The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 73

“Wow… she’s really pretty…”

The moment I blurted that out, a bad feeling hit me.

I quickly glanced to the side, and the instant I saw Yeon Dogyeong about to open his mouth, I snapped,

“Shut it.”

“…Okay.”

Whew. Perfect block.

I almost heard something so creepy it would’ve haunted me even after reincarnation.

I was completely serious, but Cha Eunhwi let out a small laugh. I could see Lee Shinra barely holding it in too.

Why are they grinning like idiots…

Clicking my tongue with an annoyed look, I turned my gaze straight ahead.

The mermaid sat on the rock with a graceful posture that matched her looks.

I’d seen plenty of handsome men and felt nothing, but right now, strange feelings were rising inside me—she’s pretty, I want to protect her.

Why? I didn’t understand it myself, and while I was confused, Cha Eunhwi whispered,

“Don’t you feel it? Beautiful. Pretty. Wanting to protect her. Not wanting to attack.”

He hit the mark perfectly, and I froze. At the same time, Yeon Dogyeong and Lee Shinra answered flatly,

“I don’t feel anything.”

“Me neither.”

“Hyeya?”

“…Yeah. I feel it a little. What is this?”

“Do you know about mosquito sounds? Depending on age, people can hear different sound ranges. Very high sounds can only be heard by kids. That mermaid is making a similar sound. And it seems only women can hear it. That’s how it was in the last three records. Looks like only you can hear it again. If you get closer, it feels almost like brainwashing.”

As he spoke, Cha Eunhwi took out earplugs. Seriously—this guy was always prepared.

I took them and immediately put them in both ears.

They were soft, probably made of some special material, and they blocked sound so completely it felt almost dizzy.

I couldn’t hear Cha Eunhwi or Yeon Dogyeong talking right in front of me.

I tried reading their lips, gave up, and took the earplugs out.

“These work insanely well. I can’t hear anything else at all.”

“Yeah. I brought them just in case. Good thing I did. Hyeya, wear those and… um, you’re fighting with us, right?”

“That was the plan, but… she looks too human. It feels weird.”

When I complained, Yeon Dogyeong tilted his head.

“So? She’s still a monster. She’s got a tail.”

“But her upper body looks human.”

“You had no problem eating a bipedal pig.”

At his totally confused question, I didn’t panic at all.

The one who ate orcs with Yeon Dogyeong was me before I lost my memory.

If I were a half-baked person, I’d have said, That’s different, but I was fully committed to my amnesia.

“What’s a bipedal pig?”

I frowned like I was hearing it for the first time.

Yeon Dogyeong muttered, “Oh, right,” like it slipped his mind, and started explaining.

“It’s a monster that lives in wasteland gates. Looks like a pig, but bigger—”

“Its skin is green. Some mutants are red,” Lee Shinra added.

“Right. And it’s super muscular—”

“Most of them are over two meters tall, and they’re very strong. Dogyeong-hyung and Hyeya noona—n-noona… roasted and ate one before…”

Every time Yeon Dogyeong hesitated, Lee Shinra filled in right away.

He spoke well, but his voice trembled whenever he said my name. I decided to ignore it.

It’s not like I can fix it. And Shinra’s dealing with it on his own.

Anyway, now that I’d heard enough about orcs, I said what I wanted to say.

“So in the end, orcs just have two legs in common, right? That mermaid looks human. And I want to protect—”

I stopped mid-sentence and deeply frowned.

I was about to put the earplugs back in when Cha Eunhwi suddenly held his phone out in front of me.

I was surprised to see that the screen worked perfectly.

Electronics weren’t supposed to work inside gates.

Only communicators used to work. Guess technology advanced a lot over the past year.

Still, I kept a calm face and looked at the screen.

On it was an illustration of a monster. Under it was the word: Mermaid.

“…That turns into that?”

It was horrifying. No—there was no better word for it.

The face split open in the middle, eyes bulging out to the sides, and shark-like teeth filled the opened mouth.

Maybe it looked worse because it was a drawing, but even in real life, it would still be nothing but a monster.

“According to records, it eats people—”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it, you can stop—wait. The ultrasonic thing that only women hear….”

That’s not so it can drag us off and use us as food, right?

I swallowed the rest of the sentence, but all three of them clearly understood what I meant. Their expressions hardened.

Yeon Dogyeong frowned deeper than he had all day and said sharply,

“It’s just a C-rank gate named monster. Its attack power won’t be high. Let’s deal with it quickly and get out. This place is damp and gross.”

“Yeah. Let’s do that. I’ll explain the strategy. Every time the mermaid screams, fish like piranhas will jump out of the lake. Those are her offspring. You have to kill them as soon as they appear. They ignore distance and charge straight in, so don’t get bitten. Just hit them.”

Piranhas. I remembered seeing pictures of them in an old monster guidebook.

Thinking of them alongside the mermaid image Cha Eunhwi showed me, they definitely matched.

“When all the offspring are gone, the mermaid will go berserk and start real attacks. She’ll use sound waves that hit the head and ears. At that point, we’ll be able to hear it too, so be careful. Hyeya, you should keep your earplugs in.”

After giving us the warnings, Cha Eunhwi carefully explained how to restrain the mermaid and how to finish her off.

I really wanted to join in since my physical abilities had improved, but I didn’t want to get badly hurt or die from getting cocky, so I let it go this time.

I pressed the earplugs firmly into my ears.

The strange voice that had been echoing in my head disappeared.

The sound was gone instantly, but since I could sense presences faster anyway, I wasn’t scared.

I tightened my grip on my baton as I watched Yeon Dogyeong throw a mass of fire into the lake.

The water began to boil, and the mermaid screamed and waved her hands. I couldn’t hear her, but soon enough, piranhas really did jump out.

I swung my baton hard at one flying toward me.

Like a baseball, the piranha flew through the air, landed near the mermaid—and exploded like a bomb.

The mermaid’s beautiful face twisted into something ugly, and more piranhas kept jumping out.

Every time they rushed at me, Yeon Dogyeong, Lee Shinra, and Cha Eunhwi flinched and stared this way, like they were about to rush over.

But after I casually knocked down five of them, they just watched.

Why is she using her own kids as weapons anyway…?

And then getting angry about it? I didn’t get it—but monster psychology wasn’t something I cared about.

At some point, the mermaid’s face completely changed into the same monster shown in the illustration.

Just like Cha Eunhwi said, she started looking around and screaming.

That was when an unexpected problem happened—to Lee Shinra.

“…!”

After the mermaid started screaming, Lee Shinra’s movements slowed badly. Then, all of a sudden, blood poured from his nose.

At the same time, a disturbed flow of energy rushed toward me.

The moment Lee Shinra dropped to one knee, faint static noise reached my ears—ears that had been silent until now.

Don’t tell me… he’s been maintaining a barrier on me this whole time?

Seeing Lee Shinra wipe his nose with the back of his hand and start coughing made shock wash over me.