← The Guide Who Hides Their Power is an Otter
The inside of the gate resembled the belly of a whale. Pink, wrinkled inner walls, blackish, rock-like boulders spewing strange toxins, and spider-type creatures falling endlessly, far beyond sight. No matter how he looked, it was the same structure he had seen before.
“It’s Code C, right?”
At Heisha’s question, Park Gang-u snickered.
“Probably.”
Is that something to laugh about! Heisha opened his mouth in horror, then suddenly recalled information about Code C gates.
“There are others besides the spider types here, right? You saw them last time too, didn’t you!”
“Ah.”
He twitched his eyebrows like a person who had realized something. Watching his eyebrows, Heisha twitched his nose along with them.
“Do you mean the boss creature?”
“Aaah! Don’t say it out loud! It didn’t come out that time!”
“What are you talking about? It was there the moment we entered, so I got rid of it and then started.”
He spoke so nonchalantly that Heisha stared at him dumbly, then let out a horrified sound.
“You killed the boss and started?”
“Well. My condition was good that day.”
If your condition was good, why were you sprawled out like that at the end!
“You know I am S-rank. Do you still not trust me?”
“At that time there were people who could rescue us behind us, and people waiting, so….”
Fair enough. With a powerful esper there, and confidence that he could guide that person, what problem could there be?
“Guide Heisha. It is a little strange to ask now, but in that country too, are there not S-ranks in excess?”
“Not to the point of overflowing, but it isn’t as if I haven’t done matching with those people.”
Watching Park Gang-u unconsciously smash the spider-type creatures that came flying through the air, Heisha thought he was something of a monster.
Heisha opened his mouth again.
“But the matching rate was low, so it failed.”
“How were we?”
“I told you back then. It was so high it looked like it would burst right off the paper.”
Park Gang-u’s mouth curved up in a grin.
“You have a higher rank than I do, and you’re saying you match with a mere S-rank?”
Calling him a mere S-rank seemed like a stretch when he was tearing creatures to shreds all around them. He was using his telekinesis to rip them apart so relentlessly that he looked a little like a ruthless slaughterer.
“Do you know how few S-ranks there are in the whole world when you say things like that? There’s no such thing as a mere S-rank. If other ability users hear you talk like that with an ability like yours, they’ll curse you out.”
“It is an honor.”
Park Gang-u, who had been talking out of nowhere, shifted as if he were being pushed into a corner while holding Heisha, and then sank down.
“If only you’d matched with someone better than me. To hear that you match well with someone like me, when I’ve lived by throwing everything I have into every gate I enter, trying to die…”
“Stop talking so weak!”
Heisha smacked Park Gang-u, who had suddenly sat down, across the cheek and shot to his feet.
“If you’re losing it, just say so. I can guide you.”
Even though he had just been slapped, Park Gang-u kept smiling, his eyes crinkling, as if something about it was funny.
“It was because I have never received it before.”
“This is so frustrating I could die. I’ll guide you for now, so tell me if it isn’t enough.”
As he spoke, Heisha carelessly laid his stubby hand in the center of Park Gang-u’s broad chest.
In an emergency, contact guiding worked better than radiation guiding, so the moment he saw bare skin, he acted.
His chest really is no joke.
Heisha nodded faintly, lifted his chin, and guided. Color began to return to Park Gang-u’s pale face, and he gradually seemed to be coming back to life.
“How is it?”
“What do you mean?”
“The guiding.”
Even while sitting and receiving the guiding, Park Gang-u kept using his power. Creatures poured out without rest, attacked the two of them with everything they had, and died. Corpses piled up one by one, and burst bodily fluid sprayed everywhere in a chaotic mess.
“It is good.”
“How about now?”
“It is the best.”
“…How about now?”
“I am boiling over.”
He was carefully adjusting the amount as he guided, and yet it felt like they were doing a comedy routine. Arguing over guiding without any awareness that they were trapped, it was an absurd situation.
“No, that’s not what I mean… Should I keep guiding?”
Ordinarily, if you guided an esper this much, they would lose consciousness. The lesson Heisha had learned from guiding several times was to watch the other person’s eyes and talk to them to check whether he had guided them appropriately. On top of that, he could count on one hand the number of times he had done contact guiding, even in emergencies.
“I would like you to continue.”
It already seemed to be more than enough.
“Even now? I really did too much already…”
Park Gang-u’s eyes gleamed in an unusual way. Behind his now-clear complexion, his narrowed eyes met Heisha’s.
His strangely crumpled eyes folded as he pulled Heisha’s hand from his chest and brought it to his own cheek.
“More.”
…This guy has kind of lost it, hasn’t he?
His bloodshot eyes were hazy, no matter how you looked at them. As if to prove he had been over-guided, Park Gang-u panted for breath.
