PARADOX 6

It had already been a month since the day he first saw Gu Jeyi at the center.

For nearly a month, Hanseo’s daily routine had been boringly the same.

First, he commuted to the center in the morning and handled cleaning duties. Then, after work, he returned to the motel and collected information until he fell asleep.

‘Collecting information is important.’

He was still doing it bit by bit even now that he was at work.

Although he had come from the future, his past self had little interest in what was happening in the world, so he didn’t know much. It was fortunate that his hobby was watching TV; otherwise, he would have been a complete empty can who knew nothing.

For the sake of the future, he needed to properly understand how the world at this time worked.

In that sense, the smartphone was a revolution.

‘Is there any tool as convenient and good as this for collecting information?’

He had owned one in the past as well. It was given by the cult leader, but he only used it at first and later neglected it. Seeing that the cult leader knew everything he searched and everyone he contacted gave him chills, so he couldn’t use it.

They probably made a duplicate phone. Even though they knew he couldn’t betray them, it was questionable why they bothered to monitor him.

‘He was such a suspicious bastard, so how could I have known all his inner thoughts anyway.’

Anyway, unlike the past, the current Hanseo could use his phone freely, which allowed him to find even this post.

It was interesting.

With a pounding heart, Hanseo clicked on the post.

Title: Gu Jeyi’s Only Weakness

I want to be that.

Even while clearing an S-grade gate, his expression doesn’t change at all, but if I fall and get a scratch on my knee, he looks like the world is collapsing and hurts for me.

He doesn’t care if he himself gets hurt, but if I jokingly say, “How am I supposed to live without you~”, tears suddenly well up in those blunt eyes that look like they wouldn’t shed a single drop, and he cries like a child asking why I’d say something like that, saying he can’t live without me…

Ha, that’s one bowl of delusion downed in one go.

“…”

‘What the hell did I just read?’

Not all information on the internet could be trusted. Hanseo realized once again on this occasion that there was even more trash-like information than that.

But he wasn’t disappointed.

Because he already knew what Gu Jeyi’s only weakness was.

‘He’s here.’

Hanseo put his phone in his pocket and confirmed Gu Jeyi riding the elevator up to the upper floors.

‘Is this the fifth time?’

It had been a month since he started working as a center cleaner.

During that time, he had seen Gu Jeyi five times.

‘His last visit was three days ago.’

Just as Hanseo had predicted, Gu Jeyi’s visits to the center were gradually becoming more frequent.

The reason Gu Jeyi visited the center was usually to receive guiding from a center-affiliated guide.

In other words, the fact that the cycle had become this short meant that Gu Jeyi’s condition was not good.

Gu Jeyi was the strongest esper in the entire world. Blades or guns couldn’t even leave a scratch on his skin, and if he put his mind to it, he could sink an island into the sea.

Gu Jeyi’s weakness lay in the fact that he was, after all, an esper.

Espers inevitably needed a guide. Without receiving guiding, their esper energy became unstable and affected their body—headaches, insomnia, hallucinations, and auditory hallucinations. In the worst case, they could go completely insane.

Since he had a special constitution and had never experienced problems with esper energy, he didn’t know well, but seeing how everyone clung to guides, it must be that painful.

Unfortunately, Gu Jeyi had not yet met a suitable guide. For guiding to be properly effective, the matching rate needed to be at least 50% or higher, but no matter which existing guide he took a matching test with, it was only 10%.

‘If the matching rate is 10%, even an S-grade guide can’t show noticeable effects.’

Conversely, if the matching rate was high, even a low-grade guide could produce high efficiency. The matching rate between guide and esper was that important. That was why the center periodically ran programs to match guides and espers.

Anyway, seeing him like this made Hanseo certain that the long-awaited moment would soon arrive.

…Yes, he had been certain.

‘But I didn’t think it would be today.’

Beeeeeeeeep!

The fire alarm rang.

The bright red light of the alarm created tension.

“Everyone evacuate! Get out!”

The employees who had been working overtime began rushing toward the first-floor exit like a flood.

“Don’t push!”

“Ow! I said don’t push!”

“My glasses! My glasses fell!”

Everyone moved according to the evacuation order without even knowing what was happening.

There was some commotion during the escape, but fortunately, since it was nighttime, there weren’t many employees left, so the evacuation ended quickly.

