Chapter 30 – GOY 30

#30

Professor ​Choi ​was ​overjoyed ​after ​checking ​the matching rate. ​I ​heard ​that ​the ​Esper Department was practically ​throwing ​a party.

I was ​placed in the ​same ​group ​as ​Joo ​Seung-hyuk ​for all training ​sessions, ​and ​since the groups ​for the mock battles ​changed, Joo ​Seung-hyuk and ​I became ​a two-person ​team. ​Some ​lectures were adjusted ​to fit ​Joo Seung-hyuk’s training schedule, ​and my shooting practice ​was moved from Class ​A to ​Class ​C. Thanks to that, I didn’t ​have to see Professor ​Oh ​for ​the ​rest ​of the semester.

The ​Guiding of ​an ​S-Class Esper was ​notorious ​for being difficult.

Professor Choi, noting ​that I ​had ​only recently been ​discharged ​from ​the ​hospital ​and might ​find ​it overwhelming ​to be in charge of Joo Seung-hyuk, ​showed me some ​consideration by telling ​me not to guide ​any other ​Espers for the ​time ​being.

It was a ​consideration I truly ​did not ​want.

In ​an instant, ​I ​had become ​Joo ​Seung-hyuk’s dedicated ​Guide.

The ​more ​I tried to ​distance ​myself from ​Joo ​Seung-hyuk, ​the ​more it seemed to have the opposite effect.

I really wonder where this story is heading… The future looked bleak, but right now, there was someone I was more worried about than myself.

I went to the Korea Ability User Hospital, which is operated by the state.

Contrary to what Joo Seung-hyuk had said, Kim Joon was still hospitalized.

I was told he had stayed in the hospital the entire time, except for the brief moment he visited the school for the matching rate test.

‘He said he was in Room 902.’

Since the accident happened at school, I heard he had been assigned a VIP room on the 9th floor.

But that was just an excuse.

It was obvious that the media would go wild once this incident came to light.

A Guiding Rejection Reaction was an accident that no one could predict. However, the moment the elements of an ‘S-Class Esper’ and an ‘F-Rank Guide’ were entwined, the story changed. There was no way reporters would miss such a provocative incident.

They would create an issue and tear them apart no matter what. To block that, they had hidden Kim Joon in a VIP room.

To get to the 9th floor, one had to pass an ID check and take a private elevator. Even after arriving on the 9th floor, there was another identity verification process. That was the protocol.

However, perhaps because I was an S-Class Guide, I was let through before I even submitted my ID.

Is this really okay…?

Regardless, I was able to reach Room 902 with ease.

There was a dedicated bell in front of the VIP room. But there was no response even after I pressed it.

Is he sleeping?

Just in case, I knocked lightly. Then, a voice drifted from inside the room.

“Who is it?”

“Is that you, Joon?”

It was a low voice, so different from the usual Kim Joon. Startled, I found myself asking back without thinking.

“Yeon-soo sunbae?”

With a surprised voice, the door swung open.

“Yeon-soo sunbae!”

“Joon.”

“Sunbae, are you okay?”

He urgently scanned my body.

“Yeah. As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”

“Thank goodness. Thank goodness.”

Kim Joon’s body swayed as if his legs had given out. Startled, I supported him.

“Joon, are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go inside for now.”

“Yes, sunbae.”

I tried to support him, but since Kim Joon was quite tall and sturdy even among Guides, he was a bit burdensome. Still, as I held his arm firmly and moved forward, Kim Joon shook his head.

“I’m okay. I can walk on my own.”

“But…”

“Sunbae, when did you wake up?”

“A few days ago.”

“But can you be discharged already?”

“Yeah. I just went into shock due to mana depletion. The test results are normal, and I’m in good condition.”

“Thank goodness.”

A tear suddenly fell from Kim Joon’s eye.

“Joon…”

“I was afraid that something terrible might have happened to you because of me…”

I hugged the sobbing Kim Joon.

He must have been under immense stolen contentpsychological [unauthorized copy]pressure. The news of my discharge must have already been reported in the articles; had he not known at all?

Ah, Kim Joon didn’t use the internet…

That detail appeared in the original novel as well.

When the news that an F-Rank Guide had enrolled broke, the internet was flooded with malicious comments. It was said that Kim Joon was so shocked by this that he became unable to look at the internet at all.

He’s probably still like that.

I understand. I was shocked by comments I saw when I was young, and I haven’t looked at them since. Even if I read an article, I make a conscious effort never to read the comments. Even if there are a hundred praising comments and only one hateful one, it makes me feel depressed.

A single malicious comment lingers in the mind, causing distress and preoccupation all day. I can still vividly remember a malicious comment I saw in middle school.

It was a sentence that expressed the idea of ‘I envy the Esper who gets to sleep with a kid like that. I wish I were an Esper too,’ but in a way that was a hundred times more vulgar.

