Chapter 178: Ch 178: New Beginnings - Part 3

"This will be your room from here on. I am sure you will get along wonderfully well with the other kids. But if you need anything, do let me know."

The rude lady who had taken Daniel in pushed him forward to the place that would become his home for the next few years. But Daniel could not help but feel disgusted with the state of the room.

Not only was it falling apart, but the small 15-square-metre space already had four people inside and felt cramped.

"Mother, what is going on?"

The oldest kid asked with a frown on his face as he looked at Daniel and then at their ’mother’ for confirmation about her actions.

The lady just smiled even brighter before she pushed Daniel even more towards the centre of the room.

"Everyone, please welcome the new addition to your house—Daniel. He is a guide, and he will stay with you in your room from now on. Make sure you treat him right."

The lady was not making a statement, but a command. She was telling the kids that they needed to play nice if they wanted to be in her good books.

Daniel watched as the other kids flinched and then nodded at the lady’s tone. Their submissive gazes looked down, but Daniel could sense that the kids in front of him were espers.

And ones who had decent grades at that.

’This feels like it is going to be a tough situation. But let’s try and get along with them for now.’

Daniel stepped forward and, with a hesitant voice, reached out his hand to be shaken by the kids inside the room.

"Hello. It is nice to meet you. I hope we get along well from today onwards."

Daniel looked at his extended hand and then at the kids in front of him, but none of them had moved. In fact, they were not even looking at him, but at the woman standing behind him.

"Play nice, you all. I will get going now. Mother has to go out and make money."

The second the lady left, the atmosphere in the room fell apart. Daniel did not even have a few seconds before his face was grabbed by the oldest esper, and he turned it around as if he was taking a look at him.

"Tsk, you might be a guide, but you are not my type or cute. You also feel like you are the type who will try and resist us. But we cannot have that."

Daniel felt his head spinning as he faced the bullies. He had a feeling this was coming, so he was mentally prepared.

But still, being grabbed like this sure left an impression on him.

"Let go—!"

He demanded, but the kid just tightened his grip around Daniel’s face with narrowed eyes.

"I will let you go... but only after you guide me properly. I have never tasted real guiding before, and I heard that it is unlike anything. So hurry up and—"

Daniel felt too shocked and scared to do anything at that moment, and his instincts decided to protect him at all costs.

So instead of guiding, he started to reverse-guide the esper, and that instantly made the esper let go of him with a nauseated look on his face.

"What the hell did you do to me? I feel... sick. You bitch—"

The esper tried to hit Daniel, but he easily held him in a chokehold and even threw him around. It made the others in the room look at him with scared expressions.

But Daniel did not care beyond what had already been done, and he let out a frown as he looked at everyone else.

"Does anyone else have a problem with me that they want to resolve?"

He asked, and everyone shook their heads to indicate that they were fine. But that did not ease the frown on Daniel’s face.

If anything, this made the situation much worse. These kids were now afraid of him...

But maybe that was not that bad of a thing. It kept others from messing with him, and they easily backed out if he came a little closer.

Things in his own room were also quiet after that, and the others were content to leave him alone.

Of course, this peace was not something that was going to last forever. Espers had their pride as well, and being bested by a guide like Daniel did not sit well with them.

But there was little they could do at the moment. They had no power within their grasp, and that allowed Daniel to live a decent life.

Of course, funds were hard to come by, and their adopted family kept getting bigger and bigger. Every new kid that was taken in was warned about the crazy guide that he was, and Daniel never tried to correct that misunderstanding.

After all, it only worked in his favour and nothing else.

But it was still his dream to get out of here, and the easiest way to do that was the academy. Daniel needed to get into it at any cost. He had a feeling that the emptiness he felt inside would be fulfilled there.

So he hit the books and dedicated everything to learning. He needed to make it and get out of this family home.

And in the end, he succeeded and even got a scholarship.

His family tried to stop him, citing that they did not have the money to pay for his tuition. But Daniel forged their signatures in order to get to the academy.

He was not going to allow anyone to stop him from going to his freedom.

Except, that place was another kind of prison glorified as a space meant for learning. But Daniel also met Alan and Noah there, so he could not say he ever regretted his decision.

But of course, not everything was sunshine and rainbows for him. Life was about to get much harder in the academy.