Approximal Guide

His voice cut through the cold night air. It wasn’t on speakerphone, but the volume was turned up, so I could vaguely hear what the person on the other end was saying.— C-Captain Kim Moohyuk?!…The voice was so rigid and military-like, it was as though the person was swearing absolute loyalty, bowing to the ground. It was the same voice that had been annoyingly dismissive when speaking to me earlier, but now, the young officer of the military police was responding with a sharp tone.— S-Second Lieutenant Kim Hoon—! Captain Kim Moohyuk is on the phone!It was Kim Moohyuk who had changed the call, but why was the officer giving his rank and name like that? I frowned in disbelief and tilted my head to listen in a little more. Kim Moohyuk glanced down at me briefly, then continued speaking. Nearby, Kang Byeongchan, the uncle of Sergeant Kang, was still shouting at the top of his lungs, holding his arm up as if trying to cross the street in a daze.“Kang Hajung, the sergeant, was assaulted by a civilian. The suspect seems to be the sergeant’s uncle. Can we dispatch a unit to the scene?”— Yes, sir! The location has been sent, we will be there in 10 minutes—no, 5 minutes! C-Chungseong!Two enthusiastic salutes followed that response, as if they could defeat an entire army of enemies with the energy behind it. It was the same officer who had previously sounded annoyed and reluctant to act, telling me to take care of things myself… I couldn’t believe it.It wasn’t just my irritation that was causing my head to throb—I was feeling a pulsating pain in the area where I’d been struck. I sighed and looked over at Kang Byeongchan, who was still standing in the middle of the street, raising his arm like someone about to ask a question.“The military police will be here soon, so you better look like something. You’ve been living off your nephew’s money, drinking and gambling, enjoying life, but now you’ll have to eat government rations and sleep under the law. Time to pay the price.”“You—You ungrateful—!”“You’re the ungrateful one. If you raise someone, raise them properly all the way through. It’s ridiculous for you to change your mind halfway and demand repayment for what you’ve supposedly done. You didn’t even raise me. I grew up on my own.”Kang Byeongchan was trembling uncontrollably. It seemed like Kim Moohyuk had somehow suppressed him. Still, I wondered whether using my powers like this on a civilian was acceptable. When I glanced over at him, he looked down at me with an indifferent expression and then said:“I was wondering if that loudness is genetic.”I didn’t respond. To be honest, my chattiness had nothing to do with that guy’s genes. I stood there awkwardly while sirens blared in the distance, signaling the approach of a military van. It was the military police. Special forces soldiers poured out of the van. Kim Moohyuk, with his usual detached tone, gestured toward them.“Hurry up and move.”— Yes, sir! Apologies, sir!The soldiers, looking flustered, dragged Kang Byeongchan away. Only then did Kim Moohyuk release his telekinetic grip on me, and although his arm was still numb, he seemed frustrated and unable to say anything. As he stood there, I couldn’t help but stare at him for a moment. Then he yawned, pointed to his jeep with a chin lift—a gesture to get in.I gave a brief salute to the military police, thanking them silently, and climbed into the jeep.This time, without needing any prompting, I fastened my seatbelt. I was somewhat grateful to him for that. Kim Moohyuk glanced over briefly as he got into the driver’s seat, but didn’t say anything. He started the engine, and the jeep roared to life with a growling sound.The whole way back to the center, I performed radiative guiding on Kim Moohyuk. He never said “thank you” or “stop,” treating me like a human humidifier. Occasionally, he would glance at the side mirror on the passenger side, and when I noticed his gaze, I looked over at him, only to find his eyes already focused on me.After we returned, he dropped me off in front of the guide dormitory without a word and drove off without any parting remarks. When I suggested continuing with the guiding, he asked me what I was relying on. But since he didn’t stop me from doing the radiative guiding, I guessed he had accepted it, and I felt somewhat relieved.That night, I had a dream. Kim Moohyuk was sitting in a completely dark space, like a bunker, with vacant eyes staring at something. At the end of the dream, I saw myself smiling. Or more accurately, I saw Kang Hajung, the colonel, smiling.Someone whispered.