Chapter 28

He was staring straight at us.

As if he could see right through our position.

“That guy.”

“He’s the man who was with us.”

His hands were empty.

Is he a magic user, or a martial artist?

Or perhaps he’s from the ability faction.

Yekaterina’s eyes were half-open.

She wasn’t a detection type, and with so many unique cases among the Returners, it was hard to tell.

“What should we do?”

“He seems to know our location. What’s he thinking…?”

Then, he suddenly frowned, as if something was wrong.

“Kaito?”

“Such a petty trick.”

He irritably pushed up his black-rimmed glasses.

The spatial sense he was feeling was being disrupted.

Kaito’s spatial sense was exceptional even among Spatial Ability Users.

Because he was blind, his spatial sense was far superior to ordinary Space Movement users.

That’s why he was one of the top Spatial Ability Users.

That’s why he deliberately chose not to fix his eyesight.

For him, being blind was not a disadvantage but an advantage.

In fact, thanks to this spatial sense, he could easily detect that Ha Si-ho was using her power elsewhere.

But what if his spatial sense was disrupted?

Spatial senses are extremely sensitive.

If such a sensitive sense is twisted, spatial abilities would naturally become useless.

But Kaito was a Returner.

A veteran who had crossed countless battlefields.

He had faced enemies who targeted his spatial sense before.

Of course, he had long since prepared countermeasures.

But the problem was that his opponent was Ha Si-ho.

An S-class Hunter with the absurd talent to interfere with parallel worlds.

She was a once-in-a-millennium talent in the spatial field.

If she continued to grow, Kaito was certain she would become one of the top S-class Hunters on Earth.

What if she decided to disrupt the surrounding space?

Even if she was using her power elsewhere, Kaito would need time to respond.

‘But if she does that, her own spatial sense will be messed up too.’

Is she trying to disrupt my spatial sense to create an opening?

But the trap was set wide.

Even if my spatial sense is disrupted now, the trap won’t disappear.

It’s questionable whether she even realized the trap was there.

‘Wait.’

At that moment, he remembered the man Yekaterina mentioned.

The man standing on the beach, staring at them.

“Yekaterina! It’s a trap!”

As soon as Kaito reached that conclusion, he shouted.

We’ve been had.

I’m the only Spatial Ability User here.

If my spatial sense is disrupted, Spatial Ability Users won’t be able to locate each other, and Space Movement, which relies on spatial sense, will be blocked.

I’m blind.

I can’t move like ordinary Spatial Ability Users who rely on sight.

So, I need time to restore the spatial sense Ha Si-ho disrupted.

The enemy is targeting that time.

The moment my Space Movement is blocked.

That man plans to attack us while we’re immobilized.

That man is checking our location in case Ha Si-ho, whose spatial sense is also messed up, tries to escape.

‘He plans to intercept the moment Space Movement is blocked!’

He’s trying to take away our mobility and force a direct confrontation.

And that means he’s confident in his abilities.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t show himself so openly.

“Kaito.”

“Yekaterina, we need to strike now. In a few seconds, my Space Movement will be useless. Can you do it?”

As Kaito gritted his teeth and asked, sparks began to fly around Yekaterina.

“Anytime.”

“I’ll move right next to that man. We need to finish him in one strike.”

Yekaterina’s eyes sparkled with blue light.

Seeing that, Kaito swallowed hard and immediately activated Space Movement.

Whoosh!

The two disappeared from the sky and reappeared right next to the man.

The man, seemingly unaware of their movement, was still looking at the sky.

One breath.

We’ll decide it in one breath.

Yekaterina’s leg stretched out as she moved with Kaito.

Her fist stopped precisely at her waist.

The lightning from the Brain Dragon’s heart condensed into her fist, turning it pure white.

As the bespectacled man’s gaze slowly fell towards them.

Her fist was already unleashed.

The breath of the Brain Dragon engulfed the man.

The surging lightning blast created a storm, shaking the surrounding trees violently.

And in the midst of it, Yekaterina’s eyes began to narrow.

The man who had taken her Brain Dragon Strike was standing there unharmed.

“This is…”

An illusion.

An illusion created by bending space.

Yekaterina sensed something was wrong.

It definitely wasn’t an illusion earlier.

But when did it change?

Yekaterina’s gaze turned backward.

The moment her gaze reached behind her, she saw two people in the forest.

Kaito and herself, being watched by two others.

Ha Si-ho and an unknown third person, Kang Ha-chan.

At the last moment of Kaito’s Space Movement.

Did they take the man and create an illusion at that moment?

‘To do something so dangerous so boldly.’

Only when facing them directly did I realize.

He was just an ordinary person.

To willingly become bait when his life could be taken at any moment.

There’s a limit to being fearless.

And here we are, messing around with such an ordinary person.

A bit of luck.

A little carelessness.

The urgency of the situation.

Lack of information.

All four are uncertain.

But the moment even one of those four is met with boldness.

This is the result.

‘Just as Kaito said.’

We’ve been had.

Two Returners who survived another world and made it back to Earth, defeated by a half-baked A-class Hunter and an ordinary person.

Thinking that, Yekaterina and Kaito could only watch as Si-ho clasped her hands together.

Splat!

Seeing the two Returners blown away by Si-ho’s Space Movement, I quickly turned to look at Si-ho.

Drip.

Along with the nosebleed that had just started flowing, Si-ho frowned as if feeling dizzy.

“Miss Si-ho, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

She took a short breath and wiped away the nosebleed.

“Everything went as the Manager said.”

