Chapter 39
Not long after returning to school, I was contacted.
The Association reached out to Calling Guild, and Calling contacted the school, which took a bit longer than expected.
Surprisingly, the Guide said they would come directly to the school, so I didn’t need to submit a leave request.
Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon asked if I should rest since I couldn’t focus on classes or meals all day, but resting wasn’t my priority right now.
After school ended, before dinner time, I sent the two guys who wanted to hang out with me up to my room and headed to the faculty office.
“Hello, are you Moon Soo-young?”
The Guide who would have been in their mid-20s was now in their mid-50s standing before me.
Oh Chung-yeon. A B-class Guide who was imprinted on in ’86 and had the imprinting released in ’88.
I hadn’t looked through all the documents from the Association, but this person was the only Guide immediately available.
As it turned out, they hadn’t completely retired but were working as a freelance Guide who only responded to guiding requests in the area while taking it easy.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Moon Soo-young.”
I hesitated, unsure whether to call them senior or what, and they smiled kindly.
“You can just call me uncle. You’re sixteen now, right?”
“No, I’m turning seventeen. I’ll be a high school freshman next year.”
The school lent us a counseling room.
It wasn’t difficult since all the cooperation documents and visit requests had already been received.
What should I ask and how?
How did they break the imprinting, were there any side effects, was the Esper okay too—I had so many questions, but couldn’t get the words out.
“I heard you want to release the imprinting, is that right?”
“Yes.”
Since they asked directly, I had no choice but to answer promptly.
Only after their question did I feel a bit more at ease to explain the situation.
I told them how two guys I grew up with had imprinted on me, and I wanted to break the imprinting because I was afraid of dangerous situations arising.
“That would be difficult with the known methods.”
“Yes…”
The method of breaking the imprinting by falling for the guys wasn’t immediately possible in my situation.
Let’s say, hypothetically, somehow I end up liking one of them later.
Then what would happen to the other one, whose feelings weren’t reciprocated?
Just thinking about it made me feel like I was going to lose my mind.
These were guys I became close to since childhood, talked with, grew up with, and came to care for.
Giving up on one of them was now too much for me, and I wanted to find a safe way to break the imprinting if possible.
“So that’s what you were looking for. Well, may I ask you one thing?”
“Yes.”
“Soo-young, are these friends precious to you?”
“Ah… yes.”
Isn’t that obvious? I’ve practically raised them since they were little.
I told the uncle half-jokingly that I remembered everything, but the other half was true—I had raised them almost like a parent would.
Even though we’re the same age, or one year apart, at first I raised them with the mindset of “you young ones should follow me and grow up straight,” and I came to care for them, hoping they wouldn’t stray.
How could the two people I’ve grown up with for half my current life not be precious to me?
“Then, let me ask one more thing. Have you talked to those kids about their current situation and thought about it together?”
“No…”
One-sided imprinting by underage Espers is usually detected through graphs.
Some Espers immediately notice reverse guiding effects from other Guides, but in the case of minors, the Association or schools often try not to inform them about the imprinting.
Moreover, since schools and the Association keep teaching that imprinting isn’t easy in the first place, many don’t realize they’ve imprinted.
When they become adults and reach an age where they can define their feelings, some figure out they’ve imprinted and directly pursue the Guide. But for minors, especially during puberty, their ideal types, feelings, and moods can change dozens of times a day.
I also thought the guys were still too young.
“If their feelings aren’t shallow, and if they know about and have chosen to imprint, what would you want to do, Soo-young?”
So I hadn’t considered that they might have ‘not-so-young’ feelings.
If they knew, if they really knew.
“I’d grab them by the collar and scold them first.”
I thought I might throw a punch for the first time.
Even though I care for those two, I value myself more than them. Even now, with my life in such chaos because of them, I have no intention of letting them shake it up even more.
And the situation of imprinting itself usually requires the belief that ‘the Guide also likes me, or will come to like me.’
This was statistical data derived from analyzing everything imprinted Espers had said.
That’s why other Guides were able to reject imprinting.
In the end, Espers need confidence not just that ‘I wish this Guide was mine alone,’ but that ‘this person will become my Guide, my lover, and the Guide also likely believes they could be my lover’ to imprint.
So coming back to it, where did those two get that certainty from?
