NOstalk's Topics (2)

honestly the manhwa on chapter 32-33 will be different from the novel, which there'll b SA while the novel didn't included it at all. another factor is if i remember correctly, woon yoogyoel was supposed to be kidnapped with damin (gye junmin lil sis) by the anti-center organisation. Before going to the dungeon and the kidnapping, there was supposed to be a scene where woon yoogyeol requested to live apart from gye junmin cuz of the esper's "spoiler" vision about him dying in 3 months, so like, woon yoogyeol just feel bad and wanted to distance himself with gye junmin so that junmin could life better even after yoogyeol have passed away, then the kidnapping event happened. (sorry if the explanation is repeating or unclear).
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> The kidnapping part :

Just then, the Esper residing on the 5th floor abruptly grabbed Damin’s neck. Damin was dragged away before I could react. As I tried to run to Damin, someone grabbed both my arms from behind and stopped me. I hesitated as I was about to subdue them by elbowing their solar plexus. It was a pregnant woman in her third trimester.

“That bastard, I can’t even be satisfied even if I chew him up. It’s so fucking frustrating, huh?”

A girl who looked about middle school age muttered in a humming tone as if whistling. The girl, no, Ji Seonjae slowly walked towards me.

“It’s only fair to give back what you receive, right?”

“Don’t touch Damin.”

“Why? I lost a lot because of that bastard Gye Joonmin. So it would only be fair if that bastard lost something too, wouldn’t it? Isn’t that a very reasonable way of thinking?”

“Shut up.”

I shouted at Ji Seonjae, who was spouting nonsense. He covered his mouth with one hand and giggled.

“Come to think of it, you owe me something too. Then you should pay it back, right? Yeah, it’s right to settle debts clearly.”

Suddenly, everything went white before my eyes. I stumbled, unable to withstand the impact that hit my head. I tried to maintain my balance, but it was no use. I collapsed to the floor. Damin’s scream was the last thing I heard before I lost consciousness.

I blinked, trying to clear my blurry vision. Slowly, things came into focus, and my surroundings entered my view.

I saw earthen walls and a ceiling. It resembled a dugout rather than a building. No matter how I looked at it, it wasn’t a structure you’d find in the Center. How did I end up in a place like this…?

The events before I lost consciousness came back to me one by one. Startled, I hurriedly sat up. Dizziness immediately washed over me.

I lowered my head and caught my breath. I dry heaved repeatedly. My head still throbbed. I felt nauseous, like I had been hit somewhere vital.

So, on the way back from buying a cake with Damin at the bakery on the first floor, we were surrounded by people controlled by Ji Seonjae, and while we were talking… Wait, Damin, where’s Damin?

Enduring the pain, I looked around. I saw Damin lying limply right next to me. I hurriedly checked his condition.

“Damin… Damin!”

His breathing was even, and his pulse was steady. Fortunately, he seemed to be okay.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I assessed the situation. The single entrance was blocked by bars. It was structured like a holding cell.

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> The torture part and Gye junmin rescuing them :

His characteristic sarcastic and grating tone was familiar. His voice was different, but I was certain. As expected, my guess was correct.

Instead of answering, I glared at Ji Seonjae. They said there were about seven of Ji Seonjae’s remaining followers. There were three here now. It was a small number, but that didn’t mean we could handle them. Protecting Damin and fending off three Espers was impossible.

“Ugh!”

“O, Oppa!”

Suddenly, with a strong impact, my face was turned. Ji Seonjae, who had slapped me, chuckled and lightly rotated his wrist.

The pain was beyond stinging; it felt like my bones were shattering. I felt like screaming. I gritted my teeth and desperately endured it.

This was the result of being hit with the back of his hand, not even his palm. If it had been a fist, my bones might have broken or my teeth might have fallen out. Should I consider this fortunate?

I hugged Damin tighter so he wouldn’t see what was happening. A pitiful trembling was transmitted from within my arms.

“Damin, it’s okay. It’s nothing.”

“Is it really nothing?”

He smirked and then immediately slapped my other cheek. A sharp ringing in my ears and dizziness washed over me.

