By Zephyria 
‘Now is the time.’
I quickly diverted all the Guiding energy clumped in my head to my feet. And I killed my presence as if it didn’t exist.
It was a feat that other Guides could never attempt. This was closer to a bizarre act that I had developed as a joke because I was so bored at the front lines.
‘I could have extracted Guiding energy by holding hands with the chick Esper kids before coming in here, but…….’
The Ability User Management Bureau wasn’t stupid enough to miss that, so I gave up on that method a long time ago.
If I got caught, it would be like advertising to the whole neighborhood, ‘I’m a suspicious guy! I’m a Guide trying to hide my stats!’
This was the only trick that wouldn’t get me caught. Well… other Guides wouldn’t even know this method itself, so the Bureau wouldn’t notice. Ordinary Guides would only focus on efficient Guiding to lower the Esper’s Corruption Level. There would be no reason to practice such tricks.
‘Leave only a tiny bit.’
Let’s see. For C-Class, I guess I should leave about a spoonful of energy. D-Class was probably the size of a fingernail.
I was lucky to have met and trained Guides of various Classes while I was on the front lines. While teaching Guiding, I was able to get a rough estimate, so I knew how much energy Guides of each Class possessed on average.
In other words, this was a game I was bound to win.
The clueless machine worked normally.
With a sensation of something whooshing out of my head, a voice came from the machine.
-Extraction of Yeon Yujin Guide’s Ability successful. Proceeding with analysis. Please wait a moment.
A notification popped up a few seconds later.
-Data analysis complete.
The employee asked the Ability Measurement machine for the results.
“What are the results?”
-Results announcement. Name, Yeon Yujin. Analysis estimates C-Class Guide.
“…C-Class?”
The Bureau employee’s expression hardened.
I pretended to be clueless and made a fuss to the employee.
“Wow. I’m C-Class? I leveled up! I was originally D-Class…!”
Hey, you clumsy Bureau employee. Control your expression. Stop showing off that you’re suspicious.
Smiling brightly with that intention, the employee barely managed to change his expression.
“Ha, haha…. Just a moment. Shall we run the test one more time?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing much. This machine sometimes makes mistakes.”
“Hmm….”
“We ask for your understanding as this is for accurate measurement.”
“I understand.”
However, the result value did not change.
-Results announcement. Name, Yeon Yujin. Analysis estimates C-Class Guide.
The machine announced that I was C-Class like a parrot. It was a natural result. Every time I was tested, I gathered the energy towards my toes, leaving only a spoonful of it in my head where the test was being conducted.
“Sh-Shall we try it one more time…?”
“Again?”
“This is the last time!”
With a broad mind, I obediently followed the employee’s instructions and measured four more times after that.
Of course, the results did not change.
Each time, the expression of the employee conducting the test turned bluish.
“Is there something wrong…?”
I asked, pretending to be worried in an irritating way, and the employee gave up and forced a smile.
“No. The test was successfully completed.”
“Th-Then I’m C-Class?”
“…Yes. Congratulations. It’s rare for the Class to change. You’ve gone up one Class.”
“I know! When the Ability User Management Bureau sent me an official document for re-examination, I wondered why they were making such a request to me……. I think it was a good idea to come! Thank you.”
“Haha. Yes….”
The employee’s eyebrows twitched. Oh dear, he seems disappointed because it’s not the result he wanted.
‘Not my problem.’
I was excited to confirm that my skills were not dead.
‘Look, Potato. This is the power of the former SSS-Class Guide. Did you see that?’
As I gloated inwardly, Potato gave me a look of disdain.
[ Yeah, yeah. You’re so great. ]
It was as if he was saying that wasn’t a big deal, but I didn’t care.
I got up from the machine chair and asked the employee with a refreshing feeling.
“Then should I go to the next examination room?”
“Yes…. You can go to Room 2. The employee there will guide you.”
“Okay.”
Room 2 was probably the physical fitness test, right?
‘I should run moderately, making it look like I’m C-Class.’
At this rate, I should be able to get a final C-Class Guide rating without any problems.
It was so easy that I couldn’t help but yawn.
As Yeon Yujin left Room 1, Shin Yun-hui, the Director who had become a daily Ability Measurement examiner, clicked his tongue.
“That’s impossible. How did C-Class come out?”
It was an unacceptable result.
