Beyond The Control

Chapter 41

Thinking about Song Ji-hyeok’s appearance at that time, it was understandable why Jeon Hyeon-wook was intimidated. His eyes were slightly red, making him look dangerous to anyone who saw him.

Seeing Jeon Hyeon-wook nervously glancing at the door, it seemed he was recalling the same memory. Feeling a bit sorry for him, I cupped his face with both hands.

“Song Ji-hyeok the Esper isn’t here now, so don’t worry. I’ll start the mucosal guiding right away.”

I immediately pressed my lips against his. As I said, his condition wasn’t good, so if I had just held his hand for guiding, it would have taken forever.

Once I started guiding, Jeon Hyeon-wook suddenly became aggressive. As I responded to his almost devouring approach, I continued to pour my energy into him.

Whether it was instinctive or intentional, Jeon Hyeon-wook, who had wrapped his arms around my waist, subtly pressed his front against me. But I didn’t go that far. It was because our matching rate was quite good, so I judged that kissing alone was sufficient.

Of course, I’m well aware that the more intense the physical contact, the better the guiding efficiency. Many people enjoy sex along with it because of the accompanying pleasure. But the person in front of me made me hesitant. Despite his good build, he gave off the impression of a country boy who had just moved to the city. To be honest, even just kissing him made me feel like I was taking advantage of him.

‘He’s an Esper who needs my help.’

I tried to focus only on guiding while controlling my mind. As I continuously infused vast amounts of energy, I could feel the knotted and clumped unfit energy gradually dispersing at an increasing speed. By the time I finished guiding, quite a long time had passed.

Stepping back, I roughly wiped my lips and said to Jeon Hyeon-wook,

“It’s done.”

“Yes. Thank you so much.”

A smile crept onto my face as he bowed so deeply that I could see his back. Most people demand guiding as if it’s their right. If everyone were this polite, there wouldn’t be meaningless power struggles.

“You’ve worked hard. Please rest comfortably.”

“Th-thank you.”

Leaving with another polite greeting, Jeon Hyeon-wook departed. Only then did I drop my composed expression and slump onto the sofa. While it wasn’t severe enough to call an aftereffect, continuously pouring out energy at full power was certainly taxing.

And then there were my sore lips. Having been pressed together for so long, I could imagine what they looked like without even seeing them.

Maybe I should have just quickly done it once.

After catching my breath with that insincere thought, I quickly got up again. There was no time to lie around for long. The guiding request list on my device still had about ten Espers’ names remaining.

After replenishing my energy with a chocolate bar, I checked the device screen again. I pressed the accept button next to the name of the Esper with the highest matching rate among them.

The moment I saw the Esper bursting through the door as if they had been waiting, cold sweat trickled down my back. As I had somewhat expected… even from a distance, they looked so out of it, as if possessed by something. It seemed like this would be another case where I’d have to wring out my energy and pour it into them.

After handling one more Esper, I was finally free. When I saw the empty guiding request list at last, I felt so grateful I could almost cry.

I collapsed onto the sofa. My head was not just buzzing but dizzy, and I felt so drained that I didn’t want to move a single finger. It had been a long time since I’d been this exhausted.

‘Have I been this tired recently?’

The fact that I couldn’t immediately think of a time made me reflect on how comfortably I’d been living despite being an Awakened. I should request to increase the frequency of field deployments from now on.

But first, I need to fully heal my leg.

While I was at it, I took off one shoe and stretched out both legs. Many of the Guides on standby probably foresaw this situation and submitted vacation requests in advance, so they wouldn’t say anything about just this much.

As I lay there zoning out, I suddenly thought of Song Ji-hyeok.

‘I wonder if he’s okay.’

Even though I heard that the place they went to was an upper A-rank dungeon, I honestly wasn’t particularly worried. The team leader was leading the operation, and all the team members accompanying him were skilled.

Because of that, I overlooked one fact.

Just because things have been fine so far doesn’t guarantee they will continue to be. Even if you do well a hundred times, one irreversible accident can end it all. Only after seeing several Espers right after battle today did I realize this obvious fact anew. Moreover, given Song Ji-hyeok’s personality, he’s not the type to fight while holding back…

I finally understood a little—no, a lot—of how pair Guides feel as they anxiously wait for their pair Espers who have gone into battle. Still, there’s a saying that no news is good news, so I decided not to worry unnecessarily. Instead, I’ll treat him better when he returns.

