* * *
“That would definitely be better. Most of the fighting against the monsters will take place on the frontlines anyway.”
“Exactly. And we also have Esper Yoon Siwoo here.”
Juwon and Taehyuk, quick to understand, nodded in agreement with Raon’s suggestion and added their own comments.
Thanks to their words, the other team members also seemed to accept Raon’s selections.
‘Of course, the upcoming gates won’t be easy…’
Raon thought about the gates that would appear in the future.
After this irregular gate, there would be numerous high-difficulty gates popping up, even surpassing the red gates.
The one relief was that most of these gates were ones Raon had already entered before his regression.
In the original timeline, the sudden appearance of the irregular gate had led to the deaths of many ability users, but this time, things were different.
Although the system had forced him to play the role of the villain Han Raon and act foolishly inside the gates, it still allowed him to grasp the characteristics of each gate in advance — which was valuable knowledge.
“Um… excuse me…”
“Yes, go ahead, Guide Park Dasom.”
At that moment, Dasom, who had been quietly sitting, hesitantly raised her hand.
With a visibly nervous expression, she asked Raon,
“May I ask… why I was chosen for the team?”
Dasom’s eyes darted around uneasily.
While Minjae at least had the role of communicating with the frontline team, no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t find any reason she was necessary on the special team.
Feeling even more discouraged than usual, Dasom’s face darkened with anxiety.
‘At this rate, she might lose her motivation before I can help her awaken.’
Raon had thought that simply bringing Dasom along despite the others’ objections would be enough.
But seeing how anxious and dispirited she was took him by surprise.
‘What should I say?’
There were plenty of easy words he could use to encourage her.
But empty reassurance wouldn’t work for Dasom, who was completely intimidated by the strong A-ranks surrounding her.
As Raon hesitated, unsure of how to respond, someone else finally spoke up — Hamin, who had been silent all throughout the meeting.
“Raon must have had a reason for choosing Dasom.”
Hamin spoke firmly, his voice filled with unwavering trust toward Raon.
“A reason?”
“Yes. Raon continued to trust me and chose me for the special team, even after I failed my mission at the irregular gate.”
“Ah…”
Though she hadn’t entered the gate with them, Dasom had seen the reports shared by the Center.
She knew how Hamin had gotten injured.
Because of that incident, the higher-ups had been hesitant about letting Hamin join the guide team again, but Raon had pushed for it anyway.
“Raon must’ve picked both me and Dasom because he believes we’re needed. I trust him.”
“I-I see.”
Hamin, who had once sobbed and panicked even more than Dasom back in the hospital, now looked much brighter.
Raon, unexpectedly helped by Hamin, smiled at him.
“Hamin’s right. Guide Park Dasom, you’ve consistently maintained excellent scores since your time as a trainee at the Center. That’s why I believe you’ll do well on the special team too.”
“T-That’s…!”
Ever since she joined the Center, no one had paid much attention to B-ranked Dasom.
Still, she had always quietly done her best, even without being told.
“Thank you! I’ll work hard!”
Quickly regaining her spirit, Dasom shot up from her seat and shouted energetically.
She was faster at recovering her resolve than expected.
“Alright, that wraps up the introductions. Now I’ll briefly explain our training schedule and the team’s roles.”
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Raon cleared his throat and continued.
He was relieved to see Minjae and Dasom looking much better than before.
“Our special team will primarily be deployed to irregular gates and those that don’t follow existing classifications. We’ll also undergo intensive training to prepare for this.”
When the gates first appeared, the world was thrown into chaos.
But after that period, it became rare for guides to enter the gates themselves.
However, the special team that Raon was creating would have to directly enter countless gates.
Thus, rigorous training was necessary.
‘Even if the system returns and I’m removed from the picture, I need to make sure the team can function on its own.’
Raon’s goal was to help Dasom and Hamin awaken as soon as possible, so that even if his spot became vacant when the system returned, the special team could still operate independently.
For that, not only him but all the guides would have to go through harsh training — even more thoroughly than in the original story.
‘I wonder if everyone will be able to keep up.’
