Confinement Constitution Guide

Prologue.

[Breaking news. This morning at 11 AM, an A-class Guide who was asking a passerby for help in a residential area was re-kidnapped by an Esper……]

[Around 3 AM today, B-class Guide Mr. A was kidnapped by a masked Esper as he was leaving a convenience store. In response, the Ability Management Headquarters……]

As usual, reports of Guide kidnappings continued today. It’s not surprising anymore. With so many Guide kidnapping incidents, even the Ability Management Headquarters has almost given up.

It’s telling that the first code of conduct Guides learn after becoming one is to act as naturally and submissively as possible if kidnapped and confined by an Esper, without provoking them.

After all, Espers have an ‘instinct’ that prevents them from harming Guides, so they’re told to stay put quietly until the headquarters takes action.

It’s somewhat ridiculous, but the headquarters is right. Why bother trying to escape?

If you accept and enjoy the confinement, the Esper will soon get bored and release you on their own. Why waste energy?

Why not just enjoy a peaceful confinement life? They provide free food and lodging. They’ll surely let you go when they get tired of you.

Turning away from the TV talking to itself, I saw Sa Hae-geon pushing a laptop towards me and asking,

“Hyung, how about these shackles?”

“Yeah, they’re good. But don’t you think the chain length is a bit short?”

“Really? Then how about these?”

“Those look better.”

“Okay. I like you so much too, hyung.”

Sa Hae-geon replied with an unrelated answer and smiled happily. Although it’s a sight I see every day, it was so ridiculous that I almost sighed at him choosing shackles like this.

It had been about a week since I was kidnapped by Sa Hae-geon. During the past week, I had acted submissively towards Sa Hae-geon, and as a result.

“By tomorrow, we’ll have shackles with a 30-meter chain. Aren’t you excited?”

Far from freedom, I was about to get shackles with a 30-meter chain.

[Urgent breaking news. A-class Guide Mr. A, who was kidnapped 7 days ago and safely returned to his family with the help of a passerby, has been kidnapped again just two days later.]

Sa Hae-geon, who had been ordering shackles with a face like he owned the world, turned his gaze to the TV. He stared quietly at the CCTV footage on the news and then spoke.

“There are so many bad guys in the world. That’s why you should always be careful too, hyung.”

……I don’t think you’re in a position to say that, considering you kidnapped me.

Kidnapping and Confinement Welcome. (1)

Perhaps Guide kidnapping is like an unofficial reward vacation for Guides who have worked like oxen.

That’s what I think. And I’m one of the Guides suffering in the field without holidays, to the point of having such absurd thoughts.

While the public thinks of Espers as wonderful heroes protecting the world from monsters, they seem to regard Guides as high-capacity, high-efficiency batteries for Espers, or something like a hearty three-tier lunchbox.

Why can’t they think of Guides as skilled trainers controlling the beast-like Espers? Isn’t that a more fitting analogy?

“Guide Do-min, you’re always working so hard. Are you going into the dungeon today too?”

“Yes, that’s the plan.”

“So you’re working in the field all week? Oh my, really. Isn’t this too much, even with the staff shortage? How about I have a word with the Team Leader of Guide Team 1?”

I almost answered, “Yes, please do that for me,” to the Esper from Field Team 2. It had been three months since I started working in the field, giving up even the holidays that other office workers rightfully enjoy.

I was in such a mentally overwhelmed state that my instincts could potentially override my reason at any moment.

“It’s okay. It’s not like I’m the only one who’s busy.”

No matter how difficult it is to maintain sanity in this situation, I can’t burden the team. It’s not like I’m the only one unfairly loaded with work; we’re all suffering together due to staff shortage as always, so complaining alone would just be ridiculous.

“You know, wouldn’t it be better if you had found a suitable Esper and formed a pair earlier? The problem with Guide Do-min is that you’re too picky. Look at Guide Lee Da-hoon in the Southern Center. He found a good match last year and is living comfortably now. Even if you’re an S-class Guide, if you push aggressively, even the Ability Department can’t resist, right?”

“Ah, Guide Lee Da-hoon… Yes, that’s true. I guess I should have lowered my standards earlier.”

“Right? You think so too, don’t you? Yeah, yeah. You don’t necessarily have to look far. You know, there’s a saying that it’s darkest under the lamp. Who knows? There might be a good match nearby. And well… isn’t it okay as long as the matching rate is over 30%? Don’t you think?”

The middle-aged Esper, whose name I couldn’t remember, raised his eyebrows and winked strangely with one eye. He probably thought he was winking in his own way, but to me, it just looked like he was making a bizarre expression.

And what? It’s okay as long as the matching rate is over 30%? For someone who seems to know about the correlation between matching rate and guiding efficiency, it’s absurd to say such nonsense. I wonder if he would realize how foolish he sounded if he received guiding from a Guide with a matching rate barely over 30%.

I was already drowsy and my head was foggy, so I didn’t want to waste what little mental energy I had left on such an unproductive conversation.

“Thank you for the advice. I was actually thinking about lowering my standards a bit. I thought it might be too much to consider height, appearance, personality, and wealth all at once.”

“Yeah, that’s right. As expected, I can have a good conversation with Guide Do-min!”

