The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 77

Still looking disappointed, Yeon Dogyeong lightly tapped Lee Shinra on the shoulder and muttered.

His voice was quiet, but thanks to my improved hearing, I heard it clearly.

“Watch her properly.”

“Yes.”

…That was pretty much the conversation.

After that, we discussed things further with the Director.

For now, the plan was to work with three different squads, clearing gates for three days each.

They also decided not to announce the change in my guiding abilities.

When I was young, my abilities had suddenly grown, and I was already labeled a special case.

If it became known that I’d grown again—but in a completely different direction—there was a high chance I’d be sent overseas directly, not for research visits, but permanently.

I don’t really feel like running off abroad right now…

They say everything has its time, and it seemed I had no fate with foreign countries.

The Director firmly added that keeping this secret was perfectly fine.

“The difference between you and other guides is already clear. There’s no reason to study it further. If anything, suggesting new possibilities could lead to guides being pushed into gates for experiments.”

That possibility hadn’t crossed my mind—but I couldn’t say it would never happen.

I decided to completely hide my physical guiding.

Since I’d been “rescued”—or something like it—inside the gate just yesterday, joining another squad was scheduled for two days later.

They said I could rest more and prepare, but I wanted to get it over with quickly, so it ended up being rushed.

During those two days, Cha Eunhwi arranged for me to receive a new phone.

And just like that, the morning arrived—the day I would join another squad.

I don’t care if they’re weak. Please, just let them be decent human beings.

That thought filled my head while I got ready, while I stepped outside, and even when I met Lee Shinra in front of the housing building.

But then—

“Greetings, Guide Yoon Hyeya! Welcome to the Seokyeong Squad.”

The moment I met my temporary squad—Seokyeong—in B–1 District, all my hope burned away like ashes.

Because I knew these people.

More accurately, I had seen them before.

This is the squad that used to put leashes on guides.

Trash who claimed it was “just a joke” while abusing C-rank and D-rank guides that way.

And now, those espers were standing right in front of me.

When I didn’t respond or greet them, the esper who seemed to be the captain gave an awkward smile.

Through my skin, I could clearly feel irritation and discomfort mixed into his emotions.

He’s acting polite because Lee Shinra is beside me, but at his core, he’s rotten. Yeon Dogyeong was right this time.

If I had joined this squad alone, their greeting would have been very different.

And the problem wasn’t just the captain.

“So you lost your memory—did you forget how to talk too?”

“Who knows? She was arrogant to begin with…”

The other three squad members clustered together.

Their greed toward my ability, and their jealousy toward Lee Shinra, were painfully obvious.

“Hyeya noona.”

Lee Shinra called me, his face stiff and cold.

When I turned my head, he was glaring at them with a vicious look—like Yeon Dogyeong had possessed him—clearly saying, Should I wreck them?

Honestly, I wanted to wreck them together and bury them in some mountain somewhere.

But obviously, I couldn’t.

I forced my expression into place and greeted them.

“…Hello. I’m Yoon Hyeya. As you were informed through the Director, I’m currently unable to guide properly, so I’ll be cooperating with another squad. I won’t be of much help, but I look forward to working with you.”

“Oh, come on! No need to be modest. Who doesn’t know Guide Yoon Hyeya is S-rank? Then shall we head in right away?”

Lee Shinra and I entered the B-rank gate together with the Seokyeong Squad.

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

 

I’ll give the conclusion first.

The seven hours and seventeen minutes it took to clear the gate were so bad that even the word disaster felt too kind.

I swear—without exaggeration or nostalgia—if you put three Yeon Dogyeongs from a month ago… no, from a year ago here, they still wouldn’t lose to how trash this squad was.

No—Dogyeong at least had ability.

I never thought I’d live to reevaluate him, but here we are.

Calling Seokyeong a B-rank squad felt generous.

Their teamwork was awful, and whenever someone made a mistake, they immediately blamed each other.

They talked more than they acted.

And worst of all—

The captain is incompetent.

Cha Eunhwi was annoying sometimes, but he fulfilled his duty as a leader.

Before entering a gate, he made sure to understand everything, memorized it, and gave orders based on exactly how far Lee Shinra’s and Yeon Dogyeong’s abilities went.

He even noticed that I was adjusting my guiding.

But Seokyeong’s captain?

Nothing like that.

Isn’t he supposed to at least know basic information about the gate his squad is clearing?

This wasn’t even a special expedition gate.

Did he just not read anything at all?

Guide or no guide, it was amazing this squad had reached B-rank.

And the bigger problem—

They asked me for guiding multiple times.

Inside the gate.

While barely able to stand on their own.

Of course, I didn’t guide them.

Even if I did, it would’ve been meaningless.

The clear ended when Lee Shinra and I took down the named monster.

It was unbelievably exhausting.

Since my attacks automatically triggered guiding, I focused mostly on defense.

Lee Shinra was the opposite.

His ability was support-based, but since the Seokyeong Squad was such a mess, he ended up suffering the most.

Then—

“What exactly is your problem, Guide Yoon Hyeya? Weren’t you here to support our squad? You didn’t respond to a single guiding request. What kind of guide does that?”

“And you kept guiding Esper Lee Shinra the whole time. If that’s the case, why did you even come?”

Watching the Seokyeong espers complain, I let out a hollow laugh.

I stood up crookedly and sneered at them.

For reference—my sneer is mostly modeled after Yeon Dogyeong’s smile, so it’s extremely unpleasant.

“Instead of blaming others, have you tried reflecting on how lacking and pathetic you are? Though, I guess if you were capable of that, you wouldn’t be like this in the first place.”

“…What? Hey, you—!”

“What did I say? Want me to repeat it? Stop blaming others and reflect on how incompetent you are. If you’re a captain, shouldn’t you at least research the gate before entering? You didn’t even prepare the basics—what kind of clear were you expecting?”

“Gui—!”

“If you’re going to spout nonsense about how this is all because I didn’t guide, then at least show some effort by using your abilities properly. This guy over here was bleeding from his nose, coughing blood, and still held up barriers without once asking me for guiding. Know why? Because guiding inside a gate puts the guide at risk. But all four of you ran over yelling ‘guiding, guiding!’—what is this, an ad for how useless you are?”

I wasn’t making anything up.

I was only stating facts.

Yet they kept fuming, which made me sigh repeatedly.

“Taking a long time to clear can happen. But none of you were in sync from start to finish, and you still go around bragging that you’re a B-rank squad. The only thing you do properly is bully the weak, ignore them, and mock them—without putting in any effort yourselves.”

Again, not a single lie.

Even inside the gate, they kept shouting things like, “We’re a B-rank squad!”

I was just pointing that out one by one.

And then one esper cursed and charged at me.

Watching him approach slowly, I was honestly dumbfounded.

I thought someone with such a big ego would at least be ashamed of attacking a guide.

But to try and attack a guide with no power except guiding?

“Hyeya noona!”

Lee Shinra—half lying down from overexertion—called out to me urgently.

I quickly pulled out my baton, knocked the charging esper away, and said calmly,

“It’s self-defense.”