* * *
“Waaah!”
Hamin screamed as he rose into the air.
Raon, still holding his hand, also began to float upward.
“Hyung!”
“Siwoo—ugh!”
Siwoo hurriedly grabbed Raon, but it wasn’t enough.
Before long, even Siwoo was being lifted into the air due to Hamin’s powers.
“What the—what’s going on?”
“Isn’t that Guide Hamin up there?”
The sight of Hamin—and everyone around him—floating caused a commotion among the other team members.
More eyes turned toward him, and Hamin began to panic even more.
“Guide Hamin! Get a grip!”
“B-but…”
“I’ll keep guiding you. Try stabilizing your powers while breathing deeply.”
“O-okay, okay…”
Raon held Hamin’s hand tightly, trying his best to remain calm.
Guiding someone while floating in the sky—this was a first even for him.
Thankfully, thanks to the guiding, Hamin slowly began to stabilize his powers.
The force lifting everyone subsided, and they gradually floated back down to the ground.
Once Raon’s feet touched solid ground again, he exhaled in relief.
“What just happened? Did Lee Hamin really awaken as an Esper?”
“A Guide becoming an Esper… Is that even possible?”
Yoonchae and Inho approached, stunned, clicking their tongues.
They were usually the ones to back Raon, but even they seemed baffled by Hamin’s apparent awakening.
Still, having seen it with their own eyes, they couldn’t deny it anymore.
“We’ll have to run a full diagnostic at the Center, but there’s no way a regular Guide could do that.”
At this point, no one had mentioned the term multi-Guide, so Raon kept quiet.
He glanced at Dasom, who was looking at his own hand in a daze.
‘Dasom seems reawakened too… but I’ll let it slide for now.’
Only Raon had noticed that Dasom had used healing back at the tower.
The other Espers simply assumed they’d been guided.
If word got out that both Hamin and Dasom had awakened as Espers, it could cause chaos before the Gate was cleared.
So for now, silence was best.
“Then maybe we should listen to Team Leader Raon’s opinion again. What do you think?”
Inho turned to Dojin, whose face was twisted with displeasure.
Dojin’s glare at Hamin was downright hostile.
“Can he actually control that power now? If he drops someone off a cliff, that’s a problem.”
Dojin clearly still had no faith in Hamin.
And truthfully, Hamin was still unstable.
Just earlier, the pressure had prevented him from using his abilities at all.
When Raon turned to look at him, Hamin’s face was pale.
Still holding his hand, Raon asked gently:
“Guide Hamin, do you think you can handle it?”
“Y-yes. I’ll try. But…”
“…?”
Hamin still looked uncertain.
If he said he couldn’t do it, Raon wasn’t going to force him.
But unexpectedly, Hamin nodded.
“I’d like Team Leader Raon to keep guiding me while I do.”
“Hmm…”
Blushing as if embarrassed, Hamin spoke in a small voice.
Raon hesitated for a moment.
‘Well, guiding isn’t exactly a difficult thing to do.’
Maybe it was because Hamin had only just awakened his abilities, but he still seemed anxious.
Just a moment ago, he’d only been able to use his powers again after being guided—so if someone stayed by his side to guide him consistently, he might be able to use them more stably.
“Sure. I’ll stay next to you and keep holding your hand.”
“Y-Yes!”
Hamin answered with a brightened face.
Maybe because he was nervous, the hand holding Raon’s was clammy with sweat.
Raon glanced down at Hamin’s arm, which was firmly gripping his own.
Maybe it was because he had reawakened as an Esper, but he seemed stronger than before.
“Hyung, do you have to do that?”
Siwoo, who had been watching from the side, asked in a tone full of discontent.
Raon knew he needed to calm him down.
“Hamin isn’t used to using his powers yet. I’ll just help him a little and be back.”
“Still…”
“Hey, take care of the team for me, alright?”
“…Okay.”
Normally, the pairing between Espers and Guides wasn’t prioritized during special circumstances.
After the irregular gate incident, the government must’ve sensed something unusual, because they raised the alert level.
That meant pairing had become meaningless within the gate.
Even so, Siwoo was special to Raon.
And maybe because Siwoo thought the same way, he was especially sensitive to how long Raon was guiding Hamin.
His black eyes kept glaring at the hands Raon and Hamin were holding.
