# Chapter 18
‘If he’d fallen backward, would I have ended up like that?’
Hajin felt a chill for a moment, but that wasn’t the important thing.
“He fell asleep…?”
Lee Suyeon, who was examining the collapsed Choi Donghyuk, spoke in a bewildered voice. She looked down at Donghyuk, who was breathing evenly despite having his face planted on the floor, then looked up at Hajin.
Her gaze seemed to ask if he had really done this, making Hajin subtly avoid her eyes.
“…I guess he was very tired.”
“…”
But it didn’t end there. Setting aside the unknown reason, they moved the sleeping Donghyuk elsewhere and called in another Esper to continue the practice, but…
Thud.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
After Donghyuk, four more Espers collapsed into sleep. Hajin could no longer use fatigue as an excuse.
As he tried to avoid the burning gaze from across the room, she let out a small sigh.
“And this time it was an A-class Esper who fell asleep again.”
“Ahem.”
“This clearly isn’t working. I need to call in an S-class Esper.”
Except for Alpha Team, this would be the first S-class Esper Hajin had met. By now, he was quite accustomed to Espers being carried away after collapsing—or rather, falling asleep—and new ones coming in.
“Excuse me. Alpha Team here.”
Contrary to his expectation of seeing new faces, surprisingly familiar ones entered the classroom.
At the mention of Alpha Team, Hajin’s head quickly turned. The group, seemingly entering the training center for the first time and curiously looking around, spotted Hajin and rushed over.
“I heard you were Guiding other guys, hyung!”
“Don’t yell at Hajin hyung. You should be scolding the person who called other Espers.”
Standing protectively in front of Hajin against Han Seungho’s shouting, Baek Jaan glared at Lee Suyeon with cold eyes.
“So those pathetic bastards got to experience the Guiding I haven’t even properly received yet?”
Lee Doyoon, still bitter about being skipped over by his hyungs, gritted his teeth.
‘This is a mess.’
Never in his life had Hajin’s surroundings been so chaotic, but since revealing himself as a Guide, there hadn’t seemed to be a quiet moment.
“Alpha Team, step three paces away from Hajin right now.”
“Why!”
The training had already gone on long enough to make them antsy, and now they were being told to distance themselves despite being right in front of him.
Han Seungho particularly glared in protest, but under Cha Jinwoo’s stern gaze, he had no choice but to retreat while pouting.
They were only in their mid-twenties, with the youngest just entering his twenties. They had first met and formed a team when they were minors or had just become adults.
For them, Cha Jinwoo was like a strict uncle or an intimidating oldest brother with a large age gap.
Hajin nodded to Cha Jinwoo in gratitude for the finally quiet surroundings.
“If you want Hajin’s training to end quickly, be quiet and cooperate.”
“Yes…”
Having swiftly taken control of the situation, Cha Jinwoo turned his gaze to Lee Suyeon.
“Ah! Then could you please sit in front of Guide Lee Hajin in order?”
“Me! It’s my turn to go first this time.”
Lee Doyoon quickly sat in front of Hajin, as if he’d been waiting for this. Apparently, losing his turn in the car had left quite a grudge.
Hajin was about to place his hands on Doyoon’s broad back to begin Guiding.
“Wait a moment!”
Just then, Lee Suyeon, who had been looking at something, raised her hand to stop him.
“What now?!”
Doyoon flared up as someone tried to block his finally-achieved opportunity. However, Lee Suyeon didn’t back down even in front of an S-class Esper and stated her case.
“Esper Lee Doyoon won’t work.”
At these words, Doyoon twisted in frustration, unable to properly articulate before finally shouting.
“Why?! Why not me?”
“Your rampage index is too low. This won’t give proper results. We need an Esper with a higher rampage index. Right now, all of Alpha Team’s indices are stable, so I’ll call another Esper.”
Previously, they had treated people like bombs when their rampage indices were high, and now they were saying he couldn’t participate because his index was too low—Doyoon felt beyond resentful, almost deflated.
Hajin, seeing Doyoon’s slumped shoulders, patted his back to get his attention.
“…What?”
Not wanting to appear childish in front of Hajin, Doyoon tried his best to hold in his pout, but it wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped.
Seeing his lips still partially jutting out, Hajin patted the seat next to him.
“There’s time until the next person arrives.”
At Hajin’s words, accompanied by an outstretched hand, Doyoon swiftly moved to the seat and firmly grasped his hand.
“Hehe.”
‘How can he be so pleased?’
His usually sharp face softened completely, beaming brightly, and it was quite a pleasant sight. When Hajin couldn’t help but smile, Doyoon’s grin grew even more radiant. Hajin channeled his Guiding through their joined hands.
Determined not to put him to sleep this time, he let the energy flow as weakly as possible, but somehow Doyoon seemed fine. In fact, it seemed he didn’t need to weaken the Guiding at all.
When he channeled the Guiding at normal strength instead of weakening it, Doyoon only appeared more comfortable, showing no signs of falling asleep.