I’ve fought with Gye Joonmin so much that I prided myself on having a pretty good tolerance for pain. But I guess not. I almost groaned, unable to bear the pain. I gritted my teeth and held on.

My vision swayed wildly. I couldn’t hold my head up straight. I desperately squeezed out my voice and whispered to Damin.

“Damin, don’t open your eyes. Okay?”

I felt Damin nod. I patted his back, reassuring him.

Watching us, Ji Seonjae sneered.

“Wow, are you in a position to think about others right now? Are you saying someone else is more important than yourself?”

“…”

“You know, I find people like this the most disgusting.”

I was hit in the face again. This time, it was a fist. Unable to withstand the impact, I fell sideways. I momentarily forgot how to breathe from the excruciating pain.

I desperately swallowed the screams that threatened to spill out. I had to endure it. Damin would be scared. Things like this can become lasting traumas if not handled carefully. Our Damin is still young, I shouldn’t let him see such a horrible sight because of me.

Let’s buy some time, even a little. Even though Han Kijeong’s search range was reduced due to the Gate, he was still an S-rank clairvoyant Esper. He would find out that we were here somehow. I just had to hold on until then. This was a battle against time.

One of my eyes wouldn’t open properly, probably swelling up. Through my unstable vision, I saw Ji Seonjae crouching in front of me, resting his chin on his hand.

I hit my head on the floor and struggled to catch my breath. Even the simple act of inhaling and exhaling was a struggle.

“By any chance, are you expecting the Center to come and rescue you? I’ll tell you in advance, but giving up futile hope is good for your mental health. I warned you, didn’t I?”

“…”

“The entrance coordinates here will soon be distorted. That’s my Plan A.”

I mustered my remaining strength and raised my head. Ji Seonjae was grinning.

“H…how…”

As I opened my mouth, the blood that had pooled inside flowed out. I spat the blood-tinged saliva onto the floor.

At my question, Ji Seonjae tilted his head like an innocent child. It was an utterly disgusting attitude.

“We have our own secret method. We’ll forcibly activate this Gate and distort the entrance coordinates.”

I had never heard of such a method. Then the Gate that the Center recaptured recently…

“Hmm, did you think there was a separate Gate with distorted entrance coordinates? The Center is so naive. Those guys really don’t use their heads. You agree with that, don’t you?”

“Are you… really saying you can distort… the coordinates?”

I gasped in surprise. Was the environment created by Ji Seonjae from the beginning? That also meant he could create new illegal Gates at will.

If Ji Seonjae’s plan succeeded, many people would suffer again. I remembered Gye Joonmin, who vowed to take revenge for me. And the situation from the last operation, when he was seriously injured and almost went on a rampage.

My chest tightened.

“Of course. We can just create an active Gate and use it as a funding source again. Easy peasy, right?”

“…”

“If we distort the coordinates this time, the Center won’t be able to access it again. It’s better for those idiots to stop trying to figure out the pattern. We’re going with a small elite group from now on.”

“…”

“Aren’t you curious why I’m blabbering all this? It’s because you won’t be able to get out of here anyway.”

“What… do you mean?”

It was definitely strange. There seemed to be some hidden motive in the way he readily revealed information that was close to classified. It was ominous.

“We lost all the guides we had to the Center, didn’t we? So you have to fill those spots. There has to be something in return if we give something, don’t you think?”

Ji Seonjae reached out and grabbed my throat. I twisted my body, trying to escape his grasp. As if to threaten me to stay still, he tightened his grip on my Adam’s apple. The pressure on my windpipe made me cough and splutter. At that moment, all strength drained from my body.

My limbs went limp from the sudden weakness. Not knowing what had happened, I just gasped for breath. Ji Seonjae withdrew his hand and let out a small exclamation.

“Oh, not bad.”

Ji Seonjae’s hand touched my face again. Once more, my strength, or rather, my guiding energy, was sucked out through the contact.

Reverse guiding. It was absurd.

Guiding is a one-way flow from guide to Esper. And that energy is controlled by the guide’s will. There were no exceptions unless it refluxed due to a rejection reaction from imprinting.

