One day, gates began appearing all over the Earth. No one could explain the phenomenon, and people quickly fell into despair, believing it was the end of humanity.
But as they say, the world never truly wants you dead. While the gates were a catastrophe, the heavens compensated by bestowing special powers upon a select few.
And those people came to be known by new names:
Espers and Guides.
By now, these terms are so familiar that they’re taught as required material to first graders in elementary school.
***
“You think you’ll have time to be thinking like that inside a gate?”
“Oh, do we leave our brains behind when we enter a gate now? That’s new to me.”
“Hey!”
The Guiding Center rang out with the sound of a very familiar voice once again today.
“Rion, hey—Kang Rion. Calm down, man.”
“Do I look like I’m in the mood to calm down? Fuck, let go of me.”
“Dude, if you use your powers in here again, the cafeteria’s gonna need another full renovation.”
The man called Rion was panting, trying to control his fury. Those holding onto his arms spoke as if they’d been through this many times before.
“Right. You learned Lamaze breathing, remember? Deep breath in… and out…”
“Haaah…”
“Instead of wasting time learning that, maybe learn what the hell you’re supposed to do inside a gate first?”
“…Fuck. Let go.”
The sound of Rion’s last thread of reason snapping echoed through the air. Even the people who’d been grabbing his arms sensed it—this isn’t going to end well—and quickly let go, backing far away.
“Seriously, why is it always the cafeteria?”
“It’s already weird enough that they’re meeting their matched Guide here in the Guiding Center…”
The others grumbled, but still started cleaning up their trays and leaving the cafeteria with practiced efficiency.
Before long, the air around the man with the throbbing vein in his forehead began to distort.
“And no one thinks it’s weird that an S-rank Guide and S-rank Esper are brawling like this?”
“Shut up and get out, unless you wanna get caught in the crossfire.”
In the end, only two people remained in the cafeteria: the furious man and another man who showed not even a hint of fear, continuing to provoke him without pause.
“I told you to watch your damn mouth.”
“And I’ve told you more than once to watch your body, haven’t I?”
“You always have to get the last word, huh? Fucking always!”
Bang! A chair beside Rion flew past the other man’s head and smashed into the wall behind him. But the man didn’t so much as flinch as he opened his mouth again.
“Do you even want to win? ‘Cause looking at you, it sure doesn’t seem like it. Or maybe you just don’t have the ability to.”
“Hey. I’m holding back. If I was serious, do you think you’d still be standing there with both legs intact?”
Rion forced the words out through clenched teeth, every syllable weighed down by effort. And he wasn’t wrong—if he let loose, he could easily send this guy flying out of the building.
“So what, am I supposed to thank you for that?”
“…You know what? Screw it. Let’s end this, right here, right now.”
He’d tolerated him because the bastard was just barely useful—and essential, even—but that was it. Rion had reached his limit.
Chairs and a long table near him slowly floated up behind his back.
“Even if I break one of your legs, we’ve got skilled healing Espers here at the center, right?”
“And you know I’m the kind of guy who’d still say what I need to say even with a broken leg, right?”
“Yeah, I know. But if I snap one of your legs, at least I’ll get a week of peace and quiet, won’t I?”
The legs of the floating chairs began to twist ominously, clearly poised to strike. Yet the man remained completely unfazed.
“Go ahead, then. I’ve got shit to say, and I’m gonna say it.”
“If that’s your dying wish, who am I to say no?”
Just one week. If he could silence that annoying mouth for just a week, it’d all be worth it.
Rion raised his hand without hesitation. But just as he was about to strike, a voice thundered through the cafeteria like a lightning bolt and shattered his plan.
“Kang Rion! Lee Yu-won! What the hell do you two think you’re doing?!”
“Ah, fuck. The nagging machine’s here…”
“Who are you calling a nagging machine?!”
The chaos died down the moment the Center Director came charging in like a bullet. But that didn’t stop Yu-won from running his mouth.
“What, you should’ve just thrown it. Ignoring what everyone says and doing whatever you want—that’s your specialty, isn’t it, hyung?”
Rion’s fists clenched as he began to tremble. That damn mouth again… The Center Director rubbed his temples and sighed.
“You… you little…”
Rion’s face flushed from red to purple. And then, his booming voice echoed through the entire building.
“Lee Yu-won, you son of a bitch!”
How the hell were these two supposed to be the most compatible S-rank Esper and Guide ever recorded? The Center Director could not, for the life of him, figure it out.
