Chapter 18
3.
After entering the middle school division, the location of the dormitory and school buildings changed.
The biggest change was the uniform.
The light brown jacket and light gray pants uniform had somehow changed to a completely achromatic uniform.
A gray jacket with dark gray pants… Was this a prophecy that things would become gloomy already?
“The triplets can’t come today.”
“Again?”
“They’re sick.”
If this conversation happened outside school, it would probably refer to the triplets appearing on recent TV parenting shows, but in the class where Yoon Cheong and I were, it was different.
In our class, it had become a term referring to the physical-type Esper trio.
The trio was already big when I first met them, but they seemed to be growing even more now, often suffering from growing pains.
They could offset external impacts and didn’t feel much pain from them, but they couldn’t do anything about pain starting from within their bodies.
As Espers’ abilities increase after manifestation, growth hormones are secreted simultaneously, and when their power stabilizes, physical growth also stops.
Unlike ordinary people who grow until their early twenties, Espers who manifested early often completed their growth in their early to mid-teens.
Especially those three with body enhancement abilities—what more needs to be said?
When they came to class last Thursday, all three looked haggard.
“Don’t you experience that?”
“I’m not really an enhancement type. Not a physical type either.”
Of course, being an Esper, Yoon Cheong was also growing rapidly as his abilities increased.
Being in his growth period, he was growing noticeably taller and broader each day. While I had just hit 160cm and was on the thin side, Yoon Cheong had surpassed 170cm and was also growing larger in build.
Last time, when he was fanning himself after using his ability and his shirt rode up slightly, I saw that despite his young age, he already had muscles etched on his abdomen.
“I’m doomed in this life.”
“What are you talking about?”
“This, this, this.”
I poked Yoon Cheong’s stomach with my index finger, and he moved his body as if startled.
“It must be automatic for Espers. The Esper class homeroom teacher and the Guide class assistant homeroom teacher were like that too.”
“Ha, when did you even see that?”
“During the fitness assessment. They showed us how to do it properly by using their strength.”
“They were showing us so we wouldn’t get hurt if we didn’t do it right, but you were looking at something else?”
Both Espers and Guides underwent fitness assessments.
For Guides, it was to check their health, and for Espers, it was to verify their basic physical strength when not using abilities.
Naturally, even young Espers are far superior to the physical strength of average adult men.
Envious, I kept poking around his stomach area, but he pushed my hand away gently, telling me to stop.
You jerk, it’s not like touching will wear it out.
“We’re having separate afternoon classes today.”
“Yeah. It’s specialized education, but it includes sex education.”
From my perspective, I wondered if this really needed to be separate.
While they wouldn’t separate us by gender, they conducted sex education for Espers and Guides separately.
We had general sex education together, the kind of basic-level education taught since kindergarten, like “No, I don’t like it, don’t do it!”
But the sex education we received upon entering middle school was subtly different from regular schools.
In the morning, we had regular classes like Korean, English, etc., as usual, and after lunch, during the fifth period, the health class, our homeroom teacher came in.
“Now, where did we leave off last time?”
“Guide ability manifestation and control.”
“As I explained last time, the wider the range of contact, the easier it is for us to transfer our power to Espers-“
…The teacher’s lecture that started this way was actually incredibly boring.
It was something I had learned after becoming an adult and going to the Association, and it wasn’t different from what ordinary people knew.
The only difference was that they taught us not to be embarrassed about contact or physical touch.
“These are materials that have been researched for a long time. Since the first gate appeared in 1946 and the first Espers and Guides emerged, research has been actively conducted to find methods other than direct guiding.
But direct guiding from Guide to Esper is much more stable than guiding with drugs developed in the early 90s. Even compared to the guiding devices that have become popular recently, guiding received directly from a Guide works better.
In the past, Guides thought it was correct to guide using only their inherent power, so they would just stay beside the Esper.”
It was the era of non-contact guiding.
At that time, many Espers went berserk, so Guides were even more reluctant to approach Espers.
Espers would have bloodshot eyes, bleed from their bodies, have bulging veins that burst, and their mottled appearance led to them being called demons and despised.
Yet, since Espers were necessary to conquer gates, they were treated as a necessary evil.
For five years after the first gates appeared, Espers frequently went berserk inside them.
There were several gate explosions due to improper conquests, which led to Guides, who could stabilize Espers to some extent just by being present, receiving even more protection.
