[I went to Twitter because I heard Minho’s fans were pushing hashtags—and I was horrified.

#Yeonsu, this time we’ll protect you

What even is this? There were so many trending tags, more than ten times Minho’s.]

– Yeon-stans were always a huge fandom.

– I was shocked too. Even after that mess, they haven’t lost any power.

– Don’t worry about it. That’s just Twitter noise for you.

– When scandals happen, the core fans just double down.

– All the normal fans bailed. Only the crazies are left.

– Those aren’t real Yeon-stans. It’s Seunghyuk-stans giving backup fire.

└ Why would Seunghyuk-stans support Yeon-stans?

└ Because Yeonsu saved their oppa.

└ Seunghyuk-stans helping? Don’t lump me in. That’s just some foreign fans and a few unhinged ones. Plenty of Seunghyuk fans are sane, okay?

– Funny how people act like it’s just “some” Seunghyuk fans. I saw tons of Seunghyuk fans cheering for Yeonsu.

– That fandom’s always been aggressive. Looks like they joined forces with Yeon-stans. A perfect match.

– This is freakish. He’s a Guide, not some idol. Why act like this?

***

[I used to be a Yeonsu fan, and I regret every second of it.

I supported him for 7 years, but today I deleted all his photos and deactivated my account.

I don’t think I can ever be a fan again.

I didn’t realize how bad my judgment was.]

– There, there. Stay strong.

– Being a fan isn’t a crime.

– The entire country was fooled. Don’t blame yourself.

– There are still loads of people blindly defending Yeonsu. Just walking away makes you better than most!

– I’m on hiatus too. My ult is a KN Esper, so I’m pausing until the next time they appear.

***

[The "Ability User Lounge" is completely dead now.

The admin banned everyone who criticized Yeonsu, and members revolted.

But they ignored the complaints and kept banning people.

Now only the hardcore Yeonsu fans are left—everyone else moved to offshoot communities.]

– No way, it’s still like that?

– That place is insane. They’re shielding Yeonsu while doing secondary harm to Professor Oh and Aaron. It’s like a cult.

– I’ve been going there since I was a kid. Never thought it’d go down like this.

– For real. Anyone with a brain ran off to the spin-off cafés.

– Not that there’s anyone left worth supporting. Seunghyuk, Hyeokjin, Kim Chaea—they all let us down with this.

***

[Yeon-stans are honestly disgusting.

Even if the rumors about Yeonsu turn out to be false, I think I’d still hate him. His fans made me hate him even more.]

– For real.

– Just hearing his name gives me chills now.

– My friend said they don’t know what Yeonsu did wrong and thinks Aaron might be Dust.

└ Drop that friend.

– If you hate him even after the truth comes out, you’re just addicted to hate. Congrats on admitting you’re deranged.

└ Wow, there really are Yeon-stans still hanging on.

– Yup. Hate him all you want, and don’t bother deleting this post—just wait to get sued. I saved a PDF already.

└ Jesus, obsessive anti-fans are scary. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

└ The full video is out. Go watch it.

***

Aaron hadn’t let go of his phone for a single second.

Watching Yeonsu get utterly crushed by lies of his own creation was nearly as addictive as Dust.

Tomorrow, he’d go to the police, cry about being wronged, and take another test.

KN would keep insisting it was Red Dust Shock, so he’d just keep hammering the point that Yeonsu was behind everything.

Even if Yeonsu got tested for Dust and it came back negative, it wouldn’t matter. He could just say too much time had passed for it to show up.

That way, Yeonsu would get branded as both a druggie and a morally bankrupt mess.

Aaron was scrolling through the hate posts about Yeonsu, enjoying the stress relief, when something strange popped up.

“Full video?”

A chill ran through him.

Just then, the doorbell rang—room service.

Aaron quickly accepted the food and returned to his screen.

Something was wrong.

[Full Video: Yeonsu and Aaron]

[Shut Down It’sFact]

[Aaron is absolute garbage LOL]

[Go watch the Yeonsu full video NOW—it’s insane]

In just a few minutes, the atmosphere had completely flipped.

