SOFTIE 5

I had seen the end of so many Espers before, hadn’t I? It didn’t make sense. For a rampaging Esper to calm down, guiding is essential. In that moment, Yeonwoo recalled the sensation he felt just before collapsing.

“…Right, guiding…!”

His eyes widened. He had never once received comfortable or pleasant guiding, so he hadn’t even realized it.

“Wow… this is really… it felt this good…”

His voice trembled slightly, shocked by the fact that he had received guiding and moved by the fact that his levels had dropped. It couldn’t even be compared to something like medicine. Even with the same numerical values, his physical condition was entirely different.

To Yeonwoo, guiding was an unknown world. Espers can only truly breathe when they receive guiding.

Everyone always said that receiving guiding was refreshing and that nothing could be better, but Yeonwoo could never imagine it because he had never experienced such a sensation. But now, it was different.

He, too, had received proper guiding. Furthermore, a Guide—my Guide—had appeared. His once vacant eyes were now full of life. To Yeonwoo, who had only been walking the path toward death, a way to live finally appeared.

Tears welled up. Along with the thought that he had escaped the hell of side effects, he realized at this moment that he could never lose this sweet sensation.

“Wa-wait… if that’s the case, it means my Guide is nearby…!”

Yeonwoo’s eyes snapped open. He hurriedly moved around the area, searching for a person, a Guide.

Who is it? Who did the guiding? Where? Where are you? No, more importantly, there’s a Guide inside this Gate? I heard there were no civilian casualties?

With bloodshot eyes, he searched the surroundings thoroughly.

An S-class Gate that suddenly appeared in Seoul. It occurred away from the crowds, but a civilian might have been caught in it.

What if the Association hadn’t noticed that in advance? And what if that person had awakened just like I did when I was young?

Except they awakened as a Guide, not an Esper. Gates are dangerous for Guides. While Guides often accompany Espers for guiding, they always enter a Gate under an Esper’s ironclad protection.

There’s a Guide in a dangerous S-class Gate?

I have to find them right now. My Guide.

He strained his ears to find the Guide. It was an ability he had never once liked, but now it was a blessing.

However, no matter how much he searched, there was only the sound of magic beasts crawling and howling.

Don’t tell me, already to a magic beast…

As he imagined the dizzying possibility, his heart felt like it was dropping. He felt lightheaded at the thought of losing the guiding he had received for the first time in his life, the Guide he had finally discovered. Suddenly, his breath grew shallow.

“I, I have to go find…”

He tried to take a step forward immediately, but his strength vanished, and he slumped to the ground.

His hands were trembling uncontrollably. He couldn’t tell if his body had lost strength because of the thought that the Guide had died, or if it was because the rampage had just ended.

Just then, something long was placed on top of Yeonwoo’s hand. As if asking if he was okay, the slime gripped Yeonwoo’s finger with a tentacle. Yeonwoo’s eyebrows twitched.

“What are you, lingering around me like this…!”

Yeonwoo noticed something strange. The surging irritation and anxiety vanished. If there were a person caught in this, his sensitive ears couldn’t have missed them.

And what happened before he collapsed. This slime definitely covered his face. After that, his condition suddenly improved.

And now, upon touching the slime, his physical state improved minutely. Because he was someone who lived life on a tightrope, he could detect even the slightest difference.

Instinct whispered to him. To catch that magic beast. Yeonwoo stared at the slime in disbelief. His lips, parted blankly, began to mutter words that made no sense.

“No way, did you do the guiding… no, what kind of magic beast is a Guide? I’ve gone completely mad. A magic beast is an existence that must die.”

Yeonwoo ran a hand through his hair and shook his head, but he still couldn’t take his eyes off it. It was as if something irresistible, something called fate, was leading him.

Suddenly, a story told by an Esper when he was young came to mind.

[My Guide? Hmm, you’ll know when you see them. Like, ‘Ah, it’s this person.’ Both Espers and Guides use life energy, right? That tends to leak out subtly through wavelengths. You’ll know instinctively when you feel it. You’ll know when you meet yours, too.]

