"We received a request from the EMA this morning," the director announced.
The hall quieted as nearly forty guides turned their attention to the front. The director stood beside his assistant, hands clasped behind his back.
"They've asked us to send our top ten guides to their headquarters for a test run."
"The EMA?" one of the guides asked, raising a hand.
"Esper Management Authority," Usagi muttered flatly, barely holding back a yawn.
The guide shot him a glare. "I know what it means!"
Soft laughter rippled through the room.
"What I meant was," The guide huffed before turning back to the director. "Why us? They have their own guides."
"Correct," the director replied calmly. "But Halo Guiding Center has always cooperated with national operations. When we are called, we respond."
Murmurs spread through the hall.
"I will post the list after this meeting," the director continued. "Those selected will leave immediately."
He gave a short nod. "That is all. You're dismissed."
The guides dispersed quickly, conversations rising in curious whispers.
Usagi slipped out with the crowd, already regretting waking up.
His dark hair stuck out in every direction like a bird's nest, and his tired grey eyes were half-lidded with exhaustion. Freckles dusted across his nose and cheeks, softening the otherwise permanently unimpressed expression he wore.
People often mistook him for an asshole.
Mostly because he looked like one.
In reality, Usagi was simply very tired.
"Hey, Usagi!"
His dorm mate Park jogged up beside him, practically bouncing with excitement as he slung an arm over Usagi's shoulder.
"This is huge, right? The EMA calling us directly?" He grinned. "That means the Esper must be serious trouble."
Usagi tried pushing his arm off. "Then why do you sound so excited?"
Park blinked at him. "Because it's interesting?"
"No, it's not." Usagi rubbed his eyes. "I need sleep and coffee. Even breathing feels stressful right now."
Park burst out laughing. "Don't you breathe when you're asleep?"
"He snores too," Dante—another of Usagi's dorm mates—laughed as he ran past and disappeared around the corner.
Usagi frowned. "I do not."
"Oh, you absolutely do," Park grinned.
Usagi grimaced and decided ignoring Park was the healthiest decision for everyone involved.
He almost succeeded.
Usagi Hoshino was a B-rank Guide, twenty-one years old.
He had joined the Halo Guiding Center two years ago.
The private organization housed about forty guides, and despite the chaos, they were close, almost like family. Loud, messy, and always in each other's business.
Honestly?
Usagi liked it that way.
After all, the world was cruel, broken, and stained with blood, sweat, and too many selfish people trying to survive.
That was why bonds like this mattered.
Even if Usagi kept trying to be the same lone wolf he had been before joining the Halo Guiding Center, it never quite worked.
People here were annoyingly persistent.
The moment they returned to the dorms, Usagi climbed onto his bed without ceremony, kicked off his shoes, and buried himself under the blanket.
He had absolutely zero expectations of appearing on the Top Ten list.
Halo was full of guides far more impressive than him.
Guides who took long-term contracts. Guides who trained obsessively.
Guides who didn't fall asleep in the middle of conversations.
Usagi preferred short contracts. Weeks instead of years.
Less attachment. Less trouble.
He rolled over, staring at the darkness of his blanket.
When he woke up later, he planned to cook an omelette.
That thought alone comforted him enough that his mind slowly drifted.
Eggs. Maybe cheese.
Maybe...
BEEP.
Usagi gritted his teeth.
The alarm on his watch rang loudly against his wrist.
And if that wasn't bad enough, "LIST IS OUT!"
Park's voice echoed through the dorm.
Usagi groaned, dragging the blanket off his face. He tapped the screen of his watch, his expression dark as a blue holographic screen expanded in front of him.
The Top Ten Guide List appeared.
His eyes lazily scanned through the names.
One.
Two.
Three.
He kept scrolling.
Then he stopped.
Rank 10 — Usagi Hoshino
His photo blinked quietly beside the name.
Usagi stared at it. His brain took a few seconds to process.
"…Eh?"
Across the room, Park suddenly whooped. "I GOT IN!"
He jumped to his feet so quickly his chair nearly tipped over. Pulling off his glasses, he pumped a fist into the air like he'd just won the lottery.
At the workstation, Dante raised a hand without looking away from his computer.
"Same. Rank six." He glanced over his shoulder. "And wow… Usagi, you got in too."
Usagi didn't reply.
He simply blinked the screen away and laid back down.
Blanket over head.
This was clearly a mistake.
Unfortunately, his dorm mates disagreed.
Within minutes, they dragged him out of bed.
°°°•°°°
By the time Usagi properly woke up, he was already dressed.
His handgun was hidden under his jacket, and a storage bag hung over his shoulder. Standard protocol in case of sudden Red Alert deployment.
The ten selected guides gathered outside as military transport trucks lined the Halo Guiding Center entrance.
One by one, they climbed in.
Usagi ended up in the third truck.
Park sat beside him, practically vibrating with excitement. He was technically a C-Rank Guide who worked mostly as a tech analyst.
Across from them sat Dante, an A-Rank Combat Guide, calmly checking his equipment.
And beside Usagi, Mira, another A-rank guide, dropped into the seat with a bright grin.
Her pink hair caught the light as she leaned closer.
"Well, look who made the Top Ten," she teased. "The professional napper himself."
Usagi didn't respond.
He was already asleep.
The convoy rolled out of the Halo Guiding Center, moving through the divided city.
One side gleamed with reconstruction and high-rise towers.
The other was still scarred by collapsed buildings and abandoned districts where rifts had once opened.
Inside the truck, guides chatted excitedly, gossip passing between them like wildfire.
Usagi slept through all of it.
°••°
When they arrived at the Esper Management Authority, Mira gently shook his shoulder.
"Usagi. Wake up."
He blinked awake, eyes half-lidded, and followed the others inside.
The EMA facility was massive. Sterile. Cold.
Military guards stood along the walls as the guides were led into a large briefing room.
A man in a tailored suit stood waiting for them.
He looked older with grey hair neatly combed back, posture straight, a polite smile resting on his face.
But something about it felt… wrong.
Usagi's instincts prickled.
The room. The guards.
The way they were being watched.
It reminded him too much of a laboratory.
Of being studied. Of being treated like something less than human.
He had experienced that before. So, he knew the feeling well.
The man cleared his throat.
"Thank you all for coming," he said warmly. "My name is Theodore, and I will be overseeing this operation."
His smile widened slightly. "We've encountered some difficulties with one of our Espers. We would like him to be matched with a suitable Guide for stabilization purposes."
Usagi rubbed his eyes.
"You can just be straightforward," he said flatly.
Several guides nodded in agreement.
No one liked being danced around.
Theodore's gaze shifted toward him.
For a brief second, something sharp flashed in his eyes.
Then the pleasant smile returned.
"Very well."
He clasped his hands behind his back. "Yan Zhiran. An S-Class Esper."
Shock rippled through the room. Silence followed immediately after.
Even Usagi straightened slightly.
Because that was a lie.
Yan Zhiran wasn't an S-Class Esper.
Everyone knew that.
He had long surpassed S-Class… SS-Class… maybe even SSS-Class.
Yan Zhiran belonged to a different category entirely.
One whispered about in hushed voices.
Disaster Class.
Espers are powerful enough to destroy entire cities if they lose control.
And there was another reason the room had gone quiet.
Every guide who attempted to stabilize Yan Zhiran had ended up in the hospital.
Or worse.
Dead.