Aaron clicked on the post labeled “full video” and tapped the link.

The thumbnail looked eerily similar to the edited video uploaded by It’sFact.

A cold sweat ran down his back.

No way...

With trembling fingers, he hit play.

“Hello, this is Lee Yeonsu.”

“I’m Aaron Han.”

“Can I call you ‘Guide Aaron’?”

“What else would you call me?”

“Earlier, you introduced yourself as ‘Han Minho,’ so I was asking which name you prefer.”

“Call me Aaron.”

The moment the video started, Aaron squeezed his eyes shut.

It was true. It really was footage from that day.

“The professor gave permission. What are you gonna do if you don’t agree?”

Right after Yeonsu questioned whether Aaron was recording, Aaron’s annoyed voice cut in—and then the video ended.

It stopped just before Seunghyuk appeared.

Who did this? Who leaked the video?!

Aaron was furious. Even while he was watching, the comment count kept exploding.

– He literally told him to call him Aaron, LOL

– Yeonsu has the patience of a saint. I would’ve slapped him on the spot.

– It’sFact is insane. They fabricated everything.

– Yeonsu is genuinely kind. How did he put up with that?

– Yeonsuㅠㅠ I never stopped believing in you

– Aaron is such an asshole. Every single word was nasty

– 2:43 was peak drama, but it just kept escalating

– Best part? Aaron knew they were filming, but Yeonsu didn’t

– “Commoner”? Seriously, is he out of his mind?

– Aaron really hates Korea, huh

– “Moron” shocked me. I thought Yeonsu was the sweet one

└ “Moron” shocks you but not all the horrible stuff Aaron said? Wow. You only get mad at who you want to be mad at. Maybe get tested for abilities—you might have selective outrage powers.

– I’m so angry. So what if he’s a Beta? Yeonsu is a thousand times better than you, Aaron

– Yeonsu wasn’t even the one approaching Seunghyuk. Aaron was throwing himself at him

– He said he’s not dating Park Geonwoo. Why won’t you let it go?

***

[Yeonsu’s pressing charges.

No mercy!

Everyone on the hate comment list—good luck! Let’s gooo!]

– Let’s gooo~

– It’s happening through Seongnim. That’s Sungan’s legal team. Seunghyuk must be handling it.

– I’m proud of myself for staying neutral.

– I didn’t say a word—go me!

– Thank God it’s Seunghyuk in charge. If it were Yeonsu, he’d forgive them. But Seunghyuk? No way he’ll show mercy.

└ LOL

– Seunghyuk usually doesn’t sue. My friend’s a Seunghyuk fan—she said even sending PDFs didn’t work. But for his boyfriend? Hell yeah.

– I hope everyone who said “neutral” and then piled on gets a court notice.

– People who attack “neutrals” are dumb. You can’t even say “let’s hear both sides” without getting cursed out. They just want to bash Yeonsu and call it justice.

– I checked the It’sFact article after seeing this post—all the comments are being deleted LOL

– Someone posted “I’d still hate Yeonsu even if the rumors were false”—that post’s gone too.

└ Even their “I’m unfanning” posts got wiped, lmao

– Watching them delete everything is just pathetic.

***

[How do Yeonsu antis even survive in this world?

He asked to be called by name, so we did—and now he’s got PTSD.

Just hearing the word “moron” sends them into shock.

If you try to talk things out, they freak out saying you’re pressuring them, even when all you said was “please stop.”]

– They’re allergic to the word “moron.”

– Aaron can say every kind of slur under the sun and it’s fine, but the only word they hear is “moron” LOL

– You know It’sFact edited all that, right? People didn’t know what was really said. Mocking them like this is gross.

└ Oh yeah? And cursing out innocent Yeonsu was not gross?

└ Believing It’sFact in the first place is peak stupidity.

– The problem wasn’t just It’sFact. His name is Aaron, so calling him Aaron is now “bullying”? You wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it. It’s not even funny anymore.

