“You shouldn’t have any Guiding sessions scheduled right now, so you can come in for a meeting immediately, right?”
“Oh — yes…”
Hayeong nodded, looking reluctant. Yujin observed his demeanor carefully.
Does he think I’m calling Yu Haneul in to do something terrible to him?
That would be entirely in character for Yujin Langford. At first, he had dismissed Yu Haneul as a mere D-rank Guide — but as Yu Haneul began Guiding the male leads in his place and winning them over, Yujin Langford had eventually started to feel threatened. So threatened, in fact, that he’d gone so far as to hire an assassin to kill Leyan. That had been his undoing — once it came to light, the male leads had killed him for it.
But Yujin himself hadn’t made the same mistakes as Yujin Langford. Fortunately, the point at which he had Transmigrated was before Leyan’s appearance, so he had properly Guided the male leads, improved his relationships with them, and been able to stay on good terms with Leyan as well.
Here, on the other hand, it seemed Yujin Langford had already had some kind of confrontation with Yu Haneul. Even so, there was still time to turn things around. And perhaps Yu Haneul was an entirely different person from Leyan. This wasn’t the world of the novel, after all.
“Then I’ll go and bring him right away.”
“Go ahead.”
Hayeong eventually headed out of the office to fetch Yu Haneul. Yujin waited with an unhurried mind.
Knock. Knock.
“Come in.”
A moment later, a soft knock came at the door. Yujin turned his head and spoke in a low voice. The door opened, and someone stepped inside.
“I’m here, Team Leader.”
“…Right.”
A man with a tense expression slowly approached Yujin. Yujin studied Yu Haneul — who looked exactly like his profile photo — with a steady gaze.
His vibe is a bit different from Leyan’s.
Leyan was an obviously striking beauty by anyone’s standards, but Yu Haneul had a rather plain look to him. He was pretty by male standards, but leaned more toward ordinary, if anything.
Even so, his rank and matching rate were remarkably similar to Leyan’s. Yujin kept his guard up and continued to watch Yu Haneul.
“What did you call me in for?”
Yu Haneul approached with his entire body visibly tense. His slight frame and frightened expression made him look like a small herbivore caught in front of a predator.
It seems Yujin Langford already had quite a go at him.
The Yujin Langford who had been occupying his body had never met Leyan, unlike in the original work. But he had probably felt a visceral, instinctive threat from Yu Haneul, who occupied a similar position. Just as in the original, he would have started by ignoring him and then gradually found him more and more aggravating.
Fortunately, looking at the profile, Yu Haneul hadn’t been with the Guide team for very long. If more time had passed, it might have played out just like the novel — with Yu Haneul winning over the Espers’ hearts in Yujin Langford’s place. But things hadn’t reached that point yet.
“Nothing in particular — I just thought it was about time for a check-in. Have you had any trouble since joining the team?”
“Pardon?”
Yu Haneul blinked in surprise.
Well, Yujin Langford isn’t exactly the type to ask something like that so warmly. Yujin continued, keeping his tone casual.
“If you feel any pressure Guiding S-rank Espers, feel free to say so.”
“……”
No matter how high the matching rate was, a D-rank Guide Guiding S-rank Espers was no easy feat. In the original work, Leyan had nearly worked himself to death because of it — though he’d pushed through it all, aided by the protagonist’s buff.
Yujin had been thinking he might listen to whatever grievances Yu Haneul had if he was in a similar situation — but instead, Yu Haneul’s expression abruptly hardened, and he asked in a pointed voice:
“Is this how you intend to push me out of my duties now?”
“What?”
Caught off guard, Yujin flinched. He hadn’t expected Yu Haneul to react like that. He scanned Yu Haneul’s face, which had gone pale.
He’s sharper than I expected.
He’d assumed Yu Haneul would have a personality similar to Leyan’s, but apparently not.
Then again, this wasn’t the world of the novel. It was a distinctly different world. The idea that the future would unfold similarly just because Yujin Langford had temporarily inhabited his body was nothing more than his own assumption.
Yujin let out a short, quiet laugh and spoke again.
“I told you to speak up if things are hard — I didn’t say anything about stopping your Guiding.”
“But…”
Yu Haneul started to protest, choking up slightly, then bit down on his lip.
Seeing this reaction, it was clear that Yujin Langford had been treating Yu Haneul poorly ever since he’d started Guiding Alpha Team 1 — finding him irritating and making his life difficult. Cutting remarks and cold treatment were exactly Yujin Langford’s specialty.
That said, he wouldn’t have been able to actually drive Yu Haneul out of the Guide team even if he’d wanted to. Not just the Center Director — Kwon Seunghyeok, as Association President, would never have entertained the demands of someone as negligent as Yujin Langford.
Even an S-rank Guide isn’t irreplaceable. Bringing in someone like Yu Haneul had been a warning to Yujin Langford — a living symbol of that fact. Of course, being the fool he was, Yujin Langford would have missed the message entirely and simply taken his resentment out on Yu Haneul himself.
