Fortunately for Rion, Jin-ha didn’t show a matching rate over 80% with anyone. The highest was 69%—with a B-rank Esper.
Too high to be ignored, too low to be useful.
Which essentially meant Jin-ha had no matching Esper. No pairing to be made. And that, in turn, meant Rion could seek him out for guiding without much trouble.
Ever since Jin-ha arrived, Rion had been sticking with him instead of Yu-won, and after a week, the two had already become fast friends.
Rion was grinning from ear to ear when Gwang-hyeon shot him a playful jab.
“So damn happy, huh? Seriously, kid’s got a top-tier S-rank matching Guide and still acts like this… I guess the ones who have it all always want more.”
“Well, at least I won’t have to see his face anymore. Tell the others to go get plenty of guiding from him instead.”
Rion casually slung an arm over Jin-ha’s shoulder, looking completely unbothered. If he only had to see Yu-won’s face once or twice a month, that alone was a huge win.
“You really hate Yu-won that much?”
“…He seems to get along fine with everyone else, but with me? Not at all. I don’t even know what I did. Even if my parents were still alive, they wouldn’t nag at me as much as he does.”
Rion shook his head, like he didn’t even want to think about it. Then he looked up at Jin-ha and muttered with a small scowl:
“Hey, do you think I’m just being childish? You know, acting all petty with someone four years younger?”
“Nah. It’s not really my place to weigh in on your relationship.”
Most people who saw Rion and Yu-won fight said the two were exactly alike and just clicked their tongues at them. Still, maybe it was the age gap—four years was no small thing—or maybe it was just Rion’s naturally fiery temperament, but some folks always ended up scolding him in particular.
“Come on, it’s a four-year difference. Can’t you be the mature one?”
“Just let it go. Is that so hard?”
Yeah, try letting it go when the guy picks a fight over every little thing. Rion scowled hard.
“And the way he talks—he’s even stricter than the Center Director.”
“Still, it’s a bit strange. I haven’t talked with him that much, but… Yu-won seemed like a calm person.”
Jin-ha, who had yet to see the two of them actually argue, tilted his head in confusion.
Rion, sure, was clearly the hot-headed type. Anyone could light his fuse and he’d go off. But Yu-won? He gave the impression of someone who could brush off even the worst provocations without blinking.
“Yeah, not hard to believe you can’t picture it. But you’ll see for yourself soon enough.”
“What do you mean?”
Right then, Gwang-hyeon—who’d been listening nearby—snorted while glancing at his phone.
Rion, catching that ominous vibe, stepped toward him suspiciously.
“Don’t tell me…”
“Tell you what? It’s true. Gate assignments just dropped. You, Yu-won, and me. Jin-ha, look forward to the day we come back. These two always end up fighting after a mission.”
Gwang-hyeon waved his phone screen in front of Rion’s face, clearly enjoying himself. Sure, it was natural for an Esper to be assigned to the same Gate as their matching Guide, but Rion still felt a wave of resistance rise from deep inside.
With a heavy sigh, Rion pulled out his own phone and checked the team and Gate details. His lips tightened.
“Let’s just clear it and get out fast…”
“I mean, yeah, the fights inside the Gate are always intense and kind of fun to watch, but I probably shouldn’t wish for you three to get assigned together.”
Gwang-hyeon shrugged. For an S-rank Esper and two S-rank Guides to be sent into the same Gate, it had to be at least a catastrophic-level mission. He wasn’t superstitious, but even saying that aloud gave him the creeps.
“Still, when you guys do get assigned together, Rion always gets so stressed he clears the Gate at lightning speed. I won’t complain about that.”
“You think that’s funny? I’m fighting for my life in there.”
Rion stuffed his phone back into his pocket with a scowl and let out another sigh. Well, at least now he only had to see Yu-won inside the Gate. That was something.
“Soon as I’m out, I’m coming straight to get guided. You better be available that day.”
An Esper fretting about guiding before even entering the Gate with their matching Guide. Gwang-hyeon chuckled and shook his head.
“Man, you really are something else.”
***
“You brought that again?”
“Got used to it. Want one?”
The next day, Rion stood with his team near the Gate, waiting for it to open while chatting with the others.
It had been a while since their last A-rank Gate. Though they had A-rank Guides and two A-rank Espers, this one would likely take at least three or four days.