***

[Aaron stans are terrifying.

They completely destroyed Yeonsu.]

– Clowns. They don’t even know what name their own Guide wants to be called.

– What “Aaron stans”? How many actual Aaron fans are even out there?

– They blamed Yeon-stans for everything before, and now it’s all “Aaron stans did this.” Gross. They flamed him on their own, and now they’re just making excuses.

***

[Anyone else confused why Yeonsu was even hated in the first place?

The articles read like fanfiction, and the “full video” that dropped wasn’t even close to the original claims.

I could tell Yeonsu was holding back the whole time, and Aaron was really trying to provoke him—but somehow everyone piled on Yeonsu. I was shocked.

People even dragged out tabloid trash from Reporter Cho just to bash him. I seriously thought the world had lost its mind.]

– I stopped trusting It’sFact ages ago. They’ve been caught lying so many times. But people ate it up and now pretend they didn’t.

– It was just collective madness. They wanted someone to hate and ignored reality.

– Same here. I wrote a post saying it didn’t add up, and immediately got labeled a Yeon-stan. I was a Yeon-stan for days, apparently LOL

***

[Has the public opinion on this whole thing completely flipped?

Or is it just this place?]

– It’s flipped almost everywhere.

– Places like Ability User Lounge, Twitter, and sites with lots of kids were pro-Yeonsu even before. Now, other than the offshoot cafés, everyone flipped.

└ Are they still hating in those cafés?

└ Of course. That café was created by Yeonsu antis. No one sane in there.

– The video was that powerful. Not a single line that wasn’t damning.

***

[Why is that Yeonsu video such a big deal?

Even if the It’sFact article was fake, it’s still true that he falsely accused Aaron of Dust.]

– Nope. That’s rumor-mongering. See you in court.

└ (OP) Don’t silence me. That violates the rules. And what part of what I said is wrong? That’s separate from the It’sFact lies.

– It’sFact claimed Yeonsu hated Aaron from the start and framed him—but the footage proves Yeonsu didn’t hate him.

They also said Yeonsu was jealous Aaron might steal Seunghyuk—but Yeonsu was hospitalized after that event, and the lawsuit was filed by Sungan’s legal team, not him. Make it make sense. Use your brain.

└ (OP) That’s just speculation.

– Oh? So now speculation is fine? You all dragged Yeonsu through hell based on speculation, and now it’s “just a theory” when it’s about Aaron? That hypocrisy is wild.

– You came from that anti-Yeonsu café, didn’t you? It’s so obvious.

***

Aaron was in a full-blown panic.

He immediately called for his secretary and ordered him to track down whoever leaked the video and have it taken down. But even after two hours, there was no update.

Professor Oh Seokgwang kept calling him. When Aaron ignored the calls out of irritation, angry texts came instead—demanding to know how he’d let the video get out.

“Damn it! Like I uploaded it myself?!”

He’d left everything to his secretary. He never imagined that idiot would screw it up like this. Once this mess was over, he’d fire him immediately.

Still, there was technically a way to turn things around.

He could accuse Yeonsu of taking Dust and say he’d been framed to cover it up.

That was already part of the plan—he was going to leak it tomorrow or the day after. He’d just have to accelerate the timeline a bit.

He was about to call in his secretary and order him to publish an article claiming Yeonsu used Dust—when the man burst into the room first.

“Sir! We have a serious problem!”

“What now?!”

Instead of answering, the secretary turned on the TV.

“SBC has obtained exclusive footage of the incident.”

With the anchor’s intro, familiar footage appeared on screen. A reporter began narrating.

“We’re now watching footage taken in front of a B-rank gate in Daejeon. Esper Moon Seonwoo has just completed the mission and is receiving guidance from Guide Aaron.

Professor Oh Seokgwang, the press, and other students observe the guidance session with great interest.

Meanwhile, Esper Joo Seunghyuk and Guide Lee Yeonsu sit nearby, preparing for their own guidance session.

