Now’s the time.
I immediately drew all the guiding energy clustered in my head down to my feet. Then I erased every trace of my presence as if I didn’t exist.
This was a stunt no ordinary Guide would dare attempt. It was more of a bizarre technique I’d come up with out of sheer boredom while stationed on the frontlines.
Sure, I could’ve just held hands with a bunch of baby Espers to drain the guiding energy before coming in here…
But the Bureau of Awakened Ability Users wasn’t dumb enough to miss that. I ditched that idea long ago.
If I got caught doing something like that, I might as well shout, “Hey everyone, I’m super shady! Look at me, a Guide trying to hide his stats!” from a rooftop.
This was the only trick I had that left no loose ends. Well… other Guides wouldn’t even know this method existed, so there was no way the Bureau could suspect it. Typical Guides only cared about effectively lowering an Esper’s encroachment rate through guiding. There was no reason for them to bother learning tricks like this.
Just leave the tiniest bit.
Let’s see… For a C-rank? Leaving a spoonful of energy should do. D-ranks usually have about a fingernail-sized amount, right?
Thankfully, back when I was on the frontlines, I trained and worked with Guides of all ranks. That experience let me roughly estimate how much energy a Guide of any given rank would typically have.
In short, this was a game I couldn’t lose.
The scanner, knowing nothing, operated as usual.
As I felt something drain out of my head, a mechanical voice spoke from the machine.
—“Ability extraction successful from Guide Yeon Yu-jin. Beginning analysis. Please wait a moment.”
A few seconds later, a notification flashed: Analysis complete.
An employee addressed the ability assessment machine.
“How did it come out?”
—“Announcing results. Name: Yeon Yu-jin. Estimated rank: C-rank Guide.”
“…C-rank?”
The Bureau staff member’s expression stiffened.
Feigning ignorance, I responded with exaggerated excitement.
“Whoa! I’m a C-rank now? I leveled up! I was just a D-rank before!”
Oh, you clueless little staffer. Work on that poker face. You’re basically screaming “Something’s fishy!”
I beamed brightly, sending that message silently, and the staffer barely managed to change his expression.
“H-haha… Um, would you mind if we ran the test one more time?”
“Huh?”
“It’s nothing serious. Sometimes this machine makes mistakes.”
“Hm…”
“It’s just for accuracy’s sake. Thank you for your understanding.”
“Sure, I don’t mind.”
But, of course, the result didn’t change.
—“Announcing results. Name: Yeon Yu-jin. Estimated rank: C-rank Guide.”
The machine repeated the same result like a parrot. Naturally so—every time the test began, I gathered my energy down to my toes, leaving just a spoonful in my head for the scanner to pick up.
“Sh-should we try once more?”
“Again?”
“This’ll be the last time!”
With all the generosity in the world, I played along and took the test four more times.
Naturally, not once did the result change.
And each time, the examiner’s face turned a little paler.
“Is something wrong…?”
I asked, pretending to be concerned. The staffer, clearly having given up, forced a smile.
“No, nothing at all. The test concluded successfully.”
“S-so, I’m really a C-rank then?”
“…Yes. Congratulations. It’s rare, but your rank’s gone up a level.”
“Right? I was surprised when I got the retest summons from the Bureau, but… I’m glad I came! Thank you!”
“Haha… yeah…”
The staffer’s eyebrow twitched. Aw. Must be disappointed this didn’t go the way they wanted.
Not my problem.
I was just happy to confirm that my skills were still razor-sharp.
See that, Potato? That’s the power of a former SSS-rank Guide. Impressed?
As I gloated internally, Potato gave me a look of pure pity.
[Yes, yes. You’re so impressive.]
He clearly didn’t think it was impressive at all, but I didn’t care.
Getting up from the machine chair, I asked the staffer cheerfully,
“So, should I head to the next testing room?”
“Yes… Please proceed to Room 2. The staff there will guide you.”
“Got it.”
Room 2 should be the physical ability test, right?
I’ll just move like a typical C-rank.
At this rate, I should safely end up classified as a C-rank Guide.
This was so easy, it made me yawn.
