This S-Class Esper is Not an Obsessive Maniac

2.

What is an obsessive maniac?

It was a term commonly used to describe fictional characters who pour out violent affection and obsession towards a person designated as the object of their love, making surveillance and overprotection their life’s work, and loudly proclaiming that they know nothing but love.

In this world where more than half of all narratives in dramas, movies, novels, and comics are related to ability users such as Guides or Espers, characters with higher-grade Esper settings were more likely to be tagged as obsessive maniacs. Occasionally, in science fiction stories imagining the absurd premise of “what if Espers and Guides never existed in this society,” obsessive maniacs still appeared as a popular keyword, but their characteristics paled in comparison to Esper characters who relied on their innate abilities.

Ryu Ho-yeon, who became a forced media addict due to being born as an extremely powerful Esper and growing up forcibly isolated from society, had encountered countless such characters.

The formula “High-ranking Esper = Obsessive Maniac” was an absolute truth in the modern media narrative industry, regardless of how the real world worked.

The stories usually went like this: After suffering for a long time without meeting a compatible Guide, they would “one day” “by chance” “as if by fate” meet an ordinary, upright person who didn’t even know they were a Guide. They would experience guiding for the first time, feeling ecstatic, as if their body was melting, not wanting to wake up if it was a dream, never wanting to let go in their life, and so on and so forth. Immediately, their eyes would roll back, and they would become extremely obsessed with their Guide, who seemed as sweet as cotton candy just by looking at them, feeling like everyone else was eyeing them, afraid they might fly away if blown on or break if squeezed. Of course, the longer they had endured alone without a Guide, the more intense the obsession and the higher the level of the work tended to become.

Coincidentally, there was a real-life example right next to Ryu Ho-yeon that perfectly matched the keyword people were crazy about. It was Kim Jun-young, the first director of the Ability Support Agency, who officially took the title of Korea’s first S-class Esper while Ryu Ho-yeon was (forcibly) living in hiding.

He had awakened as an Esper in high school and struggled to find a compatible Guide until adulthood, searching the entire country. Later, he coincidentally reunited with a B-class Guide, his high school junior, and discovered they had a high matching rate, forming a pair. Although there seemed to have been various emotional struggles related to their ranks in the beginning, looking at it now, more than ten years later, Kim Jun-young was undoubtedly the epitome of a top-tier obsessive maniac by anyone’s standards.

Ryu Ho-yeon, who had a certain level of acquaintance with both Kim Jun-young and his Guide, Lee Jung-hyuk, noticed that whenever he spent a little too much time visiting their quarters or had frequent meals with Lee Jung-hyuk separately, Kim Jun-young would invariably appear and grab Ryu Ho-yeon by the nape of his neck, tossing him away. At least, that’s how it seemed to Ryu Ho-yeon.

Park Woo-jun, who was officially announced as Korea’s second S-class Esper after Kim Jun-young, was no different in showing excessive obsession towards his Guide, despite acting childish, pretending to be innocent and cute, and often whimpering unbecomingly for his age.

Given what was portrayed in the media and the examples in his own life… Since high-ranking and powerful Espers unconditionally obsessed over their Guides and displayed animalistic sexual desire, Ryu Ho-yeon thought that others’ perceptions would be the same as his. So wouldn’t everyone firmly believe that he, too, as the unofficial first but officially third S-class Esper to be announced, would become the perfect obsessive maniac for his paired Guide?

However, Ryu Ho-yeon wasn’t confident he could live up to people’s expectations.

While he didn’t care about the positive expectations or resulting disappointment of unknown masses, he felt it would be a bit regrettable if the Guide who would directly handle his guiding became disappointed with an Esper who couldn’t meet their expectations.

The essential qualities required for an obsessive maniac were as follows: Social and economic status or position should be presentable. Tall and handsome. Usually starts with a trash personality but increasingly regrets past misdeeds and becomes subservient to their partner as the story progresses. Lacks social skills. A personification of lust who can’t help but want to undress their partner even when they’re just sitting still and breathing.

While Ryu Ho-yeon might already be disqualified in the tall and handsome category at just over 170cm, he thought he could compensate with other attributes (especially in terms of social and economic status, lack of social skills, and being handsome), easily scoring over 100 points out of 10. But that wasn’t the important part.

The last item, “personification of lust,” was arguably the alpha and omega, the beginning and end of being an obsessive maniac.

