AAGULT Ch 128

Chapter 128

[3 Days 21 Hours 43 Minutes 12 Seconds]

It had been more than a day since Jaeha had wandered the interior of the gate without joining up with anyone. He cautiously observed the outside through a window, then lifted his head to glance at the electronic display that still covered the sky.

<Past Team: 30/52 │ Future Team: 46/49 │ Monster Team: 76/101>

…No matter how positively he tried to spin it, the situation didn’t look good. The Future Team seemed to be holding on relatively well, but the state of the Past Team was disastrous. It would’ve been nice if he could just run into someone and help them…

“Ugh…”

“Are you alright?”

The problem was, Jaeha’s team wasn’t in good shape either.

As Jaeha peered out the window, he quickly moved to support Geonwoo, helping him lean against a wall with Miae’s assistance. Miae clicked her tongue.

“He’s suffering from a guidance deficiency. I knew it the moment he started recklessly using his abilities without a guide.”

“You were just praising me earlier for doing well…!”

“Haha, let’s just rest a bit before moving on…”

Seeing the two bicker, Jaeha awkwardly chuckled and stepped between them.

“Will you be okay? Jaeha, your overload rate is at 79%, too.”

The Association really did take care of people well. Among the items issued individually was a device that showed, in numbers, how much guidance one needed and how much the psychic waves were eating away at the body. Jaeha found it fascinating.

Currently, Geonwoo was at 87%, Miae at 81%. He was at least a little better at 79%.

But honestly…

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”

He felt completely fine.

Jaeha was someone long accustomed to chronic guidance deficiency. Of course, there was a familiar kind of pain that gnawed at his body like it was chewing him up bit by bit. Honestly, it hurt more than usual since it had been a while—but in a strange way, that pain felt almost welcome. It felt like a reminder, a whip lashing at the part of him that had grown too complacent and peaceful lately.

“Not sure if Baek Beomwoo running off on his own was a good thing or a bad thing…”

“…Yeah.”

He had been putting things away when he heard that and responded with a bitter smile. It was true.

‘Boss, where are you going?’

‘There’s something I need to check.’

Right after informing them that this was a gate where timelines were mixed, he left, leaving only those words behind. He disappeared before anyone could stop him. Because it had looked so natural, they had no choice but to suspect whether he’d known everything from the beginning and had his own plan.

<Past Team: 30/52 │ Future Team: 46/49 │ Monster Team: 76/101>

<Past Team: 30/52 │ Future Team: 46/49 │ Monster Team: 75/101>

<Past Team: 30/52 │ Future Team: 46/49 │ Monster Team: 74/101>

Even so, ever since he’d left, the number of the Monster Team had been decreasing rapidly. Even now—look. The numbers were visibly dropping as if they’d encountered a horde of monsters.

Should they be worried that someone so capable of cutting down monsters had left the group and couldn’t receive any guidance? Or should they be relieved that someone so unpredictable had voluntarily gone off on his own?

Jaeha, who had been staring at the display for a while, slowly lowered his gaze and scanned the buildings around him. Currently, Jaeha and his companions had entered a shabby supermarket beneath a traditional tiled roof. They were there partly to replenish food supplies, and also because the surrounding high-rise buildings made it a good hiding place.

“Jaeha, have this at least.”

“Ah… thank you.”

Miae, who had been watching over Geonwoo—who had fallen asleep almost instantly with his gaunt face, having not slept for over a day since entering the gate—walked over to Jaeha and handed him a chocolate bar she’d found inside. He carefully accepted it.

“Miae Esper-nim, um…”

“Just call me sunbae.”*

“Th-then, when did you become an Esper? Was it maybe during a previous gate opening…?”

She stayed silent for a moment, perhaps understanding why Jaeha was asking after having shared the structure of this gate with him earlier. Then, with a sheepish smile, she slowly opened her mouth.

“It’s been about 25 years. Honestly, when this gate opened before, I was a newbie and didn’t have much experience, so I only heard about it secondhand. A few people I knew, including my mentor, came in here…”

She looked up at the sky. More precisely, her gaze seemed fixed on the Past Team.

<Past Team: 30/52 │ Future Team: 46/49 │ Monster Team: 74/101>

<Past Team: 29/52 │ Future Team: 46/49 │ Monster Team: 74/101>

The numbers changed again.

“…I’m not sure if I’ll get to see them.”

“Are you okay?”

“You’ll understand when you’re around my age, Jaeha. In this field, stuff like this happens all the time.”

“…”

Truthfully, it had been a few years since Jaeha awakened as an Esper, but gates and monsters still felt like distant concepts to him. That hadn’t changed even after deciding to join the Association as an Esper. Typically, mental-type Espers worked outside of gates anyway.

Was this the flip side of the Association, which built a public image of glamorous and heroic Espers by selectively showing their best moments? Or was it simply the natural course of things, given how dangerous the job was?

“Still, assuming what Baek Beomwoo said is true, it might not be all bad.”

“Not all bad…?”

