By Zephyria 
“Gi-dam-ssi, I heard you worked out all day yesterday too?”
“Ah… yes. It just happened…”
When I came to my senses, I realized I had been exercising at an intensity similar to the training Vasily used to put me through after work.
Yesterday, I had stayed at the Guide Association gym even after clocking out, only to be kicked out by a staff member because it was closing time. It seemed someone had seen that and told Jo Woo-yeon. I felt a bit embarrassed.
I really should start adapting to a normal life.
It’s not easy. Even though quite some time has passed since my regression, my mind still seems unable to accept the fact that I no longer have to enter Gates.
By the time I finished preparing the documents needed for guiding, it was already 9 o’clock. Time to head to the guiding room.
As I stood up, the office began to buzz. What was happening? The atmosphere was similar to when Vasily arrived, so I instinctively whipped my head around to look at the entrance.
But it wasn’t Vasily I saw. The ones entering the guiding room and looking around were… armed Association Espers?
They were dressed as if they could enter a Gate right this second. Given the situation, it was natural for people to be agitated. They didn’t look like they were here to receive guiding, so why on earth were they here? Just as I wondered if a vicious Esper criminal had escaped… I locked eyes with one of them.
Why does it feel like they’re coming this way?
A sense of foreboding washed over me.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, we need you to come with us for a moment.”
A familiar line. Last time it was a kidnapping, and this time the problem was that they actually came from the Association.
“I—why am I…”
“We cannot disclose the details here. This is an urgent situation, so we ask for your cooperation.”
“…….”
I wanted to grab the back of my neck and collapse. But I was far too healthy for that.
Thinking that staying here would only draw more attention, I followed them outside obediently. Besides, the atmosphere suggested they would drag me out by force if I resisted.
As I walked with them, I thought.
It must be because of Vasily, right?
I could guess the reason they came for me to some extent. Seeing as they called for me, it seemed to be for guiding… but it didn’t feel like Vasily had sent them. I knew Vasily better than anyone. He wasn’t the type to ask someone else to bring me.
It seemed the Association was summoning me on their own accord, apparently unaware that Vasily and I were completely finished. However, if I showed my face now, it would undoubtedly only fuel his anger.
“I’m mentioning this just in case, but if you’re taking me to guide Esper Vasily, there’s a problem.”
“I’m sorry, but we are simply carrying out orders to bring the Guide.”
“No, I mean, you should tell your superiors this first—”
Silence. They didn’t seem interested in listening to anything I had to say. Then again, they were just following orders, so it couldn’t be helped. Still, I had to try and persuade them.
I let out a sigh and spoke.
“My matching rate with Esper Vasily is only 4 percent. Even if I guide him, it won’t be very effective. Furthermore, there was a conflict between Esper Vasily and me a few days ago. Seeing me right now will only make him feel worse.”
“…….”
“Or at least share the situation with me. Is it that serious?”
Only when I changed the question did they finally open their mouths.
“Currently, there are no available Guides nearby. We need someone who can stabilize Esper Vasily’s condition until another Guide arrives… The order was to bring you because you can maintain contact with him for a long period.”
No available Guides? I wondered how many Guides had been carried out on stretchers while trying to guide him for them to say something like that.
“We have arrived. Please step out.”
After all that travel in the car, the place we arrived at was the Esper Association right next door. I wondered why they didn’t just let me walk, but it was a thoughtful gesture. If I had been led out like a prisoner by Espers, I would have been exhausted by the pouring attention before I even met Vasily.
Whatever. Since it seemed talking was useless, I just got out of the car. Cleaning up the aftermath wasn’t my role anyway. Once the Association people experienced Vasily spewing bloodlust the moment he saw me, they would never call me again.
I was glad this happened before I moved to a regional association. If this happened after I had already moved to the countryside, strange rumors would have spread, making things difficult in many ways.
I followed them obediently. At first, I thought we were heading to Vasily’s private room. But the moment we passed the normal elevators, I instinctively felt something was wrong.
