The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 82

Taerin unnie said she hadn’t even noticed the change herself.

It turned out the improvement was in her eyesight.

The increase was small—but the fact that her vision improved without surgery made no sense.

After that, I spent a week doing group interviews with Taerin unnie and the other guides whose physical abilities had improved.

That’s when we found the common point.

They had all personally attacked and defeated a monster at least once.

Of course, unlike me, they hadn’t gone in determined to beat one down.

Most of them had landed the final blow by accident—while dodging, or protecting themselves.

After experiments and interviews, the headquarters reached a conclusion.

Awakened people grow when they defeat monsters.

Like in a game.

In other words, espers hadn’t grown endlessly because they had no limit.

They had simply been leveling up by constantly defeating monsters.

On the other hand, guides hadn’t grown—

because they only guided.

They had never actually dealt damage to monsters.

So if guides clear gates like espers do, they grow too. It really was a mutually supportive relationship…

Unlike espers, guides don’t show obvious physical changes right after awakening.

Only the espers’ strength was visible.

That was how this strange superior–inferior relationship formed between people who were technically the same kind of awakened.

Director Jeong Sigyeom shared all these findings with ESP associations in other countries and posted a detailed notice internally.

They were still investigating from different angles.

If anyone discovered wrong or new information, they were to report it immediately.

(There was even a reward.)

Still, two things remained unclear.

The first—

why my physical abilities had already improved when I escaped the “Recovered Strange Paradise” gate.

I hadn’t killed any monsters inside it.

So two hypotheses were being debated:

Either my body adapted to the environment while surviving inside the gate—

or the fruit that grew in the Recovered Strange Paradise had the effect of enhancing human abilities.

Honestly, either way is fine with me.

What matters is that the more gates I clear, the stronger I get.

The second unknown—

was physical guiding.

Director Jeong Sigyeom hadn’t announced or shared that information anywhere.

Because so far—

only I could do it.

We were ordered to keep quiet.

I couldn’t even test it or casually ask other guides.

But the very fact that we were told to keep it secret proved something.

For now—

I was the only one capable of radial guiding through physical strikes.

For now.

The Director seemed to have some idea.

He contacted two other S-rank guides besides me.

The first one had been considering retirement because their power had weakened over the past year.

They said they knew nothing.

The second—

an S-rank guide from the Graphite Squad—

hadn’t been interviewed yet.

But they were scheduled to return to headquarters soon for a discussion.

Guides and espers.

The more I learned, the less I understood.

“…I’m so bored.”

Strange.

Before, I used to enjoy just breathing and doing nothing.

Did I rest too hard for a whole month?

Inside the gate, I really had taken it easy.

Eat, sleep, play.

Eat, sleep, play.

Eat, sleep, play.

But if I had to do that again now—

it would be unbearably boring.

Maybe it was because my current life felt similar.

I never thought I’d be the type to think like this.

Anyway.

I was bored.

What could I do to kill time?

Taerin unnie had told me to call anytime.

But she was far busier than me.

Five Geumgang Squad espers were all receiving guiding from her alone.

They used to beg for another guide. Now they say they only need Taerin unnie…

Considering the personalities of those espers, I could understand her suffering.

Of course, she probably pitied me too.

Whenever we ran into each other in the past, we’d exchange sad looks.

“…Ugh. I’m seriously bored.”

I was lying there, staring blankly at the ceiling and counting the wallpaper patterns—

when my phone chimed somewhere in the bed.

I kicked the blanket aside and dug it out with my foot, then wriggled my arm free and grabbed it.

The notification was from the Platinum Squad group chat.

 

Yeon Dogyeong → Platinum Squad (Yoon Hyeya, Lee Shinra, Cha Eunhwi)

Ah, I’m bored.
Why is time moving so slow?

Classic Dogyeong whining.

So he was bored too.

I was about to ignore it as usual—

when the next message made me pause.

Yeon Dogyeong → Platinum Squad

Anyone want to do a quick gate run?

 

It was ridiculously tempting.

Even if we’d finished our quota, there was no problem voluntarily clearing more gates.

With their condition fully restored, C- and D-rank gates were easy for them.

They could even handle those without guiding.

I’d seen them casually “drop by” one on holidays before.

I had never followed.

But now—

I hesitated.

Should I… go too?

If my past self saw me now, she’d think I’d completely lost my mind.

Honestly, I thought so too.

Spending a precious day off—

with Yeon Dogyeong of all people?

Still… they really have changed.

People don’t change.

Trash is still trash even if you wash it.

But maybe—

if you fix it enough, you can reuse it.

Maybe it becomes recyclable trash at least.

The fact that I was even thinking this meant something.

Yeon Dogyeong, Lee Shinra, and Cha Eunhwi had changed that much.

They didn’t just walk on eggshells around me.

They genuinely took care of me.

At first, it felt fake.

But their attitude never changed.

They didn’t show disappointment when I didn’t guide them.

They never demanded it.

One time, Dogyeong looked like he wanted to hold my hand.

I showed my annoyance.

He panicked and said, “I—I just wanted to hold hands!” and went to sulk in a corner.

Shinra went over and asked, “Hyung, are you crying?”

Dogyeong wasn’t crying—

but his eyes were red.

For a second, I actually felt sorry for him.

It was so strange I wondered if someone had hit me on the head with a pork cutlet hammer.

Of course, I didn’t hold his hand.

Holding hands “just because”?

Creepy.

Anyway—

the people who once made my life hard mode had turned nice.

Now my life felt like easy mode.

That didn’t mean I wanted to get close to them.

This distance was perfect.

Maybe I should get a hobby…

Knitting. Cross-stitch. Flower arranging. Bonsai. Playing an instrument. Resin crafts.

I was listing hobbies I’d seen online—

when new messages appeared.

Lee Shinra → Platinum Squad

I’ll go.
Hyung, what about you?

Cha Eunhwi → Platinum Squad

I have work.
You two be careful.
Bring the communicator, just in case.

 

If I said, I’m coming too—

what would happen?

As if possessed, I typed:

Me too—

Then I deleted it.

No. Absolutely not. No matter how bored I am, I’m not selling my soul to the devil.