Chapter 19
The middle school dormitory was completely different from elementary school, with perfect single rooms.
This was to protect the privacy of students entering puberty.
However, my dormitory room never became a personal space.
“Ji Yeohoon, elementary students really come here so easily…”
“It’s not that bad, is it?”
Normally, elementary students shouldn’t easily enter the middle school dormitory.
But Ji Yeohoon spent time in my room frequently, using reasons like being from the same guild, still being in elementary school, and how newly manifested Ji Yeohoon, whose exact rank hadn’t been determined, needed to be near a Guide to feel comfortable.
And Yoon Cheong from the next room would just knock and enter too.
So this room had one B+a rank Esper who would eventually be measured as S-rank, one immeasurable Esper who would receive a final evaluation of S-rank, and one S-rank Guide who had wanted to be D-rank, all rolling around together.
Of course, I was the only one lying on the bed, with Yoon Cheong at my desk, and Ji Yeohoon sitting at the table beside the bed, busily moving his mouse.
“Hyung, there’s a fight in mid.”
“Coming now.”
These kids are so young but they’re playing this game…
These children, who had been enthusiastically playing mobile games, had now become Legend League gamers playing on laptops provided by Ji Yeohoon’s father.
From what I knew before my regression, these two boys’ school lives were focused on controlling their abilities and general studies rather than games. Something had changed, and now they were both completely immersed in gaming.
When they weren’t playing games, they would occasionally take jabs at each other, clearly showing their incompatibility, but with games, they would compete and also team up together these days.
“Hyung, you really won’t play?”
“No.”
I’ve played that game before.
How I wished to be old enough to play games.
I practically lived in PC rooms with friends, partly for that game and partly for racing games.
I was cautious about Legend League because I remembered the patched version of the game from before my regression.
With racing games, I could just say “I’m naturally good at this stuff” and move on, but this game was rapidly emerging as an e-sports category. It’s not that I was worried about professional teams suddenly recruiting me if I played too well… that would be absurd. It’s just that the champions patched later were familiar to my hands, and they didn’t match up when I tried to play now.
As a result, my interest had cooled, and I was just watching.
“No, not that way, you need to look at the bushes.”
“Huh? Oh, oh?”
“One of them is going in there.”
Still, I was at least intermediate level or higher.
I could spot what these newly-minted middle schooler and soon-to-be middle schooler couldn’t see, so when I pointed out what they were missing, Ji Yeohoon quickly moved his character in.
While I tried to get along with them like this, it was also annoying every time.
Having them near my eyes helped reduce the pain from outbursts or excessive power use by these still unstable boys, but because of that, neither wanted to leave me, so I spent more time with the two or three of us together in my room than alone.
If I were truly an adolescent boy, I might have had major fights with these kids, but fortunately or unfortunately, I had already gone through puberty before my regression, so I only needed to worry about my future.
So while I didn’t have to fight with the kids about my personal time, the amount of time spent together was so different from before my regression.
Where did things start to go wrong?
The boys would resist and hold out until 9 PM when they had to return to their rooms, and only leave when I pushed them out.
‘Hyung, I brought ice cream earlier and put it away. It would be delicious if you eat it.’
‘Sure.’
‘Can’t I really sleep here?’
‘No. The bed is too narrow.’
‘We could just spread out the blanket.’
‘No. Go back. I won’t let you sleep here.’
If I didn’t force them out, these bastards would stick around all night playing games.
It was getting close to 9 PM… I should send them away, I thought, but today was different.
Before my regression, I would mindlessly provide simple contact guiding when Espers struggled. With no Espers I knew, no imprinting, and as an Association Guide not affiliated with a guild, I could comfortably provide contact guiding.
But after my regression, I became a temporary Guide for the Calling guild while at school. Within school, holding hands or hugging with Esper children in the same class was allowed, but surprisingly, the guild opposed more intimate contact.
