Ha…… I’m not exactly thrilled about guiding either, you know.
Guiding was a benefit for the Espers — not for him. He was doing it out of nothing more than a sense of duty as a Guide.
Still, if he had to name one upside, it was that the more guiding an Esper received, the more their attitude softened. Even the most aggressive Esper found it difficult to treat the Guide providing their guiding carelessly. Why else would they go as far as imprinting on a high-compatibility Guide, acting as though they’d hand over their heart and soul?
Yujin had never encountered an Esper with a high compatibility rate, so he had no idea what it felt like to be bonded to one on a soul-deep level. But Espers who received quality guiding would transform from an unbridled colt into a docile lamb in no time at all. That was precisely why he intended to guide Alpha Team 1’s Espers proactively.
“Try anything funny and I’ll kill you.”
“Go ahead and try.”
Yujin answered flatly and grabbed Kang Taejun’s hand. The large, bear-like frame of Kang Taejun shuddered.
This somehow feels like I’m the one making a move on him. Yujin clicked his tongue and set his guiding energy in motion. He scanned Kang Taejun’s wavelength almost immediately.
Every single one of them is in terrible shape.
At least Kang Taejun’s wavelength was less complicated than Baek Dohun’s, which made guiding more manageable. He had been worried about the low compatibility rate — but as it turned out, compatibility rates didn’t seem to mean much for an S-rank Guide.
Come to think of it, there was no concept of compatibility rates in the other world.
There had been something called attunement — a kind of affinity assigned by the priests who managed the awakened — which had served in place of compatibility rates in the novel. Being a fantasy world, it probably hadn’t come with precise numerical values. Yujin drifted into a brief tangent.
“Hey, hey! Hold on!”
“Hm?”
Kang Taejun suddenly cried out, his face flushed red. Yujin looked at him with mild puzzlement.
Now what.
He frowned and looked closer — and something about Kang Taejun’s state seemed off. Yujin quietly assessed his condition.
Occasionally, sensitive Espers would struggle during guiding. When the wavelength was incompatible or the compatibility rate was too low, guiding could stop being a healing process and instead become something harmful to the body.
But there was no way his guiding, as an S-rank Guide, could be that incompatible. Slightly piqued, Yujin studied Kang Taejun, who was biting down on his lip.
But his condition looks a bit……
It didn’t look like the kind of distress that came from incompatible guiding. If he were in pain, the first thing he’d have done was yank his hand away — and he hadn’t done that. The way his large frame was shifting and fidgeting, like a dog that needed to go outside, looked more like……
“Are you turned on?”
“Shut up!”
Kang Taejun recoiled at the blunt question and shouted. Yujin smirked at his flustered expression.
“I mean, it happens with Espers.”
“I said shut up!”
Espers becoming aroused during guiding wasn’t uncommon. Espers who stayed still throughout, like Baek Dohun, were actually the rare ones — most found it hard to keep their overstimulated bodies in check.
That was why, even with guiding set strictly at contact level, there were Espers who would lose control completely and lunge forward. In the other world, there had been enough watchful eyes around that no one had dared lay a finger on his body.
He had momentarily worried Kang Taejun might also lose his head — but fortunately, there was no sign of that. If anything, his anger at Yujin’s words seemed to have doused his body’s arousal with cold water.
“Just hold on a little longer. The readings still need to come down.”
Yujin said it calmly and glanced at his watch screen. The numbers hadn’t dropped to a satisfying level yet. He ignored Kang Taejun’s protests and tightened his grip.
“Ah, just let go already!”
“Ngh!”
It seemed he genuinely couldn’t take it anymore — Kang Taejun swung his arm sharply. It wasn’t a powerful motion, but the shoulder Baek Dohun had grabbed earlier flared up immediately, and a pained sound escaped Yujin before he could stop it. Kang Taejun jolted.
“Wha — what? Are you hurt?”
“No, it’s not because of you. Don’t make a big deal of it.”
Yujin said it evenly and brought his other hand to his shoulder. He couldn’t afford to take any more impact there.
God, I can’t keep doing this.
He’d intended to bring the readings down as much as possible since he was already guiding — but he didn’t have the energy left to coax and manage anyone anymore.
“Let’s stop here for today. If the readings get dangerous again, schedule another session.”
“Hey……”
“I’m going.”
On top of everything, guiding two S-rank Espers in a single day had taken more out of him than he’d realized — his body felt heavy and drained of energy. Yujin gave a half-hearted wave and got to his feet.
“Hoo……”
How much more was he going to have to suffer through this. The debt that Yujin Langford had left behind was truly staggering — and utterly exhausting.
