But he couldn't just stand there and do nothing.
[As a ‘Guide,’ you must now work with S-class Espers to prevent the end of the world! ✪ω✪*]
If, as the System said, he had to be with Espers from now on, he had to inform them about Guide and Guiding and have them use it to conquer Gates.
It was sudden, but thinking positively, it was an opportunity to explain and appeal what Guides and Guiding were to two people at the same time. Whether they believed him or not, Wonwoo had to stay as close to the Espers as possible.
‘So, this is a kind of self-PR.’
While conquering the Gate with Yonghyun, Wonwoo realized that his Guiding was effective. They had certainly raided the danger-level AA Gate at a speed that was hard to believe, even for him.
Of course, he didn't know how long Gate raidings usually took, but given that Jinho had assessed it as incredibly fast, he had essentially collected the first case study proving that Guiding could shorten the raiding time.
Wonwoo pressed the button on the beam projector's remote with a sense of gravity.
I am the presenter, and this is a lecture hall! Not a camp for solving Gate problems! Those two are my classmates! Wonwoo hypnotized himself.
“The key point to solving the Gates. That would be… me.”
When he pressed the button, a new phrase appeared below <How to Solve the Gate Problem>.
<A Problem-Solving Method Centered on Guide ‘Kim Wonwoo’>
When he was writing the presentation script, it hadn't been embarrassing to write and practice the line, ‘The key to solving this problem is me!’… Could this be why the System tried to stop him?
Wonwoo felt Yonghyun's gaze on him, calm and without a hint of surprise or bewilderment. Because of that, he somehow felt embarrassed, and the tips of his ears felt like they were turning red. So, Wonwoo carefully averted his gaze toward Jinho.
Then, Wonwoo's eyes met Jinho's. Looking at him, who was excessively handsome with deeply flushed cheeks, somehow… made him feel embarrassed in a different way than when he looked at Yonghyun. In the end, Wonwoo decided to fix his gaze on the empty space between the two.
“Espers are superpowered individuals who appeared along with the Gates that manifested all over the world.”
The PowerPoint moved to the next slide.
<1. What is a Guide?>
“It has not yet been revealed how Espers came to appear, or what the conditions are for becoming one. The majority of Espers say things like, ‘It just sort of happened, and I got my powers.’”
In his heart, Wonwoo offered a word of thanks to the professor of his liberal arts course, ‘Modern Society and Espers.’ It had been three years since he took the class, but he was thankful that the online classroom and the course materials within it had been left as they were. While seventy percent of the material in this PowerPoint came from the System, another twenty percent was from that course's materials. The last ten percent, of course, was from our friend, the internet.
“Just like the appearance of Espers, the appearance of Guides was also sudden. Chief, by any chance, do you remember the moment you became an Esper?”
Yonghyun nodded. The moment Yonghyun became an Esper, the entire Republic of Korea was in an uproar. It was the appearance of Korea’s first S-class Esper.
And he was the son of the Minister of National Defense, no less. The news was busy reporting on how powerful a nation Korea had become with the emergence of an S-class Esper.
“I also suddenly… became a Guide like that.”
Wonwoo flipped the PPT to the next slide.
“And I suddenly gained an ability. If I am present, if I use my power, the abilities of the Esper with me become stronger. The condition, as I mentioned to you, Chief, is physical contact….”
Yonghyun raised his hand, cutting Wonwoo off.
“I have a question, Wonwoo-ssi.”
“…Ye-yes.”
No, it's not even the Q&A session yet, and he already has a question! I've barely said anything!
Wonwoo was flustered. But he couldn't bring himself to say this to Yonghyun, so he just smiled.
“By any chance… when was the day you found out you had become a Guide?”
“……”
Wonwoo hesitated. Should he tell the truth, or should he hide it or lie? After a brief moment of deliberation, Wonwoo decided to hide it for now. As dense as he could be, he couldn't possibly say, 'I died and woke up as a Guide! I died on May 8th, came back to life on May 2nd, and became a Guide! And there's this thing called a System!' Besides, it wasn't like they would believe him even if he told them.
