Zero Point

#011

Perhaps thanks to Moon Bora’s warning, while people glanced over occasionally, no one approached directly. As exercising with team members was part of his daily routine, Lee Eunseok ignored the attention and focused on his workout. After doing a few sets at a moderate intensity to avoid straining his body, which had been away from exercise for a while, his previously stiff body felt much lighter.

Lee Eunseok lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face and was about to leave the gym when he approached Moon Bora, who was exercising nearby. Moon Bora was effortlessly pushing weights on the leg press that even well-trained men would find challenging.

Lee Eunseok was about to call her “Ms. Moon Bora,” but quickly changed his mind. They were going to be colleagues. Building camaraderie and familiarity with teammates who would fight together was important.

“Noona Bora.”

When Lee Eunseok called out, Moon Bora turned her gaze and widened her eyes.

“Wow. Did you just call me ‘noona’?”

“You told me to call you that.”

“I’m so touched that you’re calling me noona after just one day!”

Moon Bora gave a thumbs up.

“I’ll head in first. And you can speak comfortably to me too.”

“Um… okay. I mean, sure!”

Moon Bora quickly switched to a more familiar speech style and nodded. Lee Eunseok gave a slight eye-smile, nodded, and turned towards the gym entrance.

“Eunseok!”

After taking just a few steps, Moon Bora called out loudly from behind. When he turned his head, Moon Bora waved and shouted again.

“Want to go eat breakfast together at 7:30?”

“Sounds good.”

As Lee Eunseok nodded, he heard an “Okay!” in response. As the gym’s automatic doors opened and he stepped out, glancing back, he saw those who had been busy sneaking peeks at him while pretending to exercise now flocking around Moon Bora.

Returning to his quarters, Lee Eunseok took a leisurely shower and changed clothes. Just then, his phone alert went off right on time. It was today’s schedule sent by Secretary Kim. After checking the simple schedule of just a few lines, Lee Eunseok checked the time and stepped out of his quarters. As he half-expected, Moon Bora and Ji Taeuk were waiting in the corridor in front of the door.

“You could have rung the bell if you were here.”

“No, no. We just arrived.”

Moon Bora waved her hand as she spoke.

“Good morning, Hyung Taeuk.”

Having decided to build intimacy, Lee Eunseok greeted him. Ji Taeuk’s eyes widened, then he smiled shyly and fiddled with the back of his head.

“Uh… yeah. Good morning, Eunseok.”

Ji Taeuk looked quite awkward speaking informally.

“Come on, let’s go eat.”

Moon Bora took the lead, putting her arm around Ji Taeuk’s shoulder.

Unlike last night, the cafeteria was full of people. As the three entered, an enormous amount of attention shifted from Moon Bora and Ji Taeuk to Lee Eunseok.

S-class Guide.

That phrase was included in every murmur and whisper from the people. Fortunately, while there were piercing gazes and scrutiny, no one approached aggressively. Lee Eunseok calmly filled his tray with food.

“The interest is intense. We might choke on our food.”

Moon Bora clicked her tongue at the gazes and murmurs that showed no signs of subsiding even as time passed.

“Yeah. The Guide… I mean, Eunseok must be uncomfortable.”

Ji Taeuk nodded in agreement.

“It’s fine. They’re just looking, that’s all.”

Lee Eunseok spoke nonchalantly as he moved his spoon. As he sensed no hostility or killing intent from the gazes and murmurs, it wasn’t enough to greatly bother him.

“Oh, an S-class guide, a flower boy, from special forces, and even composed. He’s quite a character, quite a character indeed.”

Moon Bora praised him, giving a thumbs up. Lee Eunseok chuckled, liking Moon Bora’s open and straightforward behavior.

Even as they finished eating and left the cafeteria, in the elevator, and even until the moment they entered their quarters, all sorts of curious gazes clung to them. Despite his unflappable personality towards harmless attention, Lee Eunseok let out a sigh as he entered his quarters. It seemed this daily life would continue until people’s curiosity about the new S-class guide was sufficiently satisfied.

