Episode 12: Guiding—What Is It, and How Do You Do It? (9)

“……”

The moment that effort finally dropped like a bead, Juyul felt as if something hot was welling up from his chest for some unknown reason.

Over the past two years, there had been too many Guides to count who had worked with Juyul. Most of them hurriedly signed exclusive contracts with new Espers after their first Guiding session, and a few even quit being Guides altogether, leaving the profession due to trauma. Because of that, F-class Guides with no significant abilities ended up taking turns guiding Juyul.

‘…Even though I never wanted it.’

From Juyul’s perspective, it was better not to receive Guiding at all and function appropriately, rather than ruin the futures of so many others. But to others, it was as if a golden goose, which should lay golden eggs every day, had decided to lay eggs only once a month.

For that reason, the Association, regardless of Juyul’s wishes, forcibly assigned F-class Guides to him, and this one-sided arrangement had slowly started to strain the relationship between them, leading to the current situation.

‘If nothing unusual had been found during the risk assessment, I wouldn’t even need to receive Guiding. What a… strange coincidence.’

There was the coincidence of the danger level suddenly spiking at a location overrun with strange creatures, and the coincidence that the same Guide ended up being assigned to him for two consecutive days. You could call it fate.

In fact, until Sodam started Guiding him in earnest, Juyul had been considering reducing his activities as an Esper, even by force. But now, it seemed that he still had to continue working as an Esper, at least for the time being.

‘Why is she so determined to Guide me?’

He wondered if she hadn’t heard any of the strange rumors surrounding him and Guiding, but then he remembered Sodam’s face from yesterday, pale and staring at him as if horrified. That doubt vanished entirely.

Not even a full day had passed since she looked at him like he was some sort of alien creature.

Yet here was Maeng Sodam, wholly focused on Guiding him. His tiny seeds of suspicion grew rapidly.

A minute passed as Sodam, for the first time in her life, concentrated on ‘Guiding.’ It wasn’t through the mucous membranes, and the difference in their levels was so vast that only the smallest amount of energy was purified.

But when Juyul, who had been holding her hand, let go first, Sodam’s concentration shattered. Snapped out of her trance, she grumbled softly.

“Oh, I was just getting the hang of it…”

“Guide Maeng Soda.”

“I’m not Maeng Soda; it’s Sodam, I told yo—!”

But before she could finish, Juyul suddenly shoved her, knocking her down. Her complaints were cut off as she froze, Juyul filling her vision.

There was no trace of excitement in his expression, so it wasn’t that he had been impatient for her hesitant Guiding, but rather the cold atmosphere surrounding him, as icy as his powers.

He pinned her down with his knee pressing into her thigh, and with his left hand, he bound both her wrists above her head.

Already weakened, the pain was unbearable for Sodam. Her face twisted in agony as she screamed at the sudden attack.

“Why are you doing this?! It hurts!”

“Guide Maeng ‘Sodam.’ Do you remember the saying, ‘a beast starved for Guiding?'”

“What? No, not at all… Did I say something like that when I was out of it?”

“…”

She genuinely had no memory of it, so that’s how she answered. But the slight change in Juyul’s expression froze into a solid block of ice. Sodam, panicking, bit her lip and started blurting out whatever came to mind.

“That was because I lost my mind while Guiding, so you should cut me some slack! Ah, but still, I’m sorry. Really, I am. So, could you please let me go…?”

“I was unsure just a moment ago, but now I’m certain. Your name wasn’t like that even as recently as yesterday.”

“…!”

The fact that his tone shifted was alarming, but even more shocking was the content of his words. While they had been close before, he had always addressed her formally with “you” or “sir.” But now, it had become informal, ‘you.’ However, it wasn’t just the change in address that struck her—it was what he had said afterward that truly shook her. The Guide card lying on the floor clearly stated “Maeng Sodam,” and everyone she had met since her possession had known her by that name. So naturally, she had assumed this body’s name was the same as hers.

‘In the original story, they only ever referred to the Guide as Maeng-something…!’

Judging by the reactions of others, it seemed that everyone, perhaps the entire world, knew her as Maeng Sodam. The only exception was the man looming over her now, Baek Juyul.

