Chapter 4: Unstable Power

“Haa… haa… ah…”

Haejin was one breath away from blacking out.

The child’s crying kept stabbing his ears.

He had to move, but his energy was completely drained; he couldn’t even twitch a finger.

Then, faint but unmistakable, power began trickling into him.

A guide?

Haejin’s hips jerked as foreign energy forcibly poured into his body.

“Hnngh… how long has it been since you last got guided?”

Lee Chae hovered his open palms over the collapsed man, scanning him.

Dilated pupils, burst blood vessels, energy flow so chaotic it was dizzying even from the outside…

The guy was critically unstable.

Non-contact guiding from a D-class like him shouldn’t be enough.

But right now a child was floating in mid-air, seconds from death.

If Lee Chae turned and walked away, both the esper and the kid would die.

He poured everything he had into the guiding.

The crimson eyes slowly returned to their original color.

The ragged breathing evened out.

Weak, but new energy was forming.

“You okay? You with me?”

At Lee Chae’s voice, Haejin snapped his half-lidded eyes wide open and shot to his feet.

He didn’t even glance at the guide who had just saved him.

The child, who had been sobbing moments ago, now hung limp, barely conscious.

The kid came first.

“Jaehyung, you there?”

• Yeah, hyung. Want coordinates?

“Now!”

The instant the mark arrived, Haejin unleashed the attack he’d been charging.

BOOM! BOOM! KA-BOOM!

The ground shook, dirt erupting sky-high.

Haejin launched himself forward and caught the falling child in his arms.

“WAAAAH!”

The kid wail exploded out of the little boy.

Haejin, clueless about babies, shoved the crying bundle toward Lee Chae.

“I hate crying. Do something.”

“You save a kid and that’s what you say?”

Lee Chae took the child and quickly checked for injuries.

He hadn’t realized from afar, but the boy was tiny; barely four.

Face swollen from crying, the kid sobbed into Lee Chae’s chest.

Lee Chae patted his back gently.

“It’s okay. That hyung saved you. Scary, huh?”

“Hic… I want Mommy…”

“The hyungs will find her, so don’t cry.”

“Really? You’ll find her? Hic… I’m scared…”

Lee Chae hugged him tight.

Whoosh.

A sudden gust bent the trees violently.

“That bastard’s running!”

Haejin bolted after the formless monster fleeing in the opposite direction.

Lee Chae stripped off his outer jacket and wrapped the shivering child snugly.

Sand whipped against his cheeks as he ran with everything he had toward the building where the espers waited.

The anxious high-ranks rushed forward the moment they saw him.

“The kid okay?”

“WAAAAH!”

The loud, healthy wail made everyone exhale in relief.

Jinwoo approached, tone completely different from before.

“Good work, guide. You saved him.”

He’d sneered at a low-rank minutes ago, now acting all grateful just because the kid was safe.

Espers really were impossible to understand.

“Find his parents fast. Isn’t there someone here who can contact headquarters?”

Jinwoo stepped up.

“On it.”

“Then do it. I’m late for my part-time job.”

Lee Chae handed the boy over.

Jinwoo took the still-crying child and left to find the parents.

‘…Thank f*ck.’

At least the espers here valued life.

If they didn’t, no one would have been saved.

Lee Chae turned to leave, chest finally unclenching.

That’s when Jaehyung, still on telepathy, grabbed his ankle.

“Wait, guide!”

Lee Chae stopped and looked back.

Jaehyung was trembling, face grim.

“Did you actually guide him properly?”

Lee Chae scoffed.

“Are you serious? I told you I’ve never done real guiding. The kid’s alive; isn’t that enough? You gonna blame me now?”

“No, that’s not—”

Jaehyung’s voice cracked.

“His condition is bad. Like, really bad. He chased the monster and the link cut off again. I can’t reconnect no matter what. Something’s definitely wrong.”

“So call an A-class guide and redo it.”

Lee Chae walked out.

The hostage situation was over, the monster fled; there was no reason for a D-class to stick around.

If he didn’t leave now, he’d be late for work.

The campus was shrouded in thick fog where the formless shadow had vanished.

Students were still hiding inside buildings, afraid the monster could return any second.

“Espers, guides; all cowards. Easy lives make people soft.”

Lee Chae wasn’t fearless, but hunger for his family scared him more than death.

So he had to get to work even now.

The short battle had left the campus in ruins.

He hurried through the wreckage, eyes forward, when he spotted a lone figure walking toward him.

Tall enough to crush anyone in one blow, clothes still pristine after fighting a phantom-type mutant, body visibly carved from steel.

A face impossible to forget even if you only saw it once.

The same esper from earlier.

‘They said the link was dead, but he’s strolling around just fine.’

Just as Lee Chae was about to ignore him, a mocking voice rang out.

“Guides really have no manners. Leaving before cleanup, huh? Like a scared rabbit.”

Lee Chae glared at the man who was openly insulting the person who’d just saved his life.

“Got nothing to say? When someone asks you a question, you answer.”

“I’m not mute. And since when are we on casual terms?”

“Hah?”

The man laughed like he couldn’t believe his ears.

Not a sneer, not amusement; just pure disbelief.

Lee Chae hated how the guy acted however he pleased without caring about anyone else.

“You don’t know who I am?”

Lee Chae stared, eyes wide.

He knew the guy was the esper who saved the kid.

But the question clearly meant something else.

The man’s jaw dropped in exaggerated shock, gaze raking over Lee Chae from head to toe.

How dare you not recognize me? his eyes accused.

Lee Chae just stared back silently.

He’d spent his entire life focused only on money and studying; he had no idea how to handle this.

The man took one long stride forward.

Raw power crashed over Lee Chae like a wave, making it hard to breathe.

A-class? No… S-class?

Should he run? It still wasn’t too late…

“Hm… not S-class. A-class?”

Lee Chae?”

Lee Chae, who’d been holding his breath, gasped out, “D-class.”

The man’s face twisted like he’d bitten into something rotten.

Why the hell does he look so offended that I’m D-class?

“Well, D or A, what’s the difference? All you guides are the same anyway.”

The expression was pure disgust, the same look Lee Chae wore when dealing with asshole espers.

It made zero sense.

Lee Chae sighed and turned to leave.

The suffocating pressure around him suddenly vanished.

…No way.

He activated his guide sense and carefully scanned the man.

He hadn’t noticed from far away, but up close it was obvious: the guy was in terrible shape.

He was barely standing, torso hunched forward like he’d collapse any second.

‘So this is why the link died.’

His energy was drastically weaker than before.

Lee Chae knew the symptoms of rampage from prolonged lack of guiding in high-ranks.

But he had personally guided this man, and the fight hadn’t even been that intense.

If he was this bad, it meant non-contact from a D-class wasn’t nearly enough.

Which meant he needed contact guiding.

Why the hell should I care?

He’d done it for the kid last time.

There was no reason now.

There were plenty of A-class guides around.

“I am a guide, but like I said, I’m D-class and useless. I’ve got somewhere important to be, so I’ll be going.”

He gave a sincere goodbye and turned.

A huge hand clamped around his forearm like a steel trap.

The grip was strong enough to crush bone.

Lee Chae’s body jerked forward, crashing against the man’s chest.

Electricity sparked everywhere they touched; he couldn’t move an inch.

The man leaned down and whispered low against his ear.

“Whether you’re useful or not… that’s for me to decide.”