Regressed to Become an S-Class Hidden Guide 63

Chapter 63

‘Seoyul. Who would’ve thought that little runt had such guts.’

Manager Kim ground his teeth, having lost everything.

He had misjudged, thinking Seoyul was just a clueless novice who couldn’t do anything. The kid used to tremble at the mere sight of a raised fist, so he hadn’t been cautious at all.

Who could have imagined that kid would be the cause of the organization’s downfall?

‘Damn it. I can’t let it end like this.’

Manager Kim thought while grinding his teeth. Although all the key leaders of the organization had been caught, some members, including himself, still remained.

He decided to gather the remaining members and reorganize. It was too disappointing to give up now when he had been so close to being promoted to an executive position.

‘Wait. Couldn’t I just create a new organization?’

Upon reflection, becoming the leader of the organization rather than just an executive didn’t sound bad at all. After all, he was now the only one who knew all the organization’s expertise and routes.

Those who had been caught for illegally distributing Guiding drugs would likely never see the light of day again, given the severity of their crimes.

All he needed to do was naturally fill that void.

‘Good. But revenge comes first.’

Manager Kim thought with a sinister smile.

The reconstruction would begin with revenge. He harbored grand ambitions to unite the remaining members through this mission and grow to seize power.

And so, he began quietly circling around Seoyul. But that Esper was always by his side. The very Esper who had destroyed their organization.

‘Think I’m going to give up just like that?’

Manager Kim kept a close eye on them with bitter determination. His thinking was that they were humans too, and if he watched long enough, they’d eventually slip up.

Then one day, he got lucky and witnessed something. He saw Seoyul guiding that Esper.

‘Ha! What’s this? I thought he was C-class, but his rank is higher?’

Being an Esper himself, he could tell immediately. Even though it was brief, energy leaked out like Radiant Guiding.

Having observed Guides for many years, he could easily predict the rank.

‘At least A-class. No, maybe even S-class.’

With that kind of rank, it made sense why they stuck so close. He had thought they were excessively attached.

‘This could be worth a lot of money.’

He turned around with a triumphant smile. He needed to act before this became more widely known. This might be an opportunity to take revenge and leap to a higher position all at once.

‘Things seem to be going my way.’

Disappearing into the darkness, he quickly did some calculations.

* * *

“Ungh…”

Seoyul slowly lifted his eyelids. But all he could see was darkness. Seoyul slowly tried to piece together his memories.

He clearly remembered buying a bouquet for Dowoon and walking down the street. And then someone from behind…

“Gasp!”

Seoyul bolted upright. The creaking sound of the old bed springs and the musty smell of mold stung his nostrils.

…it felt familiar.

‘Right… this place…’

The musty smell of mold.

The floor that was cold as ice.

The narrow room where not a single ray of light entered.

Seoyul realized. This was that place. The place where he had been imprisoned until he nearly died.

‘This can’t be…!’

Seoyul quickly backed away and curled up. Fear washed over him as dark memories began to swallow him whole.

He had returned. Back to the darkness where he had always been.

‘Why… why… why…’

Had the organization not been completely wiped out? Were there remnants left behind? Those persistent bastards might have been grinding their teeth for revenge.

‘It wasn’t… over.’

What would happen now? Would he go back to how things were before? Would he be alone again?

Again…?

‘Esper-nim…’

Seoyul thought of Dowoon as he held his trembling body. He felt pathetic for being so helplessly afraid, but he couldn’t stop it.

Still, thinking about Dowoon seemed to help, as his trembling gradually began to subside.

‘Esper-nim… Esper-nim will come looking for me.’

They had made plans to meet, so surely Dowoon would notice his disappearance and start searching.

Seoyul had no doubt that this time too, Dowoon would pull him out of the darkness.

‘O-okay. Then I can be strong too.’

He opened his eyes again. People could move when they had hope. Now was different from back then.

Slowly getting to his feet, Seoyul felt around to understand the layout. First, he needed to figure out where he was.

After that, he needed to determine if he had truly been kidnapped, and if so, whether it was really by the organization’s remnants or some third party.

