TTOA Chapter 3

#3

“I was a little surprised that you suddenly collapsed. You haven’t even received proper Guiding yet… Are you naturally weak?”

Before he could even fall into contemplation, a large hand brazenly invaded his groin.

Seo Eui-woo, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, groped and touched the inside of Jae-jin’s boxer briefs. If this were the first timeline’s Kwon Jae-jin, he would have been appalled and kicked him away without hesitation.

Back then, he thought he was being dragged to an unfamiliar place and forcibly assaulted. Which was true, in a way.

However, for the second timeline’s Kwon Jae-jin, Seo Eui-woo’s house was absurdly familiar, and he’d experienced this kind of sudden Guiding request more than once or twice.

These situations were practically everyday occurrences for Kwon Jae-jin now.

No reason to make a fuss now.

“…Hey, Seo Eui-woo.”

Jae-jin clicked his tongue inwardly. His chest felt slightly hot.

“What?”

“I’m asking just in case, but do you remember me?”

“Have we met before? If we had, there’s no way I would have missed you…”

“No, I guess not. Never mind, then.”

As expected, Seo Eui-woo didn’t seem to know anything. The clear gray eyes looking at him were just transparent without any foreignness.

Quietly examining those eyes, his chest felt a bit hotter, and something heavy weighed down on him as if it were blocked.

‘Only I regressed? Tch.’

Perhaps it was fortunate. The fact that Seo Eui-woo didn’t regress as well meant…

‘That I was the only one who died after being caught in that Gate.’

Kwon Jae-jin was the only one who regressed.

Kwon Jae-jin was the only one who would die in four years.

‘I can’t be sure, but perhaps spacetime was temporarily distorted the moment the Gate appeared. I must have been sucked into it, causing me to travel back in time…’

A century had already passed since the first Gate Impact occurred, and creatures in the form of various monsters poured out from within. Through the existence of Espers and Guides who countered them, human society had regained stability, but even now, the Gate remained in an unknown realm.

Related research was actively underway, and various hypotheses and theories had emerged, but which one was the correct theory was not at all clear. Humanity knew far more facts that it *didn’t* know about Gates than facts that it *did* know.

Most of the information was unknown, and Kwon Jae-jin, who had been an ordinary person, knew even less. There was no way a late-blooming mutant from a non-awakened background could know what even the Espers didn’t know.

‘Well, there’s no need to cling to the reason why I regressed right now. I wouldn’t be able to find an answer even if I thought about it. The more important problem is what will happen in four years.’

Four years later. It was a certain future that a Gate would open in the yard of this house, Seo Eui-woo’s mansion.

It was a certain future that Kwon Jae-jin would be caught in that Gate and torn to pieces.

If he didn’t get out of this house by then, Kwon Jae-jin would die.

In the first timeline, he somehow managed to escape into the space-time rift and return to the past, but there was no guarantee that would happen again in this second timeline. So, Jae-jin had to avoid the Gate that would appear in four years, no matter what.

‘I’m already resentful enough for having died once at such a young age, I can’t die twice!’

Whether Kwon Jae-jin escaped from this house alone or persuaded Seo Eui-woo to move residence together, he had to do something, or it was over.

If there was a way to avoid death, he wanted to avoid it.

In that sense, this regression was an opportunity of a lifetime.

‘I refuse to live such a ruined life again…!’

No matter what he had to do, he would desperately, definitely survive and, this time, please, please! He had to seize a proper life.

He would enjoy all the fun the world had to offer, experience all the valuable and good things, spend money like water, and devour all sorts of delicious delicacies. He would live a long life until he was a hundred years old, and then close his eyes peacefully as if falling asleep in a quiet mountain cabin.

To do that, first,

‘I need Seo Eui-woo’s cooperation.’

Kwon Jae-jin knew. Seo Eui-woo was an S-rank Esper.

S-rank Esper. In his first life, he didn’t know what this short and simple expression meant, but now he knew it well enough to shudder.

He was an unprecedentedly powerful multi-ability user, unmatched by anyone. He could teleport, create his own doppelgangers, and even use his abilities unconsciously.

In other words, there was simply… no way to escape from him.

Even when ordinary Espers were usually weakened, he didn’t have any openings. He could use telekinesis when he was asleep or unconscious, and he could easily track Jae-jin’s movements. He was truly an absurdly capable person.

