Chapter 79
Unlike Guides, Espers have restrictions on freelance activities, so Yoon Cheong will also work under a guild after graduation.
It might not be Calling, but another guild.
Having a license would make it easier for guilds to call me for Gate raids in various ways, so it’s better to have one because of these guys.
“Yoon Cheong, you still don’t have plans to join Calling, right?”
“I’m still thinking about it a lot.”
I nodded at Yoon Cheong’s answer. It was the same as his previous response.
Yoon Cheong’s situation was very different from Ji Yeohoon’s.
Since his parents were ordinary people, before the regression, Yoon Cheong only had the school or the Association to consult with.
Now, Calling guild members are giving him information, and I can also find and share anything he’s curious about.
Unlike before when he ended up at Chaehwa under the Association without much thought, now he can compare different places.
“Spiral isn’t bad either.”
“Spiral?”
“The guild that entered the Gate with us the first time we went.”
“Ah, that one.”
“It’s pretty good. Even their Esper combinations for Gate raids shown on the guild website aren’t bad.”
“Overall, they can’t compete with Calling, which is ranked first.”
Ji Yeohoon, who had been grumbling about my exam, casually joined the guild conversation.
“That’s true. Both in ratio and other aspects.”
“Right. Calling takes good care of you. Their settlements are most transparent, insurance processing is good, and they handle all the taxes automatically. They have the best reputation and are the cleanest.”
“But compared to other guilds, they have more Gate raids. There’s relatively less flexibility.”
“That’s because they raid safely. It’s natural that more raid requests go to places that perform well.”
Ji Yeohoon had somehow become Calling’s sales representative, enthusiastically listing its merits.
Actually, what bothers me is the high number of raids…
Though they earn good money and are very transparent legally, Calling is called first for most emergencies.
It was the same with the previous emergency Gate, and Calling is the first choice for high-risk situations.
“It makes sense that exceptional people should shoulder a bit more burden.”
Yoon Cheong seemed to agree with Ji Yeohoon’s words, nodding his head.
From Ji Yeohoon’s perspective, since Yoon Cheong isn’t considering joining Calling, he might think I’m planning to go freelance too.
That’s probably why he’s telling Yoon Cheong all the good things about Calling.
But you’ve got it wrong, our big-bodied little one.
Until now, my reason for contemplating whether to join Calling was very capitalistic—to increase my market value.
I thought that even with abilities that would guarantee good treatment wherever I went, I should play a bit hard to get, as an adult would.
But after meeting that crazy Esper upon entering the Gate, the situation changed.
I decided I needed to make the people around me as different as possible from before the regression, to prevent the timelines from merging.
If I’m the axis of the returned time, then I should first be different from before the regression to twist things away from alignment, shouldn’t I?
Things have already changed starting with my S-class manifestation, but I thought I should change as much as possible to eliminate any chance of the timelines merging.
The first step was not joining either the Association or any guild, at least until the spring when I turn twenty-six, when I regressed.
“I still want to think about it a bit more.”
“Sure. Do that, Hyung. I’ll keep talking about it. Soo-young Hyung, I’ll try hard to convince Yoon Cheong Hyung. Can’t you also consider Calling?”
Ji Yeohoon stretched his arms to embrace my waist and looked me in the eyes.
“Sure. Try your best to persuade me.”
Actually, there was another reason that made it awkward for me to join.
If I joined Calling or any other guild, it would be harder for me to monitor what was happening at the Association or Chaehwa.
Though I can’t be involved in everything, shouldn’t I try to prevent what I can?
Whether it’s Yoon Cheong’s rampage or Ji Yeohoon’s parents’ death that follows.
And if possible, prevent the fratricidal conflict between the Ye brothers.
For easier monitoring, I shouldn’t establish a position in any guild.
It was ultimately about preparing in advance to infiltrate more easily.
“Open the door.”
When we arrived at the dormitory and opened the room door, Yoon Cheong placed the box on the floor.
Although there’s a 100% chance I’ll forget everything as soon as the exam ends, I was planning to study a bit intensively for now.
“Hyung, don’t study without me… Hyung, I want more guiding.”
“Moon Soo-young, want a drink? How about ice cream?”
“Ah, seriously, don’t disturb me…”
Leave me alone, you guys…
* * *
“They say he hasn’t been showing up at the guild lately?”
“Yeah. For quite a while.”
I gave Ye Han-dam a drink and bread, and was asking him various questions.
At first, Ye Han-dam answered out of gratitude and guilt, but now he was talking naturally.
It was because I only asked about myself, Yoon Cheong, Ji Yeohoon, and related matters.
He also answered questions about Hong Yun-hak without suspicion since they had raided Gates together.
Apparently, information about such special abilities can be found regardless of which guild you ask.
“Since Chaehwa is ranked 8th, they display personnel when entering Gates. Doesn’t Calling do the same?”
“Yes, they do.”