This feeling I’m having, this thought is the truth? When Yeonwoo stared intently, the slime began to hop around excitedly.

“…The fact that I didn’t kill it is strange, too.”

No matter how weak a slime might be, a magic beast is a magic beast. Yet, he hadn’t killed it and had just watched it. He was even in the middle of a rampage.

Why on earth did I? Moreover, the more he looked at the slime, the warmer his heart became.

In the end, Yeonwoo remained slumped on the ground, staring at the slime.

Really, if this slime guided me…

Yeonwoo reached out his hand to the slime.

“You, try guiding me.”

It was questionable whether his words would be understood, but he was desperate. While telling himself there was no way a magic beast could be a Guide, his heart pounded heavily.

This emotion was expectation and excitement.

The slime tilted its head, went somewhere, and brought back a white flower. Before long, a pile of flower stalks had accumulated next to Yeonwoo.

Where on earth is it getting those… why does it keep giving them to me? Yeonwoo slapped the flower away, dropping it to the ground, saying he didn’t need it.

“I don’t need this kind of junk, do the guiding…”

Yeonwoo’s mouth clamped shut. The slime stood still before his eyes. But unlike before, it wasn’t hopping; it was just staring blankly at the flower stalks.

It looked as if it were in shock from seeing the fallen flower.

“…”

Somehow, he didn’t feel very good about it. Eventually, he picked up the flower that had fallen at his feet. The single, small, white-glowing flower was actually quite decent to look at.

“…Now that I look at it, it seems kind of pretty.”

“Kkyuu!”

At Yeonwoo’s single word, the slime became even more excited, gathered an armful of flowers in its “embrace,” and thrust them toward Yeonwoo.

It looked like it was offering a pretty bouquet. Yeonwoo accepted it. Then, a question arose.

What am I doing? Why am I playing with a magic beast here? No, why am I humoring it? Am I acting to get on a Guide’s good side? Have I accepted this slime as a Guide?

If it were enough to calm a rampaging Esper, it meant the matching rate was considerably high.

Is that why I’m naturally attracted to it?

Just like that Esper told me long ago. My Guide, a Guide with a matching wavelength. They say when you see a Guide or an Esper with a high matching rate or wavelength, you feel a sensation like falling in love at first sight.

I don’t think I’ve fallen in love at first sight, though. I’m mindful of it, sure.

The slime bounced in place, rolled around the area, and kept bringing strange things in front of Yeonwoo. it looked like the behavior of males courting a female. This time, it was some kind of stone.

“A stone is a bit much. Huh? Magic mineral?”

And it was a high-purity magic mineral at that. As expected of an S-class Gate. The precious by-products scattered around were all things that would sell for a high price.

That’s probably why the Supernatural Department didn’t ask for overseas help and told the domestic Espers to clear it, not wanting to lose out on these.

Usually, when help is received, the by-products inside the Gate are shared. Especially since Espers who can support an S-class Gate are rare, they tended to take a percentage.

“They aren’t the type of people to miss out on this.”

Yeonwoo snapped back to his senses. This was inside an S-class Gate. Yeonwoo was alone here, in a place teeming with dangerous magic beasts.

Yeonwoo tapped his Gear, but it didn’t work. it had been broken for a long time due to the aftermath of his ability. It only displayed his contamination level.

“Should I finish clearing the Gate?”

However, the thought of having to kill magic beasts or having to go outside and report his safety didn’t occur to him. Perhaps it was because all the noises that had been pestering his ears had disappeared.

He just wanted to enjoy the silence.

It was a situation where a magic beast could appear at any moment inside the S-class Gate, but Yeonwoo was relaxed.

To be precise, he didn’t want to leave this being’s side.

Yeonwoo’s eyes followed the busily moving slime. What is it so busy with? He didn’t like the way it was wriggling in the distance.

“…Hey, you. Come here.”