“You’ll understand why the clone is smiling. Kim Moohyuk wants that.”I couldn’t respond. I woke up gasping for air, as though I had been running without stopping.Hah—ha!My chest heaved as if I had been sprinting for miles. The pain was so intense, I even grabbed at the front of my shirt in agony. It had been a long time since I had such a nightmare.When I finally composed myself, I realized it was near dawn, so I just decided to get up from my bed. I sat there dully for a moment, then headed to the bathroom. While brushing my teeth, I caught sight of myself in the bathroom mirror.“What is this… really…”A sigh escaped me. The person staring back from the mirror was not the person I knew. My height, which used to be almost 180cm, had decreased slightly. My frame, once larger, had now become thinner and more delicate. Sergeant Kang wasn’t short, but his thin bones made him look slender in a way my body never had.My once-average face in my mid-30s had turned into a beautiful one, with delicate features and a high nose. The light-colored eyes and dark brown hair felt foreign to me. It was almost uncomfortable, as though someone else was staring at me from the mirror.“Such a pain.”That’s right. What I was feeling wasn’t depression, but frustration. Frustration from the fact that things weren’t going the way I wanted them to.I had a goal in mind: that Kim Moohyuk would discharge the moment he became independent from me. It wasn’t that I set that goal because I wanted him to leave. I just needed some kind of goal because I felt like everything would become meaningless without one. It was just a signpost I set up for myself.After the death of the pair esper, I lost my sense of purpose in life. It wasn’t the direction that was shaken; it was the purpose itself. Kim Moohyuk helped me correct that, but occasionally, everything felt like it was shaking from its roots.“I need to stop thinking. Let’s just focus on what I need to buy today.”In moments like this, the only way to cope was to stop thinking entirely. It was a habit now—get up, wash up, get dressed, and head to the common guiding room. I walked there to clear my mind, using the walk as a way to reset. Lately, I’d been too busy with trivial things and hadn’t even had time to walk, and now I felt the creeping weight of lethargy again.I had to do my best not to let the little things consume me, so I walked aimlessly, arriving at the common guiding room. The cold wind made my skin chill while my body started to heat up.Today, I was going to clean up the common guiding room a bit before heading out to the third joint training session. Unlike the first and second sessions, this time we were supposed to train in cooperation with espers, which was a huge hassle. I’d never done anything like this before. Joint training was usually reserved for new guide recruits, not someone like me who had control from the moment my abilities first manifested.And cooperating with espers, no less. The only espers I’d encountered so far, aside from the losers who came to the common guiding room, were Kim Moohyuk and Ha Seonghan. I’d never worked with other espers. Sure, I’d been an instructor, but that was for guide training, not esper training, and Kim Moohyuk was the first and last one to handle that.In any case, as a soldier, I couldn’t just throw the training aside, so after half-heartedly cleaning the guiding room, I made my way to the joint training center. The common guiding room was close to the training center, but since the timing was tight, I had no choice but to take a cart. Other guides were gathering to head to the center, so I had to squeeze into the cart, crammed like a tangerine among them. By the time I got off, my lungs felt like they were being squeezed, and I was the first to jump out as soon as the door opened.The joint training center was packed again today. All the guides from the center were there. I made my way slowly to the auditorium. After the orientation, the announcement came that the actual training would begin. As soon as I opened the door to the auditorium, I could feel the eyes on me.“What should I do with this star power?”I muttered under my breath, honestly fed up. Everywhere I went in the center, people were staring at me. How could I live with all these eyes on me? Celebrities at least get paid for being watched, but what about me? If you want to watch, pay for it, pay for it! I wanted to shout, but I held myself back as an adult. I slouched into an iron chair in the corner, and sure enough, the whispers began.“…Captain Moohyuk…”“…A-class… manifested… secret…”I couldn’t tell if it was Lee Jungkyu or Jungkyu directly, but they were talking too much. There was no way this person hadn’t been the one to spread the rumor about me falsely inflating my rank to get a special evaluation. This was exactly why being a B-class was better. If you were a middle-ranking class, no one would care, and the whispering would die down. But now, I had to deal with all this attention.It was already done, so what could I do? I sighed and tried to calm myself. If I locked eyes with anyone here, I might just punch them. I had to hold back for now. With Sergeant Kang’s trash-tier stamina, it was obvious that even if I did hit someone, my own fist would break.However, what was most ridiculous was that, unlike the previous whispers, today’s situation was causing a new level of irritation.