They moved to a corner of the building, and a hidden elevator appeared.
I paused.
I had never ridden it, but I had heard about it often during my time as Vasily’s Guide. This was… the elevator leading to the monitoring zone in the Association’s basement, where Espers on the verge of a rampage are isolated.
Frowning, I asked.
“Is Esper Vasily currently on the verge of a rampage?”
“Not yet, but he is close to that state.”
Of course he is! If Vasily had actually rampaged, this entire area would be completely frozen by now and an emergency would have been declared!
Only then did I realize the severity of the situation, and my face turned pale. I wondered what on earth Vasily had done to end up in this state, and the mere thought of how many Guides had been sacrificed trying to guide him made me dizzy.
Wow, in the worst-case scenario, we might even have to remove the suppression chip?
My hands trembled. It meant a moment might come where I’d have to weigh the lives of millions of Seoul citizens caught in Vasily’s rampage against my own single life. I thought I was completely done with Vasily, but we’re entangled again like this?
It really feels like the world is lying to me. Otherwise, there’s no way something like this would happen at this time.
Perhaps because it was an elevator going straight to the lowest floor, the speed was so fast that my ears popped. Before I could even finish preparing myself mentally, the doors opened.
Why does it already feel cold…? Since it was my first time visiting the lowest floor of the Association, I looked around as I stepped out of the elevator. Vasily wasn’t visible yet, likely further inside.
I felt relieved. But I soon had to steel myself.
“Guide, please put this on.”
One of the Espers who brought me handed me something. I took it reflexively, and my arm momentarily lurched under the heavy weight. Looking down, I saw an Esper combat suit.
…Is the situation so serious that I have to wear this?
“Do I really have to?”
“It is a minimum safety measure.”
“Sigh…”
Without complaining, I quietly changed. The familiar discomfort and heavy weight enveloping my body welcomed me.
The way this is worn is still damn inconvenient.
As I grumbled inwardly while putting on the combat suit, the Espers standing beside me looked at me with curiosity. Ah, I realized it belatedly. The method of putting on an Esper combat suit is extremely complex, so they were puzzled that I, a mere Guide, was putting it on effortlessly.
I wondered if I should pretend to struggle now, but since the situation was urgent and it would be weird to start acting now, I finished putting it on.
Once I was fully geared up in the combat suit, I was handed cold-weather equipment for the Gate. Without a word, I wrapped that around myself as well.
“Then, let us move.”
I moved further inside with the Espers. A thick iron door opened, and a place like a walk-in freezer unfolded before my eyes.
This must have been a normal isolation room originally.
Now, it was a frozen warehouse covered in ice in every direction. The walls and floor were already dominated by ice, and it seemed the air itself would soon begin to freeze.
By the way, I thought Vasily would immediately kick me out the moment the door opened, but it was unexpectedly quiet. Wondering why, I looked around and saw Vasily lying on a bed in the center.
“Is he asleep?”
“He lost consciousness after being administered a sedative an hour ago.”
…He’s not asleep, he lost consciousness?
…I don’t know if that’s a blessing or a curse. If Vasily were awake, he would have been in a foul mood just by seeing my face, and I wouldn’t have even been able to approach him.
I came here expecting to be kicked out, but this meant I had no choice but to proceed with the guiding. And if a situation ever arose where Vasily truly began to rampage, eventually the suppression chip…
I shook my head violently. It wasn’t time to think that far yet.
“Then, inside…”
“…….”
“Guide?”
The Esper guided me inside, but my legs were frozen and wouldn’t move.
This situation, this scenery, was similar to when I died in the Gate. Everything was frozen, and Vasily was a few steps away. I felt as if stepping inside now would cause the sensations in my body to gradually fade, just like back then, until I eventually froze to death.
Just then, a warm heat surged from beside me. Turning my head, I saw a curtain of fire enveloping the area.
Was it a fire-type Esper? Thanks to that, my body warmed up, and my frozen muscles began to move.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes. I’m fine. Let’s go in.”