"How are things today?"
"Ah, senpai. Seems like nothing out of the ordinary."
"Really? That’s good."
"If we keep this up, we should find them within a few days."
Yu Siwoo glanced around as he replied to the senior who had struck up a conversation with him.
This senior, who seemed to have taken a liking to him and Arte, had been talking to them regularly since the meeting. Today, they had joined them in place of Arte.
"…Speaking of which, how did that girl end up oversleeping? What’s the reason?"
"She drank. Hangover."
"Drank? …Ah, so it’s your fault?"
"…"
"Be nicer to her. She’s probably mad because her boyfriend won’t pay attention to her."
Siwoo let out a quiet sigh.
Given that this senior, their information source, was saying this, the rumors must have already spread far and wide.
"We’re not actually dating."
"Sure, sure. Try your best. She’s pretty, after all."
Not a hint of belief in his voice.
Maybe he noticed my discomfort.
Senpai smoothly changed the subject.
"But honestly, I don’t get it. Are we really looking for something? Or are we just walking around?"
"We’re just walking around."
"…Then how do you know where we’re going?"
"Instinct."
What else could I call it?
Instinct.
That was the only way to describe it.
How else could I explain the vague certainty that it was this way, with no clues to go on?
Senpai’s bewildered expression made me feel a little guilty, but it was the truth.
"…Didn’t you already know my Ability is intuition?"
"I did, but… I thought it was more like picking up on hints or something."
"It’s not. I just *know*."
"…Is that even detection?"
"Beats me."
It was natural for senpai to question it.
As far as I knew, detection-type Abilities didn’t work like this.
When I looked around, all I saw was a cityscape drenched in shades of gray.
But for detection-type Ability users, it would look different.
Maybe they’d see detailed traces of monsters—footprints, scattered fur—or pick up on scents.
Or perhaps they’d visually perceive the distribution of mana floating in the air.
Most detection users worked like that.
They gathered far more varied and precise information from limited clues than ordinary people.
Then, they drew conclusions based on what they’d collected.
…This was the biggest difference between them and me.
To me, this city was just a ruined, gray wasteland.
Nothing more, nothing less.
A place that was a treasure trove of information for detection users was, to me, just a backdrop.
Sure, my senses were sharper than most superhumans, but that was it.
I couldn’t compare to those with actual detection Abilities.
And yet, I *knew*.
I was more certain than any detection user.
They relied on information to make educated guesses. That meant there was always a chance they’d go the wrong way.
But Siwoo was sure. This direction was right. The person we were looking for was here.
We’d meet them soon.
"I think of it as something that can be used for detection, at least."
That his ability wasn’t just some mere intuition.
Calling it intuition felt like an understatement—an overwhelming amount of information was being forced directly into his mind. Could this really be called intuition?
It was far too much information to dismiss as simple instinct.
…That thought only grew firmer as Yu Siwoo trained every day, growing stronger with each passing moment.
When he had poured every last ounce of his strength into landing a single blow on that villain, he had seen it.
And lately, that vision had been appearing with ease.
Even a single reinforcement would make it flicker into view.
A few seconds into the future.
A sense of knowing in advance what would happen depending on the actions he took.
Precognition?
Hmm.
It felt a little different from that.
"Well, whatever. We just need to finish the mission."
"That’s true."
"How’s it looking now? Got a read on it?"
"Ah, yeah. Probably in about two days…"
…His intuition blared like an alarm.
Something was fatally off.
It was the feeling of realizing too late that the very premise was wrong.
"…? What’s wrong?"
"…"
This feeling… he’d felt it before.
When he had glimpsed that grotesque presence clinging to Arte, it had been the same sensation.
There had been a few other times too—moments when the world itself seemed to twist.
…And every time that happened, something had gone down.
Like an omen of disaster.
Damn it!
"Quick, the communicator!"
"W-what…?!"
"Now!"
Even knowing it was rude, he urgently snatched the senior’s communicator and tried to radio in.
"Headquarters, headquarters. Respond! Do you copy? This is the search team!"
"…What’s going on, Yu Siwoo? You said nothing would happen today."
