The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 180: Another Unknown Gate?!

The next week, Lane’s application was still pending. Instead of going on dungeon dates... that is, inspections with Damien, he was forced to show up at the Headquarters as a member of the General Staff.

And at the crack of dawn, on top of that! How much more miserable could Lane’s life get?

Stifling a yawn, he clocked in, and threw himself on one of the benches, sipping on his super sweet coffee. When it came to the Espers, the General Staff’s shifts consisted mostly of training, or going to the Restricted Zone to help up with the cleanup. Both were quite pointless. The training, because their training hall had to be accessible for all the members, including the low-ranking Espers, so it was no more challenging than a walk in a park for Lane. And the cleanup, because it’s been months since the Restricted Zone had formed already! It was more than clear that whatever efforts they were putting into it, it was simply not working. The Manaforming could no longer be stopped.

Still, pointless as it was, Lane had no choice but to attend. If he tried to ditch his work, it would only reflect badly on him, potentially affecting his application... Even more than it was already affected by a certain annoying Section Leader.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Team Leader supervising their training had a lax attitude, Lane pulled out his laptop from his spatial bag, and started going through all the files he got on Frank Bowen. Now that he knew that Damien was unlikely to accept a promotion, even if offered to him, he had no reservations about dealing with the man.

He was just slowly coming up with a plan...

When alarms flared, filling the whole training hall with unbearable noise, red light flashing brightly just below the ceiling.

"Everyone, gather up! There’s been a dungeon break!"

Another one? The Association has been quite diligent with the inspections recently, so how could it be missed? Or was it another unknown, or unreported Gate?

Lane furrowed his brows. A while ago, he would have been excited, curious about the dungeon, and glad there was a chance that the Manaforming would spread around. But now...

Still, he slid his laptop back into the spatial bag, and followed the rest of the Espers on duty, heading toward the parking garage.

Damien was also there, arriving with his team around the same time. They had their training day today, and were all at the Headquarters, so naturally, they were going to participate in dealing with the dungeon break. His and Lane’s eyes briefly met, to which Lane gave the man a reassuring smile, trying to convey the message that everything was going to be alright.

Distracted by his boyfriend, he didn’t pay attention to the briefing.

Could he have avoided the situation if he did?

Maybe. If he just fainted back there, in the parking lot, then surely they wouldn’t drag him to the battlefield, right?

But he didn’t. Thus, he remained blissfully unaware of how much trouble he was in.

Until the bus stopped, and they got out on Hawthorn Street. Just a block away from Westwood Avenue...

Where Lane’s apartment was located. His real apartment, the one he lived in as Lane Allen. Where his real body currently was. Unconscious and defenseless.

Lane could even see the building from where he stood. It was still untouched...

But the same couldn’t be said about the building right next to it. It was still... there, but... It was wrapped in some sort of tentacles, of some gigantic monster. It was only a matter of time until it fell...

And then the apartment building on Westwood Avenue 46 could be next.

All the blood drained from Lane’s face.

He was fucked, completely fucked! No, it was an understatement! He could end up dead here! Truly, irreversibly dead!

His thoughts were racing fast, as he ran toward the barrier, defending against the massive monsters crawling on the streets. If only he weren’t on shift now, if he hadn’t been sent to the scene, then he could have just evacuated, and then figured something out...

He shook his head, swinging his sword and severing a tentacle of one of the smaller monsters reaching out to him. It was pointless to think about the ’ifs’, rather, he should figure out what to do now...

Should he just faint? He could still just switch, right? Or he could simply run away, hide Oscar’s body somewhere, and then switch to evacuate...

But both options had severe consequences. If he deserted, he could forget about becoming a Field Agent as ’Oscar’. And if he fainted... Then this body would most likely end up dead in a minute. He was among the first responders, sent to the first front, fighting right by the Gate, which seemed to be located in the basement of the building on Westwood Avenue 48. And the monsters were strong, a solid A-rank at the minimum. Even now, as a part of the team, Lane was barely holding his ground.

His eyes fell on Damien, fighting not far away from him.

...No, he couldn’t afford to die. He couldn’t do it to Damien again.

Lane gritted his teeth, and intensified his attacks. The good thing was that fighting here, he at least could keep an eye on his apartment building. If the situation got too dangerous...

As if responding to his thoughts, the tentacle monster wrapped around the building next door let out an ear-piercing screetch, and tightened its limbs. Smashing the building to... well, not completely to pieces, but close enough.

And it would have been better if it was crushed into pieces, as Lane soon found out. Because the untouched upper part of the destroyed building tilted to the side... Then fell... Smashing right into Lane’s building, and causing it to shake ominously.

What followed was a blur. People who had yet to evacuate started screaming and jumping down from windows and balconies. Attracting even more monsters their way. Lane charged forward, fighting every monster in his way... He seemed to have used Sky Step again, maybe something else, in his panicked state of mind, he was no longer aware what he was doing. He tried his best to clear the area, to stop the monsters from attacking the building, overexerting the body he possessed to the point all of his cells screamed in pain...

But it was hopeless. There was no way to stop the overwhelming wave of the powerful monsters.

Lane bit on his lip hard enough to draw blood. The building still stood. And maybe it wouldn’t fall. Maybe the monsters wouldn’t crush it. However... If they did. If they destroyed it. Then it would be too late. No matter how strong Lane’s real body was, it couldn’t survive being crushed. Not when his consciousness wasn’t there, and he couldn’t even defend himself.

Making up his mind, Lane slowly turned around, his eyes frantically looking for Damien. He was there, not far away, fighting with his sword, and hardly any ice.

Their eyes briefly met.

And Lane instantly averted his, unable to handle the pang of guilt he felt. He let out a deep sigh...

And switched.