* * *
‘Am I pitying Siwoo?’
Raon asked himself.
Anyone who saw a past like that would feel pity.
Raon wasn’t completely free of that feeling either.
But right now, it wasn’t pity that overwhelmed him—it was helplessness.
He’d seen, right before his eyes, young Siwoo trapped inside the Gate with the children.
And he couldn’t do anything.
Couldn’t save anyone.
If only he’d been there with Siwoo back then, maybe he could’ve done something.
Anything.
“No, you’re not pitiful.”
Raon spoke without realizing it.
Siwoo’s eyes widened in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected that answer.
“You were pitiful back then, sure. But not now. I’m here now.”
“…Ah.”
Siwoo looked blankly at Raon, stunned by his firm tone.
Raon smiled at him gently.
He was Siwoo’s paired guide.
Meant to be the closest person to him.
It was destiny.
A guide with a high match rate to an S-rank esper—it was practically fate.
As long as Raon was by his side, Siwoo would never suffer like that again.
No matter what happened.
‘Damn system.’
But then, dark thoughts crept in.
The looming presence of the system, always threatening to return, wrapped around Raon like chains.
“If you’re with me, then I’m not pitiful,” Siwoo said.
“…Yeah.”
Not knowing what Raon was truly thinking, Siwoo smiled brightly—more than anyone else had.
Raon nodded softly at the sight.
Creak, crackle.
“What was that?”
Just then, a sound like something breaking echoed around them.
As Raon turned his head, the world around them began to collapse.
“What the hell—Ugh!”
Suddenly, everything lit up.
Instinctively, Raon shut his eyes.
He felt Siwoo shield him.
“Uh…”
When he opened them again, the scenery had completely changed.
The first thing he saw was a transparent barrier around them—Siwoo had cast a shield in the moment of chaos.
“Siwoo, take this down.”
“But…”
“I think we’re back now?”
Hesitating, Siwoo withdrew his ability.
And with that, the familiar landscape came into clear view.
“A door.”
Before the regression, when Raon received Taegeon’s power, he had resisted even psychic attacks.
That’s why he could move to the next stage relatively quickly.
The door in front of him now looked exactly like the one he had seen back then.
“If we go through this, we’re out?”
“Yeah. Probably.”
He nodded at Siwoo’s question.
It was a little lower than last time, so he couldn’t be 100% sure—but close enough.
Creeeak.
Still, they couldn’t stay here forever.
Siwoo cautiously pushed the door, which opened slowly with a high-pitched squeal.
“Huh? Team Leader?”
“Huh?”
A familiar voice came from beyond the door.
Tilting his head, Raon stepped forward.
“Team Leader! Siwoo!”
“You’re both okay!”
The team members greeted them with bright smiles.
The door the two had come through vanished without a trace.
“W-what just happened?”
“I swear I was dreaming just a moment ago…”
“M-me too. I can’t remember it well though…”
It seemed the others had also been caught in psychic attacks elsewhere.
Thanks to Minjae’s ability, they’d probably escaped quickly, just like Raon and Siwoo.
“This tower seems to use a lot of psychic attacks.”
“Oh, that’s why you asked Esper Minjae earlier…”
“Yeah. The attack team has Nam Taegeon too, so they’ll manage.”
‘Manage,’ sure—Taegeon was an S-rank esper.
He didn’t even need to see illusions.
Remembering what had happened before the regression, Raon sighed.
“So whether we went up or down from the start, the route was the same after all.”
“Seems like it.”
Raon agreed with Dasom.
Meeting in the middle like this meant going downward hadn’t changed much.
‘Still, something feels off.’
What Siwoo saw had clearly been a standard hallucination beyond Raon’s control.
But what he saw—it had felt too real.
As if he’d truly returned to the time when he was Min Raon.
Whether that was because he was a possessor, or for some other reason—he couldn’t say.
‘Anyway, that’s not the important part right now.’
Raon pushed away the creeping unease.
The priority now was clearing the Gate.
“If we keep heading up, we’ll run into the combat team. Let’s regroup first.”
“Um, can I get a bit of guiding…?”
Minjae, pale from overusing his psychic abilities, raised his hand.
Juwon immediately stepped in to help him.
“Siwoo, are you okay?”