‘Come to think of it, I didn’t put either of them to sleep when Guiding them in the car that time. What’s the difference?’
“Manager Suyeon, the S-class Esper has arrived.”
However, before Hajin could express his confusion, a new S-class Esper arrived.
Before Hajin could turn his head, Alpha Team, including Doyoon, started glaring coldly at the door.
The man who entered also frowned upon seeing Alpha Team in the classroom.
Hajin couldn’t understand the current situation. Even if they were from different teams, weren’t they all Espers? Why were they so hostile towards each other?
“I didn’t expect to see Alpha Team’s faces here. I thought only Guides would be here.”
“He’s Alpha Team’s Guide, so naturally Alpha Team would be by his side, Team Leader Kim Suhyuk.”
“As if he’ll remain Alpha Team’s Guide for long.”
Cha Jinwoo replied with his usual expression to Kim Suhyuk’s growled words.
“At least until Beta Team becomes Alpha Team, that’s how it’ll be.”
Though provoked by the pride-scratching remark, causing Kim Suhyuk to boil with anger, creating a disturbance in the training center wouldn’t do any good. He clicked his tongue, changed his expression, and approached Hajin.
“I’ve heard about you. They say you’re an S-class Guide. I’m Kim Suhyuk, leader of Beta Team and an S-class Esper.”
“I’m Lee Hajin.”
As they shook hands, interest briefly flickered across Kim Suhyuk’s face before vanishing as if it had never been there.
‘Can he block Guiding? Impressive.’
Having felt nothing despite skin contact, Kim Suhyuk flexed his hand once before sitting in front of Hajin, showing his back as instructed by Suyeon.
He didn’t like having Alpha Team behind his now-vulnerable back, but showing any sign of discomfort would invite mockery, with people asking if he was afraid.
‘I can’t bear that humiliation.’
Beta Team was already narrowly losing to Alpha Team in both performance and ability.
As the team’s leader, Kim Suhyuk couldn’t possibly have good feelings toward Alpha Team. In reality, even if a knife was plunged into his back, he couldn’t show anxiety and give them any sense of superiority.
“Esper Kim Suhyuk’s rampage index is at a precarious level. Guide Lee Hajin, please proceed with the Guiding. This time, please take it as slowly as possible.”
“Yes.”
Hajin placed his hands on Kim Suhyuk’s back and began Guiding. Feeling the Guiding moving through his body’s wavelengths, Kim Suhyuk’s body trembled significantly.
Though they didn’t want to admit it, Alpha Team tensed their bodies in preparation for any situation, fully understanding how he must be feeling. Fortunately, Kim Suhyuk remained docile.
‘Tsk. Another useless fly is going to get attached.’
Although Hajin could save them because he was at least S-class, ironically, Cha Jinwoo thought it would have been better if Hajin wasn’t S-class.
He knew it was contradictory, since they wouldn’t have met if that were the case, but he thought it anyway.
Especially Baek Jaan, who had received Hajin’s Guiding while in a rampage state, was looking at Kim Suhyuk as if he could kill him.
Concerned about the impact on Hajin, he didn’t release any killing intent, but his eyes remained infinitely cold and fierce.
“Baek Jaan.”
However, even momentarily, no civilian would be comfortable with an S-class Esper looking as if they wanted to kill someone, regardless of whether there was actual killing intent.
When Lee Suyeon, facing Hajin, began to look unwell due to Baek Jaan’s gaze, Cha Jinwoo restrained him.
It meant to stop glaring, but unable to do so, Baek Jaan closed his eyes completely. That alone seemed to be enough for Suyeon’s complexion to improve considerably.
Cha Jinwoo thought they would need to more strictly control Espers’ access, and although it was still in the future, his prediction would prove correct.
Meanwhile, Hajin was focusing on Guiding, unaware of what was happening behind him. The S-class was indeed different; unlike the others, he didn’t easily fall asleep.
Partly due to Hajin’s experience with five previous subjects, but certainly when Guiding Lee Doyoon earlier and now, S-class Espers were different.
He had wondered if there could be such a big difference between ranks, but he hadn’t expected to experience it firsthand.
‘He’s good as a practice partner.’
Hajin had been ready to give up if even one more person fell asleep, so this was fortunate. That’s when it happened.
“Is it taking much longer?”
“Eep!”
Han Seungho suddenly approached and stuck his face close, and startled by the breath brushing his ear, Hajin accidentally channeled a massive surge of Guiding.
Just like when he had deliberately Guided Baek Jaan during his rampage.
Thud.
“Ah.”
Before Han Seungho could even be surprised by the soft groan, Kim Suhyuk’s body tipped forward and, just like Choi Donghyuk, planted face-first into the floor.
The floor cracked with the impact.
“Uh, uhh? Uhhhh?”
However, Lee Suyeon, who had been monitoring the index changes in real-time, had no time to be surprised by this sight. Her eyes, fixed on the measuring device, widened endlessly.
Hajin closed his eyes at the sound of disbelief coming from her mouth.
‘Why did I go through all that trouble?’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
