The Blind Side Character is an (SSS)-Rank Esper

Zephyr staggered back. As an SSS-rank Esper with SS-rank strength, he actually hadn't felt anything when Lucien pushed him—not even a hint of force. But he was so caught off guard by the sudden shove that he ended up landing flat on the floor.

Simultaneously, Lucien froze, staring at his hand in disbelief. Since when did he have the strength to send an SSS-rank flying?

His annoyance dissolved into silence.

Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't as weak as he had always assumed. No—scratch that. He could hardly take on a D-rank Esper!

He finally turned to Zephyr, who was still sitting on the cold floor, blinking up at him with a blank expression—and panic set in.

He—Lucien O'Connell—had just shoved the only SSS-rank Esper in existence. The very Esper he should've been trying to befriend!

Without hesitation, Lucien stepped down from the bed and quickly extended a hand toward the man still staring up at him.

"Uh… hi. You okay down there?"

His dumb, traitorous heart gave a strange squeeze when the other's lips curved into the faintest smile. Then, those lips parted.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Lucien withdrew his outstretched hand. Well, he could've just said he didn't need help—no need to embarrass him like that.

"Then stop sitting on the floor."

Zephyr let out an 'oh', and after a moment of hesitation—like he was afraid of being rejected—he slowly held out his hand.

"Can you… please help me up?"

Lucien wanted to scoff.

This guy—what was his deal?

When Lucien had offered a hand earlier, Zephyr ignored it. Now he wanted help?

He hadn't even brought up the fact that Zephyr had sniffed him like a damn dog!

Still, he decided to help him up—because Zephyr was the only SSS-rank Esper, and Lucien was trying to stay on his good side.

Definitely not because... with that face of his, sitting there on the floor, Zephyr looked so pitiful it tugged at Lucien's conscience and stirred an annoying pang of guilt.

He grabbed his hand, failing to notice how the gaze directed at him seemed to wander, as if it couldn't quite pinpoint his location.

What he did notice, however, was Zephyr's thumb brushing over his hand—deliberate, slow, almost like he was memorizing the shape of it. Lucien's eyebrow twitched.

'Hah. I give him an inch, and he's trying to take an entire damn highway. This jerk.'

Hence, the moment Zephyr stood up, he shrugged his hand off with a forced smile.

"Now, go sit on your bed. You've just awakened, and it's best for you to rest."

Zephyr blinked. The word 'awakened' felt foreign and distant, so it took him a few seconds to fully process and accept it.

"Ah... so I have awakened. Now I get what that voice was and why I feel so different."

He clenched and unclenched his fists.

How strange.

He didn't feel happy, even though he had awakened—something he had longed for.

Maybe it was because the parents he had so desperately wished to make notice him were no longer a part of his world?

But there was something else, something more important than his awakening that he needed to know right now. So, he turned to the person standing before him, trying his best to make sure he was looking at him.

"What's your name? I'm Zephyr."

Lucien, who had already moved to the table next to his bed to drink some water, stared at him in disbelief. Why was Zephyr looking in the wrong direction? He was right here.

Was this guy messing with him?

Then, Zephyr spoke again, his voice awkward after receiving no response.

"Are you a healer-type Esper? Thanks for saving me... I am also an Awakened now. Oh right, you already knew that."

That's when Lucien finally noticed—the emptiness in those beautiful gray eyes.

They looked completely normal.

But there was no light in them.

Just emptiness.

The first thought that popped into Lucien's head was an absolutely resounding hell no.

Impossible.

Zephyr awakened as an SSS-rank Esper.

And in the novel, he wasn't blind.

But even when Lucien tossed the glass of water in his hand—deliberately aiming it to pass by his face—Zephyr didn't even flinch.

The man only reacted when the glass hit the floor with a sharp clatter. He instantly reached out blindly in front of him.

"Are you all right?"

Finally, it all clicked for Lucien.

The reason Zephyr had been hovering over him when he woke up, why he had sniffed him, and why he hadn't grabbed his hand.

He wasn't a pervert.

He was simply... blind.

He must have tried to get up after waking and accidentally fallen over Lucien. Since Zephyr couldn't see who was beneath him, he had tried to recognize them by scent.

Of course, he hadn't grabbed the offered hand—because he couldn't even see it.

Lucien sank down on his heels—angry, depressed, and weighed down with guilt.

A storm of emotions churned inside him until he couldn't help but let out a groan.

'Wow. This world really hit rock bottom. It finally has someone who could try to save it... but even that person's blind.'

Lucien had a perfectly good reason for wanting to befriend Zephyr—and it had nothing to do with saving this world.

He just wanted to go home.

Back to his own world.

To his family.

That's why he needed Zephyr to succeed where the original protagonist had failed—to earn the wishes granted by the gods.

But could Zephyr really pull it off?

Sure, he was powerful.

But he was also blind.

Only when the sound of Zephyr toppling over echoed through the room did Lucien snap out of it and rush over to help him.

"Stop wandering and just sit down."

Zephyr grabbed his arm, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"You're finally talking to me."

Lucien blinked, then winced inwardly.

Right… he'd been ignoring the guy this whole time. He cleared his throat.

"My name's Lucien. Lucien O'Connell."

Zephyr rolled the name over his tongue, letting it imprint itself into his memory.

"Cien. What a beautiful name."

His words made Lucien freeze again.

Because what Zephyr had just said… was his real name—the one Lucien had carried back on Earth. Was this guy deaf as well?

What Lucien didn't realize was that one of Zephyr's passive skills had activated on its own—a truth-related skill that detected lies and whispered the truth in Zephyr's mind.

So when Lucien—who wasn't exactly real Lucien—told him that name, it was a lie.

And thanks to his passive skill, Zephyr heard the real one echo in his mind.