“Well…”
“You’re not, are you?”
“No.”
There was no point in hiding his sync rate from Raon.
Siwoo answered honestly for once, reaching out his hand.
Raon chuckled and took it.
Not long ago, Siwoo had refused his guiding—and that had annoyed him.
But now?
His heart felt strangely warm. Ticklish.
‘A guide getting pulled around by an esper. Honestly, what nonsense…’
‘But he’s too cute to stay mad at.’
Raon channeled guiding energy into Siwoo’s hand as he thought to himself.
Siwoo’s hand twitched slightly.
Why had he avoided guiding, when it felt this good and was even good for the body?
Raon still didn’t understand, but now, it hardly mattered.
“Is the maintenance all done?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s keep heading up.”
Raon spoke while still holding Siwoo’s hand.
Simple contact guiding could be done while moving anyway, so he urged them onward—but Siwoo suddenly called out in a flustered voice.
“Hy-hyung.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“I don’t think we need to keep guiding anymore…”
“Hm.”
Trying to stop it again, huh.
Just when things were finally feeling good, he was dousing it in cold water again.
Raon frowned without realizing it.
“Your levels still aren’t stable.”
“They’re good enough to suppress the gate.”
“And who are you to decide that?”
At Raon’s pointed question, Siwoo fell silent, unable to answer.
He simply clenched his jaw.
‘What’s with him?’
He used to love even just holding hands for contact guiding.
And recently, they’d gone even further with deeper guiding.
He’d acted like a heat-struck dog, so eager and hungry for it—and now this?
Raon, whose mood had quickly soured, opened his mouth to scold Siwoo again.
But then, something odd dawned on him.
‘…Don’t tell me he’s turned on?’
Raon prided himself on being sharp-eyed.
He’d been too annoyed before to notice, blaming Siwoo’s refusal for his foul mood—but now, he could see the signs more clearly.
Siwoo’s hands were usually on the cold side, probably because of his abilities.
They would get warmer during guiding, but right now, they were unusually hot.
And his ears—those usually only flushed when he was embarrassed—were now bright red.
Raon instinctively realized: Siwoo was aroused.
“Huff… Wait, let’s go together.”
“Ah.”
Raon, who had been walking ahead to match Siwoo’s pace, paused at Dasom’s strained voice.
Now that he thought about it, the stairs had become much steeper.
He hadn’t noticed, but his own breathing was getting heavy, too.
“Let’s slow down a bit.”
“Sorry… It’s because of me…”
“No, the guides are all having a hard time.”
After all, guides didn’t have the stamina Espers did.
Raon shot a glance at Siwoo, who had subtly let go of his hand, and belatedly turned to check on the team.
“Huh? Team Leader, I just heard something…”
“A sound?”
Raon tilted his head at Hamin’s words.
Was it finally the combat team?
Unlike the others, who hadn’t heard anything, Hamin had sharp hearing and had been picking up small sounds ever since they entered the gate.
Raon looked up with anticipation.
‘Ssssshhh—’
“…?”
But the strange sound didn’t come from above.
As the sharp noise drew closer, finally reaching Raon’s ears, he realized something had gone terribly wrong.
“Everyone, take cover!”
Boom!
The moment Raon shouted, a crack split the wall.
Then a chunk of the wall collapsed.
“Kkreeee!”
“A-a monster!”
Glinting eyes moved as if scanning the inside of the tower.
Raon gritted his teeth and yelled,
“Everyone, get upstairs, now!”
“Y-yes!”
He sent the guides up first. Siwoo and Yeojoon stayed back to keep the monsters at bay.
‘Why are there monsters in the tower…?’
There hadn’t been any in the tower before the regression.
The monsters in this area were all bird-like flying types—they couldn’t break into the tower.
Yet here they were, shattering the walls as if mocking that expectation.
Raon frowned, staring at the crumbling walls.
“Hyung!”
“Urgh!”
A monster’s razor-sharp claw barely missed Raon’s face.
Thankfully, Siwoo’s powers had protected him.
Something felt wrong.
A chilling sensation swept over Raon.
He’d felt this before—at the Irregular Gate.
‘They’re targeting me again.’
Just like the monster guarding the core of that gate had zeroed in on him, these monsters were doing the same.
This time, Raon was sure.
* * *