“Sergeant Kang’s skin is really good.”“Hajung, want to go to Ipse-dong with me sometime?”What the hell were they even saying? I stared blankly ahead, trying my best to avoid looking at them. I was ignoring the pathetic flirting of the losers around me.“Hajung, so who’s your junior? Are you a couple of years ahead of me?”When you were in diapers, I had entered the academy, and when you were just learning the multiplication table, I became a second lieutenant. If you’re going to call me “hyung,” pay up. It was hard enough to tolerate the stench of your breath, is this some kind of injury?I couldn’t say this to the esper winking at me in front of my face. I was too busy breathing through my mouth, trying to ignore the horrible smell coming from the esper who was practically glued to my side.It seemed that with the rumor of me being A-class spreading, the hyena-like espers were starting to target me. If this continued, my time working in the common guiding room was going to get a lot more troublesome. I could already imagine these guys swarming like bees, busy with their stupid advances. It was painful to think about how the peace and quiet of my old workdays in the guiding room was about to be destroyed. Why were they acting like this toward me?What made it even worse was that other guides were gossiping maliciously about me, saying I’d become arrogant now that my rank had gone up. They were speaking loudly enough to make sure I could hear. If only I could shout back that I was above their petty complaints and tell them to take their trash talk elsewhere, I might have been able to calm myself down. But the way they looked at me, I just wanted to cry out in frustration. It was so infuriating. I hadn’t had to deal with these kinds of petty disputes when I was Kang Colonel.Just as I was about to explode and maybe rip someone’s ear off to make my point, the instructor stepped up onto the podium and began explaining today’s collaborative training.“Today’s training will again be conducted through simulation exercises. Espers and guides will pair up and work together. When forming pairs, guides who have not yet formed a pair will have priority in selecting a partner.”So, does that mean a guide without a partner gets to choose an esper? Hearing that, my expression soured even more. Hey, Instructor. Out of this wreck of a human pool, who am I supposed to pick? If you were asked to choose between a goldfish, catfish, rockfish, or a goby, could you pick a better one? Are you seriously asking me to pick a fish that’s about to be pulled from the water? No, you’re telling me to choose a partner?!I was at the point where I’d rather just choose death. Unfortunately, there were only four guides, excluding me, who hadn’t yet formed a pair or joined a team. Among them, I, recently ranked A-class, had the highest rank, so I had the priority. So now it was truly a battle between the goldfish, catfish, rockfish, and goby. Freshwater fish versus sea fish. I blankly stared ahead, my focus fading. Avoiding eye contact with the ugly esper, I felt like it would just be better to close my eyes completely.Just as I was about to turn my head in disgust, the auditorium doors opened. It was backlit, so I couldn’t see clearly, but the person entering was really tall. Almost as tall as Kim Moohyuk… Wait, is that Kim Moohyuk? Why is he coming out of there? It seemed others were thinking the same thing. Everyone started whispering as Moohyuk suddenly entered the auditorium. It didn’t make sense that he was here.He was an S++ class esper, and there was absolutely no reason for him to participate in this training. The espers here were all A-class at best, according to their guide ranks. But now, an S-class esper appeared, like an invasive species disrupting the ecosystem. Naturally, the room was buzzing. The instructor, seemingly flustered, picked up the microphone and asked him.“Uh, Captain Kim. Today we’re conducting the esper-guide cooperative training, and we had already planned to use the auditorium.”The instructor probably thought Moohyuk had come to the wrong place, and honestly, I thought so too. If it weren’t for that, there would be no reason for him to be here. But Moohyuk responded, his expression unchanged.“Proceed with the cooperative training. I’m here as a participant.”What? Why? Is he seriously talking like he’s Son Heung-min joining a local soccer game? Stunned, I just stared at him. Moohyuk glanced at me with his usual emotionless face, then smiled and mouthed something at me. I narrowed my eyes, trying to follow his lips to understand what he said.