HLSEBT - 12

12. Gate at Hapjeong Station 1

As the gate formed, a swarm of ants poured out of Hapjeong Station. More crawled out from beneath the arches of Yanghwa Bridge.

They were ordinary ants—black bodies, six legs, and a pair of long antennae on their heads. The only difference was their size—they were as large as sled-pulling dogs.

The ants tore through anything in their path, searching for food and wreaking havoc across the city.

“Make sure the blockade on the right doesn’t break!”

“Understood. Reinforcements are being deployed.”

Soldiers manning the defensive line fired their rifles relentlessly. The rifles, a joint development between ARK and the Korean military, spat flames without pause.

Yoon Taeha was teleporting nonstop to rescue people trapped in buildings by the ants.

With a wireless communicator in one ear connected to the Center, Yoon Taeha took a brief moment to catch her breath atop the subway entrance roof.

A rapid, mechanical voice streamed continuously through the communicator:

- To all agents capable of teleportation: prioritize saving lives.

- The red triangular-horned ants can be suppressed with military firepower.

- Check dark alleys, rooftops, and locked cars—areas where citizens may struggle to escape.

With so few Espers capable of teleportation, this was the best strategy available.

After hundreds of consecutive teleports, a migraine set in. She clenched her trembling fingertips into a fist to hide the shaking.

Teleportation wasn’t an Esper’s ultimate power—it had limits. You could only move from one visible point to another.

Traveling from Seoul to Busan in an instant? Impossible. Teleporting into the interior of a building unseen from the outside? Also impossible.

However, exceptionally skilled Espers like Yoon Taeha could leapfrog across bridges over the Han River like stepping stones. She fell into that category.

“This feels endless… seriously…”

The sky and ground were both black. It felt like being in hell. The ants’ backs shimmered blood-red under the streetlights, like molten lava.

It had been a long time since she’d seen such a massive swarm-type monster appear in the city.

“The numbers are abnormally high. Wasn’t the red-horned ant species known for sending small, elite vanguard groups rather than overwhelming with sheer numbers?”

- This situation is classified as unusual.

Even while teleporting, she continued killing ants, but their sheer numbers were the problem. No matter how strong an S-rank Esper was, they only had one body.

“Give me the next objective.”

While waiting for the Center’s next instructions, the ants began climbing toward her, using each other’s bodies as ladders.

Did they see her as weak because she was alone?

With an expression of mild annoyance, she flicked her hand in the air. All the steel rods she carried were already used up, so instead, fragments of a broken roadside tree floated upward.

Just as the lead ant’s leg brushed against her sneaker, sharpened wooden shards rained down in unison.

Keeeeek! The ants surrounding the entrance shrieked in agony as they were brutally slaughtered. Severed bodies tumbled limply across the pavement.

Such was the fate of creatures unable to discern stronger opponents.

One soldier stationed far away, maintaining the defensive line, gawked at the sight.

“Did you just see that?! With just one wave of her hand, she—she did all that!”

“Focus! Stop gawking and kill more ants while you have the chance!”

A supervisor close behind barked orders to snap him back to attention.

Worried she might miss something from the communicator, Yoon Taeha covered one ear with her hand.

- There’s a gas station across from the apartment complex. Employees are trapped on the rooftop.

“The red sign?”

- Three adults confirmed.

“I’m heading there now.”

She kicked off again.

After evacuating the people at the gas station, wiping out a swarm of ants gathered at a middle school playground, and returning, the situation had calmed significantly.

The soldiers who had been lined up in formation were now split into smaller groups, hunting down fleeing ants one by one.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Scattered gunshots vibrated through the night air.

Yoon Taeha stood side by side with someone from the Protection Bureau, South Korea’s government agency overseeing Espers, staring at Exit 2 of Hapjeong Station.

Grrroooow. The pitch-black entrance looked ominous even from a distance.

“The ants came out from there…”

Chief Choi from the Protection Bureau broke the silence first.

“We’ll need to go in, won’t we?”

He clearly didn’t want to go in. After receiving a report from Seo Dojin about the situation at Yanghwa Bridge, Yoon Taeha responded:

“There’s no queen on the Yanghwa Bridge side.”

“Huh.”

“Only worker ants were there. Ant species usually don’t act in groups without a queen.”

So where would it be? It had to be here. Chief Choi scratched his head irritably, then turned around sharply.

His exhausted subordinate Espers, who had been scattered around resting, quickly straightened their expressions. A young-looking Esper who had been sitting on the sidewalk jumped up hurriedly.

Chief Choi glanced briefly at Yoon Taeha, who looked relatively intact, and smiled as he scolded his own team.

“Tired, huh? Want to just plop down and take a nap? Why not lie down with one of those ant legs as a pillow? There are plenty over there, Jaeho.”

“A-Ah, no! Sorry!”

“Want me to bring you one?”

“No, I’m fine!”

No one here had killed more ants than Yoon Taeha.

But why did all their Espers look so drained?

