TDG Ch 1

0.

“Gasp… Whew.”

I wiped away the sweat trickling down my chin and paused to catch my breath. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst.

I had been sprinting back and forth along the same stretch for thirty minutes, but still, I saw no sign of anything unusual.

Any moment now, here at this crowded intersection, the protagonist Han Jihyuk would awaken as an S-rank Esper.

I had waited five years for this day.

Although to say I “waited” isn’t quite true.

The word “endured” would be far more accurate, both in meaning and feeling.

In other words, I survived for five years, clinging desperately to life, just for the chance to meet Han Jihyuk.

I absolutely had to find him before Kwon Minwook did.

For the sake of the smooth romance between the male and female leads, and more importantly, to save three million lives, this was the only way.

* * *

One day, I opened my eyes and found myself inside a novel.

It was a near-future fantasy web novel set in the year 2040 called “Lost Paradise”. It became a sensation on various online forums for its tasteful blend of makjang^[1]-style drama and clichés, topped with the protagonist’s heart-wrenching love story.

In “Lo.Pa.Da^[2]”, a new human race called Espers and Guides possessed supernatural abilities, and the protagonist, Han Jihyuk, appeared as an S-rank Esper. But in truth, he wasn’t just S-rank; he was the only Esper in the world with an even higher classification: L-rank.

At the time of his awakening, Han Jihyuk lost control of his overwhelmingly powerful abilities and went berserk. Kwon Minwook, a Guide, was the first to discover him and succeeded in calming him down. That was also the beginning of the protagonist’s tragedy.  

Kwon Minwook was the ultimate rage-inducing villain who, despite not being the main antagonist, was cursed at endlessly and considered the worst of the worst.

He was a textbook example of a corrupt government official. He recognized Han Jihyuk’s potential early on and schemed his way into becoming his exclusive Guide.

Kwon Minwook took psychological control of the unstable Han Jihyuk, forced him to obey only his orders, and tormented him with unbearable pain whenever he tried to resist.

Utterly broken, Han Jihyuk eventually went berserk again, causing a series of massive explosions that wiped out half of Seoul.

The death toll reached a staggering three million, including the female lead and Guide Jung Ahyoon’s parents, her older brother, and her lover.

But Jung Ahyoon was strong. Once she learned Han Jihyuk’s story, instead of resenting him, she helped pick up the pieces of his shattered life.

Even toward the end of the story, the two couldn’t be together. Despite being deeply attracted to each other, the tragic circumstances pushed them apart, always keeping them from coming together.

Maybe it’s because I carried a deep sense of regret as I watched these two people, who, while doing their best in their own places, could only feel the traces of where the other had been. In the end, before I could even read the final chapter, I woke up in the world of “Lost Paradise” as “Extra Guide #1.”

At first, I was in complete denial.

I only liked the story as a novel. I never once wished to be part of it.

I chanted “This is just a dream” as I dunked my head into ice water, and for a whole week, I took sleeping pills and dove onto the bed, hoping that maybe, when I woke up, I’d be back in my own room. Unfortunately, nothing of the sort ever happened.

I had no choice but to accept, down to my bones, the reality that I wasn’t the main character, nor one of his close allies, or even a villain. I was merely one piece of the background, existing only to flesh out the protagonist’s world.

Seo Juwon. Nineteen years old.

The novel had carved out a simple, minimal role for “extra Seo Juwon.”

As if even a few extra bytes were too much to spare, it had copied over my real name, face, and physical features exactly, changing only my age and backstory.

Oh, and I guess being ten years younger could count as an advantage?

After quite a bit of floundering, I finally managed to pull myself together and began calmly organizing the events to come.

The area I live in will one day be wiped out without a trace due to Han Jihyuk going berserk. That’s right. Among those three million casualties, the extra Seo Juwon was one of them.

What used to be a superficial narrative in a book was now my reality and had become inextricably tied to my own future.

“……”

There was never any such thing as a choice. If I couldn’t find a way back, then I had to at least prevent the tragedy that was bound to happen.

1.

It’s the summer of 2035.

There are exactly five years left until the real beginning of the novel.

Where could Han Jihyuk be right now?

I was curious, but trying to find him was pointless.

He was an orphan with an unclear place of residence, and if I made a move too soon and disrupted the storyline too much, I wouldn’t be able to handle the consequences myself.

For now, since I knew the time and place of Han Jihyuk’s first appearance, I decided to intercept him then.

That said, there was no way I could protect Han Jihyuk alone.

At least, not if I’m on my own.

I looked into the mirror and grinned.

Maybe fate wasn’t completely heartless after all.

The father of the extra character “Seo Juwon” turned out to be an A-rank Esper and the minister of the government department in charge of Espers.

That minister, who is only mentioned a few times by name in the novel, is my father! 

I immediately went to my father and expressed my desire to work as a Guide.

“Juwon-ah, it’s only been a couple of days since you stepped out of your room. What’s going on?”

This man, in his late fifties, with a solemn and conservative demeanor, is my father, Seo Hyungsik. The archetypal doting father who would do anything for his son.

When I first possessed this body and stumbled through the confusion, he had sincerely cared for me. He was my only and greatest ally.

To someone like me, who had been an orphan with no family ties, having blood-related kin brought a strange, unfamiliar sense of intimacy and belonging I had never known before. 

At first, I was awkward around him, not used to having a father figure, but by now, I’d gotten relatively comfortable.

He took off his glasses, flustered, and studied my face.

