DPGR 66

“Guide Jiho.”

Geonwoo approached Jiho. Up to that point, Jiho had been supporting an unfamiliar guide with Heendungi by his side. At the sound of his voice, Jiho turned around.

Geonwoo held out his gun, glancing between Jiho and the flustered guide.

“It’s a bit dangerous, but if this keeps up, the damage is only going to get worse.”

“……?”

“W-what?”

The guide Jiho was supporting looked bewildered, but Geonwoo didn’t have the room to worry about her.

“So I think we, the guides, should at least do something to help.”

“What are you saying…?”

“Guide Jiho. You should reload.”

Geonwoo gestured at Jiho’s gun, then raised his voice toward the panicked, scattered guides who had been running around in disarray.

“Everyone, draw your weapons! Reinforcements will be here soon—just buy us some time until then!”

A few of the guides froze at his words. But Geonwoo didn’t wait around for them to act.

“Heendungi, stay close to Guide Jiho.”

Kyeng!

Leaving that instruction, he charged toward the battlefield where the offensive espers were struggling against the monsters.

Then—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunfire rang out in rapid succession.

One of the offensive espers flinched, startled, and turned to look at Geonwoo. At the same time, a monster let out a low growl, coughing up a spray of blood as it staggered back. It wasn’t fatal, but it was a serious enough injury.

An esper, seemingly shocked back into focus, quickly raised their weapon and drove it straight into the monster’s forehead—right where the mana stone was likely located.

Uoooooh—!

The monster let out a long wail before collapsing, unmoving. The one that had been giving them so much trouble was gone—almost too easily.

But Geonwoo didn’t stop to feel relieved.

Bang! Bang!

The bullets, though enhanced with mana, weren’t powerful enough to kill outright. Still, with the espers regaining their senses, they joined in the offensive once more and resumed the subjugation.

Geonwoo wasn’t just good at shooting. He had an excellent combat sense and could read the flow of a fight.

With his support, the tide of battle began to shift noticeably.

“A-a gun! Get your gun, hurry!”

“W-wait, just a sec…!”

“Ready to fire!”

Behind Geonwoo, who stood firm at the rear, the other guides started pulling themselves together, their voices rising.

None of them could match his aim.

Bang! Bang bang!

“Lower! Aim lower!”

“Shoot the legs! Pin them down!”

Even a village dog could recite poems after three years at a school—these guides had watched enough esper battles to know how to use their heads. Thanks to that, the monsters that had been bearing down on them now began to retreat.

And shortly after—

Uooooo—!

“They’re pulling back!”

“Don’t chase them! Let them go!”

The ones being pushed back were now the monsters. Sensing their disadvantage, the monsters began to slink away before finally kicking up dust as they fled.

“Whoa!”

They’d pulled off a decisive victory in a battle they had thought they would lose.

“I, um… earlier—thank you.”

The scene was still a bit chaotic, but a familiar face limped up to Jiho.

It was the woman he had saved with his reckless gunfire.

“Your name is Jiho, right?”

Nod, nod.

Whether she already knew who he was or just accepted it on instinct, she didn’t question the silent answer.

“I’m Han Jian. Pair Guide to Delta Team’s Esper Yoon Jaehee.”

She introduced herself and continued.

“If it weren’t for you, I would’ve died. Really—thank you. I don’t know if I’ll ever be of help, but if you’re ever in trouble, whatever it is, come find me. I want to repay you.”

—“Uh, no, it’s fine…”

Jian’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Jiho, her determination to return the favor written all over her face.

Jiho, flustered by the pressure, waved his hands and stumbled back—right as a familiar voice called from the distance.

“Guide Jiho!”

Jiho turned his head.

“……!”

The person who had flashed through his mind over and over during the worst of it.

Baek Dojin!

He was running straight toward Jiho.

He didn’t know exactly what had happened, but it was clear the situation was over.

And Dojin’s first priority was finding Jiho.

Heendungi, now as big as a bear, was by Jiho’s side, so Dojin didn’t have much trouble spotting him.

“Guide Jiho!”

Even from afar, he could see Jiho looked dusty and disheveled, but thankfully not hurt.

Still, he couldn’t feel at ease until he confirmed it himself. He grabbed Jiho by the shoulders and turned him this way and that, checking him over.

“You… you’re not hurt… right?”

Nod, nod.

“Ah… thank goodness. Thank god…”

He’d been so anxious the entire way over.

What if Jiho had been crying in fear? What if he was hurt somewhere? His head had been full of worst-case scenarios.

Thankfully, Jiho was safe. His face was clean, and there wasn’t even a trace of tears.

