* * *
“What seems to be the problem, Esper Jung Hyunseung?”
Raon asked, scanning him up and down.
Hyunseung pointed a finger at Raon, his face flushed with rage.
“Are you kidding me? Can’t you see Juwon hyung is about to pass out?”
“Sigh…”
Raon let out a sigh at Hyunseung’s sudden outburst.
“This is part of training. Is there a problem?”
“You call this training? You’re just tormenting them. Does it feel good to boss around the guides just because you’re S-rank?”
“Ha.”
At Hyunseung’s words, Raon let out a dry laugh.
Sure, he had played a big role in the irregular gate, but many still looked down on him because of his past, including Hyunseung.
They hadn’t exactly gotten along before either.
Still, interfering during training crossed a line.
“Hyunseung, stop… I-I’m fine.”
“What do you mean fine? Why should you be treated like this, hyung?”
Despite Juwon’s weak protest, Hyunseung only grew more agitated.
“As I said, this is training. All the other guides agreed to this beforehand.”
“Don’t give me that. When would guides ever need to run inside gates?”
There was no reasoning with him.
As a member of Team 2, Hyunseung hadn’t entered the irregular gate before, which likely made him more stubborn.
Still, the irregular gate report had been shared with everyone.
An S-rank esper like him should know this.
Raon furrowed his brow and stared at Hyunseung.
“Didn’t you receive the irregular gate report?”
“I did, but it’s not like those gates appear often…”
“Are you sure about that?”
“What?”
“The irregular gate turned grey last time. Can you really say with certainty that such gates are rare?”
“That’s…”
At Raon’s question, Hyunseung couldn’t answer.
Even the experts unanimously warned that caution was necessary for upcoming gates.
No matter how strong he was as an S-rank Esper, he couldn’t make bold statements lightly.
“Stop being stubborn like a child and step aside. You’re interfering with the training.”
“What?”
“If you keep this up, I’ll call security.”
“Ha, you little…!”
Hyunseung strode toward Raon, raising his hand.
But Raon didn’t flinch. Instead, he stared straight at Hyunseung’s raised hand, as if daring him.
“Enough.”
A low voice cut between the two.
Hyunseung’s arm, which seemed about to strike at any moment, froze in midair.
“Ah, T-Team Leader…!”
“…!”
Thinking it might be Dojin, Raon turned his head, but it wasn’t him.
His eyes widened.
A man even taller and more heavily built than Dojin was glaring at Hyunseung with sharp eyes.
The long scar across his cheek left a striking impression.
Realizing immediately who it was, Raon quickly lowered his head toward him.
“Team Leader Beom Inho.”
“Hm.”
With a closely cropped military-style haircut, Inho looked older than his actual age.
His gaze lingered on Raon briefly.
“My guy was in the wrong, but you should stop as well.”
“Huh?”
Raon blinked at Inho’s words.
He thought Inho was referring to the quarrel that just happened, but somehow their gazes didn’t quite align.
“Siwoo, you…”
“…”
Siwoo was suddenly standing behind them.
He slowly lowered the hand he had extended toward Hyunseung.
It could have easily escalated into a fight between S-rank Espers.
A chill ran down Raon’s spine at the thought.
“No matter how important a Guide is, losing control of your emotions is never acceptable.”
Inho clicked his tongue at Siwoo as he spoke. Raon, who had been briefly startled, frowned.
“Losing control? Esper Jung Hyunseung was clearly at fault just now.”
“I won’t deny that. But trying to kill a fellow Esper by using your ability is going too far, isn’t it?”
“Siwoo didn’t even do anyth—!”
Raon tried to argue indignantly, but Hyunseung suddenly doubled over.
“Ugh.”
“…!”
He collapsed, groaning in pain.
Yet Siwoo hadn’t even done anything.
Or had he?
‘No way…?’
Siwoo’s ability was water manipulation.
He could freeze or boil water at will.
Back when they dealt with the monster guarding the Irregular Gate’s core, he had frozen moisture from the air to attack.
Conversely, heating the moisture in the air would cause it to evaporate, so he rarely used that approach.
