Chapter 117: An Unwelcome Visitor

Hyun Taewoon was dispatched overseas to an S-Class gate in the United States. Fortunately, it was a low-level S-Class gate, so it was annihilated in just a week, and he reported his early return.

While he was away, I secretly had a pair of couple bracelets made. His bracelet had been damaged at the Devil’s Gate, leaving only mine. It felt somewhat lonely wearing the bracelet by myself, so I wanted to make a new pair.

Besides, I wouldn’t have been able to make them otherwise. Taewoon usually picked me up after my lectures, and he wouldn’t leave my side all day, so it was hard to find the time.

A bracelet that raises the affection between an Esper and a guide. The bracelet I had so desperately wanted before my regression was now in my hands.

I had designed the bracelet myself. It was made of a thin platinum chain, and inside, it contained the wavelength energy of both Taewoon and me. How much trouble I went through every night to get his wavelength.

‘Will he like it?’

He would surely like anything I gave him. I checked his arrival time, imagining his happy face. He was scheduled to arrive at 9 PM tonight.

After picking up the bracelet, I got in my car to go home. I had been driving for about 10 minutes when my guiding watch started beeping. I checked it and saw a support request from the Association. I immediately pulled over to the side of the road.

[(Emergency Support Request) High-level A-Class gate has occurred in Sector 194.]

After obtaining my personal guide license, I had accepted the Association’s gate support requests a few times. After that, as if they had no conscience, the Association started sending support requests at all hours.

A-Class gates could open as often as twice a month, so it was becoming increasingly difficult to accept their requests. But I couldn’t refuse when I thought about the citizens and Awakened who would be harmed by the gate.

I hurriedly checked the gate’s location on my terminal; it was less than a kilometer away. In the end, I accepted the support request and sent my location. Now that I had sent my location, a physical-type Esper who could teleport would arrive soon.

I put the case in the inner pocket of my jacket, worried I might lose the bracelet, and got out of the car. The sound of gate warning alarms and people’s shouts was spreading loudly in all directions.

Waiting for the Esper to pick me up, I looked up at the black gate that was magnificently open in the sky. As it was an A-Class gate, it opened quickly. With ominous black smoke, monsters began to emerge from the gate and spread in all directions.

If it had been a normal A-Class gate, I would have immediately evacuated to a shelter, but it was a different story for a high-level one. There was also the risk of a long-term battle, so the participation of a high-level guide was particularly important.

“This looks dangerous.”

The appearance of the monsters was unusual. Seeing the dragons, the size of a boss monster, breathing red fire, I thought the damage would be severe if it wasn’t cleared quickly. Just as I was starting to feel anxious, a familiar Esper appeared in front of me.

“Guide Shinui, thank you for accepting the support request again!”

“I happened to be out. How is the gate situation?”

“It’s a gate that has appeared a few times, so we’ve already identified the monsters’ weaknesses. However… I think it will be dangerous without Esper Hyun Taewoon.”

Of all times, a high-level A-Class gate when Hyun Taewoon was on an overseas mission. Still, an S-Class Esper had awakened five months ago, so the Association had managed to fill Sung Yohan’s vacancy and was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

At the Esper’s words that we were moving, I placed my hand on his glove.

“Close your eyes tightly.”

Since we were moving through space quickly, I had to keep my eyes closed to prevent corneal damage.

“We’ve arrived. Safety first today, as always. Be careful!”

It felt like it hadn’t even been 10 seconds since I closed my eyes, but at his words that we had arrived, I hurriedly opened them. The Esper left, saying to be careful, and quickly disappeared.

As expected, I coveted the Esper’s ability more than the guide’s. A guide exists solely for the sake of an Esper, but an Esper is needed by everyone.

I entered the shelter entrance right in front of me. The manager who recognized me approached with quick steps and greeted me.

“Guide-nim, you’re here?”

“Yes, please confirm my authorization.”

After confirming my guide ID card, I moved to my private room. I wasn’t an Association guide anymore, but they had set up a private room for me. Inside, the combat suit and energy gun I used at the Association were charged and displayed on a shelf.

As I changed into my combat suit, I checked the gate situation on the monitor. The newly awakened ice-attribute Esper was floating near the boss monster with a confident, no, arrogant, expression. I hoped he had learned enough from Hyun Taewoon to be able to close the gate on his own.

