SOFTIE 31

Softy chirped more brightly than before. Yeonwoo let out a small laugh. Considering how much the little one had wanted to go, it seemed he had gotten exactly what he wanted.

Just then, Softy spat out the book from his mouth. Like a child seeking praise, he flipped to the section where he had diligently taken notes and showed it to Yeonwoo.

Yeonwoo’s eyes widened. The pages, meticulously underlined and filled with writing, were clear evidence to anyone that he had listened intently during class. Just as Yeonwoo was stroking Softy’s head with a proud and fond heart, a sense of wonder struck him.

Could magic beasts write, too? He had moved past the fact that they could communicate, as there were magic beasts within the Gates capable of conversation. But writing was a different matter entirely.

Furthermore, it was a rounded, cute handwriting—as if he were quite used to writing.

Yeonwoo gazed blankly at the words written in the textbook before looking at Softy.

“Mallang-ah, you know how to write too?”

“Kkyuu?”

“…”

It was strange, but he decided to let it slide. Perhaps he could.

“Hyung, you’re back early? Is the raid already over?”

“No, there’s still an A-class Hana left. It was time to pick up Softy, and my contamination level was getting a bit risky, so I came to get some guiding from him.”

“What?”

Softy was startled by Yeonwoo’s words, and Min Haeyoon rushed over to check the contamination level. The figures were even higher than they had been this morning.

“You said you were fine today. But it rose this much?”

In truth, Yeonwoo also found it strange that it had spiked by 20%. Although he had pushed himself to see Softy, it shouldn’t have been to such a glaringly obvious degree.

“I guess I overdid it. But it’s okay since I have Softy. Right?”

Softy nodded and immediately extended a tentacle to take Yeonwoo’s hand. Recalling what the teacher had done moments ago, he released guiding energy. Slowly, the contamination level began to drop. However, it was faint.

Will this be enough?

Contact was said to be the most important factor, but the combat suit Yeonwoo wore wrapped around his entire body to protect against magic beast attacks, making further contact difficult. Just then, Softy spotted Yeonwoo’s face and the nape of his neck just below it.

Couldn’t I touch him more there than through his hand? When they first met, Softy had clung to Yeonwoo’s face.

Back then, he hadn’t known it was guiding and had simply hung on out of joy, but what if he had provided guiding then?

Softy gave a light hop and clung to Yeonwoo’s neck. He stretched his tentacles long to wind them around the neck, then rubbed his face against Yeonwoo’s cheek.

“Um, Mallang-ah? Why?”

Yeonwoo was flustered, not knowing the reason, but Min Haeyoon could understand Softy’s actions. Regardless of his personal dislike for Softy, the creature was the only Guide who could guide Yeonwoo.

It seemed he was trying to guide by increasing the contact area as much as possible, but in Min Haeyoon’s eyes, that couldn’t truly be called contact guiding.

“I suppose you did learn something in class today. But that’s not what you should be doing right now. Your energy is scattering in all directions. That’s not it.”

Softy stared at Min Haeyoon, who had stepped closer to offer advice.

“Focus and pass the energy through the skin. Think of it not as wavelength energy spreading everywhere, but as pushing it into Yeonwoo hyung’s body. It’ll be easier if you imagine threading a long string through a needle. Once you put the energy into the body and examine the inside, you’ll see twisted wavelengths. It’s like the feeling of massaging those into rounds and untangling a tightly knotted ball of yarn.”

Softy nodded and tried to do as he said. It did feel as though he could see something. However, it didn’t work very well. He whimpered, rubbing his body haphazardly against the cheek.

Yeonwoo’s expression grew significantly lighter, but the contamination level remained high.

“Mallang-ah, don’t overdo it. Everything is hard at first. And effects don’t show up in just a few minutes.”

It was falling slowly but steadily. Softy didn’t realize it, but for Yeonwoo, this was more than enough—it was overflowing.

“Haeyoon-ah, thanks.”

“No. If he becomes Yeonwoo hyung’s Guide, that makes him my hoobae. I should do at least this much.”

Min Haeyoon stared at Softy, who was still clinging to Yeonwoo as if he intended to do more. He had to admit it. He was not his Guide, and the one chosen was that magic beast. He didn’t like it, but since the creature was showing effort, he decided to let it go.

