The moment my body was free, I secretly swallowed a pill behind Vasily’s back, wiping away my tears inside. That made ten. Even though I’d held out as long as I could and rationed them carefully, this was the result. I’d spent a million won’s worth of pills just to ease Vasily’s mood.
Rising from the bed, I spoke to Vasily, who was surveying the wrecked apartment.
“I’ll be heading back now.”
“Already?”
Already? You’ve been asleep for twelve hours, you bastard.
I barely managed to keep my face in check as Vasily looked at me with that shameless, street-thug expression.
“I’m tired from all that guiding. And since it’s late, I should head home and rest too. Ha ha….”
“Hmm… I don’t think the elevator’s working. You think you can make it down to the first floor?”
“Well… I climbed all the way up here on foot, so going down shouldn’t be too hard….”
“Should I help you?”
“…?”
What’s he thinking? The moment I saw Vasily’s faint smile, a chill ran down my spine.
“Ah, no. I’m fine.”
“It’ll take a while if you go by the stairs.”
“No, I’m really fine.”
“Don’t be like that. I’ll help you.”
I waved my hands in refusal, insisting I was fine, but Vasily ignored me completely and grabbed my wrist, pulling me toward the window.
Crash!
With one kick, the large pane of glass shattered in an instant. Being on a high floor, a fierce gust whipped across my face. As the warm air hit my lungs, the frozen stiffness in my body seemed to thaw. But then—
“W–why did you break the window…?”
Don’t tell me he’s planning to throw me out.
Thankfully, that didn’t seem to be it. Vasily used his ability to form a circular passage encased in ice. It stretched downward—a long, winding tunnel that looked suspiciously like… a slide.
No way… it’s not what I think it is, right?
I hesitated and took a step back.
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”
“It’ll be fun.”
“Not really….”
“How do you know if you haven’t tried?”
Vasily suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled. Losing my balance, I tripped—and of course, I landed right on top of the slide.
In a panic, I clung to Vasily’s pants leg.
“W–wait, I apologize!”
“Hm? For what?”
“If you’re still upset and this is because of that…!”
“That’s not it.”
The hell it isn’t!
I tried to get up, but his hand pressed down firmly on my shoulder.
Press.
A slow, steady force pushed me backward.
“Then I’ll see you at the bottom, Guide Kwon Gidam.”
“Uwaaaah!”
Vasily’s figure at the entrance grew smaller as I shot away. The last thing I saw was the amused smile on his face—a bright expression I’d glimpsed a few times since regression. But the only thing leaving my mouth was a stream of curses.
“Damn it! Why’s this thing so fast…!”
Since the slide was made of ice, there was no friction at all—the speed was insane.
I flailed desperately, trying to survive. I tried stopping, tried slowing down, but the slope was too slick and steep—there was no controlling it.
To make things worse, I’d started sliding face-up, which meant I was going down backward.
At least after kicking and thrashing, my legs ended up below me, but that only made me go even faster. Great. This was basically a roller coaster without a safety bar.
The speed was so wild I could hardly breathe. My pale face stared ahead, waiting for the exit to appear—then a terrible realization struck.
Wait… at this speed, if I hit the ground, I won’t just land—I’ll splatter.
Terror flooded me, and I struggled even harder to stop. But the slide mocked me—my speed didn’t drop one bit.
“Vasily, you son of a bitch!”
I shouted my lungs out, hurling every curse I knew at him. Judging by the endless curves, I must’ve been spiraling around the building as I fell.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, my body was airborne. I’d reached the end of this hellish ride.
'Ah, I’m going to die now.'
I squeezed my eyes shut. But the place I landed… was in someone’s solid arms. I felt arms clutching me tightly—so tight it made my body ache—and slowly opened my eyes.
“…Esper Vasily.”
It seemed Vasily, who had gotten down before me, had caught me in his arms. The moment I saw his face, I wanted to curse him out—but if I opened my mouth now, my heart might actually leap out.