After brushing his teeth and sitting on the sofa fiddling with his phone for a while, it was almost time for the appointment written on his schedule. As soon as it turned 9 o’clock, the doorbell rang like clockwork. Putting on his shoes and opening the door, he saw Secretary Kim in a pantsuit.

“Good morning, Guide Lee.”

Secretary Kim greeted with a fresh face.

“Since it’s your first day at work, I’ll personally guide you to the guiding room today.”

After a brief explanation, Secretary Kim pressed the elevator button.

“Unlike hunters who are divided into combat teams, guides don’t have separate teams, so please keep that in mind. On workdays, according to the schedule, each guide waits in their individual guiding room according to their work timetable. Since the guiding rooms are fully equipped with all facilities, there’s no separate office for guides. You can think of the guiding room as essentially your office.”

Secretary Kim spoke methodically.

Ding.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Unlike other floors, the corridor was in a clean white tone, with decorative objects and green plants placed at intervals.

“This entire floor is for the guides’ individual guiding rooms. You can think of the structure as not much different from the residential floor.”

Secretary Kim spoke while walking at a moderate pace.

As she said, on both sides of the wide corridor, there were doors with automatic locks at regular intervals, just like on the residential floor. The difference was that next to each door was a small electronic pad displaying what appeared to be the name and rank of the guiding room’s owner.

“If the background of that screen is white, it means it’s not currently work hours and the room is empty. Blue means the guide is currently waiting in the guiding room, and red means they’re currently guiding a hunter.”

Secretary Kim explained kindly. As explained, the pads next to the guiding rooms they passed were lit in white, blue, and red respectively.

“It’s a guild principle that guiding cannot be requested privately. Hunters who need guiding can send matching requests to on-duty guides through the guild app. Of course, the list of guides available for matching requests differs according to each hunter’s rank and guiding reviews. For example, the app of a C-rank hunter won’t show a list of A-rank or higher guides. Even if the ranks match, if the guiding reviews are poor, the list of available guides is significantly reduced.”

As she finished speaking, Secretary Kim’s steps came to a halt. Next to the innermost door in the corridor, a white screen displayed [Lee Eunseok (S-class)].

Before Secretary Kim could say anything, Lee Eunseok tapped his employee ID on the door handle pad. A small sound indicated the door unlocking. Secretary Kim opened the door wide and gestured for him to enter.

Stepping inside, a fairly spacious area came into view. A wide desk and comfortable chair, a long sofa and single-seat sofa, and at the very back, a large bed with hotel-style bedding were all in place. It seemed to be a furniture arrangement that would allow for comfortable guiding in any style.

“All consumables necessary for guiding are always stocked. Cleaning is done at the end of work hours, so you don’t need to worry about that separately. You must wait in the guiding room during matched times, but during unmatched times, you can watch TV, use a laptop, take a nap, whatever you like. If a hunter is matched, you’ll receive an alarm on your phone and smartwatch, and then…”

Secretary Kim paused briefly and opened a built-in closet next to the desk. Inside hung several white gowns like those worn by doctors or researchers. She took one out and showed it.

“It’s recommended to wear this gown when guiding. It’s to encourage hunters to view guiding as more of a medical and professional treatment rather than something too personal.”

“I understand.”

Lee Eunseok nodded obediently, though he felt the white gown wouldn’t suit him at all.

“You can check the current guiding match reservations on this tablet. Unless there’s a specific reason, one guiding session is set for 2 hours. Of course, even if it ends earlier, it will show as ‘guiding in progress’ until the 2 hours are up, so you can spend the time freely.”

Two hours per guiding session means about four cases a day.

Lee Eunseok inwardly estimated the number of people he’d have to guide daily. It was a more relaxed schedule than he expected.

“Ah, and in urgent situations, emergency guiding requests may come in even outside of work hours. Such cases are usually when a hunter is at risk of going berserk… Since high-ranking guides’ guiding is urgently needed in those situations, please understand that aspect.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As Lee Eunseok replied, Secretary Kim hung the gown back in the built-in closet and closed the door.

“By the way, what are those red buttons for?”

Lee Eunseok, who had been examining his future workspace in detail, pointed to the red buttons that seemed out of place in the cozy space. They were prominently visible here and there – next to the desk, next to the sofa, by the bed, and so on.