Chapter 37: The Rampage

A loud vibration that started in the early morning woke me up.
I frowned and fumbled for my phone.
I had dozens of missed calls and messages from Jinseok and the Center.
I knew immediately that something had happened.

Just then, a call came from Jinseok, and I answered it right away.
As soon as I answered, I heard his urgent voice, which was different from usual.

• [Guide-nim! You finally answered.]

“What’s wrong?”

• [We just got a call that Esper Hyun Taewoon has gone on a rampage.]

“A rampage?”

The unexpected word ‘rampage’ woke me up completely, and I sat up in bed.

• [Yes. It’s a more dangerous situation than we thought.]

Hyun Taewoon on a rampage.
I had never seen him on a rampage in the three years I had lived with him.

“Why? Didn’t the sleep chip work?”

• [His guiding level is 28%, but he went on a rampage. I’m in front of your house right now. I’m sorry, but could we ask for your help?]

“Why me?”

His rampage had nothing to do with me.
But I remembered the conversation I had with him yesterday.
I had told him to go on a rampage and die, but I hadn’t expected him to actually go on a rampage after hearing my words.

• [If he drops below 20%, we don’t know what will happen.]

“Have you tried to anesthetize him?”

• [We can’t. They say it’s difficult because the area is engulfed in flames.]

My brow furrowed at his words.
I had told him to die yesterday, but it wasn’t like he was protesting against me.
A fierce anger welled up inside me towards him for creating this situation.

But the words that he might die kept ringing in my head, and I was shaken.
Anger at myself for being like this welled up, and I hardened my heart.

“You know that this is a breach of contract, right?”

• [The Association will also provide sufficient compensation.]

“I understand. I’ll be down now.”

I quickly took off my pajamas and went outside, wearing only my uniform shirt and pants.
In front of the door, Jinseok was sweating profusely and gasping for breath.
I felt like his body heat was being transmitted to me.

“Guide-nim, I was waiting for you.”

“Let’s go quickly.”

He and I quickly got on the elevator and went down to the lobby.

“Where did he go on a rampage?”

“In the training wing.”

“Doesn’t the Center manage the Esper’s guiding level in real time?”

“They said they did. But they said they couldn’t easily go inside because he was in the middle of a gate simulation.”

A dry laugh escaped me repeatedly.
I was seriously curious about the Center’s management.
Shouldn’t they be providing intensive care for one of the few S-Class Espers?

Well, remembering how they had brought me here by force, the human rights of Espers and guides were probably not a consideration.

“You’re saying he was doing a gate simulation at dawn?”

“He has severe insomnia, so he sometimes trains at dawn.”

Come to think of it, before the regression, there were times when he would go out at dawn and come back with his guiding level drastically reduced.
Only now did it occur to me that he might have been training.

A Center vehicle was waiting in front of the apartment’s main entrance, so we could go to the Center right away.
By the time we arrived, the entire training wing was engulfed in flames.
The situation was more dangerous than I had thought.

A water-attribute Esper was pouring down water like a torrential downpour, but the flames showed no sign of subsiding.

“The flames are strong, so you have to wear a special fireproof suit.”

At the words of a waiting Center staff member, Jinseok and I changed into fireproof suits.
As we got closer to the training wing, I could feel the firepower of the flames even more.

In front of the training wing, Espers and Center staff were busy moving around to put out the fire.
As soon as they saw me, they hurriedly ran over.

“Guide-nim, you’re here.”

An A-Class guide was already around the training wing, but the guide’s wavelength was cut off before it could even reach his sharp wavelength.

A guide with a high matching rate for him was needed.
I would be able to make contact with his wavelength immediately.
I had to calm his wavelength before there was more damage.

In the end, I decided to guide him and looked for his rampaging wavelength.

“Where is Esper Hyun Taewoon?”

“He’s on the first basement level.”

“Bring me the Guiding Watch that’s linked to him.”

As if he had been on standby, Jinseok handed me the Guiding Watch.
I immediately checked the guiding level.

‘Guiding level is 24%.’

In that short time, the level had dropped even further, and it quickly decreased to 23%.

I was definitely responsible for him becoming like this.
I didn’t want to care whether he died or not, but if he went on a rampage like this, it was clear that he would cause great damage to the surroundings, so I had no choice but to guide him.

“With this, the Association will no longer be able to interfere with my actions.”

“I know.”

I immediately looked for his wavelength and tried to do remote guiding.
Before long, his wavelength was read.
The thought of guiding him made me feel suffocated, but I kept reminding myself that this would be the last guiding and tried not to tremble.