As Aaron begins guiding, Esper Moon Seonwoo suddenly convulses and collapses, coughing up blood. The scene descends into chaos.

At this point, Guide Lee Yeonsu notices the severity of the situation and runs over.

‘It’s not my fault! I’ve never guided a low-grade Esper before! I only work with S-ranks!’

‘Move aside!’

After Aaron’s defensive remarks, Yeonsu calmly tells him to move, then begins checking Moon Seonwoo’s condition himself.”

“Shit! I was ‘defending myself,’ but Yeonsu was ‘politely asking’ to be let through?!

Didn’t he shove me? It’s ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) clear as day! They must’ve been paid off!

How is this even allowed?! This is blatant bias!”

Aaron exploded in rage.

But the broadcast continued.

“After guiding concludes, Guide Lee Yeonsu appears pale and nearly collapses. Esper Joo Seunghyuk catches him just in time.”

That was the end of the footage—but the news segment kept going.

The anchor turned to the reporter.

“Reporter Kwak Daeseop, so Guide Lee Yeonsu diagnosed it as Red Lotus Shock and took proper action, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right. Esper Moon Seonwoo received emergency treatment following Guide Lee’s instructions and was then transported to the hospital.”

“And the hospital confirmed the diagnosis of Red Lotus Shock as well?”

“Yes. This is the medical report for Esper Moon Seonwoo.”

“So in summary, Moon Seonwoo suffered a Red Lotus Shock reaction after receiving guidance from Guide Aaron, but thanks to Guide Yeonsu’s intervention, a bigger disaster was avoided.”

“Exactly.”

They explained the situation so clearly, it felt like they were deliberately dismantling Aaron’s entire strategy.

Aaron had planned to paint Yeonsu as the Dust user—but now that real footage had aired and the press had dissected it for the public, that approach was dead in the water.

Furious, Aaron called Professor Oh.

“What the hell is this?! The guidance footage got on national TV! You said your press contacts would suppress it!”

— And how did the video get online in the first place? That’s on you!

While they were bickering, public opinion was turning even faster.

***

[So Aaron really did cause the Red Lotus Shock?

And Professor Oh watched the whole thing go down and still lied?]

– Exactly. Aaron’s trash, but Professor Oh is seriously shady too.

– He’s always had scandals. Why does anyone even respect that man?

– Aaron caused Red Lotus Shock, but people just trusted Oh and It’sFact and turned on Yeonsu. Absolutely insane.

***

[List of people unfairly vilified in this whole mess:

Lee Yeonsu – Who endured Aaron’s endless provocation, tried to clean up his mess, and nearly collapsed from shock—only to be slandered nationwide.

Moon Seonwoo – Who almost died from Red Lotus Shock, but got treated like some weakling who couldn’t handle mana.

KN Guild – Who accurately identified the Red Lotus Shock and got boycotted for it.

The students at the Ability User Academy – Who defended their wrongly accused classmate and got harassed for it.

Do Hyeokjin and the YL Guild – Who administered Red Lotus sedatives on site and managed the situation, but got hated for saying it was Red Lotus Shock.

Esper Kim Chaea – Who showed support for Yeonsu on SNS and got dragged.

Joo Seunghyuk – Who merely hospitalized and cared for his lover after a mana shock but got hated for not breaking up with him.]

– This really happened??

– People are so damn dumb I’m speechless.

– Every one of those people deserves to press charges.

– Each case is a masterpiece of stupidity.

– The way these comment trolls pretend they’re righteous while hurling abuse is disgusting.

– This is all so revolting.

– From now on, I’m supporting every single one of them.

– I wonder what all those boycott freaks are doing now, lol

– It’s not like they could actually boycott. KN maybe, but how do you “boycott” YL? They don’t even run side businesses. What are you gonna do, reject YL when a gate pops up in your neighborhood?

└ Right? It’s laughable.

– 8. The government – Who got cursed out for stopping a foreign-national from starting a guild.

└ What happened to the traitors who wanted to ditch Yeonsu and hand over the country to Aaron?

