Five percent... no, I could knock it down another seven.
Eugene murmured inwardly, checking his watch again and again. The physical data of the esper he was in charge of could be monitored in real time through the watch.
In the world of the novel there'd been nothing like this, so he'd always had to go by gut and guesswork — in this respect, this world was definitely far more convenient.
Crack.
"Huh?"
Just then, the sound of something breaking reached his ears. Turning his head without thinking, Eugene was startled.
The table Baek Do-hoon had been gripping with his other hand had cracked. And then it simply shattered, fragments scattering to the floor. Skin prickling, Eugene let go of Baek Do-hoon's hand and edged back a little.
"Are you all right?"
"..."
He'd already lowered the numbers as much as he'd aimed to, and Baek Do-hoon seemed unable to adjust to properly experiencing an S-rank guide's guiding for the first time, so it seemed best to call it here for today.
"This... this is what guiding is...?"
"What?"
Baek Do-hoon murmured, his face bewildered. Eugene looked at him quizzically, but Baek Do-hoon wasn't looking at Eugene. He seemed a little dazed, unlike himself.
Well, Eugene Langford doesn't do guiding properly, after all.
To Eugene Langford, guiding had been nothing more than a means of taming espers. His creed was that giving espers all the guiding they wanted would spoil them. All while oblivious to the fact that he'd later be killed by the espers who bore him a grudge.
Since he'd have done the same thing here over these three years too, it was hard for Baek Do-hoon to come to his senses upon receiving an S-rank guide's proper guiding for the first time. The other espers in the novel's world had been the same.
"I'd recommend you continue to receive guiding periodically going forward."
"..."
"Well then, I'll be off."
Speaking briskly, Eugene rose from his seat. His work was done, so there was no reason to linger here any longer. Just as he turned to leave the guiding room, a low voice spilled out from Baek Do-hoon.
"Wait."
Eugene turned his head, puzzled. At that, Baek Do-hoon glared at him with menacing eyes and stepped closer. The eyes, reddened from burst capillaries, were far too vivid, giving Eugene a bad feeling. Startled, Eugene tried to step back, but Baek Do-hoon's movement was faster.
"What are you scheming, Kwon Eugene?"
"Ugh."
Baek Do-hoon seized one of Eugene's shoulders to keep him from escaping. To him it probably wasn't much force, but an S-rank esper's grip strength was measured on a different scale from an ordinary person's. Eugene let out a groan, feeling the pain in his shoulder.
"You've been so half-hearted all this time, and now suddenly you're acting like this — what's the reason?"
"Ugh, my shoulder—"
Eugene whimpered and slapped at Baek Do-hoon's hand. But the boulder-like hand didn't budge an inch. Baek Do-hoon, seemingly not in his right mind, didn't appear to hear a word he said.
He's got a composed look, so I figured his personality would match, but it turns out he's the type who goes off the rails while staying perfectly calm. Having failed to manage his contamination level and gone right up to the brink of rampaging, it was understandable — but this was no way to treat someone who'd just diligently given him guiding, was it?
"Team Leader Baek! Let go, or I'm reporting this to the Center!"
"..."
Eugene shouted through gritted teeth. Only then did focus return to Baek Do-hoon's hazy eyes. The hand clamped on Eugene's shoulder slowly fell away.
"Whether it was a whim of mine or whatever — doing the guiding is good for you, isn't it, Team Leader?"
Clutching his throbbing shoulder, Eugene asked in an irritable tone. Baek Do-hoon still fixed him with a sharp-edged gaze.
Damn espers, damn Eugene Langford.
The situation had been much the same when he'd first transmigrated into the novel. The espers who'd suffered Eugene Langford's tyranny had refused to trust him. Among them were some who lashed out and turned violent, just like Baek Do-hoon. Here or there, the espers' basic nature was the same.
He'd barely cleaned up that mess and come back, and now he had to do the exact same thing here. If anyone had the right to lose his mind out of sheer unfairness, it was him.
"If you act like this again next time, I'll take it as your side refusing the guiding."
Eugene spoke coldly and turned around. He tried his best to stay calm, but his startled body trembled miserably. Eugene barely managed to move his feet and get out of the guiding room.
"Ha..."
At the thought that this kind of thing would repeat itself countless times going forward, his vision went dark. Eugene walked on, clutching his still-throbbing shoulder.
Should I keep a bodyguard around or something?
In the novel's world, there'd at least been knights bound to Eugene Langford's ducal house, but here there was no one. To protect himself from an S-rank esper, he'd need at least an A-rank esper or higher at his side. But his reputation at the Center had surely hit rock bottom over these three years, and the other espers no doubt regarded him with distaste, too.
Ha, this is seriously annoying.
Back in the office, Eugene irritably swept back the front hair that had fallen over his brow. Recalling the things he'd been through in the novel's world only soured his mood further. Face scrunched, Eugene muttered a small curse.
