Zero Point

#028

“Now that you mention it, I’m curious too. That person always looks the same. It’s hard to imagine him sweating while exercising.”

“That’s true.”

The image of Choi Hanseo training and sweating was hard to imagine.

“Does the Guild Master commute from home then?” Eunseok asked.

Moon Bora gave him a surprised look. “Oh, you didn’t know? The Guild Master lives in this building too. The top floor is his penthouse.”

“Ah… I see.”

Living, working, and resting in this building… It seemed Choi Hanseo’s daily life wasn’t much different from the guild members living in the dormitory.

Eunseok felt relieved knowing their living spaces were separate. It was welcome news that they wouldn’t run into each other except during gate entries or Guiding sessions.

“By the way, it should be about time for our next gate assignment,” Moon Bora said, putting down her dumbbells after finishing a set.

“Really?” Eunseok looked at Moon Bora with eager eyes.

Seeing his expression, Moon Bora chuckled. “It’s funny how your eyes only light up at times like this. Usually, you’re indifferent to everything else.”

“I’m not particularly indifferent.”

“You don’t show it outwardly, of course. But you only react out of obligation unless it’s something significant.”

Was it that obvious?

Eunseok absently wiped his neck with a towel.

“What grade is it this time?”

“Who knows? The last one was C-grade, so maybe B or A-grade? I heard they’re looking into getting an appropriate gate assignment. The Ability User Management Bureau usually snatches up the good ones first…”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. If they think a gate is profitable and easy to conquer, they grab it first and then distribute the leftovers to other guilds.”

This was news to Eunseok. But thinking about it, it made sense. With ability users serving mandatory five-year terms, they’d want to monopolize the profitable gates as much as possible.

“It’s so annoying how they cherry-pick and pass on the troublesome gates,” Moon Bora grumbled.

Eunseok actually preferred entering more challenging gates, but he kept that thought to himself.

Beep beep beep-

A different alert sound than usual rang from both their watches and phones simultaneously. Checking his watch, Eunseok saw an urgent Guiding request. As soon as he confirmed the notification, his phone rang.

“Hello, this is Lee Eunseok.”

– Hello, this is Secretary Kim. Did you see the urgent Guiding request?

“Yes, I did.”

– A member of the 2nd squad was brought in on the verge of going berserk. Can you Guide immediately?

“Yes, I can.”

– That’s a relief. Please go to the treatment room right away.

“Understood.”

Eunseok ended the call and stood up immediately.

“Urgent Guiding?”

“Yes.”

“If it’s the treatment room, the situation must be pretty bad. Hurry, and don’t be too shocked by what you see.”

Moon Bora cautioned with concern. Eunseok nodded slightly to her and quickly turned to leave.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. The floor with the treatment room, which he had never visited before, looked similar to a hospital.

“Guide Lee Eunseok?”

As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, someone ran up calling his name. Her clothes were stained with what looked like green monster blood. She seemed to be another member of the 2nd squad.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Let’s hurry. Jihyeok’s condition is very bad.”

The woman spoke quickly and started walking ahead. Eunseok followed right behind her without hesitation.

Through the wide-open door, he could see people moving urgently. On a hospital bed lay a man whose clothes were soaked with a mixture of green and red blood.

The wounds on his side and thigh, exposed where his clothes had been cut away, were half-healed. Two healing-type hunters were attached to the man’s side, working on healing his wounds.

“Guide!”

A female guide holding the man’s hand and Guiding him called out urgently to Eunseok. He approached the bed and checked the patient’s watch. Red. A color he had never seen before.

Beep-! Beep-! Beep-! Beep-!

The watch on the hunter’s wrist emitted a sharp alarm sound repeatedly.

“Urgh-… Ugh-…”

The hunter on the bed forced out painful sounds. Dark red nosebleeds flowed down, soaking the bed, and his body twisted bizarrely, convulsing intermittently from the unbearable pain. The blood vessels in his rolled-back eyes could be seen bursting in real-time.

“Lim Jihyeok’s wavelength is unusual, and we don’t have a guide with high compatibility. Please start emergency Guiding right away!”

A man in a white coat abruptly cut open the hunter’s top with medical scissors. As he tore off the shirt, a torso with bulging blood vessels and tendons was revealed. The immense pain he was feeling was palpable.

