DPGR 93

“Why the hell…!”

Dojin thought it was idiotic, watching himself angrily wielding an ordinary gun.

He could’ve just used his ability, but back then, he had stubbornly clung to the familiar firearms he’d always relied on.

Boom!—Rumble—

Naturally, taking on an ogre with only a gun was no easy feat.

“Ugh…!”

He barely rolled out of the way to dodge the ogre’s strike.

But before he could even get back on his feet, rubble from the ruins—shattered by the ogre’s club—came crashing down on him.

Dojin, who had been watching everything unfold, flinched reflexively.

But instead of rushing forward to intervene, he shook his head and stepped back again.

At this point in time, the past him had realized he was an esper and had unleashed his powers for the first time.

But—

‘Huh…?’

Confusion and alarm spread across Dojin’s face as he watched the scene.

Crash!

The past version of himself still wasn’t using any abilities.

He didn’t push aside the rubble or burn the ogres to ash.

Instead, he took another hit to the thigh from the ogre’s club and let out a small scream.

“Ah!”

Grrrk—grrrk—

The ogre seemed intrigued by the way the human reacted every time it landed a blow.

This development was completely different from the past Dojin remembered, and all he could do was blink in stunned silence.

The ogres, wildly swinging their clubs, were only taken down when the past Dojin was beaten to the brink of death.

“You bastard…!”

From a distance, someone came running and swung a spear—it was Dojin’s mentor, Kwak Jiheon.

“Hey! You planning to die just because someone told you to!?”

“Urgh… ugh…”

Furious at his pathetic state, Kwak Jiheon turned red all the way to his neck as he shouted in rage.

“You useless brat…!”

Kwak Jiheon found the mana stone of what seemed to be the boss ogre and shattered it, then looked down at the ragged Dojin with a mutter.

“Ha… Once we get out of here, I’m done with you. I’ll never get involved with a punk like you again. How am I supposed to raise this kind of trash as my student…”

It was the first time Dojin had ever heard Kwak Jiheon declare he’d given up.

The past Dojin had already fainted and missed it—but the present Dojin heard every word loud and clear.

With a slightly dazed expression, Dojin blankly watched the two figures walk out of the dungeon.

‘This… doesn’t match what I remember. Not even close.’

His vision began to blur.

The scenery of the dungeon faded, replaced by a completely new scene.

***

Dojin couldn’t escape that suspicious space and was instead drawn by some invisible force to continue watching his past self—

—like a dream showing him things from before his regression that he had no memory of.

After surviving the B-rank dungeon thanks to Kwak Jiheon, the past Dojin still hadn’t come to his senses.

He spiraled.

He was always pessimistic about his life, and even though his abilities were more than sufficient, he was uncooperative with the Center.

Naturally, his relationships fell apart too, and the public came to despise him as an unpopular esper.

Kwak Jiheon had long since washed his hands of him and given up.

All of this had happened within the four years following Dojin’s awakening.

The past Dojin had now reached the same age as the present Dojin—thirty-four.

Of course, he hadn’t accomplished anything in that time. Only grown older.

After witnessing that entire process, Dojin began referring to his past self as that bastard.

They had the same face, but Dojin couldn’t bring himself to believe they were the same person.

That’s how badly that bastard had screwed up every aspect of his life.

Even so, Dojin had—just once—felt a small twinge of pity for that bastard.

“Ugh… grgh…”

He watched as that bastard walked behind the Center building, avoiding everyone’s eyes.

‘He’s suffering from guiding deficiency.’

That bastard leaned against the wall, then slowly slid down until he was sitting.

With trembling hands, he pulled out a pill bottle.

[Emergency Guiding Medicine]

He poured a handful of pills into his mouth.

The crunching sound of them being chewed up melted into the silence.

Click…

Dojin clicked his tongue, his own mouth suddenly tasting bitter.

Meanwhile, that bastard leaned his head back and started banging it against the wall as he waited for the medicine to kick in.

“Urgh… hngh…”

Pained groans slipped through his tightly clenched teeth. But they gradually subsided.

The medicine hadn’t taken effect yet, but enough clarity had returned for him to suppress the moans.

With a twisted expression of agony, that bastard took a long, deep breath.

His eyes, staring up at the sky, were filled with tangled emotions—resentment, rage, misery.

And then—

Clatter—

A sound came from above as a window creaked open. Both that guy and Dojin instinctively looked up.