I was about to go out to start guiding when the door burst open and Wonjae ran in.

“Hyung, I told you to call me when you come to a gate!”

Wonjae said in a reproachful tone, not hiding his disappointed expression. I smiled sheepishly and made an excuse.

“I just got here a little while ago.”

Wonjae had moved to the American Association, but he couldn’t adapt and had returned to the Korean Association.

He had complained all night, crying that it was hard to endure the guiding of the more open-minded Americans compared to the conservative Koreans. And when he heard that I had returned to Korea, he moved back to the Korean Association. Fortunately, the Korean Association, which was short of guides, welcomed him with open arms.

“Next time, please be sure to call me before you come to a gate.”

“I will. I’m going to do radiant guiding outside, want to come with?”

“Yes! I’ve increased my radiant guiding area by 0.5 times this time. I can finally show you today.”

Hyun Taewoon disliked me going near the gate or guiding personally, so I was planning to only do radiant guiding, as always. As I walked outside with Wonjae, discussing how to divide the guiding, he suddenly brought up some unexpected news.

“Oh, and I got a pair this time.”

“Who?”

“S-Class Esper Lee Seowon.”

Lee Seowon was the ice-attribute S-Class Esper I had seen just a moment ago. He was currently a member of Hyun Taewoon’s team, learning under him.

“There’s a rumor that he’s the illegitimate son of the S-Class Esper from District B. It seems S-Classes have a separate gene.”

Wonjae told me other secret news as we moved to the outer barrier. By the time we arrived, more Espers than I had thought were down. Most of them were B-Class Espers who were evacuating citizens on the ground.

As the number of injured Espers increased, the gate battle dragged on for longer than expected. Although there was an S-Class Esper, he was a rookie with less than a year of experience and seemed to be lacking in dealing with a high-level A-Class gate boss monster.

It would have been fine if Taewoon was here. At this rate, he might have to go to the gate as soon as he returned.

I started radiant guiding, hoping that the gate would close before he arrived. The only thing I could do here was to raise the guiding levels of as many Espers as possible.

I was observing the boss monster’s condition while doing radiant guiding inside the shelter’s outer barrier. But people around me started to murmur. I asked Wonjae, who was guiding next to me.

“What’s going on?”

“Just a moment. I’ll go and check.”

Wonjae went inside the shelter, but I was able to solve the mystery right away. I saw a familiar figure at the gate. It was Sung Yohan.

He was currently a wanted man, sought by both the government and the Association. So everyone was surprised to see him. I also hadn’t seen him for the past year.

Unlike Seowon, who was struggling to deal with the boss monster, he immediately separated the boss monster’s neck with his ability. Purple slime dripped from the severed neck onto the ground. The boss monster’s body, which had been straddling the gate, finally fell to the ground and turned to ash.

As soon as Sung Yohan arrived, the A-Class gate situation was concluded anticlimactically and easily. An order was given to the Espers near the gate to return to the shelter, but they were wary of him. However, they couldn’t easily approach him. They all stepped back at his slightest movement.

Looking down at the Espers with his head held high, he disappeared in an instant.

The only Esper in Korea who could face him right now was probably Taewoon. And unluckily, Taewoon was currently in a flight shelter.

As soon as he disappeared, all the Espers returned to the shelter. I withdrew my radiant guiding only after confirming that all the Espers had returned. As I was adjusting my clothes to return to the shelter for the last time, he appeared right in front of me. I was so startled that I almost screamed.

“Shinui, have you been well?”

“…Why are you here?”

“I came because I missed you. Are you getting along well with Taewoon?”

“We’re doing well. So well that I don’t even think about you.”

I intentionally spoke with a wary expression. But even at my words, he still had a nonchalant expression.

“Seeing you doing so well, I want to break it.”

“Don’t touch me anymore and go on your way.”

I was finally finding ordinary happiness with Taewoon, but seeing him suddenly appear in front of me, as if to shatter our happiness, a wave of anxiety washed over me.

“Why do you look like you’re about to cry, it breaks my heart. Don’t worry, I won’t touch you. I really just came because I missed you today. I’ll come again.”

I was about to tell him not to come, but he disappeared before I could say anything. Did he really just come because he missed me?

I was relieved that he disappeared without causing any strange trouble, but I was also worried about when he might appear again. I thought of Taewoon. I felt his absence keenly. I wanted to see him quickly and embrace his warmth.