Chapter 3
Even if the three of them hadn’t depleted their abilities enough to need special guiding, they would insist on receiving guiding together due to their obsession with Ha-min.
I heard that even after just one guiding session, Guides suffer for days, and since Ha-min had to guide three S-class Espers, his physical exhaustion would be especially severe.
Moreover, all of the Espers had terrible personalities.
They should be grateful and behave well since no one but Ha-min could calm the turbulent waves they create when they go berserk.
Ha-min, who had been among the Guides, seemed to notice me belatedly and ran over.
“E-Eunwoo. Are you hurt? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. But haven’t those people arrived yet? The ones you need to guide.”
“Ah. They came, but I wanted to see you before going.”
“Is that allowed?”
“It’s not… but I’ve seen you now, so it’s fine. I should go, Eunwoo. Have a good guiding session. Don’t just brush it off saying you’re fine.”
“Alright.”
I had no intention of receiving guiding, but I just answered because he would keep worrying if I didn’t say anything.
‘But is it really okay?’
It seemed Ha-min had kept the three Espers waiting.
That had never happened in the novel and was absolutely not permitted at the Center.
The Center used all sorts of coercive methods to oppress Guides and make them prioritize guiding Espers, but in reality, Ha-min had no reason to comply.
This wretched Center was just using the Guides for their own safety, and especially since the three S-class Espers couldn’t properly use their abilities without Ha-min, they should be treating him well, not coercing him.
But the problem was that Ha-min had been so thoroughly brainwashed that he thought this was the way things should be.
‘Hope nothing goes wrong.’
Meanwhile, the Guide assigned to me approached.
The Guide assigned to me has abilities as low as mine.
At this stage, it was difficult to be assigned a Guide with a high matching rate, so receiving guiding might actually be worse.
Above all, I could calm my own waves without receiving guiding.
That was because of the breathing technique I learned while surviving in the game world, but no one here knew I could use it to calm my waves.
“I’m fine.”
When I told the approaching Guide, they stood awkwardly, as if wondering if they could really leave.
“Really, I’m fine. Just mark it as done.”
“Alright, then…”
The Guide bowed and disappeared.
Guides have a hard time regardless of whether their rank is high or low.
Espers who use their abilities and experience wave surges are similar to uncontrollable beasts, and Guides frequently get assaulted during guiding.
Since the assailants are skilled Espers, even a few hits often lead to serious injuries.
Several times a year, Guides died while guiding, and Guides had no choice but to be constantly alert to the Espers’ condition.
‘Today should pass quietly.’
Worried about Ha-min being late for guiding, I stood blankly for a while, unable to take my eyes off where he had disappeared.
***
The cafeteria was less crowded than usual, as many Espers were still receiving guiding.
Ha-min didn’t show up for dinner.
‘Is guiding still not over? They should at least let him eat. That kid looks like he’d collapse even after eating!’
I kept thinking about Ha-min, who had been happy to be able to eat with me.
‘Should I have gotten his phone number?’
I thought I would ask him that first next time I saw him, and ate silently, but my eyes kept drifting to where Ha-min had sat, and I couldn’t help but worry.
Then at some point, the loud chatter died down, and small exclamations and murmurs began to rise from here and there.
I was about to turn my head, wondering what had happened, but a shadow fell across my table.
‘…Kyun In? Why is Kyun In here?’
An S-class Esper who uses telekinesis.
I heard he wanted to be a model before awakening, and I thought he would have been really successful had he become one.
Tall stature, overall soft and fine lines, and a face like a meticulously drawn picture with a fine brush.
He was wearing black slacks and a comfortable-looking shirt, yet he looked more stylish than if he had dressed up.
Throughout the novel, he was described as decadent, and I, who had been wondering what decadent meant, understood the moment I saw him up close.
When I asked my sister what it meant to look decadent, she told me to look at Dane DeHaan from “Kill Your Darlings.”
I didn’t care enough to look it up, but now I got it.
Sister, are you living well? Am I suffering here because of the novel you wrote? Argh!!!
