FETCH 77

“Strike!”

Simultaneously with Han Kang’s thunderous signal, KABOOM! A massive sound of destruction echoed, and the ice wall Han Kang had built shattered and scattered with a crash. The remnants of ice floating in the air were quickly clad in iron and driven forward at high speed toward the front.

Thud, thud!

Along with the violent sounds of friction, beep, beep… The sound of scores being tallied rang through the training room.

The training, which was only scheduled for the morning, had dragged on, and the sun was already setting behind the training room window. Both the Guides and Espers were gradually becoming exhausted by the long-duration training, yet no one mentioned ending it.

Just a while ago, there had been so much talk about how the piece of trash rookie was this and that. Now that quite a bit of time had passed, the rookie Esper was coordinating reasonably well with Han Kang. Even though Han Kang had acted as if he had no intention of matching the rookie’s pace, he was now creating opportunities and timing for the kid to sync up easily, as if he had decided to put him to good use.

It was as if he were gauging exactly where the rookie’s power level sat by gradually increasing the speed and shortening the intervals.

“Seokyoung, guide Jinhyung.”

Amidst the long observation of the training, a low instruction was given. At Ji Sangtaek’s words, Choi Seokyoung immediately emitted a guiding wavelength and shot it toward Hwang Jinhyung, who was struggling in the arena.

No matter how outstanding the skills of the Guides were, because they had to coordinate during training, they had to use their guiding wavelengths under the Team Leader’s direction during the initial stages.

Furthermore, they were using radiation guiding for the training. Unless it was a match or training where the Guide was deployed directly into the arena, the current trend was that contact and mucosal guiding were less efficient. During matches where every second counted, they actively utilized guiding wavelengths from the Safe Zone.

Radiation guiding had the lowest guiding intensity, but at the same time, it required immense expertise. Even if one was a team Guide capable of guiding the entire team, since each had a designated charge, they needed the proficiency to aim accurately at a single person.

To prepare for any situation, each Esper had to wear a wavelength absorption device on their arm that could recognize specific wavelengths. It was an invention that represented the pinnacle of modern civilization, but conversely, it was also the turning point where the place for Guides gradually began to shrink.

The machine, designed to absorb wavelengths that matched the wavelength residing in the body first, only produced a proper effect when guiding was repeated at a certain level or higher, even if someone was designated as a charge.

To achieve that, steady guiding beyond just mucosal contact between the designated Guide and Esper was essential.

The Guides sitting in the Safe Zone adjacent to the arena watched the movements of their assigned Espers very closely. They were simultaneously performing their role as Guides while also looking for feedback to give regarding the matches.

Jaechan did not take his eyes off Han Kang for even a moment.

Since Jaechan became a Guide, Han Kang’s skills had become even more superior. Not only had his speed in freezing and melting ice increased, but he had also become very adept at releasing his abilities by utilizing surrounding objects.

As Jaechan watched Han Kang grow bit by bit, he couldn’t control his fluttering heart. The moment he placed his hand on his chest and stroked downward, his eyes locked right with Han Kang’s.

Han Kang looked at him, gave a wide grin, and winked.

“Did he just wink at you?”

Ji Sangtaek, who must have seen it too, asked with a look of disgust.

“Are you two still in the honeymoon phase? I heard you guys got married before coming to the Center. Why are you still like this?”

“Oh, what do you mean married.”

Jaechan rubbed the back of his neck, feeling bashful.

Pretending to stare straight ahead again, Jaechan kept his eyes on Han Kang and tried desperately to control his pounding heart. It wasn’t the first time seeing him train, but it was a problem that he looked so obviously smitten every time he watched.

The current training was preparation for PvP. It was a training session Han Kang particularly focused on, as he had eventually gone into a rampage after meeting Barbara in the last Olympics.

Since he was a major asset then and now, Han Kang’s match management ability was extremely important. And Han Kang engaged in the training with his teeth bared, recalling the interview he had given at the last Olympics.

‘I don’t know why I have to give my thoughts on this gold medal; it’s not like I’m the one who won it. I’m too embarrassed to walk around with it on my neck, so if we meet again, I’ll win with my own skill next time.’

It was a statement that had drawn a heated reaction at the time for being rude, and if he didn’t do well this time, he was sure to face all sorts of mockery.

Jaechan didn’t want to see that happen. He unconsciously put strength into his eyes and watched Han Kang. Whenever he discovered a new technique, he let out a gasp of “Wow.”

Ice crystals began to cluster densely around Han Kang’s arms. Like armor, the ice wrapping around his arms and legs grew thicker and larger until it completely enveloped his body. In that state, Han Kang charged toward the PvP training robots in the enemy base.

The speed at which the ice shattered and regenerated was faster than the speed at which the opponent fell and got back up. The force of his smashing blows was terrifying. The robots were already broken and rolling around, yet Han Kang charged recklessly toward the robots in front.

“But will that work against Barbara too?”

“If he freezes it faster than she can melt it, it should be okay. Barbara is getting up there in age now.”

“True, Han Kang is still in his prime. Hey, look at him. He’s practically flying.”

When Jaechan looked back at the front following Ji Sangtaek’s constant commentary, there was no one where Han Kang had been. Since Espers were born with basic physical reinforcement abilities and their movements became incredibly agile, it was a common occurrence to lose track of them.