***
Yu-won and Rion were an Esper and Guide pair with an unprecedented matching rate. And Kang Rion was an Esper whose powers were just as incredible as their compatibility.
His ability was telekinesis—so delicate that he could control individual snowflakes, and so powerful he could lift an entire building.
At twenty years old, the moment he awakened as an Esper, Rion shot to stardom.
With strength so overwhelming he was hailed as the greatest Esper in history, and looks that didn’t seem to fit someone so powerful, he was a walking contradiction.
He always wore a tired expression, as if the world bored him, but he never hesitated to throw himself into danger where help was needed. In less than a year, Rion was widely recognized as South Korea’s top Esper.
“I want to be a cool Esper like Rion-oppa!”
“Me too! I wanna be a super strong Esper like Rion-hyung!”
“I saw him once—just once—and I swear, kids like that don’t come around often.”
From preschoolers to centenarians, there wasn’t a soul in Korea who didn’t know the name Kang Rion.
But Rion had one serious problem—he couldn’t find a Guide with a high compatibility rate.
“Hey, Kang Rion. Be honest, do you secretly hate me or something? How is our matching rate still below 40%?”
“You know I’ve got a low matching rate with literally everyone.”
Matching rates were influenced by innate disposition, and more importantly, the emotional connection between Espers and Guides. But for some reason, Rion was particularly incompatible with Guides.
“If I weren’t an A-rank Guide, it’d be even worse. How are you supposed to recharge your stamina with just 34% guiding? At least try to get some rest.”
“There are too many places that need me. How can I rest easy knowing that?”
It was noble for someone with great power to take their duty seriously—but Rion took it to the extreme.
His highest matching rate, even with A-rank Guides, never went above 34%. Even with B- and C-ranks, no one exceeded 40%.
Naturally, he was in a constant state of guiding deficiency, but that didn’t stop Rion from working. He poured every bit of his rest time into guiding sessions, recovering just enough energy to stay mobile.
“You’re gonna die young at this rate.”
“C’mon, I take good care of myself. I eat healthy!”
That line didn’t exactly reassure anyone—especially when it was said while he was dripping nosebleeds. Rion might have been Korea’s top Esper, but he also had the country’s most fatal flaw.
“You were almost too late last time, remember? If I’d gotten there just ten minutes earlier, that mob monster wouldn’t have escaped the gate.”
“How the hell is that your fault? That’s on the center being short-staffed as always.”
A-rank Guide Kang-woo shook his head in frustration. He had the highest matching rate with Rion out of anyone in the center, and had become Rion’s unofficial personal Guide.
That’s why he more than anyone else was desperate for Rion’s perfect match to show up.
What’s the point of being worshipped like a hero or earning tons of money, if you’re gonna drop dead early because your match never shows up? He couldn’t understand Rion—still smiling like it’s all fine—but he couldn’t help feeling sorry for him, either.
One year. Two. Three… and then four.
Rion turned 24 still in that same state.
“You need a vacation. If not, you’re gonna drop dead before you even hit thirty.”
“And who’s gonna replace me if I go? Seo-ha’s been deployed, and Joo-seop’s still just a rookie.”
“So what, we all die of overwork just ‘cause you’re too stubborn to rest?”
At 24, without proper guidance, Rion was clearly worse off than when he was 20.
He still had monstrous power. He was still saving lives. But physically, he was withering away by the day.
“You’ve got to think about the future too, not just the immediate.”
“But people right in front of me could get hurt if I don’t help them—how can I just stand by and do nothing?”
“You think you’re Superman? You don’t even have a matching Guide. You can’t even find someone over 50% compatibility. You’re burning through your life force for what?”
Now even the Center Director was butting heads with Rion, trying to force him into a mandatory vacation. And while the reasoning was sound, Rion just couldn’t sit idly by.
“Still…”
If there’s someone I can help, I have to help. I need to help them…
“That’s enough. I know you’re a stubborn little shit. So fine—just one week. Take one damn week off and only get guided. I already told Kang-woo.”
“Director…”
“No more discussion. Get out.”
Rion looked up at the director with pleading eyes, but the man was unmoved and coldly kicked him out.
And so, Rion was forcibly sent on a week-long vacation—riddled with anxiety the entire time.
Then, exactly one week later, when that cursed break finally ended and he returned to the center, he met the person who would turn his entire life upside down.
