Chapter 3 : The Esper and His Guide

“Hyunwoo, you and the others go out and evacuate the people.

Tell them Esper support has arrived and calm them down before leading them out.”

“Wh-what are you talking about, Esper support?”

“He’s right here, the Esper.”

Sekyeom tilted his head, indicating himself.

“So get yourself together and evacuate the people safely first.”

Only then did the friends realize that the person before them wasn’t just a friend, but a highly skilled S-rank Esper.

Simultaneously, trust and awe flickered in their previously dazed eyes.

Though Sekyeom himself, busy looking at Jihan, didn’t notice.

Jihan, peering out the door with wide eyes, surveying the situation, looked no different from any ordinary civilian.

The thought that he was someone who absolutely needed protection came before the fact that he was a Guide, so Sekyeom naturally intended

to send Jihan out of the shop with Hyunwoo and Homin.

However, Jihan had different thoughts.

“Like Sekyeom said, you two help evacuate the people and get out of here quickly.”

Jihan, looking around the chaotic shop interior, pushed Homin and Hyunwoo out the door with a calm face.

Pushed out while saying “Hey, hey,” Homin pointed at Jihan.

“What are you saying, what about you then?”

“I have to stay.

If he’s the Esper, then I’m the Guide.”

“How can you do that! Your guilds are different anyway, it’s dangerous, so come with us…!”

“Why are we worrying about guilds in an emergency?

Besides, the principle is one Esper and one Guide working as a pair.

You get fined if you break this rule.

So you guys go out first, quickly.”

Homin’s anxiety didn’t disappear despite Jihan’s explanation.

Looking back and forth between Sekyeom and Jihan with a conflicted expression, Homin seemed to make up his mind and lightly punched

Jihan’s shoulder.

“Take care of yourself.

Don’t get hurt.

Absolutely do not get hurt!”

“Yeah, okay.

I got it, so hurry up and go.”

Reassured by Jihan’s usual attitude, Homin let out a small sigh.

Then he grabbed the shoulder of Hyunwoo, who was still standing there looking dazed, pulled him out, and shouted towards the people.

“Esper support has arrived! Everyone, please exit in an orderly manner!”

Homin continuously shouted while helping up someone who had fallen on the way out.

Hyunwoo also seemed to snap back to reality then and started helping Homin evacuate the people.

After confirming the people were leaving the shop, Jihan approached Sekyeom’s side.

Although he acted tough for his worried friends, Jihan was just as scared and bewildered by the situation.

The fact that the only person he could rely on was, of all people, Sekyeom, also added to his anxiety.

“Code Green, near Yeouido Premium Wedding Convention.

Need Esper and Guide support.”

Meanwhile, Sekyeom was contacting his guild to request additional backup.

His cool voice, conveying only necessary information, was clipped, like giving commands.

“–I’ll keep the Esper Watch GPS on, so find the detailed location with that. Uncle, leave right now. Hanging up.”

A voice continued from the speaker beyond, as if the other side wanted to say more.

However, Sekyeom hung up the phone with a decisiveness that seemed almost cruel and turned his head to look at Jihan.

Jihan, knowing that the ‘uncle’ figure was none other than the Guild Leader of the Taepyeong Guild, couldn’t help but click his tongue

bitterly.

‘He wasn’t someone who took orders from anyone, but having one troublesome nephew had such huge consequences.’

“Why didn’t you leave.”

“You’ll be in the way, so go.”

The cold, command-like voice extended to Jihan.

For a moment, Jihan suppressed the urge to snort at the words ‘in the way’ and tilted his head defiantly.

His scratched pride stung, and a surge of rebelliousness welled up.

However, thinking this wasn’t the situation to fight, he forced down his anger.

Childhood buddies.

This relationship had a really annoying blind spot.

Namely, the fact that their parents could be close.

Jihan and Sekyeom, along with Homin and Hyunwoo who created this gathering, and Changsu who was on his honeymoon.

These five had become close in elementary school.

And through their children’s education issues, their mothers had also become close.