“We have information on our side.”

She replied while taking a big bite out of the chocolate bar, then pointed toward the sky with the half-eaten treat.

“The fact that the Past Team lost so many members on the first day probably means they were overwhelmed by how strange this gate is. They didn’t even have time to prepare for facing mental-type monsters. But the number should stop decreasing soon since we know 26 people survived last time.”

“…”

She wasn’t wrong. Jaeha silently fiddled with the chocolate bar in his hand, listening carefully.

“And the fact that 26 people made it out—well, not unscathed, but still made it—means it’s possible to escape the gate. There wasn’t even a break, right?”

“…”

Break—when a gate opens and nobody clears it within a certain time, the monsters inside pour out into the world. In the previous incident, that hadn’t happened.

“The real problem is us—the Future Team.”

“…The Future Team.”

She hadn’t spelled it out, but it wasn’t hard for Jaeha to understand what she meant.

—By the way, even if the gate isn’t cleared, one of the exit conditions is when one team out of the three hits zero! If you’re really scared and want out fast, you could always just kill each other! Fighting~

According to the self-proclaimed boss, there was a way to leave the gate without clearing it: when any one of the three teams reaches zero. Since half the Past Team had returned alive, the only ones who could’ve hit zero were the Future Team or the Monster Team.

So, yeah. Even if the gate wasn’t cleared, if the Future Team had been completely wiped out… and if the reason the break didn’t occur in the past was simply because it was scheduled to happen in the future’s timeline…

“…But the Past Team survivors said they did clear the gate. During the briefing.”

Jaeha tried to counter, cautiously steering the conversation toward a more optimistic angle.

“Maybe they couldn’t admit that they survived by killing off the others. So they agreed on a different story.”

“…”

Her implication was clear: the possibility that the Past Team had slaughtered the Future Team to escape the gate.

Even though the Past Team was currently outnumbered, that possibility couldn’t be dismissed.

“Of course, it’s not something we can conclude outright, and I know how offensive that assumption might sound, but considering multiple possibilities helps us stay alive.”

“…Right.”

Miae hesitated over where to throw the empty wrapper, then just shoved it into her pocket. She smiled warmly and patted Jaeha’s back.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry too much. Everything will work out, Jaeha.”

“Urgh…”

Because of her power and her build as a brawny combat-type Esper, Jaeha’s body swayed from the impact. He let out a soft grunt, and Miae laughed heartily.

“Normally, this is something a mentor should take care of while entering gates together. You said you joined suddenly without going through the Esper training program, right?”

“Yes.”

“Once we get out of this gate, apply for a mentor. I’ll look after you myself.”

“Ah… thank you.”

They’d only known each other for about a day, but having shared hardship inside the gate, Jaeha had already grown attached to her. Being offered that kind of support was genuinely appreciated.

“Wow, that’s wild. I’m at an age where I could be someone’s mentor… My mentor was a good person too.”

“Was it the person who entered this gate before going on maternity leave?”

“Yeah. Before taking a break for pregnancy, she entered this gate one last time. She didn’t make it back.”

“…”

Something about that explanation felt oddly familiar. Jaeha furrowed his brow in thought. He’d definitely heard it somewhere before. Who was it…? Who could it have been?

“Considering what’s happening to the Past Team, I don’t know if she’s still alive, but she looked exactly like… Uh, wait—what?”

Miae was murmuring to herself, caught in a memory, when she suddenly let out a shocked gasp while looking out the window.

Jaeha snapped out of his thoughts and turned to follow her gaze.

“…”

“…”

Between the densely packed buildings, a figure was walking cautiously while holding someone in their arms. The shredded restraining suit and massive build made it unmistakably clear who it was.

‘My wife was an Esper.’

‘She entered the gate while pregnant, and in the end, that was how it happened.’

That was right. Why hadn’t he realized it sooner?

“That’s… is Kwon Ido a guide? Right?”

“…”

“Why is Kwon Ido… Oh.”

Miae, muttering in shock, suddenly quieted. She seemed to have realized the relationship between Kwon Ido and the woman he was carrying.

While Jaeha stood frozen in place, Miae bolted out of the supermarket, likely intending to help.

But Jaeha couldn’t bring himself to move.

It wasn’t just that he now understood why Kwon Ido had come into this gate—

It was also because the woman in his arms didn’t look alive at all…

Funfacts & Notes:

• Guidance deficiency (가이딩 부족): In this universe, Espers require “guidance” (likely from a compatible partner or guide) to properly use their powers without physical damage. Overload rates reflect how much strain their abilities are putting on them. 
• Esper training & Mentorship system: Like apprenticeships, new Espers usually get assigned to a senior (“sunbae”) to guide them through dangerous missions. 
• Break (브레이크): A phenomenon where a gate unleashes monsters into the real world if not cleared in time—classic dungeon failure condition! 
• Past, Future, Monster Teams: The gate’s twist includes mixed timelines where people from different temporal points are thrown into the same scenario. This affects trust, knowledge, and survival strategies.