Zero Point

#020

#3

Eunseok woke up early and headed straight to the gym. After lightly warming up without affecting his condition, he returned to his quarters and showered.

There was no Guiding scheduled in today’s itinerary sent by Secretary Kim. Instead, there was only a brief note stating departure for the gate at 8 AM.

Eunseok satisfied his hunger with just an energy bar and water instead of breakfast. Although it was only a C-grade gate, they were still heading to enter a gate. A moderately empty stomach would help with concentration and agile movements.

Opening the small dressing room revealed mostly new clothes. Eunseok briefly considered comfortable training clothes, but then chose a thin black long-sleeved shirt and jeans. He then seriously examined the protective gear Choi Hanseo had selected for him.

They wouldn’t assign combat duties to a Guide entering a gate for the first time anyway. At least for today, the goal should be to avoid hindering team members rather than combat. So Eunseok chose only a simple black chest protector and packed it in the duffel bag with his weapons.

As he picked up the duffel bag containing his weapons, he felt a pleasantly appropriate tension and excitement. It felt like it would be a very good day after a long time.

Ding dong-.

The doorbell rang just as he finished tying his combat boots. Eunseok shouldered the duffel bag and opened the door.

“Good morning!”

“Good morning.”

Moon Bora and Ji Taeuk greeted cheerfully with bright faces.

“Good morning,” Eunseok greeted them as he closed the door.

“Did you prepare thoroughly?” Moon Bora asked, looking at the duffel bag on Eunseok’s shoulder.

“Well, for now,” Eunseok answered, lightly patting his duffel bag.

“But why did you wear a black shirt?” Moon Bora asked, slightly furrowing her brow. Eunseok looked down at his shirt, wondering what the problem was. Come to think of it, both Moon Bora and Ji Taeuk were wearing light-colored clothes like white or beige.

“Are you two really going dressed like that?” Eunseok asked. Moon Bora and Ji Taeuk looked at each other with puzzled expressions, as if wondering what the problem was.

“Won’t those light-colored clothes get dirty easily during combat? And if you get injured, blood will soak through,” Eunseok said.

“Huh? Of course clothes will get dirty,” Moon Bora said, still not understanding the issue. As they stood staring at each other blankly, Ji Taeuk suddenly made an “Ah” sound and nodded as if he realized something.

“What is it?” Moon Bora asked, nudging Ji Taeuk. Ji Taeuk pointed at Eunseok’s black shirt and spoke.

“Soldiers usually wear dark colors, noona. Plus, Eunseok is from special forces.”

“So?”

Unlike Moon Bora who questioned Ji Taeuk’s words, Eunseok could now understand what the issue was with his clothing color.

“Ah. Think about it, noona. If you get injured during combat, would it be good or bad for the enemy to know?”

Ji Taeuk explained, sounding a bit exasperated. Finally, Moon Bora also made an “Ah” sound and nodded.

“I see. When fighting other humans, showing injuries would be disadvantageous. So you choose dark clothes to hide blood and injuries.”

Moon Bora nodded as she spoke.

“It seems Espers do the opposite?” Eunseok asked, having grasped the issue. Ji Taeuk nodded.

“When focusing on combat, there are often cases where you don’t realize you’ve been injured. Also, when team members are far apart, wearing light clothes like this makes it easy to assess injuries so healers like me can respond quickly.”

“Of course, the smell of blood does excite monsters and make them charge. But that’s because of the smell, not visual stimulation. And it’s important for healers to easily assess team members’ conditions.”

“I’ll go change quickly,” Eunseok said, opening his quarters door to go back inside. Moon Bora called out after him.

“Pack a change of clothes too, unless you want to come back looking like a mess.”

Ah. A change of clothes.

Eunseok realized he was definitely a complete novice in this field.

After changing into a white shirt and packing spare clothes, Eunseok went down to the first floor with Moon Bora and Ji Taeuk. Outside the main entrance, a large Sprinter limousine van like those often used by famous celebrities was waiting.

