Chapter 84
I tried to organize things that won’t happen.
Among the things that won’t happen, the most significant is Ye Han-dam and Ye Han-seo losing their lives.
Since Ye Han-dam won’t go berserk, naturally the Belial subjugation will disappear, and since Ye Han-seo has stopped resenting Ye Han-dam, he’ll have no reason to attack him.
Moreover, with the Guide attached to Ye Han-dam’s side rapidly improving their guiding skills, the probability of him going berserk is close to zero.
Then the Association will suffer less damage.
“Soo-young, is it really not possible…?”
“Denied.”
The most cheerful of the triplets, who consistently requested to tackle the same Gate, had never entered a Gate with me before. No, we decided he wouldn’t in the future either.
After organizing my memories, I recalled his face.
I’d only thought of him as enormous, but after seeing his younger appearance at school, I couldn’t easily make the connection.
Yoon Seong-jin was one of the Espers who had entered a Gate with me during my Association days.
Yoon Seong-jin, a physical enhancement Esper from Chaun, Korea’s third-ranked guild.
True to his name as a B-class Esper, he made a name for himself in Gate raids immediately after signing his official contract at twenty.
Chaun was a guild that focused on aggressive attacks, completely opposite to Calling, which prioritized safety and defense by following pre-planned routes.
Because of this, tank-type Espers who stayed closest to monsters got injured more often than in other guilds, and they were famous for conducting the most dangerous raids.
This was possible because the guild itself optimized their combat style with minimal personnel.
Of course, they were a guild that absolutely never conducted joint raids with guilds of different types like Calling, as they were known for their quick exit after Gate raids.
“Why… really not possible?”
“Our guild and you aren’t compatible, that’s why it’s not possible.”
“The Guide can stay outside though?”
“Denied. Maybe I’ll consider it when you’re around twenty-seven.”
“Why are you so specific again?”
“People always get hurt in Chaun. You need to raid safely. If you can raid without getting hurt until then, I’ll go to a Gate with you.”
Chaun was the guild that had an accident where several Espers died due to a failed emergency Gate raid after I joined the Association.
Regular Gates, whose formation can be predicted, rarely explode after failed raids. However, explosions occasionally occurred in emergency Gates, and the problem was that the emergency Gate Yoon Seong-jin was deployed to was an A-class advanced Gate.
Calling and Spiral were already raiding other Gates, and Chaun was the guild with members closest to the emergency Gate and with the highest ranking.
Since it wasn’t my assigned Gate, I don’t remember it precisely.
But high-ranking guild members lost their lives instantly, and Chaun, which had been ranked third, was disbanded.
I could remember Yoon Seong-jin being on that list of casualties.
He was bound to be familiar as Chaun’s representative rookie.
There are many people with the same names among Espers, and since Yoon Seong-jin had almost no connection with me at that time, I couldn’t remember him properly until now.
“So are you going to the guild tomorrow?”
“Yeah. The Guild Master said she wanted to meet and have a meal together. Since an official contract is only possible after graduation anyway, she told me to think about it a lot until then. Instead, she said the door is always open and to talk to her whenever.”
“The guild says they’re waiting, but it seems you’ve already made up your mind?”
“Yeah. It’s not easy to contract with a guild in the top 10 to begin with.”
Espers had to transfer to specialized schools even without a guild, and School 3 was a place where many high-grade Espers attended.
Most were ability users provisionally affiliated with top guilds, but there were always some unaffiliated ability users among them.
Among the triplets, Yoon Seong-jin and Baek Da-hyuk were typical examples.
High-grade B-class Espers. Ability users with excellent grades receiving love calls from various guilds.
“But don’t you have to do well on the exams?”
“…I feel like crying. If I don’t graduate on time, the contract will be delayed…”
So this was probably why rookies typically made names for themselves in their early twenties rather than at twenty, when they graduate high school.
Anyway, isn’t this the kind of thing I need to change going forward?
If I change things around me, the chances of returning will decrease too.
Wouldn’t I be able to keep someone who became a star as soon as they made a name for themselves attached to this world?
“Instead of going to Gates, I’ll help you study for exams.”
“Really?”
“I’ll help you pass without fail. Just don’t fall asleep.”
“Thank you! Soo-young!”
Yoon Seong-jin ran toward me with a bright smile, and Yoon Cheong caught the 2-meter giant.
“Cheong! Cheong, I wasn’t trying to hug him!”
“I can’t help but catch you when you rush over like that.”
“Still, put me down!”
Since there’s not much I can do, I need to change even small things like this.
