“Huk, hah…!”
My breath had risen all the way to my chin. My legs had lost so much strength that my knees were wobbling, and along with a tearing pain in my throat came the fishy taste of iron. It was only natural, given that I’d been running at full speed on top of the grueling march that had continued for days.
But I couldn’t stop running. If I stopped here, the same screams pouring out from all directions would burst from my mouth too.
How did it come to this?
I recalled the unanswerable question once more.
Just 30 minutes ago, I’d been filled with anticipation that the Gate conquest would soon be over. It was a thought everyone here, myself included, had shared.
I’d wanted to hurry outside and mingle with the cheering people, to forget all about Gates and enjoy a peaceful daily life.
But all of it had been nothing more than wishful thinking.
…What is that?
There was nothing like that in the briefing.
Everyone just stay still for now!
It began when the S-rank monster’s breath ceased.
Suddenly, sounds like bones and flesh bursting came from thin air, and in sync with them, the monster’s corpse disappeared as if sand had covered it. It looked as if some invisible something was devouring its prey.
And as if to prove this, the Espers who had been exercising their abilities from their respective positions lost their power one by one.
The tragedy had begun.
Run!
I don’t know who shouted it. But by the time that cry reached us, half our forces had already disappeared.
Everyone was at a loss for words at the shocking result.
The raid team assembled for this Gate conquest alone numbered over a hundred. Not only did it include an SS-rank Esper, but the rest of the personnel were filled only with elites.
And that wasn’t all. An unprecedented personnel decision was made to include Guides in the raid team.
In other words, these were lives that shouldn’t have fallen so easily.
But it happened, and the result was horrific.
With death’s threshold right before their noses, everyone frantically moved their feet. It was a judgment where instinct preceded reason. Having lost their abilities and become powerless, all the survivors were now no different from ordinary civilians.
What’s more, among them, Guides had poor basic physical conditions unlike Espers.
“Wait…!”
And I was one of those physically inferior Guides. Moreover, I was C-rank—the lowest rank in this raid team among both Espers and Guides.
You’d think who would stick a C-rank Guide into an unidentified Gate whose rank couldn’t be measured, but that was reality. Because I, Myeong Eunha, was the imprinted Guide of Do Ganghyun, the SS-rank Esper who had been the core of this raid team.
Even if all other Guides were excluded from the raid team, if there was one Guide who had to be included, that was me. Even if I was treated like a cold meal, regarded as non-existent by Do Ganghyun.
“Me too, please take me too!”
A desperate cry burst out at the top of my lungs. I’d always been timid and never raised my voice, so I wondered where this strength was even coming from.
Of course, that wasn’t what was important. What was important here wasn’t my timid personality, but the reality that I’d have a hard time surviving if I didn’t cling desperately.
In fact, proof of this was that I’d fallen behind from the group even while screaming my throat raw like this.
How far had I run like that? The Gate exit began to appear in the distance.
My legs, which had been screaming at their limit, picked up speed, and light entered my face that had been desperately hoping for help.
Just a little more… just to right there, please…
I’d already come this far without an Esper’s help. Past the Esper who had been desperate to protect their Guide, past the Guide who had collapsed even with that help—all alone. So the distance of less than 100 meters remaining was nothing.
Kwajik, kugugung—!
…It should have been nothing.
“Huh?”
My body suddenly floated and cut through the air. With the sensation of floating that came a beat late, I only then realized that the ground supporting my feet had disappeared. That my body, swept up in the shockwave, would wander through the air like dust before falling.
Instinctively, my gaze turned downward. My vision, which had held the peaceful sky of the Gate, once again captured a hellscape reminiscent of pandemonium.
The Gate disappearing while devouring people, Espers sacrificing themselves to save their Guides, Guides enduring to share the fate of their dying Espers, and within all that, Do Ganghyun saving a Guide other than his imprinted one.
Not me…
For an instant, I met his deep reddish-brown eyes.
I don’t know how I, not even an Esper, managed to capture him in my eyes in this brief moment, from so far away. Perhaps it was thanks to a Guide’s instinct to seek their Esper in a moment of crisis.
But what good was finding him? That Esper was busy saving another Guide and had let go of me.
Did he ever try to hold on in the first place?
The moment that pointless thought arose, my body felt heavy pressure and fell.
