Chapter 23
Entering a Gate is definitely something I can do.
I naturally thought these bastards would enter one someday since they’re Espers, so of course it’s possible.
The reason I lost my temper and couldn’t contain my anger wasn’t because I failed to anticipate they would use my name.
That’s right, when these guys go for Gate practice, they’ll definitely drag me along.
That’s so obvious it’s not even worth getting angry about.
What angered me was that the date for these two entering their first Gate was supposed to be next year, according to my timeline before regression.
Of course, I expected Yoon Cheong, who had been diligently submitting Gate entry applications since last year, and Ji Yeohoon, who grew up watching his parents come and go through Gates, to apply right away, but for it to suddenly be approved? Lottery tickets that I’m supposed to win never hit, but this kind of thing gets approved with ridiculous precision.
I thought we’d do the Gate practice next year so I hadn’t prepared at all, but now they tell me we have to enter a Gate tomorrow.
Thanks to the fact that these guys didn’t check dates or anything when submitting their Gate entry applications, I became a Guide who received a Gate experience entry notice just one day in advance.
In other words, I was boiling with rage because the situation had gone completely contrary to my plans.
I was like some Dark-whatever Guide exuding irritation since before school started, causing the kids in my class to slink away from me.
Even Ji Yeohoon, who would normally come looking for me at lunchtime saying “let’s go eat,” just peeked his head into our classroom during breaks.
Yoon Cheong, too, would normally sit next to me as if he had no intention of leaving, but today he was cautious, slipping into the second-year classroom where Ji Yeohoon was hiding and bickering with him.
“That’s why I told you not to record it.”
“But you eventually said okay to that! Why are you only blaming me!”
“So you’re saying you did well?”
“What about you! What did you do right? You also did it together…”
“Both of you, shut up.”
“…”
The two who had been raising their voices higher and higher, saying “It’s your fault, hyung” and “No, it’s your fault,” closed their mouths again at my words.
I clearly and precisely remembered when these two first entered a Gate.
When the two boys, then in their third and second years of middle school, entered Gate practice, an accident occurred where the Gate’s rank suddenly increased.
While F-rank Gates don’t have them, boss mobs appear from D-rank upward, and unfortunately, the Gate was elevated to C-rank, causing a boss mob to appear inside.
Since a Gate’s upward adjustment can be confirmed from the outside, the country went into a state of emergency.
Students who entered an F-rank Gate for practice, an upward-adjusted Gate, phones disconnected upon entering the Gate.
That day was filled with sensational articles and news reports.
Having manifested as a D-rank Guide, I sat in front of my computer, continuously searching for “gate,” “students,” and “3rd school” on search engines, thinking that something like this might happen to me someday as an adult.
I was relieved when I saw the breaking news that although there were injuries, not a single student lost their life and everyone escaped.
The names listed as the top contributors to the Gate conquest at that time were Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon.
Usually, those introduced as top contributors in Gate conquests are the ones who defeated the boss.
If that’s the case, it means these guys were capable Espers from middle school. Does it mean it’s safe to be around them?
No, I can definitely answer NO to that.
The reason Guides are rarely taken to Gate practice is because Guides enter Gates significantly less frequently, even as adults.
Espers enter Gates together and receive guiding after they come out, so why should I have to go with them!
The problem is that Guides participating in F-rank Gate practice enter the Gate “together” with the Espers.
This is because it’s not about learning focused on Gate conquest, but practice to experience Gates.
“Hyung, we’ll really protect you well…”
“We’re really strong. Seriously.”
“They said that monsters that appear in F-rank Gates, even if F-rank Espers can’t kill them, they can definitely hold out against them. And Yoon Cheong hyung is B-rank, and I’m currently unmeasurable, but they said when I grow up and get properly checked, I’ll be A-rank or higher.”
“We’ll really behave. We’ll protect you well.”
Of course, Guides could change their minds before entering the Gate and refuse to go in.
Even as adults they don’t go in, so why should a student Guide necessarily enter?
As I stared at them intently, they went on and on about wanting to go together.
“We can really do well, hyung? Hm? Guides don’t often enter Gates, right?”
“Hah, why do you want to take me along?”
“The Gate, inside… they say F-rank is better than you think… safe.”
“Because we haven’t gone out to play since entering school…”
“Since we’re always just at school, and even when we go out on scheduled dates, we just see our parents and come back, so it’s like a field trip…”
“I really wanted to play together. We can’t go around like the old days, even on days off.”
They both muttered with identical expressions.
