* * *
“If you don’t want to get a check-up, Hyung will keep holding your hand.”
“I told you, it’s fine.”
“Haha.”
Raon kept laughing, stroking Siwoo’s cheek with his index finger as Siwoo grumbled.
Siwoo seemed in a low mood from being teased so much.
Raon, wiping the smile from his face, put in a check-up reservation via his terminal.
Fortunately, since there had been no casualties from Irregular Gates in a row, the examination room—which had been frequented by all sorts of ability users before the regression—was now quite empty.
Thus, Raon was able to make a reservation right before the examination.
“Let’s go. They want us right now.”
“Yes.”
Siwoo nodded and followed Raon.
The hand he held was for Guiding, but he was now conscious of it because of Raon’s earlier words.
As he lowered his gaze to their clasped hands and then raised it again, his eyes met Raon’s.
“Eugh.”
“How is the Guiding? Are you not struggling?”
“Ah, yes.”
However, Raon was not teasing him like before.
Siwoo, who nodded dazedly toward Raon asking seriously, flinched slightly when he saw the sign for the examination room.
“Let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
However, he soon answered as if nothing was wrong and stepped inside the examination room.
Inside, the Center staff first asked the purpose of their visit in a stiff voice.
“How may I help you?”
“I am Guide Han Raon, who requested the check-up. Esper Yoon Siwoo, my pair, has come with me.”
“Yes, please come this way.”
They followed the staff’s guidance and went inside.
This was the area they could enter right away when Haedam came with them before.
“It’s been a while, Team Leader Han Raon.”
“Hello, Doctor.”
It seemed Luca happened to be stationed in the examination room.
Thinking the timing was good, Raon greeted him brightly.
Luca’s face, which had been smiling brightly at Raon, subtly hardened when he saw Siwoo behind him.
“Behind you is Esper Yoon Siwoo.”
“Yes, are you acquainted?”
“Well, somewhat. He’s a high-grade Esper who used drug Guiding for a long time.”
“Ah.”
Only then did Raon understand why Siwoo was hesitant about the examination room.
Siwoo, whose value was miserable due to not receiving proper Guiding, tried to lower his value with drug Guiding that was unsuitable for his body.
However, that was rather more harmful and caused various side effects.
Because of that, he must have frequented the examination room for management.
“I heard about the dual Gate incident. You seemed stable for a while, but your value dropped significantly because of that event?”
“Yes, I apologize. I should have paid more attention.”
“All sorts of things happen in the Gate, there’s nothing that can be done. It’s not something for Team Leader Raon to apologize for in the first place.”
Luca replied lightly and gave instructions to the examination room staff.
Then he turned back to Raon and Siwoo.
“You’ll be getting the check-up at the same time, right? The examination areas for Guides and Espers are different anyway.”
“Yes, we will do that.”
Raon and Siwoo nodded and entered their respective examination rooms.
Raon’s check-up was the same as before; it finished quickly by removing his shirt and attaching patches.
So, Raon finished his examination first and came out.
“Doctor Cha.”
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Yes, how is Siwoo?”
“Hmm.”
Perhaps judging that Siwoo’s condition was serious just by looking, Luca was currently leading Siwoo’s examination, not Raon’s.
At Raon’s question, Luca let out a long moan, inexplicably delaying his answer.
“Is there some problem?”
Raon, becoming serious, asked in a low voice.
Although the wavelength felt subtly stable when they were holding hands and doing Guiding just moments ago, the examination results might be the opposite.
Perhaps Siwoo had used too much ability in the dual Gate, causing severe side effects…
Raon frowned, worrying about a million possibilities.
“Calm down, the result is the opposite.”
“Excuse me?”
“The value is low. But everything else is good. Astoundingly so.”
“What does that mean?”
Raon asked in surprise.
However, Luca did not take back his words after looking up from the chart, and added:
“I’m also not sure how to explain it since this is the first time I’ve seen such a case, but Esper Yoon Siwoo’s wavelength is more stable than ever. You, as his pair Guide, must have felt that more.”
“That is, I suppose so.”
Still, Raon had thought there would be some negative results once the check-up was done.
Raon nodded dazedly and looked at Siwoo.
Siwoo was silently peeling off the patches attached all over his body and rising from the machine.
“As you know, Esper Yoon Siwoo has been using drug Guiding for a long time. I’m not a person who recommends drugs at all, but he strongly requested them… well, I don’t think he’ll need to take the drugs that much anymore.”