But reverse guiding? I had only heard about it in theory; I didn’t know it was actually possible. I didn’t want to find out this way.

“You’re interesting. You’re annoying, but this is not bad.”

“Let… go… of me…!”

“I guess our matching rate is high. The efficiency is quite good. Don’t you want to be my exclusive guide?”

For the first time, I resented my constitution, which showed high matching rates with Espers. I barely overcame the weakness and grabbed Ji Seonjae’s hands that were cupping my face with both of my hands. However, my trembling hands couldn’t push him away.

“I’ll never do it for a bastard like you.”

“It seems that way. But you know, I enjoy forcing people to do things they hate the most.”

Ji Seonjae grabbed my wrists. I struggled and shook him off. But he grabbed my wrists again and twisted them backward. The pain in my bones and joints felt like they were breaking. Suppressing a scream, I yelled.

“Let go! Let go, you son of a bitch!”

“What should I do? You’re asking me to let go. Should I?”

Ji Seonjae chuckled and gestured to the guys behind him. They were also smirking.

“I can let you go if you ask me to. But since I’m a son of a bitch…”

Ji Seonjae’s gaze turned to Damin. At that moment, goosebumps erupted all over my body. No. I desperately grabbed his arm and pleaded.

“No. I was wrong. I’ll do it. I’ll do it, so don’t touch Damin.”

Okay. I gave you a chance, and you clearly chose this yourself, right?”

“Yes, I, I chose it. That’s right.”

I desperately clung to Ji Seonjae. Even if I looked pathetic, I couldn’t help it. Pride? What good was that? As long as Damin was safe, I didn’t care what happened to me. As long as our Damin was okay. So please…….

At that moment, Ji Seonjae and his aides turned their heads to the side almost simultaneously. Even though there was nothing there, the three of them watched a single point with extreme caution.

Soon, the anomaly began. Like paint dropped on water, a heterogeneous color mixed into the empty air and then spread. It was a sight I had seen a few times. This phenomenon appeared when Choi Hanbit transmigrated.

But this was a gate. Choi Hanbit had difficulty transmigrating long distances because of the debuff. But how?

Space split open, and someone jumped down through the gap. It was Gye Joonmin. The center’s espers followed him. Among them were Doshihu and Choi Hanbit, who was covered from head to toe in amplifiers.

Ah……. He came after all. A sense of relief spread throughout my body. Beyond relief, there was even joy.

to you guys who wants to see the novel spoilers
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PRESENT YOOGEOL MEETS PAST GYE JOONMIN :(๑•ㅂ•)و✧

My heart seemed to freeze. My body trembled with shock.

Double eyelids on only one eye, a flowing nose bridge, plump lips, and unfocused eyes. I checked and double-checked because I couldn’t believe it.

Even though he looked different from how I remembered him, I immediately recognized the boy kneeling in front of me.

Gye Joonmin, how could I not recognize you?

“Huu…”

A sound that was somewhere between a sob and a moan escaped my lips. A sound like scraping rusty metal came from my throat.

He seemed to have misinterpreted it, as Gye Joonmin fidgeted.

“Are you hurt? Does it hurt a lot?”

At his words, I unconsciously raised my hand and touched my face. Rough skin, like animal hide, met my touch. Blood and pus were flowing from my forehead and left cheek.

It seemed serious, but strangely, I couldn’t feel anything. It must have been a third-degree burn, so the nerves were dead.

Fortunately, my eyes seemed to be okay. One eyelid was swollen shut, but my vision was intact.

Suddenly, a guess flashed through my mind like lightning. It felt like the misaligned puzzle pieces were suddenly falling into place.

Gye Joonmin and Uju hyung were about ten years apart in age. The Gye Joonmin in front of me now looked to be in his mid-teens. He was probably fifteen. That’s when he said he met Uju hyung, who was being chased by the Anti-Center group.

The Uju hyung that Gye Joonmin remembered had burn scars on his face. And his voice was hoarse and rough.

I slowly lowered my head. Tears fell onto the dirt floor.

It was me, Gye Joonmin. I was your Uju hyung.