# Chapter 35
“The failure must end with Kang Dohyun. We can’t afford to fail with Choi Geonwoo too!”
The man raised his eyebrows fiercely, expressing his anger to the fullest. Then suddenly, wiping the expression from his face, he abruptly burst into laughter like a madman. As if the current situation was too ridiculous, an unpleasant laughter continued.
“Does this make any sense? That just one guide can ruin all my work? That I nearly failed twice because of one Lee Jaehee?”
The man, who had been laughing endlessly as if insane, slowly erased his smile. And once again, anger took its place. The man mercilessly creased his brow and dredged up memories of the past that had sent his mood plummeting.
“Can you believe this? When I couldn’t get my hands on Kang Dohyun because of Jaehee, he was only 13 years old! That little kid prevented me from having Kang Dohyun! Even while ruining his own body, a mere 13-year-old brat shattered the opportunity to put a leash on Kang Dohyun’s neck!”
To put a leash on an Esper, one had to overlay a bond, and to overlay a bond, a one-way bond was needed as a foundation. And that one-way bond was a bond that could only be created during the pre-manifestation period when one had not yet manifested. No matter how much guiding an Esper who had already completed manifestation received, they wouldn’t form a one-way bond. Unless they had formed a one-way bond in the unmanifested state and then manifested.
“Do you know how important the pre-manifestation period is, and I blew it because of Jaehee!”
The beginning was certainly as intended. Since the operation had to be conducted without anyone knowing, he created a situation where Jaehee couldn’t endure without giving guiding to Dohyun himself.
It wasn’t difficult. All he had to do was slightly increase Dohyun’s pain, which had started with manifestation pain. For those kids who cherished each other, it would have been a huge problem, like the world was falling apart.
But the issue came afterward. Since Dohyun, who had formed a one-way bond, showed guiding rejection, they tried to overlay a bond using Jaehee. But conversely, Jaehee poured guiding energy into Dohyun.
“Yes, he probably didn’t know. He was only 13 after all. I can understand that might happen. But the strange part is that even after we fed Jaehee the drug to prepare to overlay the bond, he still performed guiding. You know what happens if you perform guiding after taking that, right? Your body gets ruined.”
Taeyun recalled a dark red liquid at the man’s words.
“Even if he took a small amount, the accumulated quantity over a long period would have built up significant toxicity in his body. He endured that and performed guiding. And it wasn’t that he didn’t know. He clearly did it despite being told it was dangerous to perform guiding. That crybaby coward!”
The man remembered the 13-year-old Jaehee. Having manifested at such a young age, Jaehee’s guiding ability was still unstable, and he was a fragile child who would shed tears drop by drop, saying it hurt when even a little guiding energy leaked out of his body.
That’s why he didn’t expect it. He couldn’t have even imagined that Jaehee would endure that pain and perform guiding on Kang Dohyun. It was a time when he still lacked power within the Center, so not being able to monitor them up close became an eternal regret.
“Fine, I got over it all. I tried not to think about it. If it was discovered that I had messed with a child, I would be in danger too. I tried to forget everything without lingering attachments. But now Jaehee is doing it again? And only with Espers who have top-tier potential!”
The man frowned intensely, then clenched his fist so tightly that veins popped out, then released it. He took a deep breath as if to calm himself and said,
“We can’t allow such an absurd situation to happen again. No, we shouldn’t let it happen! We don’t know when another Esper with top-tier potential will appear, so we can’t afford to lose Geonwoo because of Jaehee!”
Yes, failure must end with once.
To ensure there would be no more failures after that time, he used that failure as a stepping stone to increase the purity of artificially created guiding energy, and increased it even more. So it could mimic even higher grade guiding energy.
“So be careful. Don’t get caught at all. We absolutely cannot fail this time.”
He said this, but there was no reason they would be caught. Because no connection point could be found that linked them together. That’s why he had brought out A-class healing Esper Cheon Taeyun, whom he had kept well-hidden.
“Unfold the method as slowly as possible to avoid suspicion. Until we finish preparing to secure Geonwoo with certainty. Very slowly, drag out the time as much as possible.”
