By Zephyria 
HB Entertainment, a small to medium-sized entertainment agency, had a CEO’s office.
Inside, the CEO was having a private meeting with one of the agency’s idols.
The idol, with black hair, gentle, downward-sloping eyes, and a puppy-like face, carefully chose his words in front of the CEO.
“So, Yujin, what’s so important that you needed to see me?”
“It’s urgent.”
The person the CEO was meeting with was Yeon Yujin, who had recently been in a major accident and had barely recovered from the hospital.
‘Could something be wrong?’
The CEO’s thoughts were entirely focused on that. It was extremely rare for Yeon Yujin to come to see the CEO like this.
Seeing Yeon Yujin, who was always timid, requesting an urgent meeting like this, he expected it wouldn’t be good news.
However, the words that came out of Yeon Yujin’s mouth exceeded the CEO’s imagination.
“CEO.”
“Yes?”
“I want to leave this group.”
“…What?”
Yeon Yujin, or rather, Ahn Ga-hyeon, the S-class guide inside him, watched the CEO’s bewildered face and thought.
‘Am I crazy to live like this, being treated like garbage?’
Ahn Ga-hyeon had no intention of continuing Yeon Yujin’s life like a fool.
Her past life had been too difficult, and the other members of Yeon Yujin’s group, who were espers, were nothing but rude punks.
‘I’m getting out, no matter what.’
And after finding the person who killed ‘Ahn Ga-hyeon’ and getting revenge… she would enjoy a peaceful era.
That was the sole goal of Ahn Ga-hyeon, who had possessed Yeon Yujin’s body.
* * *
My name is Ahn Ga-hyeon. I was the youngest S-class guide to manifest at the age of just nineteen, and in fact, I was the best guide, evaluated as SSS-class.
‘I didn’t know it back then, the day after I took the college entrance exam.’
I never imagined that I would be called by the state and thrown into a dungeon gate.
At first, I didn’t know. I thought I was just sick from the accumulated fatigue of studying hard, but it turned out that it was the pain of manifesting as an esper or guide.
After suffering and losing consciousness for several days, I woke up to a different world.
A terrible dungeon break had occurred, and monsters had emerged, killing many people. The government mobilized troops to fight the monsters, but it was useless.
Only espers could fight them.
As the appearance of dungeons and monsters was witnessed, along with espers and guides working together to defeat the monsters, the government changed its policy.
‘Round up all espers and guides in the country and make them fight in the dungeons. It’s the only way now.’
The government, judging that it was the only way to restore the paralyzed city, searched the country and found the manifested espers and guides. It was a tragedy caused by espers and guides who followed the government’s wishes.
They even found me in the hospital emergency room, suffering from manifestation fever, and measured my grade.
‘What is this? What are you doing?’
‘Oh my god. According to the results, Ahn Ga-hyeon is a guide, an S-class guide.’
Unfortunately, among the espers loyal to the government, there was one with the ability to measure the potential of espers and guides. He said, with sparkling eyes, words that would plunge my future into the mire.
‘It’s called S-class, but it’s safe to say it’s SSS-class. It’s an incredible number.’
‘Is that good? I want to go home quickly.’
‘No, Ahn Ga-hyeon. You have to go to the dungeon for the sake of the country.’
‘What? No way. I want to go home.’
Anyone knows how much a high school senior who has just taken the college entrance exam wants to play. I was just a student who wanted to hang out with my friends right away.
The area where the dungeon break occurred was far from the capital, and the government was trying to conceal the fact as much as possible, so I didn’t know what was happening.
‘Drag him away. Train him to be used immediately and take him to the dungeon.’
‘Wh-what! Let go of me! This is kidnapping! Let go! Help me!’
But my opinion was completely ignored, and that day I was thrown into the front lines, teeming with dungeons and monsters.
In the face of a national crisis, anyone with abilities, whether child or adult, was drafted to solve the dungeon gates. That was the reality at the time.
“Aaaargh!”
“Sa-save me!”
It was hell. The espers and guides dragged in by the government fought and died to prevent monsters from coming out when a dungeon broke.
Torn to death, trampled to death, burned to death by the fire spewed by monsters, I gradually became desensitized to death as I watched them lose their lives in various ways.
Casually calculating how likely I was to survive today.
“Damn it, the number of guides keeps decreasing. At this rate, we’ll all be wiped out.”
Unlike espers with special abilities, guides were not much different from ordinary people without the protection of espers.
Naturally, the monsters targeted and killed the relatively weaker guides, and the number of living guides gradually decreased.
