C8 Enhanced Perception

Egil shook his head, despite feeling quite clever for quickly coming up with two possibilities, he couldn't bring himself to believe either of them.

He approached the rope pulley and descended, finally arriving last at the stone door. There were seven of them in total, with three gunmen already positioned to the left, right, and center, guns raised defensively towards the sea. It appeared that only the remaining four were truly engaged in studying the stone door.

The team consisted of Egil, Rapper Mark the captain, the blue-eyed girl, and Martina with her double ponytails.

Martina noticed Egil's confusion and reassured him, "Stop guessing. It's not as inconceivable as you think. It's something we're both familiar with."

Following her words, Mark, Quintana, and Martina began to emanate an aura that Egil recognized all too well—psionic power.

So it wasn't the unfathomable phenomenon I had imagined? It was... psionic power?

This entire underground coastal marvel was crafted by psionic power!

But how potent would a meta-human need to be to accomplish this? Tenth level? No chance. Eleventh level? Still far off. Twelfth level... Are there even any twelfth-level meta-humans?

Egil, who was assessed as a beginner-level psionic power user, felt disheveled by the sea breeze.

With a grimace, Egil was clearly still skeptical, prompting Martina to flick her ponytail and point to the stone door, "See those buckles?"

Egil followed her gesture and indeed spotted the buckles, cleverly integrated into the door's design—two on each side, four in total.

"These buckles can only be moved by a meta-human!" Martina declared.

"Really?" Egil couldn't help but exclaim.

"Believe it or not, that's your choice!" Martina retorted with a hint of defiance.

Quintana, standing nearby, chuckled and chimed in, "We've been at this for six months, and this is all we've managed to achieve."

Six months... Egil's gaze shifted to the submachine gun in Rapper Mark's grasp. They must have tried everything from brute force to explosives, perhaps even cannons...

"Ah, I understand now. Four buckles, requiring four meta-humans to operate them. That's why you spared no expense in hiring me!" Egil exclaimed, the realization dawning on him.

Egil felt he had a grasp on the situation, but a nagging sense of discord lingered in his heart. What more could he do, though? At this point, he had no choice but to forge ahead.

Martina and Quintana stood to one side, gripping the buckles. Quintana took the higher one, while Martina, who was still growing, had to pull the lower one.

On the other side, Egil and Mark positioned themselves. Mark, being the taller of the two, reached for the upper hoop, leaving Egil to crouch and tug at the lower one.

The instant Egil's hand made contact with the hoop, time seemed to slow around him. His psionic power had been inadvertently activated! This clearly had something to do with psionic powers! He quickly suppressed his ability, relieved that his psionic power was not easily detectable. Egil glanced up to observe the others.

The other three had managed to keep their composure. It appeared they had previous experience with the buckles, which prevented Egil from discerning their specific psionic powers.

Rapper Mark commanded, "On my count, one, two, three, pull!" The buckle was incredibly heavy, and Egil had to muster all his strength to budge it even slightly. It wasn't the stone door that moved, but the buckle itself, which was attached to a metal chain as thick as an arm.

This was a relic of a prehistoric civilization. Despite tens of thousands of years, the chain had only superficial rust. As Egil pulled, flakes of rust fell away, revealing the metal's original hue, which glinted in the sunlight.

After pulling out a foot of chain, Egil heard the clicking of mechanisms from within the stone door. In his effort to pull further, he instinctively stepped back, nearly slipping. Looking down, he realized he had stepped on a bullet casing. This was the exact spot where the upper half of a body in a photograph had fallen. The deceased had fired a shot before dying...

Wait a minute!

The half-corpse! This location! Four buckles! It would take four meta-humans to open it! A sudden realization washed over Egil, but it wasn't relief that flooded through him. Instead, a wave of tension gripped him, sending a chill down his spine.

If the bisected corpse was also a meta-human, that would make four of us, right? This means that when the half-corpse was alive, he must have worked with Martina and the other two to pull the lever! Then, he became the half-corpse in the photograph, the one Egil referred to. With one person missing, they couldn't attempt to open the door anymore. Then Egil's plane landed on the island, his meta-human identity was discovered, and that led to Martina's invitation!

All the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place! Although this didn't explain why Martina mistook him for the professor, it was still a fairly logical explanation!

No, this isn't the time to ponder causes and effects or what's logical!

Prepare for battle!

Pulling this lever is life-threatening! It's a cautionary tale from those who came before us!

Run?

Impossible! Not only have I accepted the job, but there are also hostages inside the ruins. Even if I were to throw caution to the wind and flee, it's too late now.

With escape not an option, I have no choice but to face the danger head-on.

First, I need to pinpoint the source of the danger!

A quick scan reveals that the stone door is normal, and the expressions of the other three are also as expected. In this situation, it's normal to look extremely tense.

I can't bear this tension any longer! Egil clenched his teeth. Even if it was wasteful, he had to use his ability.

Beginner level ability — Enhanced Perception!

The moment his ability kicked in, Egil's entire perspective shifted.

The intermittent sound of the tide turned into a continuous roar.

The lever's pulling speed also dropped suddenly, as if it was playing at one-tenth the normal speed. The rust on the lever fell off slowly, as if it were equipped with parachutes.

Egil blinked, and it took an eternity for his eyelids to meet.

Yes, everything had slowed down, but it was only because Egil's perception had quickened. It's all relative. So, Egil's perception of his own movements had also slowed down. After all, his ability wasn't to enhance speed or strength.

So, the battles that were unwinnable remained unwinnable, and the unavoidable remained unavoidable. In Egil's own words, it was about 'dying with clarity.' He had whimsically named his own ability.

"Death" was an incorrect term. "Enhanced Perception"—a beginner-level strengthening psionic power—was more apt.

Yet, this ability had its merits. The weaker the power, the less energy it consumed. Less energy consumption meant longer duration. With extended duration, Egil could keep his power active and wait for danger to emerge.

It was time for the "Enhanced Perception" to be put to use. Egil maintained his grip on the ring; releasing it would likely necessitate a second pull—a situation best avoided by getting it right the first time.

The ring stretched slowly, yet the stone door remained unresponsive.

Their pupils narrowed in concentration. Martina and Quintana's expressions were tense. With nothing else remarkable, both of their gazes were locked onto the stone door, suggesting that the anticipated danger was likely associated with it.