth, you get expelled downward… Does that mean I’d have to leave through the anus?

The thought alone made her gag.

Seriously—she’d really seen everything in life. “Bad luck” didn’t even begin to cover today.

It was a dangerous situation, but strangely, she didn’t feel like she was about to die.

Shinra had seen her get swallowed, and to exit the gate, the named monster had to be defeated.

Cha Eunhwi had said the merged gate seemed like low B-rank or C-rank.

Which meant it should be an easy clear— and the chances of being rescued before getting digested were high.

“……”

…Or maybe not?

Thinking back to the sharp tension earlier, maybe they’d deliberately drag their feet.

Their skills were trustworthy—but their personalities definitely weren’t.

Rather than waiting idly, she decided to look for an escape route, just in case. She had zero intention of dying in a place like this.

If this creature suddenly went berserk, she could be affected.

Shining the flashlight ahead, she cautiously approached the wall and placed her hand against it.

“Ugh…”

Warmth seeped into her palm.

Unlike the floor, it was fairly firm—but the texture was awful.

Steadying herself, she stood up and scanned the surroundings again.

The unfamiliar space was wider than she’d expected.

“Looks like a cave.”

If there was one silver lining, it was that the path ahead was straight— no immediate risk of getting lost.

I fell down the esophagus, so this must be the stomach… If I go further in, will I reach other organs?

The easiest way out would be to tear through the flesh—but that was impossible with her strength.

If it gets too complicated or something feels off, I’ll come back and wait quietly for rescue.

Keeping one hand on the wall, she slowly moved forward.

She walked for quite a long time, but the scenery never changed.

She searched carefully for alternate paths, but there were none.

Already exhausted both physically and mentally, her energy drained rapidly.

“Ha… I’m exhausted…”

Eventually, she stopped and leaned her back against the wall, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

Maybe it really would be better to go back and wait.

Besides, maybe it was just her imagination—but it felt like it was getting hotter inside…

“…Huh.”

Holding the flashlight in her left hand and fanning herself with her right, she realized it wasn’t her imagination.

Not only had the heat suddenly surged upward, but the pink flesh was darkening— as if meat were cooking.

Don’t tell me Yeon Dogyeong set it on fire outside?!

At this rate, she might get roasted alive. Panicking, she ran away from the heat.

The heat was coming from the direction she’d just been heading.

Which meant her legs were getting cooked first—  turning back wouldn’t save her either.

But she had no choice.

Running as fast as she could, her breath hitched painfully in her throat.

Eventually, she made it back to where she’d first landed and collapsed onto the floor.

Thankfully, there was no heat here.

“Huff, huff… seriously… that bastard…”

When she got out, no matter what, she was going to slap Yeon Dogyeong across the face.

How can you do that when you KNOW there’s a person inside?!

She was pounding the squishy floor angrily with her fist when—

The stomach began to convulse violently.

“Uwaaaaah!”

It felt like being tossed around by a raging tide. She curled up as tightly as possible and dug her nails into the floor.

The violent shaking made her so dizzy she dropped the flashlight.

“Ah—!”

She desperately reached for the rolling light— when suddenly, she saw light behind her as well.

Whirling around, she saw the outside.

The red sunset she’d seen the moment she entered the gate.

It seemed the earthquake earlier was because the creature had been attacked and collapsed.

If it’s now—I might be able to get out!

The dropped flashlight was just a supply item anyway, and she had a spare—no need to retrieve it.

Afraid the creature might stand back up, she forced her weak knees to move and ran toward the light.

…Wait. Did they only cook the lower half because they thought I was in the stomach?

Under normal circumstances, waiting calmly for rescue would’ve been the right call. She’d actually planned to do that.

Of course, it was also true that she couldn’t be sure she was in the stomach— so this was a risky move.

Ah, whatever.

She’d think about it after getting out.

Panting as she moved forward, she became certain of one thing.

The monster that had swallowed her was a snake.

A forked tongue. Sharp fangs. Definitely not a dragon.

“Ugh…”

Seriously disgusting.

Carefully passing over the red tongue, she finally slipped outside and looked down cautiously.

“Yeon Dogyeong, Esper-nim?”

Where the hell are you, you jerk?

She braced herself for someone to mock her for getting swallowed by a snake— but strangely, there was no one to be seen.

Hesitating briefly, she decided to climb down anyway.

The snake’s head was massive, so the ground was quite far—but not far enough to cause injury.

“One, two—”

She counted and jumped down. Her feet tingled slightly on impact.

Not as hot as it had been inside, but probably because this was a volcanic zone, it was still extremely warm.

Letting out a breath, she wiped the beads of sweat forming on her skin—

when she heard a crying sound behind her.

Yes.

Behind her.