Chief Choi, who took great pride in his group, was visibly displeased.

While he worked on reinvigorating his subordinates’ spirits, Yoon Taeha busied herself clearing the chaotic road.

Several cars that had flipped over like helpless bean weevils were successively righted by her hands. Chief Choi, who had been glaring at his subordinate’s timid rebellion, turned and noticed her work.

His eyes lit up with admiration.

“She’s finishing all the cleanup crew’s work by herself.”

One brave subordinate mustered the courage to speak up to Chief Choi, looking like he couldn’t hold back any longer without sharing what he’d experienced.

“She saved me earlier when I almost got bitten by an ant. She teleported us out.”

“Oh?”

“Yes! She grabbed my wrist and moved us nearly 300 meters in one go.”

“Three hundred? That’s quite far.”

“There were obstacles in the way too, but she didn’t even flinch. I’ve never seen an Esper teleport like that.”

“Well, that’s impressive. Minyong-ah, how many times have you broken your ankle while teleporting?”

“...Thirty-two times.”

“Your ankle met the wrong owner. Met him way too wrong.”

The subordinate Esper awkwardly coughed into his hand.

“In your next life, try being born as an ankle.”

Without missing a beat, Chief Choi turned to Yoon Taeha with a kind smile as she approached. He probed casually:

“You don’t seem very tired?”

“I’m fine. The Protection Bureau has done much more than I have.”

“Oh, come on, we all know better… You were flying around like crazy. At least B-rank, right? With telekinesis skills like that?”

“...”

“They say you handled that swarm that gathered at the middle school all by yourself. That’s no small feat.”

Chief Choi, who loved collecting capable subordinates, tossed out some bait.

“Do you look at faces when choosing a Guide?”

Yoon Taeha was no longer the child who used to embarrass adults with blunt remarks, so she skillfully flashed a polite, professional smile.

“Pardon?”

“Between Espers, you know. Back in my day, having a top-tier Guide felt like the ultimate life goal.”

“That’s not bad either.”

“I hear these days kids rank Guides too.”

“People are just used to categorizing everything, I guess.”

Among the six ranks from E to S, Espers ranked B or higher were considered upper-tier.

However, due to various fictional portrayals of Espers, the public didn’t think much of B-rank anymore.

Dramas and movies hyped things up by introducing SS to EX ranks.

Stronger than S-rank, SS-rank. Stronger still, SSS-rank. No, everyone else is fake—I’m the strongest, EX-rank!

Soon enough, UR (Ultra Rare) ranks would probably appear too. Like gacha games? Need to spend a month’s salary just to pull an Lee Hakyung card?

This was the kind of joke going around among Espers.

Back to reality, though—even a B-rank Esper received love calls from various institutions.

“We’re actively recruiting good Guides these days. In kid-speak, B-rank or higher. Fit, good with guns, excellent at handling emergencies... Hmm?”

It was only natural for Chief Choi to throw bait to lure Yoon Taeha, who was assumed—though incorrectly—to be around B+ rank.

“Any interest in joining the Protection Bureau? We’ve got some promising Guides this batch.”

When situations like this arose, claiming to already have someone in mind was the best way to avoid further hassle—even if that “someone” was a hypothetical cyber-partner.

“Sorry, I already have a Guide. The compatibility is decent enough.”

“Tsk, what a shame.” Chief Choi clicked his tongue in disappointment.

It was at that moment Yoon Taeha’s ears perked up, cutting off further recruitment attempts.

...A voice?

She strode toward the subway exit with purposeful steps.

A human voice was leaking out from somewhere it shouldn’t be—though only she could hear it.

“Chief Choi.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“The subway service has been suspended, right?”

“Of course. Line 2 stopped running ages ago, and the others aren’t operating either.”

“There shouldn’t be anyone inside Hapjeong Station...”

As she spoke, Yoon Taeha stepped directly in front of the entrance. A voice. A child’s voice. Chief Choi, still not fully grasping the situation, responded:

“The moment the first siren went off, we cleared everyone out. If there’s anyone left inside, I’m getting fired.”

Yoon Taeha turned around with an awkward expression. Maybe the teacher will get fired. Chief Choi’s face immediately turned pale.

“No one’s supposed to be in there, right? Are you sure you didn’t mishear? Is there really someone inside?”

“I’ll go in as the vanguard. The queen might be trickier than expected.”

“Alone?”

“If there’s a hostage, it’s better if I go alone. And if it’s not a person but some monster mimicking a human voice, it’s still better for me to handle it solo.”

“But still…”

“In their current exhausted state, everyone’s more susceptible to being deceived.”

Chief Choi, who had received orders to cooperate fully with Espers from Yeouido, hesitated before finally stepping back. Besides, clearing the remaining ants on the road wasn’t going to be easy either.

After checking her gear, Yoon Taeha suddenly reached out to Chief Choi.

“What... what do you need?” he asked nervously, leaning back slightly in case he’d be asked to tag along. She gave him a reassuring smile.

“Just lend me a handgun.”