Following Moon Bora and Ji Taeuk, Eunseok boarded to find an interior with 16 comfortable-looking seats. The other three 1st Combat Team members were already seated in the back.

“Good morning,” Eunseok greeted the three as he took an empty seat.

“Good morning, sir,” Han Cheolyong, the square-faced tanker, greeted with a spirited voice. Oh Seongeun, the cold-looking long-range dealer, nodded slightly, and Shin Jeongho, the quiet close-range dealer, also responded with an eye greeting.

Once everyone was seated, the limousine van’s doors closed and it started moving smoothly.

“Isn’t the Guild Master coming with us?” Eunseok asked about Choi Hanseo, who was nowhere to be seen. Hadn’t they even pressed bare chests together for the sake of entering the gate together today? If he had just received that Guiding and bailed, it would definitely be something to punish him for.

“Ah, the Guild Master usually moves separately. It’s uncomfortable for us to move with him anyway,” Moon Bora said, chewing on an energy bar she took from her pocket.

So he didn’t just eat and run, Eunseok thought, nodding. He then reclined his seat and leaned back comfortably.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Ji Taeuk asked, leaning in closer. Moon Bora in the seat next to Ji Taeuk was already half-lying down with an eye mask on.

“I heard it’s a C-grade gate,” Eunseok replied.

“Ah, is that all?”

“Is there something else I should know?”

“No, just… like which area… that kind of thing.”

“Where is it?”

“Gwangju.”

Ji Taeuk said briefly, then hurried to add:

“Gwangju in Gyeonggi-do, not Jeolla-do.”

“Ah, then we’ll arrive soon.”

“Right. But the travel time is too boring. I wish they’d let us fly by helicopter.”

“Do we have helicopters?”

“We do. But they only let us use them for emergency deployments.”

“I see.”

Eunseok nodded. Unless it was an emergency situation requiring long-distance travel in a short time, a helicopter would certainly be a luxury. For Eunseok, who had long been accustomed to the frugal military, even this high-end limousine van was more than enough.

Ji Taeuk looked like he wanted to continue talking, but soon fixed his gaze on his phone screen. Eunseok leaned back comfortably in his seat, savoring the appropriate tension.

Gate.

The monstrous life forms that hunters called monsters were said to take bizarre forms that invoked disgust and fear in humans. Despite the vast variety of monstrous life form species recorded in data, new species were still being discovered.

Eunseok had directly seen the monstrous life form that killed his family. He had also seen a few photographs of other specimens.

After briefly simulating in his head how to effectively kill the monstrous life forms he had seen in photos, Eunseok soon stopped. Instead, he closed his eyes and spread a gentle wide-area Guiding all around. The primary purpose was to bring his team members’ conditions to their peak before combat, befitting his position as a Guide.

“…Ah.”

“Oh…”

“Hmm.”

Faint sounds of reaction to the Guiding were heard. As a prospective team leader who had considerable experience in training and managing the condition of new unit members, Eunseok felt a subtle satisfaction from these reactions.

About an hour later, the car came to a stop. From the scenery, it looked like a small clearing at the foot of a mountain. Through the car window, a black sedan parked next to the van was visible. It seemed Choi Hanseo had arrived first.

As they got out of the car, a man wearing a cap backwards and a headset around his neck approached with a welcoming expression.

“Oh, you’ve arrived. Hello, I’m Lee Namgi, PD from EBCC Broadcasting. Are you Guide Lee Eunseok by any chance?”

The PD seemed to already know the faces of the other combat team members and approached Eunseok, the new face, to ask.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Wow, I finally get to see the face of an S-class Guide. Nice to meet you, Guide Lee Eunseok. You’re quite the handsome man. Just looking at your face, one might mistake you for a newly debuted celebrity.”

The man extended his hand with a smiling face. He was definitely an ordinary person. Eunseok, now able to discern Espers just by their energy, shook the man’s hand without hesitation.

The PD, seemingly adept at dealing with ability users, turned away from Eunseok and gestured to some people behind him. As if they had been waiting, a group with broadcast cameras approached en masse.