Freezing seemed more suited to his affinity.
But Siwoo had recently undergone an insertion-guiding session and his levels had increased dramatically.
Sometimes, an Esper whose power rose could use abilities they previously couldn’t.
‘Was he trying to burst the water inside Jung Hyunseung’s body?’
The thought made Raon’s blood run cold.
To be able to instantly kill a fellow S-rank Esper like that—it was practically cheating.
While Raon was lost in thought, Inho spoke again.
“Looks like we need to take him to the infirmary.”
“Ah.”
“I won’t pursue the matter further, so let’s let this go.”
Lifting Hyunseung up with one hand and slinging him over his shoulder, Inho spoke calmly.
Raon glanced briefly at his massive frame and nodded.
“But since Esper Jung Hyunseung started this, please make sure nothing like this happens again.”
“I’ll do my best.”
With a short reply, Inho turned around—and disappeared in an instant.
‘Beom Inho’s ability was physical enhancement, if I remember right.’
His ability was fairly standard, but combined with his naturally gifted physique and S-rank status, it created unbelievable synergy.
As the leader of Alpha Team 2, he was Dojin’s only rival in the original novel.
While Dojin took down monsters from afar with telekinesis, Inho fought them head-on like a martial artist.
The two had a bad relationship from the start and remained at odds until the end.
‘Actually, Beom Inho was injured before the Black Gate appeared and retired early.’
With only five S-rank Espers in the country, losing one created huge chaos.
The remaining members barely managed to suppress the Black Gate—almost like a miracle.
‘Wait… did they really suppress it?’
In truth, Raon hadn’t finished reading the novel before getting possessed.
And since he died fulfilling the villain’s role before his regression, he never learned how it ended after being reincarnated.
‘Well, I’m sure they managed.’
Otherwise, the novel wouldn’t have ended.
Though he hadn’t checked all the reviews carefully, the general reception was good and ratings were high.
It had to be a happy ending.
Thinking casually, Raon turned his head—only to find Siwoo’s face right in front of him.
“Ah!”
“Hyung, are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah, I’m fine. Of course I’m fine.”
Since Hyunseung was stopped before swinging his arm, Raon wasn’t hurt.
Still, Siwoo scanned Raon’s entire body anxiously.
“Sorry I was late.”
“Late? You got here really fast.”
The bungee jumping platform where Yeojoon was training was quite far away.
Noticing something was off from that distance and rushing over—teleportation wouldn’t even seem strange.
Now that the training had been interrupted, Yeojoon’s screams were no longer heard.
Raon patted Siwoo’s arm.
“Let’s resume training for now.”
“Yes.”
Nodding, Siwoo slowly moved away.
Once he saw Siwoo return to the bungee platform, Raon turned to the Guides.
“Alright, you’ve rested enough. Shall we continue?”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
The team members, who had secretly been enjoying the break, answered with pale faces.
Raon led them and began running once more.
The next day, summoned to the director’s office by Seokhyeon, Raon found himself dumbfounded at what he heard.
“Abuse?”
“Yes. There’s been a complaint about your training methods.”
“The training from yesterday?”
“Exactly.”
Raon chuckled in disbelief.
He had a good idea who had filed the complaint.
“All we did was run yesterday.”
“And you had Esper Yeojoon jump from the bungee platform dozens of times.”
“Well… he agreed to it.”
“Sigh.”
At Raon’s reply, Seokhyeon sighed, removing his glasses and pressing the deep furrow between his brows.
“As you know, Guide training so far has only involved light exercise and simulations. You know that better than anyone.”
“Well, true.”
Before his regression, he had skipped training more than anyone, so it was natural that his current demands for rigorous training seemed excessive to others.
“But the situation’s different now. Guides have to enter gates themselves. No one knows what might happen inside.”
“But if the Espers guarding them can’t protect them, such training wouldn’t help anyway, would it?”
“So you’re saying they should just die helplessly?”
“That’s not what I mean—”
“Then what? Do you think dressing Guides up like pretty dolls as we’ve done so far will solve anything?”
Without realizing, Raon spoke sharply.
* * *