"Incident! Incident! Secure the area and prepare for combat immediately! Now!"
"…What?"
"No time to explain! Hurry!"
Fortunately, they seemed to trust his desperate voice.
The commander’s urgent orders could be heard over the line.
"You two, move—!"
"We’re already ready."
"We’ve seen this kind of thing before. This much is easy."
Luckily, Amelia and Dorothy had noticed his grim expression and realized something was wrong, already preparing to retreat.
These two might be a pain in normal times, but in a crisis, they were reliable as hell…!
"So? Where to?"
"Back to headquarters! We need to regroup fast! If we get separated, we might not make it out alive!"
"Got it."
"W-wait…! What the hell is this?! Explain what’s—happening—!"
The senior’s protesting words grew fainter, their face draining of color.
They probably couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Then again, neither could the rest of them.
"…Is that it?"
"…Probably. No, definitely. That’s it."
"Guess we’re not sleeping tonight…"
Anyone who saw the sight before them would be left speechless for a moment.
That’s how staggering the scene unfolding before their eyes was.
…If he had to describe it in a word, it was a wave.
A black wave, to be precise.
Like a surging tide, an unimaginable horde of spider-type monsters was charging toward them.
"Ugh, I’m a little weak to bugs…"
Amelia joked in a bright voice, but there wasn’t a hint of playfulness in her expression.
All that remained was urgency.
"Hurry, give me all the luggage first. I’ll carry it."
"…Are you sure?"
"Sure or not, I’m the fastest, right?! Come on! We’re out of time!"
"Sorry. Thanks for the help."
"I’ll be back!"
Amelia, burdened with all the luggage except the bare minimum, vanished from sight in an instant.
In the past, carrying that much would’ve slowed her down a lot, but it seemed Amelia had grown a great deal.
But I didn’t have the time to marvel at her growth while watching her.
We needed to move quickly too.
"Hurry, let’s regroup! Staying here any longer is dangerous!"
"Uh, y-yeah! Let’s go!"
I’d never been more grateful for my ability than in that moment.
I estimated the distance between the main group and us by eye.
…No matter how I thought about it, if my reaction had been even a little slower, Amelia would’ve been the only one to survive.
The spiders’ speed was faster than I’d imagined.
They looked small, so a few of them would’ve been easy to take down…
But if we got swept up in that swarm, we’d be done for.
There were far more than just one or two.
For now, we decided to regroup with the main force as quickly as possible.
"Mmm…"
I frowned as sunlight pierced through my closed eyelids.
Was it already morning?
With my groggy mind, I tried to roll over to escape the light.
Ah, right—Yu Siwoo had been holding me. Guess I couldn’t move…
Or so I thought.
My body rolled over naturally, so I turned my head.
Huh? Where was Yu Siwoo?
A chilling sensation crept over me. I decided to get up and check the clock.
It was a feeling I’d experienced before.
Even before coming to this world, neither the old me nor the recent me had gotten a full night’s sleep.
So usually, I’d wake up grumbling, annoyed that I had to roll out of bed.
But today, something was off.
…Why did my body feel so light?
The worst-case scenario flashing through my mind jolted me awake.
There was only one reason my body would feel this light.
I frantically checked the time on my phone—and the dread in my gut was confirmed.
"I’m late…!"
Any lingering drowsiness vanished, and my mind cleared in an instant.
The clock already read 11 AM.
…No wonder my body felt so refreshed after sleeping like that.
As soon as I realized the obvious, cold sweat began to trickle down my back.
I was late.
Spectacularly so.
I was sure the search was supposed to start at 9 AM today.
Lunchtime was almost here.
"N-no, no, I’m late…! Author-nim, why didn’t you wake me up?!"
[…You only look for me at times like this.]
"You’re supposed to wake me up for things like this, aren’t you?!"
[The reader’s affection has faded…]
I wanted to snap at Author-nim, but I barely managed to hold back.
Now wasn’t the time to waste on that.
…But I had to say this.
"You never had any affection to begin with!"
[Th-that’s a lie…!]
Stop denying reality, Author-nim.
Why on earth would I ever like you?