I looked up at Yoon Seong-jin suspended in midair.
“In exchange, when you graduate and join Chaun, learn properly. You need to stay uninjured and safe if you want to raid Gates together later, right?”
“Of course! I’ll absolutely never get hurt.”
“But… why does Seong-jin always want to go with Soo-young…?”
At Baek Da-hyuk’s drawling question, Yoon Seong-jin opened his mouth with an excited expression as if wagging an invisible tail.
“Because it’s refreshing! During guiding too. It feels really good~.”
It seemed Yoon Seong-jin matched well with my bigar wavelength.
This was also why I was always firm with him when he excitedly ran to me as if he liked me.
Yoon Seong-jin’s aggressive affection wasn’t his genuine emotion.
When he was young, he couldn’t tell whether his affection for me was real or if it was manifesting due to his Esper instincts, so he was aggressive.
That’s why I deliberately set up a firm wall and rejected him.
Fortunately, after entering high school and as time passed, Yoon Seong-jin gradually became more stable.
It seemed like he had spent a lot of time thinking on his own.
Yoon Seong-jin, who used to look desperate wanting to be with me, naturally kept some distance from me as well.
He became able to distinguish between his personal feelings and his instincts as an Esper.
Of course, it seems impossible to hide the attraction toward a Guide who feels right for him.
‘Did you know that if the future doesn’t change much from before the rewind, it can merge with the time period before the rewind?’
I’m not sure what the biggest premise of needing to change a lot is, but for now, shouldn’t I start by saving the people who lost their lives around me?
The reason I came to this prediction was because of what happened in that Gate.
Clearly, an accident occurred in that Gate, and someone must have been badly injured.
That could be the two guys I care about, as Hong Yun-hak said, or if he lied, it could be someone from Chaehwa.
I can’t believe everything, but even if I only half believe it, the time-rewinding ability must be real.
The emergency Gate raid that day had almost no injuries, and no lives were lost.
Isn’t that the biggest change?
Isn’t the continuation of the future for someone who had no future the biggest thing?
And if I’m the axis of the center, at least I…
“Hyung, you can’t die.”
I can’t die… Huh?
“When did you get here?”
“Just now. I heard second-years haven’t finished afternoon classes yet, so I just came.”
I was startled by Ji Yeohoon’s sudden voice.
I was even more surprised, wondering if he had read my thoughts.
“Why are you coming into other grades’ classrooms?”
“I didn’t come to see you, so don’t worry about it. Soo-young hyung, let’s add this card and this one. One card, so stop?”
“I was thinking of doing that anyway, shall we?”
“No coaching!”
“Argh! No way!”
The Espers in the same class were wrapping things up after being active for a while, and the Guides were gathered playing a card game.
Everyone was being careful because the bet was for the third-year class president position in high school.
Currently in the second year, an Esper was the class president, so for the third year, they had to choose from among the Guides.
“I’m leaving first.”
“That ended with coaching!”
“Then ask others for help too. Or should we start over?”
“I absolutely refuse to start over!”
“100% Soo-young will win again!”
Why are you guys so fixated on a game I’m going to win anyway, kids?
I had no intention of giving in to the kids who were somehow trying to make me class president.
* * *
It was July and had become much hotter.
I had participated in Gate raids twice, and another raid was scheduled for tomorrow.
“Yoon Cheong, you’re going to the Association tomorrow, right?”
“Yes. I already told you.”
“Have a good trip. I have things to do tomorrow too, so we’re both busy.”
And I also decided not to participate in the raid.
Ji Yeohoon looked disappointed that he couldn’t go to the Gate with me, but when I said I also couldn’t go because I had something to do, he nodded obediently.
Officially, it was an outing with Ji Yeohoon’s father, Guide Oh Chan-seok.
It was an outing that Ji Yeohoon would also join, but in reality, only Ji Yeohoon would go out with his uncle, briefly visit the guild to check his abilities that seemed likely to increase, and I would move separately.
I didn’t tell Yoon Cheong and only Ji Yeohoon knew.
The reason for his even more sulky expression toward Yoon Cheong was probably because of this.
His face seemed to say, “Isn’t it because of you that we can’t go to the Gate together?”
“Look at that expression. How old are you?”
“I’m a li~ttle bit unhappy.”
“When have you ever been otherwise?”
I laughed at his head-shaking response to my words.
I returned to the dormitory while comforting Ji Yeohoon.
And the next day.
“Why are you here?”
“I told you I had something to do.”
I stormed into the Association, feeling like I had to see for myself what Yoon Cheong was doing.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
