* * *
Raon stared, mouth agape, at the miraculous number in front of him.
55%.
It was the result of one night and half a day of insertion guiding.
Raon checked the figure on his watch and smiled in satisfaction.
When he first guided Siwoo, his numbers were a mess.
His level had dropped below 30%, triggering an emergency alert on the watch that forced Raon to guide him right away.
Even as things started to improve, Siwoo was pushed to overuse his powers because of the irregular gate, and his level, which barely managed to rise above 40%, had dropped back below 30% again.
Since awakening as an S-rank Esper, Siwoo had never experienced a level above 50%.
If they had relied on contact guiding alone to surpass 50%, they would’ve had to hold hands non-stop for a month.
“So this is why insertion guiding exists…”
Raon muttered under his breath, now understanding why upper management had pressured him so much.
“Hm, you went through a lot.”
“Ah.”
When he looked up, he was greeted by Seokhyeon’s stiff face.
Raon had just been called to the Director’s office.
The guiding had ended late at night, so after taking one extra day to rest, it was two days later that he faced Seokhyeon again.
Raon belatedly remembered their rather embarrassing phone call.
Perhaps that’s why Seokhyeon seemed even more uncomfortable than usual today.
“Well, at least the level has gone up significantly.”
Seeing the sudden improvement, Raon honestly felt like doing it every day—but that would probably destroy his body.
He smiled awkwardly, gauging Seokhyeon’s mood.
Since insertion guiding was considered part of one’s private life, it seemed Seokhyeon wasn’t going to force the matter further, which was a relief.
“Still… it’s good that everything went smoothly.”
Given the dangerously intense power of Espers, there were times when insertion guiding could go wrong.
That was why Seokhyeon had contacted him in the first place.
He hadn’t expected it to take so long, and there had been a few hiccups.
After a brief awkward silence, Seokhyeon spoke again.
“I reviewed the team list you submitted.”
“Ah, yes.”
Seokhyeon looked down at the tablet in his hand, apparently reviewing the restructured team lineup Raon had sent him recently.
Seokhyeon frowned.
“Your selections may cause… some confusion.”
“Confusion?”
“Yes.”
Seokhyeon tilted his head, sounding troubled, and tapped his gloved fingers on the table.
After the recent irregular gate incident, a special task force was formed, and a new team restructuring was carried out centering around Dojin and Raon.
As Raon had requested earlier, he was given full authority to select both the guiding team and the Espers assigned to protect them.
“There might also be some talk about the Espers assigned to guard the guiding team.”
“Well, of course.”
Raon replied calmly, as if it didn’t concern him.
Seokhyeon sighed heavily, as though he was the only one struggling with this headache.
“Do you really think this will be approved?”
“You promised, didn’t you?”
“Seriously…”
Seokhyeon ground his teeth, glaring at Raon’s shameless response.
He placed the tablet on the table with a soft thud.
“Let’s talk about Guide Park Dasom first.”
“Hmm.”
Dasom was a guide Raon had personally selected.
In truth, she wasn’t particularly outstanding, and Raon had expected Seokhyeon’s objections.
Guide Park Dasom, like Hamin, was a B-rank guide.
However, unlike Hamin—who boasted an extraordinarily high compatibility rate with the S-rank Esper Dojin—Dasom had no such advantage.
Naturally, Seokhyeon seemed the most displeased about adding her to the team.
“It’s not like we lack A-rank guides at the Center. Why her?”
“Because I believe she’ll be helpful.”
“A B-rank guide with no highly compatible Esper will be helpful?”
“Yes.”
Unlike Seokhyeon, who clearly disapproved, Raon knew that Dasom was essential.
He briefly recalled the events before his regression.
Originally, the irregular gate had been scheduled to open a year later, and humanity, having grown complacent, suffered a devastating loss.
None of the agents who entered with Alpha Team 1 made it back alive.
Even Seokhyeon, the Center Director, died. The other guides who accompanied him were no exception.
