Beyond The Control

Chapter 75

Han Song-i broke the silence.

“…It’s over, right?”

The question was directed at the team leader. He nodded and patted Han Song-i’s shoulder.

“Yeah. Everyone did a great job.”

“Aaah-“

At those words, as if the tension had been released, people began to slump down one by one. Normally, they would have been busy teasing each other about weak legs or wetting their pants, but today they seemed to lack even that energy. Everyone looked haggard, even wretched, like nothing more than rags.

The team leader put the final touch on the true ending. He walked steadily to one side, cut open the boss mob’s belly that had somewhat retained its shape, and reached his hand inside.

For a moment, though, the team leader seemed to hesitate. The team members watching this were once again gripped by tension.

“What’s wrong, Team Leader?”

Once again, Han Song-i was the first to speak. Soon, the team leader turned towards us, and those who had been sitting down got up.

“Take a look at this.”

As the team leader approached, he held out both hands. In his left hand was something clearly red like a rhinoceros’s eye, which was the monster’s core, and in his right hand was…

“What’s this? It looks like fish roe,” Jae-young hyung remarked.

I agreed with his description. At first glance, it looked similar to the core, but it was smaller and appeared soft like jelly. Suddenly, I felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

“When I tried to extract the core, I felt this alongside it. I’ve read about it in some reports… but this is the first time I’m seeing it in person.”

Hearing those words, a memory flashed like a light bulb turning on. It wasn’t déjà vu; I remembered a similar incident and immediately told the team leader.

“I’ve seen it before.”

At those words, everyone’s gaze turned to me.

“You’ve seen it? When?”

“I think it was during the second rookie raid. Back then, Gitae hyung also extracted it along with the boss mob’s core. It was a bit smaller, and there were several of them.”

I suddenly thought that among the various reports the team leader had seen, the one I wrote at that time might have been included. Soon, those words flowed from the team leader’s mouth.

“Now that you mention it, I think I’ve seen it. How did you handle it then?”

“Well…”

“Can’t remember?”

Of course I can. I vividly remember Han Song-i crushing it like jelly with her foot.

…It was vivid, but Han Song-i didn’t seem to recall. Seeing her looking at me with wide eyes, it seemed she genuinely didn’t remember, not just pretending. Thinking that the subject wasn’t important, I just stated the key point.

“We stepped on it to get rid of it. Some were damaged when extracting the core, and since it came from the monster’s body, we felt uneasy about it.”

And then, surprisingly, the team leader, after licking his lips once, made an unexpected confession.

“…Actually, I think I destroyed it too.”

“…”

“I felt something soft being crushed. Ahem, ahem.”

After clearing his throat, the team leader asked me again.

“Nothing unusual happened then, right?”

“No.”

If anything unusual had happened, it would have been recorded in the report, and if the team leader had seen that part, he wouldn’t have forgotten it.

“Then we should get rid of this too.”

Plop- The things in the team leader’s hands fell to the ground and were immediately crushed underfoot. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t nervous at all, but fortunately, nothing unusual happened.

Then the team leader looked at us and said a few more words.

“Everyone did well. Let’s go get some nourishing food.”

It was the words we had been longing to hear for days.

As soon as we exited the dungeon, the team leader contacted the guild first. While he briefly reported the situation, the rest of us collapsed into chairs.

I was also half out of it. Perhaps the tension had completely dissipated only after leaving the dungeon, as all the strength left my body and I didn’t have the energy to move a finger.

That wasn’t all. Whether it was due to the release of tension or not, a headache returned. The back of my head felt tight, and my eyeballs throbbed.

When in pain, taking action quickly is always the best. I popped both headache medicine and painkillers into my mouth and looked for water when I heard Song Ji-hyeok’s voice from beside me.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“Just a bit of a headache. Do you have water?”

A water bottle from his backpack was handed to me. I said thanks and immediately swallowed the medicine with water.