‘This crazy, insane Baek Juyul, this messed-up Nasper universe…!’

Faced with an unexpected situation, Sodam could only dart her eyes around, biting her lip. Above her, she heard a slight snicker.

‘Come to think of it, he’s been teasing me relentlessly since earlier, making all kinds of jokes. Maybe… he’s just messing with me!’

As no further actions or words followed, she began to lean toward a more peaceful and safer explanation. She couldn’t help but feel relieved, letting out a quiet sigh of relief just as Juyul’s hand suddenly gripped her neck.

“Wait, what… what are you…!”

“Do you think I’m some sort of joke just because we had sex once? You kept clinging, so I thought I’d throw you a bone and humor you, saving a life in the process.”

“Kuh, uh!”

“Yesterday, you clearly knew how to Guide properly. Your voice, your tone, everything about you was different. Even the way you walked, the way you moved your hands. I thought I was mistaken about your name changing, but… after correcting you several times, it seems I wasn’t.”

‘Who in their right mind remembers how someone they met once walks?!’

She wanted to scream that out loud, but she knew that voicing her frustration would only make his suspicions worse. Besides, even if she tried to shout, all that would likely come out was a strangled whimper.

‘There’s no way the protagonist of this story would kill someone over such a vague suspicion…’

“Ugh…!”

He would. Very much so. It wasn’t just that it was hard to breathe now—she could barely even take in air anymore. As his hand tightened around her delicate neck, the thought crossed her mind that she might actually die. The pain intensified as if someone had branded her throat with an iron in the shape of Juyul’s hand, and her vision began to blur into whiteness.

Breathing. She couldn’t breathe. Her body instinctively writhed as her primal urge for air took over, yet no matter how much she twisted, no sound escaped her lips. Only as her body was on the verge of collapsing did Juyul finally loosen his grip, and air came rushing in.

She didn’t even have time to process the sudden freedom. Gasping desperately, her chest heaved as her lungs worked overtime to recover. Just as her vision began to clear and colors returned, Juyul’s sharp voice cut through.

“Answer me. What are you? Are you some kind of parasitic creature? If you can manipulate people’s memories to this degree, you must be something on my level.”

“Huh, huh…”

“I said, answer.”

Before Sodam could even catch her breath, Juyul pressed her for answers, his hand tightening again. At that moment, sheer terror caused her lips to move without thinking. She realized that until his hand was completely off her, there would be no room for rational explanations.

“A-amnesia! I have amnesia!”

“…Ha.”

“It’s true! I swear! As for the stuff about you… Oh, right! There was a book at home about Baek Juyul! It was on the desk, so I read it out of curiosity! I found out my name was Maeng Sodam by looking at the Guide card too!”

“…”

“Everyone else calls me Maeng Sodam, but only you insist otherwise. Isn’t it possible that you’re the one imagining things, Baek Juyul?”

Juyul’s lips, which had been twisted in a sneer, stiffened slightly at her words. Even to him, the idea that her name had changed while the world remained oblivious was absurd.

Seeing a small glimmer of hope, Sodam hurriedly continued.

“Oh, and about the debt… I only know about that because I overheard the conversation between the B-class Guide and Baek Juyul yesterday. And, uh, what else…”

‘Did I say anything else that could’ve hinted at the original story?’

Although she could finally breathe, her mind was still racing, leaving no time to calm down. Fear for her life made it impossible to recall any more details, no matter how hard she tried to rack her brain.

She couldn’t believe that after being possessed and simply trying to live out this life, she had already come face-to-face with death.

Tears, which had welled up earlier, now mixed with the streaks of those that had fallen before. Just as she was about to cry again, Juyul, who had been silently watching her, finally spoke.

“And what about the man you were with before?”

“…What?”

“Does amnesia normally work like that, where you forget everything except something like that?”

“Ah, well, that’s… it’s just something I blurted out because of the situation. Honestly, I don’t remember anything at all! Even if you brought that guy right in front of me, I wouldn’t recognize his face! Seriously!”

Although the amnesia claim was a ridiculous lie, this one part was genuinely true.