“Ah.”
Raon felt guilty again at Luca’s words.
He knew better than anyone that Siwoo had been forced to rely on potent drugs because Raon had refused Guiding.
Luca, realizing that Raon was unintentionally blaming himself, quickly added:
“Anyway, the drugs Espers take are strong and remain in the body for a long time, continuing to affect them. Not only do they cause physical side effects like headaches and vomiting, but they also negatively affect ability control. However, there are no traces of such things in Esper Yoon Siwoo’s body right now. Despite him having used drug Guiding for nearly ten years.”
“Does that mean all the side effects from the drugs have disappeared?”
“According to the test results, yes. Doesn’t his Guiding value also rise much better than before?”
“That, that is also true.”
Raon slowly nodded.
Although insertion Guiding is the most efficient method of Guiding, the value that rose overnight was a leap forward.
So Raon had thought that Siwoo’s value would quickly drop if side effects appeared in his body.
But far from that, Siwoo looked perfectly fine just now, and the check-up results were surprisingly good.
Raon was still bewildered.
“This is just my thought, but it seems his body might have reverted to its original state, perhaps because he used all his ability while in a state of prolonged drug Guiding.”
“Is such a thing possible?”
“I don’t know. This is the first time I’ve seen it too.”
“Ha…”
“Is it because Esper Yoon Siwoo’s ability is water? Since all the contaminated water was drained, the new water filling up is fresh and good?”
“Hmm.”
Luca spoke playfully.
Raon didn’t particularly want to indulge his joke, but it sounded quite plausible.
Perhaps using his ability to its limit caused even the drugs remaining in his body to be completely expelled.
If he didn’t explain it that way, it was an incomprehensible event.
“In any case, you mean there are no problems with his body?”
“Yes, far from having problems, his ability will become much stronger than before, as long as he raises his value well from now on.”
“I see.”
Raon nodded with relief at Luca’s confirmation.
It was fortunate that the check-up results showed no abnormalities.
“If you’re worried, come for regular check-ups. The examination room door is always wide open.”
“Haha, yes.”
Siwoo, now dressed, approached them. Raon gave him a bright look.
“What about Hyung?”
“Huh?”
“What about Hyung’s check-up results?”
“Ah.”
Siwoo casually glanced over his own chart but asked about Raon’s check-up results, which no one else was interested in.
‘I’ll be fine, of course.’
There was no problem in the last Irregular Gate, so it would be the same this time.
However, he was a little worried because he had been suspected by Luca last time for being too normal.
As Raon instinctively turned his head with a guilty look, he finally saw Luca checking Raon’s chart.
“Hmm.”
“…!”
Was he suspicious this time too?
Although no one would be able to figure out that he was a transmigrator or regressor just from test results, he could still raise suspicion about being strange.
Raon tensed up and watched Luca’s lips.
“Team Leader Raon.”
“Ah, yes.”
Raon swallowed and quickly answered.
Luca, taking his eyes off the chart, gazed steadily at Raon.
“Are you running out of stamina these days? How about stopping by the infirmary on your way back to get an energy potion?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ll be troubled a lot more in the future, but your physical condition is quite poor, like someone overworked. Make sure to take your supplements and potions often. It would be a bit much to die from overwork, not to mention death by…?”
“Doctor Cha, Doctor Cha!”
Raon yelled out in surprise.
If the beginning wasn’t, the end was complete sexual harassment.
Luca chuckled, looking at Raon’s bright red face.
“However, being in an overworked state is true. You exerted yourself too much with Guiding in the dual Gate and everything. Normally, you should rest for a few days without doing anything, but since that won’t be easy, take good care of your body.”
“Phew, I understand.”
Fortunately, it seemed that this time he had pushed himself too hard, so there were no circumstances that Luca could be suspicious of.
He just had to listen to a lot of sexual harassment-like comments instead.
Raon left the examination room in disgust.
And just as he was about to return home with Siwoo.
“Team Leader Raon, a visitation request has arrived.”
“A visitation request?”
“Yes.”
A Center staff member approached and spoke in a calm tone.
A visitation request was not common for Raon.
The last person to request a visit was Han Myunghoon, Han Raon’s biological father.
“Who is it?”
Raon asked, puzzled. The staff member replied mechanically.
“It is your family member, Han Minon.”
“Oh.”
Raon barely managed to suppress the swear word that was about to burst out.
* * *