In 1951, there were two people who developed romantic feelings for each other while traveling together.
Between these two who allowed the taboo contact, surprisingly…!
Nothing happened.
The Esper stabilized after receiving the Guide’s power. At a time when rumors circulated that Guides would die from having their power stolen if they made contact, this incident stirred the whole world.
‘When he touched me, I felt like I had been given new life.’
The Esper, who had been called a monster due to constantly bloodshot eyes, blood leaking out, and protruding veins, returned to normal after touching their Guide lover.
Additionally, when it was revealed that their appearance had gradually changed upon manifesting as an Esper, the whole world went wild with excitement.
Those who had been called monsters were suddenly revered as heroes for preventing gate explosions.
This appearance-obsessed world.
“It’s a bit hard to understand in today’s world where we consider human rights, right?”
“Yes…”
“Well, it’s from the old days. So, this is how research on contact began.”
The era of contact guiding began, and initially, it was naturally limited to handshakes.
Around this time, as Guides, who were significantly fewer in number, were assigned to guide multiple Espers, Guides began to experience chronic fatigue.
Because byproducts from gates or minerals inside them became valuable as raw materials, Espers constantly traversed gates, and Guides had to guide Espers who came out of gates.
They pushed themselves too hard in a situation where the limits of Guides’ physical strength were not yet researched.
Around the time when every Guide was becoming tired from holding the hands of two Espers at once, an incident occurred.
Until then, Espers often chose Guides they subjectively preferred to hold hands with. However, too many Espers concentrated on one Guide, resulting in reverse guiding occurring to exhausted Guides.
“Now, who can explain the meaning of reverse guiding?”
Everyone hated to present.
Looking at the students who kept their mouths shut as if thinking ‘as long as it’s not me,’ the homeroom teacher, with a pleased expression that said ‘you are indeed middle schoolers of South Korea,’ immediately pointed at me.
“Yes, our S-class Guide. Please answer.”
I really hate that title.
It’s so embarrassing.
“It’s when an Esper forcibly takes a Guide’s power. It happens when the Guide’s strength is low or the matching rate is poor.”
“Correct. Then what are the side effects?”
“The Guide becomes extremely exhausted.”
That’s what I was taught.
I was a D-class Guide from the Association, with almost no chance of experiencing reverse guiding.
This was possible because I was a Guide who could provide a broad but shallow guiding effect with a matching rate of over 50% with most Espers.
After my vague answer, the homeroom teacher, looking slightly disappointed, played a video on the TV connected to the computer.
It was a video of a guiding experiment between a Guide and an Esper with a matching rate of less than 10%, where the Guide collapsed shortly after their hands touched.
“Saying it’s exhausting is a simplified explanation. Think of it as being overwhelmed by the Esper’s power. Collapsing like that is the most common manifestation of reverse guiding, but usually, you start by sharing the pain that the Esper feels. As Espers grow, their bodies become stronger and develop to withstand the recoil of their abilities, but that’s not the case for Guides, right?”
“Right.”
“Even just looking at the Espers in our grade, they’re over 10cm taller than us, right? Their clothing sizes are also quite different. Fundamentally, their bodies are different, so when Guides receive that pain, fainting is the mild outcome—in the worst case, they could die.”
Of course, hardly anyone guides when their physical strength has deteriorated to that extent.
If tired, one can refuse to guide, and if someone forcibly requests guiding from a Guide who has refused, they can be arrested.
“Now, there is a way to amplify the effect of guiding when your physical strength is low.”
Mucosal contact guiding, typically referring to kissing or sexual intercourse.
It was about openly sharing accurate information that could be embarrassing or awkward from a young age.
“Of course, guiding by just holding hands is less effective than hugging, and hugging is less effective than kissing. So in urgent cases or when the matching rate is low, at minimum, hugging or kiss guiding is preferred.”
For example, when subduing an Esper who is on the verge of going berserk or has just entered a berserk state, Guides are required to approach immediately and guide through a kiss.
There are limits to control through hand-holding or hugging, and a Guide could die from reverse guiding if their strength drops due to an Esper lacking sufficient guiding.
“So, in case there’s a berserk Esper…”
The explanation continues.
I watch the teacher giving the lesson while looking at the screen, but my mind is filled with other thoughts.
It meant that if I couldn’t prevent Yoon Cheong’s future berserking, I would have to kiss him.
Ah… this is driving me crazy.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
