OMH Chapter 11

Oh My Hero – Episode 11

11. Esper and Guide (2)

Because it was a dwarf’s habitat, the tunnel passages had low ceilings.

So low that I couldn’t walk, I had no choice but to crawl on all fours.

These bastards, worse than animals, relieved themselves anywhere in their habitat, and the narrow passage reeked with a terrible smell.

Shining my flashlight, I moved forward without stopping. The dwarf bastards were so quick that I couldn’t even see their tails.

After crawling for a while, the tunnel widened.

Soon, the space where they lived would appear. They’d eat and reproduce there. I had to find Cheon Yuha as quickly as possible.

As expected, the cramped passage widened enough for me to stand up straight. I looked around while shining the flashlight forward to attract the dwarves’ attention.

“……!”

Two dwarves stood in front of me, huffing. They must have known I was there since I was shining the flashlight as I crawled after them.

Thwack, thwack!

I easily and quickly crushed the two dwarves and continued forward.

Luring just two wasn’t enough. Judging by the size of the tunnel, there were probably over a hundred of them.

I had to divert their attention before they did something to Yuha.

As I moved further, a space appeared that was incomparably wider than the tunnel. When I shone the light, I could see that they were clumped together so densely that they appeared black.

‘What, why are they all bunched up?’

I had a bad feeling and urgently called out to Yuha.

“Yuha! Cheon Yuha! Are you here?”

My voice echoed through the cave, and the bastards, who hadn’t even paid attention to the light, turned towards me.

“Get out of the way, you bastards! I need to check if Yuha is safe!”

The bastards and I charged at each other.

Since my ability isn’t suitable for siege warfare, I couldn’t deal with dozens of bastards charging at me at once.

So, I crushed and burst the ones that charged at me one by one, but there were so many of them that I couldn’t deal with them quickly enough.

The dwarf bastards punched me, kicked me, and headbutted me, and to make matters worse, they climbed on my body, biting and scratching, doing all sorts of things.

Of course, my Adamantine Body remained without a single scratch, but it was inconvenient to move because of the bastards sticking to me and hanging on.

I dealt with all the bastards who were attacking me from the front and finally got rid of all the ones clinging to my body.

The bastards were indeed gathered to harm Yuha, as in the spot where they had been clustered, there was Yuha.

“Yuha! Are you okay?”

I rushed to Yuha and checked his condition. Yuha was tightly bound with a tough vine or something, and his mouth was stuffed with what looked like animal hide or something hard to identify.

‘That’s why he couldn’t answer.’

I removed the gag and tore off the vines. When I shone the flashlight on Yuha, it didn’t seem like he was seriously injured. That’s a relief, Yuha.

‘…Huh?’

While I was relieved that Yuha was safe, the tunnel suddenly shook violently.

Kugugung!

A loud noise rang out, and the tunnel collapsed. Unable to protect him in this situation, I threw myself to shield Yuha.

“Keuheuk!”

As the tunnel collapsed, huge rocks and clods of dirt poured down on my body. I waited a long time for the shaking and noise to stop while buried like that.

I was lying face down, creating a space for Yuha, buried under the rubble.

The flashlight had turned off, probably because the smartwatch was broken by the collapsing debris, leaving the narrow space where only the two of us remained pitch-black.

“Damn it……!”

The commotion subsided, and I opened my mouth to first check if Yuha was safe.

“Yuha, are you okay? Is your leg buried under the dirt or anything?”

“……Yes, I, I’m okay……. Gang Hana Esper, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, except for the fact that I can’t move right now. If you can, would you turn on the light?”

“Ah, yes, yes. I’ll turn it on right now.”

Yuha, who shone the flashlight directly at my face, screamed in surprise. I was so startled that I almost lost my grip.

……Well, I guess it’s understandable to be surprised when someone shines a light directly in your face in a dark place, like playing a ghost prank. But doing it right in front of my face like that makes me feel a little hurt.

Yuha, shining the light, realized that I was using my body as a support to create a temporary space for him, and he teared up, worrying about me.

I reassured Yuha that I was okay because of my Adamantine Body and physical Enhancement-Type ability, and asked him to check if the smartwatch signal was working.

Click-clack-

“Th, the signal isn’t working……. Oh, sob. Wh, what should we do…?”

“It’s okay, Yuha. Don’t cry. We’ll be rescued soon, so let’s conserve our strength.”

The dirt must be piled up thickly above us. Maybe the other team members tried to use their abilities to dig through the tunnel to find us, but instead, they collapsed it.