└ Exactly. How many nations have collapsed from letting in the wrong foreign capital? They hated Yeonsu so much they were ready to sell the country.

└ Wasn’t that the Aaron-stans’ plan all along? Sink Korea.

└ Sue them.

└ No, don’t just sue—report them as foreign agents.

***

[I held it together through the hallway footage, but when I saw Esper Moon Seonwoo being guided—I cried.

He was doing his best, even ended up going into shock, and they just mocked him for being weak.

People are awful.]

– I lost all faith in humanity after this.

– Wait, there were people like that? I avoided all the madness when the article dropped, so I had no idea.

└ There were tons of them.

– People are really nasty.

– I cried too. I honestly hate everyone right now.

***

[Even someone like Lee Yeonsu gets hated.

Being a public figure must be hell.

Also, Reporter Cho deleted his video. I hope Yeonsu sues him.]

– Yeonsu’s “nice guy” image ended up being a double-edged sword. Honestly, if someone else had acted like that in the It’sFact video, people would’ve brushed it off. No one would’ve lost their minds like this.

– I’ve lost hope in Korea. If I were Yeonsu, I’d naturalize somewhere else.

– This is the fault of female-dominated communities. This whole incident is going to go down in history as one of their worst moments.

└ What do you mean “female-dominated”? You didn’t see Yeonsu getting dragged here too?

└ At least this site kept it somewhat civil.

└ “Civil”? Please. Half the users here are going to get sued.

– Reporter Cho’s quick on the delete button, huh.

– It’sFact started deleting stuff too. Hopefully they get shut down for good.

– Honestly, even setting Yeonsu aside, I never understood why people were praising Aaron’s family.

They ditched Korea for Italy, then ditched Italy for the U.S. Total traitors.

***

[I got into Yeonsu because people said he was rude—and now they say he’s kind again...

Is it weird that I still like him?]

– Totally normal.

– Let’s be real, with Yeonsu’s face, anything goes LOL

– That patience of his is seriously attractive.

– Honestly, with that face, personality doesn’t matter.

***

[I hate myself for posting that I was disappointed in Yeonsu.

Someone please yell at me.]

– Bye!

– Let’s never see each other again!

– Don’t ever call yourself a fan again!

– Just disappear quietly. And if you wrote hate or spread rumors, I hope you get sued.

***

[I never doubted Guide Yeonsu.

Not even once.

Even when everyone else was hating on him, I quietly saved PDFs.]

– Same. I knew he’d never do that.

– Yeonsu has never let us down.

– I figured if he was getting that upset, Aaron must’ve pulled something awful. I stayed quiet because I was afraid of getting flamed, but I was right.

– I tried to think well of everyone, but this time I cleaned house—cleared out my entire mutuals list.

– I’m proud of my own moral compass. Anyone who bashed Yeonsu before shouldn’t even call themselves fans now.

– I love you, Yeonsu!

***

[Mass hysteria is terrifying.

They were tearing Yeonsu apart, and now it’s Aaron’s turn?

Someone’s going to end up ruined at this rate.]

– Aaron’s scarier, honestly.

– Normally I’d agree, but Aaron brought this on himself.

– I know Aaron did wrong, but I hope people don’t go too far. He’s still an S-rank Guide and a valuable asset. What if he ends up leaving with a bad image and goes back to the U.S.?

└ What use is a Guide who does Dust?

***

[The last safe haven from lawsuits in Korea:

Ability User Lounge.

The admin’s a Yeonsu fan and banned anyone spreading rumors or hating on him—people threw a fit, but in the end it became the one safe zone.

As you can see in the screenshots, members are now praising the admin’s foresight.

Meanwhile, the spin-off café that demanded “the right to criticize Yeonsu” is deleting posts nonstop and now filled with apology letters.]

– Wow, they really blamed Yeonsu until the bitter end. Looks like even that café is shifting now.

– That’s not a spin-off café—it’s a loony bin.

– Too late. Hope they all get sued.

