By Zephyria 
80%. For an ordinary Esper, that was a value that would cause a panic over imminent death. However, the man calmly climbed into the ambulance on his own. Mid-level Espers, watching this rigid and tenacious sight from a distance, whispered in hushed tones. They were ability users who had arrived a step later than the man.
“Wow. I’ve heard about it, but isn’t he a monster at that level?”
“To take down two Grade 3s alone….”
The Espers, looking back and forth at the receding ambulance, shook their heads in disbelief. No matter how much Ha Jae-il was a Physical-Type Esper close to a Multi-type and a sharpshooter with extreme accuracy, killing Grade 3s alone was a difficult result to comprehend.
“By the way, did you hear the Amplification Hazard Level?”
Another Esper standing next to the one with their mouth agape shook their head. A look of sheer disbelief was added.
“…Was that a value one could even endure?”
* * *
Joy had a more anxious face than at any other time of the day. As she bit her thumbnail, a restless click, click sound echoed in the narrow space. The interior of the elevator was filled with the tension she emitted. Her gaze, looking up at the numbers, wavered anxiously.
After tapping the floor with her toes a few times, she abruptly lowered her gnawing hand. She couldn’t take it anymore. With a nervous hand, she poked the chest of the man standing next to her and spoke.
“You go in first in a bit.”
At that, the man’s face turned pale, as if he had heard a death sentence.
“N-no way.”
Joy frowned at the man’s answer. Useless fellow. Then, she poked him hard in the side with her elbow.
“Ow!”
As the man twisted his waist and groaned, Joy twisted her lips. He was exaggerating; she hadn’t even poked him that hard.
“We’re going in together anyway. Just open the door first.”
“If we’re going in together, why does that matter?”
“Because it doesn’t matter, you open the door.”
“I said I don’t want to.”
“Ugh, you’re the older brother. Act like an older brother for once.”
“Wait, you only call me ‘oppa’ at times like this?”
The one countering Joy’s absurd insistence was her twin brother, Rowan. Because he was born 3 minutes and 30 seconds earlier, he had inevitably become the older brother, but he was a formal brother in name only, frequently neglected and embarrassing to even call an older brother.
“Be grateful that I’m even calling you ‘oppa’.”
When Joy snapped, Rowan pouted. Seriously, anyone watching would think she calls me that normally. After a few seconds of puffing out his cheeks and grumbling, the arrival chime rang.
“Ah. Crazy. I’m going insane.”
Unable to overcome her anxiety, Joy let out a curse. Her mouth had always been foul, but since entering the Center, it was unclear how many times she had used vulgarities like fuck, damn, and crazy. Only Rowan, who heard it all right beside her, felt his ears rotting.
“Let’s go slowly.”
As Joy dawdled, the slightly more rational Rowan pulled her hand.
“Are you trying to kill Jae-il?”
Joy and Rowan were not very tall. In fact, they were on the smaller side. Having shared the genes of their petite parents, they were clearly siblings to anyone. Joy barely exceeded 155cm, and Rowan was also short for a man. Inside the Center, they looked even smaller when compared to the Espers.
The blonde man and woman with blue eyes bickered in front of the elevator. Passing Espers noticed them and whispered among themselves.
“They’re like squirrels.”
“Yeah, totally squirrels.”
Their voices were loud, intentionally meant to be heard.
“Hey, you lot! Shut up!”
Already sensitive, Joy finally exploded. When Joy screamed, the Espers glanced back and hunched their massive bodies. It was a very artificial cowering.
“Oh my, how scary.”
One could tell just by the way they chuckled with nonchalant faces.
“Just go on your way! You idiots! I’ll just serve-boarding you right now!”
When Joy took a large step forward with a threat, they acted truly surprised this time. In truth, it was because of the word ‘serve-boarding’. The men quickly shifted their stance, clapped their hands with a loud snap!, and gave thumbs-up.
“Hang in there, Joy!”
“Yeah! Joy! Rowan, hang in there too!”
Each wearing a smile, they slowly backed away.
“Ugh. I’m going to crush those guys someday.”
“Joyyy… I’m scared.”
Though they were short, Joy and Rowan were Guides whom Espers could not touch. Their rank was a whopping A-Class, and their detailed class was Backsplash. The detailed classes borrowed terminology from Poker, and Backsplash was the highest among them. Of course, Espers used the same rank table as Guides, but as long as there was a legal clause stating that Guides always take precedence over Espers, the Esper was inevitably lower even if they were the same rank.