“It is my first time receiving it, so I am excited. Please do not stop.”
Without even being asked, Park Gang-u spoke first, then steadied his rough breathing. A moment later, he grabbed Heisha by the sides and pulled him right against his chest.
“Eek!”
Squashed flat, Heisha flailed.
“Just a little more.”
Heisha stopped guiding and pressed and rubbed Park Gang-u’s cheek with his palm.
“I get that it’s your first time receiving guiding, but get a hold of yourself!”
Horrified by the creatures raining down like rain, Heisha grabbed Park Gang-u’s face and shook it.
“We’re going to die like this! Snap out of it! Come to your senses!”
“Ah.”
Heisha stopped guiding and rubbed his cheek more roughly. Park Gang-u, who came to his senses belatedly, stepped back while holding Heisha to dodge a creature that suddenly fell from above.
Pop! It had come down so fast that the creature burst and its debris sprayed everywhere. A creature’s leg brushed Heisha’s face and fell away, and Heisha thrashed.
“Kyaak!”
His heart lurched up and down and a strange scream burst out of him. Goosebumps rose all over his body. It wasn’t that he had never been inside a gate before, but this was the first time he had ever faced a creature properly like this.
“Heisha.”
Park Gang-u steadied his breathing, supported Heisha’s bottom with one hand, and lifted him.
“Please do not fall off.”
“I don’t want to either.”
Heisha answered tearfully.
Rumble, rumble.
The gate shook violently. Even though his feet weren’t touching the ground, a shuddering vibration ran through his body. The creatures that had been appearing from every direction stopped coming out and could be seen retreating. Park Gang-u gritted his teeth.
“Could you hold on tight?”
“You’re not going to fight while holding me, are you?”
“It is more dangerous if you are alone.”
“No, no…”
He slowly turned his head toward the boss creature he was seeing for the first time.
What is that…?
A grotesque creature that resembled a human revealed itself. The fact that even spider-type creatures as big as its own body made way for it said everything. If the others weren’t joining in to attack but fleeing outright, it meant that even among creatures, its way of attacking was merciless.
I shouldn’t have studied so hard.
Now that he knew information he didn’t want to know, Heisha’s face crumpled as if he were about to cry. He both wanted to get away from Park Gang-u and didn’t want to.
“Ugh…”
The killing intent radiating from a single creature could be felt all the way here. The fangs jutting out of its mouth gleamed sharply, as if it would chew him to pieces. Park Gang-u’s eyes narrowed.
“Heisha.”
“Don’t call me. I’m scared to death…”
“Is there a song you like?”
At the out-of-nowhere question, Heisha blinked and looked up at him. Park Gang-u cracked his neck lightly from side to side as he took a fighting stance.
“Kyaak!”
He wasn’t a crow, but that was the scream that burst out of him in surprise. Heisha, terrified, squeezed his eyes shut. His body seemed to be trembling, too. Park Gang-u tightened the arm holding Heisha and grinned.
“How about the lullaby you sang for me last time?”
Lullaby?
“You sang it well.”
Don’t tell me, back then! With an expression even more horrified than when a creature appeared, Heisha opened his mouth wide.
“You were awake then?”
“Well. I fell asleep right away. It was nice, hearing you sing it.”
Heisha’s mouth fell open, then closed again, and he pushed his already-protruding muzzle out even further.
“Please sing it for me.”
“No.”
“Then will you watch?”
The huge body of the approaching boss creature cast a shadow over them.
“I don’t want that either!”
“Sing. It is fine if you sing it in your head.”
Grinning, Park Gang-u grabbed the head of the horrified Heisha and leaned it against his own chest. Fighting without any tactical gear seemed reckless, but feeling how relaxed this man was, all the way from his core, was a comfort.
Thud. Park Gang-u kicked off the ground and rose into the air. The speed at which his body rose, ignoring gravity, was terrifying. To think he would experience levitation in an esper’s arms. The fur he had worked so hard to groom stood on end, and goosebumps rose.
Shwaaak.
A strange sound rang out. After it came the bizarre creature’s scream.
“Kueeeek!”
Boom!
The sound was so loud it was disgusting and terrifying. Without realizing it, Heisha turned his head. A creature’s hand that had flashed past in an instant was severed cleanly and fell below. It hadn’t been at a speed you could watch.
“Are you singing?”
Park Gang-u, breathing roughly, asked again. Heisha nodded, leaned against his chest, squeezed his eyes shut, and concentrated on singing the lullaby his mother used to sing for him.
Lullaby, lullaby… our baby…
Park Gang-u twisted his body, lifted a small creature nearby with his telekinesis, and threw it into the boss creature’s face.
Pop! The creature burst and its bodily fluid scattered everywhere. He had aimed precisely for its eye, so the creature staggered.
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