As I closed my eyes, anticipating death, memories of my time with Do Ganghyun surfaced to replace my blocked vision. From our first meeting when he fiercely rejected me to the present when we could have light conversations—all very vividly.
“Myeong Eunha—!”
Just then, I heard Do Ganghyun calling me from afar. Was it my imagination that it sounded somewhat desperate?
Still, you’re calling my name. I was at least… enough of an existence to make you worry.
I was someone who had at least that much presence. I swallowed words I couldn’t bring myself to say and mocked myself.
I couldn’t help but laugh. To think I was relieved at receiving one worry that was closer to humanitarianism than love.
It was beyond embarrassing—it was miserable. Enough to think it was rather fortunate that death was right before me.
“Ah…”
Really, how did it come to this?
***
If you asked Guides about their most memorable moment, nine out of ten would mention their first meeting with an Esper. Something about recognizing each other like destiny following the wavelength?
So perhaps I had expectations too. That maybe a destined partner would appear for me as well.
“A match? With ‘that’ Esper Do Ganghyun?! Me?!”
However, I didn’t know the partner would be such a big shot.
“But I’m C-rank…”
Something must be wrong—I stubbornly held out with that meaning, moving my mouth desperately. Of course, it didn’t work at all.
“You’re a C-rank Guide with an 81% matching rate with an SS-rank Esper.”
And you’re also the only Guide whose wavelength matches. The Center official added firmly.
Thanks to that, my mouth, which had stiffened with tension, opened helplessly. It was natural that the fact I’d been matched with Do Ganghyun, the Republic of Korea’s only SS-rank Esper, was more shocking than the news that I’d manifested as a Guide at the somewhat late age of twenty-three.
“Uh, so, 81% means roughly—”
“We’ll have to do a detailed examination with Esper Do Ganghyun later to know for sure, but it’s at a level where it wouldn’t be strange to form a pair contract immediately.”
“A pair?!”
Shocking information burst out in succession.
When I jumped in my seat, sharp glares followed from all over the Awakener examination room. It was fortunate enough that I hadn’t screamed.
On New Year’s Days like today, you could receive an awakening examination for free, so people had particularly flocked here, and since they each had painful circumstances that forced them to rely on free examinations, they were rather sensitive.
“…”
I quickly bit my lip and lowered my head. The Center official in front of me also seemed uncomfortable with the attention and furrowed their brow while lowering their voice even more.
They seemed to want to change locations, but during seasons like this, it took time to find and prepare a suitable place. As I said before, it was New Year’s.
The government recommended awakening examinations regardless of age or gender. It was natural in an era when how many Awakeners you possessed directly translated to national power.
However, realistically, it was somewhat difficult for ordinary people to recklessly shoulder an examination fee of 500,000 won. Fee exemptions were only possible from C-rank onward, which allowed you to work at the Center as a government employee. In short, the hurdle was high for desperate people dreaming of reversing their lives.
What emerged within this system was the ‘New Year examination fee exemption benefit.’ On top of that, once you completed registration after awakening, a one-time government subsidy was provided, so there was no reason not to aim for it.
I was one of those people. So that’s why I was so shocked. It was already a situation where I was grateful just to have manifested as a C-rank Guide, yet here they were saying I could even form a pair with Do Ganghyun, an SS-rank Esper.
A pair meant an Esper and Guide forming a partnership and matching their rhythm together. Unless something special happened, they usually proceeded to imprinting as well, and society viewed this as a form of romantic relationship.
In other words, the man before me was talking about the possibility of Do Ganghyun and me developing into a romantic relationship. With a face more composed than anyone’s.
“By any chance, are you currently seeing anyone?”
“No! I’m not!”
Somehow my answer popped out immediately.
“That’s fortunate. There are occasionally people who are reluctant to form pairs when they have someone they’re seeing.”
“Yeeess…”
I suppose that would be the case. I couldn’t quite answer that way and trailed off awkwardly.
“You may not know this, but Esper Do Ganghyun has not found a Guide whose wavelength matches until now. He manifested in high school, so now it’s been roughly… 9 years?”
The Center official shrugged while rolling their eyes to estimate the time. It meant it wasn’t particularly important information.
Having keenly picked up on this, I unconsciously spoke up.
“Ten years.”
