9 ~ To His Apartment!

The moment I saw the person standing in front of us, I felt a shiver run down my spine.

It was that man—that uncle figure of mine.

"Seojin. It's nice to see you again," he said, grinning, as if nothing had ever happened between us.

I swallowed hard as I tried to hold myself together. My breaths were becoming shorter and more shallow.

I turned to the rest of my teammates; they looked disturbed as well, but none of them dared say anything. I was the leader of our team, and we would have done better to let someone else handle this situation.

However, I couldn't leave my team like this. They needed me to lead.

Hye Jin and Na Ri were both looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to decide on what to do next.

"Captain, do you see some lady in red?" Soo Min asked quietly.

A lady in red?

What I'm seeing is far different from what she's describing. In fact, I've never seen anything that resembles what she's talking about.

I started to wonder if Soo Min wasn't imagining things or if she was somehow mistaken.

"Lady in red?" Na Ri echoed. "Do you mean the woman you mentioned once before? The one you told us about when we went to the library? Do you mean that vile lady?"

Soo Min didn't answer immediately. Instead, she stared at the figure in front of us.

"But that's not who's in front of us!" Na Ri continued, "It's actually—"

"A monster from my childhood." Hye Jin cut her off.

She took a cautious step back toward the wall. "And now it's come to kill me."

As I watched Hye Jin retreat, I knew exactly what was going on.

This was a monster that could manipulate its mana to take the form of something or someone who had been through a lot of trauma. Monsters created using this method generally targeted the victim's most vulnerable memories, to the point where they could even mimic the voice of their victims.

I looked over to Minseok; unlike the others, Minseok had a blank expression on his face.

I wondered if the fact that Minseok was a Guide made him immune to this attack.

He seemed to be thinking the same thing; as he said, "I don't know... I'm not sure how strong this monster's ability actually is but I don't see anything; just the sounds of numerous footsteps and voices coming from every direction."

So it wasn't just about being immune for Minseok, but he couldn't see anything either.

We all heard a gasp from behind us.

Na Ri was trying to scream, but no sound came out. Her hands were pressed against her throat, as if she wanted desperately to get a breath of air but couldn't.

"This is my fault," Minseok muttered. "I should have realized sooner..."

"What do you say, little Seojin?"

That voice! That disgusting, horrible, filthy voice!

"You're not real!" I hissed.

No matter how many times I thought about it, I still couldn't believe that this was actually happening.

"What are you talking about, little Seojin? Are you saying you don't recognize your own uncle?"

"Seojin! Whatever you're seeing isn't real!" Minseok exclaimed, grabbing my arm.

"I know that!" I snapped.

A soundless laugh came from what looked like my uncle.

That was enough to trigger my rage.

"Oh dear, oh dear, little Seojin. You look so upset. It must hurt to know that you were chosen."

Boom!

The head of the man standing next to me burst open like a rotten peach.

Just when I thought it was all over, several monsters emerged from the carcasses, one after another.

"There's a lot more of them!" Hye Jin shouted.

She created a ball of fire that engulfed the monsters that were right in front of her.

Minseok's eyes went wide at that.

"Everyone, stop killing them with your abilities!" Minseok yelled. "They feed off your mana. If everyone keeps using their powers, they'll grow stronger, and we won't be able to keep up."

I looked around. Everyone else had stopped using their abilities. They were all looking at me.

I felt dizzy. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears and feel a chill run down my spine.

We're toast. We're completely done for.

The monsters were slowly closing in on us.

"What do we do now, captain?" Soo Min asked.

"I'm afraid I haven't got a clue," I said quietly, looking down at the bodies lying on the ground.

So much blood...

Black patches, veins branching out all over the place, and my hands shaking uncontrollably.

Then, in that moment, the answer clicked.

"If we can't fight using our abilities, then we'd have to use our weapons and armor instead," I suggested.

"Yeah. Let's do it," Minseok agreed.

Our current situation was dire. I had to hide the corruption from the rest, at the least until we had finished defeating these monsters.

"First, we have to take care of those monsters. Everyone, focus on defense," I ordered.

"Are you okay, Captain?" Hye Jin asked.

"I'm fine," I replied.

"Let's go, everyone. Focus on defense, then attack!"

*****

After a gruesome seven-hour battle, we finally managed to defeat all the monsters.

Hye Jin, Soo Min, and Na Ri had all been badly injured as well. But because of my support, we were able to get through the whole ordeal without losing anyone.

"Thank you, Captain," they said, bowing their heads. "We owe you our life."

"Don't worry about it, ladies," I reassured them. "You did good. Now, everyone gets some rest. I'm sure the Guide Corps will send someone out here to heal you soon enough."

"Okay," they said in unison and bowed again before walking off toward the ambulance waiting for them.

I watched them go, feeling relieved knowing that the worst was over.

"Seojin, your corruption is getting worse," Minseok warned me.

"It's fine. It's just a little bit," I insisted.

"You don't have much time left," he said, pulling me. "Let's go to my apartment."

"Huh? Why the heck would I do that?" I asked, confused.

"Because if you stay in the dorms, the other Espers and Guides are going to come around asking questions. You can't afford to be seen by others right now. Come on, let's go," he urged.

I nodded and followed him out, and we headed straight back to his apartment.

*****

"Can I ask you something?" I asked him once we were in his bedroom.

"What is it?"

"Why did you choose me?" I asked, slightly nervous.

"Well..." he began, taking off his fingerless gloves. "You're the only one who rejected me outright. Not that I'm complaining. I actually like it."

He smiled at me, and I felt my heart skip a beat in response.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes. "So, what now?"

Minseok forced me up against the wall, pinning my arms above my head.

"Can I guide you?" he whispered into my ear.