***
As soon as Yeon Yu-jin left Room 1, Director Shin Yoon-hee—who was acting as the day’s examiner—clicked her tongue.
“This makes no sense. How the hell did he come out as a C-rank?”
It was a result she simply couldn’t accept.
According to the memory read in the park by Park Ha-na, a C-rank Esper with Psychometry, his ability should have been at least A-rank.
They were so sure of that outcome that they’d prepared a scout offer to present the moment the result came in.
—“Announcing results. Name: Yeon Yu-jin. Estimated rank: C-rank Guide.”
But the ability assessment machine had betrayed that expectation.
No, maybe… as impossible as it sounds, this Guide Yeon Yu-jin might’ve suppressed his own abilities.
But there was no evidence to back up that theory.
Not once had an Esper or a Guide ever managed to deceive the cold, unerring gaze of this machine.
Even the notorious Hyun Je-ha, a top-tier anti-government Esper known for his terrifying power, had been exposed as the youngest-ever S-rank the moment he took this test. It had made headlines.
His partner, the late Ahn Ga-hyun, had likewise been revealed as an SSS-rank Guide at the tender age of nineteen. The two had been hailed as a pair of prodigies.
The records those two set still remained unbroken twenty years later.
Yeah. Even if the late Guide Ahn Ga-hyun came back from the grave, not even he could fool this machine.
Director Shin Yoon-hee forced herself to abandon her wild speculation and instead took out her frustration on the poor device.
She sighed and tapped the pristine, marble-like surface of the white machine.
“I swear, there better not be another C-rank result in the upcoming tests…”
Yeah, right.
Still, Shin Yoon-hee silently prayed that the Guide with possible ties to Hyun Je-ha wouldn’t end up with a final rank of C.
***
This is going way too smoothly.
I’d gone through Rooms 2 to 4, and all of them confirmed I appeared to be a C-rank Guide.
Whether it was the physical test or the one where I held a pre-assigned Esper’s hand and channeled guiding energy…
My rank never exceeded C.
All the staff conducting the tests looked just like the one in Room 1—faces visibly falling when it became clear I was going to be classified as a C-rank.
They couldn’t find a single excuse to nitpick, so they had no choice but to let me through.
Why the hell hasn’t this testing process changed in twenty years?
Thanks to that, I was humming internally, just waiting to go home.
Potato, seeing how relaxed I was, gave me a warning.
[You’ve still got Room 5 left. Who knows what crazy test they might pull there.]
True. Room 5 didn’t exist back in the day.
When I was tested, they only went up to Room 4.
Room 5 was new to me, so I had no idea what they’d make me do.
What else is there to measure, anyway?
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen a single member of Secreti so far.
“Maybe I’ll run into them in Room 5.”
If the test involved working with my current Esper teammates…
Could they be planning a joint operation or something?
Maybe they wanted to throw us into a live field situation, like another dungeon break. But I’d scoured all the news, and there weren’t any reports of issues at any dungeon gates.
So what the hell was this about? What were they going to have me do?
Wondering, I stepped into Room 5—and saw a man dressed in a sleek black suit instead of the standard white lab coat.
That aura…
He was definitely an Esper.
Is he Bureau staff too?
But why was he dressed differently from all the others?
Some kind of high-ranking official?
The man who’d been standing greeted me.
“Hello.”
“Hi. I’m Yeon Yu-jin, here for testing today.”
I smiled politely, though I stayed on guard. The man returned the smile. A red earring dangled from just one of his ears.
Potato scowled at the sight of him.
[I don’t like that guy.]
…Why? Isn’t he good-looking?
[Just… don’t like him. Don’t want to be near him.]
What the hell was that about?
Potato was practically bristling with suspicion. He slithered off my head and hid between my clothes and pocket.
Is he shy around strangers?
This side of him was new to me. Kind of caught me off guard.
The man couldn’t see Potato anyway, but the little guy acted like he’d spotted a predator and needed to disappear.
Let’s just get this over with and go home.
“So, what kind of test are we doing here?” I asked.
The man smiled and answered.
“This final phase uses a simulator that mimics real combat conditions. The test will assess your guiding effectiveness with your partner Espers.”
