Hundreds of years ago, a gate appeared in the middle of the city. Ferocious organisms that were neither animals nor humans emerged from the gate. They were called ‘creatures’.
These creatures, possessing unprecedented supernatural abilities, were enough to plunge humanity into a state of panic. Humanity nearly faced extinction, but a few people began to awaken.
They were called ‘Espers’.
They remained rational humans while acquiring abilities comparable to those of the creatures. However, abilities beyond their limits soon deteriorated their minds and ate away at their life force.
Another type of awakened individual appeared to restore this life force, and they were called ‘guides’.
As the number of awakened individuals gradually increased, the government began to manage them and established centers in each region to protect citizens from the creatures.
The centers began to grade the awakened individuals based on their unique characteristics and the intensity of their powers.
Yu-geon awakened relatively late at the age of twenty-three as an S-class Esper during his first awakening.
In a world where rank equals power, he believed without a doubt that a brilliant future awaited him if he simply walked the path laid out before him.
“Why me?”
“……”
“Why do I have to be your pair?”
That was until he met S-class guide ‘Gu sa-weol’.
“Why are you asking such an obvious question…?”
“What’s so obvious about it?”
Her jet-black hair and cold, ashen eyes. Her frigid tone was even more chilling. It was just a simple suggestion to pair up, but Gu sa-weol reacted as if she had been severely insulted.
Her long eyelashes blinked slowly, as if challenging him to say more. Her hair falling perfectly over her shoulders seemed as sharp as she was.
Yu-geon was momentarily at a loss for words, looking up at the sky, then down at the ground, and back at the sky, letting out a sigh.
“Whew… You know that our matching rate is 89%, right?”
“Is there a law that says we must pair up just because the matching rate is high?”
Yu-geon had no response to that. As he faltered as if experiencing an error, Gu sa-weol asked again, “Is that so?” Her unwavering gaze made his mind go blank.
Why did he feel like an idiot every time he stood in front of her?
“Let’s pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Seeing Yu-geon blinking in a daze, Gu sa-weol turned around without hesitation.
He couldn’t let her go like this again. He had somehow gotten a chance to talk.
Yu-geon hurriedly grabbed Gu sa-weol’s wrist.
“Wait a minute! I’m not finished talking!”
Whack.
Sa-weol roughly brushed off Yu-geon’s touch. It was a rather irritated reaction, unlike her usual demeanor. Yu-geon’s hand hung awkwardly in the air.
“Don’t touch me.”
That look again. A gaze filled with disdain as if she were looking at a disgusting, filthy insect. Sa-weol was even panting with irritation, then composed her expression as if tired of everything and turned away.
“Why do you hate me so much? At least give me a reason!”
Yu-geon shouted at her back, feeling wronged. He expected her to ignore him as usual, but Sa-weol’s steps came to an abrupt halt. She quickly turned around and spoke.
“Are you asking because you really don’t know?”
“Of course! You never say…!”
“You smell.”
“What…?”
In response to his question, Sa-weol pinched her nose as if to prove her point, her face scrunching up in disgust.
“You smell bad.”
Yu-geon wasn’t mishearing her. The reason for her hatred was so absurd that he couldn’t believe it.
In all his life, both as an ordinary person and an Esper, Yu-geon had never experienced a more humiliating moment. Sa-weol drove the final nail in his coffin with her next words.
“So don’t come near me from now on.”
She imposed a restraining order. As Sa-weol walked past him, a subtle fragrance, reminiscent of a rainy day, brushed past Yu-geon’s nose.
* * *
“Yu-geon. Aren’t you going to get a proper guiding?”
“I am getting it.”
Yu-geon waved the guiding crystal he was holding at Ji-han, as if to say it was obvious.
“Is that guiding? That’s just a backup battery. Aren’t you going to get a quick charge?”
“No, thanks. This is enough.”
“Got rejected again, huh?”
Yu-geon glared at Ji-han, who burst into a hearty laugh.
“See, that’s why rookies shouldn’t aim too high. How dare you try for our A-branch queen.”
“Queen? She’s a lunatic.”
“Why? What happened this time?”
Ji-han prodded Yu-geon’s side, inviting him to spill the details.
Yu-geon had been rejected by Sa-weol’s pairing request dozens of times. He thought he had grown immune to the shock after the initial times, but apparently, he hadn’t. Yu-geon spoke in a dejected voice.
“She said I smell.”
“What?”
“She said the reason she hates me is because I smell. She told me not to come near her again.”
“Pfft. You should’ve been more careful with your hygiene.”
“Ah, come on, even you, hyung. Do I really smell?”
Yu-geon asked Ji-han, feeling wronged. Ji-han, his teammate, was laughing so hard he was rolling on the floor.
“Wow, this is hilarious. Oh, Sa-weol…”
To a third party, this situation might have seemed simply amusing.
Yu-geon felt the suppressed heat rising again. Strictly speaking, he was quite meticulous about cleanliness.
He showered more than three times a day, so much so that even among Espers, he was often considered to have a cleanliness obsession.
It was because his heightened senses due to his high rank made him more sensitive to smells. Not only could he smell body odor, but the fishy scent unique to creatures from the gate was unbearable when he returned from there.
So, this made no sense. Sa-weol must have said anything to push Yu-geon away.
