What the hell was that?Raon turned toward the sound. It had come not from the Guides’ testing area, but from the Espers’ section. The first thing he saw was Yeojoon—hanging from the ceiling, screaming.“Lee Yeojoon!”Taehyeok, who’d been on the same former Team Three, shouted and sprinted over. Raon followed quickly after him.“What happened?”By the time he arrived, the situation was already over. Siwoo stood there with his usual impassive face, one hand gripping the back of Yeojoon’s neck as he lowered him to the ground. Yeojoon’s complexion was ashen.“Well, I… uh…”Yeojoon stammered, struggling to speak. Raon listened calmly as he pieced the story together.Apparently, it had happened during the vertical jump portion of the physical exam. Yeojoon had jumped so high that he’d actually hit the ceiling and gotten stuck {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} there.Espers took the same physical tests as Guides but with heavy weights attached, scaled to their rank—so the fact that he’d still reached the ceiling was impressive. For an A-rank, his physical capacity was exceptional.But that wasn’t the issue.“Are you afraid of heights?”“…Yes.”Raon let out a short, incredulous laugh.An A-rank Esper with acrophobia.Of course, a fear like that wasn’t something one could simply will away. But in Gates where anything could happen, a phobia like that could easily become fatal.So that’s why an A-rank was still stuck on Team Three.The Alpha units—Teams 1 through 3—were composed of high-grade Espers. With Yeojoon’s level, he should’ve been in Team Two at least, if not higher. The reason he hadn’t been was apparently his fear of heights.Why wasn’t that in the report?Raon exhaled sharply. Given they’d come from different teams, it wasn’t shocking he hadn’t known, but something that serious should’ve been flagged in the personnel data. He could only shake his head at the military’s carelessness.“Team Leader, I swear it wasn’t hidden deliberately. It’s just that his fear’s never interfered with a mission before…”“That’s because Team Three only handled low-rank Gates.”“Uh…”Taehyeok, who’d been defending him, trailed off, unable to argue. Raon sighed.The higher the Gate rank, the trickier and more extreme the environments became. If Yeojoon had never had issues before, it was only because he’d never entered the kind that pushed those limits.But the Gates they would face from now on were in an entirely different league. If Raon had known this earlier, he never would’ve chosen him for the special team.“I’m afraid I’ll need to reconsider your assignment to the team, Esper Lee Yeojoon—”“W-wait, please!”Gasping for breath, Yeojoon suddenly spoke up, desperation written all over his face. Raon looked at him evenly.“Yes?”“I can do this. Please, just give me one chance.”“And why exactly should I trust that?”“I…”Raon’s voice was cold. Yeojoon had no answer.The Gates ahead were on a whole different scale—dozens of unpredictable factors, including aerial combat. The thought of Yeojoon freezing mid-air from acrophobia was enough to give Raon a headache. He couldn’t risk it.“I’ll discuss this with the Director. For now, you’re—”“Please, Team Leader. I’m begging you.”“Haa…”Yeojoon clung to him with genuine desperation.Raon recalled Seokhyeon mentioning that there had been a surprising number of Espers who applied for the special team.With Siwoo already taking up one slot, there weren’t many left—and if Yeojoon stepped down, high-level contenders would immediately fight for the opening. Raon would then have to go through the ordeal of finding another Esper whose compatibility with Siwoo didn’t implode the team.Yeojoon’s still the best choice, honestly.He was high-ranked, got along well with Siwoo—they’d been schoolmates—and their abilities meshed well. There was no one better suited.But that fear is fatal.Just as he was about to make the hard call, Hamin suddenly spoke up, his voice bright as ever.“Can’t acrophobia be cured?”Raon turned his gaze toward him.“Psychological disorders aren’t that easy to overcome.”“I got over mine.”“…What?”He must’ve misheard. Hamin? Afraid of heights? And cured?“It’s true. I used to freeze up the moment I got high off the ground. I didn’t scream like Yeojoon, but my legs would give out and I’d just sit down.”“And now you’re fine?”“Yeah. I figured it’d be a problem when I joined the Center, so I trained myself out of it.”“How?”Raon blinked. The original story never mentioned this. Uneasy curiosity prickled as he asked, and Hamin replied with that same sunny smile.“Bungee jumping.”“Bungee… jumping.”Raon echoed the words, dumbfounded.Bungee jumping and Hamin—those two things simply did not go together. The idea that he’d beaten a phobia by repeatedly throwing himself off a platform was absurd.“At first, I could barely even climb up to the platform. After almost passing out a few times, it got better.”“Wouldn’t most people quit after that point?”“But it worked, didn’t it?”“Ha…”Hamin blinked innocently, as if wondering what the problem was. A madman with clear eyes, Raon thought wryly. Still, at least the method had worked.“So maybe Yeojoon could try the same kind of training?”“B-bungee jumping?”Yeojoon, paler than when he’d been stuck on the ceiling, instinctively backed away. Taehyeok caught him by the arm.“Why not give it a shot?”“Hmm.”Even Taehyeok looked serious, which made Raon’s internal debate worse. Truth be told, it did feel like a waste to let Yeojoon go now.“Then choose, Esper Lee Yeojoon. Leave the team—or train.”“Uh… I…”Cold sweat beaded on Yeojoon’s forehead as his eyes darted helplessly.***It was a bright, cloudless day. Raon smiled broadly as he surveyed the team assembled on the field.“AAAAAAAHHH!”“Please ignore that.”Yeojoon’s scream had been echoing like background noise for a while now. The others kept glancing nervously in that direction—he’d started his special training that morning.Siwoo said he’d handle it…When Raon was looking for someone to supervise Yeojoon’s phobia training, Siwoo had volunteered. With so few Espers on the special team, he still had enough bandwidth to oversee Minjae’s drills as well.Guess I’ll focus on the Guides for now.When the screams finally began to taper off, Raon clapped his hands and called his group to order. The session began with basic endurance training.“From now on, you can’t expect to sit back and rely on Espers to protect you. As I said before, there will be times inside the Gates when we’ll have to run—or even face monsters ourselves.”He remembered nearly dying alongside Hamin during the irregular Gate. His voice hardened.“For the next while, we’ll be pushing our physical limits. Follow through, all of you.”“Y-yes!”“Answer loud and short!”“Yes!”Raon had somehow turned into a drill instructor. He gave the signal, and the Guides—including himself—began running.“Keep the count! Go!”“One! Two!”Running was the simplest yet most effective aerobic exercise. A Guide could never match an Esper’s stamina, but it was better than sitting still and waiting to die.“Keep going—don’t stop!”“Y-yes, sir!”After several laps around the huge field, fatigue started to show. Dasom, the only woman on the team, looked about ready to collapse.“Guide Park Dasom, if you’re struggling, take a break.”“N-no, I’ll… I’ll finish it…!”Raon approached to suggest resting, but she shook her head firmly. He couldn’t bring himself to argue with that resolve.If she truly couldn’t continue, he’d make her stop by force—but until then, he’d let her push through.He was just moving toward her when a sharp voice rang out across the field.“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”“…?”The shout boomed over the track. Raon turned, frowning, as someone strode toward him, face flushed with anger.

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