99 Percent Love

“Let’s start by turning over the ground. Sure, they’re hiding and watching us now, but if we mess up their territory, they won’t be able to stay hidden.”  

“Exactly. And desert fighting is best done quickly. There’s nowhere to camp, it’s scorching hot during the day, freezing cold at night… It’s not a place you want to spend a week.  

After much deliberation, the plan they finally came up with relied heavily on Rion.  

The idea was for Rion to lift the entire party into the air and then use his abilities on the ground to flush out the hidden monsters.  

Boss monsters would usually hide in their nests, but once their subordinates were killed, they would often sense danger and reveal themselves.  

Since there were no real hiding places in the middle of the desert, Gwanghyun assumed that this would be one of those cases. Following his instructions, everyone except Rion was lifted into the air.  

“Rion won’t be able to block the wind, so be careful not to get sand in your eyes. Also make sure your belongings are secure.”  

“There may be some shaking, but I’ll do my best to keep it steady, so bear with me.”  

“We’re ready.”  

After making sure his teammates were safe, Rion took a small, deep breath. If he struck too hard, it could affect the team floating in the air, so he had to carefully control his strength.  

Doing multiple tasks at once was no easy feat. Even for Rion, it wasn’t something he could do with complete ease. Part of the challenge stemmed from his lack of confidence in this particular skill compared to others, which meant he needed even more focus.  

Bang—!

Having measured the appropriate amount of power, Rion unleashed his ability on the desert terrain. 

“Every time I see him, I can’t help but think that’s such a broken ability. He’s definitely not an S-class for nothing.”  

“There’s a rumour that he could lift the entire Centre building at full power. Doesn’t seem like a lie, does it?”  

The widespread impact of Rion sent a powerful sandstorm swirling upwards, momentarily obscuring visibility. As the storm began to subside and their surroundings came into view again, the monsters that had been hiding under the sand, as Gwang-hyun had predicted, were forced to the surface by the shock.  

The number of monsters was enough to cover the entire desert.  

“The desert terrain is already working in their favour. It’s better to attack them from the air.”  

“Got it. But spread us out a bit.”  

At Gwanghyun’s suggestion, the Espers spread out to cover a wider area. Using their respective abilities, they began to pick off the grotesque monsters that had emerged from the sand.  

“Man, we should have brought Lee Joo-chan with us.”  

“Well, there’s nothing here to catch fire, so this is definitely his speciality.”  

Rion muttered, grumbling, but keeping his focus on the monsters as he continued the hunt. The harsh environment was certainly a challenge, but this was still a B-class gate.  

In other words, to an S-class Esper like Rion, these monsters were nothing more than annoying pests. Granted, with the simultaneous tasks he had to deal with, they were slightly more annoying pests.  

“With the same ability, this feels… embarrassing, to say the least…”  

Hee-joo muttered to herself as she continued to deal with the monsters. They were both telekinetic Espers, but the difference between Rion’s power and hers was on a completely different level. It wasn’t just the raw power – his ability to chain attacks as if he possessed multiple abilities was impressive.  

“Hey, over there!”  

How much time had passed? It seemed as if the corpses of the monsters were being sucked into a corner of the sandy desert, and soon, a huge hole appeared in the middle of the desert.  

“Well, this isn’t exactly what we expected.”  

It seemed that the desert was only the entrance, as a passage leading underground had opened. Both living and dead monsters were being pulled into the hole.  

“We have to go in, don’t we?”  

“You know we can’t open the gate until we kill the boss, right? Let’s go.”  

The group of Espers descended to the ground. As if to welcome them, an eerie atmosphere lingered around the stairs that led down to a wide open door.  

“It’s rare to see something like this in a B-class gate.”  

“Judging by how weak the monsters have been so far, the boss must be pretty strong, don’t you think?”  

“Even if it is, we’ve got Kang Rion with us. What’s there to worry about?”  

Gwang-hyun reassured the uneasy Espers and led them through the door. As they descended the stairs, the scorching heat of the desert sun disappeared completely, replaced by a bone-chilling cold that made their bodies shiver.  

“Ugh, I thought we were going to break our record for the fastest clearing…”  

“With this underground layout, we can’t even get a proper feel for the terrain. This setup really doesn’t suit our group.”  

“Looks like a quick finish isn’t an option. The guides were pulled straight from the night shift, weren’t they? They must be exhausted.”  

The Espers looked worriedly at the guides. Except for Yuwon, the other three guides had been dragged here straight from the night shift and were visibly tired.  

While tired Espers could rely on their guides for support, there wasn’t much that could be done for tired guides.  

“Well, here, eat this and let’s try to keep our energy up.”  

With a sympathetic expression, Rion pulled out the paper bag he had brought from home. It was filled with health supplements he had hastily grabbed before leaving.  

“It’s not much, but… better than nothing, right? Anyway, you got some sleep, so you’re better off than the others, right?”  

“….”  

Rion spoke with a touch of sarcasm. He had been dragged out of bed just like everyone else, but with his lingering frustration, he couldn’t resist teasing Yuwon.  

But teasing only works if the person reacts. Watching Yuwon quietly look into the bag, Rion felt a pang of guilt and reluctantly spoke again.  

“Well, it’s just stuff I had lying around. Eat it if you want…”  

Maybe I should’ve kept my mouth shut. Thinking that, Rion pushed the bag towards Yuwon, who quietly took it.  

“I’m fine. Please give it to the seniors.”  

“Huh, really?”  

“I just got out of bed, so I’m fine. Besides, I’m the newest member here.”  

Hah! If only you were half as considerate towards me! Rion thought, muttering to himself as he watched. This guy really didn’t make it worth his while. Grumbling, Rion rejoined the Espers.  

‘What a waste of time.’ 

He thought as he scanned the underground dungeon with his torch.  

“The last dungeon we went to had bats clinging to the walls everywhere – it was a nightmare. At least this one doesn’t have that.”  

Much like the vast desert they had seen from above, the underground dungeon stretched on and on. They walked and walked until their legs felt like they were going to give out, but not a single monster appeared. The eerie silence was like the calm before the storm, adding to their unease.  

“The rear group looks too tired. Let’s take a short rest before we continue.”  

After much persuasion, the guides finally pulled out their portable sleeping bags and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the ground.  

As there was no way of knowing how long it would take to deal with the boss – and considering the human toll of this work – a short break was essential.  

“Does anyone need guiding?”  

“Me, me!”  

“Me too…”  

“Me too.”  

At Yu Won’s words, the Espers flocked to him. With an S-class Guide and a group of B- and C-class Espers, the effectiveness of the Guiding would be considerable, even without paying much attention to compatibility rates.  

“I never thought I’d live to be led by an S-class leader.”  

“I don’t like emergency missions, but if I could be guided like this, I might not mind it once in a while.”  

It wasn’t uncommon for a lower-level Guide to assist a higher-level Esper, but it was rare for a higher-level Guide to assist a lower-level Esper. So it wasn’t surprising that they were so excited. Still, it bothered Rion.  

Not long ago, these same people had been grumbling about what a lousy guy Yuwon was, and now they were laughing and chatting with him as if nothing had happened, completely enchanted by his guiding.  

Somehow it felt like a betrayal.  

By the time Yuwon finished his tour, an hour had passed. The Espers woke up the guides, who had taken a short rest, and the group started walking again.  

Despite walking and walking, the dungeon seemed endless, and no monsters appeared – a fact that was becoming increasingly strange. 

The absence of the smaller monsters that should have been scattered throughout the dungeon causing trouble filled Rion’s mind with questions and unease. Where had all the monsters gone and why didn’t they appear?