“Haa…”

Dojin’s tension melted away in an instant. He pulled Jiho into a tight hug, as if to make sure the warmth was real.

He kept whispering, over and over, how relieved he was.

“Geonwoo!”

“Ah. Jihye.”

Jihye came running up behind, also looking for her guide.

Unlike Dojin, she didn’t seem all that concerned about Geonwoo’s safety. She just looked curious about what had happened.

Well, her guide was unusually combat-capable for a guide.

“What happened? How did this all go down?”

“Uh, well…”

And so Dojin, with Jiho still in his arms, listened as the story was recounted.

When he heard that Jiho had stepped forward and raised his gun at the monster on his own, his expression darkened.

“Guide Jiho.”

Flinch.

His irritation was obvious in his voice, and Jiho flinched and looked away.

“Captain Baek!”

Just then, espers from other teams who had responded to the emergency call arrived on the scene.

They looked confused, clearly unsure how the situation had already been resolved.

One of them recognized Dojin and approached, asking what had happened.

Thanks to that, Jiho was able to slip away from Dojin and dodge his scolding—for now.

“…Even guides joining the fight, huh. Still, I’m glad the damage wasn’t worse.”

“Yes. It is a relief.”

“Then, what do you suggest we do now? Should we resume dungeon exploration?”

“Ah.”

At someone’s question, Dojin’s gaze hardened faintly. He looked over at Jiho, who was standing a bit away, and hesitated for a moment.

He wanted to stay by Jiho’s side, but he was the overall leader of this dungeon raid unit.

He couldn’t afford to neglect his duties.

“First… let’s increase the number of combat espers assigned to protect the guides.”

“Ah. Then we’ll dispatch some from our side.”

“Yes. Please do.”

Having coordinated that, Dojin held back a sigh and walked over to Jiho. Jiho, perhaps aware he had done something wrong, was watching Dojin with a sheepish look.

“Hah…”

Covered in dirt and dust and looking around nervously, he resembled a puppy who had gotten into trouble and was now wary of its owner’s scolding.

The sight made Dojin let out a small laugh—funny, but also endearing. He pulled Jiho into a hug.

Of course, he wanted to give him a thorough lecture, starting with safety training, but now wasn’t the time for that.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. So please, don’t do anything reckless.”

Nod nod.

As Jiho nodded earnestly, Dojin pressed a kiss to his temple and then turned to run back the way he came, along with the Alpha Team espers.

***

Half a day later—

Dojin kept his promise to return as quickly as possible.

He had abandoned the usual team-based operations and moved solo.

Kreugh—!

“Haa…”

Thanks to moving alone, he was able to locate the boss monster quickly.

He used every ability at his disposal and managed to subdue the boss on his own.

“Captain Baek!”

“Gasp! Your arm—”

“A-Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Let’s just head back to the safe zone.”

He had injured his left arm during the fight, but overall, it was a fairly successful mission.

***

Another half day passed before the two of them finally returned home.

“Guide Jiho. Are you still angry?”

“……”

Despite the successful raid, Jiho’s mood was completely sunken.

And rightfully so.

“…I’m sorry. The thing is, it wasn’t even a serious injury, so I didn’t know if it was worth mentioning, and…”

“……”

Dojin had tried to hide the injury on his arm at first, but thanks to Kijoon’s loose lips, Jiho eventually found out.

Esper bodies could usually recover on their own, but what upset Jiho wasn’t the wound—it was the fact that Dojin had tried to hide it from him.

“Guide Jiho…”

Dojin wasn’t entirely clueless about how Jiho felt, and he kept nervously glancing his way.

It was a bit ridiculous seeing someone as big as Dojin fidgeting like a giant puppy, but for someone as kindhearted as Jiho, it seemed to have an effect.

“Hmph…”

Though he snorted and turned his head away, a closer look showed that the corners of his lips were slightly relaxed.

Relieved, Dojin kept trying to cheer Jiho up.

“I won’t do it again. Whatever happens, I’ll tell you everything, Guide Jiho. So please, forgive me just this once.”

With Dojin going that far, Jiho couldn’t keep sulking forever.

Sneaking a sideways glance at Dojin, Jiho hesitated, then reached out his hand.

His fingers were curled into a fist, save for his pinky sticking out slightly.

“P-prom…ise…”

Not stopping there, Jiho puckered his lips and muttered the words with clumsy pronunciation.

Somehow, the sight overlapped with that moment on the first day in the corridor of that illegal facility.

“Yes. I promise.”

Smiling softly, Dojin hooked his pinky with Jiho’s.

Still giving Dojin a bit of side-eye, Jiho then grabbed his clothes and tugged him toward the sofa.

“W-wait. What…?”