Eunseok took off his top without hesitation. He raised the hunter’s upper body, careful not to interfere with the healing, and sat on the bed.

Maximum skin contact was necessary. Eunseok embraced the hunter from behind, making as much skin contact as possible with his torso, arms, and hands, and began to Guide intensively.

The wildly raging energy was tearing and clawing at the hunter’s body indiscriminately. As Eunseok poured strong Guiding through the skin contact, the hunter’s body desperately absorbed the Guiding energy like a sponge soaking up water.

The convulsions that had been twisting even his joints gradually subsided. Soon after, the alarm-like sound from the hunter’s watch abruptly stopped.

“…Ugh… Uh…”

Instead of the choking sounds, faint noises of pain flowed from the hunter’s mouth. His twisted body slowly began to relax.

“The numbers are dropping rapidly,” said the man in the white coat, checking the hunter’s watch.

“Haa…”

The female hunter who had run out to the elevator to guide Eunseok collapsed in place, exhaling a sigh of relief.

“If we had been a little later, or if there hadn’t been an S-class guide, he would have gone berserk for sure. What on earth did you do to end up in this state? Don’t you properly manage your squad members’ numbers?”

The man in the white coat berated the female hunter who had sat down. The criticized hunter rose with a heavy face. Her expression was filled with deep relief and guilt.

“It was clearly a B-grade gate, but an A-grade boss appeared at the end. If Jihyeok hadn’t pushed himself, there would have been many casualties among the squad members.”

Speaking calmly after suppressing her emotions, the female hunter seemed to be the leader of the 2nd squad. Instead of pressing further, the man in the white coat checked Lim Jihyeok’s watch again.

The speed at which the Guiding energy was being absorbed, like a hungry baby suckling, gradually slowed. The hunter’s energy was noticeably stabilizing. In the meantime, the numbers had changed from light yellow to dark green.

The hunter’s chest in Eunseok’s embrace rose and fell deeply. After taking a long breath, the hunter looked around as if he had come to his senses.

“Jihyeok!”

The female hunter clung to the bed, calling out loudly. Her face shone with relief and joy.

“Ah, noona… I’m okay now,” Hunter Lim Jihyeok said in a dazed voice.

“You reckless fool. What were you thinking, acting alone like that! You nearly went berserk!”

The female hunter smacked Jihyeok’s head hard.

“Ow! But it’s better than everyone dying, isn’t it?”

“You idiot. Still!”

“Ow! Ah! Stop hitting me!”

After smacking his head a few more times, the female hunter let out a long sigh. Then she straightened up and bowed politely to Eunseok, who was still embracing Jihyeok from behind.

“Guide Lee Eunseok. Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, this guy would have really died today.”

“It’s nothing. This is my job.”

As Eunseok responded gently, Jihyeok, who was practically cradled in his arms, turned to look at him. His eyes took in the sight of himself, half-naked and embraced by Eunseok. Jihyeok’s face, already a mess from bloody tears and nosebleed, suddenly turned bright red.

“…Uh… Uh…”

Jihyeok stuttered awkwardly and started fidgeting.

“It’s not over yet, so stay still. Since we’ve started, I’ll bring it down to zero.”

Eunseok said, firmly holding the fidgeting body in place.

“…Yes,” Jihyeok answered quietly, lowering his head to hide his face.

“You’re really lucky, you know. You not only survived when you could have gone berserk and died, but you’re also receiving Guiding from an S-class guide,” the female hunter said playfully.

Jihyeok nodded slightly with his head still lowered.

Seemingly uncomfortable with the embrace between two men, Jihyeok twitched slightly in Eunseok’s arms. Eventually, he started squirming, drawing his free legs closer together.

“Please bear with the discomfort. It’ll be over soon,” Eunseok said to the constantly squirming Jihyeok.

“No… it’s not that…” Jihyeok muttered quietly, his head still lowered, as if talking to himself.

The female hunter, who had been watching Jihyeok with a still worried face, suddenly seemed to realize something. Her face reddened slightly as she punched Jihyeok’s head again.

“You idiot. You nearly died but still have the energy to react like that?!”

“No… noona, it’s not… I can’t control it. It just feels too good…”

Jihyeok explained in a tiny voice. Eunseok finally realized that Jihyeok was showing a physical pleasure response from being immersed in the Guiding.