“As Guide Yu Haneul probably knows, I’ve been starting to get back to my own work now. I can’t handle everything on my own, so I do need an auxiliary Guide.”
“……”
“If you’re willing, I’d like you to take on more Espers than you’re currently managing — particularly the ones you have an especially high matching rate with.”
Yujin had absolutely no intention of Guiding all of Alpha Team 1’s Espers by himself. He’d have to be out of his mind. Even for the greatest Guide alive, reducing S-rank Espers’ Contamination levels below 20% through contact Guiding alone would be impossible.
In that situation, having someone as capable as Yu Haneul right there and not making use of him would be sheer stupidity. If Yu Haneul had been struggling and fed up with the ill-tempered Espers, Yujin would have done his best to talk him into reconsidering. But since that wasn’t the case, things were even better.
“…Are you serious?”
“Of course.”
Yujin smiled and nodded.
Something about this felt right. If Yu Haneul accepted the offer just like that, it would be a perfectly tidy arrangement that worked out well for everyone.
Why should I kill myself doing all the work alone, and for whose benefit?
The original villain Yujin Langford might have resented Yu Haneul for threatening his position — but Yujin himself felt no such thing. If anything, Yu Haneul, occupying a similar role to Leyan, looked to him like an angel with wings. Someone willing to voluntarily take on those insufferable, demanding S-rank Espers? He could have wept with gratitude.
“The Espers you have an especially high matching rate with are Kang Taejun and Park Roun, right? Park Roun is currently on overseas deployment, so for the time being, you can take primary responsibility for Kang Taejun. If you’d like, you can take on one more Esper as well.”
Yujin wore an easy smile as he offloaded the Espers onto Yu Haneul, as casually as setting down a piece of luggage. Yu Haneul blinked, looking even more bewildered.
“Is something wrong? Not confident?”
“N-No, it’s fine.”
Yu Haneul, who had been standing there in a daze, shook his head at Yujin’s question. Yujin simply felt pleased watching him volunteer to take on the hard work. He’d worried he might bolt at the first sign of difficulty, but he seemed motivated — which was a relief.
“Then we’ll start drawing up the Guiding schedule right away.”
“Yes…”
As Yujin moved immediately to work out the Guiding schedule, Yu Haneul, who had still been wearing a stunned expression, realized he was dead serious. Something subtle shifted in Yu Haneul’s eyes.
“Um, Team Leader…”
“Yes?”
“…Never mind. I’ll do my best.”
Yu Haneul, who had seemed on the verge of saying something more, pressed his lips together and dipped his head. Yujin glanced at him with a puzzled look, then gave a small nod.
“Good. I’m expecting great results.”
It was a shame that even with a high matching rate, the efficiency and total volume of Guiding energy from a D-rank Guide weren’t anything to get one’s hopes up about. If Yu Haneul had been an S-rank Guide like himself, Yujin would have handed off all the Espers to him without a second thought — but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.
For now, he would have Yu Haneul take primary charge of Kang Taejun, with whom his matching rate was highest, and gradually push the other Espers his way as openings arose. Yujin had done exactly the same with Leyan, the main love interest in the novel world he had Transmigrated into. The man who had flashed such a good-natured smile at first had eventually started looking at Yujin with a rueful, tired grin — but they’d saved the world safely in the end, so it all worked out, didn’t it.
“Then starting tomorrow…”
Today the Espers who had gone on the mission were due back late, so the Guiding schedule would be drafted from tomorrow. He was wearing a satisfied smile, pleased that he’d managed to convince Yu Haneul without a hitch — when it happened.
BANG!
“Huh…?”
The door flew off without warning. Yujin stared blankly as the door went sailing right before his eyes. Like a scene out of a film, it seemed to fly in slow motion before slamming into the wall with a thunderous crash. The wall it collided with — the door folded in half on impact — splintered with a long, jagged crack.
“What in the…”
So when a person is shocked enough, words really do fail them. Yujin could only blink, utterly unable to react to what had just happened.
“K-Kang Taejun!”
“Kang Taejun?”
Why is that name coming up here?
As that thought crossed his mind, Yujin heard heavy, thundering footsteps closing in on him. He turned his head reflexively — and a massive hand filled his entire field of vision.
“Ugh!”
“Kwon Yujin!”
A voice like a thunderclap crashed down from above. At the same moment, a powerful grip seized him by the collar. Yujin was hauled clean off the ground and flailed helplessly in midair, arms and legs dangling.
“Things quieted down for five seconds and now you’ve gone and dragged Yu Haneul in here — what the hell did you do to him? Huh?”
“Ugh…”
With his airway half-crushed, only a strangled groan escaped him. Yujin grimaced and looked up at Kang Taejun looming over him, shouting in his face.
