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Where should I even start with Yoo Sejin?

Yoo Sejin was a Guide. And while his Guiding ability was fairly exceptional, he wasn’t anything groundbreaking—just a competent, capable Guide. That level of skill wasn’t exactly common, but it wasn’t rare enough to be noteworthy either.

He was simply… a good person. Genuinely kind. Treated everyone equally. But that was exactly why he became special to people like us. Because he treated us—people who weren’t used to that kind of fairness—the same way.

At the Center, there are two major branches: the Special Operations Unit and the Internal Affairs Division. Within the Special Operations Unit, there’s the elite Alpha Team, which I belong to. There are five of us total.

All five are S-class Espers with massive egos. Calling us a “team” feels like a stretch. Since the team was formed, not once have we ever completed a mission together in harmony. Can you still call it a team when the members never work as one?

Most other teams complete assignments together, but ours? We operate solo almost exclusively. Even if someone told us to work together, there’s zero teamwork to speak of. Our team leader, Yeo Dohun, had pretty much given up on unity from day one.

And it was in that environment that Yoo Sejin showed up—assigned to be our new Guide.

“This is the Guide who’ll be assigned to our team. Say hello—this is Yoo Sejin.”

“Hello. I’m Yoo Sejin. I’m from the Outer Zone.”

That was my first impression of him: a really friendly-looking guy. Yeo Dohun introduced him to me right after our daily training. When Yoo Sejin walked up and extended a hand, he openly stated where he came from.

The Outer Zone. He was saying outright that he wasn’t from Central, but from the outside.

We’d learned that everything changed after the First Disaster—the day Dungeons appeared, and with them, the new race called Espers. Humanity’s way of life was forever altered.

In Korea, Central was what they called a planned city. At one point, Dungeons had appeared so unpredictably that society fell into complete chaos. To prevent that from happening again, some countries began consolidating government agencies and critical institutions into centralized cities—essentially forming city-states, with Centers established and strictly regulated.

Korea had one of the most developed “Central” systems in the world.

Central’s security was top-notch. People who lived there were mostly government officials, rich civilians who could afford the taxes, Espers, Guides, and their families. The Outer Zone, on the other hand, was known for poverty and poor public safety.

I grew up in the Center. I could count the number of times I’d left Central on one hand. So I was, for all intents and purposes, a Central native. I didn’t know where I was born before I came to the Center, but that didn’t matter.

I’d seen Outsiders before, but Yoo Sejin was… fascinating. Not just because he was an Outsider, but because he said so. Ki Sihyeon had grown up in the slums too, but he never mentioned that part of his life to me.

“You’re…”

He was in casual clothes. Faded jeans and a yellow hoodie with a weird cartoon chick on it. Maybe it was the outfit, but he looked young—so young that I found myself staring blankly at him before asking,

“How old are you?”

Honestly, I wanted to ask something else. Like what he was doing before he came here, why he was assigned to our team, whether he could even handle our crazy team members… But it felt weird to ask all that right off the bat, so instead, I just blurted out the age question.

I was seventeen at the time. Out of everyone working at the Center, I was the youngest.

Even Gyeon Yejin, who was also considered young for an Esper in the Alpha Team, was still four years older than me. But something about Yoo Sejin made him look my age. I thought maybe he was around my age too.

“…You’re asking how old I am?”

Yoo Sejin’s friendly smile faltered just a bit. Yeo Dohun, as usual, stood to the side with a stoic face, silently watching the exchange.

“Woo Seonwoo. I’ve read plenty about you. How old are you again? Seventeen? That’s right, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded.

Sejin’s smile deepened, dimples forming as he tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“Where’d you learn to ask adults how old they are like that, huh?”

“Huh?”

“I’ve got eight years on you, you little punk. Starting territorial nonsense already? What kind of manners is that?”

He was still smiling, but swearing like a sailor. From the very first moment we met.

I blinked at him, then glanced over at Yeo Dohun.

Yeo Dohun had his hand on his forehead, sighing like he already regretted everything.

I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I figured I must’ve upset Yoo Sejin somehow. So I bowed my head slightly and apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh, wow. You apologized just like that? You’re really something else. Yeo Dohun, do you guys only recruit weirdos into Alpha Team?”

“No. And please watch your language.”

“Dignity, my ass. I figured you’d be young after seeing you in the news and papers, but seeing you in person… wow. You really are a kid, huh?”