For high-ranking Esper characters with the essential obsessive maniac trait, it was customary to easily break the bed headboard on the first night, and once their eyes rolled back, they should be constantly looking for opportunities to undress their Guide, whether eating or training. In all-ages works, scenes often cut away right after eye contact and lips meeting, but even in such works, Espers who didn’t enjoy or weren’t talented at intercourse simply didn’t exist. The same was true for the rare Esper characters without the obsessive maniac trait. Even in very minor works where the object of obsession was a fellow Esper or an ordinary person rather than a Guide… Espers had to be masters of intercourse.

In other words, repeatedly disrupting their partner’s daily life with indiscriminate intercourse was a widely acknowledged requirement for a proper Esper.

(Ryu Ho-yeon’s stereotypes about Esper-Guide relationships were vastly different from how things actually worked in reality. However, having been exposed only to the sensational aspects of Esper and Guide relationships in mass media for a long time, and with the few actual pairs around him perfectly fitting these stereotypes, his prejudices were only deepening day by day with no signs of being resolved.)

In Ryu Ho-yeon’s opinion, this was the strongest reason why he could never become an obsessive maniac.

S-class physical enhancement Esper Kim Jun-young and S-class nature Esper Park Woo-jun were both undeniably strong, but even they paled in comparison to Ryu Ho-yeon, an S-class special type, specifically a materialization Esper.

Even A-class or B-class materialization ability users were in high demand by various countries, and there had never been an officially reported S-class materialization ability user worldwide. It wasn’t for nothing that this country had hidden Ryu Ho-yeon. His mere existence was enough to plunge the international community into an abyss of conflict. That is, when backed by an appropriate Guide.

Anyway. The reason why someone so uniquely special, powerful beyond comparison to other S-class Espers, and strikingly beautiful could never become an obsessive maniac was…

“I should be honest about this issue from the start.”

This S-class Esper was asexual, or to put it more bluntly, impotent.

* * *

By the time he had dried his hair and changed clothes, it seemed the Guide had already arrived. Even the researchers who had been cooped up in their individual labs had all come out, making the usually quiet common area bustling. Although the lab director was the one who had actually given birth to him, the researchers had all raised Ryu Ho-yeon together in their hearts, watching over his growth, so everyone’s faces showed undisguised hints of excitement.

As Ryu Ho-yeon appeared, the gathered people parted ways, each giving a thumbs up. Thanks to this, Ryu Ho-yeon could stride forward without even having to wonder where his Guide was.

‘…Taller than I expected?’

That was his entire first impression of the unfamiliar man standing with his back turned. He wasn’t disappointed that it was a man, nor had he particularly expected a female Guide, but since those who awakened as Guides regardless of gender often had a slender and delicate impression, he had naturally assumed his Guide would be the same.

The straight shoulders wearing a navy jacket were broad, and the neatly groomed black hair on the back of the head was set much higher than Ryu Ho-yeon’s. Upon closer approach, he realized the man was literally a head taller, not just figuratively speaking.

‘Are there any works where the Guide is taller than the Esper?’

The media addict reflexively pondered such a question. However, no specific work came to mind immediately. At most, there were cases where the Esper and Guide had similar builds.

He thought he would be fine with it, but this was unexpectedly deflating. Like the Esper in the recently read novel “This Stock Has Hit the Upper Limit,” which had left the strongest impression, he had wanted to experience at least once a scene where he could wrap his entire body around the Guide to protect them in a dangerous dungeon situation. But judging by this Guide’s height and build, even if Ryu Ho-yeon tried to completely envelop him, either the head would be clearly exposed or the lower legs would stick out conspicuously. It would be one or the other.

“…”

Still, a Guide is a Guide… Ryu Ho-yeon decided to take charge of the situation in a cool and leadership-like manner befitting an Esper. He raised his fist and tapped the jacket as if knocking, causing the broad back to flinch in surprise before quickly turning around.

“Ah,”

“Hello, Esper Ryu Ho-yeon.”

…So much for taking charge. The other side was quicker with the first greeting.

“Nice to meet you. I’m A-class Guide Choi Jae-won.”

There was no time to consider the other person’s facial features or other circumstances. With the dignity of (probably) the world’s strongest Esper at stake, he wasn’t about to let go and hand over all the initiative. So, Ryu Ho-yeon cut straight to the chase, even before the proper first greetings could be completed.

“I’m sorry, but it won’t get up.”

“Pardon?”

“I know what you might be expecting, but it won’t get up, I’m telling you.”

The atmosphere was steadily deteriorating. Not only the faces of the researchers surrounding them, watching with anticipation, but also the expression of the young Guide meeting his paired Esper for the first time were becoming strangely stiff. But… Ryu Ho-yeon, lacking in social skills and having eaten his sense of tact along with it, ended up blurting out the next words.

“If you can get it up and put it in, I’m willing to endure. We need to do the guiding anyway, so wouldn’t that be more efficient?”