By Zephyria 
“Huh?””
My ability?
[ That’s right. Your ability. Besides your purification ability as a Guide, you had another hidden ability that was never discovered, and I am the form it took. ]
Potato patted his belly as he spoke.
The thought that he seemed insignificant and cute was fleeting. I stiffened my hardened face again and scoffed at Potato’s words.
“There’s a limit to lying. I’ve never seen an Esper or Guide’s ability materialize.”
I felt ridiculous for taking Potato’s words seriously.
It was true that I had another ability besides purifying Espers’ Corruption Level.
My Guide rank was SSS.
That rank wasn’t just because I was excellent at healing by coming into contact with Espers.
It was because I, a Guide, also possessed a unique ability that was thought to be exclusive to Espers, which made me treated as an existence outside the norm.
‘The ability I had was Self-healing.’
A special ability that could never be found in other Guides.
Ordinary Guides were ordinary people who couldn’t do anything other than purify the fatigue accumulated in Espers’ bodies, so they absolutely needed the protection of Espers.
But I had the ‘Self-healing’ ability, so I could fight monsters coming out of the Gate like an Esper, even though I was a Guide. No, I had no choice but to do so.
Since so many Espers were dying every day, I had to fight due to the higher-ups’ orders to put anything into the war effort.
There was no more convenient tool than a monster that wouldn’t die no matter how much it fought.
With that one advantage, I was chosen as the partner of Hyeon Jae-ha, an outstanding Ability User among Espers.
‘And I died in his place.’
If the dream from earlier was reality, Jae-ha would have died as well. Recalling the bitter reality, I snapped at Potato.
“Hey, what are you? My ability is classified information, so how do you know about it, Potato? Come to think of it, how do you know my real name?”
[ I can know because I am your ability! Ugh, so frustrating! ]
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
I grabbed Potato roughly, and with my other hand, I quickly grabbed a knife.
It was in the fruit basket that President and Manager had brought when I woke up.
After taking it out of the sheath, I pointed the knife at Potato.
[ Ugh!(Oh my god, are you going to stab me with that?!) ]
“If you’re not a pet, you’re just a magical beast wandering around outside the Gate on your own. I heard your ridiculous claim that you’re my ability, but that’s possible if you’re a magical beast with telepathy.”
[ Ugh! Ugh!(Y, you crazy bastard! Save Potato! Save Potato!) ]
“I’ll send you off without pain.”
But why can I hear everything this Potato wants to say in my head, even when I block his mouth?
I was about to plunge the knife into Potato, feeling strange.
The door to the hospital room creaked open. There was a human presence.
“…Yeon Yu-jin, are you awake?”
‘This voice is?’
“I’m coming in.”
The hair of the person entering sparkled in the light.
The person who came into the hospital room was none other than Ra Ho-yeon, who had slapped my cheek.
“You were awake. Anyway, I felt bad for hitting you after you woke up from being on the verge of death, so I bought you something.”
“……”
He must have been planning to visit again, as he was holding a set of juice bottles and a wrapping cloth in both hands.
‘Is he giving me medicine after hurting me?’
I couldn’t look kindly on Ra Ho-yeon, who had slapped me as soon as I woke up, but he stubbornly put the wrapping cloth next to me.
“I didn’t know what you liked, so I just bought whatever I wanted.”
Ra Ho-yeon’s hand stopped as he looked at something.
“What. What’s wrong?”
“You…….”
Because I hadn’t put away the knife I was going to use to deal with Potato, my appearance was exposed to Ra Ho-yeon.
“You… don’t tell me you were trying to hurt yourself?”
“What?”
What kind of ridiculous misunderstanding is this?
“What nonsense are you talking about? Why would I hurt myself? Am I crazy?”
“But why did you just take out a knife on the bed?”
“No, that’s!”
Damn it, I had nothing to say.
‘He can’t see Potato!’
There’s a Potato that only I can see, who claims to be a materialized form of my ability.
But I felt suspicious of this guy who knew the truth about my ability, which is classified, so I took out a knife to peel his skin off.
‘If I say that, I’ll only look crazier!’
It was driving me crazy.
“No… that’s…”
As I stammered, unable to find a suitable excuse, Ra Ho-yeon snatched the knife from my hand.
“Whoops!”
“This is confiscated. Who knows what kind of accident you’ll cause with your still unstable attitude.”
“Hey! Wait…!”
“I’m glad I stopped by the hospital room. I should call Manager Hyung first.”
“Hey!”
Before I could reach out and grab his collar, Ra Ho-yeon quickly went outside and called the Manager.
