Time had passed, but the situation remained unchanged. Well, strictly speaking, the man’s frequency was becoming increasingly chaotic, so it wasn’t entirely unchanged.
“What should I do…!”
Of course, I still hadn’t made any decisions. I was stuck, unable to move forward or backward.
Should I just guide him? Not in my way, but as Kim Sol taught me. Could I really just stand by and do nothing? The more time passed like this, the more their suspicions would grow.
‘But then, it might already be too late….’
I bit my lip.
They would already suspect that I was hiding something since I hadn’t guided him all this time. But I couldn’t guide him in my usual way either. Suspicion and seeing it with their own eyes were two different things.
So, should I try guiding him the conventional way now? But what if I ran out of mana and they still left us here? What if Cha Jae-woo didn’t return?
The thought was terrifying. Ultimately, this man would go berserk, and I would die.
“Open the door! You’re watching, right?! Open it!”
I was confused. I didn’t know what to do in a situation like this. I shouted, but there was no response. They were just going to watch.
“…….”
I clenched my fists and looked at the man. His frequency was increasingly constricting me. I had to admit it—I had no choice.
I hesitated a moment longer before finally moving towards the man.
‘I can’t wait any longer….’
I didn’t know when this man would go berserk. If something happened, it would be too late to fix. I had to survive first. Even if my secret was exposed, it was better than dying right now.
“Haah…….”
As I approached the man, his frequency threatened me more intensely. It felt strangely oppressive.
Was it because my compatibility with this man was low? Did a low compatibility rate feel like this? I wondered, but there was no time to think about it.
“Just a moment.”
“Ugh…….”
I took the man’s hand and closed my eyes to guide him. I regretted wasting time and making him suffer.
Once I decided to guide him, there was no more hesitation. I immediately channeled my mana into his body. The mana flowed through him, seeking out the tangled frequencies…
“……?”
I had only guided two people, Cha Jae-woo and Jung Hyun-soo, but I generally knew what tangled frequencies felt like. It was like a mess of tangled lines. Especially with Cha Jae-woo, it felt like those lines had coalesced into a single mass.
But this man was different. It wasn’t that his ability had caused his frequency to go wild; it felt like his frequency had been forcibly clumped together. Instead of the tangles spreading out from a central point, they were scattered in clumps throughout his body. It was as if his mana, which should have flowed freely, had been forced to stagnate.
“…….”
Was this what a second-stage berserk looked like? Mana that should flow freely, solidifying in place.
No, that couldn’t be right. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. I opened my eyes after confirming the mana purifying the scattered clumps. Something felt off.
At that moment, I met the eyes of the man who had been groaning in pain. Up close, he looked about my age.
“Wh-what is it?”
Of course, that wasn’t important.
I stepped back, flustered, and immediately let go of his hand. Simultaneously, the man furrowed his brow but didn’t seem as distressed as before. In fact, he almost seemed to smirk.
“……That was amazing. How did you do that?”
Was this really the same man who had been in pain just moments ago? He didn’t look like someone who had been suffering. But his sharp frequency remained unchanged. I couldn’t make sense of what was happening.
“Thank you for your hard work, Guide Lim Haeyul.”
At that moment, Jo Gyeong-hoon, who had been absent until now, reappeared. My vision blurred. I felt like I had fallen into a trap.
“You did not disappoint our expectations.”
I couldn’t respond.
Meanwhile, the man casually brushed himself off and stood up, moving close to me. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he pulled me into his arms.
“What are you doing?!”
“I feel good. You’re a guide, right? I’m still not stable. Won’t you cooperate a bit?”
His absurd words flowed so smoothly that I immediately realized he hadn’t been in genuine pain; he had been faking it. I had been completely fooled.
“It seems there has been a misunderstanding. The Ability Association prioritizes the protection of Guides and Espers. We do not leave Espers to go berserk.”
Jo Gyeong-hoon spoke with a cunning expression.
As the man pressed closer to me, I tried to avoid him, feeling even more confused by Jo Gyeong-hoon’s words. I desperately pushed the man away, biting my lip.
“Lee Jae-hoon took a drug that temporarily sharpens his frequency. Generally, Espers often use it when they want to feign illness to avoid entering the Gate.”
It was the most absurd thing I had heard recently. But I had no time to process it. The man, Lee Jae-hoon, who had been holding me from behind, bit my ear and then whispered into it.
“I discovered that drug. At first, no one knew about it, so it was fun.”
“Let go of me! Stop it!”
“But now almost everyone knows. I wonder if there are still people who fall for it.”
I struggled with all my might, but I couldn’t escape Lee Jae-hoon’s grasp. I hadn’t noticed when he was crouched, but he was quite large. Even if he weren’t an Esper, I wouldn’t have been able to escape his grip.
“Fuck! Let go of me!”
I was furious. Being tricked was bad enough, but having this crazy guy clinging to me made me want to vomit. That’s right, no wonder. His frequency felt disgusting. It was artificially induced, so of course, it felt wrong.
“Lee Jae-hoon, how was it?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
Lee Jae-hoon responded, still holding me. He even rested his chin on top of my head. No matter how much I struggled, I couldn’t escape.
“The guiding.”
“Can’t you tell just by looking? I feel like I’m flying right now.”
“So, it was purified?”
Lee Jae-hoon nodded and this time rested his chin on my shoulder. I was shocked and tried to twist away, but it was no use. I was almost ready to give up.
Why wasn’t Cha Jae-woo here? Did he not know I had been taken? What would happen to me now? All sorts of thoughts raced through my mind—.
“Lim Haeyul, it seems like you can see and control mana, is that correct?”
Lee Jae-hoon whispered into my ear. He didn’t seem to want to share this with the others, but my body tensed up. I didn’t respond.
“You have a good Guide, Cha Jae-woo.”
Jo Gyeong-hoon spoke as if he hadn’t noticed Lee Jae-hoon whispering to me. I looked up at the sound of Cha Jae-woo’s name.
“Uh…….”
And at the same time, I saw Cha Jae-woo standing on the other side of the glass wall. He was staring at me.
“……Cha Jae…….”
Seeing Cha Jae-woo, I felt a surge of relief. Even though he was late, I thought I could finally go home. I had been worried that I might be locked up in some lab.
But as I tried to call his name, my lips froze. Cha Jae-woo’s expression was ice cold.
“But why hide this?”
Jo Gyeong-hoon asked Cha Jae-woo. But his gaze was also fixed on me. Cha Jae-woo didn’t respond. Lee Jae-hoon, uninterested in their conversation, pressed even closer to me. His lips brushed against my ear, and his hand tightened around my waist. I recoiled in shock and tried to pull away. He was completely crazy.
“Let go of me! Why do you keep doing this?!”
“More guiding, please. It felt so good.”
“Let go of me! I don’t want this, ah…!”
I continued to struggle with Lee Jae-hoon, but it was clear I couldn’t overpower him. Desperately, I looked at Cha Jae-woo, pleading for help with my eyes.
“Haah…”
But Cha Jae-woo just stood there, unmoving. He let out a long sigh, and that was all.
In that moment, my heart sank. The strength drained from my hands as I tried to push Lee Jae-hoon away. My mind went blank, and I didn’t know what to do.
All I could do was turn away from Cha Jae-woo, who seemed more annoyed that my guiding method had been exposed than concerned about the situation I was in.
