Chapter 4
It was clear that the emotion contained in those downward-looking eyes was not one of affection. They held exactly the level of annoyance of a predator who, despite not needing food, watches someone place a meal before them and tell them to eat. The gaze was so sharp that Dohyun felt if he were to provoke this person even slightly, he might be harmed.
He hadn’t been mistaken. This person’s actions and thoughts were different. Dohyun quickly noticed this and concluded: This is someone better not to get entangled with from the start.
The Association employee standing one step back was smiling as if the first meeting hadn’t gone badly, seemingly completely unaware of Haegang’s true feelings. Haegang was directing his displeasure solely at Dohyun.
“Won’t you tell me your name?”
“…Baek Dohyun.”
Despite his intimidating expression, Haegang’s voice was calm, causing Dohyun’s response to come out slightly delayed. He felt a weak pressure on his hand being held. The gaze, once again, was on his right arm. Dohyun quietly swallowed.
“The matching rate seems quite good.”
Haegang added quietly that there was no feeling of being pushed back when sending vigor (strength, vitality; for Guides, it means “total ability to Guide”). That comment, which felt almost like a mutter to himself, brightened the Association employee’s expression dramatically.
“I’d need to confirm the exact details, but… Deputy Manager, I’m sorry, but I’m a bit pressed for time.”
“Ah! Yes, understood. I’ll guide you.”
The Association employee smiled and left the office. As soon as the employee’s back was visible, the handshake ended. It didn’t feel like it was released carefully or gently. It seemed to make a “thud” sound.
Was the displeasure directed at him because of his rude words earlier? That might be it, Dohyun thought. He hesitantly opened his mouth.
“Earlier, I…”
Since it was Dohyun who had made the mistake, he needed to apologize. Dohyun slightly bowed his head toward the man whose gaze was considerably above his own.
“I didn’t know…”
“Guide Choi Haegang, could I ask you to sign here please?”
“Yes.”
Before Dohyun could finish his apology, Haegang turned his head at the employee’s interrupting words. Momentarily flustered, Dohyun soon decided to apologize later. Since he wouldn’t be leaving right away, the apology could be postponed briefly.
As Dohyun was about to speak to Haegang after he finished signing, he froze at the cold voice from above.
“Well… fortunate that you manifested as S-class. The attention must be quite bothersome.”
It didn’t sound positive. Dohyun followed Haegang’s gaze to his own right arm, then looked up again at his words.
“Without Guiding, problems will arise, so it’s unfortunate.”
“I wish you luck,” Haegang said as if encouraging him.
If one didn’t think too deeply, it really sounded like encouragement. But that it wasn’t was evident from his expression alone. Dohyun, who was about to reply, pressed his lips firmly together. Haegang’s attitude seemed to be about more than just his slip of the tongue earlier.
It was actually a relief. There was no pressure to pretend to be friendly or extend kind hands. Though there was intimidation in the eyes looking down at him, Dohyun didn’t want to back down.
“Ah, yes.”
Dohyun nodded casually. The thorns embedded in those words didn’t hurt that much. He wasn’t naive enough to be affected by what others said.
“I suppose so.”
No, he simply didn’t care. Dohyun turned and followed the path the employee had taken. Haegang didn’t follow for a while.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Team Leader, Esper Baek Dohyun has arrived.”
Despite having frequented the Association since childhood, Dohyun only rolled his eyes at the awkwardness that washed over him. This was his first time on a different floor than he usually visited, and all the employees were unfamiliar, making him uncomfortable.
Noticing Dohyun’s stiffness, the employee also smiled awkwardly.
“Nice to meet you, Esper Baek Dohyun. First time in this measurement room, right?”
When the person called Team Leader greeted him, Dohyun simply nodded silently. Having apparently been informed about Dohyun’s severe shyness, the other employees kept their distance.
It felt strange to have someone of such a high position as Team Leader greeting him, who had just turned twenty, with such formality. Before manifesting, he had been just another person passing by. It didn’t feel particularly good.
“Hello, Team Leader.”
