Chapter 1

Summer

I awaken as a guide.

My wish was to become an A-class guide, which is only 3% of the few guides.

So-Won, who was still young, immature and ignorant, was distracted by the benefits of the country pouring out as soon as he awaken as a guide.

I didn’t do anything, but money came into my bank account, and I didn’t have to prepare for a job, and I wouldn’t need to join the military that I had delayed and postponed.

So-Won had no doubt that he would match with an ideal esper.

“You were matched with S-class Esper Kang Tae-woo.”

However, the day I was notified of the matching result, everything collapsed.

S-Class Esper Kang Tae-Woo.

Having a terrible side effect of not being guided and he is covered with red blood veins, he was one of the only three S-class esper in Korea.

In line with his modifier monster, his ability was a body-hardening type, a man who fought bare-handed with steel-like hardness and incredible power.

Kang Tae-woo has achieved a remarkable record of less than 5% matching rate with all guides since he woke up as an Esper at the age of 10, and has always lived only with machine guidance, so he was an Esper who they did not know when he would explode.

There were times when he almost killed a person by mistake because he couldn’t control his power.

That monster and So-Won achieved a matching rate of 65% for the first time.

As soon as the matching result came out, So-Won went to the department in charge and cried and begged and asked to change Esper.

The employee looked sadly at So-Won, but all he could say was that he should be Kang Tae-woo’s guide according to the guide obligation system.

Since then, So-Won’s life has been the worst.

On his first meeting with Kang Tae-woo, he had a more horrible appearance than he had seen on the Internet.

The height of 2m, a large body, and the scariest thing was, of course, the dark red blood veins that covered the whole body.

The veins that popped out above the skin sometimes seemed to wriggle, making him feel like he was watching a horror movie.

As soon as he met Tae-Woo’s beastly eyes looking at him, So-Won almost fainted.

His body trembled unruly.

The staff managed to stop him from collapsing because his legs were weak.

Looking at him, Tae-Woo calmly turned his head.

According to the guide obligation system, So-Won lived with Kang Tae-woo in the same house, but So-Won was busy running away shaking whenever he encountered him.

He was completely deprived of food and drink and confined to his room, and fled to his parents’ house and hid, but he had to return to Tae-Woo’s house every time at the warning of the Esper Association.

So-Won suffered from depression and was worried because of the person living with him.

Tae-Woo felt sorry for So-Won.

His emotions were heavy and dull, so he didn’t feel anything, but he knew he is a monster, and would scare the small and fragile So-Won.

Tae-Woo understood that, too.

Finally, he met his guide, but he avoided contact with So-Won in consideration of him, he received a minimum of guidance, and survived through machine guidance as before.

Eight years have passed like that.

So-Won still felt that Tae-Woo was still terrible and scary, but he could get used to it a little.

Nevertheless, his life is still hard, so he has not met Tae-woo except during the contact guide.

There was no conversation between Tae-Woo and So-Won for eight years.

Tae-Woo’s condition, of course, got worse and worst.

The veins around the eyes now spread all over the face, and the guiding machine in the house increased to five.

So-Won began to feel more and more guilty about Tae-Woo, but that didn’t mean that So-Won guided him.

Still, when So-Won saw him, he couldn’t move because he was frozen like ice, and Tae-woo, who saw him would avoid him.

The two grew farther and farther apart.

Then today, a gate opened in Incheon in the middle of the night.

The entire Republic of Korea was nervous when the gate suddenly opened in the middle of Incheon without a sign.

The government declared a state of emergency, and stronger than usual monsters popped out all at once, causing havoc near the gate.

The level of difficulty expected by the government is S-level.

It was a super-large gate in Korean history.

Hours have passed since three S-class Esper of South Korea, including Kang Tae-woo, gathered and headed to the gate.

So-Won waited at the Esper Association building near the gate to guide Kang Tae-woo, who had been to the gate according to the guide obligation system.

So-Won had already been waiting in the waiting room for hours for the gate to be closed with Esper’s guides dispatched to Incheon Gate.