“Was it fun?”
“Would you have found it fun if it were you?”
No, it was terrifying.
“You must’ve enjoyed it a lot. Maybe I should’ve come down with you.”
“Ha… whatever, just put me down.”
The instant my feet touched the ground, my legs trembled uncontrollably.
At least Vasily now looked completely satisfied. That must’ve been a little… revenge.
“I’ll be going now.”
I straightened my disheveled clothes and gave him a polite nod. Dragging my exhausted legs, I started heading off to hail a taxi—but Vasily stopped me.
“Already leaving?”
“Yes.”
“Can I come with you? As you can see, my house is a flood right now.”
“……”
So now he wanted to barge into my home. Absolutely not. There was no way I was letting Vasily into my only sanctuary.
“I know you have another place besides here.”
“Oh my, how’d you figure that out.”
I calmly refused, and Vasily sighed in mock regret. As if that trick would work on me. We’d lived together six years—you think I don’t know how your mind works?
I shook him off and got into a taxi alone. He stood outside pretending to look pitiful, but I ignored him and gave the driver my home address.
“Haah…”
As the high-rise Vasily lived in grew smaller behind us, I slumped back into the seat, drained. Once I got home, I was taking a long, hot shower and going straight to bed. Judging by the time, morning was nearly here—there wouldn’t be much sleep before work, but whatever…
Thud!
I must’ve dozed off for a second, when suddenly a loud crash came from behind. The taxi screeched to a halt, throwing me forward.
“W–what was that?”
The noise continued. The driver and I turned around in shock—only to see the sixty-story slide collapsing.
It looked even more enormous from a distance. Its shape wound around the building like a massive dragon coiling upward. So… that’s what I just rode down?
Ugh… I’ve got myself a new nightmare to add to the list.
***
I caught a cold.
After spending half a day in a house full of ice, it would’ve been stranger not to. To make matters worse, there were more clients than usual today. Which meant I’d been guiding nonstop.
At least quitting time was getting close. Just one more Esper to guide, then a report, and I could go home.
Feeling a dull headache coming on, I quietly took out a pill in the break room.
A red pill, roughly the length of a finger joint. It was big enough that my throat always stung after swallowing. I grimaced at the metallic taste rising from my stomach—then suddenly Vasily’s head popped out from behind me.
“You feeling sick?”
“Gah!”
I jumped back, startled by Vasily’s face appearing without a sound.
“Why do you sneak up on people like that! You scared me!”
“I’ve been standing behind you for a while. You just didn’t notice, Guide.”
“Yeah, yeah. My hearing must be bad. Sorry.”
Did he think everyone was like him? Whatever. Arguing with him would just wear me out.
“What’s that pill?”
Ah. Right, he’d seen me take it. I glanced at him nervously. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to recognize what kind of pill it was.
“It’s cold medicine. I think I’ve been coming down with something since yesterday….”
“Hmm… is that so?”
Vasily stepped closer, staring straight at me. What the—? Did he somehow figure out it was the pill that worked with the illegal suppression chip?
I swallowed hard, tense—then Vasily suddenly pressed his forehead to mine.
“See, your forehead’s hot.”
“W–who checks for a fever like that?!”
“Isn’t this how they do it? I saw it in a Korean drama.”
I rubbed my face, exhaling in disbelief. Well, expecting normal social behavior from Vasily was a fool’s dream. For someone who’d probably never experienced something as trivial as a cold, common sense was out of reach.
“You’re really sick? Your face is red.”
When he leaned in again, I pushed him back and shook my head.
“I’ve taken medicine, so I’ll be fine soon. Anyway, what brings you here? As you can see, I’m not well, so I can’t guide you today.”
“Hmm… I did come to request a session, but… judging by your condition, that’d be too much.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
Just as I was about to send him off, Vasily placed his hand on my forehead. Ah… that’s cold. My eyes closed without thinking. His chilled palm seemed to draw the heat right out of me.