“It’s been a while, Guide Choi Haegang. Hello, Esper Baek Dohyun.”
“Ah… yes. Hello.”
‘They’re using honorifics…’
It felt awkward to receive formal speech simply for being an Awakened one. Nothing had changed about him. Conversely, seeing non-Awakened ones use honorifics to Awakened ones also seemed strange to Dohyun. As if being an Awakened one made you some kind of official…
“I am the Awakened Support Team 1 Leader, Moon—”
“Team Leader! A newly manifested Esper’s Guiding isn’t working properly!”
Just as the Team Leader was introducing himself, someone rushed in urgently, cutting off the conversation. A newly manifested Esper’s Guiding isn’t working? What would telling the Team Leader solve? Dohyun wore a puzzled expression.
“Can the Esper be moved?”
“Ah, no… they say movement is impossible.”
“How long would it take?”
“It’s a 20-minute drive.”
“That’s too long. Please send a cooperation request to the Chaehwa Guild’s spatial movement Awakened one. I’ll handle it personally. Esper Baek Dohyun, I had intended to explain the relevant matters myself, but the situation isn’t good. Deputy Seon who came with you will explain everything well. Excuse me.”
After a polite greeting, the Team Leader disappeared with quick steps.
“A Guide… I see.”
At Dohyun’s quiet mutter, a nearby employee nodded. Since all the employees Dohyun had met at the Association were non-Awakened, he hadn’t thought there might be Awakened ones among the staff.
“You didn’t know, I see.”
Dohyun momentarily flinched at Haegang’s low voice. It was so low it seemed almost frightening. Whether only Dohyun felt this way or not, the employee standing beside him actually smiled and addressed Haegang.
“Esper Baek Dohyun is meeting Team Leader Moon for the first time.”
“I suppose that makes sense. Being a Guide, I naturally looked up information about the Team Leader, but Esper Baek Dohyun, being an Esper, probably focused more on famous Espers.”
His tone suggested this was only natural. Dohyun felt a hint of sarcasm in Haegang’s manner, as if saying “of course that’s how it would be.” There was also a prejudice mixed in—naturally, since he’s an Esper.
Ah, I get it. Dohyun looked up.
‘This person doesn’t dislike me because I did something wrong.’
He dislikes me because I’m an Esper.
Who would have thought the word “Esper” could sound so cold? Yet again, perhaps only Dohyun felt this way, as everyone else around them maintained neutral expressions.
“Would you two please sit at the seats inside?”
An employee in a white coat requested. Haegang didn’t move, staring fixedly at Dohyun.
Dohyun wanted to know the reason behind that stare. What exactly was so displeasing.
Normally, Guides feel a desire to provide Guiding to Espers after they manifest. Of course, not everyone feels this way, but they say Guides feel a sense of fulfillment seeing Espers improve through their Guiding and use their abilities to conquer gates. Like maternal or paternal love, the intensity varies from person to person…
“Please proceed with light contact Guiding.”
When Dohyun moved first, Haegang followed and sat down. It was surprising that he complied so easily when Dohyun had expected him to refuse.
Guiding was generally divided into non-contact and contact Guiding. Non-contact Guiding, as the name suggests, was performed without physical contact. It had an extremely low chance of reverse-Guiding but also transferred less Guiding vigor to the Esper, so it was often used in everyday situations when Espers weren’t using their abilities.
Contact Guiding, on the other hand, involved transferring vigor through physical contact ranging from touching the back of hands to handshakes and hugs. Since more vigor is transferred with greater contact area, handshakes or hugs were commonly seen in contact Guiding.
Some Espers prefer more intimate and private Guiding methods, but that depends on personal preference, and Guides could refuse. Even relatively light contact Guiding like handholding or hugging could be refused by Guides, and if an Esper forcibly demanded it, it could be considered harassment or molestation, so caution was needed.
Neither Espers nor Guides should behave inappropriately, Dohyun sincerely believed.
“It’s finished.”
