Hanseong stared at the glowing screen of his phone, scrolling through the top search result for the hundredth time.
S-Class Esper: Lee Taehyun.
South Korea's most powerful natural S-Class Esper—and the undisputed Master of the Vanguard Guild—he was famous for two things: his overwhelming strength and his habit of rejecting every Guide assigned to him.
That arrogance finally caught up to him last year when he succumbed to a Rampage, destroying half a district.
Now, he was officially classified as South Korea's second X-Class Esper, locked away in an underground, high-security containment facility far from the public eye.
Hanseong slowly lowered his phone, letting out a long, exhausted breath.
That was the man his System wanted him to guide back to sanity.
Him.
A D-Class Guide who couldn't even keep a six-year relationship together.
The universe really did have a sick sense of humor.
[Host thinks I'm joking.]
Hanseong let out a small chuckle. 'I know you're joking.'
[Host is mistaken.]
'Shut up and let me rest.' Hanseong slowly closed his eyes. 'And don't ever pull a prank like that again.'
[Guide Jung Hanseong.]
Hanseong's eyes immediately snapped open. It was the first time his System had called him by his full name.
Something about it sent a shiver down his spine.
It sounded... Cold.
Mechanical...
Nothing like the playful tone it usually spoke in.
'The hell?'
[You are to Guide Esper Lee Taehyun to sanity within a span of 40 days.]
'That is impossible! Are you listening to yourself?!'
[Guide Esper Lee Taehyun to sanity within a span of 40 days.]
The System repeated. Hanseong's heartbeat quickened. He swallowed.
This thing wasn't joking.
He sat up straight and rubbed his eyes.
'...You're actually serious?'
[Penalty: Death.]
I always knew the universe hated me.
But wasn't this too much?
'Okay... Let me assume you're not joking...'
'How do you expect a D-Class Guide to get into a reinforced facility that is on the other side of the country?!'
[That sounds like a YOU problem.]
Hanseong shot to his feet and ran his fingers through his hair. This thing had gone crazy!
"Okay...deep breaths."
He inhaled.
"Deep breaths..."
He exhaled.
[MISSION PROGRESS: 0%]
His eye twitched. He didn't even know whether to laugh or cry. Guide an X-Class Esper back to sanity?
Even the country's strongest A-Class Guides couldn't bring him back.
So what made him so special?
Hanseong slowly rubbed his chin.
'Am I like... secretly overpowered?'
[You wish.]
Shit.
Hanseong slowly let his hands drop to his sides. He wasn't secretly overpowered, yet his system was sending him on a suicide mission?!
A suicide mission that even the top Guides of the country ran away from.
"I'll pick death, thank you very much."
[Careful, Host. I might actually fulfil your wish.]
'...Let me think that through.'
[Wonderful choice.]
Hanseong flopped back onto his bed. He was supposed to be lying here, crying over his breakup. Instead, his System had somehow managed to make getting dumped feel like the least of his problems.
None of this made sense. Why would his System assign a mission that even A-Class Guides couldn't accomplish?
Maybe...
Just maybe...
He'd finally gone insane.
[Negative.]
[Host is completely sane.]
Wasn't that unfortunate?
Hanseong covered his face with both hands.
"... My life is over."
*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
"HANSEONG OPEN THE DOOR!"
Ah-In?
The door didn't just open; it practically flew off its hinges.
Before Hanseong could even register anything, a blur of oversized designer sunglasses and a bucket hat grabbed the collar of his pyjamas.
"Jung Hanseong!" Ah-In shrieked, shaking him violently back and forth. "What the hell did you do to the plot?!"
"Ah-In—choking—can't breathe—" Hanseong wheezed, tapping her arm desperately.
She let go, letting him slump against the wall, but her glare could have melted ice. "I told you! I spent six years warning you that Min-Jae was going to dump you so you wouldn't turn into that pathetic cannon fodder villain who tries to poison his Esper boyfriend!"
"And I listened to you!" Hanseong choked out, rubbing his sore neck. "I said okay, and I let him go! I didn't plot an assassination!"
"Oh..." She huffed and dropped onto his bed, arms folded across her chest. "I thought you didn't."
She came all this way... only to strangle me?!
"Why are you here?" Hanseong asked narrowing his eyes at her.
"I just came here to make sure you didn't turn into a villain or something."
Hanseong's eye twitched, then he sighed.
He wasn't surprised anymore.
Six years ago, Yoon Ah-In had introduced herself with the words:
"Hi. I'm a transmigrator."
Naturally, he'd thought she'd escaped from a psychiatric ward.
Somehow...she'd become his bestfriend.