I Don't Like This Esper - Chapter 168

Even without the potion’s effect, the situation felt truly horrifying. Anyone could see that the monster was harboring some kind of dangerous power.

‘Should I run?’

But even if she somehow managed to escape from the monster’s grasp, Hana and the bride would still be left in the same space.

It would only be a matter of time before the two of them were discovered.

The area was not particularly large, and they were merely hiding behind the ceiling pipes on the opposite side from the cabinet.

 ‘I have to…… stop it.’

Kim Soo-Jeong’s motto in life had always been, Never do anything that draws attention. Live a long, quiet life.

And now she was being asked to risk her life against a monster that seemed far beyond anything she could handle.

She clenched her fists tightly, suppressing the urge to turn around and flee at once.

Bulge. Bulge.

Meanwhile, the grotesque lumps on the monster continued growing. At a glance, it seemed certain that something terrible would happen once they burst.

“Unnie! Run!”

At that moment, Lee Hana leaped out from her hiding place and let out a scream-like shout.

‘That idiot……!’

The moment the girl who had been hiding put herself in danger, Kim Soo-Jeong felt rage surge all the way to the top of her head.

She nearly shouted, asking what the hell Lee Hana thought she was doing, but barely managed to ignore her so as not to extinguish their last hope.

She needed to ensure that the monster, which was directing its fierce killing intent toward her, continued to ignore Lee Hana.

Thud—!

To her surprise, however, Lee Hana began throwing everything she could grab from the cabinet at the fish-man, whose body had swollen to twice its original size.

Not a single object struck it. But there was no way the fish-man, which was emitting such a vicious aura, could ignore the things flying at it from behind.

The fish-man, which had been glaring at Kim Soo-Jeong as though it were about to tear her apart, whipped its head around.

“You idiot!”

Kim Soo-Jeong urgently clenched her fist and approached the fish-man. She believed she had to draw its attention before it changed targets.

“No! Unnie! You’ll die! You’re going to die! I saw you dying so clearly……!”

Lee Hana screamed as though having a seizure.

Kim Soo-Jeong heard her perfectly, but she could not afford to hesitate. Her strength did not leave her, nor did she feel any urge to flee.

Instead, her thoughts became perfectly clear.

‘I’m going to die……?’

Then what about you?

For a fleeting instant, Kim Soo-Jeong took in Lee Hana’s face, drenched in tears.

‘Why would I die? Even an idiot like you…… is still alive.’

The instant that thought crossed her mind, she gritted her teeth.

She knew it too. This monster, which appeared to have evolved, was dangerous. Perhaps none of her attacks would work against it at all.

But—

As long as it did not kill her in a single blow, then……

Kim Soo-Jeong focused her entire mind once again, gathering everything into one fist.

‘I have to endure.’

Then she drove a punch containing all her strength into the back of the fish-man’s neck.

Thud—!

Kim Soo-Jeong knew that her attack had connected properly.

But she felt nothing that suggested she had defeated the enemy. The spot where her fist had struck—the bulging lump that had been growing larger—caved inward.

But that was all.

It merely sank into the shape of her fist, as though she had punched a soft sofa. Nothing else changed.

“Ruuuun!”

At that moment, Lee Hana shouted again.

At her warning, Kim Soo-Jeong stopped thinking and hurriedly retreated. But it was already too late.

Whoooosh—!

For an instant, Kim Soo-Jeong thought a massive shadow had fallen over her vision.

Then something touched her stomach.

It appeared incredibly slow. But even though she could see it, even though she could feel it approaching, she could not evade it.

The moment she realized there was no way to dodge, she understood that this distorted perception was like the flash of memories people experienced at the moment of death.

She knew that if this hit her, she would die.

But there was no way to avoid it.

‘Hana has to run…….’

With that as her final thought, she felt an explosive pain as though she had been struck by a train and was sent flying into the wall.

Boom—!

The wall she struck was made of thick concrete, so she did not break through it. Even so, her body was embedded more than halfway into the wall.

She did not immediately lose consciousness, but she could tell that her body had been destroyed so badly that she could no longer move.

“Cough…….”

Kim Soo-Jeong felt a burning pain in her esophagus and spat out the thick blood rising in her throat.

[The effect of Antidote Liquor has expired.]

‘It was poisoned too…….’

Realizing that the powerful attack had also contained poison, she lowered her head.

Strangely, the pain was not that severe.

When she realized that every sensation in her body—including pain—had disappeared, she gave a bitter smile.

‘This is really bad…….’

But her idle thoughts ended there.

She struggled to lift her head again and saw Lee Hana bursting into tears, while the fish-man strode toward her.

‘Hana wouldn’t survive even one hit like I did, would she? No, I didn’t really survive it either. But Hana…….’

She might die even faster than Kim Soo-Jeong, who was already dying.

‘Lee Hana…….’

The moment she thought that, something even hotter than the blood continuously rising through her esophagus surged from deep within her.

Kim Soo-Jeong tried to reach out, but she could not move beyond the faint trembling of her fingertips.

‘Am I supposed to…… just watch again?’

At that moment, her deepest trauma resurfaced.

In truth, Kim Soo-Jeong still had one item remaining.

It had been left to her by a former colleague and was a consumable item called [Resolve].

The team leader who possessed two Resolves—the first person Kim Soo-Jeong had ever followed—had died a futile death because of a Code Red–Class monster that appeared without warning.

To help Kim Soo-Jeong escape, the team leader had left her this Resolve, which was no different from her own life.

‘This is a consumable item that lets you use strength beyond your limits for about ten minutes. The side effects are pretty severe, but…… Soo-Jeong, if I can’t hold it back anymore and the monster reaches you, use it to escape! Run as far away as you can! This item will allow you to use the strength of one class above your own, but…… it only lasts ten minutes. You understand what that means, right?’

Back then, Kim Soo-Jeong had cowardly failed to suggest that they each take one and escape together.

Even though she had noticed the team leader’s hand trembling as she placed the Resolve into Kim Soo-Jeong’s palm.

Perhaps the team leader had hoped Kim Soo-Jeong would accept the Resolve and remain beside her.

But after receiving the item, Kim Soo-Jeong had run away exactly as ordered, and the team leader had ultimately returned as a corpse.

She could not describe how much emptiness and self-loathing had consumed her afterward.

‘Live quietly and live long.’

That had never truly been her motto.

It was merely an assignment imposed upon her by the bitter, cold reality she had learned.

Ah…….

Whenever she thought of the team leader, the pain was unbearable, so she had convinced herself that she hated people who recklessly put themselves forward.

But who was the person she truly hated?

Was it not herself—the woman who had used the team leader she respected and followed as a shield, fled alone, and then fallen into depression?

Grind.

Kim Soo-Jeong raised her lowered head.

Then she caught the [Resolve], which she always kept inside the socket of her necklace, between her teeth.

Crunch. Crunch.

She placed the white, pill-like object into her mouth and chewed with all the strength she had left before swallowing it. The Resolve slowly broke apart and settled against the tip of her tongue.

And that was all.

Nothing changed.

“Don’t tell me…….”

For a moment, the empty thought that it might have been fake crossed her mind.

But she soon realized that her heart was no longer pounding as though it would burst.

Then sensation gradually returned to her body.

A searing pain spread through her—but that too quickly faded.

Slowly, she pulled her arm free from where it had been embedded in the wall.