According to the memories read by Park Hana, the Head of section, a C-Class Esper with psychometry abilities, in the park, he seemed to have the skills to be estimated as at least A-Class.
I naturally expected A-Class to come out, and I had prepared everything to make a scout offer as soon as the results came out.
-Results announcement. Name, Yeon Yujin. Analysis estimates C-Class Guide.
The Ability Measurement examination machine betrayed this belief.
‘No. Maybe… it’s an absurd scenario, but that Guide Yeon Yujin might have suppressed his abilities.’
But there was no evidence to prove this hypothesis.
Until now, there had been no Ability User, either Esper or Guide, who had deceived the keen eyes of the Ability Measurement examination machine!
Even the anti-government Hyeon Jae-ha, who was famous as a formidable Ability User, was revealed to be the youngest S-Class in one of these machine examinations, which became a big topic.
His partner, the late An Ga-hyeon, was also revealed to be an SSS-Class Guide at the young age of nineteen, and the two were called the youngest geniuses as a pair.
The stats set by the two were the highest scores, an incredible record that has not been broken to this day, 20 years later.
‘Right. This machine cannot be deceived even if the dead An Ga-hyeon Guide comes back to life from the grave.’
Director Shin Yun-hui decided to abandon his vain fantasies. Instead, he blamed the innocent machine.
Knocking on the pure white and smooth marble-like surface of the machine, Shin Yun-hui sighed.
“C-Class won’t come out in other tests, will it…?”
No way.
Shin Yun-hui prayed earnestly. That the final Class of the Guide who might have some connection with Hyeon Jae-ha would not be C.
‘It’s going too smoothly.’
I went through all the tests from Room 2 to Room 4, but all I got was the answer that I seemed to be a Guide at the C-Class level.
Whether it was a physical fitness test or a test of holding the hand of a prepared Esper and injecting Guiding.
The Class did not exceed C.
The employees conducting the tests all seemed to have the same thoughts as the one in Room 1, and their expressions soured as I seemed to be judged as C-Class.
There was no way to find fault, so they had no choice but to send me away.
‘Why hasn’t this examination procedure changed even after 20 years?’
Thanks to that, I hummed inwardly and only wished to go home quickly.
Potato warned me, who was so relaxed.
[ Room 5 is still left. You don’t know what kind of ridiculous test they’ll conduct there. ]
‘Certainly, Room 5 is a room that didn’t exist before.’
When I was tested, there were only up to 4 rooms.
Room 5 was the first time for me, so I didn’t know what they would ask me to do.
‘Was there anything more to measure here?’
Come to think of it, I haven’t even seen the hair of the Secrety members even though I’ve come to Room 4.
“Will I see them in Room 5?”
If it’s a test with the current partner Espers…….
‘Are they trying to make us do a joint operation or something?’
Maybe they’re trying to put us into a site where a Dungeon Break like last time might occur.
But even if I scanned all the news, there were no articles about problems occurring at the Dungeon Gate.
What is it? What are they going to tell me to do?
Curious, I entered Room 5 and saw a man dressed neatly in a black suit instead of a white gown.
‘This energy is…….’
It was the energy of an Esper.
‘Is this person also an employee of the Bureau?’
But why is this person dressed differently from the employees in the examination rooms so far?
‘Is he a high-ranking official or something?’
The employee who was standing saw me and greeted me.
“Hello.”
“Hello. My name is Yeon Yujin, and I’m here for the test today.”
I wore a social smile on the outside while being wary.
Then the other person smiled brightly. The red earring on only one of his ears jingled.
Potato frowned when he saw him.
[ I don’t know why, but I don’t like that person. ]
‘…Why? Isn’t he handsome?’
[ Just. I don’t like him. He’s someone I don’t want to be near. ]
What’s wrong with him?
Potato was extremely wary of the examination room employee, and he came down from my head and hid in my pocket.
‘Is he shy?’
I was embarrassed because this was the first time I had seen this side of Potato.
It’s not like they can see Potato over there anyway…. The way he was trying to hide his appearance was like a herbivore meeting its natural enemy.
I should finish the test quickly and go back.
“By the way, what kind of test are we conducting?”
At my words, the man smiled and said.
“This procedure is a test to check the Guiding stats of partner Espers using a simulator that is similar to an actual combat situation.”