SRSBO: Chapter 3

A year later.

The collapsed house was just the beginning. A story far worse than that was waiting for me.

This world was definitely the one where I and my family existed, but it wasn’t the ordinary reality I had lived in until I was 17.

It had been a long time since the world had transformed into a modern fantasy world, like something straight out of a novel.

The moment I opened my eyes in the hospital room, I was bombarded with countless news, and every single one of them was a shock after another.

Among them, the three that left the deepest impression on me were the following.

Gate. Esper. Guide.

Espers are, simply put, individuals with superpowers, but every time they use their powers, the vessel that contains their power becomes contaminated. Guides, on the other hand, are individuals who purify the vessels of these Espers.

In addition, Han Siyoung, who claimed to be a Guide, was not the kind of tourist guide I thought but an E-rank Guide affiliated with a guild.

In this world, these Espers and Guides were collectively called Awakeners.

Nowadays, the most sought-after profession among teenagers worldwide is not to be a public servant or a celebrity, but rather being an Awakener.

And that damn bastard Eun Woo-jin, who destroyed my house the very day I returned to this world, was a top-tier S-rank Esper, even among the awakened ones.

Anyway, over the course of a year, various incidents happened, and despite the countless hardships, I didn’t cry and instead hardened my anger, growing even more resilient.

Still, there were inevitable times when a feeling of emptiness would grip my whole being, so I did my best to keep my body moving, trying not to let my mind wander.

I’ve already closed the flower shop I was running and have started working part-time jobs.

The reason I closed down the flower shop was simple. There was no way I could run a flower shop when I didn’t even know the names of flowers, let alone how to make bouquets.

Of course, I didn’t just work part-time for the entire year. After closing and cleaning up the shop, I saved up the remaining money and opened a rice ball shop for a while.

I opened the rice ball shop because cooking was one of my few hobbies. However, before even half a year could pass, I had to close the rice ball shop. That’s because a gate appeared right in front of the shop, and everything, including the shop, was destroyed.

Ah, and in the meantime, there were also two occasions where the one-room apartments I had rented ended up being destroyed by Eun Woojin.

Thanks to all of that, I have a new dream: someday, I’ll knit a shroud with that son of a bitch’s hair.

* * *

Beep, beep- beep, beep-

I hurriedly got up at the sound of my phone alarm.

Recently, I had been working as a substitute part-time worker at a famous café located in a popular spot.

The hourly wage was good, probably because it was located in a safe area. The only downside was that it was a bit far from where I was staying.

A crazy Esper has once again destroyed my humble little space, achieving a hatrick in my house being destroyed, leaving me with nowhere to go. So, I was staying at a high school friend’s house for the time being.

Of course, the government did provide compensation for the damages.

I got the deposit for my one-room apartment back, and I was also receiving living expenses for the period I didn’t have a place to stay. Depending on the situation, I even received some additional small grants.

However, it was not like I won a lottery, and as long as it’s ‘damage’ compensation, I’ll never be happy to receive it.

I had to find a new place to live, and everything, including the interior to the furniture had to be replaced. Given all that, how could I possibly be pleased?

Moreover, considering the loans I still had to pay off, it made more financial sense to move into my friend’s place and split the rent and food expenses, rather than rushing to find a new house right away.

About a year ago, when I was discharged from the hospital, I stayed at Han Siyoung’s place and occupied a room. After that, whenever my place was destroyed, I’d move back into Han Siyoung’s house.

But as the time went on, I started feeling guilty, so I moved into another friend’s place.

Han Siyoung said I could stay as long as I wanted, but recently, I noticed she’s been getting close to Yang Hyunwoo. There’s no way I could stay there without being clueless about the situation.

Ah, Yang Hyunwoo, by the way, is the person who came to my hospital room a year ago and told me about the explosion of my house.

He and I, along with Han Siyoung, are the same age, and he’s also a D-rank Esper working at a guild.

At this point, it seemed like I had no real fate in having a home, so I stopped trying to find one. Instead, I swallowed my pride and decided to ask my parents for support to open a new coffee shop.

Fortunately, one of my parents’ friends supposedly had a building right down the street opposite us. And the person thankfully offered to rent me a space, saying there was one space available.

To prepare for this, I had already obtained a barista certification, as well as qualifications in baking and cooking. Until the shop was ready, I planned to work part-time and make a modest living.

Once the shop was finished, I planned to live in a separate private room that I had set up inside the café.

“Wow, it’s happening again. Sister, it’s starting again…!”

As I was brewing coffee, thinking only of the bright future ahead, the female part-time worker waved at me urgently.

I followed her excited gaze, and as expected, the man with the strikingly handsome appearance I had gotten used to seeing over the past few days was there.