“Wanna pair up?”What are you asking me to do… I froze, and then the instructor, seemingly eager to move things along, cleared his throat and urged me to pick an esper. That’s when I understood what Moohyuk was saying—he was asking me to pick him as my cooperative esper.The beginning of a sharp conflict. Should I train with the ugly esper? Or should I just close my eyes and tolerate the ugliness? But Ha Seonghan and Kim Moohyuk were both good-looking, so if I were asked whether I could guide an ugly esper, I couldn’t say for sure.While remote guiding was possible, today’s cooperative training required contact guiding. Would I be able to guide an ugly esper? It wasn’t a matter of preference; it was a physiological issue. So, should I pick Kim Moohyuk? But I’d just gotten out of the rumor mill—do I want to add more fuel to the fire? What if a ridiculous rumor starts that I’m dating him?Maybe I should just close my eyes, say “Fine, screw it, let’s date,” and throw in some ridiculous lines like, “Come have noodles with me next year, and if you give me less than 50,000 won as a wedding gift, I’ll smack you five times.” I was seriously conflicted. The instructor kept urging me to make my choice.“Choose an esper, Sergeant Kang.”Screw it. I gave up.“I’ll pair with Captain Kim Moohyuk.”The instructor nodded and typed something into his tablet. The room instantly grew louder. It wasn’t just surprising that Kim Moohyuk showed up for the cooperative training, but the fact that I, Kang Hajung, chose him was even more unbelievable. Sorry, everyone. But, well… this old man can’t tolerate working with ugly people, so… what else could I do? I mentally apologized to the room before standing next to Kim Moohyuk.Kim Moohyuk, checking his phone, briefly glanced at me when I stood beside him. Then, in a voice so quiet that only I could hear, he spoke.“Why? Is the other guy not cutting it?”He said it with a deadpan expression, but his eyes showed clear interest. Who’s he mocking now… I frowned, not responding, and after slipping his phone into his pocket, Kim Moohyuk spoke again.“You must have seen how the atmosphere changed.”“…”“Getting an upgrade in your guide rank is just like that. It’s better to stick with me before things get more annoying.”“I don’t think you’re giving me that advice for my sake.”Kim Moohyuk looked at me again, clearly amused, before quickly switching back to his usual, emotionless gaze as he stared ahead.“You’re more perceptive than I thought.”Did you think I was living without any awareness? I didn’t answer, and just as the instructor began explaining the training details in the front…“Let me go over a few important points for today’s training.”The instructor started talking, mentioning that the training today would be a cooperative effort with espers and guides working in pairs. The team with the highest score in the virtual simulation would receive a reward. The prize was a gift card for use in Ipse-dong, which was exactly what I needed. I’d been dreaming of becoming a billionaire by saving every penny, so this prize felt perfect for me. Looking at it, I felt a renewed sense of determination—so much so that even Kim Moohyuk looked at me like I was weird.Following the instructor’s guidance, we were led to the simulation room, and today, I was determined not to stop by the restroom. The last time I went to the bathroom in a similar situation, I ended up randomly in Hallasan. I wasn’t going to let that happen again. Today, I kept my eyes peeled, walking next to Kim Moohyuk, always on alert. After all, there was a gift card on the line, and my balance was practically that of a beggar’s.Kim Moohyuk seemed to think I was being ridiculously distracted, but what does he know? The feeling of being suspected of being a spy just because I went to the bathroom once. Thanks to that, I was able to arrive safely at the virtual training room.The training system was simple. The esper and the guide formed a pair, found points in the virtual training, and input their unique numbers into those points—basically a kind of capture-the-flag training. There were many moments when the esper’s abilities had to be used, so it was a good way to evaluate the cooperation between the guide and the esper.I tried to strap the pointer on my opposite wrist, the one without a watch, but it was tricky to do by myself, so I fumbled. Kim Moohyuk, who had already put on his own pointer, took mine as if it were the most ridiculous thing.“What’s this?”