By the time he was stiff from sitting for too long, he heard from the TV on the association’s wall that the gate was barely closed. Several guides sitting in the waiting room could be heard relieved.

So-Won envied them who could worry about their respective Esper.

The fact that the gate was closed meant that he had to guide Tae-Woo, and So-Won was scared to face Tae-Woo, who would not be in better condition than usual by using his ability.

“Guide Lee So-Won?”

An employee who ran hurriedly breathed heavily and found So-Won that was shaking with fear among several guides.

” Esper Kang Tae-woo is in an emergency. Please come with me….”

The employee’s expression was serious.

However, even when So-Won saw the face, he was not worried about Tae-Woo’s condition.

He was just scared to meet Tae-Woo.

The staff who guided So-Won was in hurry.

The smell of blood intensified as he walked.

So-Won strangely began to tremble nervously.

The place where the employee brought So-Won was the operating room.

So-Won, who opened the door and entered, was surprised by the smell of blood rushing into his nose.

What was soon seen was an incredible situation.

There was something large lying on the operating room bed, and the doctors stood still, unable to do anything, surrounding it.

Something big was red wet and ragged, so it was hard to notice that it was Tae-Woo.

Blood dripped under the bed.

When he lowered his gaze, blood was already collected at So-Won’s feet.

Are those all from Tae-Woo’s body?It was an unrealistic situation.

Tae-Woo’s condition, which was belatedly confirmed, was serious.

The strong skin, which was said to never been pierced, seemed to have been penetrated by a huge horn, and blood was constantly pouring out from the large hole in the stomach.

Blood flowed steadily from large and small wounds that were not regenerating.

Tae-Woo’s condition was so serious that it was hard to believe he was even alive.

While the doctors couldn’t even figure out how to connect the completely ragged body, So-won sat on the blood-filled floor and held Tae-woo’s hand with trembling hands.

It was cold.

It was so cold and hard that it didn’t seem like a human hand.

Tae-woo, who called So-Won by making a fuss, was far more positive than usual.

Only then did So-Won realize little by little that this situation was real.

While Tae-Woo felt all his senses slowly disappearing, he sensed warmth in one hand.

Sensing that his guide had come, he opened his eyes and looked at So-Won.

The guide, who couldn’t say anything when he saw him, looked at him blankly and shed tears.

He lost a lot of weight compared to eight years ago. He always thought his plump cheeks and round eyes were cute.

The innocent guide was unhappy to meet him.

He made a man who would be happy without him unhappy because he was a terrible monster.

Tae-woo managed to say what he had been thinking all this time and couldn’t say.

“I’m sorry.”

His voice cracked and rested weakly for the first time.

So-Won’s heart fell to the floor with a thud as she heard the thin sound leaking miserably.

Guilt weighed down So-Won.

He couldn’t do anything but sobbed while holding Tae-Woo’s hand.

With a heavy cough, Tae-Woo vomited dark red blood.

The blood that came out soaked his face badly. Tae-Woo’s eyes seemed to look into the air without focus.

So-Won felt scared, he felt like he was going to die. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Don’t die…. Please, I’m sorry…”he hurriedly opened his mouth, but all that came out of from his mouth was a simple apology that repeatedly came out.

This isn’t it.

S-class Esper, monster, steel skin that can’t pierce anything.

He never imagined Tae-Woo, who had a fancy modifier, would die.

He suffered and resented him for the life he would spend tied to him, but the reality? He had never even properly guided him, looked at him like a monster, and didn’t even treat him like a person.

On the other hand, instead of forcing So-Won to guide, Tae-Woo endured the pain that drove him crazy, and quietly left his seat when he encountered So-Won who could not move.

So-Won realized.

In fact, the worst person was So-Won, himself.

The real monster was him.

I’m co-translating this one with my friend, we are both beginner in KR language so most of this is MTL with a bit of editing.  Don’t be rude and be polite when correcting, this series doesn’t have an editor. If you don’t like the translation please just leave or read directly from the raws. Corrections are appreciated but please say it in a polite way.