DPGR 146

Kwak Jiheon sat with his secretary in the viewing seats overlooking the training field. On one side of the room, a cluster of espers sat together, and in the center stood Baek Dojin, facing off against a swarm of S-class monsters generated by the simulation system.

“Weren’t they all supposed to be training?”

“Uh… yes. That’s what I saw when I checked…”

Jiheon and his secretary exchanged awkward looks. Regardless, Dojin began skillfully swinging a spear taller than himself as he took on more than a dozen S-class monsters.

Whoosh–boom!

He lunged forward, kicked off the ground, and soared lightly into the air. Flames burst from his body in a dazzling display.

Using the monster before him as a stepping stone, Dojin leapt again, slashing through the surrounding enemies. At his feet, inky black shadows stretched out like tentacles, restraining the monsters’ movements.

Boom! Crash!

Explosions erupted all over. The force of them was staggering. Even though he was facing the S-class monsters alone, Dojin didn’t look the least bit strained.

After a while, he finally defeated all the simulated monsters and landed on the ground. It was a victory without panting, without sweat.

The espers watching applauded in awe. Some even joked among themselves that maybe the Final Dungeon wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Hmph.”

Jiheon stood up, still a little bewildered by what he’d seen, but relieved that the mood was far from bad. No, more than that. The cheering espers even had faint traces of hope in their expressions.

“…Whoever trained him, he turned out very well. Don’t you think?”

Jiheon laughed heartily, praising himself. His secretary looked at him with a cold, unimpressed gaze.

***

Time flew by as the espers and guides focused entirely on their training.
Over that period, twelve espers and six guides dropped out for various reasons, but preparations for the assault progressed steadily.

Now, the day of the final battle was just one day away.

“Is everyone gathered?”

“Yes!”

All who had finished preparations assembled in the main hall. The center’s staff, along with the espers and guides who weren’t selected for the final assault team, had gathered to see them off.

In front of everyone, Kwak Jiheon called for Yulchan.

“Esper So Yulchan. If you would.”

“Yes, sir!”

A moment later, the passage Yulchan created appeared.

Jiheon and the rest of the strike team stepped into it one by one, receiving farewells from the ones staying behind.

“Guide Jiho. Stay right next to me, just in case. If I’m not around, stick with Guide Geonwoo.”

Yip!

Beside him, Heendungi barked as if to chime in. Jiho scratched the fluffy mane of the white beast and replied,

“Yes, hyung. That’s the tenth time you’ve said that.”

“I’m saying it because I’m that worried.”

Yip!Yip!

Heendungi nodded his head. Jiho pouted, feeling left out as if Dojin and the fox had formed a team without him. Grumbling that his ears were about to fall off from the nagging, he huffed.

Meanwhile, they reached the end of the passage and stepped out into a new place.

“Wow…”

The Final Dungeon was set to appear on the opposite side of the world, in a national park in New Zealand.

As they arrived in an instant, Jiho felt a thrill that didn’t quite match the situation.

‘It’s beautiful.’

The scenery captivated him. Unlike freezing Korea where a cold snap was raging, New Zealand was warm and breezy.

A soft breeze rustled the autumn leaves. The gentle sound tickled his ears.

Amid the stunning landscape, camping tents were set up near a tranquil lake. Foreigners emerged from them in groups to greet the Korean strike team.

“Welcome, everyone. You must have gone through a lot to get here.”

An older foreigner who seemed to be the leader stepped forward and offered Jiheon a handshake. Jiheon accepted it with a cheerful smile and broke the ice.

“Thanks to our S-class esper, it wasn’t too hard.”

“My, how envious! Haha! We had to take a plane to get here. Left three days ago and finally set up base two days ago.”

Everything they said came through in perfect Korean. Jiho unconsciously touched the artifact hanging from his neck and let out a breath of relief. The same kind of artifact, offering translation effects, was worn by the foreign team as well.

‘They said it’d be essential for smooth cooperation… Glad they listened to my suggestion.’

He figured he should really start studying English after this is over.

As Jiho was thinking that, Dojin wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close to his side.

“Hyung, do we really have to be this close?”

“Is it uncomfortable?”

“Well… that too, but… it’s embarrassing. I’m not a kid anymore.”

Jiho mumbled, blushing. It was already February, he’d been twenty-one for two months now. He was a full-grown adult.

But to Dojin, twenty and twenty-one weren’t much different. Watching Jiho get flustered over a single year made him look even cuter.

Jiho’s warm, flushed cheeks looked good enough to eat, and Dojin licked his lips inwardly.

But since he couldn’t start nibbling or kissing Jiho’s face in a place like this, he held himself back and glanced around instead.

“What’s there to be embarrassed about? No one’s watching–”

Or so he thought.

Dojin’s face turned sheepish. Across the field, the overseas strike team members who had arrived early were watching him with sparkling eyes.

‘Damn.’

Judging by their build, they looked like a group of espers. As soon as they made eye contact with Dojin, they rushed over like it was their chance and started talking.