It was a bit strange how he looked at me like a child standing at the edge of a river, but given the circumstances, it made sense.

The original Seo Juwon, the one I possessed, had a timid personality and was severely bullied at school.

He was constantly dragged around, beaten, extorted for money, and made into a laughingstock, to the point of developing a serious panic disorder. The fact that his father was a minister didn’t help. In fact, it seemed to have made him a target for a certain crowd.  

He couldn’t cope with daily life after that, dropped out of school, and locked himself in his room, living like a full-blown hikikomori^[3]. He had even engaged in self-harm several times.

I didn’t find out that I was a Guide until some time after I’d transmigrated.

One day, I accidentally brushed against my father, and I saw—no, felt—something strange.

It turned out to be a special kind of wavelength unique to Espers.

According to my internet research, only Guides were capable of perceiving those.

My father is a minister in the Esper department, and I was a Guide. It was a convenient coincidence that made even a divine revelation seem plausible.

To top it off, when I checked the hospital records, I learned that my Guide ability had only recently manifested and that only my father and I knew about it.

Clasping my hands together, I gently touched the faint scars on my wrist and spoke.

“There’s nothing wrong.”

“Then why all of a sudden?”

“It’s just… I dropped out of school, and I can’t keep lazing around at home forever.”

“Son, what are you saying? You need more time to rest. You have me, so what are you worried about?”

I tried everything I could to reassure him that his son was perfectly fine, but it didn’t work in the slightest.

He had good reason, since just a short time ago I’d been struggling with a severe mental condition that made leaving my room feel more terrifying than dying. Even my psychiatrist had called it a miracle.  

My father studied me from head to toe, searching for any other sign that something might be wrong.

“Juwon-ah, let me be honest with you. Being a Guide is an incredibly difficult job. If you really want to work, can’t I introduce you to something else? Didn’t you once say you’d never want to be a Guide?”

Did I really say that?

Well, the thing is… now I have to save my favorite character from going berserk five years from now.

“…I did feel that way before, but I’ve changed my mind. I’ve caused you enough trouble already. I want to be of help to you now, Father.”

“Help? There are plenty of other ways you can do that… No, Juwon, you don’t have to worry about things like that in the first place. I…”

My father trailed off abruptly, his eyes welling with tears.

Seeing the raw emotion on his face, how much he had suffered emotionally, made my heart ache a little. Even though I wasn’t really his real son, it pricked at my conscience.

I’m sorry for lying.

But I promise, I will be helpful.

“Please, Father. I’m asking you.”

I pleaded again, firmly and earnestly.

He stood in silence for a long moment before finally nodding with a heavy sigh.

“…Alright. I really don’t want you doing something like that, but if you’re that determined, I’ll look for a more stable position for you…”

“No, I want to join Division 7! That’s what I’m applying for.”

What was he thinking, trying to say something so dangerous… Did he want to make me an unfilial son?

If he got caught pulling strings, he’d lose his pension and be forced into a dishonorable retirement.

What I wanted was a guide position in Division 7, with no strings attached.

Originally, there had been seven divisions, but they’d since been merged into one, now known only by name as “Division 7.” It was the lowest-level government unit, basically equivalent to an entry-level Grade 9 civil servant.

They didn’t care about educational background. As long as you had no criminal record and were a government-certified Esper or Guide, you could skip all the tests and get hired through an interview alone.

For someone like Seo Juwon, who had dropped out of high school, it was the only national department he could realistically enter.

Of course, I had done my research.

If I could stick it out in Division 7 for just five years, I could transfer to the Esper–Guide Central Management Bureau in Seoul, the so-called Center, without any complicated procedures.

Even in this world, Korea is still Korea. The civil service exam competition is fierce.

It might sound absurd, but to become a Center Guide, you normally have to pass a national exam. However, Division 7 was the only place without that cursed test, which is its only merit, though the tradeoff was that your body would be ground to dust in the field.

Just as I’d expected, my father immediately jumped up in protest.

“Division 7? Absolutely not! Espers are far rougher than you imagine. No, many of them are downright bastards. The field conditions are terrible, and the injury risk is high. It’s just too dangerous. Sure, the title says civil servant, but Division 7 is a whole different world! There’s no way you could handle it. You should start somewhere safer and ease your way into the work…”

He froze, just like I did, at the word “bastards.”

Understandably so, since he himself was an Esper. The vividness of the description probably hit a little too close to home.

I get it.

He doesn’t want his carefully raised son doing such dangerous work.

Especially when that son, “Seo Juwon,” had a history of serious mental health issues.

But if things continue like this, half of Seoul will be destroyed in five years.

You’ll die that day, too, Father.

“I’m already prepared for that.”

All I could do was stay firm and unwavering.

I clenched my fists and stated it clearly and resolutely.

My father fell silent, his expression a mix of sorrow and concern.

He clearly wanted to talk me out of it. But this was the first time his previously lifeless, reclusive son had ever expressed a desire to do something.

He couldn’t refuse. After all, they say no parent can win against their child.

In truth, since Seo Juwon was already over eighteen, I didn’t need parental consent to get a job.

But I would need his support later, so it was better to secure his cooperation from the start.

To show my burning determination, I looked straight into his eyes. My father furrowed his brow in thought, then roughly ran his hands down his face and let out a sigh.

“…Alright. But promise me that if it ever gets too hard, you’ll tell me immediately, and you’ll quit.”

Finally.

I resisted the urge to throw my hands in the air and cheer, and instead offered him a small, bright smile.

“Don’t worry!”