99 Percent Love

One day, gates suddenly appeared all over the world. Faced with this inexplicable phenomenon, people despaired, convinced that humanity had reached its end.  

However, as the saying goes, the heavens never completely abandon the world. Along with the Trial of the Gates, Heaven granted extraordinary abilities to a select few.  

And these special individuals became known by new titles: Espers and Guides.  

These concepts are now so ingrained in society that they form part of the compulsory curriculum for first years at primary school.  

* * *  

“Do you think you’ll have time for such thoughts inside a Gate?”  

“Do Espers leave their brains outside when they enter a Gate? I didn’t know that.”  

“Hey!”  

Today, the familiar sound of a loud voice echoed through the Guiding Centre.  

“Rion, Kang Rion. Calm down.”  

“Do I look like I can calm down right now? Damn it, let go of me.”  

“If you use your abilities here again, the cafeteria will have to be completely renovated.”  

The man called Rion took a deep breath, as if to suppress his anger. Those holding his arms spoke in practiced tones, as if they had been through this before.  

“OK, remember the Lamaze breathing technique? Take a deep breath… inhale…”  

“…Hah…”  

“Instead of learning that, maybe you should have started learning what to do inside a gate.”  

“…Damn it. Let me go.”  

The sound of Rion’s fraying rationality echoed through the air. Even those holding him back thought, *This isn’t going to work,* and quickly let go of his arms, retreating to a safe distance.  

“Why do they always end up fighting in the cafeteria?”  

“Meeting a suitable Guide in the Guiding Centre itself is strange enough…”  

Despite their complaints, people began to pack up their meals and leave the cafeteria in an orderly fashion.  

Soon the air around the man, his forehead lined with bulging veins, began to ripple.  

“Isn’t it strange for an S-class Guide and an S-class Esper to act like this?”  

“Hey, hey. Less talking, more walking. If you get caught in the crossfire, it’s your loss.”  

Soon there were only two people left in the cafeteria: the angry man and the one who, apparently unafraid, continued to taunt him without pause.  

“I told you to watch your mouth.”  

“I remember telling you several times to take care of yourself too.”

“You just can’t let me have the last word, damn it. Not a single word!”

Bang! A chair next to Rion flew past the man’s head, narrowly missing him, and embedded itself in the wall. The man didn’t even blink, just opened his mouth to speak again.  

“Do you even want to win? From what I can see, it doesn’t look like it. Or is it that you just don’t have the ability to win?”  

“Hey. I’m holding back. Do you really think you’d still be standing there on two legs if I decided to go for it?”  

Rion spat out his words, struggling to contain his anger. As he said, he had enough power to send the other man flying out of the building if he really wanted to.  

“So, should I thank you for that?”  

“….Fine, let’s settle this once and for all today.”  

He had tolerated this man until now, believing him to be someone indispensable, but he really couldn’t hold back any longer.  

The chairs and the long table near Rion began to float behind him.  

“Even if a leg or two is broken, we’ve got capable healing Espers in the centre, don’t we?”  

“You know I’m the kind of person who speaks my mind even if I end up with a broken leg, right?”  

“Yes, I know. But if I break one of your legs, at least you’ll be quiet for a week, right?”

The legs of the chair floating in midair began to crumple, ready to launch toward the man’s legs at any moment. But even in the face of this, the man remained unfazed.  

“Go on then. I’ll say what I have to say anyway.”  

“Very well. If that’s your wish, I see no reason not to grant it.”  

If he could shut that annoying mouth for just one week – no more, no less – then nothing else mattered.  

Without hesitation, Rion raised his hand. Just as he was about to wave it, a thunderous voice rang out like a bolt of lightning, thwarting his plan.  

“Kang Rion! Lee Yuwon! Stop this instant!”  

“Ah, damn it. That nagger…”  

“Who are you calling a nagger?!”  

Thanks to the centre director, who had rushed to the scene after hearing the commotion, the chaos was brought to an end. But that didn’t stop the man, Yuwon, from running his mouth.  

“Why not just throw it? Ignoring what anyone says and doing what you want is your speciality, isn’t it?”  

At Yuwon’s words, Rion’s fists clenched tightly and he began to shake with rage. Ah, that damned mouth of his… The director pressed a hand to his forehead and shook his head.  

“You… you…!”  

Rion’s face turned red, then blue, then red again. Moments later, his booming voice echoed throughout the centre.  

“Lee Yuwon, you bastard!”  

How these two could be an S-class Guide and an Esper with the highest compatibility rate in history was completely beyond the director’s comprehension.  

