“Ah! You’re the new guide who was supposed to start today, right?”
Just as I was debating whether to get back into the elevator I’d just stepped out of, an employee walking down the hall spotted me and came over.
He looked about my age, with a bright, energetic face. Believing that fleeting vision of dying from overwork must’ve been a mistake, I nodded and answered.
“Yes, I’m Kwon Gidam, a C-class guide starting work today in the Temporary Guide Department.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m B-class guide Jo Wooyeon. Shall we head inside?”
Looking at his friendly smile, I told myself I must’ve imagined it. Yeah, people here probably just really like coffee.
Ignoring the ominous signs piled by the entrance, I followed the employee leading me inside.
Assigned to the same team as Jo Wooyeon right after arriving, I greeted the team members and underwent one more wave test.
Because a person’s waves aren’t stable right after awakening, they ran another test for accuracy—but of course, nothing had changed. Once they confirmed there was no problem for work, the real training began.
“Guide Kwon Gidam, you’ve got quite a wide guiding spectrum, so you’ll mainly handle espers other temporary guides can’t guide.”
“Does that include high-rank espers?”
“They’ll be assigned according to your rank, so don’t worry too much.”
I asked just in case, but Jo Wooyeon simply laughed and shook his head. Good—this workplace had at least that much common sense. I grinned, satisfied.
After Jo Wooyeon gave me a simple explanation of the job, I watched him guide. Temporary guiding was absurdly simple: in a one-room guiding chamber, he’d hold an esper for about an hour and carry out contact guiding. After that, all he had to do was write a brief guiding log and he was done.
That’s really it?
It was even simpler than I’d expected, leaving me a bit dumbfounded. Of course, even if you just sit still and hold someone’s hand, guiding demands stamina, so you’d be a little tired afterward. But after risking my life fighting in Gates, it felt strange just sitting here guiding.
Yeah—escaping from Vasily’s team was the right decision.
Every morning before dawn, I used to train in combat under Vasily’s command, then enter Gates, fight monsters, and after clearing them, still have to guide him. Even thinking about it now—it was insane.
The morning passed with a simple job orientation and a look at temporary guiding, and from the afternoon I started working right away.
Just as Jo Wooyeon said, the espers assigned to me were mostly C-class or lower. Guiding low-rank espers was easy. Even before regression, I’d had high match rates with nearly every esper—an all-purpose S-class guide. Compared to the bastard I used to handle, these were a piece of cake.
However…
Temporary guide work was busy. Busy, and busier still.
There’d always been rumors about staff shortages, and apparently they weren’t lies. Even on my first day, I was assigned way more espers than the recommended quota.
Like a guiding machine, I guided all day long until quitting time, then went home practically a corpse. Even if it was light contact guiding, the sheer volume drained my stamina completely.
Normally this much guiding wouldn’t have bothered me—maybe it was the suppression chip. Plus, the implant in my neck made my temperature rise and gave me pounding headaches after every session. By the time I got home, I couldn’t move and had to swallow that weird pill before collapsing into bed.
“Ah… I’m gonna die…”
The first few days I somehow endured, but after repeating this hell for a full week, it was torture.
It had only been a week since I started, yet I felt like I’d die from overwork. I bitterly regretted thinking temporary guiding would be easy. Even now, I staggered to work on an empty stomach, downing recovery drinks, but I was sure I’d collapse soon.
This couldn’t go on. I needed a plan.
Before I even sat down at my desk, I poked my head over the partition. Feeling my presence, Jo Wooyeon looked up—and flinched when he met my hollow eyes.
“Gidam? Something you’re curious about?”
“You’re scheduled for Gate dispatch tomorrow, right?”
The moment I said “dispatch,” Jo Wooyeon’s face darkened.
“Yes… I just went not long ago, but it’s already my turn again…”
“Can’t I go in your place?”
“Huh? You mean, the dispatch?”
His voice brightened immediately.
His face lit up. No wonder—ordinary people avoided going anywhere near Gates.
The area around a Gate was dangerous even for trained personnel, and if a monster ever escaped, there were always casualties. That was one of the reasons Association-affiliated temporary guides were unpopular. Because accidents were frequent, everyone tried to avoid those assignments.
Good. Judging by his reaction, he was about to take the bait.
But just when I thought he’d accept my offer, his face fell again.
“You haven’t been yet, so you might not know, but Gate dispatch is rough… Once a raid starts, injured people keep getting carried out. You have to guide them on the spot and accompany them to the hospital… Sometimes people die right before your eyes, and if you’re unlucky, a monster might burst out.”
“I know. But I really want to go—would that be alright?”
“But still…”
“Please? I actually joined as a temporary guide because I wanted field experience.”
I smiled and lied through my teeth. Of course, for someone who’d spent years rolling around inside Gates, saying I wanted to “see the field” was total bullshit.
Ugh… He couldn’t decide easily. It was a tempting offer, but he looked uneasy.
“…Alright.”
After a long pause, he finally nodded. He didn’t like handing work off to a rookie, but I guess the temptation was too much.
While he explained the duties I’d take over, his face grew visibly brighter. Standing beside a coworker thrilled to skip a dispatch, I couldn’t hide my own relief either.
When I was Vasily’s guide, I’d occasionally seen temporary guides at Gates. Most of them just yawned with bored expressions, then were the first to withdraw once the raid was over.
According to Jo Wooyeon, once you arrive at a Gate, you just perform light contact guiding for any esper who requests it. If someone is critically injured mid-raid, you guide them urgently while accompanying them to the hospital—but otherwise, you leave right after the raid ends. You even get the next day off, just write a short report from home, and submit it.
Well, for guides who’ve never been near a Gate, it’s natural to avoid it—people die there often, and sometimes monsters escape. But for me, it couldn’t be easier.
Most Gates opening in Korea were low-rank anyway. Unless it was a huge one, the raid would be finished in a single day. No all-nighters. And I remembered which Gates had long clear times, so I could just avoid those when volunteering.
Ah, just imagining it already feels relaxing.
Finally, I could breathe again. Waiting outside the Gate until the raid ended might be boring, but that was better than exhaustion.
I clenched my fist.
Yeah. Better this than guiding nonstop all day like a machine. As long as no monster happened to break out, it’d be like taking a short vacation.
This time for sure—this was the start of my easy life!
***
The very next morning, I headed straight to the Gate the moment I woke.
At dawn, I boarded a shuttle bus with other guides in front of the Guide Association, bound for the site. Since it was my first dispatch, a senior guide was assigned to accompany me for orientation.
“First time today, huh? Did anyone tell you what to do when we get there?”
“Yes. I heard we provide brief guiding for espers before they enter the Gate, or guide any emergency patients until they reach the hospital.”
I’d never gone to a Gate as a temporary guide before, but after Jo Wooyeon’s explanation yesterday—and from watching them from afar with envy—I roughly knew my role. The senior asked a few questions, then apparently decided there wasn’t much to teach, ending the briefing quickly.