“Ah, hello! You’re Esper Baek Dojin, right?”

“Uh, well… yes, I am…”

Dojin replied stiffly. He appreciated that they recognized him and took the initiative to speak, but that didn’t mean he felt entirely comfortable.

The moment the strangers approached, Jiho had slipped out of his arms and backed away. That alone put a damper on Dojin’s mood.

But the group of foreign espers didn’t seem to pick up on his discomfort.

“Gasp! We finally get to meet you!”

“It’s truly an honor!”

“Oh my god! I’ve only ever seen you in articles…! Could I get your autograph?”

The atmosphere suddenly turned into a fan meet. Dojin could feel his energy draining in real time. It was like being cornered by five or six clones of Kijoon.

A whole crowd of Kijoon-like espers surrounded him with endless praise.

“I’ve been a fan for ages! I even have the poster of you from a year ago, and I’ve saved all your press clippings!”

“Me too! I heard you just reawakened as SS-class the other day!”

“Amazing! Isn’t yours the first case of an S-class reawakening?”

“Could we take a picture together? What’s your social media handle?”

Ah… aaah…

Such passionate, fiery enthusiasm.

Dojin’s ears flushed bright red. It made him all the more flustered that the people saying how much they admired him were all so young.

Meanwhile, Jiho, standing a little apart, watched Dojin squirm with a fond smile.

‘That’s right. My hyung really is amazing.’

Dojin shot him a desperate look, hoping for rescue, but clueless as always, Jiho just kept watching in amusement. Worse yet, he was secretly rooting for the foreign espers who were praising Dojin.

Only Heendungi, standing beside them, shook his head and let out a long sigh.

***

Since the Final Dungeon would not appear until the next day, the Korean strike team camped for the night, waiting for the other countries’ teams to arrive.

“Hyung, is there anything I can help with?”

Jiho hovered near Dojin, who was busy setting up the tent. Everyone else was bustling around with preparations, and Jiho felt awkward doing nothing.

But Dojin didn’t let him join in.

“Just go sit over there with Heendungi.”

“I can help.”

“Guide Jiho, the best way to help is by sitting quietly and staying safe.”

The teasing tone annoyed Jiho. He puffed out his cheeks and shot Dojin a glare.

But watching him work, Jiho had to admit, there wasn’t anything he could really help with.

Dojin set up the tent swiftly and efficiently, like someone who’d done this many times before.

“Then… can I go take a little look around?”

After sitting still and just watching for a while, Jiho couldn’t stand it anymore and started to fidget. Though watching Dojin was fun in its own way, the surrounding scenery was beautiful and hard to ignore. This was, after all, basically his first trip abroad.

Dojin narrowed his eyes and stared at him for a moment. Jiho quickly added,

“I won’t follow strangers, and I won’t take anything they give me. I’ll keep Heendungi with me the whole time, okay?”

“…Fine. But only within my line of sight. And don’t go too close to the lake, it could be dangerous.”

“Yes!”

Jiho grinned and ran off with Heendungi.

Dojin watched his figure disappear into the distance, let out a short laugh, and got back to work. He finished tidying up the tent and checked its sturdiness several times before finally stretching his back.

“Phew…”

He peeled off his work gloves and rolled his shoulders in a light stretch. Even as he did, his eyes were searching, looking for his guide.

‘Ah.’

There were people everywhere, but Jiho stood out at once. He was already chatting and laughing with guides from other countries.

“….”

Dojin stared blankly at Jiho smiling naturally among the others. He remembered how he’d once wished to see Jiho make friends like any other ordinary person, laughing and chatting without a care in the world.

“…He’s beautiful.”

For some reason, he couldn’t take his eyes off him. All he wanted was to see Jiho living an ordinary life.

Like he was imprinting it onto his eyes, Dojin studied everything about him, how his eyes curved when he smiled, the flutter of his lashes, the way his cheeks flushed at compliments, the dimples that formed when he laughed.

His heart ached and pounded hard. A strange emotion crept in, something that felt like fear, or maybe dread.

Maybe…

Maybe something would go wrong for him in this fight.

He felt confident that he could protect Jiho now. But when it came to protecting himself… he wasn’t so sure.

As the only SS-class esper, and a multi-ability user at that, he would undoubtedly be on the front lines.

‘I’ve never been afraid of death before…’

But this time felt different.

Would he ever get to see Jiho at twenty-two? At twenty-five? At thirty? Would he still be by his side?

They were supposed to walk by the river together when the cherry blossoms bloomed.

They had promised to go grocery shopping, visit cafés, celebrate birthdays.

He had vowed to slip a ring onto Jiho’s finger and finally confess properly, to go to amusement parks and do all the things they hadn’t been able to do yet, building memories together.

There were so many promises between them. And now, Dojin regretted all of them.

They had stacked up endlessly, pointless promises that might only cause Jiho pain one day if things went wrong. That fear weighed down on him.