What that meant was that I, an S-class guide who survived until the last moment when the dungeon was completely subjugated, served as a healing potion for the espers every day.
As the difficulty of the dungeons increased, the number of espers and guides who died increased. The number of espers one guide was responsible for soared, and I, an S-class guide, was sucked dry of energy as I roamed the gates.
“I’m going to die…”
My body and mind had long been in tatters. After spending years stuck in the dungeon area, repeating the work of killing and saving, I was so tired.
“But let’s hold on a little longer. Only the last dungeon is left.”
“I will. I’m going to survive this damn dungeon no matter what.”
Standing by my exhausted side was Hyeon Jae-ha, an S-class esper of the same rank as me. We were able to survive until the last dungeon and become each other’s reliable partners, perhaps because we were of high rank.
But that was it.
“Ga-hyeon!”
When I entered the last dungeon to clear it, I took the boss monster’s attack on my body instead of Hyeon Jae-ha.
“Shit… Why did it have to be a dragon bastard?”
Curses poured out involuntarily.
My abdomen was blown open, and blood gushed from my mouth. I had seen it countless times, but it was an unrealistic sight.
Today is my turn.
Hyeon Jae-ha held me and cried.
“Don’t talk. The medical team will be here soon… You can live, Ga-hyeon.”
“Do you think I’d fall for that lie?”
Thanks to my sacrifice, Hyeon Jae-ha safely defeated the boss monster, the dragon, and received a reward, but it would take a long time for the medical team to get here.
‘Because civilians are never allowed to enter a closed dungeon until its safety is verified.’
That was generally the end of my fallen comrades. They often died of shock or excessive bleeding because the medical team didn’t arrive in time.
So Hyeon Jae-ha’s words were just a futile hope. It was a false hope to keep me alive even a little longer.
“Don’t… lie…”
I’m going to die here. I knew better than anyone that death was approaching. I wasn’t in pain anymore, and my senses were dulled, so I thought I was going to die soon too.
‘I’m sleepy.’
My eyes were closing. The approaching death quickly consumed my body.
It was a futile, dog-like death.
“No, Ga-hyeon! There’s something I haven’t told you yet…”
Jae-ha cried and desperately shouted something, but his voice didn’t reach me.
The world turned black.
You bastard. You should have said that sooner.
‘It’s all useless when you die…’
That was the end. I died without even leaving a will.
That’s what I thought.
* * *
“Here! The patient is awake!”
‘So noisy…’
Something was wrong. I thought I was dead, but it was too bright around me. And there were too many people’s voices.
‘What is it? Am I in heaven?’
Of course, I believed I had come to heaven because I had gone through all sorts of hardships and struggles while living.
But it was too noisy for the heaven I had imagined.
‘…What?’
“Patient Yeon Yujin has finally regained consciousness!”
‘Yeon Yujin? Who is that?’
I was confused by the name I had never heard before, and someone forcibly lifted my eyelids to open my eyes.
“Hey, Yeon Yujin. I know you’re awake. Get up, don’t pretend.”
A man with a very displeased expression was frowning as he looked down at me.
The young man’s forehead was furrowed.
‘What’s with this young punk…’
His words were so dirty.
I could bet the last 10 years of fighting monsters that he wasn’t worried about me.
‘I died and came back, and now a rookie who’s not even a chick is talking back to a senior.’
Where’s Hyeon Jae-ha? Why is an untrained recruit by my side?
Perhaps because I had been unconscious for a long time, I was about to move my chapped, dry lips.
“What…”
“You have to fulfill the contract. You barely got into the group as our guide, right?”
‘Contract? What contract?’
More than that, didn’t this bastard call me Yeon Yujin?
“As a guide, you have to serve the espers well. Stop pretending to be weak and get up.”
Hearing those words, I got angry. I felt like my head was spinning.
“…Hey.”
“What?”
“You rotten, rude bastard. What? A guide exists to serve espers well? Huh?”
I grabbed the head of the guy I could see. His flowing hair was a work of art.
I pulled it as if I was going to pull it all out.
“Argh! Yeon Yujin! You crazy bastard! What are you doing?!”
What else? I’m trying to educate an esper brat who has no manners.
“How dare a chick esper talk down to me in front of me?”
Crack.
“Kaaaaa!”
A handful of hair was in my hand.
“Behave yourself, you bastard.”
No esper could act recklessly in front of me, the most senior S-class guide.
Who do you think you are, acting up like that, you impudent thing.