* * *
“Ah…”
Dasom collapsed on the spot.
Her eyes stared blankly into the void—past where the two of them had vanished into thin air.
“Hyung! Damn it!”
A pained voice rang out in the distance.
She vaguely recognized it as Siwoo’s, who was still engaged in a brutal fight with monsters.
But even as Raon’s partner, he couldn’t do anything in the face of their endless onslaught.
“This… this is all my fault…”
Dasom curled into herself, muttering. It wasn’t true, but countless voices echoed in her ears.
[A B-rank Guide… and at a time like this, of all times…]
When Dasom awakened as a Guide, it had been one of the most unstable times for the country.
The Alpha-1 team of S-rank Espers, centered around Dojin, hadn’t even been formed yet, and the military had been in complete chaos over the Red Gates.
Guides were rare to begin with, and her awakening had caught the military’s attention.
Female Guides in particular were rarely deployed into gates, so they’d hoped her rank would be high enough to help stabilize Espers in the field.
But the result was a B-rank.
Dasom, who had rushed to the Center on his own the moment he awakened as a Guide after losing his entire family to a Gate, felt a crushing disappointment.
Thankfully, ranking wasn’t everything for a Guide.
If he could find an Esper with a high compatibility rate, he could still be of real help.
Dasom clung to that last bit of hope.
[Give it up, Guide Dasom. We’ve gone through every low-ranked Esper we have, but there’s not a single one with a high match rate with you.]
[That can’t be… Please, just check again. One more time. Please?]
Dasom pleaded with the Center employee who spoke to him so bluntly.
But the man remained skeptical—and understandably so.
Under pressure from both the military and the Center director, he’d done everything he could to find a compatible Esper, yet the results were always the same.
[Guide Dasom, for a B-rank Guide’s support to be effective, the compatibility rate has to be at least 40%. But the highest match we’ve found for you is only 33%. At that point, medication would be more effective.]
As painful as the words were, the staff member wasn’t wrong.
Any further effort was just a waste of manpower.
In the end, Dasom had no choice but to add his name to the waitlist and wait—wait for an Esper to awaken who might have a high enough match rate with him.
“Useless Guide.”
That label had followed Dasom ever since.
Though the Alpha Team had managed to stabilize the country by sweeping through Red Gates, Dasom still couldn’t bring himself to smile.
If he was going to be this useless, it would’ve been better to never awaken at all.
Every day, more people died—and the guilt inside Dasom only grew heavier.
[Guide Park Dasom consistently had top scores during his training at the Center. That’s why I believed he’d do well on the Special Team.]
Hearing Raon’s words—his belief in him—brought tears to Dasom’s eyes.
No one had ever believed in him.
Even the staff who visited him regularly grew colder with every visit.
That made him want to succeed even more.
He wanted to live up to Raon’s faith.
He believed the Special Team was his true calling.
But now…
“It’s my fault. I killed them.”
Tears rolled down Dasom’s cheeks, dripping onto the filthy ground.
“Snap out of it, Guide Dasom!”
“…!”
Taehyuk, who had been tirelessly broadcasting his guidance to Yejoon and Siwoo as they fought the onslaught of monsters, shouted at him.
Dasom flinched and lifted his head.
“We need to keep the others alive! Think about the combat team above us!”
“Ah…”
Dasom barely pulled himself together under Taehyuk’s sharp rebuke.
There was no time to wallow in grief.
Gritting his teeth, Dasom forced himself to his feet.
Boom!
“…!”
Explosions echoed from above.
The combat team was nearby.
Stumbling, Dasom climbed upward.
His power couldn’t compare to Raon’s, but someone had to step in where Raon no longer could.
Crash!
“Urgh!”
But the upper levels were hell itself.
The narrow corridors were disadvantageous for the large combat team, and the monsters seemed to know that, targeting them even more relentlessly.
“Damn it, retreat downstairs!”
“But we’ve got wounded—”
“Leave them if you have to!”
The chaotic scene made Dasom tremble.
To the desperate Espers, the Guide they’d finally found was invisible.
Espers who couldn’t block the monsters’ attacks fell from the tower.
Bloodied, screaming, collapsing, unmoving.
Without guidance, they were being wiped out.
“I—I have to guide them…”
Dasom lifted his trembling hands. But nothing came out.
“Useless Guide.”
Was his power truly worthless?
He knew better than anyone that no one could recover through his radiated guiding.
Even the best match he ever had barely reached the low 30s.
For most Espers, his guidance did nothing.
Overwhelmed by despair, Dasom lowered his hands.
It should’ve been him who fell, not Raon and Hamin.
He should’ve been the one to die.
“Hnng… sob…”
Dasom wept in self-loathing.
Even as he cried, the screams of the Espers pierced his ears.
[Raon chose us—me and you—because he needed us. I believe in Raon.]
A warm yet firm voice echoed in his mind.
Dasom raised his head again. His tear-filled vision was blurred.
“I have to do something.”
Biting his lip, he stretched out his hand.
His body trembled—he wasn’t used to radiating guidance like this.
“Energy… guidance…”
Desperately, Dasom begged.
He knew how feeble his power was—but he couldn’t just stand by.
He gathered every last drop of guiding energy within him.
Thump.
“Ah!”
A sharp pain struck his chest, right near the heart.
Dasom groaned at the intensity.
“Wh-what…?”
Somehow, he felt like something would come out this time.
He didn’t know why, but he just felt it.
And he began to radiate energy toward the Espers.
“Huh? My wounds…?”
“Is this guidance?”
“My numbers didn’t change, but…”
As their wounds vanished, the Espers looked around in confusion.
But the energy they felt was different from guiding—it had to be a Healer Esper’s power.
“Was our team medic always this good at healing?”
“That’s not important right now—if you’re healed, keep fighting!”
“R-right!”
No one had time to question it.
Healed, the Espers went right back to battle.
“Healing?”
Dasom blinked, stunned.
Even he could tell—this wasn’t guiding energy flowing from his hands.
Healing was supposed to be an Esper’s ability.
But as the Espers returned to fighting, Dasom kept pouring out healing energy.
“Guide Dasom!”
“Huh? T-Team Leader?”
Dasom jumped at the sound of Raon and Hamin’s voices beside him.
The two who had fallen earlier were now floating in midair.
With the tower partially destroyed by the monsters, they were clearly visible in the sky.
“Ugh… ngh…”
The other fallen Espers also floated unconscious in the air.
With a movement of Hamin’s arm, they slowly drifted back into the tower.
‘Dasom has safely reawakened.’
Just as Raon had hoped, Dasom had reawakened as an S-rank Healer Esper—his powers instantly mending the Espers’ wounds.
Even the bloodied ones they’d carried up from below were fully healed once they got near him.
Now, with Dasom guiding them, the Espers would be invincible.
The monsters surrounding the tower would no longer be a threat.
But monsters weren’t the only problem anymore.
“Guide Dasom, listen closely. I know you’re confused, but you must keep using that power. Understood?”
“Y-yes.”
At Raon’s words, Dasom nodded without realizing it.
Raon, who had entered the tower with Hamin, unleashed a broadcasted guiding wave toward the espers.
In an instant, the espers’ strength increased dramatically—far beyond what it had been just moments ago.
They quickly gained the upper hand against the monsters that had been overwhelming them.
“A-Amazing…”
Dasom muttered unconsciously.
His eyes, filled with admiration, were fixed on Raon.
But as soon as the battle ended and Raon finished the guiding, he shouted urgently.
“Everyone, get upstairs, now!”
“Huh?”
“The tower’s collapsing!”
“……!”
His voice, like a bolt from the blue, echoed throughout the tower.
* * *
