TSCEIAB Ch. 46

 

Not something to worry about?

It was ridiculous. Perhaps he was used to this kind of situation, Hugo operated the watch without batting an eye.

His hand pressed the screen a few times, and guide figures and graphs appeared.

 

“…… Is it broken?”

“Well.”

 

The numbers kept reversing. It dropped to the 10% level, then soared to the 20% level, and then plummeted back below 10%.

The graph was also wildly erratic.

When I suspected the watch’s malfunctioning, Hugo gave me a puzzled face.

 

“…… It’s not broken. It’s because of my wavelength.”

“Wavelength?”

“Well, I’ve got a problem. My wavelength swings according to the emotion. If my guiding condition is good, it can stabilize quickly, but I just closed the gates recently, so it’s like this.”

 

His voice was low and tired as he explained.

It must have been a serious situation yet seeing Hugo like this made me think I was the strange one.

 

“…… Is this why you turned it off?”

“Yes, I’ll be the first to feel the signs of rampage.”

“Rampage……. Have you ever gone berserk before?”

“…… it happened a few times. I wasn’t to the extent that I need to be killed.”

 

Killed!

Even though I knew what would happen to a runaway Esper that was difficult to subdue, the words that came out of his mouth frightened me.

Hugo frowned as my complexion turned pale.

 

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“…… Is this current reading based on the dosage of the guiding drugs?”

“…… That’s right.”

 

A new drug that he had buildup tolerance.

If it weren’t for that, Hugo would be in a bunker, suffering right now.

But that’s not all.

 

‘…… He could have been shot.’

 

I hadn’t realized he had been suffering this much.

When I was a child, I pushed him away, thinking only of my own pain, I thought Hugo would quickly recover and go on with his life.

After all, Hugo was the protagonist of this world.

 

‘If it were the original story, he would have survived until he met the heroine.’

 

Of course, Hugo in the story was in a severely depleted state due to a terrible lack of guidance.

Still, there was not a single line describing him almost being shot down.

All that the story had mentioned that he had a hard life to the point of death, but he started to stabilize after meeting the heroine.

Perhaps, if he hadn’t met me, Hugo wouldn’t have gone through this much hardship.

Maybe ‘that incident’ caused a problem with his energy wavelength.

No, almost certainly.

I was partly responsible for what happened to him.

 

‘If I refuse radial guidance here…….’

 

The excuse he’d just given flashed through my mind.

 

<I was afraid you’d leave me again. I’m scared……. I want to be by your side, Yi-seo, no, Haley. I’m afraid you’ll avoid me……..>

 

Perhaps that fear stemmed from a matter of survival.

He was scared.

If I avoid him, he would not have a way to live.

 

‘No, wait. He just needs to meet the heroine of the original story.’

 

I briefly calculated the timeline.

Hugo met the heroine after he went to college.

I think it was spring…….

It reminded me of the scene where the two of them ran into each other on a campus full of blooming spring flowers.

 

“There’s roughly a year and a half left.”

 

Maybe I can prolong Hugo’s life.

 

“…… Haley?”

 

The loud beeps suddenly quieted down. Hugo had turned off his watch again.

He pursed his mouth and looked at me wonderingly, lost in thought.

There was a faint fear in his eyes, as clear as a lake.

I interpreted that feeling as a case of survival.

 

“…… As far as radial guiding goes, I’m okay with it.”

“……!”

 

Hugo’s eyes widened. But I added with a hesitant voice .

 

“But I can’t guarantee the matching rate.”

“What?”

“We did a matching rate test 11 years ago.”

 

In the meantime, both he and I have grown up.

Since we hadn’t seen each other for so long, there was a good chance that they wouldn’t be as good as they were when we were younger.

Hugo snorted at my explanation.

 

“Are you saying the match rate has decreased?”

“Yes.”

“Well. I think it would have gone higher.”

 

Why are you so confident?

He made a suggestion as I grimaced and looked at him curiously.

 

“Now that you’ve made it this far, why don’t we do a matching rate test?”

“Huh……?”

“Oh, of course I won’t reveal your identity. If you want to cover your face, that’s fine.”

 

Hugo smiled, crinkling the corners of his eyes.