As Raon continued his brief explanation, he glanced around at the others.
The espers might handle it fine, but the guides — who had lived rather privileged lives until now — were in for a rough road ahead.
Still, this was all for survival.
At the very least, since these were the people he personally selected, they wouldn’t start whining that it was too hard.
“Well, since it’s the first day, let’s call it a night. You all probably had your regular duties with your original teams earlier too.”
With the formation of Raon’s special team, changes had also occurred for the other teams.
Unlike the special team handling the rear, the teams handling the frontlines were reorganized into Alpha Teams 1 through 3 under Dojin’s leadership.
Starting tomorrow, the special team would begin their separate training.
“Get plenty of rest tonight, and let’s give it our all starting tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir!”
The team members responded brightly, unaware of the hellish training awaiting them.
Raon maintained his cheerful smile as he saw them off.
“Phew, shall we head back too?”
“Yes.”
After sending off the team members, Raon turned to Siwoo.
Siwoo calmly nodded.
‘Hmm.’
Come to think of it, the guiding session had been interrupted by the meeting.
The regular guiding rooms would be closing soon.
Raon hesitated for a moment.
The guiding session needed to be completed, but there wasn’t really a place to continue.
They needed to do enough guiding before the next gate appeared.
‘Should I take him to my room?’
Guide accommodations strictly barred espers from entering — a measure to prevent the exploitation of guides and protect their rights.
The one exception was for paired espers.
A guide could allow their pair to freely enter their room.
‘We’re paired, so why not?’
With that thought, Raon casually made the suggestion.
“Wanna come over for some ramen?”
“…Ramen?”
Siwoo’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden offer.
Raon laughed out loud.
“Haha, no — I mean, let’s finish the guiding session at my place.”
“Ah.”
“Or do you want to do it at your place?”
Since going back and forth could be troublesome, Raon asked.
But Siwoo didn’t respond right away.
When Raon glanced at him, he saw a faint blush on Siwoo’s cheeks.
“Is it okay… if I come to your place, hyung?”
“Huh?”
After a brief pause, Siwoo cautiously asked.
Come to think of it, he had never once brought Siwoo to his dorm.
Well, except for Taegun barging in uninvited and causing a scene, no one had ever been there.
Realizing this belatedly made Raon feel a bit embarrassed, but he replied in a nonchalant tone.
“Of course. Why not?”
“Ah.”
“We’re paired, after all.”
Then he took Siwoo’s hand.
He hadn’t even intentionally released any guiding energy, but Siwoo reacted immediately, flinching slightly.
“Hmm? You’re coming, right?”
“Yes.”
At Raon’s question, Siwoo gave a small nod.
Raon briefly thought, ‘Did I even tidy up before leaving?’
But as soon as he opened the door and entered the dorm, Siwoo’s bold kiss drove such pointless thoughts out of his mind.
“Ha… Siwoo, mmph—”
Raon tried to focus on guiding energy as he resumed the interrupted mucosal guiding.
This was work.
It wasn’t about fulfilling his own desires, but stabilizing an Esper.
Even though their bodies were intertwined, he couldn’t allow himself to indulge in excessive pleasure.
He repeated this to himself, but when Siwoo’s hot tongue invaded his mouth, the heat in his body flared up again.
“Hngh.”
“Ha… hyung.”
Kissing so fiercely without even taking off their shoes at the entrance was new for Raon.
Thinking about it, he’d never had such a passionate kiss before.
As past partners briefly crossed his mind, Siwoo bit his lip, making Raon frown.
“Ah!”
“You were thinking about something else, weren’t you?”
“N-No, when did I—”
Caught immediately, Raon feigned ignorance in embarrassment.
Siwoo couldn’t possibly know exactly what he had been thinking, so Raon decided to play dumb.
“Hmm, let’s just keep guiding.”
“What were you thinking about?”
“I wasn’t thinking about anything.”
Siwoo persisted, but Raon firmly shook his head.
Still, a strange tension crept up his body, making him stiff.
“Were you thinking of someone else?”
“Wha—”
Siwoo’s sharp question left Raon momentarily speechless.
* * *
