By Zephyria 
“Aaaargh!” My head! Are you crazy? Let go! Let go, you crazy bastard!”
“Crazy bastard? Heo-eoeo, look at this one. Back in my day, you had to prostrate yourself before your superiors, no matter what.”
I gave him some advice with a smile, but this rude little pup was spewing profanity.
“Whatever. You crazy bastard. You tried to kill yourself because you couldn’t take it anymore, and now your brain’s completely fried?”
He was something else. It had been a long time since I’d seen someone spew such harsh words in front of me. Feeling my blood boil, I grabbed his joint instead of his hair.
‘Where is Hyeon Jae-ha?’
Not even bothering to educate this rude bastard. Did he just dump it all on me because it’s a hassle?
‘No choice, I guess.’
I’ll set you straight.
“Well, will that nasty mouth of yours quiet down if I twist this a little?”
You see, my nickname was Joint-Popping Artisan.
I tapped his shoulder, and the arrogant Esper’s face turned pale.
“D, don’t say ridiculous things!”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Even after my threatening warning, this little pup of an Esper just snorted.
“I’m speechless… Hey, Yeon Yujin. I’m telling you nicely, stop with the crazy shit. Before I kick you out of the group and lock you up in a mental hospital.”
Whether he knew I almost pulled his hair out by the roots, his body reacted honestly, but his mouth still ran on impudently.
“Go ahead and try if you can.”
“…Are you really crazy?”
“I’m perfectly fine. You’re the one who needs to install some manners in your brain.”
“You’re completely out of your mind. Aaaargh!”
Did he think the talk about popping joints was a joke?
A human was easier than eating a piece of cake compared to a monster.
I twisted his arm with force, and the guy I was holding screamed.
But there was something that had been bothering me since earlier.
‘Yeon Yujin, did he say?’
“Hey.”
“Wh, what!”
“Why are you calling me Yeon Yujin?”
‘Who is that?’
My name is An Ga-hyeon.
Why is he calling me by a name I’ve never even heard of?
I was genuinely curious, but at my words, the arrogant Esper’s expression twisted strangely.
“Hey… you… did you lose your memory?”
“What?”
“Your name is Yeon Yujin. The only Guide member of our team, Secrety.”
“…What team did you say?”
“Secrety. The boy group you belong to. Don’t you remember?”
What is going on?
Seeing my frozen reaction, the guy who claimed to be my teammate muttered.
“Looks like he really doesn’t remember.”
“…Tell me more. Who is Yeon Yujin?”
A cold answer returned to my questioning.
“The member of Secrety who only gets the worst reviews. A nuisance who just tarnishes the other members’ faces.”
“……”
“The team concept needed a Guide to complement the Espers, so Yeon Yujin, that’s you, barely squeezed into the debut lineup at the last minute.”
“……”
At those words from the Esper whose name I didn’t even know, my head spun as if I’d been hit.
‘What the hell is this?’
Secrety? An idol group made up of Espers and Guides?
‘Does something like that even exist?’
When… when I was dying, they were just conscripting Espers and Guides to stop the monsters at the Dungeon Gate.
Idols? There are guys who are doing such peaceful jobs?
‘…And that’s me?’
No way. I can’t believe it.
“Hey! Where are you going! Hey!”
“Shut up.”
With staggering legs, I left that place. I ignored the noisy Esper and threw him to the other guys, got out of the hospital bed, and hurriedly ran to the bathroom.
‘I… I need to see a mirror! I have to see a mirror!’
My sudden actions greatly embarrassed the others.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Isn’t he going to do something dangerous again?”
“I don’t know. Grab him first!”
‘This much interference is nothing.’
I easily ignored their attempts to grab me. There was no way those untrained fledgling Espers could catch up to me, an S-class Guide who had been on the front lines.
“Since when was Yeon Yujin so fast?!”
Leaving behind someone’s hollow voice, I went into the bathroom and locked the door.
“Haa… haa….”
In the clear mirror was a stranger.
“What… what happened…”
The dirty, disheveled An Ga-hyeon who had been rolling around in front of the Dungeon Gate was gone.
