The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 63

“Yes. You don’t need to worry. Whether you tell those kids or not is your choice, Guide Yoon Hyeya. Since the tests are finished, shall we go out now?”

His calm, ordinary attitude—as if nothing was wrong—actually made me more confused.

I followed the doctor back to the waiting room, where Cha Eunhwi, Yeon Dogyeong, and Lee Shinra were staring at us like meerkats.

It didn’t look like they’d been bored at all during the two hours. Their faces were bright. Weird guys.

Cha Eunhwi stood up and walked toward us.

“Is Hyeya’s condition okay?”

“Yes, she’s fine. Very healthy. Looks like she lived well inside the gate.”

The doctor probably didn’t mean anything by it, but Cha Eunhwi standing in front of him—and Dogyeong and Shinra hovering nearby—all flinched hard.

“Is it bad that Guide Yoon Hyeya lived well inside the gate? Why are all of you panicking?”

And Doctor Song actually said it out loud.

I answered instead.

“I really did eat well, play well, and live well inside the gate. I only came out because I used guiding on them once and the inside of the gate went completely crazy. I guess they feel responsible for that.”

“…I shouldn’t have brought it up. Please forget I said anything.”

The doctor’s gaze lingered on Yeon Dogyeong for a long moment.

It would be hard to forget, but I had walked out on my own with the grand goal of making those guys suffer plenty later.

I shrugged like I didn’t care and walked up to Cha Eunhwi.

“The test is over. What do we do now?”

“…First, we’ll go back to the operation room. I contacted the Director while you were being tested, but he’s in an emergency meeting. He said we should all wait together in the operation room once the test was done. You must be tired—sorry for making you go back and forth so much.”

“Okay. Let’s go, then.”

There was nothing else to do anyway. I just wanted to lie down on the sofa.

I held out my hand to Cha Eunhwi and urged him, but he looked restless, so I tilted my head.

“What? Is something wrong?”

“…I wanted to ask the doctor. About your memory.”

So that’s why he kept hesitating.
Lee Shinra and Yeon Dogyeong also nodded quietly.

It’s probably fine if he hears it…

Just my change in attitude had been enough for them to go, “She really did lose her memory!” anyway.

I hadn’t done anything suspicious, and hearing the explanation myself might help me be more careful.

Instead of pushing Cha Eunhwi, I turned back and asked,

“Doctor. When will my memory come back?”

“…Hmm. It’s hard to say for sure. There are many causes of amnesia. Sometimes it’s due to physical damage to the brain, but extreme stress and psychological factors can also play a role. Physical damage can often be healed with recovery abilities, but memory loss caused by psychological issues is different. It’s a way to protect yourself from painful or unwanted memories… It might suddenly come back, or it could stay like this for the rest of your life.”

He answered very seriously.

I’m so glad I asked!

I felt huge relief.

I took physical damage getting eaten by a snake, and before that I took mental damage from those guys. They even admitted they bullied me.

I decided to keep the “I don’t remember you” attitude forever.

Unlike me, though, the three of them looked very dark.

As the mood sank, the doctor hurriedly added,

“B-but there are good points too. Guide Yoon Hyeya originally had extremely high stress levels. Right now, she’s stable, and if she doesn’t feel any inconvenience in daily life, it might be better to live like this. Honestly… it wasn’t exactly a relationship worth desperately recovering memories for anyway—ah, um, that’s not what I meant, but still.”

Not a good relationship.
Everyone probably thought that.

But something had been bothering me for a while.

Did he always call their names so casually?

He called me “Guide Yoon Hyeya,” but also “Esper Cha Eunhwi,” “Esper Yeon Dogyeong,” and “Esper Lee Shinra.”

Had they gotten closer over the past year?

While I was wondering, the doctor spoke again.

“I’ll send today’s test results to Guide Yoon Hyeya later as well. Then we should hurry—”

“Ah, wait. Please refill our stabilizers.”

Cha Eunhwi stopped him and took out a pill case.

Lee Shinra and Yeon Dogyeong also pulled out theirs, and for the first time, the doctor frowned.

“Earlier—”

“Doctor. We’re busy, so just hurry and give them to us.”

Yeon Dogyeong cut him off, and I didn’t hear the rest.

But I could guess what Doctor Song was going to say.

He was probably going to ask why they were getting more after already taking some.

I had seen them swallow stabilizers many times, both inside and outside the gate.

They were supposed to be substitutes for guides.

Taking a lot wouldn’t cause serious side effects or resistance, but that didn’t mean it was good to take an unfinished drug recklessly.

Come to think of it, stabilizers barely worked on Dogyeong and Shinra before…

But today was different. After taking them, I could feel their unstable energy settle.

Looks like research had progressed over the past year.
If it worked even on those picky guys, it could definitely be improved further.

Anyway, like I’d thought many times already, if they didn’t ask for guiding, I had no reason to give it—except when using Cha Eunhwi’s ability.

After being rushed by Dogyeong, the doctor went back inside and returned a few minutes later.

He held several identical pill bottles and handed them all to Cha Eunhwi with a sigh.

“You’ll manage the dosage yourself, but don’t take too much.”

“It’ll be hard, but I’ll try. Thank you.”

“…Sigh. Ah, this is for Guide Yoon Hyeya.”

After sighing at Cha Eunhwi, Doctor Song walked over to me and handed me a black stick.

“What’s this?”

“A self-defense weapon for guides. The Director left it earlier—I almost forgot. Want to press the button?”

A self-defense weapon.vI was startled, but my finger pressed down on its own.

Click.

With the sound, the stick extended.

It was a collapsible baton.

Seeing my surprise, the doctor explained,

“Guides have been in a lot of danger lately. This was specially made just in case. The tip is reinforced for impact. Press the button again to retract it. Even without pressing it, swinging it hard will extend it.”

“Can it really be used in real combat?”

“Of course. There was a guide who killed a monster in a B-rank gate with this. It’s made from monster materials, so it’s sturdier than it looks. Please use it well.”

Just by looking at it, it didn’t seem easy to break.

I gripped it tightly and swung it a few times. The handle didn’t slip, and it was light enough to use easily.

“Of course, it’s best not to enter gates at all, but realistically, that’s difficult.”

“I see.”

While swinging the baton, I met Yeon Dogyeong’s eyes.

He looked very unhappy.

In the past, I would’ve ignored it. But the current me doesn’t back down.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Afraid I’ll hit you with this?”

“…Do you want to hit me? Then… you can. I don’t know about others, but I’d let you hit me.”

“….”

Looks like he doesn’t back down either.