That schedule posted like fan service. The one that sometimes gets flooded with malicious comments, leading to occasional lawsuit parties.
“He hasn’t been appearing on that.”
“Aren’t you close with that person?”
“We just raided Gates together a few times, so I don’t have his contact info. I just know his name and face, greeting him and chatting occasionally when we meet.”
“I see…”
Well, Chaehwa is the guild with the largest number of members among Korean guilds.
Many lower-ranked E and F-class Espers are also affiliated with Chaehwa.
Though they don’t directly help with Gate raids, they’re much stronger, fitter, and faster than normal athletes, so they mainly work collecting monster byproducts.
They also cooperate with the police for criminal arrests and such.
Since Chaehwa’s official duties are handled by the Association, both the Association and Chaehwa had extremely clean images.
If I hadn’t gotten involved with Yoon Cheong or heard about Chaehwa’s pride at the last emergency Gate, I would have thought of Chaehwa with that same image.
“He’s not sick or anything?”
I asked just in case, since they couldn’t even contact him. Ye Han-dam immediately shook his head.
“Not that. If he was, word would get around.”
“Word gets around if someone’s sick?”
“Yeah. Our guild’s welfare is really good too, though not as much as Calling. Treatment records and costs are all processed by the guild, so it’s impossible not to know.”
“Ah…”
I thought he meant rumors spread, but he was saying that if someone gets sick, the guild handles the insurance.
It seemed that nothing had happened yet that would cause Hong Yun-hak’s records to be erased.
It was just that he was staying out of sight, which made it awkward to discuss further.
“About those hyungs from back then.”
“Hyungs? Which hyungs?”
“The part-timers. The hyungs who worked part-time at the Association.”
“Uh…”
After being lost in thought for a moment, Ye Han-dam suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!”
He’s slow to remember? I found it strange, but seeing him happily munching on the bread, I wondered if he was delayed in thinking because he was enjoying the bread.
“Oh, yeah.”
“Do you remember anything else about those hyungs? Yoon Cheong is at the Association so diligently. Was there anything different about those hyungs?”
“They were just normal…”
Well, it could be that they worked as Association part-timers before Ye Han-dam joined, or since it was an old story, he might not bother to remember details.
“Just that they were kind?”
“Kind?”
“Those hyungs are super kind. There’s even one hyung who cries from heartache when TV ads asking for help for sick children come on.”
“They really are kind people.”
Yoon Cheong wasn’t that extreme. Though he does transfer a few ten thousand won to various organizations every month.
This time too, I decided to part ways with Ye Han-dam without much gain.
“Soo-young, I’m curious about something too.”
“What are you curious about?”
“What bread is this?”
“Bread? I heard it’s famous in Daejeon? Fried soboro bread?”
At my words, Ye Han-dam said Ji-hyun would like it and took a bite of the bread, which deflated me.
You’ve got it bad too.
“You’re not getting some for Ye Han-seo?”
“Han-seo doesn’t really like bread.”
At least as an older brother, he remembers his younger brother’s tastes.
I hoped they would continue to get along well like that. Without creating situations that lead to death and such.
“These days, he seems to be eating properly though. For a while in winter break, I don’t know what he was thinking, but he lost a lot of weight.”
That… I think your brother was losing weight while agonizing over his confession to me.
I couldn’t bring myself to say it and just listened to Ye Han-dam.
At first, I met with Ye Han-dam separately regularly to gather information.
But at some point, I started listening to his daily stories too.
If I just asked my questions and left abruptly, it felt like I was just using him, even though he’s only a year older than me, he’s still just a teenager.
Though I tend to exit conversations with the feeling of a guardian talking about raising kids.
“Ah, right. Last time during the school physical examination, they said Han-seo’s ability level was confirmed.”
“A-class? Like you were?”
“Well, I’m fully grown. Since Han-seo is a close-range type, I thought he’d grow to 190cm. It’s good that he’s growing steadily, but it’s a bit disappointing that he’s a little under 185cm. I thought he’d grow more since he was shooting up so fast.”
“You can’t control height growth. Even now, that’s extremely tall.”
“I thought he’d be taller. It’s fortunate that he doesn’t suffer pain from growing anymore though. Oh, Ji Yeohoon and Yoon Cheong aren’t confirmed yet, right?”
“Those bastards are still not confirmed. I don’t know how much longer they plan to grow…”
Ye Han-dam laughed as if my words were amusing.
Like parents bragging about their kids?
The conversation you’re having with me now is like parents talking about raising kids, not like classmate chat.
“But Yoon Cheong seems close to being done, right?”
“That’s the problem.”
“What is?”
“Nothing. If you’re done eating the bread, separate the wrapper for recycling. Class time is almost here, so let’s go in.”
Before the regression, Yoon Cheong was clearly an Esper who had risen to A-class, then rampaged and became S-class.
But somehow, Yoon Cheong’s measurements seemed to be stabilizing at B-class.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