“Where is there an Esper as clean as you? Sa-weol must be running out of excuses. Or maybe she doesn’t even care to make up a proper excuse.”
“What should I do?”
Yu-geon felt even more despondent at Ji-han’s words, thinking it was truly the end.
When he was first diagnosed as an S-class Esper at the center, he never imagined he’d end up like this. He thought guides would line up to pair with him because of his high rank.
Here, a pair referred to a relationship where an Esper and a guide were bonded as partners. They gained priority with each other and usually paired with someone having a matching rate of over 50%.
A strong bond not only increased the guiding efficiency, but it also provided a stable system for guiding.
Yu-geon and Sa-weol had a matching rate of 89%. If they bonded and paired, it would undoubtedly be a record high matching rate.
But why did the guide with the highest reputation in the A-branch have the highest matching rate with him?
“What do you mean? Just give up.”
“I’m serious. If this keeps up, I might go berserk.”
Sa-weol had never paired with anyone, not just Yu-geon. Many Espers had faced frustration against her firm ice wall, which justified her nickname, ‘Ice Wall’.
“So, even if the matching rate is a bit lower, try a third-level guiding with another guide.”
Guiding was divided into three levels: Level 1 was simple physical contact, like holding hands or hugging. Level 2 involved more intimate contact, such as caresses and kissing. Level 3 was intercourse.
The worst part was that Yu-geon’s matching rate with other guides didn’t even reach 30%.
With such a low matching rate, holding hands or hugging wouldn’t yield significant guiding effects.
This meant that, as Ji-han suggested, only a third-level guiding would provide any effect….
“No. How could I sleep with someone I just met?”
He’d rather suffer a bit than engage in such intimate contact with a stranger.
“You’re far from being a true Esper.”
Ji-han clicked his tongue, as if Yu-geon’s concerns were absurd.
“Don’t think of it like that. Guiding is essential for Espers to survive.”
“No, thanks. There’s still a chance.”
“Chance? Oh, Sa-weol. Hi.”
While they were talking, Sa-weol walked into the office. Ji-han waved cheerfully at her. Sa-weol nodded at Ji-han, but when she saw Yu-geon, she covered her nose and walked back out.
“Pfft. Did she really just cover her nose and leave?”
“Wow. This is driving me crazy. What’s her problem?”
“Hahaha. You two are just too funny.”
Yu-geon’s head pounded. Without proper guiding, the accumulated fatigue made even minor stimuli overwhelming. He raised the guiding crystal in his hand as if he might throw it.
“Whew….”
Of course, he didn’t throw it. It was a precious guiding crystal charged by Gu sa-weol, his 89% matching guide who detested him.
The guiding effect was less than half of what contact guiding would provide, but without it, Yu-geon would suffer from insomnia and tinnitus.
Yu-geon lowered his hands dejectedly. Holding the crystal in both hands, he looked almost reverent, as if praying.
“This is too funny. I’m going to die laughing.”
Ji-han was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes. Yu-geon’s inability to express his anger properly was pitiful.
‘Gu sa-weol. Fine. Let’s see how far this goes. Do you think I’ll give up so easily?’
Yu-geon ground his teeth inwardly, burning with determination. He vowed once more to pair with Sa-weol, no matter what it took.
* * *
“You got rejected again, didn’t you?”
“Ah… Hyung, where did you hear that?”
Yu-geon had come to the training center to cool his head. Han-gyeol, who was drinking water, waved at Yu-geon as soon as he saw him. The first thing Yu-geon heard upon entering was this.
“From Ji-han.”
He shouldn’t have told Ji-han about what happened with Sa-weol… It was practically handing a story to the guy known as the megaphone of A-branch.
Han-gyeol handed his water bottle to Yu-geon. Feeling irritated, Yu-geon drank the water to the last drop and crushed the bottle.
“Don’t bother Sa-weol too much.”
“No, she does guiding with other Espers. Why won’t she do it with me?”
“She only holds hands with us.”
“I can’t even hold her hand. She doesn’t even want to breathe the same air as me now. If we pair up, it would be easier for her because she’d only have to care for me, so what’s her problem?”
“That’s just your perspective. You have to consider it from Sa-weol’s point of view.”
“Whose side are you on, anyway?”
Han-gyeol tousled Yu-geon’s hair, pressing down as if telling him to calm his temper. In moments like this, Yu-geon felt like a child.
Yu-geon looked at Han-gyeol, who was much more mature, and mumbled softly.
“If you asked her to pair, would Gu sa-weol have done it…?”
Han-gyeol’s eyebrows arched in a peculiar way before he let out a small chuckle. It seemed he was treating Yu-geon’s words as a joke.
“That’s not the point. Even if I’m an S-class, being a new recruit might not be enough to catch Gu sa-weol’s eye.”
Baek Han-gyeol. He was Yu-geon’s older brother, an S-class Esper, and the captain of A-branch’s Alpha team.
Unlike Yu-geon, who had awakened at twenty-three and was still in the adjustment phase, Han-gyeol had been working at the center since he was fifteen, often being called a genius.
“That’s not it.”
“Don’t you want to pair with Gu sa-weol?”
Han-gyeol stared at Yu-geon without answering. As far as Yu-geon knew, his brother had known Sa-weol for quite some time.