The proportion of the Backsplash class among all Guides was 5%. The twin siblings, who possessed both numerical rarity and outstanding guiding abilities, were treated quite preciously even in the Haon Branch Center. The peculiar thing was that they could only perform Backsplash-level guiding when they were together. Individually, their guiding rank was A-Class, and their detailed rank was ‘Poker’, which was lower than Backsplash.
A Guide could guide an Esper of the same or lower rank. In urgent situations, they might guide an Esper of a higher rank, but this was a trend to be avoided except during wartime. This was because the deviation was severe depending on the matching rate, and a mistake during guiding could lead to loss of consciousness, excessive bleeding, or even life-threatening danger.
While Joy and Rowan could guide almost any rank of Esper when together, those at A-Class Stipple or higher—the rank immediately below them—were still a burden. This was due to the principle that the higher the rank, the more energy was drained for guiding. Moreover, an Esper like the one today was particularly difficult. As she walked down the hallway, Joy bit her nails again.
“In my opinion, Ha Jae-il isn’t a Backsplash.”
They were on their way after receiving a call to guide Ha Jae-il. To Joy’s complaint, Rowan spoke soothingly.
“There are no S-Class Guides in Neo. Besides, you know well that even an S-Class is useless if the matching rate is low.”
Joy shook her head as if she couldn’t believe it. It was almost an insistence.
“Or maybe he’s around that level? Otherwise, I wouldn’t feel like throwing up every time I do it.”
“…….”
“You know how it is. On paper, he’s not S-Class, but it feels higher than Backsplash. That’s what I think.”
“Our Joy is having a hard time.”
It was natural for Joy to be this frightened before even starting the guiding.
When guiding an Esper named Ha Jae-il, the word ‘limit’ was insufficient to describe it. Literally, they came back from the brink of death. Even when the two of them, who had a relatively high matching rate, poured in an entire day’s worth of energy, it was difficult. The ones who always waved the white flag, exhausted and wanting to stop, were Joy and Rowan.
Every time that happened, Jae-il would whisper a small, “I’m sorry.” While Espers generally tended to be attractive, Ha Jae-il was on another level. He possessed such striking looks that he was famous both inside and outside the Center, even having his own fan club. His languid eyes, which bore a deep sense of boredom, his sharp bridge of the nose, and his masculine jawline harmonized in an exquisite manner.
Regardless, seeing that handsome face looking down with his lower lip bitten hard in a pitiful display made him look incredibly heart-wrenching.
What was the point of barely stopping the bleeding? His pain would remain. Recalling a time when he had used too much of his ability out of pity, only for both of them to come down with a severe body ache the next day, Rowan shook his head vigorously. I’m never doing that again.
“I’ll open the door and go in first,” Rowan said in a solemn tone in front of the Guiding Room. Joy hid behind Rowan, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“Thank you. You’re the only one I can count on, Oppa.”
As she spoke tearfully, Rowan pouted for a different reason. A pointless sense of pride welled up inside him.
Let’s not get greedy. Just stop the bleeding and lower the Amplification Hazard Level to 30%. No matter how pitiful Ha Jae-il looks, I can’t let myself be swayed. We’re doing this to survive; there’s no need to risk my life. Rowan vowed to himself over and over. Just as he swallowed hard and was about to open the door, a hand as large as a pot lid suddenly shot out. Grabbing Rowan’s hand, it violently twisted the doorknob.
“Ugh?”
“Uuuuh?”
Faced with such overwhelming strength, Joy and Rowan’s eyes widened simultaneously. Who is this idiot who’s just brute force?
“Ha Jae-il, you son of a bitch!”
A man with a build as massive as his hand flung the door open with a shout that seemed ready to tear the room apart. The two small squirrels staggered.
The man, heading straight for Jae-il, seemed furious. He didn’t say a single word before delivering a crisp blow to the head of Jae-il, who was weakly straightening his upper body and bowing his head first.
Jae-il, whose head snapped forward, remained composed as if he had anticipated the man’s action. He didn’t even look particularly displeased. His fluffy hair slid forward. Despite the blow being strong enough to make a loud smack sound, he simply rubbed the back of his head indifferently.
Joy and Rowan remembered the implicit guideline within the Center—that the man who suddenly appeared was Bern, the team leader of the department Jae-il belonged to, and that an angry Bern must be stopped at all costs—yet they couldn’t move hastily. This was because the moment the door opened, Ha Jae-il’s energy surged out, choking the breath from them. The moment Joy and Rowan covered their mouths, Bern’s hand rose toward Jae-il’s head once more.