“Damn…!”
No wonder it tasted so foul—it was monster blood!
I gagged hard and spat, but I must’ve swallowed a little already. Monster blood is poisonous to humans. Luckily it was a small amount, so I wouldn’t die—but a hospital stay was basically guaranteed.
Anyway, this ice—it really does feel familiar. Sure, there are plenty of ice-type ability users, but as far as I know, there’s only one esper in Korea strong enough to skewer a monster’s head in one shot…
A bad feeling crept over me.
“I was wondering which idiot was getting taken down so pitifully…”
Someone approached from the side. I turned my head toward the approaching presence and saw an expensive-looking pair of shoes.
The man gave the monster—now just a corpse—a casual nudge with his foot. The body, barely held aloft by the spear, slowly tilted to the side.
Thud.
The monster corpse hit the ground with a heavy thump.
“How curious…”
That obnoxious voice…
“Do guides fight monsters these days?”
Shit. Why are you here?
A sharply tailored luxury suit. Skin pale as ice, catching a cold light. Fine silver hair ruffled by the wind—and with it, the air around us chilled.
His lips smiled coolly, but the silver-gray eyes were humorless. When our gazes met, my heart dropped.
Vasily.
Unlucky day. I figured we’d cross paths eventually, but this soon? The moment I saw him, my body locked up on reflex. Feeling my hands tremble, I clenched my fists tight.
Vasily looked me over with keen interest. Judging by his reaction, he didn’t recognize me—so I was the only one who’d regressed, after all. Realizing that, my tension eased a fraction.
“Can you stand?”
Vasily offered me a hand with a slight smile. I didn’t want to take it, but I hid it and clasped his hand. A strong pull hauled me upright.
“Sorry. I’ve been a little off lately—made a mistake.”
“Huh?”
“I needed to move the monster to the lab. I tried to keep it alive by freezing it, but I guess the ice was a bit weak.”
A mistake? This guy, making a mistake? From what I know, anything that looked like his mistake was always deliberate.
“Ah. Right…”
I answered grudgingly, then checked myself—total mess. I was drenched head to toe in sticky, reeking black monster blood.
If I didn’t wash this off fast, my skin might rot. It’s gear for espers, but this was an emergency—using the portable shower booth nearby should be fine.
I was about to thank him and leave when I noticed Vasily idly prodding the monster’s body with his shoe. He made a troubled face and muttered, low.
“This is troublesome… I was told to bring it in alive…”
So the Association wanted this specimen for research. Now I understood why he’d frozen it instead of killing it outright. He did that sometimes.
After a moment staring down at the monster, he spoke.
“How about we say you killed it, Guide?”
“Huh?”
Is he insane? I barely kept the words from slipping out.
“No. I didn’t kill it… ha-ha…”
With no idea how to answer, I just laughed awkwardly. Honestly, I wanted to say, “Are you out of your mind?” but if I did, I’d be an ice statue right here.
“Your arm okay? You’re hurt.”
“Ah…”
Just like he said—when I checked, long claw marks on my arm were bleeding.
Damn, must’ve gotten raked earlier. I needed to wash up fast before monster blood got into the wound—
“Let me see for a second.”
Vasily strode up and took my arm. When he placed his hand over the injury, a cold sensation skimmed my skin. Checking the spot again, I saw the torn flesh had been frozen—blood flow stopped.
“It’s only basic first aid. You should get proper treatment soon.”
“…Thank you.”
I rubbed around the wound and gave a grudging thanks.
The Vasily I know doesn’t treat minor injuries like this. He was definitely angling for something.
“Temporary guide?”
“Yes.”
“Your rank?”
“C-class.”
“Hm…”
Vasily ran his hand along my arm as if to check the wound.
To anyone else, it would’ve looked natural—like he was concerned. But after years as his guide, I knew exactly what he was doing. He was attempting to guide me, to see if I was telling the truth.
Realizing that, my body tensed hard. The next instant, I felt that familiar chill. A creeping cold flowed through my veins—skin-crawling. The breath I let out came frosty. Even after six years guiding him, his wave was something I could never get used to.
Did he catch on?
Uneasy, I reached with the hand he wasn’t holding and felt the back of my neck. I’d scraped my nape when I fell—if the suppression chip had come loose… But thankfully, it was still properly implanted.
For a moment his expression went icy, then returned to a smile. I didn’t miss that—and inside, I exhaled in relief. He hadn’t gotten the guiding response he wanted.
“Ugh…”
The tension left me—and suddenly, a sharp sting pricked the back of my neck. What? That’s where the chip was.
“You alright?”
“Ah, yeah… Maybe it’s the monster blood. I should wash—”
Then the lights went out.
***
I woke up in a hospital a few days later.
The first thing I saw was the hospital ceiling—and I sighed. Of all places, I had to pass out there. Not knowing what happened after I blacked out left me with a sour, crawling feeling.
Still, maybe it was for the best. Vasily disliked weakness. Seeing me faint from such minor injuries—he’d have lost interest completely.
“Gidam!”
By afternoon, Jo Wooyeon came to see me after I’d finished a quick exam and was resting—he’d heard I’d woken up.
“I’m so glad you’re okay. I saw the news about an incident at the Gate you went to—I was worried sick…”
He spotted the bandages around my arm and looked stricken, apologizing over and over. I smiled to put the guilt-ridden guy at ease.
“I’m fine. Just some scrapes and a tumble.”
Honestly, I was fine. I was just unlucky. A little more unlucky than most, so I ended up targeted by a monster and swallowed some highly toxic blood. The worst part was running into Vasily—but even that ended without anything major, so I could call it fine.
“Still, I worried a lot. Especially when I heard you were the one who killed the monster—I was shocked.”
“Huh?”
What was he talking about? When I asked, bewildered, Jo Wooyeon explained.
“Vasily did an interview with a reporter about the monster escape incident—he said an Association temporary guide killed the escaped monster. It’s splashed all over the front page online… You haven’t seen it yet?”
That crazy bastard…!
I pressed my brow and cursed Vasily in my head. I’d clearly refused—and he still pinned it on me? I’d momentarily forgotten he was a world-class son of a bitch.
The thought of clearing this up made a wave of fatigue crash over me. Maybe misreading my face, Jo Wooyeon stood up, looking even more apologetic.
“Ah, you must be exhausted, and I’m rambling. I’ll get going. Don’t push yourself—rest up!”
After he left, the room fell quiet. It was a four-bed room, but the other beds were empty, which made it feel even more still.
“Haa…”
I flopped back on the hospital bed and lifted my bandaged left arm. In this condition, I couldn’t even go to work… I’d be flat on my back for a few days.
I reached for the emergency red pill that came with the suppression chip, relieved I had it—and just as I was about to rest, I glimpsed a silhouette beyond the curtain.
Wooyeon again?
“Did you forget something?”
I pushed myself up and called out through the curtain. But when I pulled it aside, the person standing there was a silver-haired foreigner, easily over 190 centimeters tall.
“Are you feeling any better?”
It was Vasily.