With the loss of all key personnel except for Alpha Team 1’s Espers, the Association descended into chaos.
And then strange phenomena began occurring among certain ability users.
The emergence of Multi-Guides and Multi-Espers—those who, after awakening as guides, later reawakened as Espers, or Espers who developed guiding abilities.
Dasom, previously a mediocre B-rank guide who had always been kept away from the front lines, was dispatched into the gates to make up for the dwindling number of guides.
There, she reawakened as an Esper—an S-rank Esper at that.
What’s more, her ability was healing.
S-rank healing Espers were extremely rare, even worldwide. In Korea, most healer Espers weren’t of high enough rank to enter gates and instead worked as military doctors.
But once Dasom reawakened as an S-rank healer Esper, gate operations became far easier.
Unfortunately, it happened too late—after the novel’s protagonists had already endured countless hardships.
‘This time, I need to help her reawaken as soon as possible.’
The biggest goal was to bring Dasom into the gate and trigger her reawakening when the next irregular gate opened.
For that, Raon had to find a way to get her into the guiding team no matter what.
“You gave me the authority to make personnel decisions, didn’t you?”
“Even so…”
“Don’t tell me you’re going back on your word.”
Instead of persuading Seokhyeon, Raon brazenly pressed forward.
He was the only one who knew Dasom’s true importance because of his regression.
Even if he explained now, no one would believe him—they’d think he was insane.
So his only option was to push ahead using the authority Seokhyeon had granted him earlier.
“Won’t you be overworked if there aren’t enough guides?”
“I’m an S-rank guide. I’ll manage.”
“Haa… seriously.”
In the end, Seokhyeon couldn’t argue further.
Shaking his head, he continued.
“Once the team restructuring is finalized, I’ll arrange a meeting for everyone.”
“Thank you.”
Raon stood up cheerfully.
But as he was about to leave the Director’s office, Seokhyeon stopped him.
“There’s something else you need to know.”
“What now?”
Raon asked sharply, bracing himself for more nagging.
But Seokhyeon’s expression was unusually serious, so Raon quietly sat back down.
And what Seokhyeon said next was beyond anything Raon could have imagined.
“Team Leader Seo Dojin has proposed a pair bond with you.”
“…What?”
Raon couldn’t believe his ears.
Had he heard that correctly?
“You refused, of course, right?”
Raon was already paired with Siwoo.
A new pairing request meant breaking his bond with Siwoo to form one with someone else—an extremely disrespectful offer to both existing partners.
“I rejected him immediately, but… it’s Seo Dojin. Who knows what he’ll try next.”
“Haah…”
Raon pressed his throbbing temple with his hand.
He couldn’t help but recall what happened inside the irregular gate not long ago.
[Guide me.]
It was the image of Dojin gripping his own shoulder, trying to forcibly guide the injured Siwoo.
Raon still couldn’t understand the strange obsession Dojin had shown back then.
Before the regression, he had disliked Han Raon and found him annoying.
What wind had changed to make him act like this now?
Was it because Hamin had fainted inside the gate?
‘Selfish bastard.’
Still, to throw away a guide with a 95% matching rate and cling to him instead—did that man have no pride?
Raon clicked his tongue inwardly and glanced at Seokhyun.
“If the guide refuses, there’s not much that can be done, is there?”
“I hope so too, but the higher-ups might see things differently.”
“……”
Damn government. Damn authority.
Cursing inwardly, Raon spoke in a serious tone.
“For now, please block Team Leader Seo Dojin’s request as much as possible on the center’s end.”
“Will do.”
After watching Seokhyun nod, Raon stood up again.
This time, Seokhyun didn’t try to stop him.
Tap.
“Hoo.”
Raon let out a sigh and walked forward.
His head was already cluttered with too many things, and now yet another unexpected problem had appeared.
“Han Raon.”
“……”
At that moment, someone called out to him.
The familiar voice made Raon frown.
When he turned his head, Dojin was staring at him.
* * *