“It was just luck.”

Really.

A situation created purely by luck in a hopeless scenario.

Just thinking about that punch the Russian Returner threw at the last moment makes me dizzy.

If Si-ho had been even a little late, my body would have been erased from this world without a trace.

“I’ll move us now.”

Si-ho had blown the two away, but she could only send them as far as her line of sight.

So, the place she sent them was the farthest point on the horizon.

They must have fallen into the sea by now.

But they’re Returners.

They’ll definitely get out and fly back here soon.

“What about your spatial sense?”

“I fixed it right away.”

Si-ho said it was no big deal and grabbed my sleeve.

Now, we just needed to escape before they came back.

“I can’t set coordinates, so I don’t know where we’ll go.”

“It’s okay. I’m with you, right?”

Si-ho looked at my face for a moment and then clenched my sleeve.

“It was the right choice not to run away earlier.”

Was she still worried about that?

Hearing that, I smiled.

“Yes, thanks to you, I’m alive.”

Only then did Si-ho’s face relax.

“Let’s move.”

And with that one word, just as our vision was about to change.

Flash!

An unexpected shock erupted before our eyes.

Boom!

With a strong impact, my body began to roll across the ground.

I couldn’t understand what was happening, and the pain from the impact made me groan.

Ringing-

The ringing in my ears kept numbing my thoughts.

I thought I heard voices through the ringing, but I couldn’t focus.

“Cough, cough.”

As I coughed, I felt something sticky dripping from my mouth.

Frowning, I realized what was flowing from my mouth as my vision slowly cleared.

It was blood.

Not just a few drops, but enough to make me think it was dangerous.

As I slowly lowered my head, I saw that my side was hollowed out, and my intestines were spilling out.

Seeing that, I thought it might be a dream.

But as soon as I recognized it, the intense pain piercing my brain made me feel like I was going to lose consciousness.

“Damn… this… punishment…”

The voice came through the ringing again.

“Gasp, gasp.”

The massive blood loss was causing my strength to drain away.

Damn, damn, damn!

It hurts.

It hurts so much I might die.

In my fading consciousness, I narrowed my vision and turned my head forward.

There, I saw Si-ho, unconscious on the ground, her head crushed under the hand of a Russian soldier woman.

Blood was flowing from Si-ho’s forehead.

She seemed to be seriously injured too.

Damn, what the hell.

What did I not anticipate?

No matter how much I racked my brain, as an ordinary person, that was the limit.

More than that, my consciousness kept fading.

With this much blood loss and injury.

I’m definitely going to die.

I don’t want to die.

I hate the pain.

Of course.

No matter how much I hang out with Returners, I’m just an ordinary citizen.

An F-class Dimensional Being could kill me.

That’s who I am.

Of course, to ordinary humans, they’re like disasters.

My life could be taken with just a gesture from them.

‘Was it greed?’

Wanting to save Returners.

Wanting to give them a place to return to.

Was that dream too big for someone like me, who could die with a single gesture?

Was it just meddling?

I couldn’t even take care of myself.

I quit university and my dreams because of a fake sexual harassment case.

Just because I started hanging out with Returners a bit, I got excited and started dreaming again.

‘Damn it, do I really have to analyze this?’

I just don’t want to see that damn expression on my sister’s face when she returned that day.

Ayu, after meeting Cheonma Cheon Hong-ryun, that thought turned into a dream again.

Ggotbi seemed to be suffering from what happened in Elysium, so I wanted to comfort her.

I wanted to help Si-ho not lose her mother, whom she never wanted to lose again.

That’s all.

I’ve always been like that, and I always will be.

If I can’t even protect the people around me, what kind of big dream can I achieve?

I gritted my teeth, suppressing the pain piercing my head.

What can I do now?

I saw a man passing by.

Black glasses and a cane, as if he were blind.

Soaked in seawater, his face was full of irritation.

“Ha, really, to get caught in my own trap set to catch the target. I’m so embarrassed I can’t live.”

Hearing the man’s words, I stretched out my hand.

Then, I grabbed the hem of his pants and held on.

With my last bit of strength, I held on, and the blind man turned his head towards me.

Seeing that, he frowned in displeasure.

“How dare this trash touch me! I’m already pissed off, and now this filth!”

As he shouted, ruthless kicks began to rain down on me.

From what Si-ho told me, this man is a Returner with Spatial Ability like her.

So, if I can hold him, I can at least help Si-ho escape.

“Si-ho! Wake up!”

As I shouted, I clung to the man’s leg despite the kicks.

The violent movements caused blood to keep pouring out from my stomach.

I’m already a dead man.

But at least I want to save Si-ho.

Damn it, I don’t want to end my life so meaninglessly.

“‘Dirty bug…! Let go!”

He shouted in Japanese instead of Korean, kicking my head.

The flowing blood covered one eye, blinding me.

But I held on to the man.

“Yekaterina! Kill this guy! I don’t even want to touch this filth!”

As if disgusted by the bug, he even screamed.

The Russian soldier woman, Yekaterina, clicked her tongue at his behavior, even though she could handle it herself.

“Should I even kill him?”

“Why keep something like this alive!”

Then, with a reluctant expression, she flicked her finger.

Zap!

A blue lightning bolt streaked over my body.

A flash of light erupted before my eyes, and acrid smoke flowed from my entire body.

And that was it.

When I realized something was flowing from my body, my vision and entire body went dark.

And that was the moment my life ended.

If only that single streak of light hadn’t flashed before my eyes.