THERE are more Espers than Guides.
It was especially true for South Korea.
Worse, they only had a few high-class Guides.
In fact, there were only two S-Class Guides in their small country.
Bambi, the #1 Guide in South Korea, was the face and ace of the National Guide Bureau— the most powerful branch of the government at the moment.
It was forbidden for private guilds to have private Guides.
Yes, all Guides automatically become "government property" as soon as they awaken.
Hence, even the most powerful Espers had to bow their heads to the government if they wanted to ask for a Guide.
But there was a certain type of Guides that even the government couldn't "use."
The E-Class.
"We're the most useless class of Guides," Yuno said bluntly, and then he closed his eyes briefly. And when he opened his eyes again, he was pretty sure they returned to their normal color: light brown. "Well, useless to the government, at least."
Ki Gayoon, who lost his composure when he clutched his chest earlier, frowned while fixing his posture.
The chest pain the Esper felt disappeared when Yuno stopped using his ability.
But, in return…
I feel faint again.
But Yuno fought the feeling with sheer willpower and spite. He couldn't faint because he didn't want to wake up buried in concrete— something that a bastard like Ki Gayoon would probably do to someone he found suspicious.
And that old man finds me sus.
"Reverse Guiding," Ki Gayoon said when he regained his composure. "Did you use the 'Madness' that you absorbed from me earlier to attack me?"
'Madness.'
That was the term Awakened People chose to describe the corrupted Mana that would cause Espers to lose their mind.
Only Guides could purify the Madness in Espers.
It should end with that.
For ordinary Guides, that is.
However…
"E-Class Guides don't only purify the Madness we absorb from Rampaging Espers," Yuno began explaining. "We can store the purified Mana in our Core. With Reverse Guiding, we can "undo" the purification process and return the corrupted Mana to the Esper and use it to attack them— just like I did to you, sir. I sent a bit of your corrupted Mana straight back to your Core, and your Core is embedded in your heart. That's why you felt a pang in your chest."
Ki Gayoon looked shocked by Yuno's explanation at first, and then he smirked bitterly. "You're a weapon against Espers. How did the government not see that? The higher-ups love anything they can use to put a leash on Espers."
"E-Class Guides are Exclusive Guides."
"Like Exclusive Guides are rare," Ki Gayoon said, scoffing. "When an Esper and a Guide reach a matching rate over 75%, the pair is allowed to Imprint. The Imprinted Esper could no longer receive Guiding from other Guides. That's how Guides become exclusive to their Imprinted Esper, and that's when the government becomes a bit lenient to them."
"But the Imprinted Guide can still guide other Espers," Yuno said. "That's how the government could still tie the Imprinted Guides to the National Guide Bureau. An Esper can't monopolize a Guide even if they are Imprinted to them."
"Are you saying that E-Class Guides can completely Imprint with a compatible Esper?"
"That's right— once an E-Class Guide imprints with an Esper, they will completely lose their ability to guide other Espers."
"Ah. I can see why the government would deem your class useless then."
"Right? There are more Espers than Guides in our small country. An Esper can't monopolize a single Guide, so the government doesn't like us."
"Is that why they hid you from the public? To discourage Espers from finding an E-Class Guide that they can monopolize?"
"The government didn't hide E-Class Guides— we just die easily."
Ki Gayoon knitted his eyebrows. "Were your fellow E-Class Guides killed? By the government?"
Oops.
I talked too much.
"My lips are sealed."
"Don't leave me on a cliffhanger, you little shit."
Yuno wanted to annoy the hell out of Ki Gayoon— an act of petty revenge since the bastard buried him in the ground— but he was really starting to get dizzy.
Moreover…
The scent of honey… finally.
"Gayoon-ah, what do you think you're doing to my precious part-timer?"
Yuno smiled weakly when he saw the familiar blob of golden hair. "CEO-nim, you're here."
Moon Noa— the owner of HoneyMoon and everything under it— looked over his shoulder and gave Yuno an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I'm late. You can rest now, Yuyu," the CEO said, winking. "I'll take care of the wild beast we have here."
Whew.
It was probably because Yuno felt relieved that he finally lowered his guard.
And that was when his strength left his body.
Before he knew it, he was already falling losing consciousness.
"CEO-nim, please don't leave me here…" Yuno said, his eyes already closed due to exhaustion. "Don't let that grumpy old man bury me in concrete…"
Before Yuno completely blacked out, he heard Ki Gayoon's complaint.
"I am not that old, you little shit."
Like I care.
***
YUNO thought his boss took care of everything.
But, when he returned to work a few days after that incident…
"Noh Yuno, you're under arrest for hiding your existence as a Guide!"
The hell?
Yuno let out a sigh. "If you're going to arrest me, at least do it after my shift."
***
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