Chapter 81: The Line You Should Never Have Crossed

“…You look a lot more fine than I expected.”

The sight in front of me was so absurd that I couldn’t even form a proper reply.

How was I supposed to know that someone who looked like he was about to die would be this relaxed, casually stuffing an apple into his mouth.

“What a hurtful thing to say.

How can you tell just by looking at me.

My mana’s twisted, so it’s uncomfortable on the inside.”

Irihyeon shamelessly lied as he tapped his chest lightly.

He tossed the half-eaten apple into the trash can and stretched, looking more like someone bored of resting than an injured patient.

“Then why did you come all the way here.

It can’t be because you were worried about me…

Ah, were you worried about yourself.

Puhaha.”

“Worried about me.

As if.

It’s not even that big of a deal.”

I couldn’t honestly say I wasn’t surprised.

I never fully believed the story about my guiding going wrong and twisting his mana, but I also never imagined he’d be this perfectly fine.

Seeing how he didn’t even bother acting in front of me, I figured now was the time to clear up my doubts.

“I’m genuinely curious.

Were you pretending to be sick inside the gate too, on purpose.”

“Well, who knooows.”

He dragged out the word while slowly curling his lips upward.

Just looking at his expression, I already had my answer.

The more my face hardened, the higher his smile climbed.

“All that… just to pin one false charge on me.”

I started seeing Irihyeon differently.

Up until now, I had thought of him as nothing more than a slightly annoying, immature kid.

But that wasn’t the truth.

It must be that I’m still bad at judging people.

I had completely missed his ugly, real nature all this time.

I stepped closer to the bed where he was sitting.

Even then, his expression didn’t change.

It was the confidence of someone who believed that no matter what, a mere guide like me couldn’t do anything to him.

If anything, he almost seemed to be expecting me to start something.

“Fine.

I’ll give you that much and say I understand.

You can’t help disliking someone.

But at the very least, you shouldn’t have dragged the team into it.

Do you even know that because of your childish prank, the team leader almost lost his arm.”

“…That was an accident.

I didn’t think it would go that far.”

The moment Jaeyul was mentioned, Irihyeon’s face stiffened.

Was there at least a shred of conscience left in him, or did he only feel guilty toward Jaeyul.

Either way, it didn’t matter.

The fact was that Jaeyul got hurt because of Irihyeon’s actions.

I stopped right in front of him and looked down.

“You didn’t think it would go that far, meaning you intended some of it.

…Even knowing Jaeyul could get hurt.”

“…Ha.

Jaeyul.

What is this, an interrogation.

I don’t have to explain everything to you, do I.

You should worry about clearing your own name instead of sticking your nose into ‘our’ business.

If you want to prove your innocence, you’re going to have a hard time.”

Right.

Irihyeon wasn’t a special case.

Most humans are… like this.

Disgusting.

I had forgotten that after living too comfortably for a while.

This was exactly how my hatred for humans began in the first place.

“The excuse about my guiding being wrong.”

“Yeah.

That shitty guiding of yours.

Honestly, I’ve got plenty of guides with high matching rates even without you.

It’d be great if a guide spot opened up in the team anyway.

There’s someone who wants in.

They might even have a high matching rate with Jaeyul.”

Irihyeon finally revealed his motive.

In the end, it was all a scheme to drive me out.

On top of bringing in the guide he wanted, he probably wanted to separate me from Jaeyul.

Since he didn’t know our actual matching rate, he could spew nonsense like that.

There was no need to kindly explain that no one would ever surpass it.

“Shitty guiding, huh.”

I placed one hand on Irihyeon’s shoulder.

“…W-What are you doing… Ngh.”

“Shh.

Close your mouth.

I’ll show you what truly wrong guiding looks like.”

I poured mana filled with raw negativity into him.

First, I twisted the mana flowing through his body and multiplied his pain perception several times over.

I amplified his hearing as well, so my voice would sound like it was about to burst his brain.

“Listen carefully.

You shouldn’t have crossed the final line.

Who do you think you are, putting someone in danger.

You don’t get to hurt Jaeyul just because of your petty desires.”

Irihyeon couldn’t even breathe with his mouth open.

With his mana violently twisted in every direction, he couldn’t move a single finger.

His face flushed red, his eyes rolling back as if he was about to pass out.

If this went on just a little longer, he’d be hospitalized for quite some time.

As a real mana-twisted esper.

Or he might lose his mind entirely.

But I withdrew my power at the right moment and guided him instead.

I never intended to actually kill him.

No matter how angry I was, I wasn’t stupid enough to do that in a place like this.

Perhaps because of what I had twisted earlier, just a brief guiding session was enough for his mana to settle back into place.

“Cough—!

Kgh.”

Only then did a pained groan escape his lips.

I bent down toward Irihyeon as he gasped for breath.

Looking straight into his tear-filled, bloodshot eyes, I gave him one last warning.

“That’s enough with the games.

If you hurt Jaeyul one more time, it won’t end like this.”