“Yes, so I’m planning not to consider personality from now on. How easy would it be to find a well-mannered and modest Esper? I was too naive about the ways of the world. After all, if they have a bad personality, I can just fix it myself. And as you said, if I push hard enough, even the Ability Department will have to accept it. Well, I’m busy, so I’ll go ahead.”

Leaving behind the Esper whose eyes had grown as big as saucers at my words, I entered Team 1’s office. Perhaps because it was early, the office was quiet.

“Haah…”

As I walked with heavy steps to the whiteboard, I could see February’s schedule densely written on it.

[February 1 (Wed) – A Dungeon: Do-min(S), Hae-yoon(A)

February 5 (Sun) – A Dungeon: Do-min(S), Jung-woo(A)

February 8 (Wed) – C Dungeon: Do-min(S), Mi-rae(B)

February 10 (Fri) – B Dungeon: Hae-yoon(A), Jung-woo(A)

February 14 (Tue) – C Dungeon: Do-min(S), Mi-rae(B)

.

.

.

February 26 (Sun) – A Dungeon: Do-min(S), Jung-woo(A)]

February was also a parade of tight schedules that made me sigh. The only consolation was that I was given one day off. The problem is that this day off could be canceled at any time.

Is this why everyone joins a guild? When I was younger, I couldn’t understand the Guides who gave up being government-affiliated, which was almost like being a civil servant, to join guilds.

“They had foresight.”

Now I see that they made a smart choice. I was the fool. I came to the headquarters because Guild-affiliated Guides seemed to be living busy lives without easily forming pairs, but who knew the headquarters would be worse than the guilds?

Moreover, I was already tied down and had to work as a headquarters-affiliated Guide for at least 10 years, which made me sigh at my pitiful situation.

After staring at the schedule for about ten minutes, as the work hours approached, Espers started to show up one by one.

“Oh, Guide Do-min. You’re here early?”

“You’re here? I actually came to work the day before yesterday, and now I’m trying to go home.”

“Ah… Why…? Didn’t the dungeon you went to the day before yesterday end quickly?”

“It ended quickly, but then we got a support request from the Southern Center, so I went there.”

Only then did A-class Esper Lee Cheol-min notice the dark circles under my eyes and let out a sigh.

“Oh my, the expected dungeon occurrence time today is 4 PM, will you be okay? You look terrible, Guide Do-min.”

“…Probably.”

In fact, I felt like I could faint at any moment, but I forced a smile and pretended to be fine. The severe shortage of Guide personnel was affecting both Guides and Espers alike.

Moreover, the situation was even more serious for S-class Guides. The government insisted that higher-grade Guides had higher average matching rates and guiding efficiency, so they overworked us, and as a result.

I came to desperately wish for Guide kidnapping, which other Guides dreaded. Come to think of it, when was the last time I was kidnapped?

‘Was it last May?’

I missed those days when I could just sleep in bed and receive the kidnapper Esper’s devoted care. Even though it was only a short-term kidnapping that lasted a week, it was a time when my body and mind were at ease for once.

Of course, the Esper who kidnapped me withered day by day as the situation didn’t go as they wanted, but that wasn’t my concern.

“Guide Do-min, why don’t you just sleep in the night duty room today? I think you could sleep a few more minutes that way.”

“It’s okay. The bed in the night duty room is a bit uncomfortable, so it actually makes me toss and turn. And my cat at home gets upset if I don’t come home for more than three days. It doesn’t help even if my parents take care of it instead.”

“Is that so? If you say so, Guide Do-min, I won’t stop you… But I heard Guide kidnappings are rampant in this area these days. They even kidnap Guides who haven’t even finished their probation period yet. Be careful, Guide Do-min. There are quite a few Espers targeting you, right?”

Instead of answering that I would be careful, I just smiled.

Espers who kidnap Guides usually have two purposes. One is kidnapping to form a pair, and the other is kidnapping by Espers who aren’t affiliated with any center or guild and have difficulty obtaining wave adjustment drugs that substitute for guiding, in order to make money by handing over Guides to brokers.

In the latter case, the headquarters responds quickly and actively, but in the former case, they usually let it slide with a cute level of punishment. They say it’s the courtship method of Espers who are as pure as children, so they ask for the broad understanding of the relatively mature Guides.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

“Okay. Get home safely. See you later.”

Leaving behind Esper Lee Cheol-min, who was giving his final words of caution, I left the center and headed home. Perhaps because it was rush hour, the streets were full of people moving busily.

As I was walking among them, I suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

“……”

Feeling as if someone was following me, I stopped and looked around, but there was nothing suspicious except for office workers rushing to work.

But my intuition, honed from being kidnapped at least five times, was telling me. It was certain that some cute Esper who would save me from guiding hell was following me.

As soon as I realized this, my heart started pounding. I wanted to shout right away for them to kidnap me, but if I did that, the Esper would surely run away, thinking I was a crazy Guide.

‘…It would be better to wait for the right timing.’

If I show a moderately cautious appearance and then pretend to let my guard down at the last moment, the Esper won’t find me suspicious. For a successful kidnapping, it seemed best to go to a street with a lot of foot traffic first.

Thinking about the “kidnapping vacation” I was about to enjoy after a long time, a satisfied smile naturally appeared on my face.