“Guide Aaron, maybe you’re not aware because you came from the US, but Esper Joo Seunghyuk shows guiding rejection symptoms with anyone other than Lee Yeonsu. Even if you are S-rank, we can’t risk him going berserk.”

“I don’t guide anyone who isn’t S-rank!”

“Esper Moon Seonwoo is currently the second-strongest Esper in the Academy after Joo Seunghyuk. Plus, he’s someone Guide Lee Yeonsu has been in charge of for a long time. Unlike a certain ill-tempered someone, he’s rational and fair. He’s the perfect candidate to compare your skills against.”

“But I wanted to guide Joo Seunghyuk...!”

“What’s the matter? Are you afraid you’ll lose to Guide Lee Yeonsu?”

Hyeokjin-hyung grinned slyly as he provoked him. Aaron bristled instantly.

“Fine! Let’s do it right now!”

Aaron accepted the challenge. Moon Seonwoo seemed curious about his guiding as well, so he agreed without hesitation.

As Aaron and Moon Seonwoo sat down in the guiding chairs, a crowd quickly gathered around them. Aaron’s guiding ability had always been a mystery, so everyone was eager to see for themselves.

Even Jihee noona, who had always been critical of Aaron, looked intrigued as she watched the guiding begin.

But Joo Seunghyuk didn’t even glance in that direction—he just pulled ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) me tightly into his arms.

“Seunghyuk-ah, aren’t you going to watch?”

“Not interested. What about you, hyung?”

“Me neither...”

I already had a rough idea of Aaron’s capabilities.

‘His mana is better than Yeonsu’s, but his technique is garbage.’

That’s how the original Seunghyuk had evaluated Aaron’s guiding skills. And I doubted much had changed.

In the end, it would be a battle between quality of mana versus actual skill. But either way, there was nothing more I could do at this point.

“So, shall we go?”

“Go?”

“I’ve already got the car ready. Let’s leave now.”

Did he rent a car ahead of time? I guess taking the bus home was never part of the plan.

Honestly, after dealing with Professor Oh and Aaron, I was exhausted too. I kind of wanted to just leave.

“...But it’s still a guiding competition.”

“Then let them do it alone. Not that they’d even come close anyway.”

I wanted to agree. But if I left like this, people would talk.

“I’ll do your guiding first. You went through a lot clearing that gate.”

And not to mention that brawl with Hyeokjin-hyung...

“Alright.”

I sat down to guide him—but suddenly, a scream rang out.

“Kyahhh!”

“Sunwoo-sunbae!”

“Sunwoo!”

“Blood—he’s bleeding!”

Startled, I turned my head—and saw Moon Seonwoo convulsing, unconscious, with blood pouring from his nose and mouth.

Aaron screamed, his face gone pale.

“It’s not my fault! I’ve never guided some low-rank Esper before! I told you—I only guide S-ranks!”

“Move!”

I shoved Aaron aside, ignoring his excuses, and quickly grabbed Sunwoo-sunbae’s hand.

His mana was violently rampaging. It wasn’t a rejection reaction or a berserk state.

Something foreign had pierced into his mana like a poison and was spreading rapidly.

I’d seen this happen before.

“Red Dust Shock!”

Red Dust Shock was a rare reaction that occurred when a Guide who had consumed Red Dust—or drugs refined from it—performed guiding.

The Red Dust components were transmitted through the Guide’s mana and triggered an allergic reaction in the Esper, resulting in shock.

“Wh-what are you saying! Are you accusing me of using Dust? Don’t slander me!”

Aaron screamed hysterically. But I had no time to argue.

I poured a massive amount of mana into Sunwoo-sunbae’s body, forming a barrier to block the Red Dust from penetrating deeper. But that alone wouldn’t be enough.

“Bring me a mana purge potion and a Red Dust sedative!”

“They’re in our guild’s van. I’ll get them!”

Hyeokjin-hyung contacted a guild member, and they rushed the medicine over. Luckily, YL Guild members were already nearby for the mana stone harvest, so the meds arrived fast.

Hyeokjin-hyung quickly administered the sedative by injection, and Jihee noona poured the potion into Sunwoo-sunbae’s mouth.

Meanwhile, I kept injecting mana to prevent the Red Dust fragments from spreading.

Just as we finished the emergency treatment, the sound of an ambulance siren echoed nearby. The medical team arrived and carried Sunwoo-sunbae into the ambulance.

His color was beginning to return by the end, so there probably wouldn’t be any major complications.

Aaron, however, didn’t apologize. He just got into his car and drove off.

“Guide Aaron! Did you take Dust?!”

“Come out and explain yourself!”

“Red Dust Shock occurred right after Guide Aaron began guiding! The only explanation is Dust!”

Reporters pounded on the van, demanding answers, but Aaron didn’t say a single word. And Professor Oh—who’d been stuck to Aaron like glue all day—had disappeared without a trace.

Maybe even his friendly reporters couldn’t cover this one up.

