Chapter 100
‘I should have come out 5 minutes, no, just 1 minute later.’
For reasons I wasn’t exactly sure of, not only Team Leader Kim Kwang-in but also Team 6 members tended to subtly show signs of ignoring me. Though they would likely just pass by pretending not to see me, avoiding conflict, nobody would feel good being treated like air.
All sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant. It was obvious my greeting would be ignored, and going back to the lounge would just invite mockery. There was no reason for me to avoid them like I had a thousand tails.
Meanwhile, the distance between us kept shrinking. I soon made my decision and started walking again. I could just pretend not to see them too, so why was I even worrying…
“Hello.”
But something unexpected happened. Choi Young-sun, the Guide who I thought would give me the coldest shoulder, greeted me first.
For a moment, I turned around thinking someone else might be behind me, but the corridor was empty. Crucially, her gaze was directly focused on me. Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, I awkwardly returned the greeting.
“Hello.”
That wasn’t the only surprise. Choi Young-sun even went as far as asking about my well-being.
“Are you feeling better? I heard you were discharged yesterday.”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
I wasn’t the only one surprised. The Team 6 Guides with Choi Young-sun were also looking at us with expressions that said, ‘What’s going on?’
Understandably so, as everyone in the guild knew that Choi Young-sun and I had once competed for the position of Song Ji-hyeok’s paired Guide. Moreover, Choi Young-sun was famous for being cold to everyone, so it was natural for them to find it strange that she was initiating conversation with me, someone she likely considered a thorn in her side.
Soon, expressions of intrigue appeared on all their faces. Choi Young-sun must have sensed it too, as she calmly suggested:
“If you have a moment, would you like to have a cup of tea?”
“Yes, that would be nice.”
Despite my surprise, I answered without hesitation. If her goal was simply to ask about my well-being, we had already briefly greeted each other, and seeing that I had returned, she would already know I was fine. Her invitation for tea suggested she had something else to discuss.
Soon, we moved to Choi Young-sun’s guiding room. When I saw the “6-1” nameplate on the door, I didn’t think much of it, but once inside, I was quite surprised.
I had assumed all guiding rooms were similar, as there wasn’t much difference between the room where I received guiding and the one I used as a Guide. But this place was much larger and had many more facilities. The sofa looked expensive, and there was even a full-body massage chair installed by the window.
‘Do A-rank Guides get different treatment? Well, that makes sense.’
It was so obvious that I didn’t even feel a hint of jealousy. Soon, she invited me to sit. Hiding my awkwardness, I sat on the sofa, and Choi Young-sun brought tea. Even the white porcelain cups and saucers looked sophisticated.
Eventually, we faced each other across the table. Choi Young-sun spoke first.
“Thank you for accepting my sudden invitation.”
“Not at all.”
Before I became conscious of the awkwardness, my hand moved first. Taking a sip of the tea, which was sensibly not too hot, I felt my insides warm up soothingly.
“About that time.”
“Yes?”
“When you received guiding from me in the dungeon. I’m sorry I couldn’t provide full guiding.”
Choi Young-sun’s face was turned squarely toward me, but I could sense that her words were genuine, filled with apology and guilt. The gaze I had thought was haughty and arrogant was slightly lowered, looking downward.
This too was unexpected. Of all people in our guild, Choi Young-sun would be the furthest from “apologizing to others, even insincerely”…
Moreover, what happened then was nothing for Choi Young-sun to apologize for. Looking at the results, the guiding may have been somewhat inadequate, but the fact that she had reached out to me first when she herself was in an unstable state was something I should be thanking her for a hundred times over.
There was more to be thankful for. Only now, facing Choi Young-sun, did I realize it, and blaming my own narrow-mindedness, I quickly spoke.
“Not at all. I held on well thanks to your help then; otherwise, it would have been much worse.”
“…That’s not true.”
I saw Choi Young-sun slightly bite her lip. Her face, beautiful and elegant like an ice sculpture, still seemed to bear complex emotions.
Though neither of us showed it, I obviously knew that Choi Young-sun had had reserve energy left at that time. And that if she had wanted to, she could have let more energy flow more strongly.
