By Zephyria 
“Why are you hitting a sick person!”
Rowan immediately grabbed the man’s waist. Joy hesitated for a moment before hurriedly hiding Jae-il behind her back. In the process, her arm brushed against Jae-il, and Joy involuntarily shuddered.
Bern was a Physical-Type Esper standing over 190cm. An A-Class Stipple, no less. Rowan was far too small and weak to deal with him. He had grabbed the man’s waist to restrain him, but he was no different from a cicada clinging to a tree. Far from pulling him away, he would be lucky if he wasn’t simply shaken off. However, Rowan clung tenaciously to Bern’s waist and pleaded.
“Team Leaderrr! You can’t. Jae-il hasn’t even started guiding yettt.”
“Let go of me! Why the hell would you give guiding to a bastard who’s dying to kill himself!”
The angry man’s voice seethed like a beast.
“You’re going to hit amplification too, Team Leader. Please, exercise some restraint.”
To save one person, a small man and woman were acting as bullet shields in front of Bern. Glancing at them, Jae-il wiped the flowing nosebleed with the back of his hand and bowed his head to Bern.
“I am sorry.”
Of course, Ha Jae-il was in the wrong. When dealing with an Oni of Grade 3 or higher, a Physical-type and a professional Psychic-type had to move as a pair. This was because the Oni’s body was too large for a Physical-type alone to locate the core. No matter how capable Jae-il was at psychokinesis control or how urgent the situation was, requesting support and reporting the status should have come first. Regardless of his skill to handle it alone, as long as he belonged to the military, it was right to follow Military Law. Furthermore, fighting with a civilian by his side. It was only natural for Bern, the team leader, to be angry, but the immediate priority was Jae-il’s condition.
Knowing the team leader’s personality well, Joy hurriedly continued.
“Even if you’re going to scold him, please do it after the guiding is finished. If we were contacted as well, it means the situation is dangerous.”
“…….”
These weren’t just words to gloss over the situation. Ha Jae-il was actually in serious condition. Even though he seemed to be acting composed, it was all visible to the eyes of a Guide. Not to mention the achromatic and rough energy surging irregularly, Joy, who had made contact with Jae-il, could explicitly feel the blood raging inside his skin.
“Oppa, come here. Jae-il says it’s hard.”
“Uh, yeah.”
Taking Joy’s outstretched hand, Rowan laid Jae-il down with the brief thought, Wow, it’s really bad today. The interlaced hands of the siblings pressed firmly down on Jae-il’s heart. Their eyelids trembled as they released their abilities.
“Joy. The head area, yeah. It’s completely clumped there. We need to fix that first.”
At Rowan’s instruction, Joy reached out with her other hand. But the moment she placed her hand on Jae-il’s forehead, she jumped and pulled it away immediately. It was a miracle that his head hadn’t burst when Bern smacked it.
“Ah… this guy, really.”
As Joy murmured with a serious face as if clicking her tongue, Jae-il apologized in a quiet tone.
“Don’t overdo it.”
“It’s not that. I was just wondering how you endured this.”
Joy had been complaining the whole way here, but she was always like this. When she saw an Esper suffering, her Guide instincts took over. He was struggling this much. He was holding on. Overwhelmed by pity, she would often open her channel wide.
“Then, I’ll start.”
Watching the three people struggling on the bed, Bern let out a sigh that felt like the ground was sinking. His downward gaze slowly rose and stopped at Jae-il’s fist. It was clearly visible to the naked eye that he was clenching it so hard his knuckles were white and trembling.
Guiding was possible simply by placing a palm over an Esper’s heart. However, contact beyond just the hand, regardless of the location, often made guiding much smoother. The reason most Espers overlooked unconscious skinship, even if it had sexual connotations, was because the effect was that much better. But Ha Jae-il was stubbornly restraining contact with the Guides. Bern tried to withdraw his harsh gaze and let out another deep sigh.
“Ugh. Oppaaa.”
Joy shuddered as blood suddenly gushed from Jae-il’s nose.
“It’s okay. Focus.”
Rowan’s handling was more experienced and composed than anyone’s. The startled Joy quickly regained her composure. Rowan, who quickly plugged Jae-il’s nose with a tissue, placed his hand back on his heart. Their guiding sessions were always this fierce and urgent.
It hadn’t been long since the guiding started. He must still be feeling the pain. Bern, looking at Jae-il’s furrowed brow with dissatisfied eyes, finally turned his back.
