IGWKE Episode 18

Episode 18

The Esper’s drawn-out, mocking tone was unmistakably intended to provoke, and it worked. Yoon-ui’s face immediately hardened, showing a visible distaste for the attitude.

Espers… they’re all the same,

He thought bitterly.

Ungrateful brats who don’t know the meaning of respect.

Heon-ju, finally picking up on the tension, looked confused but aware that something was wrong. Meanwhile, Yoon-ui made it clear he had no interest in continuing the conversation with the Espers and turned away from them, ignoring their presence entirely.

The silence between them was sharp and uncomfortable.

Yoon-ui knew well enough that he had a bad reputation among Espers, but it didn’t make facing their open hostility in everyday life any easier. His mind was already conjuring all sorts of unpleasant thoughts about the short lifespan of these Espers, but he swallowed them down. He didn’t want to get into a fight, especially not in front of Heon-ju. As a senior, he decided to be the bigger person.

“…Thanks for the coffee. You should get to your training.”

“Huh? But I still have some time before I need to—”

Heon-ju, visibly disappointed, tried to stop Yoon-ui from leaving, but Yoon-ui stood up abruptly, cutting the conversation short. He had no interest in sticking around and dealing with these obnoxious Espers any longer.

“When are you going to finish your training if you only do it at the designated times? Maybe the problem is your teachers. You know your progress is behind, right?”

Of course, Yoon-ui wasn’t going to leave without getting in a jab. He made sure the Espers standing behind Heon-ju could hear his biting words.

“It makes you wonder if anyone teaching an S-class like you is actually qualified. A lot of A-classes around here aren’t really A-class, after all…”

The rumors about Yoon-ui’s sharp tongue weren’t exaggerated. Without giving the Espers a chance to retort, he unleashed his scathing comment and walked out of the café feeling a bit lighter.

That is, until he instinctively glanced back and saw the group of Espers surrounding Heon-ju, pointing angrily at him through the window. Their expressions were furious, and they seemed to be explaining something to Heon-ju as they gestured toward Yoon-ui.

The sight left a bitter taste in his mouth as he made his way back to the office. When he arrived, Joo-min checked her watch, looking surprised.

“Why are you back so soon?”

“I’ve got work to do.”

“Where’d you leave Heon-ju?”

“Am I his babysitter?”

His reply came out harsher than intended, causing Joo-min to close her mouth and exchange a glance with Jung-woo. Yoon-ui immediately realized he had snapped unnecessarily, but he was still too irritated to offer an apology.

I’m acting so immature, he thought, feeling even worse as he sensed everyone in the office watching him carefully, waiting for him to cool down.

Why am I like this?

The familiar wave of self-loathing hit him as he tried to soften his tone, offering a weak explanation.

“I sent him off to training.”

“Oh, okay.”

Joo-min, seemingly satisfied with the answer, turned back to her work, and the others followed suit. Only then did Yoon-ui allow himself to exhale quietly, glancing at the clock to see how much time he had before the next group of returnees arrived. Realizing he had some time, he slumped down onto his desk, laying his head on his arms.

No matter how much he tried to forget it, the image of the Espers pointing at him while whispering to Heon-ju kept replaying in his mind. He imagined them saying all sorts of things about him, their faces red with anger, shouting accusations—though thankfully, he hadn’t heard what they were saying.

They were definitely badmouthing me, he thought. Those bastards…

He had thought he was used to being hated by Espers, but clearly, it still stung more than he’d realized. The sharp edge of his frustration gradually dulled into a deep sense of melancholy.

His mind, worn down from exhaustion, began spiraling into worst-case scenarios. He imagined the Espers whispering in Heon-ju’s ear, filling his head with stories. Heon-ju, his face growing more distant, no longer looking at him with the same trust.

‘You didn’t know?’

‘That guy, he’s the one they call…’

‘Five years ago, at the gate…’

‘…the guide who killed an Esper.’

The thought of Heon-ju’s expression turning from surprise to disgust and horror gnawed at Yoon-ui’s mind. It wasn’t an unfounded fear. He had lived through this cycle before.

New Espers, especially those unfamiliar with the internal rumors, often warmed to him at first. But after a few days, or maybe a week, they would start greeting him with a distant politeness. A few months later, they would stop acknowledging him altogether. If he was lucky, they wouldn’t glare at him with outright contempt.

The bitter truth was that the cycle always repeated itself.

Even though Yoon-ui pretended not to care about the cold stares and the gossip behind his back, in reality, the continuous malice weighed heavily on him. Being highly sensitive and socially withdrawn, he found the constant hostility extremely stressful. That’s why, whenever he met new Espers, he avoided getting close, and he tried not to grow attached to Heon-ju. But somewhere along the way, he had let his guard down a little without realizing it.

Now, it was all over with Heon-ju.

