“Honestly, the nerve.”
Anyway, it was so embarrassing he couldn’t hold his head up. Yujin writhed alone in the office.
In the novel’s world, it hadn’t mattered what Yujin Langford had done. It hadn’t been him, and it hadn’t been his body either. But of all places, Yujin Langford had gone around causing havoc in this world — in his body. Every time he came face to face with that karma, the frustration and humiliation were unbearable.
Hah, calm down.
It was already spilled milk. There was no way to enter a Gate and obtain an item to turn back time, so all he could do was pour every effort into settling his debts. Getting angry alone only hurt himself.
Having quickly accepted reality, Yujin looked over the pad screen again. The Guiding schedule was set for the afternoon, so thankfully he still had time.
“…Come to think of it, there was a TV in the office too.”
He kept lunch simple with the sandwich he’d asked Hayeong to bring. After hearing that story about the banquet hall, he’d lost all desire to go to the cafeteria. Now he understood why people had been staring at him like he was a zoo monkey.
Bored, Yujin turned on the TV in the office. Since returning to this world and adjusting to reality, he hadn’t kept up with what was happening outside. In that sense, TV was a fine fruit of civilization.
…Association President Kwon Seunghyeok met with Awakener organizations today and gathered opinions on legislation that will soon be put forward. The bill set to be presented in the National Assembly strengthens the human rights and entitlements of Awakeners……
The moment he turned on the screen, a familiar face appeared. Yujin froze, remote in hand.
Kwon Seunghyeok. The president of the Awakener Association, to which both Guides and Espers belonged — and the adoptive father who had taken Yujin in. When Yujin, an orphan, had shown exceptional talent as a Guide, he had been adopted.
He wasn’t a warm or particularly good father, but their relationship wasn’t bad. Kwon Seunghyeok was a man who pursued practicality and self-interest, and Yujin, for his part, had wanted not affection but solid support and backing from him. So the two had maintained a relationship that worked well enough in its own way.
At least, until Yujin Langford took over this body……
But now, there was no way of knowing how far their relationship had deteriorated. Before entering the Center, he and Kwon Seunghyeok had kept in regular contact — but looking at his phone, there was no recent call history with him at all. Kwon Seunghyeok must have been deeply disappointed in him for failing to fulfill his duties as a Guide and running wild like a delinquent in the Center.
Still, I’ll need to reach out to him soon.
The power Kwon Seunghyeok held was enormous, and turning a blind eye out of fear wasn’t an option. If Multi-layer Gates were to open in this world as the system had said, his support would be absolutely essential.
I think I’ve also made enemies in the military.
Yujin looked down at the pad screen with a troubled expression. Hayeong had been handling all the work in the meantime, so Yujin Langford probably hadn’t even known — but the inbox was flooded with complaint emails from the military. It made sense that they’d been on edge, with the Guide Team’s Team Leader neglecting to Guide her assigned Esper team and leaving them to fend for themselves.
Smoothing things over between himself and the military, whose relationship had soured, wasn’t something the Guide Center alone could manage. But if the president of the Association — who oversaw all Awakeners — stepped in, that was a different matter. Broadly speaking, the military’s Espers were also members of the Awakener Association.
In terms of raw power, the Association ranked above the military. Yujin nodded slowly as he thought of his adoptive father Kwon Seunghyeok’s standing.
Well, for now — maybe I’ll just focus on Guiding and try to win the Espers over.
Having finished his sandwich and dusted off his hands, Yujin rose from his seat. He stared for a moment at Kwon Seunghyeok’s face still visible on the screen, then turned away.
Yujin arrived on time and entered the Guiding room. Today’s Guiding schedule had Lee Siyun first, not Min Jaeha — since Jaeha had plans with the other team members.
“Lee Siyun?”
“……”
Stepping into the Guiding room, Yujin was first startled by how dim the interior was, and then startled again to find someone already seated inside. Looking closer, it was a familiar face — Lee Siyun himself, the very person the Guiding session had been scheduled for.
Siyun, who had been staring blankly at the desk, lifted his head. Yujin blinked, caught off guard.
The team’s youngest, they said — he really does look young.
Lee Siyun was a just-turned-21-year-old S-rank Esper with psychic-type abilities. Yujin took in his slight, childlike shoulders and young face, tilting his head.
Why isn’t he answering? Then Yujin noticed the device around Siyun’s neck and felt a jolt of realization.
