“It’s Yu-won’s first day. I hope the gate opens at a manageable difficulty level.”
“Like that’s something we can control.”
Having rushed over at the call about a gate occurrence, the Espers and Guides stood in front of the yet-unopened gate, chatting among themselves.
“Ugh, what the hell is this mess so early in the morning?”
“Since when do gates appear according to anyone’s schedule? But seriously, how long is that thing gonna take to open? Think I’ve got time to eat a cup of ramen real quick?”
Since the gate hadn’t opened yet, the atmosphere was a little disorganized.
Rion cut through the commotion and brought Yu-won to the front of the gate. His expression turned serious as he explained.
“You probably learned about this in school, but this is a gate before it opens. Once it does, we’ll take measurements first, then go in. Any gate that opens has to be dealt with within a week, no matter what. Most of them get cleared within that timeframe, but…”
Some were taken care of in under three days, but others could drag on endlessly, hard to handle even after days of work.
Rion’s brow furrowed as he recalled a situation he’d rather not remember.
“If we can’t take care of it, innocent people living here might suffer for it. Just keep that in mind.”
Rion looked around. There was an elementary school just nearby, and several apartment complexes surrounded the area.
“Even if monsters come out of the gate, we can stop them. But people will still be affected. Anyway, here’s hoping this is one we can clear fast.”
It was Yu-won’s first day, sure—but even if it weren’t, Rion always found himself hoping for low-grade gates.
Whatever the case, he just wanted it to be something he could handle within a week. Four years into this job, and still, it was the same wish every time.
“Oh, it’s opening.”
Griiind. A skin-crawling noise echoed as the gate began to pulse.
The pre-scan had labeled it a B-rank. Sometimes the actual gate differed from pre-measurements, but this one looked about right.
“You threw up the first time you went into a gate, didn’t you?”
“Like you’re one to talk. You tried to run and got dragged back by the seniors!”
“Hey, hey. Knock it off. Yu-won, it’s your first day, so this’ll be your first time seeing real monsters. Don’t push yourself. If it gets overwhelming, just say so right away.”
Rion calmed down the bickering juniors and turned to Yu-won with a reassuring tone.
Sure, this was the age of the internet and TV, where you could find videos of monsters inside gates anywhere. But watching a video and seeing them in person were two very different things.
Rion had seen plenty of rookies brag about how they’d be fine—only to freeze in fear and collapse the moment they came face-to-face with a monster. He patted Yu-won’s shoulder lightly.
“If it’s too much, I’ll take care of everything. Just run straight to me, okay?”
He couldn’t quite picture this stone-faced newbie sprinting over in a panic, but Rion exaggerated on purpose to help ease the tension.
“Yes.”
As expected, the reply was dull as ever.
Well, if the kid panicked, he’d be kind of cute. And if he handled everything just fine, then he was competent. Either way, it was a win. Rion decided to think positively and gave a small nod.
“Let’s head in.”
“Yeah.”
And with that, a team of seven Espers and five Guides stepped into the gate.
Technically, the minimum team required to clear a gate was five Espers and three Guides, but since there was a newbie today, they’d padded the numbers a bit.
“Ugh, please, no slimy ones like last time.”
“Right? It’s hard enough to change clothes inside a gate, and walking around all week with sticky crap on you was pure hell.”
“First thing we do—find a place to wash up.”
The gate-hardened team scattered to scout the area. Outside, the sky had been tinged with dawn—but inside the gate, it was broad daylight, with the sun beating down.
“You can probably tell just by hearing everyone chattering, but gates can be full of unpredictable situations. So first thing after entering is to get a handle on the terrain.”
Rion gave a quick explanation, then used psychokinesis to lift himself into the sky. From up above, he scanned the area and called down.
“From your position, there’s a big lake about three kilometers south. The boss… seems to be over there. If we follow the lake, there’s a cave. I’m picking up a pretty strong pulse from inside.”
“Rion-sunbae, you’re the best!”
“Alright, let’s get moving.”
The Espers began to walk, using Rion as their compass. Not long after, the team set up camp near the lake and began preparing for battle.
“Ground types coming from five o’clock and eleven o’clock. I’ll handle the ones in the air, so don’t worry about those.”
“Got it.”
The Espers escorted the Guides to a safe zone, then triggered the monster lures they’d brought. Monsters, drawn by the scent, began to swarm in from all directions.