– A few hours ago, people were calling this place crazy and praising the spin-off for being “brave and principled.” The flip-flopping is insane.

└ Are these people even different users?

└ Right? These kinds of posts are hilarious.

– Honestly, glorifying Ability User Lounge is laughable. The admin shut everyone up on a whim.

└ It wasn’t silencing—it was stopping the spread of false rumors.

└ Compared to the people who trashed hardworking Guide Yeonsu just to side with a family of foreign traitors, that admin is a thousand times better.

– Isn’t this site just as bad though? You guys flipped a few hours earlier and now act holier-than-thou.

At least the spin-off café users are writing apologies. Here, it’s all anonymous, and no one says a word about their mistakes.

– I’m a Yeonsu fan and I’ve been collecting PDFs everywhere. Honestly? No difference between here and the spin-off.

– Props to the admin, though LOL

***

[What was Oh Seokgwang thinking, doing something like this?

Did he get paid by Aaron or something?

Why lie so blatantly when it was all going to come out?

Even the Student Council was clearly siding with Yeonsu and Moon Seonwoo. How was he planning to face those students?]

– If there was money, it probably came from Han Guncheol.

***

[My brother’s in the Student Council, so I know—

They’ve been on Yeonsu and Moon Seonwoo’s side from the beginning.

The internet claimed Professor Oh was an outsider and the students were shunning him, but that wasn’t true. He was actually popular with the students.

But after siding with Aaron and making up crazy stories, even people who used to like him turned their backs.

The Student Council knew Aaron took Dust and Yeonsu was innocent. That’s why they released a formal statement.]

– Should’ve posted this earlier. Might’ve saved Yeonsu a lot of grief.

└ (OP) I did. Posted the same thing back then—but everyone flamed me. I haven’t even deleted it. Search it up.

– Honestly, not the OP’s fault. Back then, any post like this just got dogpiled.

– People were in a frenzy.

– It’s Oh Seokgwang’s fault. If he hadn’t stirred the pot, it wouldn’t have gotten this bad. Why’d he do it?

└ Word is he and Aaron plotted to smuggle out Korea’s treasures and mana stones. That’s why he sided with him.

└ Wait, what? Even if it’s about Aaron, don’t go spreading dangerous rumors.

└ There’s an article out now.

***

Before Aaron could even start damage control over the Dust situation, another bomb dropped.

The contents of the contract between Han Guncheol and Oh Seokgwang were published in the news.

The article revealed that Oh had agreed to become the guildmaster of a new guild, in exchange for handing over Korea’s treasures and mana stones to Han Guncheol.

The country exploded.

Losing those resources would cripple Korea’s ability to clear future gates. This wasn’t just scandal or gossip—it was treason.

Then came more leaks.

A recording of a call between Aaron and Han Guncheol surfaced, where they discussed manipulating public opinion to allow foreign nationals to create guilds.

Shortly after, another audio file went viral—this time, Aaron and Professor Oh conspiring to frame Yeonsu.

It hit Aaron like a brick wall.

The hotel’s bugged. They recorded our calls!

Someone had either planted surveillance equipment—or there was a traitor on the inside.

Either way, someone was targeting him.

Aaron desperately wanted to identify the mole—but for now, escaping took priority.

He had to get out of Korea. Seunghyuk could be dealt with later.

He hastily packed his things and rushed out of the hotel.

But as soon as he stepped through the door, he was met by a group of men in black suits.

“Are you Aaron Han?”

“Y-yeah, that’s me.”

The man in front held up his badge.

“Kim Pyungsang, prosecutor with the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, Department for Ability-Related Crimes.

You are under emergency arrest on charges of conspiring to illegally export classified national artifacts.”

“Wha—wait, hold on a second!”

They were already here?

Aaron tried desperately to wriggle out. If he could just call his family, they’d find a way to fix this.

But the prosecutor calmly read him his Miranda rights and placed handcuffs on his wrists.

Aaron—who’d gotten everything he wanted since the day he was born—watched his entire life begin to crumble.