 

“Let’s see how our matching rate has changed.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Hugo immediately texted someone.

Then he took off his hat and put it on my head, draping the shirt he was wearing over it.

Dressed in black short-sleeve shirt, he escorted me to the center.

 

‘Isn’t this like a criminal’s outfit……?’

 

Sure enough, reporters camped at the entrance to the center recognized Hugo and asked him questions.

 

“Esper Hugo! I heard you were hospitalized, are you feeling well?”

“Who’s that next to you? An awakened criminal?”

“Did you go catch an awakened criminal as soon as you were discharged? Whose instructions is it? Aren’t you pushing yourself too far?”

 

Click- Click-

Even though my view was obscured by his shirt, I could see flashes from cameras.

The reporters, excited to have a story after so long, were taking pictures without restraint.

When I flinched, Hugo clicked his tongue and glanced at the reporters.

 

“Uh, ah……!”

“Whoa!”

“Ugh! How much was that worth……!”

 

Soon there was a sound of something breaking, along with the reporters’ shocked screams.

The clicking of cameras abruptly stopped.

 

‘What’s going on?’

 

I was about to turn my head in curiosity.

 

“Keep your eyes forwards.”

 

Hugo stuck close behind me, blocking my view. I had no choice but to be pushed by him into the center.

 

“What just happened back there?”

“Shhh, it wasn’t a big deal. I just thought you didn’t liked to be photographed. I just broke a camera.”

 

You broke what…?

As I froze, Hugo muttered like an excuse.

 

“Don’t worry; they’ll bill me for it.”

 

As if I was worried about how to pay for the damaged camera right now.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness.

Hugo took advantage of my distractions to push away the people in the center and get on the elevator.

When we were left alone in the elevator, he patted me on the back as if reassuring me.

 

“There will be someone in the lab waiting for us. You’ve done this before, right?”

“…… Yes.”

“The machines had changed since then, so the method might have changed too. Rest assured that it won’t be difficult.”

 

Before he could finish speaking, the elevator stopped.

When the door opened, we were greeted by a middle-aged woman right away.

 

“Oh! Welcome. Guide Sophia, Right?”

“……!”

 

Startled, Hugo glared at her and explained to me.

 

“She’s the center director of the Arizona Center. She knows about me and you.”

“Oh ho ho. Don’t worry, Guide Sofia. I may look like this, but I can keep a secret.”

 

She said playfully, and hurriedly added, as if realizing something.

 

“Oh, my name is Anna. Anna Havena. You can call me Anna.”

“…… I’m, um, Haley Baek.”

“Your new name is Haley? That’s a pretty name. Do you prefer being called Haley?”

“Yes, I prefer that.”

“Okay. Then I’ll call you that, Guide Haley?”

 

Anna was quite a talker.

As I responded to her and tried to make sense of things, I realized we were walking through a long hallway lined with white doors.

 

“The test room we’re going to is at the very end. There’s a researcher inside, but he doesn’t know who Guide Haley is. I just told him that you’re a newly awakened guide, so don’t worry.”

“Thank you.”

“What for? I’m the one who’s grateful. We always had a shortage of guides, but if Haley came to join us, it’ll be a relief.”

 

Hugo’s eyes narrowed fiercely at Anna’s words. He glared at Anna and said as if to warn her.

 

“I told you Hayley is my guide.”

“Oh my. You’re quite possessive. Alright, I got it. I’m just kidding, so don’t stare at me like that.”

 

She laughed, crinkling her nose. Hugo seemed even more offended by her laid-back attitude.

 

“It’s a good thing for us to have Haley Guide in charge of Hugo Esper. Right now, the guides at the center are on edge on guiding Esper Hugo.”

“Huh? What do you mean……?”

“Well, Esper Hugo is no stranger to going berserk at any moment. If he goes on a rampage, all the guides in the center have to come in and calm him down before the situation escalates.”

 

So, if we can stabilize Hugo’s bomb-like state, we’ll waste less manpower.

I nodded, understanding Anna’s words.

 

“Now, shall we go in?”

 

Before I knew it, we reached the last room.

 

Creak –

Anna opened the lab door. Just as she had said, a researcher in a white coat was sitting inside.