With years of experience behind him, Rion had a gut feeling this Gate was going to be a grind. So he came prepared—with health drinks and snacks.
Technically, he didn’t need the health drinks anymore now that he was no longer suffering from chronic guiding deficiency. But old habits die hard. Plus, he still got all kinds of snacks and health supplements from fans, so his fridge stayed fully stocked with the stuff.
“Do you buy all these yourself?”
“Some I buy, some I get. Kang-woo hyung brings a whole bunch over sometimes. Occasionally just drops them off in front of my place… He’s basically smothering me with care.”
Rion took a sip of the same kind of health drink he’d handed Joo-eun. Sure, Espers and Guides both earned good money, but still—buying this much stuff all the time wasn’t cheap. Even when he said it was fine, Kang-woo insisted on spoiling him like this.
“But still, you know this stuff isn’t enough, right? Even if you don’t like Yu-won, you have to go get guided two or three times a week. It’s not the same as when you were just under-guided. Once you’ve had guiding from your matching Guide, then suddenly cutting it off? That’s a whole different beast.”
“Ugh, stop nagging… Besides, I’ve got Jin-ha now, so I’m fine.”
“Well, if you’re skipping out on guiding just because you want to mess with Yu-won, I won’t stop you.”
Joo-eun grinned as she teased Rion, sucking the drink down quickly. Then, before Rion could explode, she darted away after thanking him for the drink.
“I know all that already, damn it…”
Rion muttered under his breath as he angrily gulped down the rest. She wasn’t wrong—ever since Yu-won came into the picture, his body had changed.
From the moment of his awakening, he’d suffered from chronic guiding deficiency. Back then, he barely managed to function by scraping by with low-quality guiding from Guides he didn’t match well with. It was hard, but his body had learned to hoard energy just to survive.
But once he experienced real, proper guiding—after Yu-won—his body could no longer recover from low-quality guiding alone.
The four years he’d spent relying on Kang-woo’s guiding and every medical treatment imaginable now felt like a joke. Once Yu-won appeared, those methods stopped working.
He hit a breaking point about a month after his last guiding from Yu-won. Just thinking about that day made Rion shudder.
But now he had Jin-ha. That kind of breakdown wouldn’t happen again. The thought lifted his mood a little as he tossed the empty bottle in the trash and turned to face the Gate.
“What do you think it’ll be like?”
“What do you mean? It’s A-rank. It’s gonna be rough.”
Just looking at their team—one S-rank, two A-ranks—you could tell it wasn’t going to be pretty. Min-cheol, squatting on the ground, looked up at Rion with a groan.
“Every time I enter a Gate with you, it scares the crap out of me. You and me, in the same Gate? That means whatever’s in there is gonna be nasty.”
Rion let out a small laugh. Min-cheol had a point—high-rank Espers didn’t usually enjoy running into other high-rank Espers at the Gate.
The stronger the team, the worse the Gate. That was just how it worked.
“At least now we don’t need to rely on those guiding drugs anymore. Though someone will have to hold you two back from fighting.”
“Don’t start. As long as Yu-won doesn’t pick a fight, I won’t either.”
Rion shot Min-cheol a look. He meant it. As long as Yu-won didn’t stir up trouble, there wouldn’t be any fighting.
“But come on, he spouts crap like a grumpy old man every time we’re inside the Gate. How am I not supposed to fight?”
“Still, he’s not always wrong. I’ve been caught off guard more than once by what he says.”
“It’s the way he says it that’s the problem. There are plenty of people who say similar things without acting like total jerks.”
As they chatted, a chill suddenly swept over them—signaling the Gate had opened. All the Espers simultaneously stood, turning toward it.
“Let’s at least try to come back without fighting this time.”
“Tell that to Yu-won. He’s always the one who starts it.”
Rion glanced toward where Yu-won stood with the other Guides, just a bit further away. It had only been a week since he last saw him, but that face was still as unpleasant as ever.
What a pain in the ass. Just don’t start anything this time.
With that thought, Rion stepped into the Gate.
He hoped, for once, that the terrain would be something normal.
But of course, nothing ever went the way he wanted.
The terrain that greeted them was a brutal winter landscape, snow piled up to their ankles.