He told Hayeong he was heading home and returned to the dormitory room he had woken up in that morning. Every part of him felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten a single thing today……”
He had been so out of his mind that he’d been running around without even remembering to eat. Yujin rubbed his stomach, which gave a weak, feeble growl.
He had half a mind to eat something before sleeping — but now that he was already in his room, the idea of walking all the way to the cafeteria was more than he could face. Shaking his head, he washed up quickly and went to the bedroom.
“I have to get rid of this godawful interior too……”
Yujin muttered, glaring with barely concealed hatred at what were probably mahogany antique furnishings. Having to look at the same things that had made his life miserable over there — here too, of all places. He let out a long sigh before closing his eyes.
Yujin slowly opened his eyes.
Spread out below him was a green field, stretching in every direction. He blinked at the familiar sight.
This place……
He recognized it. It was a view he had looked out on for the past three years.
The place he had come to whenever his chest felt tight. The one space where he could actually feel his mind settle. Gazing at the gentle field swaying in the wind, he felt his heart grow quiet again, like that very field.
But why am I here……
After staring at the landscape for a moment, Yujin tilted his head in confusion.
This was the world of the novel he had transmigrated into. An open clearing inside the imperial palace of the Fernando Empire — a secret space that only a handful of people knew he frequented.
So why was he here. He had definitely……
Gone back to my original world.
Yujin murmured briefly to himself. He couldn’t tell whether he was dreaming right now, or whether he had somehow ended up back in this world again.
Yujin.
Just then, a familiar voice called his name. Yujin startled and turned his head.
But the surroundings were still nothing but green field — no other person in sight. Yujin blinked blankly.
Yujin, where are you?
Ah……
His lips parted instinctively at the soft voice. But he closed them again just as quickly. Something in his gut told him — instinctively — that he must not answer.
My Yujin.
……
It’s okay. I’ll come find you soon.
The gentle voice grazed the shell of his ear like a breeze drifting across the field. The voice itself was undeniably soft and tender — so why did his skin prickle like this? Yujin gripped his own trembling arm tightly with his other hand.
Just wait for me.
Ngh……!
A gust of wind came from somewhere. Yujin squeezed his eyes shut.
And when he opened them again, an entirely different space came into view.
“Haah——!”
Yujin shot upright in bed, breathing hard. His eyes swept the room in a disoriented sweep. He was not in the imperial palace of the Fernando Empire — he was in the real world where he belonged.
“Right. I came back. I came back……”
He murmured quietly and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand.
After transmigrating and eventually steering things toward an ending different from the original, Yujin had slowly started finding it harder and harder to go on living as “Yujin Langford.” The people he had built relationships with there knew him as Yujin Langford — not as Kwon Yujin. The longer he kept deceiving them, the more he had grown to resent the life he was living.
So when the threat of the original story was eliminated and peace returned to the world, Yujin had made up his mind to use the Wish Token and return to his original world. Even now, he didn’t regret that choice.
But then why had he dreamed of being there. He couldn’t even tell if it had simply been a dream. It felt too vivid to be one — the sensation of being in that space had been so sharp and real, and the familiar voice burrowing into his ear had been enough to make his skin crawl.
“Ha — no. It’s all over. That place has nothing to do with me anymore.”
The real Yujin Langford would have already returned to the world of the original novel by now. The perceptive leads would probably realize that he and Yujin Langford were different people — but there was nothing they could do about it. That world of the novel didn’t truly exist, after all.
He should feel relieved. And yet, strangely, the unease wouldn’t leave him. He didn’t know why he was feeling this way himself. It had only been a simple dream.
It was probably just because he hadn’t readjusted to this world yet and still felt out of place. Yujin told himself that and pushed himself up out of bed.
Ding!
“Hm?”
Something flashed into existence right before his eyes.
He only realized belatedly that it was a System window — the kind he had seen to the point of exhaustion over the past three years.
SYSTEM
Main Quest activated!
SYSTEM
A great danger is approaching this world! To face that danger, guide your assigned Espers and bring their contamination levels as low as possible!
SYSTEM
Current Assigned Espers
Baek Dohun (S): Contamination 85%
Kang Taejun (S): Contamination 78%
Min Jaeha (S): Contamination 69%
Lee Siyun (S): Contamination 53%
Park Roun (S): Contamination 42%
SYSTEM
Objective: Bring your assigned Espers’ contamination levels below 20%!
Success Reward: Increased chance of protecting the world + Next stage quest
Failure: World destruction
“……”
What now……