“Hyun-soo Hyung? Come here quickly.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Do you know what Yeon Yu-jin was trying to do just now? Ha, seriously……. He was trying to hurt himself, so he took out a knife. He claims he wasn’t, but if he took out only the knife without any fruit, what does that mean?”
The longer Ra Ho-yeon’s explanation went on, the more I was mortified.
‘It’s all because of this damn Potato!’
What a disgrace.
[ W… what about me. ]
Potato moved away from me and took refuge on top of the refrigerator.
‘Aren’t you coming here?’
[ Would you go to an owner who tried to peel your skin off? And you never listen to me anyway? ]
Never mind.
As I sighed, Manager Hyung burst into the hospital room, sobbing.
“Yujin!!”
The moisture on his large glasses made him look pathetic.
‘…An Ga-hyeon’s form is all dead.’
If Jae-ha was by my side, how much would he have laughed? He would have made fun of me for not even noticing someone approaching and said I should retire.
“Kim Hyun-soo, no, Manager? So, this is……”
What should I say? As I was wondering, tears like a waterfall flowed from Kim Hyun-soo’s eyes.
“Self-harm is not allowed!”
No, I really had no intention of hurting myself at all?
I was speechless at the absurd misunderstanding.
‘Can this be salvaged?’
Can it be salvaged if he doesn’t listen to me?
Meanwhile, the Manager rummaged through his pockets and took out his cell phone.
“I, I’ll contact President!”
“Wait a minute!”
It seemed like this person couldn’t see the sprouted Potato either. Damn it.
“J, just a moment. Kim Hyun-soo, no. Manager. That’s not it……”
“If that’s not it, what were you trying to do! You raised a knife!”
Just in case, I grabbed the Potato that had bounced onto the refrigerator again and asked.
“……That’s. Um, can’t you see this?”
[ Ubeubeub!(Let go of me!!) ]
Even when I held up the sprouted Potato that I was tightly clutching in one hand, Kim Hyun-soo’s focus was not on the Potato.
“What? I can only see Yujin’s fist…….”
‘Was it not a magical beast?’
[ Ubeub!(I told you I wasn’t!) ]
If it was a magical beast, it should have been visible to Kim Hyun-soo, who was an ordinary person.
But since he couldn’t see it at all, maybe that Potato’s ridiculous nonsense was real.
From my powerless grip, Potato quickly jumped out and hid somewhere.
“Anyway, wh, what were you trying to do with the knife? It’s dangerous……. You haven’t been awake for long…….”
“That’s……”
I had nothing to say when he looked at me with such a sentimental face that seemed like he was worried to death. I was also conscious of the cell phone that Kim Hyun-soo was holding onto like a lifeline.
How could I say something like, ‘I thought the talking Potato was a magical beast, so I was going to stab it to get rid of it’ in front of him?
In the other person’s eyes, I was a patient who had lost his memory in a traffic accident, a member of concern with a bad attitude and an unstable mind.
‘If I answer wrong here, things will get bigger like last time.’
If President or the directors, those people, come, then those brats who aren’t even Espers will come too.
‘I don’t want to see those monkey-like guys for a while.’
Those thunderbolt buffoons are my Espers? I absolutely can’t accept that.
In the end, the excuse that came out of my head, which didn’t work well, was this.
“Actually, I was a little hungry, so I wanted to cut some fruit and eat it……”
“You were?”
“…My hands and feet don’t have much strength, so the fruit keeps slipping out of my hands……. I got frustrated because I felt like I couldn’t do anything, so I raised the knife, but Manager happened to come in at that moment.”
Ah, damn it.
‘There’s no way he’ll fall for this flimsy excuse.’
I missed Hyeon Jae-ha. That guy was really smart. Even if he was next to me, he would have chuckled and made fun of me and cleaned up the situation, but I missed him when I was in crisis.
…But he probably died anyway.
Kim Hyun-soo said to me, who was feeling depressed.
“Th, that’s what it was?”
“……Yes?”
Huh? He believes this……?
“If you want to eat fruit, you should have told me……. Ugh, you scared me for nothing. Here, give me the knife. I’ll cut the fruit for you.”
Is he an idiot?
While thinking a lot of rude things inside, I obediently handed him the knife and the fruit basket.
“Oh… yes.”
Kim Hyun-soo naturally pulled up a spare chair and sat down. He placed a plate on the table near the hospital bed, and his movements as he peeled the apple looked practiced.
“You must be hungry since you just woke up after collapsing. You should have used the cell phone next to you to call me.”
“…I’m sorry.”
I’m not Yeon Yu-jin, I’m An Ga-hyeon.