He hadn’t expected any deep emotional connection or lasting friendship with someone twelve years younger, but the sudden collapse of their relationship left him feeling hollow.

Am I really no longer capable of getting along with anyone in this organization?

“Damn it, these damn Espers again!”

No matter how much he tried to brush it off and act like his usual self, his sensitive state of mind refused to settle. He hated Espers who, after causing trouble, would lash out at him the moment they saw his face. Yoon-ui’s expression twisted with frustration.

Jung-woo, looking anxious, tried to stop his drunken Esper senior from jabbing a finger at Yoon-ui and shouting obscenities, but the senior, too drunk to even remember his return time, wasn’t about to calm down anytime soon.

“Sunbae, um, the return time has passed…”

“And who the hell are you?”

The drunk Esper spat vulgar insults even at Jung-woo, who was also an Esper.

“Sitting at your desk all day, nitpicking about our leave and handing out punishments. What do you guys even do? We, we risk our lives going into gates! You desk jockeys are nothing but lowlifes stacking up records by sending others to detention. You’re not even on the same level, not even close!”

The tired argument about how Espers risk their lives in the gates was Yoon-ui’s least favorite line, right after being called “the guide who killed an Esper.” Jung-woo glanced nervously at Yoon-ui, unsure of what to do.

Without saying a word, Yoon-ui pulled up the drunk Esper’s data on his tablet. Scrolling through the history, he began reading it aloud in a cold, loud voice.

“Kwon Tae-hyuk, Class B Esper. As of now, you’ve been through a measly 67 gates. Only three of those were A-class.”

“What the hell? Who gave you the right to look at my data?!”

“We have the authority to do that.”

Yoon-ui sneered and continued reading through Kwon Tae-hyuk’s unimpressive history.

“And for those three A-class gates, you failed one and had to call for backup?”

As Yoon-ui’s voice grew sharper, Jung-woo nervously gripped his handcuffs, knowing things were escalating. But today, Yoon-ui wasn’t in the mood to let anything slide, especially when it involved Espers.

“I’ve gone into over 100 A-class gates. Not a single failure.”

He had always taken the lead when it came to dangerous gates, never once asking for backup. Sure, one Esper had died during an operation, but he had never failed the mission itself.

And now, here was this incompetent, poorly-managed Esper daring to talk down to him.

No matter how hard he tried to calm down, Yoon-ui’s already frayed nerves couldn’t handle the situation. The atmosphere in the room shifted as Yoon-ui’s guiding pressure started to build, making Jung-woo glance at him in surprise.

Using a pressure-guiding technique to suppress an Esper’s abilities was nearly equivalent to a threat. The drunk Esper, feeling the sudden suffocating pressure, began to panic, his breath coming in short gasps.

I seriously want to kill them all.

“I really hate Espers.”

Why do I have to put up with this?

Unable to contain his anger, Yoon-ui released even more pressure despite Jung-woo’s attempts to stop him. It was a display of power that ignored the fact that the target was a drunk Esper, barely able to stand.

Being a guide didn’t mean you always had to use your power to help. Yoon-ui easily overwhelmed the insolent lower-ranked Esper with sheer force.

“Ugh…”

The Esper’s face grew pale as the guiding pressure tightened around him, making it impossible for him to use his powers.

Without his abilities, an Esper was no different from an ordinary person. And someone like Kwon Tae-hyuk, who barely maintained his physical fitness, wouldn’t stand a chance even in a fistfight against Yoon-ui.

And Kwon knew it. The expression on his face changed as he realized the severity of the situation. He knew that if he kept running his mouth, this guide might actually kill him.

Realizing that the situation was no different from the life-or-death struggles inside a gate, Kwon Tae-hyuk didn’t dare speak. Not that he could if he wanted to—Yoon-ui’s pressure was so overwhelming that it was strangling his voice.

His face turned ghostly white as he struggled to breathe. It was Jung-woo who finally saved him.

“Sunbae.”

Jung-woo, who had been nervously watching the entire time, finally grabbed Yoon-ui’s arm.

“Let’s stop here.”

His tone was calm and uncharacteristically steady. Yoon-ui glared at Jung-woo with a furious expression, but Jung-woo didn’t back down.

“I’ll memorize the coordinates.”

Still gripping Yoon-ui’s arm, Jung-woo activated his ability and teleported the drunken Esper straight to detention.

Only after the object of his anger vanished did Yoon-ui’s oppressive guiding pressure begin to fade. When the pressure fully dissipated, shame quickly replaced the anger.

What kind of senior acts like this in front of their juniors?

And not just any junior—Jung-woo, who had been suffering alongside him in this team, enduring the same insults from Espers. Yoon-ui felt deeply embarrassed for his outburst and for voicing childish complaints like “I hate Espers” in front of someone like Jung-woo.

He knew he should apologize right away, but for some reason, the words wouldn’t come out. Yoon-ui lowered his head in silence, feeling utterly pathetic.