Guide Me If You Dare-Chapter 288: ARTIFICIAL CORES

WHEW.

It took a while, and it took a lot of Mana, but Moon Noa managed to purify half of the corrupted part of the Core that Noh Yuno left in his hand.

He wasn’t satisfied, though.

Only half of the Artificial Core was corrupted, and I only purified half of it. Meaning, I only purified a small part of it and yet, I spent so much time and Mana on it.

"Can I try purifying the remaining half, Noa-ssi?"

"Go ahead, Lucca-ssi," Moon Noa said, nodding. "It’s all yours."

Lucca, nicknamed the ’Golden Angel,’ smiled and nodded back politely. "Thank you, sir."

When Lucca began working on the corrupted Artificial Core, Moon Noa checked on the other people in the room.

Yuyu left again.

He heard Noh Yuno talking to 17 earlier, but he didn’t get to eavesdrop properly because he was busy concentrating.

I just know that they had to leave in a hurry.

"Whew. I wonder how Yuno makes it look easy when it’s not?"

Moon Noa turned to Jericho.

The world-class Guide had finally succeeded in extracting the Artificial Core from the ’zombie.’

Yeah, it also took Jericho a while to do that. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

While Yuyu only did that in a minute.

"That’s the thing about geniuses— they make things look easy, and they don’t understand that what’s easy for them is actually difficult for most people," Moon Noa said, smiling while shaking his head. "Congratulations, Jericho. Extracting Artificial Cores seems to be a job for E-Class Guides."

Jericho blinked, and then he chuckled. "I’m sorry— but I didn’t mean to hide the fact that I’m an E-Class Guide. I know that you understand why, Noa."

"Of course. I wasn’t being sarcastic, by the way," Moon Noa said, clearing the misunderstanding immediately. "I mean it when I said extracying Artificial Cores seems to be a job for E-Class Guides. It’s not something ordinary Guides could do— not even an S-Class Guide like me."

It wasn’t like Moon Noa gave up easily.

But it was the System itself that let him know he didn’t have the skills to do what Noh Yuno could do.

[Error.

Your class does not match the required class for the task.

Extracting Artificial Cores is a job for E-Class Guides.]

That was what Moon Noa’s personal Status Window said earlier.

"Is that what the System said to you, Noa?"

"Hmm?"

"Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like you have a personal Status Window," Jericho said, smiling. But the world-class Guide’s eyes actually looked calculating at the moment. "I’m sorry, but you weren’t being discreet when you stared blankly into the air. It’s as if you were looking at something that only you could see."

"Even Espers do not have their own personal Status Window yet. So, what makes you arrive to that conclusion?"

"My gut feeling?"

"Good enough," Moon Noa said, smiling. "People who listen to their gut feeling usually survive long."

"Am I correct, then?"

"You’ll find out soon."

They shouldn’t be talking about personal Status Windows so openly in the first place.

Fortunately, Lucca didn’t seem to care as he was busy purifying the corrupted Artificial Core.

Lee Woonhak, on the other hand, was literally inside his own bubble.

Our dear Healer locked himself up inside a barrier that works like a quarantine tent.

"Then I assume it’s a top secret for now. Don’t worry, I’m good at keeping my mouth shut," Jericho said, and then he focused on the Artificial Core in his hands. "Noa, do you mind if I purify this myself?"

"No, go ahead," Moon Noa said. "I have something I need to do anyway."

***

WHEN MOON Noa came out of the room where Noh Yuno gathered them earlier, he wasn’t surprised to see Haru standing in front of the door.

But he was surprised to see the ex-prince holding a bouquet of flowers.

It seems like he arranged those flowers himself.

"Haru-ssi, this isn’t the right time for this—"

"These flowers are for Osaki Shohei," Haru said, cutting off Moon Noa before he embarrassed himself further. "I figured you’d want to send him off properly, so I picked these flowers and did my best to arrange them with the materials I found around."

Aigoo.

It was too late.

I’m already embarrassed for my wrong assumption.

Fortunately, a distraction came in the form of Lee Woonhak, who came out of the room in a hurry.

"Woonhak-ssi, have you figured out what the virus is?"

"Yes, Noa-ssi," Lee Woonhak said, nodding. "It’s a virus that forcefully awakens Civilians. If the virus is compatible with a Civilian’s dormant Core, then they’ll awaken as either a Guide or an Esper. But if not, then they’ll turn into zombie-like creatures."

"But I thought they become zombies because of the Artificial Core... oh." Moon Noa trailed off when he realized the answer to his question. "The virus is the Artificial Core."

***

YUNO almost cried when Erwan hugged him back.

Then Janela and Liz joined their group hug.

Ah, I’ve missed this.

But, actually, Yuno wasn’t simply hugging his ’siblings’ and making physical contact with them— he was giving them their energy.

He knew it was hopeless, but he still tried to purify their corrupted Cores.

"Yihun-ah, that’s enough."

Yuno was surprised when, in just the blink of an eye, someone peeled him away from Erwan.

It was Ki Gayoon.

He wanted to complain, but he realized that both Ki Gayoon and 17 were now standing in front of him protectively.

Oh.

When Yuno looked at his siblings— now a few feet away from him— he noticed that both of their eyes were now glowing red.

Plus, the bulging veins appeared all over their faces and necks this time.

They’re losing control of their bodies now...

"Yihun-ah, remember this: you’re the strongest E-Class Guide in the world," Erwan said, his voice sounding like there were two people talking. "Don’t let a fake take your place."

Yuno wanted to ask more about what Erwan meant by that.

But Erwan, Liz, and Janela suddenly disappeared into thin air.

Ah, I didn’t get to say goodbye to them properly.

But Yuno didn’t have the luxury to dwell on that.

After all, the ground shook hard as if the basement was about to collapse now.

"We need to go," Ki Gayoon said in a hurry, scooping up Yuno while 17 draped Yu Minju over his shoulder despite the girl’s complaint. "This place is about to be buried in rubble."

***

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