‘Did everyone get out?’

Hanseo, who had been hiding inside a bathroom stall until the commotion died down, finally came out.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

As soon as he exited, the thick fire doors at the first-floor exit came down all at once. It seemed that after the alarm rang and a certain amount of time passed, the exits were automatically sealed. So that whatever was inside couldn’t go outside.

It wasn’t a bad method.

If the opponent wasn’t Gu Jeyi.

‘Did they think this could stop an S-grade esper? No, there might be other defense measures. In the past, it ended with the center’s collapse without casualties.’

Although his past self hadn’t been very interested in society, he remembered events big enough for everyone to talk about.

One of them was the ‘Center Collapse Incident’ caused by Gu Jeyi’s temporary rampage.

Due to this incident, the center’s headquarters was relocated to Cheongram City, and Gu Jeyi’s issues—which had not been officially known until this point—were made public.

‘I didn’t know it would be today.’

It had been strange that Gu Jeyi, who came to the center in the morning, still hadn’t left by evening. That was why Hanseo had stayed behind at the center under the pretext of overtime.

Anyway, it was an opportunity.

‘Shall we go then.’

He had already memorized the center’s structure in his head. He had also checked all the places where Gu Jeyi might be.

“…”

But his feet wouldn’t move.

He had to admit it. Even though he had prepared for everything, he was a little… scared.

Would it have been okay if he had known nothing? But perhaps because he had almost died by Gu Jeyi’s hand several times in the past, his body seemed to have learned fear and wouldn’t move readily.

Moreover, it wasn’t just any Gu Jeyi, but the thought of facing a rampaging Gu Jeyi made it even worse.

Feeling that this wouldn’t do, Hanseo began to console himself.

‘You’ve already died once, so what’s there to be scared of. Think about the time you were chewed up and eaten by a monster. Compared to that, this is nothing.’

Fortunately, it was quite effective.

Perhaps because he had recently had a nightmare about being chewed like gum by a monster, thinking of the pain and fear that felt like a recent event made all of this suddenly seem like no big deal.

Inside the monster’s mouth, he had been completely helpless and powerless. But now, couldn’t he at least struggle?

‘Alright.’

His feet, which had refused to move, finally began to obey. Hanseo took a deep breath and moved to find Gu Jeyi.

Finding Gu Jeyi wasn’t difficult. The closer he got, the heavier the air became. His skin even tingled as if static electricity was rising. It was all because of the energy emitted by the esper.

An esper’s rampage meant the esper had lost control over their energy. The heavy air and the pain on his skin were because the enormous amount of energy that Gu Jeyi would normally control was leaking out.

Hanseo soon discovered Gu Jeyi in the guiding room.

“Ugh, huk…”

Surprisingly, Gu Jeyi was not alone. A man was sitting collapsed in front of the guiding room door. Seeing that he was wearing the white jacket worn by center guides, he seemed to be a guide.

‘Did a problem occur while guiding was in progress.’

If so, that guide would have been the first to notice Gu Jeyi’s rampage state, so it was highly likely that he was the one who sounded the alarm.

It was ironic that the person who sounded the alarm couldn’t escape.

“Uwek, ugh. No…”

‘His condition is severe.’

If Gu Jeyi had rampaged during guiding, that state made sense. Guiding was basically a connection between guide and esper. If one side caught fire while holding hands, the other side would also get burned.

After confirming the vomit on the floor and the guide’s unfocused pupils, Hanseo turned his gaze to Gu Jeyi.

Gu Jeyi was simply standing there quietly, looking at Hanseo. In his eyes, which shone much blacker than usual, Hanseo’s own reflection appeared like a mirror.

‘…Ah.’

Hanseo belatedly let out a breath. He seemed to have forgotten to breathe for a moment.

‘I feel like I’m going to panic too.’

He tried hard to ignore the fear that felt like it was welling up from his stomach.

“Gu Jeyi Esper?”

There was no answer in return.

‘As expected, he’s unconscious?’

But seeing that the building was still intact, fortunately he hadn’t completely lost his reason.

Well, Gu Jeyi’s ‘complete’ rampage was something that would happen later, not now. He knew that, which was why he had come this far.

‘Fuck, but I’m still scared.’

Even though he knew, the fear made him feel like he was going crazy.