No sooner had the employee finished speaking than Haegang’s hand withdrew. Did the Guiding… work? Dohyun, uncomfortable with the brief contact, hid his hand behind his back as soon as he stood up. The results came quickly.
“The matching rate is very good. There are statistics showing that S-class Espers typically have higher matching rates with A-class or lower Guides rather than with other S-class Guides.”
The employee enthusiastically explained while showing a screen with unfamiliar numbers and graphs. It seemed like incredibly important content, but how could someone without background knowledge understand talk of energy wavelengths and waveforms? They say memory improves after becoming an Esper… but comprehension varies innately from person to person, so Dohyun gave up trying to understand.
“So your matching rate is…”
Tell us that first. Why are you explaining in reverse order? Haegang seemed to share the sentiment, as a crack appeared in his otherwise impassive expression. Though it appeared only momentarily before disappearing…
“Ah, my explanation was a bit long, wasn’t it?”
The employee looked at Dohyun apologetically. Dohyun shook his head saying, “No, not at all.” Why was he singled out when both their expressions had changed?
‘You show everything on your face, so either try not to think at all or something. But if you really don’t think, you tend to blurt out whatever comes to mind, so at least think about keeping your mouth shut.’
‘You’re shy and you show all your thoughts on your face. How are you going to live?’
‘That’s right, Bbakdo. You might get dragged into a cult someday.’
‘You could fall victim to insurance fraud too. When you become an adult, make sure your signature is hard to forge.’
Suddenly, his friends’ words came to mind. Dohyun decided to really try not thinking at all. The problem was that it didn’t work well.
“Your matching rate is 92%, which is exceptionally high. Guide Choi Haegang, this is your first time with such a high matching rate, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Despite hearing the figure of 92%, Dohyun didn’t think much of it. He just thought, “Well, they say it’s high, so I guess it is.” Had he not heard Haegang speak with a faint smile, he would have considered it completely ordinary. Whether the barely perceptible raising of his mouth corners while his eyes remained completely unexpressive could be called a smile was debatable.
“Esper Baek Dohyun, you seem quite fortunate.”
“What do you mean?”
“Isn’t this your first matching rate test after manifesting? It’s rare for S-class Espers to have such high matching rates.”
When he asked “Isn’t that right?”, the employee nodded with a smile.
“Even though other class Guides tend to have higher matching rates with S-class Espers, they’re usually in the 70-80% range. Since emergency Guiding is possible even at 60%, there’s likely no chance of reverse-Guiding in most cases.”
If even 70-80% is considered high… then over 90% is an extremely high figure. Dohyun belatedly glanced at Haegang. While it’s fortunate that there’s little chance of reverse-Guiding… he couldn’t quite understand what Haegang was thinking.
Reverse-Guiding occurs when Guiding is forcibly performed when the matching rate between an Esper and Guide is low or when the Guide’s vigor has severely decreased.
When Espers use their abilities, their body’s energy becomes oversaturated, damaging even an Esper’s robust physique, and Guiding alleviates this. However, if the energy intended for the Esper flows back to the Guide due to matching rate or Guide’s physical condition, causing the Guide to experience the same pain the Esper would have felt, it’s called reverse-Guiding.
If an Esper regularly received Guiding and managed their energy well, even if reverse-Guiding occurred, the Guide’s condition wouldn’t severely deteriorate. However, in the opposite case, it could lead to the Guide’s death, so caution was necessary.
Given that the pain, which was enough to make a sturdy Esper suffer, would return to the Guide at twice the intensity or more… it was inevitable that Guides, fewer in number compared to Espers, were considered important.
Having a good matching rate with Haegang was beneficial for Dohyun too, but for some reason, he found himself shrinking back and deliberately ignoring Haegang as he asked the employee:
“Um… can I go now?”
Since they’ve confirmed the matching rate, shouldn’t he be allowed to leave? It seemed difficult to remain in this uncomfortable situation any longer. However, the employee couldn’t hide their surprise at Dohyun’s question. Even Haegang, who had acted somewhat sociable when people were watching, hardened his expression as if dumbfounded.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