However, the word “flying” was a bit puzzling, so Jaechan looked up at the ceiling and found Han Kang actually floating in mid-air.

“What? How is he floating? Can he fly now, too?”

He was in the middle of wildly letting his imagination run away with him, wondering if an additional ability had manifested and given him the power of flight.

“The new rookie is using telekinesis.”

“Ah.”

Ji Sangtaek’s single sentence completely extinguished the sparks of his imagination.

Whether they were finally finding their rhythm, Han Kang, unlike the rookie who remained on the ground, was freely creating ice in the air, turning it into weapons, and pouring down attacks indiscriminately.

Kang Chanbit, standing beside Han Kang, transformed the ice into explosive rounds. Bang, bang! It felt like he might go deaf from the loud explosions. Around the time the air inside the training room repeatedly froze cold and then returned to normal.

“Jaechan.”

“Yes.”

Jaechan emitted a wavelength toward Han Kang. The wavelength that extended straight out reached Han Kang immediately. Han Kang, who had been breathing hard in the air, let out a long breath.

A smile blossomed on the lips of Han Kang, who tilted his head and looked down at him. Fortunately, it seemed the wavelength was working properly.

It had been about two weeks since he stopped taking the medicine. So far, no significant signs had appeared, but perhaps because of that, Jaechan was more anxious.

He worried about what might happen if an abnormality occurred as the Olympics grew closer.

At the same time, he firmly held onto Han Kang’s words that he trusted him rather than medicine. Recently, the Center had demanded he switch medications, saying a new drug had been released, and Jaechan had informed Han Kang of everything.

Han Kang had said he would keep the new medicine given by the Center himself. As a result, Jaechan had no medicine left. Whether he was simply naive or just hadn’t hidden any away, Jaechan had been guiding Han Kang without medicine for a full two weeks.

He put strength into his fingertips and shot the wavelength a bit more powerfully.

Meanwhile, the electronic board on the ceiling of the training room announced that a new training session would proceed. The text that read ‘PvP’ flipped over and changed to the words ‘Territory Capture’.

It was one of the most popular Esper competition events, officially known as a ‘Domain Scuffle’.

It was an event in which they had achieved a complete victory against Japan in the last Olympics. Han Kang especially enjoyed this game, and at that, a smile blossomed on Jaechan’s lips.

“I think we’re done.”

At Ji Sangtaek’s words, Jaechan withdrew the wavelength. Simultaneously, Han Kang descended to the floor and drew a large circle over his head while looking at Jaechan. It was just common guiding during numerous training sessions, but thanks to Han Kang praising him like that, he felt even better.

Beep— Beep— Beep—.

A rhythmic warning sound woke the training room. Before long, Bang! A signal flare went off. Blue and red lights turned on respectively on the combat suits of the Espers.

Even though the teams were divided without warning, the Espers moved their bodies quickly and began expanding their territory rapidly. This time, too, Han Kang and the rookie were on the same team.

“Seongbin is matching well with Kang now.”

Jaechan, who had been watching them closely, turned to Ji Sangtaek as soon as he heard his words. To anyone watching, it wasn’t that the rookie was matching well, but that Han Kang was going easy on him.

Continuously calling his name to let him know the timing and telling him which techniques to use and how, he was meticulously making eye contact with Kim Seongbin to exchange signals even while creating ice to expand the land.

That kind of play was one of the things not done in actual matches. Coordinating every single thing took a lot of effort, and while coordinating like that, they might actually get attacked by the opponent or lose the territory or flags they had barely seized.

Despite having coaxed Han Kang to act like a hyung, Jaechan spoke in an unintentionally grumbling tone.

“It looks like Kang is going easy on him.”

“As expected of his honey.”

“It’s true. Kang is teaching him.”

“Hey, then Han Kang should be the one teaching him. To suppress the spirit of that little brat.”

Han Kang doing that wasn’t a given. It was because he was going out of his way to look after the rookie even during his own busy training time.

“Ah, well, that’s true.”

However, he couldn’t keep nitpicking, so Jaechan reluctantly nodded his head. Ji Sangtaek chuckled and looked back and forth between Kim Seongbin and Han Kang.

“That kid is going to grow really well. Look, as soon as Han Kang stuck to him and started teaching him just now, they synchronized perfectly, even though it’s only been a short while. That wasn’t possible until last week. Part of it is because Kang is a good teacher, but it’s mostly because the kid absorbs everything so well that Kang finds it fun to teach him. Look, your husband is grinning because he’s so happy.”

Husband—he keeps calling him husband…

Jaechan ignored Ji Sangtaek’s mischievous teasing and looked at Han Kang. He had noticed Han Kang’s mood changes, which Ji Sangtaek mentioned, long ago. Han Kang, who was giving signals, was laughing happily, and the trace of annoyance from earlier had already vanished.

Regardless of what happened, since they had a long race to run together, it was quite a relief that the reasons for annoyance had decreased. Just as Jaechan was grinning, thinking that everything was for the best.

Crack—!

Along with the eeriness of someone’s wavelength spreading out immensely,

“Han Kang…!”

Han Kang, who had been in the air alongside Kim Seongbin, plummeted to the floor.