To put it bluntly, I treated them both the same, so did they just not see each other?
My head started to throb as all sorts of thoughts crowded my mind.
“Do you know why the Association and schools don’t directly inform young Espers about imprinting?”
“I’m not sure. I think it might be because they’re still young and have difficulty controlling their emotions, or their feelings might change…”
“That’s exactly right. Imprinting is rare, but there are extremely rare cases where teenagers unknowingly imprint during a puppy love phase. Usually in such cases, they’re informed about the imprinting after becoming adults. Then the imprinted Espers fall into two categories. First, those who still have feelings for that Guide.”
In that case, it further depends on the Guide’s feelings.
If the feelings continued, there were options like either making the imprinting official or completely rejecting it to reverse things.
Conversely, if there were no feelings, sometimes they’d enter into an exclusive contract.
This was the good scenario; in worse cases, they might take medication for guiding.
The efficiency of guiding from a Guide is better, but drugs and machines do exist.
“Second, there are cases where the Esper no longer has those feelings. Childhood emotions changed as they became adults.”
“Then what happens?”
“They might receive guiding from someone else, risking reverse guiding.”
“…What?”
“Just as I said.”
Isn’t that inconsiderate to others?
When I asked in surprise, they nodded, saying it was indeed inconsiderate.
“But because it’s one-sided imprinting, not mutual, it only increases the probability of reverse guiding; it doesn’t happen every time.”
“Oh…?”
“In very rare cases, even with mutual imprinting, there have been instances where an Esper safely received emergency guiding from another Guide, and vice versa.”
“Reverse guiding doesn’t happen… every time?”
“That’s right. I researched a lot too. The reason we teach not to imprint is because the probability of reverse guiding increases dramatically, and it happens most of the time. Plus, in my day, there were even fewer cases, so I even traveled abroad directly. However, in such cases, they check the matching rate between the Esper and Guide. They only attempt guiding if it’s at least 70% or higher.”
“So they should go to someone with a good matching rate.”
“And if you’re lucky, the imprinting might transfer to that person with the good matching rate, and then the imprinting might be broken through rejection.”
This was the reason why, despite the very few imprinting cases, there were still cases of imprinting being broken through rejection.
This was also why all the cases I found at the Association were of imprinting rejection.
Ji Yeohoon’s father, an S-class Guide, had low matching rates with most people, with only 87% with the aunt.
What’s more, I had guided both of them simultaneously, and both had one-sided imprints on me, so naturally, the reverse guiding would be doubled…
The aunt should have hit the uncle’s back a little harder.
“Even if you get imprinted on, Soo-young, you’ll still be able to guide others to some extent. So don’t worry too much.”
“I’m not concerned about myself. It’s those guys who are the problem.”
“If there are Guides with matching rates, you can just have them enter Gates only when such Guides are available, right?”
I felt like they were trying to change the subject, not wanting to talk about methods of breaking the imprinting.
“No, but in urgent situations, someone other than me should be able to guide them safely. How can we check matching rates in time for that? If there’s another method, wouldn’t it be better to break the imprinting that way?”
The uncle in front of me smiled bitterly.
“The breaking method isn’t great. Actually, it’s almost like breaking it through experimentation, so it’s no longer recommended. That’s why I was the first in our country.”
“Experimentation?”
“It’s a case that succeeded abroad, and my friend and I also succeeded in our country. The success rate itself is high once you try it, but the method used until it breaks isn’t good.”
“What is the breaking method?”
Their eyes asked if I really wanted to know.
Their face showed they didn’t particularly want to tell me, but I told them I needed to know for the health and safety of those guys.
“You need to have those two kids repeatedly cause reverse guiding to you.”
“…What?”
Normal Espers wouldn’t refuse guiding.
But they could forcibly reject the guiding energy coming over.
The Esper forcibly rejects the energy that instinctively and emotionally makes them comfortable.
“You need to take reverse guiding from those kids. Multiple times. The exact number isn’t clear. Those kids need to keep rejecting you that much. Continue until the imprinting breaks.”
That’s why they asked, they said, if the kids knew they had imprinted on me.
If they were that precious to me.
And if I cared enough about them to endure all the pain of reverse guiding.
Even if not as romantic affection, if I could withstand it with the affection I had.
The uncle’s eyes seemed to be asking me this.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