Espers of a high grade like Siyun, with psychic-type abilities, were typically fitted with measures to prevent abuse of their powers. The device on his neck would also be restricting Siyun’s ability to speak. According to his profile, the device could only be released when a superior granted permission for communication — or inside a Gate.
“It’s fine, you can speak.”
“……”
When Yujin gave the go-ahead, there was a click as the device released. But Siyun continued to stare at him with glass-bead eyes, utterly still. Yujin sat down slowly across from him, feeling uneasy.
If he doesn’t talk, there’s no way for me to know what their relationship was like.
Of course, Yujin Langford — an equal-opportunity bastard to everyone — had undoubtedly treated Siyun badly too. That was why Yujin had kept his expression steeled from the moment he walked in, but looking at Siyun’s blank face, he could feel that resolve draining out of him.
“Lee Siyun?”
When Yujin called his name again, Siyun blinked slowly. He stared back at the pale, small face looking at him with what seemed like exasperation.
“……said.”
“What?”
Siyun had barely opened his mouth, murmuring something in a small voice. But it was too quiet to make out, and Yujin furrowed his brow. Siyun let out a soft breath and moved his lips again.
“I… said something……”
“……”
Then when did you say it?
Yujin felt the urge to argue. But it somehow felt like snapping at a child, so he held back. And then he finally remembered — Lee Siyun was an Esper capable of wielding every form of psychic ability.
Did he send a telepathic message?
Occasionally, Espers with strong psychic abilities found it more comfortable to communicate via telepathy rather than speaking aloud. There had been a character like that in the novel’s world too. Though Yujin Langford had hated telepathy and treated that Esper all the more cruelly for it.
So was that on purpose, just to get a rise out of him.
It seemed Lee Siyun was also on poor terms with Yujin Langford. He’d expected as much, naturally.
“I told you not to send telepathy.”
“……”
“Are you ignoring me?”
He let his displeasure show — but Siyun didn’t flinch in the slightest. His complete indifference, as though nothing Yujin said mattered at all, was irritating enough to sting. Yujin Langford had probably kicked up quite a fuss over it. And yet Siyun had kept insisting on telepathy regardless, which meant he wasn’t one to be taken lightly either. Yujin swallowed a sigh internally and opened his mouth again.
“You know what today’s schedule is, right? Hold out your hand so I can Guide you.”
“……”
But regardless of any of that, all Yujin had to do was Guide Siyun and bring down his Contamination level.
Espers with psychic-type abilities tended to have lower Contamination levels even without Guiding — because they could place their own suggestions on themselves, as though they had been Guided. One might wonder then whether psychic-type Espers even needed a Guide, but the higher the grade, the faster their Contamination level climbed with each use of their abilities. So for S-rank Siyun, his Contamination level rose slightly faster from using his abilities than it fell from self-suggestion.
It was better than other Espers, but by the numbers alone, Siyun’s level was on the higher end. However much time remained until the last Multi-layer Gate opened, getting his Contamination level down below 20% would require consistent Guiding starting now.
Yujin gestured at Siyun with a wave of his hand. But Siyun remained perfectly still, doing nothing but stare at Yujin’s open palm.
God, Guiding is really exhausting.
Siyun was an entirely different type from the other Espers. Baek Dohun appeared cold but had a short fuse; Kang Taejun was the same inside as out, straightforward. And Min Jaeha was polite and warm on the surface, but was the type to lurk in the shadows just watching people.
But Lee Siyun was quiet and silent to the point where there was no telling what he was thinking at all. At least a little reaction would make him easier to deal with — but with no words and just that unwavering stare, Yujin was at a loss for how to respond.
Honestly, not a single one of them is easy.
Yujin thought to himself, shaking his head. He’d thought that having already been pushed to his limits by S-rank Espers in the novel’s world, he was experienced enough — but apparently that had been arrogance.
“…Yes.”
Then at last, Siyun slowly moved his hand. Even the act of taking Yujin’s hand to begin Guiding took an age. Yujin held back the sigh that wanted to slip out.
Anyway, they were holding hands now — all he had to do was Guide. Then this would be over. He repeated that to himself as he channeled his Guiding energy into his hand.
Still, his condition is a bit better than the others.
As expected of a psychic-type Esper, his Contamination level was at a manageable range. So Guiding proceeded relatively smoothly.
This should be enough for today. Checking his watch and confirming the level had dropped sufficiently, Yujin was about to release Siyun’s hand —
“What is Langford?”
“…What?”
Yujin startled and looked at Siyun.
