Help! I Do Not Want to Guide a Disaster

The city glittered beneath the night sky.

From the rooftop of a towering skyscraper, Shao Xinyuan stood motionless, the cold wind tugging at his coat while dark mist coiled lazily around him. His crimson eyes remained focused on the condominium across from him.

His phone spun idly between his fingers.

Then, it rang.

He answered immediately. "Doctor."

"He’s awake."

The words made Xinyuan close his eyes as a long breath escaped him. "Did you find anything wrong with him?"

"Not yet," Doctor Ruixin replied. "The only thing I’m certain of is that the Red Zone corruption brought him back. Without it... he would’ve died completely."

She sighed. "I’m still running tests. Right now, he just needs rest."

Xinyuan nodded, despite knowing she couldn’t see him. "Thank you."

"Of course." There was warmth in her voice. "You could come see him now, you know. You’ve been sneaking in every day while he was unconscious."

A faint smile tugged at Xinyuan’s lips. "Yeah..."

"He asked about you."

Xinyuan’s heart skipped, his gaze shifting back toward the condominium. "The suppressants you gave me are still working. I just have one thing left to do."

"You found her?"

"I found the trail," Xinyuan breathed. "Doctor, I need one more favor."

"What is it?"

"Lollipops."

Ruixin sounded surprised. "...What?"

"He’ll go back to cigarettes if you don’t buy him lollipops."

She couldn’t help laughing. "Oh... yes. I’ll get him plenty."

Xinyuan finally relaxed. "I owe you."

"You don’t owe me anything, Xinyuan."

"I do." He ended the call, and his eyes slowly lifted toward the apartment building.

Three Espers were at the entrance. Former CEA operatives and former Old Blood collaborators. The ones who had helped Jiang Zhaohe disappear.

Dark mist curled around his feet.

Then, he vanished.

"I’m so hungry."

"Me too. I’m so glad there’s beer."

The three Espers chatted casually as they stepped into the elevator.

Just as the doors were about to close, CLANG!

Shadows caught the steel doors. Metal screamed as the doors bent inward under impossible force before being ripped apart entirely.

The Espers froze.

Standing in the opening was Shao Xinyuan.

"...Shao Xinyuan!"

One of them recovered first. Massive emerald vines bursted from the marble floor, twisting around Xinyuan’s body and locking him in place.

The other two ran out, slamming their hands against their communicators.

"Shao Xinyuan is in the building!"

"I repeat, Shao Xinyuan is here!"

The vine Esper stayed behind, smirking. "You don’t scare me."

His hands moved again, and the vines tightened around Xinyuan’s body with enough force to crush reinforced steel.

Xinyuan merely looked at him, and the Esper’s smile disappeared as an invisible force blasted him. His body shot backward into the elevator hard enough to crater the metal wall.

CRACK.

He coughed, the vines around Xinyuan loosening as his concentration broke.

Without changing his expression, Xinyuan’s mist condensed beside him, solidified, and shot forward, piercing straight through the Esper’s chest.

The body remained pinned against the elevator wall for a heartbeat before sliding limply to the floor.

Xinyuan vanished into his mist, silently following the two Espers as they rushed toward another elevator.

He waited.

The elevator climbed floor after floor until it finally stopped. The two hurried down the corridor, swiped their access cards, and stumbled inside the apartment, breathing hard.

Jiang Zhaohe immediately walked out, irritation written all over her face. "You said Xinyuan was there... So you led him here?!" she shouted.

The two Espers instantly realized what they’d done, but one of them snapped back anyway. "Don’t blame us for this! You’re the one who killed his Guide, not us! Why should we keep hiding you?" She pointed accusingly at Jiang Zhaohe. "You’re an SSS-rank Esper, aren’t you? You keep bragging about it, then kill him!"

Jiang Zhaohe’s expression darkened. Without hesitation, blue energy exploded from her palm.

The blast shot straight toward the Esper but a wall of solid black mist materialized between them. The blue energy vanished into it without leaving even a ripple.

Jiang Zhaohe froze. The pressure filling the apartment was unmistakable.

Slowly... she turned.

Xinyuan stood inside the living room, his crimson eyes glowing faintly.

The remaining Espers didn’t hesitate; they bolted. One shoved the door open while the other sprinted down the hallway, disappearing without looking back.

Jiang Zhaohe remained where she stood. For a brief second, surprise crossed her face, but she forced herself to smile. "Xinyuan." Her voice softened. "I’m... glad to see you’re alive."