Even if not immediately, he wanted to be of some small help to Dowoon, who would come to rescue him soon.

‘Similar… but different.’

One door that seemed to be the exit, and another leading to a bathroom.

Seoyul realized that while this place was similar to where he had been imprisoned for so long, the structure and size were different.

That alone was somewhat reassuring, so he continued searching for more clues. Then he found a familiar object.

It was a bottle used for storing Guiding drugs.

‘….’

It was certain. This bottle was specially ordered and manufactured only by the organization. The size and feel of the label were identical.

‘So I really was kidnapped…’

The prediction he didn’t want to believe turned out to be true. It was clear that members of the organization had kidnapped him for revenge.

‘What should I do…?’

Seoyul’s body began to tremble again. Now that his suspicion had turned into certainty, no matter how much he tried to steady himself, it was difficult to stop the rising fear.

Seoyul had observed them for a long time, and the scars in his heart had not faded.

‘Calm down… it’s okay. Esper-nim… Esper-nim will come to rescue me.’

Only after repeating this to himself many times could he finally stop trembling.

But there was one factor he had overlooked. That was time.

Seoyul had been left in darkness for a long time, and the longer that time stretched, the more the flame of hope began to flicker out.

He felt his body and mind growing increasingly exhausted. No matter how much he tried to pull himself together, the long hours alone in darkness brought anxiety to Seoyul.

How much time had passed?

With a creaking sound, the door opened, and bright light poured in.

‘Esper…nim?’

He squinted desperately, staring ahead. Having been in darkness for so long, his eyes couldn’t focus immediately.

The other person waited for Seoyul. As the figure gradually became clearer, a familiar voice was heard.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

This… couldn’t be…

“Manager… Kim…?”

Seoyul stared blankly at the unforgettable face. Then, the last image of him automatically replayed in his mind.

The image of him snarling and threatening Seoyul.

“Gasp.”

Seoyul, turning pale, hurriedly covered his mouth. The deeply rooted fear felt like it would spill out.

Thud.

The closer the footsteps came, the more suffocating it felt, and as he gradually backed away, he found himself cornered.

A large shadow loomed over him, and a big hand came closer and closer.

Seoyul instinctively shut his eyes tightly and wrapped his arms around his head.

‘H-he’s going to hit me…!’

This was how he always protected himself. But…

‘Huh…?’

What he expected didn’t happen. Instead of a strong hand striking his head, it began to stroke him in a skin-crawling way.

“So jumpy. Did you think I’d hit you? Why would I hit a lucky charm like you?”

Lucky… charm…?

Seoyul raised his head slightly in confusion. Then, with eyes gleaming with greed, the man spoke in a covetous voice.

“I saw it.”

Thump.

Seoyul sensed something ominous. A feeling that something was wrong flashed through his mind.

As if reading Seoyul’s thoughts, the man whispered with a vile smile.

“You’re not C-class, are you?”

“…!!”

Seoyul’s face turned deathly pale. Reflexively trying to back away further, he banged his head hard against the cold wall.

Tears welled up with the sudden pain.

“Oh my. How can you treat such a precious body so roughly? We can’t have you getting scratched.”

He grabbed the back of Seoyul’s head and stroked it. Feeling repulsed throughout his body to the point of nausea, Seoyul covered his mouth and began to tremble.

“Did your rank change? Or have you been hiding it all this time? Well… that’s not what’s important.”

He pressed down firmly on Seoyul’s head as he stood up. Trapped in the large shadow, Seoyul could only tremble and stare at the floor.

“What you did was despicable, but… well… I’ll let it slide just this once. After all, I think I can make a big score with the money you’ll bring in.”

Muttering this, he approached step by step, then kicked the wall hard as a warning.

“So this time, don’t do anything at all and stay quiet. Understand?”

His words carried a murderous intent. There was a clear determination not to let him escape this time.

What had given him such confidence? How had he found out?

Seoyul blamed himself. If only he had been more careful. If only he had been more cautious. Countless self-reproaches filled his mind.

“You should have just lived quietly. Working with us would have been better for you than with those guys.”

Freeze.

Seoyul’s body stiffened.

‘Those… guys…?’