# Chapter 29
# Chapter 10. The Future Left in the Past Ver.3
# Extra Story 3. Joo Dojoon
Even after the world changed, the four seasons remained the same.
Spring passed quickly, and summer was suffocatingly hot. After those unbearably harsh days, the season changed with cool breezes.
The atmosphere in the Esper-only ward was alarming.
Not only were there several times more patients than usual, but there were also frequent cases of Espers being brought in with severe injuries. Just now, an Esper with his side torn open walked in on his own feet looking for a doctor, leaving the entrance covered in blood.
If he had been a regular person, he couldn’t have walked around while losing so much blood. There weren’t enough hands to clean up the mess on the floor. Only after a rookie still in training helped the cleaning staff wipe up the blood from the floor did they enter a brief lull.
When the rookie returned after washing his hands, his mentor greeted him lightly while looking at the monitor.
“Good job. Is it tough?”
“Not really. Since awakening, I don’t feel fatigue much.”
“That only lasts a day or two. When you work, eventually you get tired whether you’re awakened or not.”
Most of the hospital staff and medical personnel were awakened ones. Even for them, who had superior physical strength and courage compared to regular people though not enough to be active as Espers, this month had been particularly difficult. Even those who initially entered with a special sense of mission often felt disillusionment when faced with the Espers’ selfish and arbitrary behaviors.
“Plus, we’re dealing with Espers. You need to save your energy.”
“By the way, haven’t Esper hospitalizations increased recently? And the injuries are serious too.”
“Ah, right. You’re a rookie. I don’t know about other regions, but our hospital is always like this at this time of year.”
After confirming that the rookie was paying attention, the mentor looked around and continued lightly.
“Everyone struggles when they fight without the Guardian.”
“The Guardian?”
“My goodness, look at you. Even if you came from the countryside, come on. You know, the Esper who makes transparent shields.”
“Ah, you mean Joo Dojoon Esper. That nickname really suits him.”
The eyes of the rookie nurse, who had recently entered the world of Espers, sparkled.
After awakening, the rookie had ambitiously chosen to move to Seoul. Though not enough to become an Esper, companies with preferential conditions for awakened ones were abundant in Seoul. As expected, employment at the famous Esper-specialized hospital under the Daesung Group was easily achieved. Having only been employed recently, the rookie still had romance and dreams alive within them.
“Your face is red. Do you like the Guardian?”
“Come on, is there anyone who doesn’t like the Guardian? He’s a hero working on the frontlines.”
The rookie, who had been excited at the thought of seeing in person the cool Espers they had seen on YouTube, had been increasingly disappointed by the reality of Espers discovered in just a few months.
The treatment of high-grade Espers, which the rookie had been most looking forward to, took place at a nearby center rather than in the ward because it was done through healing-type Espers. As a result, the Espers who came here were all average. Perhaps because of this, there were quite a few ruffians who were only full of pride and showing off their power.
Amid this, stories about the Guardian Joo Dojoon, an Esper famous even to regular people, excited the rookie.
“Have you seen him, senior? I guess I’d have to go to the center to meet him? I’d love to see him up close just once.”
Seeing the rookie’s expectant eyes, still unsullied by the industry, the mentor looked around briefly.
“Actually…”
After confirming that only the two of them were on duty, the mentor moved closer to the rookie and lowered their voice even more.
“Every year around this time, the Guardian disappears. That’s why Espers come to the hospital in tatters during this period.”
“What? If the Guardian disappears, who protects the country?”
“There’s nothing we can do. He refuses guiding during this period.”
The fact that Espers need guiding was a recently announced fact. The hospital had shared this information in advance, but it was somewhat unfamiliar to the rookie.
“Guiding, doesn’t that mean they can’t use their powers without it?”
“It’s not just about not using powers. They can experience pain like their whole body is burning up, or even lose their minds. There are Espers who become such a mess that their appearance changes.”
“Is, is it that serious?”
“Oh, I think I went too easy on you because you’re a rookie. There’s a document about Esper guiding in the bottom drawer, read it whenever you have time.”
“Yes, I’ll read it right away.”
High-grade Espers suffered from excessive work to efficiently manage gates that open frequently and existing dungeons. The energy, or mana, they use becomes murky the more it’s used, and continuing to use power in that state could be dangerous, so rest was essential. Each time, it was the existence of guides that revived the Espers.
Looking at it this way, one would think they’d receive precious treatment, but the reality was completely different. Espers who feared pain with no known end were furious at the belatedly revealed existence of guides.
Espers’ eyes turned to the small number of guides. There were countless who complained, saying, “Are you only now giving us what we should naturally have?”
