For the Falling Guide

On the day the sky turned blood-red and a massive rift opened, humanity called it the 'Flowering Period.' For the energy of the monsters pouring out of the rift was like hideous flowers that gnawed away at human reason and bloomed into madness.

Espers, the heroes of humanity who awakened supernatural powers to face the disaster. However, the price of victory was cruel. Every time they used their powers, their souls became polluted, leading to a 'Rampage' where they would even slaughter their allies. The only ones who could quell that hellish madness were Guides, beings who purify the pollution.

I remember the day the worst S-class dungeon in history burst. The inexperienced rookie Espers were on the verge of annihilation after an unreasonable raid, and the blood-scented battlefield was filled with omens of serial rampages as they tried to tear each other apart.

Lee Seo-an, a helpless civilian caught in the middle of that pandemonium. At the moment when his desperate desire to save those going mad before his eyes reached its peak, a miracle occurred.

"Ah... Aah...!"

Along with a blinding white light from near Lee Seo-an's heart, a faint and mournful scent of flowers bloomed, enough to instantly erase the smell of blood from the battlefield. It was a forced awakening as the world's only SS-class Guide.

The vast guiding he emitted instantly calmed the rampaging Espers and closed the dungeon. That day, to the Espers, Lee Seo-an was the one and only 'God' and 'Savior' who saved their lives.

But the price of the miracle was Lee Seo-an's alone to bear.

His guiding was not energy that recovered naturally, but a cruel curse that refined and squeezed out his own life force and lifespan. On that first day, to save the crazed Espers, Seo-an had already burned away half of his life. The blood-colored flower crest engraved on his chest dug into his heart and ate away at his lifespan every time he guided.

The government and the Awakened Center thoroughly concealed the fact that Seo-an was terminally ill even though they knew. Under the pretext of protecting humanity, they pushed him to the front lines of the battlefield and exploited him.

And even the Espers, who were saved by Seo-an's hand, changed, unaware of the truth of the guiding.

The salvation they grew accustomed to became a natural right, and the devoted Seo-an gradually degenerated into a 'convenient tool with good abilities.' The words they spat at Seo-an, who was gasping for breath, were as sharp as ice picks.

"If you're a Guide, do your guiding properly. Don't you know we'll die if you don't?" "Why do you make such a fuss every time when your abilities are better than others?"

The scent of the guiding they demanded as a matter of course was the smell of a corpse produced as Seo-an's life burned away.

Wiping away the coughed-up blood with a towel, Seo-an looked down at the blood-red petals crumbling on his chest. Remaining lifespan: only 6 months.

Now, it was time to stop being a savior for humanity or a convenient tool for Espers. Just to break and disappear quietly, like a falling flower.

Lee Seo-an abandoned everything that bound him and made a perfect escape.

And belatedly, the world of the Espers, who discovered the bloodstains and the terminal diagnosis he left behind, began to collapse with tears of blood.