The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 78

“Seokyeong Squad’s espers will be disciplined.”

Leaving behind the espers who were staring blankly at their teammate—who had been knocked away with a single swing—Lee Shinra and I went to see the Director.

After we reported everything, the first thing the Director did was check our condition.

Then he reviewed all the CCTV footage in B–1 District.

After a long sigh, he said the word: “discipline.”

I was sitting on the sofa, guiding Lee Shinra, when I immediately asked,

“What kind of punishment will they receive?”

“I can’t tell you everything since it’s confidential. But attempting violence against you alone will result in a three-month pay cut, restricted access to certain districts, and even if they request cooperation from unaffiliated guides, they’ll be placed at the bottom of the priority list. Seokyeong Squad was barely maintaining B-rank. If their performance drops, they’ll likely fall to C-rank next year.”

“…Do they really have the skills to be B-rank?”

I had mocked them earlier, but reaching B-rank meant they must have cleared gates consistently until now.

And I knew you couldn’t cheat inside a gate.

The Director nodded calmly.

“They do have B-rank-level results. However, after their guide left the squad, their performance declined.”

“Left…?”

“Don’t worry. She resigned from headquarters. She said she was happy to go live with her family.”

Was that the guide who had been dragged around with a leash?

I hope so.

Just then, Lee Shinra lowered the handkerchief from his nose and said,

“I’m okay now, noona. Thank you…”

It wasn’t just words—I could feel the tangled energy inside him loosening.

I let go of his hand and looked back at the Director.

“Am I not getting disciplined? I hit an esper.”

“It was self-defense. You’re fine.”

…He checked that too?

Well, that’s a relief.

We had reported everything, and Lee Shinra had stabilized, so it was time to leave.

After standing up, I asked one more thing.

“Director. I was supposed to join a temporary squad for three days… but since Seokyeong is being disciplined, should I just wait?”

“Ah, yes. Wait two days, then join a new temporary squad. But, Hyeya… there’s no need for you to force yourself to match with other squads.”

For a moment, I almost said, Then I won’t.

But I shook my head.

“I was the one who suggested trying first. I’ll continue for the remaining time. It’s not like every squad will be like that, right?”

“……”

“Then we’ll be going. Lee Shinra, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

After saying goodbye, we returned to our rooms.

Late that night, Yeon Dogyeong—who had just heard what happened—flooded the group chat with messages.

❮Yeon Dogyeong ⇢ Platinum Squad (Yoon Hyeya, Lee Shinra, Cha Eunhwi)❯

↪ These brainless idiots

↪ If they live without thinking, why even have hair?

↪ I should shave them bald and hang them from the rooftop

↪ Assemble

 

 

He was serious about shaving Seokyeong Squad’s heads and hanging them from the roof.

I expected Cha Eunhwi to stop him, but he didn’t.

Eventually, we only managed to stop Dogyeong by reminding him that it wouldn’t count as self-defense for him.

Two more days passed.

The next temporary squad I joined was Hwangok Squad.

And I’ll give the conclusion first.

This one was also a failure.

Hwangok Squad entered a B-rank gate.

Their teamwork was better than Seokyeong’s—but they requested guiding even more often.

So much that even Lee Shinra, who usually avoided speaking, stepped forward first.

“Your condition isn’t that bad. You’re asking too much. You know monsters target guides first when guiding happens.”

“What are you talking about? Esper Lee Shinra came all the way here to protect the guide from that, didn’t he?”

Then someone grabbed my wrist without permission.

I laughed lightly—

—and kicked him.

“Ugh!”

“I didn’t even kick that hard. Stop exaggerating. Anyway, this is self-defense too.”

After wiping my clothes roughly where he had touched, I pulled out my baton and ran toward the named monster.

“H-Hyeya noona!”

As expected, Lee Shinra hurried after me.

“If we keep arguing with them, we’ll just waste time. Let’s just kill it ourselves and leave. If we attack, they’ll follow.”

“Yes!”

Just like I had felt in the previous gate, Lee Shinra’s barrier ability and my charge-in-and-attack style worked surprisingly well together.

Maybe because I fought desperately—

This time, we cleared it in just four hours.

It was even a new record.

While I hit the monsters, guiding happened automatically.

But Hwangok Squad was too busy panicking to even notice.

I shot them an annoyed look and left with Lee Shinra.

The moment we crossed the crack and exited the gate, I finally let out my frustration.

“This is hopeless. What is wrong with them?”

“S-Sorry, noona. I should have spoken more firmly.”

“What are you sorry for? No matter what you said, they were going to act like that.”

“…But if Eunhwi hyung or Dogyeong hyung had been there, they wouldn’t have acted that way.”

His stutter had improved a lot.

But his confidence was still low.

He kept shrinking into himself.

And watching him like that made me uncomfortable too. I could feel his gloomy emotions lingering.

But what if I comfort him and he becomes obsessively attached again, like before?

That was what I feared most.

As we walked toward the Director’s office, I finally spoke.

“Lee Shinra. You said earlier that if Cha Eunhwi or Yeon Dogyeong had been there, they wouldn’t have picked a fight, right?”

“…Yes.”

“I’m not saying this to comfort you. I’m just stating facts, so don’t misunderstand. They don’t care about you at all.”

“…What?”

“You guys hid in the operations room for a year without clearing gates, right? Whether Cha Eunhwi or Yeon Dogyeong had been there, they would’ve picked a fight anyway. And if those two had been present, things would’ve escalated even more. So stop digging yourself into a hole by comparing.”

Honestly, I didn’t know whether those espers truly cared or not.

But Lee Shinra wasn’t the type to go confront them to confirm it.

As long as he felt better, that was enough.

I could feel his emotions settling slightly.

Seriously, there are way too many trashy people.

I had wanted to check, just in case.

But the answer was clear.

At this rate, there was no need to even try a third squad.

We headed toward the Director’s office, but he was out in a meeting, so we went to the operations room instead.

Yeon Dogyeong, who had been sitting gloomily on the sofa, immediately stood up.

“What? You’re back already! I thought Yoon Hyeya would go straight home.”

Cha Eunhwi, who had been reviewing documents lately in preparation for returning to full activity, tilted his head.

“That was much faster than expected… Did something happen again?”

It wasn’t hard to explain.

But I was too tired to say it myself.

As I collapsed onto the sofa without speaking, Lee Shinra hesitated—then explained everything.

The moment he mentioned that an esper had grabbed my wrist, Yeon Dogyeong jumped up and shouted,

“You piece of—!”

“Hyung, calm down. Don’t curse…”

“You piece of—! Ha. And you just let that slide? You should’ve crushed him properly.”

If Yeon Dogyeong had been there, it really would’ve turned into a bigger mess.

Honestly, we might have left that esper inside the gate.