The man said this as he moved toward where the secret safe was. From there, he took out a small glass bottle. An ominously dark red liquid was contained inside. The man handed it to Taeyun.
“As you know, you must feed him only tiny amounts at a time. Otherwise, he might completely lose his guiding ability, or even die. And don’t forget that you must keep hold of Jaehee until this job is finished. Because Jaehee is essential to overlay the bond.”
The man gripped Taeyun’s shoulders and spoke as if to make sure he remembered.
***
At the same time.
“Guide Lee Jaehee-nim! I’m here!”
A guide entered the examination room where Jaehee and Geonwoo were. He was holding something in his hand. He immediately approached Jaehee with it.
“I brought this!”
The guide handed Jaehee a work pad with a confident voice.
“All the materials you mentioned are in there. I backed everything up and brought it!”
At those words, Jaehee received the pad and touched the screen.
The guide sat in a chair near the bed and asked,
“But why do you need that?”
On the pad screen that Jaehee had turned on were a photo and personal information of A-class healing Esper Cheon Taeyun.
“The matching rate is too low. I was wondering if there might be a guide with a high matching rate whom I could ask for help.”
“Ah…!”
At Jaehee’s words, the guide let out a short exclamation as if he had gained an understanding.
“Right. The matching rate is… pretty severe, isn’t it?”
The guide spoke, looking at the tired-seeming Jaehee.
“Based on the feeling, about 10%? It seems around that.”
Jaehee said, and the guide nodded as if in agreement.
“But honestly, I… felt a bit like I was ‘everyone’s guide,’ so I thought my matching rate would be higher with him?”
The guide spoke, recalling the Espers he had encountered. Since basic matching rate tests with anyone yielded over 60%, the guide was honestly confident.
“But isn’t it amazing that the matching rate is low with me too? Wow… I only realized it after trying!”
Because Jaehee looked too exhausted, the guide had volunteered to take over. But what a surprise? He had failed miserably. Even after infusing guiding energy again and again and again! It had no effect, like pouring water into a bottomless jar.
“Thank you. For stepping up to help.”
Jaehee said with a faint smile.
Seeing Jaehee like that, the guide looked a bit surprised.
‘Huh? Has his mood improved a bit?’
The guide stared at Jaehee. Jaehee, who had looked like he was about to die until yesterday, seemed different now. Even now, one couldn’t say his condition was good because he had done too much guiding. But how to put it? The feeling was different.
Jaehee’s face as he looked at the pad was, well… it’s hard to explain, but it felt like he had come alive? That kind of atmosphere emanated from him. And as time passed, that feeling grew stronger.
“How is it?”
The guide said, leaning his head slightly toward the pad.
“Are there any guides with high matching rates?”
Since Jaehee was the only S-class in the Center, no one could beat him in terms of grade, but if their matching rate was high, they could perform guiding much more efficiently than Jaehee.
“If it’s over 60%, it would be good to ask that person…”
The guide said, staring intensely at the screen. The screen was filled with numbers. They were all the matching rates between Taeyun and the guides at the Center.
“Wow…”
And soon, the guide let out a surprised exclamation.
How could this be? Most of the matching rates were terrible.
“Most are around 10%?”
The guide was so surprised that he unknowingly opened his mouth wide. His pupils were shaking violently as he looked at the screen.
“Wow… really…, even this isn’t easy to achieve. The matching rates are really low.”
These figures were so low that one would naturally give a pitying look every time they saw Taeyun.
“How can all the matching rates be this low together?”
The guide spoke in a slightly higher tone, his surprise not fading.
“Indeed. The matching rates are quite low.”
But Jaehee didn’t seem as surprised. He seemed rather indifferent?
“But there are still a few with over 60%!”
With over 60%, there wouldn’t be much trouble performing guiding even if there was some grade difference.
That’s a relief! The guide momentarily channeled Taeyun and breathed a sigh of relief.
But soon his eyebrows rose up.
“…It says they’re all… deceased?”
All the guides with high matching rates with Taeyun were marked as deceased.
