# Chapter 63
When Park Jiwon heard about Han Jiwoo’s nosebleed incident, her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Without thinking, she slapped Ha Sungjin on the shoulder.
“Sungjin, are you crazy? How could you not report that!”
At the Association, the health and safety of Guides was of utmost importance. Concealing the condition of an S-rank Guide was no small matter.
Ha Sungjin groaned and covered his face with his hands.
“Ugh, I should have reported it, right? I’m dead…”
“Report it now while you still can. If this blows up later, getting fired will be the least of your worries. Better to take a beating now than face what comes after.”
Every word she said was right. With Espers’ wavelengths already unstable, Han Jiwoo’s health was more critical than ever.
After hearing her harsh words, he finally realized he should have reported it much sooner.
“Hah, I’ll be right back. There’s not even time to write a report.”
Ha Sungjin headed to his superior’s office with his colleague’s encouragement, praying he wouldn’t get fired.
“WHAT?! You idiot! Why are you only telling me this now?!”
“Urk, I’m sorry…”
As expected, Ha Sungjin hung his head low under his superior’s fiery anger. His boss, Department Head Han Taesik, felt the back of his neck stiffen and could only make choked sounds instead of continuing to shout.
After silently containing his rage for a while, Han Taesik looked at Ha Sungjin as if he wanted to hit him, but held back and ordered:
“Send someone to Guide Han Jiwoo’s quarters immediately. And re-check the Espers’ wavelengths too. Han Jiwoo’s condition might be affecting them.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Deputy Manager Ha Sungjin, we’ll discuss your punishment after this is resolved.”
“…Yes.”
Ha Sungjin grimaced at the postponed disciplinary action but promptly got moving.
He immediately ran to instruct team members to conduct new wavelength tests on the Espers with researchers, then turned around.
Since he had personally witnessed Han Jiwoo’s condition, he decided to visit Han Jiwoo’s quarters with the medical staff.
“Guide Han Jiwoo! This is Deputy Manager Ha Sungjin! Are you there?”
Despite ringing the doorbell and knocking on the door, there was no response from inside. Ha Sungjin’s face turned pale.
What if something had happened in the meantime? If that were the case, he was finished.
Growing desperate, Ha Sungjin knocked harder.
“Guide Han Jiwoo! Is something wrong? If you don’t answer, I’ll have to open the door!”
Still, there was no response from inside. Finally, Ha Sungjin had to look around for a way to force the door open.
‘I should have brought an Esper with me, even a C-rank!’
The Guide quarters, especially those for S-rank Guides, had such sturdy door handles that it was impossible for an ordinary person like Ha Sungjin to break down the door with his bare hands.
As he was looking around for something like a large rock, the locked door opened, and Han Jiwoo appeared.
“Guide Han Jiwoo! You were inside after all!”
Han Jiwoo responded tersely, regardless of whether Ha Sungjin’s face brightened at confirming he was alive.
“…What is it?”
Having been dealing with a nosebleed when they arrived, Han Jiwoo’s complexion was even paler than before. Looking at him, Ha Sungjin instinctively knew something was wrong.
“I’ve been concerned about your nosebleed from before. It seems there might be a health issue, so I’ve brought medical staff for an examination.”
“What…? No, why would you decide that on your own…!”
Han Jiwoo started to shout but quickly closed his mouth. He tried one last attempt, grasping at straws.
“I’m fine. This isn’t necessary.”
“Your complexion is poor right now. Seeing the dark circles under your eyes and the lack of color in your lips, you seem anemic. An examination is absolutely necessary.”
There was nowhere left to run. Indeed, with his pale appearance, claiming nothing was wrong had no credibility.
Instead, as the watching medical staff interjected with serious expressions, Han Jiwoo clenched his fist.
All he could do now was pray that, as Seo Juan had said, the drug had been absorbed into his body.
Nearly ten medical staff members swarmed around Han Jiwoo. With careful but swift hands, they flipped his eyelids, measured his blood pressure, and drew blood.
When the needle touched him, Han Jiwoo had to restrain himself from shouting at them to get out. He couldn’t cause a scene and arouse suspicion before the test results were even available.
Despite being deceived once, he had to hope that Seo Juan’s words weren’t lies.
After completing a basic diagnosis, the medical staff looked at Han Jiwoo and Ha Sungjin with grave expressions.
“I think it would be best to move to the hospital ward.”
