Chapter 9: A Glimmer of Hope

Meeting Taewoon was still difficult.
He was only deployed when S or A-Class gates opened, and he often went on overseas assignments.
Even though I wanted to go with him, I couldn’t because I was a C-Class.
All I could do was watch my Guiding Watch and pray for his safe return.

Whenever he used his abilities, his energy output was immense, and his guiding level dropped rapidly.
So on days without gate appearances, he spent his time training in the training room or receiving machine guiding.
It must have been taking a significant toll on his body, but he was a fool for not coming to me, though I couldn’t bring myself to hate him.

The loneliest and most miserable moments were when I waited for him alone in the exclusive guiding room, preparing for the day he might come, only to return to the dorm alone.

As this situation repeated itself, my resentment towards my grade only grew.

I was on my way to guiding training after finishing the morning’s guide physical training.
Jihwon’s voice came from behind me.

“Shinui-hyung, are you going to guiding training?”

As neighbors and being the same grade, Jihwon and I naturally started speaking informally to each other.
I was also forming amicable relationships with other C-Class Guides through our shared training.

When I worked at the factory, I was always alone because there was no one my age.
But after a month of training and lectures at the Center, I got to know many people.
It even felt like I was in college.
There were lecture halls, a gym, and even dorms.

I had given up on college and went straight to work at the factory to pay for my mother’s medical bills.
So a part of me always held a lingering regret about not going to college, but after coming to the Center, the weight on my chest had lifted a little.

“Yeah. Want to go together?”

“I’ll go with you. And did you hear that Kim Sungwoo got promoted to a B-Class Guide? They say the treatment is completely different from C-Class.”

“Really? How different?”

“His salary tripled, and he got a private dorm. Should I ask him for his secret….”

The moment I told Jihwon to share if he found out, the red gate warning lights began to flash incessantly, and a gate announcement blared.

<[A-Class Gate appearance in Sector 35. A-Class Gate appearance.]>

“Looks like an A-Class Gate has appeared. Do you have to go to the gate, hyung?”

At Jihwon’s words, I looked at my Guiding Watch.
An emergency alert and a message to wait at the Center’s front gate guiding shelter had arrived.

“Yeah. I have to go to the shelter.”

“Be careful not to get hurt.”

I left Jihwon’s worried face behind and ran down the hallway where the red lights were flashing.
My heart pounded with a mix of excitement and nervousness as I was about to participate in my first gate battle as a Guide.

When I arrived at the front gate, a mobile field guiding shelter was already parked.
Perhaps because it was an A-Class gate, it was more chaotic than usual.
As I approached the shelter, a few Guides were already there.

As I loitered in front of the shelter, a shelter manager approached me.

“What can I do for you?”

“I received a message to come to the shelter.”

“Show me your Guiding Watch.”

The manager tapped the watch a few times, and the screen displayed that I was Hyun Taewoon’s exclusive Guide.
As soon as he finished confirming, he let me into the shelter.
Inside, I could see Guides in special combat suits.

I could tell their grades by the color of their uniforms and special combat suits.
A-Class was navy, B-Class was light blue, and C-Class and below were white.
And S-Class was black.

I was wearing a common training uniform, so my grade wasn’t revealed.
I felt a sense of relief.

At the appearance of a new person, the Guides’ gazes momentarily fell on me.
I heard a few whispers about me being Hyun Taewoon’s Guide, but I ignored them and stood in the most inconspicuous spot in the central waiting room.

Dozens of monitors were installed on the wall of the central waiting room, broadcasting the gate situation in real time.

The number of Espers deployed to the field was also displayed on the monitor: one S-Class, ten A-Classes, and the rest were all B-Classes.

I found Taewoon on the monitor.
The Taewoon I saw for the first time in a while looked the same as the last time I saw him.
The sight of him brought a mix of gladness and disappointment.

I checked his guiding level with my Guiding Watch.

100% to 80% was the stable zone, 79% to 60% was the calm zone, 59% to 40% was the crisis zone, 39% to 20% was the danger zone, and below 19% was the rampage warning zone, with 10% being a full-blown rampage.
And if it dropped to 0%, it meant death.

He was currently in the calm zone, but if he used his abilities just a little more, he would drop to the crisis zone.

Every time Taewoon, a fire-attribute user, used his abilities, the surroundings blazed red.
The stronger the flames, the faster his guiding level dropped.

Before long, the guiding shelter doors closed, and we moved to the vicinity of the gate.
An announcement informed us that we had arrived near the gate, as the shelter was capable of short-distance teleportation.
This time, the gate had appeared over the Han River.
Since there were tall buildings nearby, a physical-type Esper had already created a barrier around the gate.

Taewoon and the other Espers unleashed their unique abilities, inflicting powerful damage on the boss monster.