“If you leave it, it’ll take forever. Just stick out your wrist.”Kim Moohyuk said this nonchalantly, as if it was nothing.The funny thing is, I was so used to him looking after me like that. So naturally, I extended my wrist without a second thought. But I never expected there to be so many scars on my wrist. The marks from Sergeant Kang’s hard training were all over it. My skin was pretty pale, so the scars were particularly noticeable. I’d seen those scars before, but I’d been too busy adjusting to this body to fully recognize them. They weren’t wounds I’d endured or caused, so I’d forgotten about them.Kim Moohyuk and I both looked down at the marks at the same time. Embarrassed, I took the pointer from his hand and extended my wrist again.“I can do it myself.”Kim Moohyuk didn’t give me the pointer but instead grabbed my wrist and tightened the Velcro on the pointer. I was about to say something, but the words caught in my throat, and I just stayed silent. He didn’t seem to care much, though. Maybe he wasn’t interested at all. I decided not to make a fuss and kept my mouth shut.The instructor signaled the start of the training. Everyone lined up in rows. Since we would be competing against other pairs of esper and guide to capture points, several pairs would be training together at once. It was clear that people were watching us. Yeah, I bet it’s fascinating to everyone. While I thought this indifferently, I also worried—what if my training style felt too familiar to Kim Moohyuk?Moohyuk and I had been paired for years. To maximize the efficiency of our combat style, we’d held countless meetings and training sessions together. So, if habits from those times suddenly resurfaced, the observant Kim Moohyuk would definitely catch on and suspect me. I decided to take the initiative.“…This might sound a bit rude, but I couldn’t help but study the training methods of the fallen guides. Every guide at the center studies Colonel Kang Hajung’s training videos. So even if my habits resemble his, you can just think of it as me respecting my senior.”In short, I was making an excuse that I’d adopted Colonel Kang Hajung’s habits simply by following his training methods. Kim Moohyuk didn’t even look at me as he responded.“There are a lot of idiots who think that way.”What? This jerk? I felt my expression tighten, but Kim Moohyuk didn’t even look at me. I expected him to have his usual emotionless gaze, but instead, I saw a glimmer of derision in his eyes.“They don’t know their place. They’re copying someone without even knowing who they’re copying.”It seemed guides had been mimicking my combat guidance techniques a lot. His tone was tinged with regret, and his eyes showed a hint of disdain. I found it interesting that Kim Moohyuk, who had always seemed indifferent, was now showing mild contempt and mockery. But to my misfortune, I really was Kang Hajung. Judging by the way Moohyuk was acting, I didn’t think he’d suspect me of being Kang Hajung Colonel, even if I trained exactly the same way.After that, I focused on the start of the training without saying another word. When the buzzer went off, we’d have to charge forward.Kim Moohyuk and I put on the virtual training goggles and stared ahead. There were eight pairs participating in the training, and 16 people spread throughout the simulation room, each trying to capture their own points and monopolize the others’ points.Beep, screech—!The buzzer went off. Kim Moohyuk wrapped his arm around my waist and we shot up into the air. Even though it was indoors, the sudden movement created a whirlwind, making my bangs sway. I asked Moohyuk.“Are you wearing your ability control stone?”Kim Moohyuk didn’t answer, but I could feel his piercing on his ear pressing against the arm around my neck. Given that we were training against espers who were a few ranks lower, it made sense for him to wear the ability control stone for ease.Even if that weren’t the reason, Moohyuk always wore the ability control stone when he went out on missions without his guide. It was the only way he could control his tremendous ability level without a guide’s assistance.However, despite wearing the piercing that suppresses his abilities, Kim Moohyuk leaped much faster than the other espers and began targeting the points scattered across the virtual training field.In front of us, the virtual training room transformed into a massive jungle. The neurostimulators gave new stimuli to the cognitive system, making the air feel as humid as if the weather had changed. As soon as Kim Moohyuk touched down, I pointed to the location and placed the pointer on it. Our unique numbers were now registered on the point. There were no encounters with other espers yet.As I turned my body to follow the signals from my biological clock and head toward the next point, Kim Moohyuk grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back.“What’s this?”“What’s this, huh? That’s informal.”Shouldn’t I be allowed to speak informally to you by now? Even though I’m younger than you now, I used to be a few years older than you, Moohyuk. With a slight frown and a bit of dissatisfaction, I followed him. He silently led me behind a large tree, hiding our bodies. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but after a moment, someone dropped near the point we had claimed. It seemed like another pair from the training.Was he planning a surprise attack? I glanced at Kim Moohyuk, and when he noticed my gaze, he nodded in acknowledgment.“Isn’t a surprise attack a bit cowardly?”I whispered in his ear, making sure the esper with sharp hearing wouldn’t hear me. Kim Moohyuk frowned, then shoved my forehead away with a slight push. It seemed like he didn’t like me getting that close to him. What’s with the sensitivity?Amused by his rather fussy behavior, I watched him. Kim Moohyuk, as if shaking off the thought, wiped his ear with his hand, then quickly returned to his usual expressionless face. He spread his thumb and index finger, forming a gun gesture.He looked at me and silently mouthed the word, ‘Bang.’And then, it happened.“Ugh—!”“Hey, what’s wrong?!”The guide, who had been confirming the point’s status, bent down, and the esper standing idly nearby collapsed, clutching their neck as they fell limp to the ground. They looked like they had lost consciousness. I stared at Moohyuk in disbelief. It seemed like he had focused his abilities into his index finger and shot them like a bullet.Even with the ability control stone, Kim Moohyuk was still Kim Moohyuk. I was both amazed and impressed. When did he develop such a technique? A power that shot from his hand like a bullet. It reminded me of my own remote guiding skills, and I couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of familiarity.Kim Moohyuk didn’t seem to care what I was thinking. He got up with a bored expression, then leaped over the brush with his long legs, heading toward the panicked guide and the collapsed esper.He grabbed the limp esper’s arm and ripped the pointer off their wrist with a forceful motion.“Captain Kim Moohyuk…? What are you doing right now—?”The guide beside him stared at him in shock. Kim Moohyuk didn’t bother to reply. He casually destroyed the pointer with a quick, harsh motion. The sound of the pointer snapping echoed in the air, and I watched in silence.“What the hell are you doing?!”The guide screamed. Even if it was Kim Moohyuk, it seemed they were startled by the sight of their partner being hurt. I could only stand there, watching from a distance. Kim Moohyuk glanced at the guide for a moment before responding.“I’m training.”He then walked back to me, wrapping his arm around my waist and leaping into the air. As we soared, I couldn’t help but notice the guide staring at me with a stunned, frustrated expression, standing beside their fallen esper. I quickly looked away, feeling a strange sense of guilt.After that, it was the same. Kim Moohyuk would find a point, register it, wait for a moment, and when another esper and guide approached, he’d tear their pointers off and destroy them. Some of them fought back, others tried to resist, but Kim Moohyuk effortlessly crushed them with his ability, which shot like bullets.I couldn’t help but click my tongue. When did he become such a frightening, unpredictable person? I was just stunned. The training was nearing its end.“This is so unfair!”Strangely enough, he didn’t touch the guides. Of course, it was natural for the guides to resent Moohyuk for attacking their fallen espers, but he paid them no mind.Moohyuk left without answering, leaving behind the broken pointers and the unconscious espers. The guide, standing there with a glare, seemed to be directing it at me. …What do you want me to do? This guy was the one attacking the esper and breaking the pointers, not me. Can’t you see that I’m just here, like a sack of rice, being tossed around? With a sigh, I approached Moohyuk and guided him as we continued the training.And then, it happened. Kim Moohyuk suddenly stopped moving and shoved me to the ground, dropping me roughly. The sudden deceleration almost made me fall, but I barely managed to regain my balance, furrowing my brow.“What the hell is this? I almost broke my nose!”“Don’t do that.”Kim Moohyuk dismissed my words, speaking as though chewing on them. What was he even talking about? Annoyed, I stared at him, and he scratched his neck with a growl, speaking in a low voice like a beast.“Don’t guide like that.”