“The ward?”
Both of them were surprised by this. Ha Sungjin worried that his disciplinary action would be more severe given Han Jiwoo’s condition, which was apparently worse than he’d thought.
He now had even more reason to restore Han Jiwoo’s condition.
“L-let’s go right away.”
“I’ll be fine just taking some medicine and resting.”
Han Jiwoo tried to resist weakly one last time but was shut down by their firm attitude. They did their best to appease him, saying they were only concerned it might be a serious illness.
“It could just be accumulated fatigue, as Guide Han Jiwoo says. But to determine that, we need to conduct proper tests.”
Han Jiwoo could only chew on the inside of his cheek as he followed them, unable to escape.
Upon arriving at the ward, they placed Han Jiwoo in a hospital room and immediately sent the blood sample for analysis.
Since the test results would be available in about three minutes, they didn’t leave but assessed his condition by asking various questions.
“Let’s check the remaining tests after confirming the blood test results. Ah, they’re ready now.”
At those words, one of the doctors checked the test report.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, as if something was strange, he tilted his head repeatedly and read the test results several times. Seeing their colleague’s reaction, the other doctors began to show interest.
“Dr. Jung, what’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
“No, the results are strange.”
At that moment, Han Jiwoo’s heart dropped and began beating rapidly and loudly enough to shake his entire body.
The sound of his heartbeat filled his ears, and his mind went completely blank.
Not noticing Han Jiwoo’s reaction, the doctors questioned Dr. Jung, who was holding the test report.
“What’s strange about it?”
“H-how can this be possible?”
Dr. Jung still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Receiving his shocked gaze, Han Jiwoo felt his breath catch, unable to look away.
“What on earth is so strange?”
“Just give it to me. I’ll look at it myself.”
Frustrated at not getting a proper answer, one of the medical staff snatched the test report from Dr. Jung. Soon, their reaction matched his.
“What is this…”
Their gazes, like Dr. Jung’s, turned to Han Jiwoo. Their eyes reflected shock and bewilderment.
“Guide Han Jiwoo… what have you done?”
Han Jiwoo couldn’t give any answer. But that didn’t spare him from interrogation.
They continued to question Han Jiwoo even without a response.
“What have you done to produce such results…”
Among those repeating the same question in shock, one person regained their composure.
“Let’s do a Guiding wavelength test too.”
At the mention of a wavelength test, Han Jiwoo, who had been frozen, struggled, but his weakened body was easily subdued.
Rather, sensing something from his reaction, the medical staff quickly conducted the wavelength test, and the results didn’t take long to appear.
Checking the test results, the medical staff couldn’t even sigh anymore. Despite having seen all sorts of things while working at the Association, they had never encountered such results.
Han Jiwoo’s wavelength on the test report was abnormal. They measured it multiple times, and each time produced a different value. In other words, his wavelength was fluctuating wildly from moment to moment.
For a Guide, not an Esper, such large variations in wavelength should be impossible.
How long had his wavelength been like this? It was no wonder the Espers’ conditions were strange, having been guided with such absurd wavelengths.
They should have done more than just a rank assessment when Han Jiwoo requested a re-examination. As the atmosphere grew serious, Ha Sungjin, who hadn’t yet seen the results, trembled with anxiety.
“Is… is it serious?”
The implication was clear: ‘Are we—no, am I—screwed?’ Dr. Jung sighed and explained the situation with complicated feelings.
“Setting aside cause and effect, the results suggest that Guide Han Jiwoo’s rank didn’t rise naturally but was artificially elevated. Since an unfamiliar drug was detected in his blood, it was likely done using medication.”
His body couldn’t keep up with the forcibly raised rank.
Han Jiwoo had been Guiding freely without realizing, but each time, his body drew from his physical strength to compensate for insufficient Guiding capacity, resulting in his exhausted body breaking down.
The side effects didn’t end there. The remaining drugs in Han Jiwoo’s system also affected his wavelength. The inconsistent results with each test were evidence of this.
It was clear that this was why the wavelengths of the Espers receiving his Guiding had become unstable and their runaway values were rising faster than before.
“S-so…”
Having heard the explanation, Ha Sungjin stammered with a pale face. Though he couldn’t finish his sentence, Dr. Jung seemed to understand, nodding and completing what he couldn’t say.
“Yes… This means we could face a simultaneous Esper runaway crisis.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
