The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 181: Evacuation

In an instant, Lane’s... No, Oscar’s eyes rolled back, and his body dropped limply, falling down on the ground, among the monsters and rubble.

Right in front of stunned Damien’s eyes.

Damien’s shock lasted only for a split second though, after which he charged forward, abandoning all care, and releasing his ice ability without any restrictions. In a blink, he was by Oscar’s side, turning all the monsters threatening to hurt the man into ice sculptures, and carefully lifted the unresponsive body up in his arms.

To his relief, the man was not dead, just unconscious. He was hurt, yes, with multiple scratches and burns from the monsters’ abilities, but none of these injuries seemed serious enough to cause death. And while he had no idea what caused the sudden fainting, Oscar’s breathing was strong and steady, which gave a lot of hope that after receiving professional help, the man would be okay. freёnovelkiss.com

Damien quickly scanned the area, assessing the situation. They were right at the center of the dungeon break, shortly after it happened, and the Gate seemed to be a high-ranking one, so the current state of events was grave. There were still some residents left who were yet to evacuate - although why they were still in their apartments when they were clearly fit to move seemed to elude Damien’s comprehension - and the Espers sent to the scene were struggling, as always. He couldn’t exactly leave them to fend for themselves...

Damien tightened his jaws and furrowed his brows, coming up with a plan of action, if that general idea of his could be called that. He stood up, throwing Oscar over his shoulder out of better options, and stretched out his arm, forming ice spears in the air, and sending them the monsters’ way. If he could create a little opening, then he could leave for a moment, to deliver Oscar to the ambulances waiting for the injured a safe distance away...

Meanwhile, 99 floors above, Lane woke up with a start. His stomach was grumbling, having been empty for over three weeks now, but WHATEVER. That was the last thing Lane was worried about. He ignored the gnawing in his abdomen, and started trashing around the apartment, picking around various items, and throwing them in his spatial bag.

That thing about the emergencies, that if there’s a fire, or a dungeon break around, you’re supposed to immediately evacuate, and not waste your time on grabbing your stuff? Yeah, Lane had heard about it. But when did he ever care about the rules or other shit like that?

Of course, he wasn’t in the slightest concerned about the money. All of his expensive clothes, TV, game console, all of that could be left behind, he’d just buy himself new ones later. What he needed to take, however, were his laptop and phone, all the documents, and everything Mana and dungeon related. Because if the building didn’t collapse, and one of the Allens set their foot in Lane’s apartment before he could return...

Well, to put it simply, it wouldn’t end well.

Despite the shaking of the building, and the shaking of his nerves, both so intense that it was hard to say which was worse, Lane’s steps were steady. In a few minutes, he was all packed, and out of the door. It would be faster and safer to jump out of the window... But only safer as in ’safer from the monsters’. Because it was far more dangerous when it came to being spotted!

Thus, Lane settled on the stairs. Running down the stairs from the 99th floor was... Well, not tiring, not for SS-rank Esper that Lane most definitely was, but simply tedious! Turn, after turn, after turn, after turn...

Ugh!

It didn’t help that the further down he went, the more... obstacles he encountered. Residents, some trying to get down, some trying to go back up for some impossible to comprehend reason... Weren’t they aware that the building could collapse? Even if they didn’t check the news, or even look outside, did they not realize anything from the shaking of the walls? But then again, maybe they did, since they were using the stairs rather than the elevators...

Either way, Lane had no time to deal with them. There were too many people, he couldn’t help them all even if he tried.

And he had himself to worry about.

He left Oscar’s body in the middle of the fight. But, the connection was still there! So, he was ALIVE. Which was a good thing, really. The best Lane could hope for. As long as he got out of the affected area soon, he could drop his real body at a hotel somewhere far away, and then switch back. And everything would be fine. Later, he would move his body to Ava’s, until he found himself a new apartment, and it would all slowly return to normal...

Now that he had come up with some sort of doable plan, Lane felt himself calming down. It took him by surprise, yes, but there was no need to panic! It was just a ’minor’ trouble, nothing that couldn’t be solved! Once it was over, he would meet up with Damien, and they could cuddle, and everything would be alright...

Lane smiled to himself, as he reached the 14th floor. He had finally found a clue as to why some people might have been climbing back up - the monsters had already invaded the building. A massive greyish-blue slug or slime thing was crawling up the stairs, blocking the way.

Not that it could stop Lane. He kicked himself off the ground, jumped onto the top of the monsters, his trainers squelching and sinking a bit in the disgusting, half-transparent mass, and then jumped off at the end of the stairs on the floor below. A bit of the sticky residue stuck to his legs, but it didn’t do him any harm, so Lane ignored it, only dodging the tentacles that extended from the slug out of nowhere, and charged down at... not at his full speed, since that would have been suspicious if someone later checked the cameras, but at a reasonable pace he could still explain with the ’physical enhancement’ ability he had, according to his file. It would most likely result in some fines, but whatever. It was an emergency, damn it!

Finally, he reached the ground level, and rushed through the lobby, dust falling from the ceiling and onto his head. He ran out of the front entrance...

And he momentarily froze in place.