The insufficient number of guides made sharing among Espers seem natural. Above all, since high-grade Espers had been sharing guides even before the official announcement about guides, it was a natural flow.
The manner of treating guides carelessly and frivolously, when they should have been valued due to their small numbers, continued down to lower-grade Espers. Guides were treated as a 5-minute standby team that should run whenever Espers needed them.
The view of guides by Espers or the public could easily be inferred just by listening to the conversation of those gathered in the hospital lounge.
“The guide who came this time has a really bad look. It doesn’t feel good to embrace them.”
“Do you take medicine for taste? You take it because it’s good for your body.”
“Rather than medicine… a guide is, to be exact, like an air purifier concept, right?”
“A sewage treatment plant.”
“Hahaha! That’s perfect, that’s it.”
Some people laughed and some frowned at someone’s blunt words. Amid most giggling in a low-class way, a few who frowned revealed their displeasure.
“You sure have a pretty way of speaking, huh?”
“Be grateful to guides. In a way, it’s similar to dialysis, isn’t it?”
“Rather than a purification concept, it’s about absorbing impurities.”
“So it’s a trash can.”
“Sigh, these guys have mops in their mouths. You guys have nothing, you punks.”
“I just stated facts and you’re overreacting? People might think you’re a guide, idiot.”
With evaluations of guides being like this, there were also Espers who hated or felt uncomfortable with guides. Conversely, there were Espers who treated them as possessions or consumables. Even so, due to the constantly insufficient number of guides, Espers suffered from chronic pain. Pain makes people sensitive, and strangely, they took out their frustrations on the guides they faced to relieve it.
The relationship between Espers and guides started at its worst and was forcibly maintained under the Association’s intervention.
Regardless of their relationship, there could be no time when a high-grade Esper like Joo Dojoon couldn’t receive guiding because he didn’t have a guide.
Moreover, looking at Joo Dojoon’s number of deployments and achievements, he too should have regularly received guiding.
It was puzzling why he was suddenly refusing after receiving it well without any problems until now.
“He needs to regain his strength quickly, I’m worried.”
“Nothing we can do. It happens every year, so we can only hope it passes safely this time too.”
The rookie, flipping through the guide reference materials, got up from their seat hoping Joo Dojoon’s disappearance would end quickly. The noise, which had been growing louder and could be heard from here, prompted the rookie to move to send the patients gathered in the lounge back to their rooms.
* * *
Joo Dojoon’s disappearance happened every year around this time. It was when the day of the great catastrophe, when he lost his precious sister Joo Dorim, approached.
Joo Dojoon’s disappearance began with his refusal of guiding. Refusing guiding was impossible for Espers. Above all, Joo Dojoon had been rolling around with Seo Jaeha so frequently that there was no need for separate guiding. There wasn’t even a need for the guide to make an effort to guide, as it happened naturally through their bodies pressed together.
Thanks to this, Joo Dojoon’s condition was always at its best. It was rare for Joo Dojoon to refuse the Association’s sudden requests for cooperation. Joo Dojoon’s activities were always effective on the front lines, and with the Association’s tacit approval, which knew the reason for maintaining his condition, guide Seo Jaeha was bound by everything.
Moreover, Joo Dojoon didn’t even monopolize Seo Jaeha. Whenever there was a request, he shared Seo Jaeha with other Espers. Even on days when Seo Jaeha couldn’t regain his senses due to excessive guiding with others, Joo Dojoon mixed bodies with him as if nothing was wrong.
For Joo Dojoon, whether it was for pleasure or guiding, the bed with Seo Jaeha continued as part of daily life. If anything, it was not special due to the too frequent relationship.
Despite easily sharing Seo Jaeha, Joo Dojoon became displeased when they were frequently misunderstood as lovers. As if he had no feelings at all, he even pushed Seo Jaeha into an external private guide center. It was a place where guiding was bought and sold for money. It was an environment perfect for pushing Seo Jaeha, who had only dealt with a few high-grade Espers, into the depths.
After dropping Seo Jaeha into the abyss like that, Joo Dojoon casually stamped his attendance at the private guide center every day.
From the outside, it was impossible to understand the emotions Joo Dojoon had for Seo Jaeha.
It was a difficult method to understand even if it was love-hate.
It was a time when Joo Dojoon, who had been like that, suddenly rejected Seo Jaeha and refused all guiding. No one understood why he was shutting himself away, refusing all forms of guiding.
In the darkness surrounded by walls on all sides, Joo Dojoon sank into the suffering he had chosen himself.
Even though the impure energy weighing down his entire body made it hard to breathe, Joo Dojoon remained face down on the floor without getting up.
What he recalled in his pain was the smile of his sister, Joo Dorim.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
