The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 44

I knew for certain.
Today made it exactly twenty-nine days.

But saying that honestly felt… risky, judging by the state they were in.

Just looking at Yeon Dogyeong—who was uncharacteristically silent—made it obvious that a considerable amount of time had passed outside.

He used to bleach his hair bright yellow all the time. Now his roots are completely black.

I didn’t answer. I only shifted my gaze.

The moment Cha Eunhwi’s eyes landed squarely on me, I sucked in a breath without thinking.

Yet unlike before, he showed no irritation at all—only a faint, blurred smile.

“Esper. Guide. Gate. Rift. I don’t know how much of this you remember, Hyeya… but it has been one year since we lost you.”

Ah.
One year…?

I’d assumed some time had passed, sure—but a year was the kind of number that made your head spin.

If time had to pass anyway, I’d rather it jump straight to a few decades later.

Wait. That means Cha Eunhwi and Yeon Dogyeong are a year older than me now, and Lee Shinra’s the same age as me?!

Right now he was calling me noona, but if he realized we were the same age, he’d definitely start acting up.

Trying to hide that thought, I nodded with a vaguely uncomfortable expression.

“I see…”

That was all.
I decided not to mention how long I’d been here.

Before they could probe further, I threw out a question first.

“You mentioned espers, guides, gates, and rifts… I don’t really know what any of that is.”

Cha Eunhwi inhaled sharply. Probably because I’d referred to them as “you people.”

Quickly smoothing his expression, he replied with a calm smile.

“Hyeya. My name is Eunhwi. Cha Eunhwi.”

“Ah. Yes…”

My expression clearly said So? as a bonus.

Biting his lip slightly, Cha Eunhwi glanced sideways at Yeon Dogyeong before continuing.

“Hyeya and I, as well as Dogyeong here, are the same age. Over there—Shinra is one year younger. We… grew up together. Ah, though I left for another place midway and only reunited recently.”

“I see.”

“……”

“……”

Silence followed.

I acted indifferent on the outside, but in truth, I was extremely tense.

They were watching me just as carefully, which made it even more maddening.

Habits were scary things—because in the end, I was the one who broke the silence again.

“So, what exactly are espers, guides, and rifts?”

“…Ah. Right. I was explaining that. This all began seventy years ago.”

Hey—
You don’t start an explanation that far back.

I’d practically had this drilled into me since childhood, and just hearing the opening made me dizzy—but I couldn’t exactly let that show.

So I had no choice but to half-zone out and listen to the history of awakeners all over again.

“Gates first appeared in the world seventy years ago. Possibly earlier, but that’s when they were discovered. Vast cornfields. Empty plains. The middle of crowded cities. Inside caves. Along flight paths. Even inside ordinary homes. All across the world, doors to other worlds opened simultaneously.”

Cha Eunhwi continued calmly.

“Another name for a gate is a rift. You may remember, Hyeya—the way space appears torn and cracked is why it’s also called that.”

“Oh… I see.”

“…Gates absorb anyone who approaches them. In the past, everyone who went near out of curiosity disappeared beyond the rift, and not a single person returned.”

Listening to him, it felt like he’d memorized an entire textbook.

I nodded, pretending to be appropriately shocked.

“Fortunately, it was discovered that remaining outside a certain range was safe, so areas with gates were placed under strict control. Still, the world fell into panic. Nations pooled their resources into research, but the mystery remained unsolved.”

Yes.
That’s what I’d heard too.

All they’d learned was that gates swallowed people like black holes, and transported them elsewhere like wormholes.

Even that knowledge had only been confirmed using probes built by throwing every bit of existing technology at the problem.

After reaching that point, Cha Eunhwi licked his lips and added evenly,

“The first gate a probe entered was reportedly a beautiful forest. Even through low resolution and faded colors, its abundance was unmistakable. Much like this place.”

I’d thought the same thing when I first saw it.

Ironically, people who saw the footage believed that no one returned because the other side was a paradise on earth.

“No matter how tightly it was controlled, hundreds still entered gates of their own will. Families of the missing. Acquaintances. People driven by simple curiosity.”

“……”

“However, that misunderstanding didn’t last long. The final footage transmitted by the probe clearly showed an unknown monster swallowing people whole.”

Later, it was identified as an ogre.

After that incident, national leaders reportedly debated the issue daily.

Reveal the truth, and chaos born of fear would follow.
Hide it, and people would continue sneaking in, convinced the other side was paradise.

“Meanwhile, rifts continued to appear—and in some cases, monsters even emerged into the outside world.”

It was during that crisis that people who gained power through a phenomenon called awakening became the first espers.

“They claimed they could see and hear the voice of the world. Guided by it, they entered the rifts. Inside each gate exists a ruler of that space, known as a named monster.”

Cha Eunhwi’s gaze shifted to the softly chirping snake.

“…When a named monster is defeated, the gate disappears as well.”

The words he added afterward were clearly said with my reaction in mind.

I didn’t respond.

Naturally—I wasn’t supposed to know this snake was a named monster.

After a brief pause, Cha Eunhwi continued more quickly than before.

“Thanks to the espers’ efforts, rifts were swiftly dealt with. However, in exchange for their superhuman power, the stronger an esper became… the more they suffered mentally.”

A memory surfaced, and my fingers tightened unconsciously.

It was true that their senses became so hypersensitive they could barely function in daily life.

They’d flinch just from hair brushing their skin. Drinking water made their tongues ache. Some said their vision was so wide it terrified them to open their eyes.

Perhaps because it wasn’t a pleasant memory, none of the three spoke about it.

Still, despite that pain, they fought monsters to protect humanity—true heroes.

An invisible hierarchy formed, and espers naturally accepted that treatment.

After all, not many people would sacrifice their lives for others on nothing but duty or noble ideals.

After a short silence, Cha Eunhwi smoothly transitioned to guides.

“Guides appeared later, after espers had already begun operating. Unlike espers—who see and hear the world’s voice and awaken to their power and duty—guides show no such self-awareness.”

“If there’s no self-awareness, then how do you know?” I asked.

“…Awakeners have a different cellular arrangement than ordinary people. These days, mandatory global testing is used to confirm awakening. And espers… instinctively recognize guides. They were the first to sense the existence of guides, because—”

His uncharacteristic hesitation and stammering were clearly because of what came next.