‘I don’t know who collapsed it, but they’re writing a Statement of Circumstances when this is over.’

Anyway, they’ve started the search, so they’ll find us soon.

We just have to hold on until then.

Every cloud has a silver lining, right? I’ll make good use of this cozy time with Yuha.

Yuha is a Guide, so maybe he can explain the strange things I heard from Lee Hwayoung? It’d be even better if we became friends since he’s a teammate.

“Hahaha, somehow I ended up doing planks to my heart’s content. I’ll end up with even better core muscles.”

“I’m sorry…… sob, I’m sorry…… Gang Hana. Because of me…… sob.”

No, I was just trying to lighten the mood with a joke, but I made Yuha cry.

“It’s okay, Yuha. Don’t cry.”

I comforted Yuha and reassured him that we would be rescued soon, so he shouldn’t worry. Then, I brought up a question that I’d been curious about.

“Our Espers are used to this kind of physical work, so don’t worry too much. I don’t even have a scratch right now. I’m more worried about you, Yuha. Actually, Guides have similar bodies to civilians, right? I’m sorry that we can’t provide proper protection for you in this kind of difficult situation. I guess that’s why many Guides find it hard to work in the field.”

“No, hic. I know that you and the others are doing your best. I’m safe thanks to you, Hana……. Our Guides know that there are many good Espers.”

“I’m grateful that you say that. I was worried because I heard that many people are afraid to return to the field. I wondered if Guides have developed trauma because of a lack of ability, like now.”

“Ah…… it’s not just for that reason. It’s more of a fundamental reason……”

Yuha trailed off after saying that and didn’t continue the story.

‘Hmm, oh well.’

I changed the subject and continued talking with Yuha. In this kind of extreme situation, it’s easy to panic if you just stay still, so I wanted to maintain a gentle atmosphere to ease the tension until the rescue team arrived.

However, it seems like the rescue team still hasn’t found us, even though we’ve been waiting for quite a while.

We haven’t been found for so long that Yuha, who was tired, took a nap and woke up, but we still haven’t been found.

I later learned that it had been five hours since we were trapped.

“……”

We were rescued seven hours after being trapped.

The guys who rescued us said that I had been doing planks with a small hill on my back for seven hours.

‘No wonder it was heavy.’

I had been continuously using my physical Enhancement-Type ability to withstand the weight immediately after being buried. My arms and legs were shaking, and I felt dizzy.

*

‘What’s going on?’

I opened my eyes at the Medical Center after being rescued from the field. Lee Hwayoung, who is next to me, told me that I passed out due to excessive Ability output.

‘Oh, I see. It’s been a while since that happened.’

Cha Woojin and Cha Wooreen are sitting next to Lee Hwayoung.

Huh? What is this? Is this a dream?

“Hana, are you okay?”

‘Wow, Cha Woojin is even worried about me. Dream? This is definitely a dream, right?’

Cha Woojin touched my forehead and put his hand against mine. The soft but firm sensation of his hand is transmitted. I blankly admired Cha Woojin’s face and then came to my senses after hearing Cha Woojin’s words.

“I heard that you collapsed because you needed Guiding. If you still need it, I’ll give you Guiding.”

No, what dangerous words are those? You haven’t even finished your training period yet. You’re going to do Guiding when you’ve only received preliminary training?! Doing something like that carelessly can cause big problems!

If a Guide who hasn’t received training, doesn’t know their Matching Rate, and doesn’t know how to control their Guiding, does it carelessly, it can cause big problems.

Moreover, it can cause big problems for me too. I have to explain the circumstances of receiving Guiding from an untrained Guide and present evidence that there was no coercion.

There were many things I wanted to say, but I swallowed them for now and grabbed Cha Woojin’s hand.

Then, I carefully said each word.

“Thank you for your concern, Cha Woojin. I’m fine now, so you don’t have to worry about me. You don’t know much about Guiding yet, so I hope you don’t push yourself.”

“Ah, I see……”

Cha Woojin lowered his eyes slightly and gently pulled his hand away.

I’ve learned that Cha Woojin is taciturn and shy as I’ve continued to meet him.

When we’re together, I’m the one who mostly talks, and Cha Woojin mostly listens.

So, he rarely asserts himself like this, and he looks very cute when he’s embarrassed after being rejected.

‘I want to accept if possible, but it’s best to clearly refuse something that’s difficult, right?’

Besides, his expression is cute right now.

Knock-knock-

While I was admiring the cute Cha Woojin, someone burst into my hospital room.

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