"Dammit."
"T-Team Leader?"
Seeing Eugene return, Ha-young — who'd scurried into the office after him — flinched and stared. Belatedly registering his presence, Eugene sighed heavily and sat down in his seat.
"Ngh."
"D-did you get hurt somewhere?"
Even the small motion of sitting down aggravated his shoulder, and it throbbed again. At that, Ha-young came closer and asked with a worried expression.
This kid's been the deputy team leader at his side, so he must have suffered all kinds of harassment from Eugene Langford, too. And yet to worry like this — was it just his innately good nature? The hurt Baek Do-hoon had dealt him eased a little, at least.
"I'm not hurt, my shoulder just—"
"Should I call the medical officer?"
"It's not that bad."
Calling the medical officer the moment he got back from guiding Baek Do-hoon would seem strange to the Center. He didn't want things blowing up over something this minor.
Even after Eugene shook his head to refuse, Ha-young couldn't quite hide his worried look. Leaving him fidgeting like a puppy needing to relieve itself, Eugene asked in an indifferent tone.
"What about the other espers' guiding schedules?"
"Ah, there's a slot set for Esper Kang Tae-jun this afternoon."
"Kang Tae-jun..."
Eugene pulled the Alpha-1 Team profiles back out and read them. After Baek Do-hoon's profile came Kang Tae-jun's.
"Um, if it's too much, should I push the guiding schedule back?"
"No, it's fine."
Having said he'd do the guiding, pushing the schedule back would just invite more baseless misunderstandings. And since it was something he'd have to get through once anyway, tired or not, better to do it quickly while he could.
"But your shoulder's bothering you..."
"I said I'm fine."
Waving his hand to shoo Ha-young out of the office, Eugene finished skimming through Kang Tae-jun's profile with his eyes.
Same age as me, no particular backing.
Unlike Baek Do-hoon, the team leader, Kang Tae-jun was an esper who hadn't walked the textbook elite path. He'd awakened as an S-rank esper late in life and been scouted into the military. So he'd lived far longer as an ordinary civilian than as a soldier.
In short, it meant he was an easier mark compared to Baek Do-hoon. There was no need to handle him with particular caution, so he'd likely be easier to deal with than Baek Do-hoon.
Though his matching rate was the lowest on the team at 42%, an S-rank guide didn't pick who to guide based on matching rates. It didn't much matter. Eugene committed the information about Kang Tae-jun to memory and, when the time came, left the office.
"Hey, are you out of your mind? Did you go and smack your head on something on the way here?"
"..."
Eugene's expectation that Kang Tae-jun would be far easier to deal with than Baek Do-hoon shattered within a single minute of facing him.
At the abuse hurled point-blank in his face, Eugene barely maintained a thin smile. One wrong move and it seemed a fist would come flying at the esper he was supposed to be managing.
"Esper Kang Tae-jun. Watch your mouth."
"Ah, shit. What's with the creepy polite talk?"
"..."
"Have you seriously lost it?"
It seemed Eugene Langford and Kang Tae-jun had long been on this-bastard-that-bastard terms. Watching Kang Tae-jun's face crumple in anger, Eugene let out a short sigh.
Certainly, Kang Tae-jun wasn't the type of looks Eugene Langford would have liked. He had a handsome face befitting an S-rank esper, but he was slightly off from Langford's ideal, so to speak. As befit an esper with a body-enhancement ability, he was burly, and his squarish, masculine face was not at all to Eugene Langford's taste.
That man had been merciless toward espers who weren't his type. So Eugene Langford had apparently treated Kang Tae-jun quite roughly. He'd surely treated him like a bug and never once given him any guiding. Eugene pressed a hand firmly against his throbbing head.
"You're really telling me you'll guide me with no strings attached? You think I'll believe that?"
"Yeah, and if you don't want it, forget it."
"..."
He'd said it in a fit of temper, but fortunately, Kang Tae-jun's endlessly running mouth came to a stop. Still, he glared at Eugene with suspicious eyes.
"Make your choice. Sit quietly and get guided, or just walk out."
Eugene raised his hand and wiggled his fingers in front of Kang Tae-jun's eyes. Each time his fingertips moved, Kang Tae-jun's gaze wavered. Eugene could feel his flustered reaction.
Kang Tae-jun's numbers weren't as dangerous as Baek Do-hoon's. But that didn't mean they were numbers he could rest easy about. Even now he'd be suffering from side effects like headaches and ringing in his ears from not receiving enough guiding.
Given his personality, there was a chance he'd shake Eugene off and storm out, but Eugene judged that possibility low. And indeed, Kang Tae-jun bit his lip hard, as if furious at himself for being so easily swayed by temptation.
"Ha, did you really take a bullet to the head or something..."
Muttering, Kang Tae-jun looked down at the palm Eugene held out. His face scrunched with disgust, brimming with displeasure.