“Thanks.”

Yeonwoo reached out and stroked Min Haeyoon’s hair. He blushed and lowered his head. The reason Min Haeyoon had wanted to be Yeonwoo’s Guide was because Yeonwoo had saved him. On the day he first awakened, Yeonwoo had been there.

He had thought it was fate. Seeing that their matching rate was quite high, he believed he was meant to be his Guide. They say matching rates can rise or fall depending on the level of trust between an Esper and a Guide. If we get closer, if I gain his trust, the matching rate will go up, right? But that never happened.

“Don’t treat me like a child. I’m an adult.”

“Even a university student is an adult, I suppose.”

“You’re not thinking of me as an adult!”

Though he had awakened early as a Guide and had a long professional life, he was still a university student. Thinking about it, our team has a lot of young ones. Gunwoo is only a high schooler. It was a bitter reality that society even exploited students.

Just as it had with Yeonwoo.

Suddenly, Softy snatched Yeonwoo’s hand away from stroking Min Haeyoon’s hair. Then, he placed it firmly on top of his own head. Min Haeyoon’s eyes widened as the warmth of the touch vanished, and Yeonwoo stared at Softy.

“What is it, Mallang-ah. Are you jealous?”

Softy didn’t answer and simply whipped his head away. Yeonwoo let out a small chuckle. This was a being that brought small joys to an otherwise tedious life.

“What shall I do with our Softy, being so jealous…”

But he didn’t dislike it. Meanwhile, Min Haeyoon was startled to see Yeonwoo breaking into a laugh with such a peaceful expression. He had certainly become much brighter since meeting Softy. Something I couldn’t change.

“Thanks again for today. It’s… dropped a lot.”

The contamination level, which had shot up terrifyingly while using his abilities, had subsided. However, Yeonwoo’s brow furrowed. The margin of error was too large. It had dropped as easily as it had risen.

One could say the guiding effect was just that good since Softy was his Guide, but how could he explain the rapid rise in contamination?

He felt he needed an examination. And while he was at it, he’d check the matching rate with Softy. It was obvious it would be high, but it was a basic test required to officially apply for a partnership.

“Haeyoon-ah, we’ll be going. Thanks for today.”

“…Yes.”

Yeonwoo left the area with Softy in his arms. Watching the two of them, Min Haeyoon let out a deep sigh. Other Guides passing by saw this and began to whisper.

“Serves him right. He was so arrogant about becoming Team 1’s Guide, and now he’s been replaced.”

“If it were me, I’d be too embarrassed to stay. How can you be worse than a magic beast?”

“More importantly, was that magic beast really Seo Yeonwoo’s Guide? Is it really an S-class Guide? Was it measured wrong?”

“I don’t know. No wonder the higher-ups are in an uproar.”

“Still, a magic beast is a magic beast. Shouldn’t it be killed?”

“They can’t kill it because it’s Esper Seo Yeonwoo’s Guide.”

“If only my rank were a little higher, I could have taken that spot.”

“Talk to me when you at least hit A-rank. I’d have a better chance.”

Several Guides who had been trailing Yeonwoo looked at the solitary Min Haeyoon and whispered or gossiped about the magic beast, Softy. Min Haeyoon scoffed. If you’re going to talk trash, pick a target and do it to their face. What do they want from me?

Min Haeyoon walked past the gossiping Guides. The saying that even mountains change in ten years was perfectly accurate. The era where Guides were suppressed by Espers was over. An Esper cannot live without guiding. Taking advantage of that, there were an increasing number of people who hallucinated their own greatness just because they guided high-ranking Espers.

Since they received a steady, large sum of money for every case even if they did a lazy job of guiding, they became slothful and picked and chose which Espers to guide. There was no point in arguing.

Ah, he had forgotten to tell him. Min Haeyoon picked up his phone and sent the name of the person who had been interviewing Softy.

‘This should do it.’

And Yeonwoo checked that text on his way home.

Yeonwoo recited the three characters of the name Min Haeyoon had sent.

‘Guide Yoon Hyunseop.’

He had never heard the name, but Haeyoon had written the personal details below. He was the teacher who always handled Guide education.