“…Wait, didn’t you ask me to guide you earlier?”I was taken aback, but Kim Moohyuk didn’t respond. He merely looked down at me coldly and walked past me. What was with this guy? I was completely at a loss; his behavior made no sense, and it was frustrating.I didn’t have the energy to argue anymore. Virtual training interferes with the nervous system, making you feel like you’re in a much larger space than you actually are, and it was mentally draining. Even though if Kim Moohyuk had been in a bad mood before, I would’ve asked him what his deal was, now I just didn’t feel like saying anything. I was exhausted, clinging to him as he carried me around, feeling like I might collapse at any moment.We walked for a while longer, when suddenly, I heard a strange noise. It sounded like countless hooves pounding the ground, approaching rapidly. Startled by the sound, I turned my head in the direction of the vibrations, and that’s when Kim Moohyuk pressed down on my crown.“Ugh—!”With a groan of surprise, I sank to the ground, and what followed was an immense roar. Something swooped over my head, and I could feel it strike the base of a nearby thick tree.“What, what is that? A rock?”I asked, unable to believe it. A rock had flown through the air, crashed into the base of the tree, and embedded itself into the ground. The mud around it had been gouged out, showing the force of the impact.“Is this… part of the virtual training program?”I stood there in shock, thinking to myself that the technology had seriously improved. Kim Moohyuk gritted his teeth and grabbed my waist, lifting me into the air. Another massive rock, larger than an adult head, flew toward the spot where we had been standing. The sheer amount of mud splattered around told me all I needed to know about the rock’s destructive power and speed.“What the hell is going on…?”I mumbled, hoping Kim Moohyuk would answer, but he didn’t seem to care, still focused on something ahead. Rocks continued to rain down from unknown locations, aiming to hit us. I tried to deploy a guiding net, though with its limited range, I couldn’t detect any esper waves within a 50-meter radius.So, this meant the virtual training program itself was attacking us. If it hadn’t been hacked, could a program designed for players to fight each other really be attacking us like this? The thought circled in my mind, unsettled.Kim Moohyuk was still holding me, dodging the rocks as they came. Then, with a rumbling sound, the ground shook beneath us. Rocks buried beneath the ground began to shift, pushing large tree branches aside as they came into view. I stared at Kim Moohyuk in shock.This was Kim Moohyuk’s ability. The rocks within his telekinetic range all flew in different directions, likely to seek out and attack other espers nearby. I warned him not to waste his abilities unnecessarily.“This isn’t an esper’s ability. There are no esper waves in the area. The program itself is attacking us.”Kim Moohyuk didn’t answer immediately, but he seemed to be processing something. His telekinetic waves quickly spread in the air, dense and fast. I added calmly, trying to reassure him.“If the program’s been hacked or is malfunctioning, it’ll be affecting other players too. The teams that already forfeited will report errors. We just need to wait a little longer…”“Can’t you feel it? There are no other espers.”His words made my eyes widen. Was it because I had deployed the guiding net too sparsely that he noticed? I had known there were no espers around, but I hadn’t expected there to be none at all. I muttered, confirming it for myself.“No other espers… then…”“They’ve already left the program. It’s just you and me here.”Kim Moohyuk gritted his teeth and adjusted his biological clock. He was probably trying to send out an SOS signal. It was uncertain whether the signal sent from the biological clock would reach the command center due to the sudden program malfunction.“How do we escape the program?”Kim Moohyuk looked at me with a slight expression of disdain, as though asking such a question was beneath him. Yeah, right. You wait five years and see. I recalled how I nearly died of shock when I saw videos of kids casually riding electric scooters on regular roads. Who the hell passed the laws that let kids ride scooters on streets full of cars? The world really changes fast. In this moment, my frustration flared up.Kim Moohyuk, showing no interest in my thoughts, quickly responded without hesitation.“Two options. One is to complete the objective set by the program and disconnect the player’s brainwaves from the training program. The other is for the player to sever the connection with the program themselves.”“So right now, option 1 is down, so we have to go with option 2…”“You’ve seriously underestimated someone like me.”Kim Moohyuk cut off my words in a dismissive tone. I raised an eyebrow, asking with my expression what he meant, and he responded in an uninterested manner.“Can you control your brainwaves voluntarily? Like, ‘brainwaves, stop,’ and have them actually stop? The only way out is to die.”“What? So that’s your idea of a solution? I asked for a way out, not a way to commit suicide—”Before I could finish, I felt Kim Moohyuk’s gaze briefly land on my wrist. I made a small sound and instinctively covered it with my sleeve. I hadn’t realized he was paying attention to the wound on my wrist.