Ironically, the children, now adults, saw each other maybe once or twice a year, but the mothers became friends who traveled together every

season under the pretext of ‘gye’ meetings or social gatherings.

Especially Jihan’s mother, who trusted Sekyeom’s mother, known as an investment genius, enough to entrust her money, making them truly

close friends.

The problem, as usual, was that news about the children reached each other through the mothers’ network.

This news usually consisted of mundane things like who got into which university, where someone got a job and what gift they gave their

parents, but sometimes it included intimate details that should have remained within the family.

For example, things like Sekyeom still hadn’t found a Guide and was always at risk of overload due to guiding deficiency.

An Esper was, simply put, a person with superpowers.

With just a snap of their fingers, they could create fire or ice, control people’s minds, or heal injuries.

And with such powerful abilities, they defeated monsters and protected people.

However, perhaps because they possessed such immense power, there was also a backlash.

They suffered side effects and pain every time they used their power, and sometimes they were consumed by their uncontrollable power and

went into overload.

That’s when a Guide was needed.

A Guide could treat an Esper’s side effects through guiding and help them control their power.

And the most crucial factor for such guiding was the matching rate.

Of course, for a sufficient amount of guiding to occur, it was best if they were of similar ranks.

If the matching rate was a measure indicating compatibility, the rank was an indicator of the total amount of ability each possessed.

However, Sekyeom’s matching rate with any Guide didn’t exceed 30%.

If guiding occurred through someone with a matching rate below 50%, the power overload could be prevented, but they would suffer from

other side effects.

These side effects could range from headaches, nausea, and chills, and sometimes even led to fainting from shock.

Ironically, despite receiving guiding because the side effects of the backlash were unbearable, they ended up suffering from new side effects.

Jihan knew from his mother that Sekyeom suffered various side effects every time he received guiding, and that he had fainted numerous

times.

He had heard that sometimes, when the risk of overload was high, they would anesthetize him completely before guiding, but guiding

performed in that state couldn’t possibly be fully effective.

The Esper was unconscious, and the opposing Guide still had a low matching rate.

That’s how important the matching rate was between an Esper and a Guide.

Thanks to this, Sekyeom was treated like a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.

His family, living with the anxiety that he might lose his life to overload, was also said to be walking on eggshells every day.

Unable to ignore that fact, Jihan told himself that no matter what words that jerk used to provoke him, now was not the time to get angry.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“What? Wait…!”

Before Sekyeom could finish speaking, Jihan snatched his left hand, pushed up the sleeve, and checked the Esper Watch on his wrist.

ECI (Esper Capacity Index) Level 51%.

This, commonly called the EC level, was an index indicating an Esper’s risk of overload numerically.

It was usually managed not to exceed 30%, and even exceeding 40% was considered a warning stage requiring urgent guiding.

Yet Sekyeom, just standing there, had an EC level of 51%.

Considering that exceeding 60% classified it as a danger stage requiring isolation, this could be seen as a serious level.

“Crazy, 51? Your EC is 51%, and you came to a friend’s wedding? Are you nuts?”

“…I can handle daily life as long as it’s below 65%. So you should evacuate quickly too.”

Sekyeom pushed Jihan’s shoulder, acting resolute as if he wouldn’t accept any disagreement.

But it was already a lost battle.

His crumbling expression clearly revealed his worry for Jihan.

While they were doing this, the monster would continue its attack, and the aftermath might even cause this building to collapse.

Just the fact that Jihan was in such a dangerous place made it difficult for Sekyeom to control his expression.

However, Sekyeom was in danger too.

Jihan coldly slapped away Sekyeom’s hand that was pushing his shoulder, as if telling him not to talk nonsense, and looked around the empty

shop.

Checking if anyone hadn’t managed to escape, Jihan asked in a cold voice, meant to snap him back to reality.

“Have you even received proper guiding recently?”

“…Haaah, just how much does Mom talk about.”

The hand that had been pushed away by Jihan and was left hanging in the air covered Sekyeom’s face.

Sekyeom, burying his face in his palms and sighing, looked like a child caught doing something he desperately wanted to hide.