Kiiaaaah!
“I’ve got this side. You just focus on yours!”
As Rion and the others began sweeping through the incoming monsters, an Esper assigned to guard the Guides—Seo-ha—struck up conversation with Yu-won to help calm his nerves.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Han Seo-ha.”
“I’m Lee Yu-won.”
“I never imagined someone would actually match with Rion-sunbae. Life really is full of surprises, huh?”
Seo-ha gave Yu-won an amazed once-over.
She was deeply interested in the young Guide who had become the one and only salvation for an S-rank Esper with absurd abilities.
And it wasn’t just her. Every Esper and Guide at the Center was paying attention.
“Have you done guiding for Rion-sunbae yet?”
“Yes.”
“No wonder. He looked really good today. I actually thought he’d done his makeup or something.”
Seo-ha laughed, amused.
“I always felt bad watching him work, nodding off while ignoring the toll it took on his body. But now that you’re here, I think that’ll happen a lot less. I’m really glad you showed up, Yu-won.”
“…Sorry?”
“…Ah. Right. I guess you wouldn’t know.”
Seo-ha quickly covered her mouth, but then relaxed. This was his match, after all. Now that the guiding issue was solved, there was no harm in telling him.
“You know he’s never had a Guide whose wave pattern matched his, right? What the media doesn’t know is, it was actually a much bigger issue than people thought.”
“How bad was it?”
“Chronic guiding deficiency. And he’s an S-rank. Plus, he’s famous for throwing himself into the thick of things without holding back. Nosebleeds were normal for him. And he’s collapsed straight out of a gate more times than I can count.”
I was still a total newbie back then, but man, I was terrified.
Seo-ha shuddered just thinking about it.
“I’ve never heard anything about that before.”
“Of course not. If the press got wind of it, there’d be a huge scandal over Esper rights. And if people found out Rion-sunbae collapsed, panic would’ve spread everywhere. The Center worked hard to keep it under wraps.”
Yu-won’s face twisted into a frown at her words.
Oops—maybe that was too much for a newbie to hear. Seo-ha glanced at him and added quickly:
“More than anything, Rion-sunbae himself didn’t want it to get out. He probably hated the idea even more than the Director did. Said he didn’t want to make anyone worry unnecessarily.”
“……”
But even that explanation didn’t ease the lines in Yu-won’s forehead. Feeling like she might’ve dumped too much darkness on a rookie, Seo-ha rushed to soften the mood.
“Rion-sunbae’s kind of a—well, not kind of, he is a total workaholic. Last time, he collapsed after a gate, and the Director told him to take a week off and rest his head. But he flat-out refused, got into a fight with the Director over it! Who the hell refuses a paid week off?!”
As she spoke, even Seo-ha found herself shaking her head in disbelief.
“Anyway, the Center doesn’t force people to work if they don’t want to. But Rion-sunbae… never had a compatible Guide. And he’s got the skills, too, so he just kept pushing himself harder and harder. But now that you are here, we can finally breathe easy.”
She offered some last encouragement, trying to comfort him. But no matter how much she explained, Yu-won couldn’t understand Rion.
“You said the highest matching rate before me was under 40%?”
“Oh—yeah. Even among A-ranks, the best was only 34%. It was like pouring water into a bottomless pot.”
Yu-won thought back to the way Rion had gripped his hand during their first guiding. That bright-red blush on his cheeks, that soft smile—still fresh in his mind.
“Yu-won, you really are the savior of this Center—no, of this whole country. So don’t get hurt. Let’s work together for a long, long time, okay?”
Hopefully we’ll get assigned to the same gates more often, too… Seo-ha added, letting a bit of sincerity slip into her voice.
With S-rank Esper Rion and S-rank Guide Yu-won on the same team, every gate would be safer and more efficient than ever before.
“This time, Rion-sunbae can finally get as much guiding as he needs.”
Maybe they’d even set a new record for fastest gate clear. Seo-ha smiled at the thought, nodding to herself.
Whether she was nodding or not, Yu-won lifted his gaze toward where Rion was taking out the incoming monsters.
He couldn’t see clearly, but it was obvious from the way the monsters dropped from the sky that Rion was holding his own.
“…He’d better come back without getting hurt.”
Yu-won narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on Rion’s barely-visible form.