Especially since this mansion was completely his territory.

From the moment he stepped foot here, Kwon Jae-jin was no different from being on Seo Eui-woo’s palm. No matter what he did to escape, it was useless, and no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t get out of his domain unless Seo Eui-woo allowed it.

‘Even so, this isn’t the first time… I’m not going to be newly frustrated.’

If he couldn’t somehow exclude Seo Eui-woo, he could simply get his cooperation.

And that wasn’t particularly difficult.

‘That Seo Eui-woo, I don’t know what he’s thinking, but he seems to like me and clung to me quite a bit.’

In the first timeline, it took four years for him to become lovers with him. So, how much time would it take in the second timeline?

‘He proposed to me in the third year, I guess.’

Back then, Kwon Jae-jin had flatly rejected the proposal as soon as he heard it, but if he accepted it this time, they could become lovers in just three years.

‘No, if I don’t refuse Guiding and wage a fierce war with Seo Eui-woo, there’s no need to drag it out for three years.’

If Kwon Jae-jin obediently responded to Guiding, he wouldn’t have to waste three years.

If that happened, he could teach Seo Eui-woo his position and persuade him in about a year… or even before that, he could build a friendly relationship.

This was entirely a match that depended on how well Jae-jin coaxed and tamed Seo Eui-woo.

A challenge that couldn’t fail, a game with a predetermined winner.

‘After all, Seo Eui-woo needs me.’

For an Esper, a Guide is an absolute being.

The more powerful the Esper, the more so.

Because the greater the power they use, the greater the aftermath. They have no choice but to desperately crave Guiding that will quell the imbalance.

Seo Eui-woo needed Kwon Jae-jin.

Kwon Jae-jin also needed Seo Eui-woo.

The first timeline’s Kwon Jae-jin didn’t particularly need Seo Eui-woo, but the second timeline’s Kwon Jae-jin needed Seo Eui-woo. To survive.

‘…Then isn’t the story already over?’

Jae-jin swallowed hard. His fingertips twitched slightly, then he clenched his fist tightly as if to grab something and suppress it.

No problem.

He could already see the future ahead.

Unlike when he was being helplessly victimized, this time he could easily grasp and shake Seo Eui-woo.

He knew Seo Eui-woo’s way of thinking well, and he also knew what actions and words to use to move him. If he just used Guiding as bait, Seo Eui-woo would…

Seo Eui-woo was just a simple…

“…Ugh!”

His thoughts were cut off by the unpleasant intrusion. He felt a foreign sensation in his butt.

Seo Eui-woo, who had already taken off Jae-jin’s briefs, was spreading his buttocks and pushing a finger into his anus, deep inside. He started to arbitrarily rummage through the soft inner wall, going deep inside. Jae-jin’s knee shot up.

‘What… what the.’

Jae-jin frowned.

Even though only one finger had entered, his whole body stiffened as if rejecting it. His eyes widened, his legs curled up, and his lower body tensed up, causing the wrinkles to close tightly.

‘It hurts…?’

His body was involuntarily tensing up.

Even though it was Guiding that he had experienced countless times in his first life, this was the first time for him in this second life. It was like learning to swim in theory, but then sinking when you actually went into the water.

No matter how mentally prepared he was and how ready he was to accept Guiding, Kwon Jae-jin’s body didn’t follow his thoughts.

“Are you… doing this on purpose? It’s too much.”

Seo Eui-woo bent his knuckles and pried open the stiff flesh. It was hard to get in, but he forcibly pushed it in, making the dull pain even worse. Jae-jin hurriedly stopped him.

“Wait, Seo Eui-woo. Please wait a moment.”

Of course, Seo Eui-woo didn’t stop.

Rather, he used his other hand to forcefully spread his buttocks to the sides and tried to jam his middle finger in as well.

“Ah!”

Ugh, damn it.

Yeah, that’s right.

Seo Eui-woo, that son of a bitch, was this kind of guy.

He didn’t care about the other person’s circumstances and clung to him, groped him, sucked his tongue, and shoved his dick in whenever he wanted. Guiding was the Guide’s duty, so he didn’t think that such coercive behavior was wrong.

Facing a more difficult situation than he had expected, his ears turned slightly red with embarrassment. Even so, he couldn’t easily back down like this.

Jae-jin pressed down on Seo Eui-woo’s wrist, which was rummaging inside.