Finally, my wavelength intertwined with his.
The moment my wavelength touched his, his wavelength became unusually calm and fast.
It was as if it had been waiting for my wavelength.

The feeling was very unsettling, but since my goal now was to raise the guiding level to the crisis zone, I concentrated and calmed his wavelength.

I had been warned a lot about how to calm a rampaging Esper in my guiding training classes, so I still remembered it clearly.
At first, I had no choice but to calm the wavelength with remote guiding and wait until it reached the crisis zone.
After that, I had to enter the calm zone with contact guiding.

Unlike with Sung Yohan, the guiding level began to rise quickly.
Come to think of it, even before the regression, my guiding with him had been a good match.
That’s why he had given me a little bit of a place by his side.

As the flames began to subside, the Espers went inside and brought him out.
He was soaked from the rain falling outside.

I approached him to ask him about the unpleasant question I had felt throughout the guiding.
Then, he slightly raised his head and opened his mouth.
His face was haggard with fatigue.

“I knew you would guide me.”

“Did you go on a rampage on purpose? Did you even go on a rampage?”

A normal rampage occurs in an unconscious state, but his mind was currently awake.

“……”

He didn’t answer.
From his silence now, I was convinced that he had gone on a rampage on purpose.

“Hyun Taewoon-ssi, I didn’t guide you because I wanted to.”

A rampage could have caused great damage to the surroundings, and to get out of the Association, I had no choice but to guide him.
He probably knew that too.

I turned my back to him and approached Jinseok and said.

“Let’s go home. I’ll be taking tomorrow off.”

“Yes, Guide-nim.”

Back at home, I washed my body, which was covered in the smell of smoke, and lay down on the bed.
But I couldn’t sleep, so in the end, I had to use a sleep chip to force myself to sleep.

Even after forcing myself to sleep and waking up late, I still felt like my body smelled of smoke.
I quickly took a shower, went into the dressing room, put on a comfortable knit and cotton pants instead of a uniform, and came out.

The Association wouldn’t be able to say anything even if I submitted my resignation because of what happened this morning.
But since they wouldn’t accept my resignation meekly, there was something I had to do first.

It took an hour by taxi to get to the government building.
When I got off at the main gate of the building, the staff recognized me even though I was wearing a mask.

“Guide Lee Shinui, what brings you here?”

“I’m here to report a breach of an Awakened contract.”

At my words, the government employee’s face lit up, and he took me to a reception room.
He told me to wait for a moment, and then he came in with a middle-aged man.

“Hello, Guide Lee Shinui. I am Han Jooyoung, the head of the Awakened Human Rights Protection Department.”

“I’m Lee Shinui. The Association has breached the contract this time, and I want to terminate the contract, so I came to ask for the government’s help.”

He seemed to be trying to look calm, but a smile that he hadn’t quite managed to erase remained on the corner of the department head’s mouth.

It was a fact I had known since before the regression, but after the fight between the Association President and the head of the government, the relationship between the Association and the government was worse than enemies.
To prevent the Awakened from moving to the government, the Association had even banned them from entering the government building.

“If your intentions are firm, Guide-nim, it is certainly possible.”

The department head and the staff consulted me on my situation with all sincerity.
They were in favor of me leaving the Association.

“Then if you bring the contract tomorrow, we can consult you in more detail.”

“I understand.”

“And we would like to provide you with a place to stay. It would be easier for us to help you terminate the contract if you stay there.”

I said okay and then said I would go home to get the contract.
At my words, Han Jooyoung suggested that I go with a government employee.

It seemed like a good idea to go with a government official in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

After saying we would talk again tomorrow with the contract, I came out of the reception room.
It was enough that I had confirmed that the government was in my favor.

When I came outside, a car with the Association logo was parked at the main gate.
As if they had been watching me, the car door opened, and Jinseok got out.

“Guide-nim, why did you come to the government?”

“I will no longer cooperate with the Association.”

Since I had decided to leave the Association with the government’s help, I didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

“Even if it’s just for a moment, please talk to me.”

“What conversation? Nothing will change even if we talk.”

“If you go to the government like this, you might be at a disadvantage. I’m on your side, Guide-nim. Please trust me.”

As long as he belonged to the Association, I couldn’t trust his words that he was on my side.
In the end, I ignored him and took a government employee’s car home.

I was planning to just grab the contract from home and leave immediately, never to be involved with Hyun Taewoon again.