I wondered why, and it turned out that both Espers and Guides are still people who naturally react when touched, and feelings tend to develop for those they frequently touch.
During elementary school, it could be overlooked as “helping a friend,” but for ability users in middle school and above, if emotions developed from physical contact and suddenly changed their career paths, that would be problematic.
Anyway, today I had something to check with these two.
“Give me your hands.”
I reached out to the two boys who were looking regretfully at their finished game as 9 PM arrived.
“I barely used my power today though?”
“Me too. It was raining today so I couldn’t go outside…”
“It’s not about that.”
The two boys looked at my outstretched hands, then at me, before quickly sitting beside me and grabbing my hands.
I had deliberately left space on both sides of the bed, and whether they knew it or not, they comfortably held my hands.
Come to think of it, basic contact guiding was easy with these two.
We had held hands and walked around since they were young, and after they manifested, I grabbed them several times a day.
During the day, Yoon Cheong would touch me in class, and after school, Ji Yeohoon would rush to my room.
As this flowed like a natural routine, a problem arose. I began to think that anything beyond hugging with these kids would be awkward.
It’s not about having a pure-hearted mindset like “kissing is only for someone you love,” but rather because it feels like raising little kids.
In reality, when providing guiding, situations inevitably arise where contact beyond hugging becomes necessary.
With these boys?
‘There are several conditions for effective guiding environments. First, when the matching rate is good. Second, when feelings toward each other are positive.’
After testing matching rates with school children, I showed high versatility, suitable for guiding multiple people, just like before my regression.
My matching rate with these two wasn’t bad either, making conditions favorable for guiding.
Their feelings toward me were easy to see in the way these two boys looked at me.
Because they had complete trust that I wouldn’t do anything harmful to myself or them, there was no reason for guiding to fail with these boys.
And there was one more condition for effective guiding—when sexual arousal is high.
That’s why accurate sex education is provided to young Guides who haven’t yet become adults.
Until about 20 years ago, there were many problems caused by relationships formed under the pretext of providing or receiving guiding.
‘Actually, the research showing that sexual intercourse increases guiding measurements is old, things are different now. However, the fact that guiding success rates increase remains unchanged—’
There are Guides and Espers with extremely low matching rates.
Because of the low matching rate, reverse guiding would occur every time they tried, so after initially attempting guiding, they eventually stopped trying altogether.
Then one day, when an Esper was struggling with excessive power use and no other Guide was nearby, this Guide initiated relationship guiding, accepting the risk of reverse guiding.
Later, I heard they thought it would be unfair to just die when there was a chance they might not.
Surprisingly, the Esper calmed down, though the matching rate remained the same.
Sexual arousal had increased the probability of guiding success.
My matching rate isn’t bad.
But they say that after an Esper’s power goes out of control, there’s a chance of guiding failure regardless of matching rate.
The basic measure can be achieved with a kiss, but to lower the power further, one must either hold on for extended guiding or ultimately establish a relationship…
“What? Is there something on me?”
“Hyung, you’re not going to curse, right? They say using nice words helps calm the mind.”
Since Guides are also people, it’s unlikely to develop sexual feelings for these kids easily.
But if something happens with these boys, it means that I would have to, well, do that with them…
“…Hyung?”
“Moon Soo-young?”
How could I possibly do that with these cute and adorable but young boys?
Even though I’ve become their attachment figure, these boys will see me as their guardian or as a Guide to be protected due to an Esper’s instinct, based on their memories of me from when they were young. And because of my memories of them as children, it would be difficult for me sexually.
At least until they grow up, this situation will continue, which made me feel dizzy.
Kids, I don’t think I could even kiss you, let alone do… that with you…
“You two can sleep over tonight.”
“Really?”
“Really? Hyung? For real?”
“No changing your mind later.”
“I won’t change it. What do you take me for?”
I should start looking for ways these boys are different from the past and imprint those images in my mind.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