Her gaze swept over him. "You seem stable." A hint of curiosity slipped into her voice. "Even after coming so close to going berserk... Are you taking suppressants? Do they... work?"

Xinyuan didn’t answer. He simply watched her.

She looked exactly the same yet every instinct inside him screamed the same thing. She had to die.

Jiang Zhaohe felt the killing intent pressing against her skin. She had expected him to kill her the instant he appeared, but instead... he simply stood there.

"...Do you want me to apologize?" she asked quietly.

"Where’s Chenxi?" His gaze drifted toward the closed doors.

Jiang Zhaohe instinctively took half a step backward. "Alive," she swallowed. "He’s inside."

"Hm." Xinyuan looked back at her, tilting his head ever so slightly.

Jiang Zhaohe clenched her fists. "You know..." she began slowly, "I thought the world would already be fixed by now. No more rifts. No more monsters. No more Espers. No more Guides. Just... people."

She laughed bitterly. "But instead... you killed them.. the one who.... You nearly destroyed the world. You could’ve ended all of us with a flick of your finger... but you didn’t."

Her eyes searched his. "Which means... he’s alive."

Xinyuan remained silent. He neither confirmed nor denied it; he simply waited.

Jiang Zhaohe understood. She was already dead, and nothing she said would change that. So, she spoke anyway.

"...I’m not going to apologize." Her voice was steady. "I don’t regret what I did. You weren’t there, Xinyuan. You were asleep. You never saw what was happening outside. You never watched entire cities disappear. You never watched children get dragged into rifts. You never stood on battlefields where people died screaming because monsters simply... kept coming."

Her breathing grew heavier. "You don’t know what it’s like to spend your entire life as a weapon. Fight, eat, sleep, wake up, get experimented on, fight again. Over... and over... and over."

She stared directly into his eyes. "I wanted it to end."

For several long seconds, Xinyuan simply looked at her.

Then, he let out a quiet laugh, the kind that carried no amusement whatsoever. It echoed through the apartment, and when it stopped, a cold, mocking smile lingered on his lips.

He looked at her as though she were the stupidest person he’d ever met. "Are you listening to yourself?"

Jiang Zhaohe frowned. "...What?"

"The reason you murdered my husband..." His smile widened. "...was because you were tired of being an Esper."

He let the silence hang, and then his crimson eyes narrowed. "And somehow... you thought that made you the victim?"

Jiang Zhaohe scoffed. "I didn’t—"

"Ah." Xinyuan lifted a finger to his lips, silencing her before she could continue. After a second, he lowered his hand with a tired sigh.

"You aren’t a victim." His voice remained calm, but every word landed like a blade. "Don’t tell yourself that just to make yourself feel better."

He took a slow step forward. "The children dragged into the rifts... the cities that were wiped off the map... the people who never even got a chance to run." His crimson eyes locked onto hers. "They’re the victims. You aren’t."

Jiang Zhaohe stared at him in surprise. "...You two got married?"

Genuine fury flashed across Xinyuan’s face. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, forcing himself to breathe before speaking again.

"No one asked to be born into this world. No one asked to become an Esper or a Guide. I never asked to become a Disaster-Class Esper. I wasn’t even aware I was the one who created the Red Zone."

His voice remained frighteningly steady. "I didn’t ask to be sold. I didn’t ask to spend years being tortured." He laughed again. A dry, humorless sound. "And yet... I don’t call myself a victim. I know I’m no saint; I’ve destroyed more than I’ve saved."

His eyes slowly lifted back to hers. "But you..." Another bitter laugh escaped him. "You stabbed him. He survived. So, you shot him. You murdered.. him."

His voice cracked. "He didn’t deserve that. You were friends. You understood each other better than I ever understood either of you... and you murdered him."

The pressure in the room became suffocating.

Jiang Zhaohe’s fingers curled into trembling fists. "...Xinyuan."

"Do you know..." he interrupted softly, "...how hard I’m trying not to break every bone in your body? I could snap your neck without lifting a finger. I could crush your heart before you even finish your next sentence." His smile was small. "If you want revenge, hurt me. Come after me. But don’t ever use him to get to me."

Silence stretched between them.

Then, Jiang Zhaohe suddenly screamed, "Then you should’ve killed us all!" Her voice echoed through the apartment. "You should’ve killed every last one of us, Xinyuan! Why do you always stop?! Why do you always hold back when you have the power to end everything?!"

The words hung in the air. Xinyuan simply stared at her.

"So..." His head tilted. "That’s what you really want. You never wanted to fix the world. You wanted me... to destroy it."

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