What was reflected in my eyes was a young man with pale skin, thick black hair, and a pretty, boyish face.
His large, round eyes, like peach seeds without double eyelids, were innocent like a deer, and his lips were red as if he had eaten a rat.
And why was his frame so thin? He looked malnourished and sickly, like someone who hadn’t eaten well, which was absurd. Compared to my strong body, hardened by intense battles with monsters, he had a withered, wooden figure.
‘No way….’
Did I really become this guy named ‘Yeon Yujin’?
And, again, a Guide?
That damned Guide?
‘And… I became a Guide who is ignored among these green Espers who haven’t even lost their baby fat yet?!’
Goddamn it. If this is going to be like this, just kill me again!
Was it because I was stressed beyond my limit? My head, which had been dizzy since earlier, was spinning. I blinked once, and the ceiling and floor were reversed.
‘Huh… why is the world upside down.’
Did I get my neck cut?
“Yeon Yujin! Open this door! Come out right now!”
It was noisy outside. The sound of them trying to force the locked door open was so loud that I tried to answer, but no voice came out.
‘Ah… am I collapsing right now.’
What kind of body is this weak?
‘It’s better this way….’
If this is reality, I don’t want to open my eyes again.
When I wake up from this nightmare, I hope to see the bloody battlefield. Then I will ask Hyeon Jae-ha.
What was he trying to say to me before I closed my eyes.
And so, I fainted.
But unfortunately, the reality given to me remained unchanged.
Blink. Blink.
‘…It’s not in front of the Dungeon.’
When I opened my eyes, I saw the hospital ceiling I had seen before I collapsed. When I turned to the side, one of the Espers who had been playing a mobile game saw me and screamed in surprise.
“Oh! He’s awake! He’s awake!”
“Shut up, you bastard. Do you have to burst the patient’s eardrums?”
When I growled in a hoarse voice, the Esper mumbled stupidly.
“Oh… well, he seems fine for now. Everyone, come here! Yeon Yujin is awake!”
When the Esper, who looked younger than the ‘Yeon Yujin’ in the mirror, made a fuss, people soon gathered from outside.
They weren’t doctors or nurses. What rushed to me as I regained consciousness was a middle-aged woman in a suit, a man in his 30s with a protruding belly, and the arrogant young Esper I had seen before I fainted.
“…Yeon Yujin? Do you recognize us?”
The middle-aged woman in the suit asked cautiously. I had been taught to be kind to women, the elderly, and children, so I answered slowly, while being wary.
“…I don’t know who you are.”
“Oh my god.”
“Who are you people? And who am I?”
As I crouched down, tensed up, and took a defensive stance, the tall, handsome young Esper standing in the back muttered.
“I’m going crazy. He’s always causing trouble, and now he’s lost his memory? He’s really doing all sorts of things.”
“Ho-yeon-ah. He just woke up, so maybe don’t criticize him so much……”
When the bespectacled man in his 30s with a protruding belly tried to stop the Esper, the cold-looking Esper became even more agitated.
“Why? Manager-nim, you know too, right? How trashy that guy was. Our team is about to be ruined because of him!”
“Ra Ho-yeon!”
The person called Manager tried to stop him, but that guy named Ho-yeon strode towards me….
Slap-.
“……!”
“Still don’t remember? Yeon Yujin?”
He suddenly slapped me, who was just sitting still.
“We were on our way to an important event, but it was a mess because you disappeared without a word. Do you even know how long it’s been since we got this schedule?”
“…….”
“You probably don’t. So you don’t even think about the group’s image and leisurely go out and get into a car accident. And get torn apart by third-rate media outlets that only churn out sensational articles.”
‘…This bastard, he hit me?’
A young kid I didn’t even know suddenly slapped my cheek.
I felt disgusted.
‘Even Hyeon Jae-ha, the commander of our unit, couldn’t touch me, and now some pale Esper who hasn’t even lost his baby fat is hitting me…?’
More than when I beheaded a monster that came out of the Dungeon and had its fluids splattered on my head, more than when I starved for a week to avoid monsters and ate moldy bread while crying.
It was very, very humiliating.
It was a lava-like anger that I hadn’t felt in a long time.