Judging from Aaron’s reaction, he definitely took Dust. The nerve. How did he even think he could guide someone while high?

At least that mess was over. I stretched and turned around—only for my vision to sway.

Just as I was about to collapse, Joo Seunghyuk caught me by the waist.

The moment he touched me, I flinched in surprise. His mana was running wild, unstable. Even for someone like Seunghyuk, soloing a B-rank gate must’ve taken a toll.

“Seunghyuk-ah, I’m sorry. I’ll guide you right away.”

I tried to sit back down in the guiding chair, but Seunghyuk grabbed my arm and started walking. Then he practically threw me into the car.

“S-Seunghyuk...?”

“......”

He said nothing as he sat in the driver’s seat. Right now, he looked like a volcano about to erupt. I’d never seen Seunghyuk this angry before.

“I’m sorry.”

“......”

Even after apologizing, he didn’t respond.

“I’m really sorry. It was my fault. I won’t do it again.”

“For what?”

That single syllable rang out like a blade of ice. I scrambled to think of something that might ease the madman’s mood.

“I should’ve guided you first. No—I’m your Guide, so I should only guide you. I shouldn’t have helped anyone else. It was such an emergency, I just lost my head...”

“THAT’S NOT THE FUCKING PROBLEM!!!”

“......”

I said only what I thought he’d want to hear—and still got hit with explosive rage.

“Did you forget what the doctor said? That it’d be dangerous if you depleted your mana again?!”

...Wait. Is he mad not because I guided someone else, but because he was worried about me?

“I’m sorry. It was just too urgent...”

“Was Lee Yeonsu the only Guide there?! There were plenty of others—why you?!”

“I’ve treated someone with Red Dust Shock before. So I had experience. That’s the only reason. It wasn’t even that dangerous.”

All I did was block the Dust from getting deeper into his system. It wasn’t like when I stopped Seunghyuk’s berserk episode.

But Seunghyuk clearly didn’t see it that way.

“What if some Dust leaked into you?! Do you know how scared I was?! I wanted to kill everyone and drag you out with me!”

“I’m okay...”

“What the hell do you mean okay?! Your hands are shaking! You’re sweating cold! Your whole body’s trembling and your lips are blue—that’s what you call okay?!”

He grabbed my hands. He said I was shaking, but his hands were trembling too. He was terrified that I might be hurt.

“I’m sorry I made you worry. I won’t do it again.”

I bowed my head. It wasn’t out of fear of setting off a madman—it was a genuine apology.

“You better not. If you ever pull that shit again, I’ll destroy whatever building you’re in and lock you up so you can’t go anywhere.”

“Okay. I’ll remember that.”

It wasn’t just talk. Seunghyuk was more than capable of destroying a building and locking me up.

...He had already destroyed a building before.

“Should I guide you now?”

His mana was still wild and unstable. But instead of accepting, Seunghyuk frowned and smacked me lightly on the head.

“Ah!”

“You still haven’t learned your lesson.”

“Huh?”

“Sleep until we get there.”

“Where are we going?”

“The hospital.”

***

It was true I was feeling a bit worn out—but it wasn’t hospital-level exhaustion. Still, there was no winning against Seunghyuk’s stubbornness.

We went to the Daejeon branch of Sungan’s Ability User Specialty Hospital. Just like after the berserk incident, I had to undergo a full round of tests. The diagnosis said I had nearly gone into mana shock due to excessive output.

“You must refrain from guiding and get absolute rest. Even for an S-rank, you can’t push your body like this. Relying solely on your innate mana will eventually catch up with you.”

“Yes. I’ll be careful.”

“One more thing—no mana usage for one week. Another shock episode could be seriously dangerous.”

“Yes.”

Only after repeating his warning multiple times did the doctor finally let me go.

I guess my body had taken more damage from the mana depletion during Seunghyuk’s berserk event than I’d realized. To think I almost went into shock from this much...

I returned to the hospital room after the examination. It was a VIP suite—Seunghyuk’s doing.

He must’ve heard the results, because his face was even darker than before.

“Sorry. I really thought I’d be okay this time.”

“Enough. Just rest. They said absolute rest, didn’t they?”

“But your guiding...”

“I already drank a mana recovery potion.”

“That alone won’t—”

“Don’t worry about me. Just focus on resting.”

Seunghyuk picked me up and laid me down on the hospital bed.

“But still...”

“Sleep now. Because once tomorrow comes, I won’t go easy on you.”

“...What?”

Won’t go easy on me? What the hell does that mean?

Startled, I blinked at him. Seunghyuk chuckled softly and pulled the blanket over me.

“Sleep.”

“...Mm.”

Lying down under the covers, my eyelids began to droop. But my thoughts were still racing. I couldn’t relax. I reached out and held Seunghyuk’s hand.

Maybe it was the potion—but his wild mana had calmed.

“I told you, there’s nothing to worry about. Go to sleep.”

Seunghyuk stroked my hair and kissed my forehead.

His gentle touch lulled my eyes shut.