This time, the boss monster was a golem made of haphazardly attached boulders.
The golem, which had been confronting the Espers, finally broke out of the gate.
Soon, an Esper was hit by a magic chunk thrown by the golem and fell into the river.

It seemed Taewoon’s abilities were not a good match for rock.
Unlike last time, he seemed to be struggling.

Every time the boss monster attacked him, I worried that he might get hurt.
But fortunately, he moved nimbly and created barriers around himself for protection.

I found myself biting the skin around my nails, wishing the gate would close quickly.

Inside the red flames surrounding the boss monster, a powerful thunderstorm, like a typhoon, raged relentlessly.
After a persistent attack by Taewoon and the other Espers, with a loud thump like a mountain collapsing, the rock golem let out a death cry and crumbled into pieces.

As the boss monster turned to ash and vanished, the thick red clouds tore apart and scattered, and the gate began to close.
Only then did a sigh of relief erupt from within the shelter.
I also let out a long sigh.

Due to Taewoon’s abilities, the area around the gate was still engulfed in black smoke and flames.
Fortunately, a water-attribute Esper brought down a downpour to suppress the flames.

I could see the Espers moving towards the shelter one by one on the monitor.
I watched the door, waiting for Taewoon to come inside.

As the Espers who entered the shelter began to receive guiding familiarly, I also prepared to guide him.
And as soon as he returned to the shelter, I quickly ran to him.
He looked surprised to see me, but his expression eventually turned to one of annoyance as he glared at me.

“What are you? Why are you here?”

“I’m your guide, so of course I’m here.”

Like the other Guides, I took his hand and tried to guide him.
It had been a fortnight since I had seen him.
A smile blossomed on my face, and I couldn’t hide my longing.
I desperately wanted to make up with him and go back to how things were.

“I don’t need your damn help.”

He pulled his hand away and looked at me with a cold gaze.
Undaunted, I gripped his hand again.

“Just until you’re in the stable zone. I’ve learned a lot in the meantime.”

Despite my words, he spoke in a loud voice that echoed around us, his face full of annoyance.

“Which bast*rd brought a C-Class to the field?”

At his shout, everyone’s attention focused on me.
The shelter manager who had let me in hurried over to us.

“He was a C-Class?”

“Check the ID card. Did you let him in without even checking?”

“Since he’s Esper Taewoon’s Guide, I just assumed he was A-Class or higher without looking.”

“Do your job properly.”

Taewoon said callously and walked out of the shelter.
I immediately chased after him.
I heard the shelter manager’s voice from behind, but I ignored it.

Outside, the water-attribute Esper was still bringing down a heavy downpour.
In an instant, my whole body was drenched, and the rain was so heavy I couldn’t see in front of me.

“Taewoon-ssi!”

I called out to him, but he still ignored me and floated into the air.
I hurriedly shouted for him to wait, but my voice was drowned out by the sound of the rain.

I looked up at him with a look of despair.
He was now too far away for me to follow.

It couldn’t have been pleasant for him to be in the rain either.
I thought he would come back for guiding if he couldn’t see me, so I decided to return to the shelter and hide for a moment.
But something was standing in my way back.

The silhouette was blurred by the rain, but I recognized it as a small golem.
It wasn’t a close distance, so I slowly backed away.
But as soon as our eyes met, the golem roared and ran straight towards me.

At the sight, I ran forward blindly, but to my despair, I slipped on the rainwater and fell.
Blood quickly welled up from the scraped skin and mixed with the rain.

I ignored the pain and got up to run again.
Thinking I might die just like this, I desperately dragged my legs.
But the golem quickly caught up to my slowed pace.

As the golem’s rough breathing grew closer, a sense of despair washed over me, and the image of Taewoon’s angry face from a moment ago flashed in my mind.
Of all things, the last face I saw had to be an angry one.

The moment my vision blurred with tears, the surroundings were engulfed in flames.

Looking back, I saw the golem’s form, trapped in a pillar of swirling fire, completely disintegrating and disappearing.

I spotted Taewoon floating in the sky like a savior.
Finally, tears fell with the rain, and a sense of relief washed over me.
My life had been saved by him once again.

“Are you crazy!”

Taewoon approached me, his face flushed red, and shook my shoulders.
I was startled by his sudden shout, but the relief and gratitude for his help were greater.

“A guy who can’t even take care of his own body thinks of coming to the field?”

He grabbed my arm and threw me into the shelter.
Then he called for a Healer-class Esper.
With a still-annoyed expression, he threatened me never to come to the field again.

If I parted with him like this, I didn’t know when I would see him again, so I wanted to hold onto him.
But my ankle must have been injured when I fell earlier, because a scream erupted the moment I moved it slightly.

In the end, he left, and I was left alone to be treated by the Healer-class Esper.
What a pathetic sight, me, whose role was to help, being the one receiving help.

Still, I was glad I could see him, even for a moment.
And I waited for the next gate to open.
If I could prove that I could be of help to him, he would come back to me again.