The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 87

I let out a loud sigh at the sight of Yeon Dogyeong, Lee Shinra, and Cha Eunhwi staring at me nervously.

“Who said it was your fault? I was just talking to myself because it feels pointless. Stop looking at me like that. It’s making me uncomfortable.”

“But if everything the Director said is true, then the fact that you were trapped inside a gate…”

“If I had died or been seriously hurt in there, then yeah, I’d be furious. But that didn’t happen, so it’s fine for now. More importantly, Director—if these guys can receive guiding from me while we move together, what about the other squads?”

For C-rank and D-rank gates, receiving guiding before entering the crack would probably be enough. They could clear them in a calm and stable state.

But A-rank and upper B-rank gates that might connect again someday? That wouldn’t work.

A lot of people would die.

Gates where dozens—sometimes hundreds—had died flashed through my mind.

I don’t like espers. But disliking them because they have bad personalities is completely different from thinking they deserve to die.

The Director answered slowly.

“All associations are working at full speed to develop stabilizers. At the earliest, by the end of this year—or early next year—we should be able to distribute a new drug with much stronger effects and fewer side effects. Don’t worry too much.”

That was a relief. No one knew how effective it would actually be, but training more guides at this point was impossible anyway.

The Director gave a faint smile at my relieved expression, then took the paper to the shredder.

When it was completely destroyed, the discussion about “classified information” ended.

“Now, back to the original topic. If guiding abilities can newly awaken, then it’s possible that other A-rank guides whose stats have improved might experience the same phenomenon. Guide Yoon Hyeya, Guide Lee Muhwan—did you notice any signs before your new abilities awakened?”

“Nope. None at all. I was just happily beating up monsters when I found out. Honestly, if Shinra hadn’t pointed it out, I might not have noticed.”

“Same here. No warning signs. One of our squad’s idiots was annoying me, so I thought, ‘If I force that fool to use his ability and then don’t guide him, maybe he’ll finally learn his lesson.’ I smacked him on the back—and he collapsed. That’s how I figured it out.”

“….”

The Director looked like he had a lot to say but didn’t know where to begin.

I was used to that look.

He asked a few more questions, but neither Lee Muhwan nor I had anything useful to add.

Eventually, he used another meeting as an excuse to dismiss us.

When we all stepped out of the office, Lee Muhwan called out.

“Guide Yoon Hyeya.”

“What.”

Dogyeong answered instead.

I stared at him with tired eyes and replied properly.

“Please ignore him. I don’t know how he keeps getting more embarrassing every day… Anyway, what is it?”

“Actually, I can read fortunes.”

“…Oh… okay….”

What? He looked perfectly normal and kind, which made it even more confusing.

“I’m serious. The reason I volunteered for the Graphite Squad was because I was told if I stayed at headquarters, I’d get so stressed I’d die early. So I pretended to be nice and transferred.”

“You… pretended to be nice.”

“Yes. I had no intention of returning to headquarters. But before I came back, I had my fortune read—and it said I would meet a benefactor.”

“Oh. Is that me?”

“Based on the feeling… maybe.”

“Don’t try anything weird with our Yoon Hyeya.”

“Yeah. Don’t take advantage of Hyeya noona just because she seems innocent.”

“If you’re done here, perhaps you should get going. You just returned to headquarters; I’m sure you’re busy. We also have a schedule.”

Before Lee Muhwan could even finish speaking, Dogyeong, Shinra, and Eunhwi cut in from behind me.

It didn’t feel like he was trying anything weird. And I’m not that innocent. And our “schedule” was just running a gate later tonight.

“…Well. I suppose that’s that. I’ll be going, then.”

I honestly didn’t know how to deal with someone suddenly talking about fortunes and benefactors.

He didn’t seem like a bad person. Just… uncomfortable.

Lee Muhwan simply waved.

“It was nice meeting you. Let’s talk again if we get the chance.”

“Ah, yes. See you next time. You too, Esper Seo Jaeyeon.”

We wrapped up the farewell quickly and returned to the operations room.

The moment we stepped inside, Dogyeong spoke.

“This won’t do.”

“What now?”

“You heard what the Director said. Gates are more dangerous than we thought. From now on, we need to be even more careful.”

“We’re already careful.”

With Cha Eunhwi as squad leader, I could confidently say we were more cautious than any other squad.

“Instead of talking nonsense, try fixing your speech. Didn’t you grow up with Shinra? He speaks politely just fine. Why do you have zero manners?”

“I barely even went to elementary school…”

“That’s not related—actually, never mind. I don’t want to have this conversation. Ask your captain, Cha Eunhwi, to explain your flaws to you. Let’s drop it and go clear a gate so we can rest.”

When your head feels complicated, it’s better to move your body.

If I went home like this, I’d just lie awake thinking about everything the Director said.

He did say it was all speculation. I wanted to treat it like that.

But the three of them stared at me seriously.

Then Dogyeong walked over.

“Yoon Hyeya.”

“What.”

“If something happens, we’ll protect you this time. So don’t go far.”

“Hyeya noona. Last time, I couldn’t do anything… But if something happens again, I’ll save you first.”

“……”

“We should improve our strategies too. Maybe use more equipment? You’ve gained enough experience that your physical abilities are close to an esper’s, but the fact that you don’t have a special combat ability still worries me.”

“Oh, what about grenades? Headquarters gives out mini-sized kits. We could just stuff Hyeya’s bag full of them.”

“Survival kits? I got one earlier. I’ll show you what’s inside.”

At some point, they had completely excluded me from the conversation.

Forget clearing a gate—they had already sat down and were seriously planning.

They never listen to me. Not before, not now….

But before, they were just rude and selfish.

Now it was different.

I had planned to make them regret everything—to make them understand my position and crawl like doormats.

But…

Even when I snap at them, they just grin. If I tell them to do something, they say okay, yes, do you need anything else? And now they’re worried about me.

It wasn’t twisted, hell-born obsession.

It felt more like… guardianship.

“Hyeya’s bag absolutely needs emergency rations. If her bag is full, she won’t pick up weird food.”

“No, Eunhwi. People like Hyeya and me would think, ‘This is for real emergencies. Let’s look for something nearby to eat first.’”

“I’d prefer giving her a proper medical kit… If I’m there, I can heal her anytime. But there might be situations where I’m not.”

…Yeah.

I think we should give up on clearing a gate today.