“Let’s go, Guide Hamin.”
“Yes!”
Still, Raon couldn’t bring himself to ignore Hamin, who looked as helpless as a newly hatched chick.
Though he felt a pang of guilt toward Siwoo, he couldn’t bring himself to let go of Hamin’s hand.
“If it gets too hard, let me know. There are other wind users here, and Team Leader Dojin as well.”
“Okay!”
For now, they decided to have Hamin use his ability to send the team members down first.
Since Hamin wasn’t part of the combat unit, it made sense for him to use his ability early on so the other wind users, including Dojin, could conserve their energy.
That meant it would be best if Hamin sent down as many people as possible.
Raon stood beside him, holding his hand, as he looked down at the route Taegeon had marked.
Whoooosh.
“Mm.”
The wind at the cliff’s edge was no joke.
And with everything covered in fog, it wasn’t easy to find the route Taegeon mentioned.
Raon frowned as he stared into the hazy depth below.
“Guide Hamin, can you find the path?”
“Ah, yes. I think I can, if I clear some of the fog.”
No sooner had he said that than a strong gust of wind burst from Hamin’s hand.
In an instant, the fog that had blocked their view was swept away.
Raon was momentarily surprised by how naturally Hamin used his ability—almost like breathing—but he felt relieved, thinking Hamin had finally stabilized.
“Alright, line up in order.”
They had worried about how many people to send, but since Hamin could only handle three at a time, they decided to send them down in groups of three.
Once he got used to it, he’d likely be able to handle more.
“Urgh.”
Soon, sweat began to drip down Hamin’s forehead.
Watching from the side, Raon realized it was trickier than he thought.
With the wind this strong, one miscalculation could send people flying off the cliff.
Given that, Hamin was doing quite well.
Raon continued to hold his hand and guide him, offering encouragement without hesitation.
“You’re doing great, Guide Hamin. Keep going just like that.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
Hamin occasionally looked up to meet Raon’s gaze and smiled brightly.
It was the same smile he’d worn when they practiced guiding during simulation training in the facility.
“Is that everyone waiting now?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
Inho, one of the last remaining, looked around.
He was smiling with satisfaction.
“Thanks to you, Dojin’s looking like a fool.”
“Ha-ha…”
So that’s what it was—he simply enjoyed watching Dojin get proved wrong for not trusting Hamin.
Raon could only let out an awkward laugh.
“See you down there.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
With that, Inho disappeared into the fog along with the others.
Hamin, sweating bullets until the end, sent them safely down the cliff.
“Huff… huff…”
“Guide Hamin, are you okay?”
“Yes… I’m fine…”
Even with a glance, it was clear his complexion was off.
Still, Hamin managed a strained smile as he answered, making Raon feel uneasy.
Now there were only the two of them left.
Could they make it down safely?
It wasn’t like guiding depleted your stats, but maybe the continued focus had drained Hamin’s mental strength.
‘Well, it should be fine.’
There was no need to make himself anxious with unnecessary worry.
Once all the others had gone down safely, Raon turned to Hamin.
“Let’s go down too.”
“Okay.”
At Raon’s words, Hamin nodded.
Then, the arm that wasn’t holding his hand casually went around Raon’s shoulder.
“…?”
Was that really necessary?
Startled by the unexpected touch, Raon turned to look at Hamin—who suddenly blushed furiously, realizing what he had just done.
“Ah, no, this is just… I thought I might drop you by accident…”
“Hm. Alright.”
It sounded more like an excuse, but Raon didn’t press him.
Honestly, he had been feeling a bit uneasy himself.
Leaning partially into Hamin’s hold, Raon descended the cliff.
A strong gust of wind tilted them sideways for a moment, but they managed to land relatively safely.
“Hyung!”
The moment they landed, Siwoo—eyes blazing—stormed over.
He glared fiercely at the two who had just come down.
“Ah, Siwoo. Did you wait long?”
“…You don’t need to guide him anymore, right?”
“Ah.”
Raon looked down awkwardly at the hand he’d still been holding out of habit.
When he let go, Hamin furrowed his brow slightly, as if disappointed.
“So? Any word on where the core is?”
“I’m not sure either.”
Siwoo squeezed himself between Hamin and Raon with a sulky expression.
His intentions were obvious, and Raon could barely keep himself from laughing.
* * *