Finally, the team leader got in the car, and we were able to leave this place. When we arrived a week ago, we didn’t have time to look around, but now I could see wide, irrigated rice fields spread out, perhaps a farming village. A red sunset was spreading on the horizon.

It was beautiful like a scene from a painting, but beautiful and not beautiful at the same time. The time spent in the dungeon had been so grueling that I never wanted to come near this place again.

Soon, snoring sounds echoed from here and there. I’d like to sleep deeply too, but I still had an ultimate duty left. It was to guide Song Ji-hyeok.

Today too, Song Ji-hyeok’s energy consumption had been enormous. Especially in the room with the boss mob, unlike his usual casual demeanor, he had attacked with all his might. So I could imagine his internal state without even looking.

No matter how effective the medicine was, it wouldn’t work instantly, but believing in the placebo effect, I said to Song Ji-hyeok in a small voice.

“Move to the inside. I’ll guide you.”

Song Ji-hyeok moved to the adjacent compartment without a word. He looked like an obedient child for a moment, which made me smile, but it didn’t last long due to the persistent headache. Anyway, Song Ji-hyeok looked at me with an expectant expression and asked.

“Where are we doing it?”

“What?”

“The guiding. Where are we doing it?”

When I understood his meaning, my face flushed with heat. It was fortunate that the team members had fallen asleep and didn’t hear this.

No, correction. I felt someone’s senses perk up, but I deliberately ignored it and answered as if nothing was wrong.

“We’ll hold hands.”

Before Song Ji-hyeok could flare up and argue, I preempted him.

“I know you’re still okay. And doing it a bit inadequately now will make it burn hotter when we do it properly later. Don’t you think?”

Then I added a few words, whispering into his ear.

“We can’t go all the way here. Think about my social standing a bit.”

I could say this because I knew Song Ji-hyeok was still in a manageable state. If he had been on the verge of going berserk, I would have taken off my pants regardless of who was around.

“So we’ll finish it in the guiding room, right?”

“Y-yeah…”

“I’ll look forward to how amazing you’ll make it.”

“…Just give me your hand.”

I grumbled in response and took Song Ji-hyeok’s hand first. Just as I started guiding, I was startled by the feeling of my energy being forcibly sucked in, and I let go of his hand.

“What’s wrong?”

“Huh? …It’s nothing.”

My heart, which had been calm, suddenly started pumping blood rapidly. I was dumbfounded by this unexpected occurrence.

What was that just now?

I looked down at my hand once, then at Song Ji-hyeok’s hand. There didn’t seem to be anything strange or stuck to it.

“If you’re not trying to kill me, stop stalling.”

Saying that, Song Ji-hyeok grabbed my hand. I was startled for a moment without realizing it, but I managed to avoid pulling my hand away.

Although his tone wasn’t particularly angry, the slightly raised eyebrows showed he was serious. Feeling rushed by the realization that there was no more time to hesitate, I said,

“Sorry. I’ll do it again.”

After wiping my other hand, which had already become sweaty, on my pants, I carefully resumed guiding.

As expected, it was the same this time. Although I wasn’t caught off guard and could avoid being startled, I still felt my energy flowing strongly without my will. If I had to compare it to something, it felt similar to someone sticking a large syringe into my forearm and pulling the piston to draw out blood.

I found myself looking at Song Ji-hyeok. He was staring back at me, but I didn’t sense any attempt to take control of the guiding.

As a result, my already aching head became more confused. Even when he was in his worst state, right after returning from the BK dungeon, Song Ji-hyeok hadn’t attempted reverse guiding. Now, when it wasn’t as serious as then, it was unthinkable that he would do something that would cause the greatest distrust between pairs.

Then how should I explain this phenomenon?

Suddenly, the pain in my head intensified, and my vision blurred. I wanted to press my temples, but remembering that Song Ji-hyeok was still looking at me, I desperately endured it.