Chapter 40

-Title: But which side should we congratulate?

The Guide? Or Ash?

Who's more precious???

[Comments]

-? We should be mourning, not congratulating lol Are you crazy?

⤷This is right

⤷Right, the other party is Ash lololololol

⤷lollllll so harsh

⤷If I were Ash I would have cried reading this comment ㅠlollllllll

⤷lolllllllllllll

-That guy who had such severe Guide phobia, what's going on..;; Wasn't he threatened by a Guide?ㅜ

⤷Who threatened whom?

⤷You don't know who Ash is

-Only the Guide is fucking pitiful.. Must not want to live

⤷True ㅠㅠ

-Huh isn't Ash the precious one, what's this reaction

⤷I'm saying, isn't Ash OP?

⤷Right lol How much experience does he have rolling around in the industry

⤷No matter who the matching partner is, the Esper side is guaranteed to lose lolll Since Espers hire Guides, part of their income gets taken by the Guide ㅜ

-Anyone see the post that went up earlier then got deleted? Is it true the matching rate is single digits?

⤷Bullshit lol

⤷Even if it's under 50% there'd be chaos, what single digits; that's an exaggeration

⤷If this is also real....

⤷But everything that's come up so far, we thought it was all lies but it was real, wasn't it? If it's real..

⤷⤷ㄷㄷ

⤷Is a pair contract possible with single-digit matching rate?

⤷⤷There's nothing that says it can't...? Matching rate is just a recommendation. If it were for team assignments based on matching rate maybe, but pair contracts are personal choice so they can be made regardless of matching rate.

-Regardless of who's precious, are the center people even human? So fucking cruel.. lollll There's no Esper with Guide phobia as severe as Ash, but they had to force even a pair contract...? Most importantly, they both dislike it...ㅠㅠ Why don't they respect personal choice? This isn't good for either of them... The ending is obvious. News of contract termination will probably come up before even a month passes ㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗ

⤷Fuck, no one thinks they did it by mutual consent

⤷⤷lollllll

⤷⤷I'm saying lolll They might have agreed ㅠㅠ lollll

-I have a question.....

⤷What?

⤷⤷Is Ash's thing big..????

⤷⤷lollllllll

⤷⤷Don't ask such questions innocently

⤷⤷So random it's hilarious;

-Oh right lol Now a Guide who's done it with him will really appear

⤷Huh he's a virgin with that face?

⤷⤷Don't know ㅇㅅㅇ Anyone done it with Ash?

⤷⤷Honestly wouldn't it be weird if he was a virgin…

⤷⤷How do you leave that alone??????????

⤷⤷At least he wouldn't have done it with a Guide..lol He used to scream just from touching

⤷⤷He screamed?

⤷⤷Huh don't you guys know Screaming Ash?

⤷⤷What's that, you otaku

⤷⤷Comment below

-(screamingandflailing.gif)

⤷Fuck

⤷Isn't this edited??

⤷⤷ㅇㅇ it's real..

⤷Ah shit lollll that expression lolllllllll

⤷lollllllll ah lollllll

⤷When was this?

⤷⤷Last year..lol

⤷So fucking sensitive lollllll

⤷The filename lol

⤷If you look closely, they didn't even properly touch lol

⤷⤷Bluetooth contact;

⤷⤷Ah shit lolllll

⤷lollllllll

⤷Epic overreaction;;;;;

⤷The Guide must have been more shocked;;

⤷⤷lolllllll fuck lollllll

-Honestly, considering his experience and how much Espers earn, Ash is fucking precious lol I came in thinking that, but after seeing the gif above, my heart leaned toward feeling sorry for the Guide

⤷True lollllllll

⤷Wow so he has to watch that shit every time he does guiding?ㄷㄷ Legendary extreme job

⤷⤷lollllll

⤷⤷Fuck, even a thousand years of lust would be satisfied lolllllll

⤷⤷lolllllllllllll

* * *

This was no ordinary matter. An Esper whose value was much higher than some S-grades had overnight formed a pair contract with an unheard-of Guide.

['Dereliction of Duty Specialist Esper' Ash, today's news of pair contract with Guide revealed... Has he finally matured?

Ash's sudden pair contract caught even the Awakener Management Association off guard... "We're also trying to understand the situation."

Who is the Guide that put a leash on Esper Ash?

[Exclusive Report] Esper Ash and his pair Guide's matching rate is only 8%?]

"Ash was never sane to begin with so I'm not that surprised, but I didn't expect you, Nain, to do this too."

