MTLNOVEL 11.2
Part 2. Freezing Point
“Flying monster spotted at 1 o’clock, about 200 meters away. Proceeding to eliminate immediately.”
The view through the scope was completely dark. Ryu Ho-yeon focused on the faintly visible body of the monster and pulled the trigger firmly. As he felt the heavy resistance of the trigger, the silenced sniper rifle’s barrel let out a quiet “shoop.”
After taking out one, the other creatures around it began to move erratically. Ho-yeon took a light breath and calmly dealt with the remaining monsters. Shoop, shoop, shoop. When the hollow gun sounds that resembled escaping air stopped, the monsters that had been lurking to attack the group were already annihilated.
“Four flying types eliminated. Proceeding to the next point as planned.”
“Confirmed.”
After briefly reporting the results of the battle that required intense concentration, Ho-yeon calmly moved forward. Cold sweat trickled down beneath the combat uniform zipper pulled up to his neck.
It hadn’t felt so significant when just hearing about it, but now that he was here, it became clear. The difference in difficulty between B-rank and A-rank dungeons was immense.
Last week, Choi Jae-won and Ryu Ho-yeon had successfully completed their first battle. They had quickly cleared three B-rank dungeons without major casualties under Park Woo-jun’s observation.
Whether the rumors about the Esper Management Team Leader cherishing his Guide so much that he wouldn’t let him near dungeons were true, Park Woo-jun was alone without Lee Han-seo not only for B-rank but even for today’s A-rank dungeon. Although Ho-yeon already knew that Han-seo hadn’t entered dungeons except for the initial few times after pairing with Woo-jun, he still found himself craning his neck to look around whenever they were waiting at the gate with Park Woo-jun.
Naturally, Ho-yeon and Woo-jun, whose feelings towards each other were not particularly positive, didn’t exchange a single private word during the three B-rank and one A-rank dungeon runs, aside from officially required communication. Even Choi Jae-won, who wasn’t usually one to be overly conscious of his surroundings, found himself involuntarily flinching at the unspoken cold aura emanating from the two S-class Espers.
Typically, A-rank dungeons were entered by teams of ten to over twenty people in carefully arranged formations, but the combat personnel in this dungeon consisted of just Park Woo-jun, Ryu Ho-yeon, and Choi Jae-won. Given that there were two S-class Espers, perhaps “merely” was an understatement.
“We’ll stop here and rest for about 15 minutes. Guide Choi Jae-won, please proceed with guiding.”
The person who had been hiding behind Lee Han-seo with a guileless smile was nowhere to be seen. Team Leader Park Woo-jun gave instructions to Choi Jae-won and Ryu Ho-yeon in a rigid tone that felt almost bleak.
Jae-won, without a word, lowered his posture and tightly embraced Ho-yeon’s back, who was already seated. The guiding flowed out rapidly, shoop, shoop. Whether from fatigue, the small back in his arms kept heaving, shoulders rounded. Watching this silently, Woo-jun offered advice—or perhaps criticism—in his still businesslike tone, saying that while muscle strength might not be an issue, endurance should be built up in advance.
If this were outside the dungeon, Jae-won might have defended Ho-yeon, saying something about how unlike the brute force-focused physical enhancement or nature-type Espers, Ho-yeon was a delicate special-type, despite them both being S-class. But not now. All combat participants in the dungeon were obligated to follow the commander’s instructions unconditionally. And while he felt rebellious mentally, considering future events, Woo-jun’s advice wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Hyung. It’s okay, just lean back comfortably. Here, have some water too.”
Ho-yeon seemed to lack the energy to respond. As soon as the words ended, his powerless head landed with a thud on Jae-won’s shoulder. Jae-won rummaged through his supplies, took out a canteen, and even held it at the right angle to Ho-yeon’s lips. Ho-yeon drank the water in gulps without a word of thanks. Meanwhile, the rate of guiding flowing out didn’t slow down. Checking the guiding panel that could monitor Ho-yeon’s condition in real-time, his internal guiding level was barely maintaining above 40 percent.
Even in dungeons, the work guideline is to maintain at least 40 percent. No matter how much better he might be at enduring low guiding levels compared to other Espers due to living with chronic guiding deficiency his whole life, as his dedicated Guide, Jae-won couldn’t just stand by and watch.
“Hyung.”
So this was absolutely not a question asked out of personal interest, but rather an expression of professional ethics as someone devoted to their job.
“If we kiss once, the level will shoot right up.”
Jae-won tried to maintain a nonchalant attitude as he softly added a question mark. What do you think?
“…”
“Hyung?”
“Jae-won.”
“Yes.”
“About mucosal contact… Does it have to be mouth-to-mouth? If it’s absolutely necessary, I’d be okay with touching the conjunctiva…”
“…”
“Of course, after thoroughly washing hands.”
“No, I’m sorry for everything. I’ll continue guiding like this.”
Ho-yeon, not hiding his extremely uncomfortable expression, had creatively conveyed his reluctance to kiss Jae-won. Suppressing a sigh that threatened to escape, Jae-won tightened his arms around the thin back.