He had light sand-colored hair and eyes. Along with broad shoulders, and tall stature.

A person whose presence was clearly evident no matter how many people were around him, even in a crowd.

The man, who seemed to live in a nearby luxury officetel, visited the café at least once a week.

He always ordered an iced Americano, and he seemed to enjoy wearing a black turtleneck and a beige coat.

You may think I had become the man’s stalker, but all of this was information I had heard from the other customers and part-time workers I worked with.

He was popular even before I started working as a substitute at this café.

The main reason he was famous, of course, was his appearance, which looked like it belonged in a coffee advertisement whenever he came in for a drink. However, he was also famous for other reasons.

And I was someone who was the most curious about those other reasons.

The man was never alone. Sitting in his designated spot, he would always be accompanied by women who were so stunning they could easily be mistaken for celebrities.

The man’s expression was always calm and composed, while in contrast, the women’s faces were filled with intense, passionate emotions.

Today, after several exchanges, the woman finally burst into tears and left the café, bringing the curtain down*.

[T/N: Not in literal sense. The MC was just being sarcastic as if watching a live drama.]

This time, the drama ended quietly. Last time, another woman threw the drinks and everything else around, and I had a hard time cleaning up.

It seemed like the male part-time worker, working alongside me, had the same thought and whispered to me.

“Sister, this time we don’t have to clean up the aftermath, right? Last time, I had a hard time cleaning up the sofa.”

“Shh, he can hear you.”

“Eh, it’s fine. We’re so far apart, how could he possibly hear us?”

The male part-time worker burst into laughter, as if finding my words utterly ridiculous.

That’s true. I nodded vaguely, then continued to stare at the man still sitting at his table. Today, his face seemed unusually pale.

At this café, the man repeatedly experienced breakups at regular intervals. It was like he was discarding something unnecessary.

And the fact that it always happened at the same café seemed like proof of his lack of consideration for the other person.

Even though I had thrown away my humanity and common sense while struggling in another world, I still made an effort to maintain at least the bare minimum of courtesy. Because of that, the man’s attitude didn’t sit well with me.

Watching all this, the female part-time worker babbled, saying this is what you call living up to his face value. Every time the conversation turned to the man, I could hear her muttering this.

No matter how much he used the café as his breakup spot, he was still a customer.

Even though he was still sitting there, I figured it wouldn’t be good for the staff to be gossiping about a customer behind their back.

“Right. Did you all see the video of guild ‘Error’ clearing a dungeon this time? The YouTube views were insane. The guild usually doesn’t let anyone film inside the gate, though.”

“Those videos only contain sensitive contents. Not good for your mental health.”

“You’re too old-fashioned, Brother.”

“You are too wild.”

The two of them often bickered like this. Seeing them nearing another bickering session, I interrupted and asked what they were talking about. The male part-time worker spoke up first.

“There’s a guild called ‘Error,’ which is particularly controversial, and in one of the videos they uploaded on YouTube recently, they actually live-streamed footage from inside the gate.”

“What’s the big deal? It’s rare, but doesn’t it happen often? The other guilds also do it sometimes.”

“The problem is that there were casualties. A C-rank Esper, who couldn’t receive guidance in time, went berserk, and it was all captured in the video… Of course, it’s been deleted now.”

“What was that Esper’s ability?”

“Explosion.”

“Ah.”

So that means the entire process of the human body exploding was broadcast in the video.

The male part-time worker showed me a screen with the news, while I was frowning.

It was said that the deceased Esper did not have a Guide with a high matching rate, so he regularly took medication that had a similar effect to the guidance they usually received.

However, the video of the ‘Error’ they uploaded seemed to suggest a problem with the guiding medication itself, and because of that, it appeared to be receiving even more extensive coverage.

“Speaking of Guides, it just reminded me… I used to want to be a Guide myself back in the day.”

“Not an Esper but a Guide? Why?”

“A handsome Esper becoming obsessed with me, how dreamy. Espers are all incredibly good-looking, after all. I want to be the only existence for such an awakened person and experience eternal love!”

“You must be watching too many dramas.”

“Don’t you think so, Sister? He’s just an old-fashioned man.”

When I nodded slightly, the male part-time worker shook his head.

As the female part-time worker said, unlike Guides, all Espers have above-average looks. To be precise, awakening as an Esper had an impact on their bodies as well.

Scientists presumed that this must be because the presence or absence of a Guide directly correlates to their survival.

Humans usually feel an affinity for beautiful things, and the same goes for Guides.

Perhaps because of that, Espers were often used as conversation material. Even infamous Esper crime groups had fans, so that pretty much says it all.