When the news became articles in less than half a day, outsiders were buzzing about who the Guide entangled with Ash could be. An Esper whose hobby had been driving away and ignoring Guides, and who had been troublesome for not receiving guiding, suddenly wanted to make an exclusive contract with a Guide. It was news that anyone would find intriguing.

However, naturally, the center did not welcome such commotion.

"What's an 8% matching rate, 8%... No, the test was a week ago, why didn't anyone know about this?"

Someone had threatened them. And even bragged about it.

"And what kind of person forms a pair contract less than an hour after registering as a Guide?"

"..."

I did...

"Guide-nim, there are procedures here too. If you had given us even a hint beforehand, we would have done anything to delay the paperwork."

...He got scolded to death.

Even the people who had been telling Nain to cherish his talent as a Guide shook their heads saying this was a bit much. Regardless of Nain becoming a Guide as they wanted, the person he was tied to happened to be Ash. They cursed Ash, who had caused trouble by ignoring all proper procedures, to dust and vented their frustration.

Guides who complete registration go through an education process lasting one week to one month, learning how to control guiding. After that, they apply to departments the center wants and wait for acceptance or get assigned to Esper teams.

While there were many cases of team Guides developing into pair Guides, this was the first case of skipping all processes and making a contract at super speed. Since Nain now had a pair Esper, it was impossible to match him with an Esper to help with guiding education.

After the brief conversation ended, Nain was moved to the awakener education building.

"...Why are you following me?"

"I'm worried you might go somewhere else if I take my eyes off you."

Ash, who had over 10 years of experience as an Esper, didn't need to come but insisted on following. The two were scheduled to sit among newly manifested young awakeners and watch audiovisual materials. The atmosphere was very chaotic. Ash was a well-known Esper, and the children knew him too.

"Huh? Oh oh!"

The children's eyes widened as if they had seen a dinosaur on the street. Starting from the front seats, they stood up one by one like meerkats he'd seen in some video.

"It's the Esper mister."

"Ash! Please take a picture with us!"

When the children all rushed over chattering, Ash sighed as if annoyed but lined them up and granted their requests one by one. Nain took the pictures, but they were all blurry and uneven, so the children weren't very satisfied. And from the middle on, he was criticized for taking such bad photos and even had his photographer qualifications revoked.

When Ash put his hands under the kids' armpits and lifted them up high for photos, the children laughed delightedly as if riding amusement park rides.

"Can I send this to my mom?"

"Did it come out well?"

"Yes!"

"Not you, me."

"The mister came out better though..."

"Send it."

"Can I post the picture we took on my story?"

"Get it checked and post it."

Even though he spoke like that, when shown the taken pictures, he barely glanced at them. Despite his quite insincere and indifferent attitude, the young children seemed satisfied just by taking pictures with a celebrity. Their giggling laughter was cute. From his usual way of speaking to other Espers, he thought at least one child would cry, but surprisingly he handled children well. Watching what he did, he looked like an immature uncle.

"Ugh, so noisy. Kids, why are you so rowdy?"

What calmed the chaotic situation was the education supervisor who entered late. He froze as if his brain had stopped working upon seeing Ash, then asked belatedly.

"Wh-what are you doing here?"

"I came to play."

"...To play."

"This is my Guide."

When Ash pointed at Nain with his finger, Nain bowed his head in greeting. A smile spread across Ash's lips as he looked at his Guide. Why is he grinning? The education supervisor couldn't hide his bewildered expression like someone witnessing a strange sight.

Still, perhaps having heard about the current situation, the man wasn't that surprised to see Nain. He did let out a light sigh while looking back and forth between Nain and Ash.

"...Come in for now. Kids, you all sit down too."

When the lights went out and a video began playing on the large screen in front, the chaotic atmosphere was somewhat organized. It was educational material about awakener history and concepts. Though he knew the content from books and picking up information from surrounding awakeners, it wasn't boring to watch again. However, Ash didn't seem to think so. Unable to concentrate at all and fidgeting, he soon turned to look at Nain sitting next to him and spoke.

"Do you have a lot of luggage?"

"What?"

When Nain couldn't properly understand what he meant and asked back, Ash leaned forward and lowered his head. It was close enough that they might have touched if he made a wrong move.

Ash seemed to think Nain couldn't hear him because of the video sound. He brought his mouth close to Nain's ear. A bitter scent like wet garden grass wafted strongly from Ash. The distance where he could even feel his breath made his nape tingle and gave him goosebumps.