“The exact date… I don’t remember. But it wasn’t today. Haha….”
“Then why. Why didn’t you report to the Administration as soon as you found out you became a Guide, no, as soon as you found out you had abilities? Espers are required to report to the country as soon as they realize they have become an Esper.”
“……”
The moment Wonwoo heard Yonghyun’s question, he crumpled up the presentation script in his head and threw it far away.
“Chief. And… Esper Han Jinho-nim. I would like to ask you one question.”
“…Yes. Go ahead.”
“Ye-yes. I’m fine with a question, too.”
“Since I’m a civilian, I may not know the situation well and might have some things wrong. But I understand that the budget used for researching ways to reduce the side effects of Esper abilities and to make Espers stronger is comparable to the entire national defense budget.”
“…Yes. That is correct. The stronger the Espers, the faster we can solve the Gates.”
“In a situation like this… someone goes around saying, ‘Just by holding my hand, your abilities get stronger and the side effects disappear!’ Is that… a believable statement? If you both heard that, would you have… believed it?”
“Yes.”
“Me too! I’d believe it!”
“Right, it’s not believe… What?”
“I actually trusted and followed the Guide-nim during the battle with the monster earlier and successfully subjugated it.”
“That's right, that's it! Because you've experienced my ability. But would you have believed me just on the street, or when not facing a monster?”
“Yes. If you were the one saying it, Guide-nim, no, Wonwoo-ssi.”
“Ah. So the Gate raiding speed increased because of the Guide-nim's ability.”
“That is correct. Esper Han Jinho-nim, I wasn’t particularly trying to hide it. I was just trying to choose my words…”
Wonwoo felt like crying. It felt like being a freshman giving his first presentation, facing a senior in the front row who was tormenting him with countless questions, and a professor who ended up answering on his behalf before moving on with the lecture.
And why were they… placing so much trust in him? Wonwoo felt like crying at their inexplicably trusting gazes.
He had doubted and been wary of Yonghyun's kindness. So he tried to appeal to Esper Han Jinho to win him over. But for them to just say they believe him so bluntly.
What are these people, no, these Espers….
Seeing Wonwoo’s expression harden, Yonghyun, thinking Wonwoo might be feeling pressured, quickly added.
“I wasn’t trying to interrogate you, Wonwoo-ssi. It was just out of disappointment that we couldn't have met sooner….”
Why… do you feel disappointed? Was my Guiding that good…? Wonwoo barely managed to swallow his thoughts.
“…Let’s just say I wasn’t in the right state of mind back then. In truth, I hadn't been a Guide for long, so I didn't have the chance.”
The screen projected by the beam projector turned black. Because it hadn't been operated for a while, the screen of the phone connected to it had turned off, causing the projector to switch to standby mode.
But Wonwoo didn't have the confidence to bring the PowerPoint screen back up. No, he didn't have the energy. So he pulled out the cord connecting his phone and the projector, severing the link.
“It seems the PowerPoint file I prepared is useless…. So I’ll just summarize it for you. I am a Guide, and a Guide is someone who can enhance an Esper’s abilities and reduce the side effects that come from using those powers. Therefore, we can conquer Gates more quickly.”
Facing a thoroughly dejected Wonwoo, the two Espers couldn't bring themselves to say that there was no need to summarize and that he should explain in detail, so they just listened to him quietly.
“One times two is two, but a hundred times two is two hundred. My ability… shines brighter the higher an Esper's rank. So, to use my ability effectively, it's… good to be with you, Chief, and you, Esper Han Jinho-nim. Not just the two of you, but other S-ranks as well.”
“Regarding that part, if you were to join the Bureau, Wonwoo-ssi, I believe we could be of great help.”
-Bbirong bbirong!
[Oppose monopoly! Oppose monopoly! ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ]
Seeing the anti-monopoly message fill his phone screen, Wonwoo thought he'd done the right thing by disconnecting the projector.
At least it's not flipping a table this time, he thought nonsensically.
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