Aren't Guides Allowed to Bite Espers? - Chapter 2
“Where can you find a neat Esper like you? It seems Sawol has run out of usable excuses in her repertoire. Or maybe she has no intention of making logical excuses.”
“What should I do then?”
Listening to Ji-han’s words, Yugeon felt even more despondent. It seemed like it was the end now.
When Yugeon received the diagnosis of being an S-class Esper for the first time at the center, he had no idea he would end up in such a situation. With such a high rank, he naturally thought that guides who wanted to form a pair with him would line up.
Here, “pair” refers to the relationship where an Esper and a Guide are bound as partners. They have priority over each other, and typically pair up with awakened individuals with a matching rate of 50% or higher. Depending on the affinity, guiding efficiency improved, and it was a stable system.
Sawol and Yugeon’s matching rate was 89%. If they bonded through imprinting, they would undoubtedly achieve an unprecedentedly high matching rate.
But why did he have the highest matching rate with the Guide known for her arrogance in Branch A?
“What can you do? Just give up.”
“It’s really serious, I’m telling you. I might go berserk at this rate.”
Sawol had never paired with anyone before, not just Yugeon. Like the name of one of her nicknames, “Ice Wall,” countless Espers had tasted defeat in front of her sturdy ice wall.
“So, even if the matching rate is a bit low, do some 3rd stage guiding with another Guide.”
The guiding stages are divided into three levels. Stage 1 involves simple physical contact, like holding hands or hugging. Stage 2 includes deeper physical contact, equivalent to petting and kissing. And Stage 3 is intimacy.
What made it worse was that Yugeon’s matching rate with other guides was not even 30%.
With such a low matching rate, mere hand-holding or hugging wouldn’t provide any meaningful guiding effect.
If that’s the case, as Ji-han suggested, it means you have to engage in 3rd stage guiding to see any guiding effect…
“No, I don’t want to. How can I sleep with someone I just met?”
Yugeon would rather endure a bit of pain. He found it more uncomfortable to intimately engage with someone he didn’t even know.
“It’s a long way for our dear Geon to become an Esper.”
Ji-han spoke with his tongue in cheek, as if Yugeon was saying that calmly.
“Don’t think that way. Guiding is inevitable for Espers to survive.”
“It’s not over yet. Oh, Sawol. Hiya.”
Just as Ji-han and Yugeon were talking, Sawol entered the office. Ji-han greeted Sawol casually, but Sawol merely nodded at him, covered her nose while looking at Yugeon, and walked out.
“Hahaha. Did she really leave while holding her nose and looking at you?”
“Man, she’s really something. Why is she like that?”
“Hahaha. You guys are so funny.”
Yugeon’s head was pounding. Due to the accumulated fatigue from not receiving proper guiding, even minor irritations made his temper flare. He lifted the guiding crystal in his hand as if he were about to throw it away.
“Huff…”
Of course, he couldn’t throw it away. This guiding crystal, which Gu Sawol had charged for him, was precious. Although the guiding effect wouldn’t even be half as effective as contact guiding, without it, Yugeon would have to suffer from insomnia and tinnitus.
Yugeon sighed again and lowered his hand. The way he held the crystal in both hands made it look like he was praying devoutly.
“It’s too funny. I feel like I’m going to die.”
Ji-han, seeing that sight, burst into tears as he laughed. Yugeon’s inability to express his anger properly was quite pathetic.
“Gu Sawol, huh? Alright, let’s see how far this goes. Do you think I’d back down that easily?”
Yugeon thought to himself. His competitive spirit was ignited. He silently vowed once again that he would find a way to pair with Sawol, no matter what.
* * *
“So you got another rejection.”
“Ah… Where did you hear that?”
Yugeon came to the training center to cool his head a bit. As he was drinking water, Hangyul approached him, pretending to be knowledgeable. It was unbelievable that this would be the first thing he’d hear upon entering.
“From Ji-han.”
Yugeon didn’t intend to discuss what happened with Sawol and Ji-han, but apparently, he had provided enough gossip to the man known as the A-Branch’s Loudspeaker.
Hangyul handed his water bottle to Yugeon. Yugeon, feeling frustrated, chugged the water to the last drop and then crumpled the bottle with a loud crunch.
“Don’t bother Sawol so much.”
“No, she’s guiding other Espers. Why won’t she do it with me?”
“We’re just holding hands with each other.”
“I’m not even allowed to hold her hand. She doesn’t even want to breathe the same air as me now. If we pair up, it’ll be more comfortable for her since she’ll only have to take care of me. What’s so bad about that?”
“That’s your perspective. You should try thinking from Sawol’s point of view.”
“Whose side are you on, anyway?”
Hangyul ruffled Yugeon’s hair as if telling him to calm down. Yugeon felt like a kid whenever this happened.
Yugeon looked at Hangyul, who was much more mature than him, and muttered softly.
“Do you think she would have paired up with me if I asked?”
Hangyul’s eyebrows curved strangely, and then he burst into laughter. He seemed to be dismissing Yugeon’s words as a joke.
“That’s unlikely. Even though you’re an S-Class, you’re still a rookie who just joined. Sawol might not have acknowledged you.”
Baek Hangyul. He was Yugeon’s older brother, an S-Class Esper, and the captain of Alpha Team in A-Branch.
Unlike Yugeon, who had just manifested his abilities at the age of twenty-three and was still in the adaptation phase, Hangyul had been a prodigy who had been working at the center since he was fifteen, where people considered him a genius.
“That’s probably not the case.”
“Don’t you want to pair up with Sawol, Hyung?”
Hangyul stared at Yugeon without answering. To Yugeon’s knowledge, Hangyul had known Sawol for quite some time.