And coincidentally, that night I had lost consciousness while coughing up blood, and Choi Young-sun seemed to feel guilty about it.
I understand her feelings. Regardless of the reason, if I learned that an Esper I had guided collapsed not long after, I too would have felt uneasy. But thinking about it again, Choi Young-sun was not at fault.
Nevertheless, Choi Young-sun appeared unwilling to change her expression. Feeling it was my responsibility to ease her mind, I spoke sincerely once more.
“Thank you so much for helping me then. And thank you for taking care of Ji-hyeok during my absence.”
But somehow, Choi Young-sun’s face contorted slightly. Looking at me like someone with something to say, she slowly moved her lips.
“Do you perhaps not know?”
“Know what?”
“…The person who has been guiding Song Ji-hyeok Esper, it wasn’t me. It still isn’t.”
It was something I couldn’t have imagined. Song Ji-hyeok’s face automatically came to mind. I had naturally assumed Choi Young-sun had helped him since he looked fine, but she says it wasn’t her? Then who on earth had been providing the guiding?
As my thoughts rapidly chained together, Choi Young-sun added a few more words.
“Ask Song Ji-hyeok Esper for the details. But if I could give you one piece of advice… it would be good for you to return to duty as soon as possible.”
***
My resolution to work hard again was broken in less than a few hours. I returned to the office and held the mouse, but soon fell into distraction. That thought, of course, was about what Choi Young-sun had said in the lounge.
‘The person who has been guiding Song Ji-hyeok Esper, it wasn’t me. It still isn’t.’
Then who exactly has been guiding Song Ji-hyeok? Could there possibly be a Guide with a better matching rate than Choi Young-sun?
…But that can’t be. That’s impossible.
There are no newly recruited Guides, and even if there were, it’s a principle that paired Espers are excluded from matching rate tests. Ah, could he be taking some kind of guiding substitute medication?
But that didn’t make sense either. Though guiding substitute medications are continuously being developed, the prevailing view is that they fall far short of direct guiding, so they’re typically only used in truly unavoidable situations. Even conceding that this might be acceptable in a dungeon, it made no sense to substitute medication for guiding when the guild had numerous A-rank Guides.
There was another concerning point. When I briefly mentioned that Guide Choi Young-sun must be having a hard time, Song Ji-hyeok didn’t deny it. So I naturally thought Choi Young-sun was continuing to help.
‘Why didn’t he say it wasn’t her?’
With such unanswerable thoughts continuing, I couldn’t focus on work. The burden on my mind wasn’t just that. Two days later, when I was called to the infirmary by the doctor, I had to face an even worse reality.
“The re-examination results are in, and they’re not as good as we thought.”
People have something called intuition. From the moment I saw the doctor’s face in the infirmary… no, from the moment I headed there, I vaguely sensed that the results wouldn’t be good.
But the weight of reality was incomparably heavier. Actually hearing the doctor say “the test results aren’t good” made my heart feel like it dropped to my feet.
I barely swallowed my dry spit and opened my mouth.
“Will I be able to provide guiding?”
I was terribly anxious about hearing that even this wouldn’t be possible. Fortunately, the doctor’s answer wasn’t the worst, but it wasn’t reassuring either.
“Since your body has recovered, it’s possible according to regulations, but I can’t guarantee the efficiency will be the same as before. Start slowly and check your condition, and absolutely don’t overdo it.”
“Yes, thank you.”
I bowed deeply to the doctor who always did his best for us, and left the infirmary. Naturally, my heart was still heavy. If worry could be manifested as weight, I would have been buried in the ground long ago, but I held onto my sanity by slapping my cheeks hard.
‘Let’s not worry unnecessarily. It might be completely fine.’
Even if things seem a bit off, I can endure through sheer determination. There’s also the option of taking medication after guiding.
Above all, I had time. Song Ji-hyeok had left for an A-rank dungeon with a team yesterday afternoon and wouldn’t return for at least a week. During that time, I felt I should focus on training my physical strength diligently to achieve optimal condition.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