The more talented the Esper, the higher the quality of guiding required. Jae-il, who had undergone re-awakening from C-Class to A-Class, needed a proper Guide more than anyone. If only he had an exclusive guide who could dominate his everything, there would be no rampages born of a desire to die, and the large hole in the heart that sat there like a chronic illness would be filled.
But those vague hopes always ended in curses. Fuck. How many Backsplash Guides would it take? No, in the first place, he needs to attach himself to a Guide who actually fits for anything to happen. How can a human be built like that?
Bern suppressed his boiling anger. Right on cue, the gear on his wrist rang. It was an emergency call. Checking the gear, Bern ground his teeth so hard they made a grating sound.
In Neo, which had been peaceful for nearly ten years, Oni had begun to reappear. Even here in Haon, the capital considered the safest place, a Grade 3 Oni had appeared. The situation was turning ominous.
Bern gripped the doorknob without hesitation, opened it, and pushed it shut hard. He was in no mood or state to control his strength. The door closed with a loud bang!
“…….”
“…….”
Jae-il’s gaze stared blankly at the doorknob before returning to the ceiling. In the Guiding Room, which was filled with an energy as wicked as that of an Oni, only Rowan’s focused voice and Joy’s short responses echoed occasionally.
* * *
The area around the border of the Super-Integrated Nation ‘Neo’ was collectively called ’13th District.’ Unlike the sub-districts of other branches, the 13th District used an independent name rather than following a numerical sequence.
Although it was land beyond the military border, it was a place that had developed abnormally as maladjusted people, vagrants, and Anti-government Advocates began to live there, away from the government’s surveillance. The government always boasted about purging the 13th District, but since the land beyond the border was the dangerous territory of the Oni, it was never actually realized. The limited number of ability users were not even enough to protect Neo.
This ambiguous zone, which was neither easy to manage nor right to leave alone, was always a headache for Neo.
The 13th District, old land surrendered by humans to the Oni, preserved the appearance of the Old World. The forest of buildings, retaining a bleak and desolate feeling, was the last bastion for the marginalized. Most of those who had been weeded out or pushed aside when Neo was created lived there, but origins didn’t matter. Everything had already been mixed and diluted into the past. It had long since become a gathering place for an awkward crowd that couldn’t, and wouldn’t, blend into Neo.
The buildings where the people of the 13th District hid had windows that were extremely small or non-existent. This was because they had completely sealed off any gaps for intrusion to avoid Oni attacks. A dead city where even the breathing holes were blocked. Life within it was grueling and fierce, incomparable to that of Neo.
And among them, the sun began to set even in the 13th District near ‘Erto,’ which was said to be the least dangerous. When darkness fell, blood-loving Oni ran rampant. They had to hide before it got darker. Even the merchants of ‘Kron street,’ the most bustling area, began to pack up their goods one by one. Although most of the things on the stalls were second-hand goods, smuggled goods, low-grade food, or even scrap metal, they were essential daily necessities for the people living in the 13th District.
At a time when everyone was busy hiding in their own fortresses, the door of a building at the end of the street opened.
“Thank you.”
A woman, wrapped from head to toe so her gender couldn’t be identified, stepped out and bowed at the door.
“Not at all. The sun is setting. Please go inside quickly.”
A man, peeking his upper body through the thick iron door, wore a kind smile. The man, who looked to be in his mid-thirties, wore round-rimmed glasses and a doctor’s gown.
“Yes. It’s just around that building, so don’t worry.”
“Come back once you’ve taken all your medicine.”
The woman bowed deeply and thanked him. Feeling awkward by the repeated gratitude, the man waved his hand, telling her it was fine and to hurry along.
After watching until the woman completely disappeared, he stretched deeply. Just as he was about to turn around, thinking he should thoroughly lock the door before it got too late, his eyes caught the sign of the [Free Clinic], where the character for ‘Free’ had fallen off. The man frowned.
“Ah… I really need to fix that.”
It had been five years since he first had this thought. But it remained only a thought. Even though it was now called the ‘Clinic’ instead of the ‘Free Clinic,’ the man always ended with a short lament.
“Should I just take off the ‘Clinic’ part too?”
Muttering to himself, the man soon shook his head. If the word ‘Free’ disappeared, the already poor people would be even less likely to visit. Anyway, is it because it’s getting dark? Why is my vision so blurry?
Taking off his glasses, the man clicked his tongue at the foggy lenses. Then again, there were exceptionally many patients today, so he hadn’t had a moment to wipe them. The man rubbed the lenses with the hem of his shirt as a temporary fix and stepped inside the thick iron door.