It seemed that before meeting me, Yeo Dohun had already introduced Yoo Sejin to the rest of the Alpha Team. That meant he must’ve already met Ki Sihyeon, Moon Seungrok, and Gyeon Yejin.

Ki Sihyeon and Moon Seungrok might’ve taken it in stride, but Gyeon Yejin? That guy’s got anger issues and a short fuse. If you tell him a new guide’s been assigned, he’s the type to flip out on the spot. He curses just from looking at someone’s face.

And yet Yoo Sejin looked completely normal. It was surprising. Did they all just accept him without protest? That this completely average-looking 25-year-old would be our exclusive team guide?

“He’s seriously underdeveloped. Are we even allowed to put someone like this to work? I heard he participated in the Rhododendron Project recently and cleared an S-rank dungeon on his own without backup.”

“He’s an S-rank Esper. A soldier trained by the Center since childhood. Basically, a human who’s not even human, like me. You don’t have to worry.”

“Wow, Team Leader Yeo. Still holding a grudge? You’re mad because I said you weren’t human? I mean, you’re the one who was being an ass.”

“…Enough. Just behave yourself. Please.”

It sounded like something had gone down between the two of them that I wasn’t aware of. I’d never seen Yeo Dohun flustered before. He was always cold and mechanical, and it was strange to see him show a more human side.

Up until now, he’d only ever sighed like it was his job. So he’s capable of making that face too… It was the first time I realized that.

That was the kind of person Yoo Sejin was.

Even with Gyeon Yejin—the last Alpha Team member I met—I’d already known him for years. I grew up at the Center, after all. I’d seen just about everyone, from those who were already here to the newcomers.

But I never imagined Yeo Dohun could give a resigned little chuckle. That he could even try to suppress a laugh. I only learned that after meeting Yoo Sejin.

“Anyway, Woo Seonwoo, can I just call you by your name?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn, kid’s got no manners but still manages to sound cute. You’re supposed to say, ‘Yes, Sejin-hyung.’”

“Yes, Sejin-hyung.”

“…Why are you so obedient? What is this? You’re way too compliant, it’s creepy. Team Leader Yeo, he’s not throwing a tantrum like the rest. Is this one of those sweet, innocent types that suddenly stabs you in the back?”

At that, Yoo Sejin looked at me and tilted his head.

“You’re not secretly brainwashed to obey only me or anything, right? Like some psycho plan where you suddenly attack the others?”

Unable to hold back, Yeo Dohun let out a sharp exhale. He covered his mouth with a hand, but it was obvious—he was laughing. He couldn’t help it. Sejin’s nonsense had gotten to him. It was amusing. Maybe even… fun?

I looked back and forth between the two of them.

One was a complete stranger. The other was someone I’d known for a while but suddenly felt unfamiliar.

Yeo Dohun cleared his throat a few times, then frowned.

Yoo Sejin was looking at me with a weird expression—like he wasn’t sure what to make of me, or how to handle me.

“You don’t need to worry about Woo Seonwoo,” Yeo Dohun said with a neutral face, different from before. He looked at me with the cold eyes I was used to.

“He’s an Esper who doesn’t need guiding.”

Yeo Dohun hated me. I knew that well. But it didn’t bother me. It wasn’t something to feel hurt about.

Because he didn’t just hate me. He had a general, deeply ingrained hatred of Espers. Especially ones who were too powerful, too dangerous, too hard to control.

That’s exactly what I was.

So in a way, Yeo Dohun fit his own criteria. I once asked Ki Sihyeon if that meant Yeo Dohun hated himself too. He just laughed and told me a story.

He said Yeo Dohun’s younger sibling had been killed—brutally—by a berserk Esper. And the Center had covered it up, buried the whole thing.

I thought that was… sad. Ironic, even. Because now, Yeo Dohun himself was an S-rank Esper, a top officer at the Center, and the commander of the Special Operations Unit.

“An Esper who doesn’t need guiding?” Yoo Sejin said, incredulous. “I’ve heard that rumor floating around in the media, but do you really expect me to believe that? There’s no such thing.”

The light mood turned icy in an instant. Yoo Sejin bristled, and Yeo Dohun gave me a sidelong glance before reaching out and grabbing Sejin’s wrist, pulling him toward his side—almost like he was trying to distance him from me.