These guys, really.
Who treats a Gate like a field trip, even if it’s F-rank?
I was about to burst out in anger but then closed my mouth.
In elementary school, even our parents would gather to grill meat together, and after school, we would go to the nearby convenience store, grab snacks, and walk around.
We could sit in Ji Yeohoon’s spacious home garden and talk, or stay on the school playground until dismissal.
It seems that both Yoon Cheong, whom I thought might find life inside the 3rd school more comfortable due to entering a dormitory at a young age, and Ji Yeohoon, who seemed to enter the dormitory without resistance when I came to school, found life outside school to feel more free.
Honestly, because of my memories from when I was an adult, thoughts like “I don’t want to go to work,” “I just want to stay home,” and “I wish cleaning, meals, and laundry would take care of themselves” were ingrained in my mind, making this life comfortable for me.
There might be a difference between me, who finds comfort in school where I only need to attend classes officially, with no obligations as long as I provide guiding on time, and these real fifteen and fourteen-year-old kids who have many things they want to do.
“…Fine, let’s go. I said okay.”
Right, I’m fifteen.
Whether I’ve regressed or lived for however many years before, my current situation is no different, and I thought I could never become like these children—a real fifteen-year-old who has already passed that age.
The reason I decided to become friends with these guys after meeting them in elementary school was for the sake of my life when I become an adult again.
Since both would awaken as S-rank Espers, I figured there would be no loss in becoming friends with them, even if I became a low-ranked Guide.
The reason my judgment that we should just become moderately close went awry was because these two guys, who attached themselves to me more than I expected, were cuter than I thought.
I had planned to just provide adequate guiding to help them not feel pain, and to benefit from that in the future.
My anger gradually subsided at their muttering and dejected appearances.
Ah, though my mind is an adult’s, it seems puberty follows the growing body and hormones.
I thought I was calmly leading these two, but seeing how the two drag me along helplessly.
Seeing that I want to give in to them, I felt doomed.
With my head full of complicated thoughts, I wanted to pull them out, so I messed up my hair with both hands before removing them.
“So both of you, stop pretending to cry.”
“I wouldn’t cry. Maybe Ji Yeohoon, but not me.”
“You’re talking nonsense. Yoon Cheong hyung, you just had a tearful face.”
“…Get lost. You saw wrong.”
“Don’t curse. Hyung, Soo-young hyung should use nice words. You shouldn’t say things like ‘fucking bastard’ like yesterday.”
“And suddenly grabbing the collar is not okay. It hurts. If you tell me, I’ll just lower my head on my own.”
“I’ll do that for you too when I grow taller. They say I’ll be really tall.”
I wouldn’t have grabbed your collar or called you fucking bastards if you hadn’t presented me with that recorded voice like yesterday, you little bastards.
It seems I used to nag a lot when they were young, and oddly enough, their nagging tone resembled mine.
‘Now turn off the computer and do your homework. Yoon Cheong, you write out the dictation mistakes ten times too.’
‘This should be written as “babtda” [stepping on].’
‘And memorize this all the way through.’
The tone of my voice, speaking in short, clipped sentences, and their tone were similar.
The difference was that while I just blurted things out as I wanted, there was affection mixed into the tone of these two Esper boys as it came back to me.
“You guys really… must have seen me for a long time.”
“Why?”
“Your speaking styles are identical.”
“…”
Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon looked at each other with expressions that said they had goosebumps, then stood on either side of me.
They’ve gotten closer, but it seems they still don’t like being close friends.
Anyone could see they’re clearly close.
After school ended, Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon naturally came to my room.
I put the emergency food sets provided to students entering the Gate into the internally expandable item bag distributed by the school, along with water bottles.
Guides don’t actually need to prepare separately, but Ji Yeohoon and Yoon Cheong insisted it was absolutely necessary and even packed my bag for me.
Judging by their expressions, they looked like little kids packing their bags the night before a field trip.
This Gate practice is a year ahead of the timeline before my regression.
According to the plan, we should enter the Gate next year, and according to the news that came up before my regression, nothing should happen regarding this year’s F-rank Gate for students.
The rank elevation should only occur in next year’s Gate.
With the expectation that nothing would happen, I fell asleep with the two guys who didn’t want to return to their rooms on either side of me.
Really, nothing should happen.
And the next day.
“Sigh…”
“…Moon Soo-young, calm down.”
“Fuck…”
“Hyung, Soo-young hyung, nice, nice words…”
The heavens do not help me.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