Anyway, Kyun In was holding an empty tray with his slender, long fingers.
As if he had wanted to try eating here but couldn’t find any food worthy of putting on his tray.
Then he noticed me and asked.
“Are you? Seo Eunwoo?”
His eyes, with a subtle mix of light brown, shone gently.
Even though I didn’t answer, he smiled at me, his eyes crinkling into crescent moons as the corners turned down softly.
“May I sit?”
And he was already pulling out a chair and sitting down.
It was said that an S-class telekinesis user had such a stark difference in ability even compared to an A-class user that if he deliberately used his power, he could destroy the Center without lifting a finger.
He had once clashed with Byun Tae-young inside the Center, and didn’t a whole building get destroyed then?
The people staying in that building were all higher-ranked Espers rather than Guides, so they all escaped without harm, but had it been otherwise, a major disaster would have occurred that day.
Kyun In himself seemed to have realized this only afterward.
After that, I heard he learned that higher-ranked Espers would escape on their own if their quarters were destroyed, so he occasionally vented his anger by destroying the buildings where higher-ranked Espers stayed.
And now that Kyun In was sitting in front of me.
“You look cute.”
Sitting across from me with his chin propped up, he smiled and spoke in a languid voice.
Up close, the puffy skin under his eyes was plump, and his nose tip was particularly round, making him look younger than his age.
With that face, if he frowned, his expression and atmosphere would change dramatically.
Just because he was smiling now, I couldn’t let my guard down.
I heard that when he used his abilities in dungeons, monster-sized beasts were torn to shreds, and there was no precedent worldwide for someone using telekinesis to that extent.
“Have you finished receiving guiding, by any chance?”
“I’m three years older than you. You can drop the formalities.”
Higher-ranked Espers can freely access the data of lower-ranked Espers.
It’s permitted on the grounds that they need to know this information to form teams when dungeons appear.
“If I say no, will you still drop them? If so, I’d prefer you didn’t.”
“Do you always eat here? How can you eat this kind of food?”
He continued to change the subject without answering my questions.
“I asked if you finished receiving guiding.”
“Why are you asking? Jealous?”
What was he talking about?
“I’m asking because Lee Ha-min is your Guide, Sunbae. We were supposed to eat together, but he didn’t show up.”
“Hmm. I didn’t receive guiding, but I don’t know about the others. I don’t know how much ability the others used either. It wasn’t difficult for me. I have no injuries, and my waves are stable. The conquest ended quickly too.”
He seemed to want to boast, but I was relieved that at least Kyun In hadn’t received guiding.
That should make things a bit easier for Ha-min.
“Does Ha-min tell you those things?”
“What things?”
“Guiding. You know how guiding is usually done. Does Eunwoo also receive guiding? Is Eunwoo’s Guide a man?”
As he said this, he changed his posture, folding his arms and leaning forward as if trying to examine my face up close.
“Don’t most people avoid asking other Espers about guiding? I thought it was almost an unwritten rule. I find talking about such things embarrassing.”
I was about to ask what nonsense he was talking about when I realized my mistake.
He was right.
Since guiding is done through physical contact.
They say that if the surge isn’t severe, holding hands or kissing can calm the waves, but if the Esper’s waves reach dangerous levels, more intimate contact is required, so discussing this would be impolite…
“I apologize. I made a mistake because I was worried about Guide Ha-min.”
“No, no. It’s fresh and interesting. But are you close with Ha-min?”
“We eat meals together.”
“Really? Then you must be quite close. Do you have anyone else you’re close with at the Center?”
“No.”
I didn’t like prolonging the conversation with Kyun In.
He was a man revered not just at the Center but also throughout Korea and globally, and just the fact that I was talking with him might focus unnecessary attention on me.
“Ha-min is never late, but he was late this time. When we asked why he was late, he didn’t answer, so the guys got a bit angry. You know their personalities, right? They hate waiting, and especially can’t stand it when a Guide does that. So we scolded him a bit, so comfort him when you see him.”
The mention of “scolding” sounded ominous.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
