There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 126

Chapter 126: Chapter 122. Malevolent Wind

The place was scorching hot.

The moment they stepped through the gate, their feet sunk into the sand. There was nothing around them but golden sand and golden sun burning their skin. Even the wind that blew felt hot on their face.

"Ah, damn it--I hate desert!" one of the espers groaned while pulling his feet off the sand.

"Ugh, yeah...it’s worse than the ice field..."

"At least it’s not a lava field,"

"Nothing’s worse than undead land, though...the rotting stench--yuck!"

The espers, who were already used to this kind of environment, only chatted boisterously upon encountering the field. The two guides, however, looked around in amazement.

"Ooh! This is just like in the simulation!" Brisk exclaimed. "Wow, isn’t that mean the simulation chamber is really good, Captain?"

"It’s because we take the high-level configuration," Dean responded calmly.

"I see, I see!" Brisk nodded enthusiastically.

Whether it was the energetic response or the calm one, it was miles better than the squad’s last experience with guides. That time was filled with the guide’s incessant nervous sound that annoyed the squad members. It was even worse since they were in an undead land where quietness was imperative.

They still need to see if the two guides could hold on throughout the extreme raid, but at least they looked good for now.

Still, the Guide Captain wouldn’t be satisfied that easily.

"That is true," he said while tapping on the excited guides’ shoulders. "But this is also different from the simulation, when you only feel it through manipulating your receptors while your real body goes through no changes," he squeezed their shoulders, as if emphasizing his point. "Here, your body responded for real, so don’t get complacent."

"Yes, Sir!" the two guides straightened their back in reflex and answered swiftly.

"Manage your hydration level," Zein continued his deliberation. "Take a sip of water every half an hour, even if you don’t feel thirsty."

"Yes, Sir!"

Looking at their swift response, Zein smiled subtly behind his mask. Perhaps because he’d been spending a lot of time with energetic and demanding personas like Han Shin and Reina, as well as spoiling Bassena, he became softer in his treatment toward other people, especially his ’kids’.

"If you do well today, I’ll get you a small storage ring as a reward," Zein announced softly, prompting the two guides to stutter in their steps as they looked back at their Captain in unison.

"...huh? Really, Sir?" even the quiet and reticent Dean spoke up with a higher tone of surprise.

Zein nodded in affirmation, but immediately followed it with an explanation. "It’s for the many types of equipment you’ll need as Hagalaz’s guides," he said sternly, to make sure that the two guides did not take his intention wrongly. "If you tell me you don’t want to be placed here then I’ll take it back."

Different from espers that had higher tolerance to environment shifting, guides were no better than civilians. To be able to follow the squad, the guides would need a lot of supporting equipment to handle whatever conditions thrown at them. While the guide’s uniform had a temperature adjustment feature, it wouldn’t be enough to withstand harsh environments.

So it wasn’t really a benefit as much as a necessity for those two, should they agree to be placed as Hagalaz’s fixed guides.

The two guides, which had been getting closer because of their similar training regime, looked at each other. Before long, their eyes blazed with a certain determination, and their lips stretched into smiles. _{freewēbnoveℓ.com}

"Yeah!!" they extended their fists and bumped them together. "Let’s do our best, Senior!" Brisk said excitedly.

Dean wasn’t as vocal, but he responded firmly and nodded in agreement. "Mm!"

With that positive notion, the raid squad moved with a rather light-hearted vibe. Perhaps because of it, even when the beasts started coming out of the sand--from giant worms to mutated scorpions--they dealt with it swiftly. So far, aside from wincing and shuddering at the sight of the beasts, the two guides still followed protocol and instruction well, so Zein did not berate them too much.

He did, however, constantly remind them to take a sip of water--and that was including doing it himself. And because of this, the squad members constantly look back toward the guides every time Zein gave a signal to drink.

Including the raid Captain.

"Hey, come on, stop looking and concentrate!" the vice-Captain sighed and told the espers off with a hiss. "You too, Captain!"

"Aww, come on," a magician-type esper behind the vice-Captain replied lightly. "When else could we look at his face if not now, when the scary guardian is still in the tower?"