One of the windows—presumably from the Guiding Room—was open, and peeking through it was a strikingly clear face that instantly drew attention.

Curly, tousled light brown hair. A face so pale it looked almost bloodless. Lips in stark contrast, a vivid red. A thin, scrawny neck.

‘Guide Jiho…’

It was Seo Jiho. But he was not the Seo Jiho Dojin knew.

Just like that guy, he, too, existed within this vision.

“Hk…!”

While Dojin was lost in thought, Jiho, sitting by the window, caught sight of that guy below and visibly flinched in fear.

His already pale face turned deathly white in an instant.

As if desperate to escape, Jiho trembled as he pulled the window shut and quickly vanished from view.

“…What the hell? Do I look like some kind of monster?”

That guy grumbled irritably at the reaction, but then glanced down at himself and nodded.

“Well, I guess I am a monster.”

His muttered voice echoed faintly, full of quiet desolation.

***

The scene of that bastard stumbling behind the building to slam his head against the wall, and Jiho spotting him from the window, repeated itself again and again.

Each time, Jiho reacted with fear, trembling and avoiding him. At some point, he stopped opening the window or even looking outside altogether.

Eventually, that bastard also stopped glancing up toward Jiho’s window.

That bastard acted as if not seeing Jiho didn’t bother him, but the present Dojin felt a vague sense of regret.

Even though he knew this wasn’t the Jiho he remembered, he still wanted to see his face, to know how he was doing.

‘That bastard had no contact with Guide Jiho whatsoever… and yet Jiho’s so afraid, goes out of his way to avoid him…’

Maybe he was simply terrified of Espers in general. But that bothered Dojin.

Because he didn’t know what kind of suffering Jiho might have gone through.

While Dojin was preoccupied with thoughts of Jiho, time continued to pass.

Then, one day—

That bastard again darted behind the building, gasping from another bout of guiding deficiency.

Relying solely on medication to get by had made these episodes increasingly frequent.

Especially after clearing a mid-tier A-rank dungeon, this one hit harder than usual.

“Ugh, cough! Gagk…!”

As soon as he reached the back of the building, he collapsed against the wall and vomited a mouthful of blood.

He stayed that way for a while, then slumped against the wall and began clawing at the ground with his fingernails.

His movements began to slow—consciousness slipping—his eyes rolling back.

And then, something unexpected happened.

“……?”

A shadow loomed over that guy’s limp body.

Lifting his dimming gaze, he squinted to see who it was.

Not only that guy, but even Dojin—watching it all unfold—widened his eyes in shock.

“Ah, uh…”

It was a familiar face. A pale boy with tousled, curly light brown hair.

Seo Jiho, of the Unpaired Guide Team 1.

‘Guide Jiho… why is he here…?’

Dojin stared at Jiho silently.

There were still traces of tears streaked down Jiho’s cheeks, like he had just been crying.

In his caramel-colored eyes—visible beneath the tousled hair—was a flicker of curiosity, tinged with wariness.

But instead of running away like before, he reached out first and attempted to guide that bastard.

“Hah…!”

That bastard could barely believe it. Rather than thank Jiho for his help, he simply stared with his mouth agape.

Then, as if overwhelmed by the sudden rush of guiding energy, he collapsed on the spot.

‘What a pathetic bastard…’

Dojin’s vision blurred once again.

***

The scene before his eyes dissolved and shifted into another.

“Guide Seo Jiho, right?”

“…….”

“Could you… try guiding me again, just like yesterday?”

It must have been another day.

With bloodshot eyes, that bastard had gone to the Guide Wing at the crack of dawn.

More specifically—to Jiho’s guiding room.

Despite the rude and idiotic visit, Jiho merely looked a little surprised. He didn’t drive him away or flee.

Instead, as if he’d been waiting, Jiho guided that bastard inside and took his hand.

This time, that bastard didn’t faint during the guiding. But he couldn’t hold out for long either.

“Ah—wait…”

He suddenly twisted his body with a groan. Dojin shut his eyes tightly at the sight of that flushed face and awkward posture.

He was overwhelmed by secondhand embarrassment from the pitiful sight of another version of himself.

Before long, that guy pushed Jiho’s hand away and bolted out of the guiding room.

Dojin’s body instinctively followed after.

“Damn it, damn it…!”

That guy cursed like a madman as he ran to the Esper Wing.

His destination—his dorm.

“Guiding… That was supposed to be guiding…?”