* * *  

Yuwon and Rion were an Esper-Guide duo with an unprecedented compatibility rate. Kang Rion, in particular, was an Esper with abilities as extraordinary as their compatibility rate.  

His ability was telekinesis. In terms of precision, he could control a single snowflake, while his sheer strength was enough to lift an entire building with ease.  

It was no surprise that Rion became a star the moment his abilities manifested, when he turned twenty and became an adult.  

A power so great that it was called the strongest in history, coupled with an appearance that didn’t match such power – his stunningly handsome looks.  

Despite his perpetually lazy, indifferent expression, Rion never hesitated to help those in need. In less than a year, he was recognised as South Korea’s top Esper.  

“I want to be a cool Esper like Rion Oppa!”  

“Me too, me too! I want to be a super strong Esper like Lione Hyung!”  

“Oh, I saw him once… How could such a young man exist?”  

From kindergartners to centenarians, it would not be an exaggeration to say that there wasn’t a single person in Korea who didn’t know Kang Rion.  

The only thing missing for Rion was the inability to find a guide with a high compatibility rate.  

“Hey, Kang Rion. Do you secretly hate me? How come our match rate is not even above 40%?”  

“You know my match rate is low no matter who I’m paired with.”  

Match rates were determined by innate temperament and the emotional dynamics between Guides and Espers. Rion, however, had an unusually poor compatibility with Guides.  

“If I weren’t an A-class Guide, it would be even worse. How do you expect to recharge your batteries with a Guide rate of only 34%? At least get some proper rest.“

“There are too many places that need me. How can I rest in peace?”  

It was commendable for someone with abilities to have a strong sense of duty towards their work, but in Rion’s case it was excessive.  

The highest compatibility rate he had with any guide was 34% with an A-class guide, and even among B- and C-class guides, there wasn’t anyone with a rate over 40%.  

Naturally, he was in a state of chronic Guide deficiency, but despite this, Rion refused to stop working. Despite spending all his downtime guiding, and barely recovering enough to function, he kept going.  

“You’ll die early at this rate.”  

“Come on, I eat so much healthy food.”  

Saying that with blood dripping from his nose wasn’t exactly reassuring. Rion was South Korea’s top Esper, but also the one with the most critical flaw.  

“Last time, I almost couldn’t save those people because I was a bit late. If I’d arrived ten minutes earlier, those stray monsters would have had no chance of escaping the gate”.  

“How is that your fault? It’s the centre’s fault for always being understaffed.”  

Class A Guide Kang Woo shook his head in exasperation. As the guide with the highest compatibility rate with Rion within the centre, he had essentially become Rion’s de facto personal guide.  

That’s why Kang Woo wanted Rion’s matching guide to appear in the centre more than anyone else.  

What’s the point of being hailed as a hero or making a lot of money? Without a matching guide, he withered away and seemed destined to die young. Yet Rion kept smiling and going about his business, which Kang Woo found both incomprehensible and pitiful.  

One year, two years, three years… and then four years passed.  

Rion was now 24 years old.  

“You have to take a holiday. Otherwise you’ll burn out and die before you’re thirty”.  

“If I go on holiday, who’s going to replace me? Seoha is stationed elsewhere, and Juseop is still a complete newbie.”  

“So are we all going to die of overwork with you?”  

At the age of 24, Kang Rion’s condition was noticeably worse than when he was 20.  

He still had incredible abilities and was still saving countless lives, but his own body was deteriorating day by day.  

“Dealing with the immediate situation is important, but you also have to think about the future.” 

“But when there are people in front of me who need my help, how can I just sit back and do nothing?”  

“You think you’re Superman or something? You don’t even have a matching Guide or anyone with a compatibility rate above 50%. If you keep draining your life force like this, what’s going to be left of you?”  

Rion was now arguing with the Centre Director, who was trying to force him to take a holiday. While the director’s reasoning was understandable, Rion couldn’t bring himself to step back.  

“Even so…”  

I have to help the people I can. I must.

“Enough. There’s nothing more to discuss… I know you’re someone who doesn’t listen. So, just for one week, only one week, focus on getting guided and rest. I’ve already spoken to Kang Woo about it.”

“Director…”

“No more words. Get out.”

Rion looked at the director with pleading eyes, but the director didn’t budge and firmly ordered him out.

And so, forced out of the center, Rion spent an entire week on mandatory leave, wracked with anxiety.

Then, a week later, when the dreadful vacation was finally over and he returned to the center, Rion met the person who would change his life forever.