But even if he didn’t use the internet, he could have watched TV. I looked at the large wall-mounted TV in the VIP room.

“…It must have been on the news. You didn’t see it?”

“I was too scared… I asked the guards and the school staff to let me know if you woke up, but…”

While someone was suffering this much, not a single person had informed him that Read on Read BL Novels[Read on Read BL Novels]I had been discharged. Of course, everyone was likely busy, but I felt a sense of resentment.

They probably ignored him because he’s F-Rank.

“I see… Everyone must have been busy.”

“Sunbae, I’m so sorry. Because of me…”

“Why is this because of you? This was just an unlucky accident. It’s common for Espers to show a Guiding Rejection Reaction, and it’s unpredictable.”

“No. It’s my fault. The moment I started Guiding, I felt my mana bouncing back. I should have stopped the Guiding then, but I panicked and pushed harder instead. Because of my mistake, I almost put both of you in danger.”

“It was your first time. No one is good from the start. It’s natural to make mistakes.”

Of course, it was true that Kim Joon had made a rookie mistake.

But he had no experience.

When someone awakens as an Ability User, they sign contracts with corporations or guilds and receive tailored training from a young age. Even if they don’t, they enter specialized schools or receive basic education on using their abilities in special classes for Ability Users.

This was why freshmen at the Esper Academy could participate in mock training starting from the first semester of their first year. It was assumed they had completed basic education during middle and high school.

However, Kim Joon was F-Rank. A minimum of D-Rank was required to enter the special classes.

While there were private academies run by corporations or guilds, the costs were exorbitant. Unless they came from a well-off or wealthy family, F-Ranks had no way to receive education even if they wanted to.

Kim Joon had awakened late, and his family circumstances weren’t very affluent. Even if he wanted to do practical training, there was no way for him to do so.

Therefore, it was inevitable that his skills would be lacking. Of course, a mistake doesn’t excuse a fault, but I felt no desire to blame him.

“Joon, it’s not your fault. There’s no need to blame yourself.”

I stroked his back.

Kim Joon’s back began to heave, and he broke into loud sobbing.

By the time he calmed down a bit, I handed him the tissues next to the bed.

At that, Kim Joon paused again.

“Sunbae, the wound on your hand…”

His gaze was fixed on the scar on my palm. I gave a light laugh.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kim Joon bit his lip. He had just barely calmed down, and since it looked like he might cry again, I quickly changed the subject.

“Now isn’t the time to worry about me. I heard you’re still receiving treatment. How is your condition?”

“…I’m not here because I’m sick.”

“What?”

“I’m just running away because I’m scared.”

Kim Joon’s voice dropped. The crying had vanished.

“I was confident. Even though I’m F-Rank, my matching rate was high, so I thought I was special. I secretly looked down on Guides who acted arrogant just because their rank was high.”

I was somewhat surprised by Kim Joon’s inner thoughts, which weren’t in the original. In <The Swamp of the Guide>, he was the embodiment of a kind, diligent protagonist who worked hard, and I couldn’t have imagined him looking down on others.

However, this honest side of him didn’t seem bad.

“But I wasn’t. I feel so ashamed [stolen content]and pathetic. I’m too embarrassed to find [visit our site]the courage to go back there.”

Kim Joon was someone who had endured any kind of bullying steadfastly. But this incident seems to have been too much for him to handle.

Was it my fault for putting those two in the same group? But if I apologized for that now, he would take it as meaning that an S-Class Esper was too much for an F-Rank Guide…

“Joon, I’ll say it again, it was an accident. You were just unlucky.”

“Actually, I didn’t faint then. I saw you Guiding. I thought I had to help too, but my body wouldn’t move. I’m truly trash. Someone like me shouldn’t have come to a place like this.”

I tightly held the hand of the despairing Kim Joon.

“Joon, I was like that at first too. Many people expected a lot because I was S-Class, but in reality, I didn’t know how to do anything, so it was just a series of mistakes.”

“No. You’re on a different level than me, sunbae.”

“That’s not true. I was just lucky enough to awaken as S-Class, so I had many opportunities to gain experience. I’m no different from you. And people come to school to study. There’s no need to be ashamed of making a mistake.”

“But…”

“I want to keep seeing Joon at school.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah.”

I meant this sincerely. Setting aside the original novel or the main uke, I didn’t want a hardworking junior to give up on his dreams because of something like this.

“Are you… forgiving me?”

“What do you mean ‘forgiving’? If your body is recovered, come back to school. Let’s attend together.”

“Yes. I will… Thank you. Thank you so much, sunbae.”

Kim Joon nodded. Then, tears began to fall rapidly again.

I tightly hugged the junior who had just begun his journey as a Guide.