Ding-

I jolted up at the notification sound breaking the silence. Thinking it might be Song Ji-hyeok, I quickly checked my device, but it was Kim Young-joo.

[Are you alive? Let me know when you’re done guiding]

I almost felt a bit disappointed without realizing it, but I quickly pushed that feeling aside and sent a reply.

[I’m alive… lol…]

Immediately, a call came through.

– You managed to survive, huh? Did you submit a vacation request?

“No.”

– You’re not going to?

“I’m still thinking about it.”

– Don’t hesitate, just submit it. And let’s go eat something delicious together.

I guessed that Kim Young-joo was also one of the quick-witted ones who had submitted a vacation request early. After pondering for a moment, I decided to go along with her suggestion and hung up the phone. There were only two hours left until the end of the work day anyway, and no one else would be urgently looking for me.

Above all, I felt hungry, probably because I had used up a considerable amount of energy in a short time. Rubbing my growling stomach, I got up, leaning on my crutches. I should quickly submit a vacation request and head to the restaurant where I agreed to meet Kim Young-joo.

There’s a reason why food is included in the three basic human needs. After filling my stomach with a hot home-style meal, not only did I feel satiated, but my energy, which had almost hit rock bottom, seemed to return.

Still, there’s always room for dessert. Kim Young-joo and I left the restaurant and entered a budget-friendly café across the street.

I wasn’t the only one who had relaxed due to a full stomach. Kim Young-joo, too, seemed to have regained her composure. Unlike earlier when she was shoveling food into her mouth, she now lazily stirred the straw in her cup as she spoke.

“How many guidings did you do today?”

“Five.”

“That’s a lot. Those Esper guys, you’ve got to hand it to them for their greed.”

“I’m half Esper too…”

“Ah. That’s not what I meant.”

Kim Young-joo then told me about a conversation she had overheard between some Espers in front of the vending machine recently. In summary, they were saying that since I was Song Ji-hyeok’s exclusive, they’d like to receive guiding from me at least once.

Seeing Kim Young-joo getting slightly agitated as she relayed this, it seemed that they hadn’t spoken about me in a positive tone.

Well, it’s pretty obvious even without seeing it. They probably meant it in a ‘wanting to taste the forbidden fruit’ kind of way.

Even so, if the minimum matching rate isn’t met, there’s no chance of meeting anyway, so it’s possible to avoid the dirty work in advance. Besides, emergency situations like today don’t happen often.

As if reading my thoughts, Kim Young-joo changed the subject.

“Don’t you think BK dungeons are appearing quite frequently these days?”

“Yeah, they are.”

I agreed without hesitation. According to the accumulated data so far, they used to appear two or three times a month in the metropolitan area, but this time, even before our guild could completely handle one, another BK dungeon appeared in the southern Gyeonggi region. It was measured as A-rank or higher, so I heard that two nearby guilds formed a joint team to enter it.

Considering that situations outside the metropolitan area aren’t well reported in the media… it does seem like BK dungeons are appearing more and more frequently. I hope it’s just a temporary phenomenon, but nothing is certain yet. Once reliable statistics come out, the association will probably send out an official document.

“I hope the Earth doesn’t suddenly perish one day because of this.”

“Even if it does, some people will survive. They’ll go to the moon or Mars.”

“Can people live there?”

“I don’t know either.”

We’re already busy enough living day by day, so there’s no energy left to worry about space exploration. The truth is, I’m not particularly interested in that area to begin with. Just then, Kim Young-joo suddenly put both hands on the table and stood up.

“This won’t do. I need to buy another pastry.”

“Suddenly?”

“They say even a ghost who died after eating looks good.”

Before I could stop her, Kim Young-joo rushed to the counter. While she’s full of charisma during guiding, the way she was eagerly examining the menu board was exactly like a typical person in their 20s.

“Young-joo.”

“Hm?”

“Get one for me too, please.”

When I raised my voice slightly to ask, she gave me a thumbs up as if to say ‘of course’. It might sound cliché, but I was grateful to have a friend like Kim Young-joo who gets along so well with me.