“First… then we have to complete the program’s set objectives. Earlier, Instructor said we could leave when the playtime ends or when we find all the points, right?”“That’s right. In this damn jungle, there are 800 points total.”I tried to ignore his indifferent tone as I checked how many points we had accumulated. The pointer read “Total: 421.” It seemed we had managed to collect quite a bit, possibly by taking points from other teams before they could destroy their pointers. Compared to the average of about 60 points per team, first place was almost guaranteed. However, due to the sudden error, Kim Moohyuk and I were now trapped in the program, which was unfortunate.“Can the program be shut down from outside?”“It’s possible, but judging by the lack of any news, it seems like they don’t know what’s happening inside.”Kim Moohyuk said this as he looked up at the sky. Between the thick trees of the jungle, the bright blue sky was visible. A huge number hovered in the air, far larger than the 3-hour end time I had known—it was now recorded as 12 hours. Time was passing, but it seemed we would be trapped here for over 12 hours.“If other people have already left, wouldn’t it be strange if we don’t exit too?”“Maybe.”Kim Moohyuk nodded slightly, then looked ahead. Suddenly, the scene in front of us began to break into a mosaic of tiny pieces, which slowly transformed into the shape of a beach. I looked around, confused. Kim Moohyuk and I had suddenly exited the jungle and were standing on a long stretch of sandy beach.Kim Moohyuk surveyed the surroundings with a detached tone and muttered, “Maybe not.”After saying that, I held my breath. In the distance, a massive wave, as large as a house, rose up like a wall, growing to the height of an 8-story building, and began rushing toward the beach.“What the—”Before I could even shout, Kim Moohyuk grabbed my waist and leapt into the air. With precise calculations of telekinesis and atmospheric pressure, he took off with me in his arms effortlessly. A massive, majestic roar accompanied the sound of the wave approaching. Kim Moohyuk clicked his tongue.“It feels bad, but I guess I’ll have to tell you to hold on tight.”“—Are you telling me to hold on tight or not?”Kim Moohyuk smirked. It was a rare smile that appeared on his otherwise expressionless face.“If you’re confident you won’t fall, you can hold on loosely.”With that, Kim Moohyuk extended a spherical telekinetic shield around us. The defense shield was made from his ESP waves. The wave was approaching the sphere. I was shocked and stared with my mouth agape.“Is this even possible?”The question was obvious. While telekinesis could be used to create ESP shields, they would naturally be less durable and stable than those made by other espers who specialized in shields. However, Kim Moohyuk deployed his ESP waves in the shape of a sphere, and at every point on the sphere, he applied the same amount of energy that the wave carried. By using action and reaction forces, the shield resisted the wave. It wasn’t a meticulous calculation—it was more of an animalistic calculation.Thanks to this, the sphere held its shape despite the incoming wave. If the wave’s pushing force was 100, then the shield also withstood with a force of 100. It was possible because of this balance. I found myself dizzy with the realization. Even in this situation, he had told me not to guide him. Tsking under my breath, I had no choice but to extend a guiding field. The guiding energy swirled inside the sphere, gently filling it.As the wave engulfed the sphere, it was as if Kim Moohyuk and I were floating in the middle of the sea. Kim Moohyuk glanced down at me, who was clinging to him like a koala, and silently repaired the telekinetic sphere with his ESP waves. He reinforced the parts of the shield that were about to collapse due to the force of the tsunami-like wave.Is this even possible? Kim Moohyuk was perfect not only in practical use but also theoretically as an esper. I was filled with doubts about whether this was actually feasible when I failed to notice something approaching from behind.“Kim Moohyuk—!”By the time I spotted it and called out to him, it was too late. A black vine-like object emerged from the sea and pierced through the ESP-created sphere, wrapping around Kim Moohyuk’s waist. The sphere collapsed in an instant, and I was swept away by the wave.I was sucked into the whirlpool in the sea, shouting Kim Moohyuk’s name loudly, but all that came from my mouth were futile bubbles. Kim Moohyuk was looking at me as he struck the vine-like thing wrapped around his waist with his fist.And then, I was pulled further into the sea. It was a blackout.