A Match Made at the Bureau

Kim Han headed to the Management Bureau office with a spring in his step.

Among the newly awakened espers, a match had finally appeared for Seo-ah — this Bureau's burden, or rather, its treasure.

The high-ranking talent who'd been stuck doing nothing but paperwork all this time could finally put her skills to use.

And her matching rate was a staggering 82%.

Did he even need to recall what her matching rates had been like before? Mostly 0%, sometimes 10%, and at absolute best, 30%! Past matching results flashed before his eyes like a panorama.

The government had received the report right away and was already breathing down his neck. Deploy her to a high-rank gate, immediately, it said.

The reality was that high-rank guides were far too scarce compared to high-rank espers, making the closure of high-rank gates genuinely difficult. Human Gates — the strange new type of gate cropping up lately — were hard to even enter. But they couldn't just leave a bomb sitting there, never knowing when it might go off.

No one knew what might come crawling out, so the Operations Bureau was handling the response, and complaints were piling up by the day.

Please, let them be high-rank.

The matching rate was impressive, sure, but pairing an S-class guide with anyone below high-rank would be a colossal waste.

Kim Han opened the door to the team leader's office, planning to check the data at his desk — and immediately schooled his expression when he found a guest already waiting inside.

"Ahem. Ahem."

Wavy golden hair. Golden eyes. Strong, defined features framed by deep double eyelids. The faint shadow beneath his eyes made them look even deeper somehow. A straight, proud nose and a tan-toned complexion sharpened every line of his face.

When the corner of his mouth curved up slightly, that masculine face took on a mischievous edge.

The moment Kim Han laid eyes on the guest, he screamed internally.

Approved!

Seo-ah! Your long wait was worth every second!

They really did say good things come to those who keep a pure heart. Kim Han thought of Seo-ah, who had spent a year agonizing over how to fulfill her duty as a guide for the sake of the nation.

First of all, there was nothing to fault about his looks. He was every bit as striking as Cha Yu-geon, Executive Director of the Intelligence Bureau — the sole person in the entire Center whose face alone had everyone talking. He looked well over 180 centimeters tall, too, and his broad shoulders and the thickness of his chest spoke of someone who trained consistently. His impression was sharp, yet oddly approachable at the same time.

"Hello. I'm Kang Eun-chan, A-class esper."

"I didn't expect my guest to arrive before me. Seems I'm the one running late."

"I didn't wait long. You even offered me a drink — very hospitable of you."

Of course I am. We roll out the red carpet for you.

Do you have any idea whose matched esper you are?

Kim Han settled into his seat with his pleasant, easygoing face on.

"I haven't finished reviewing your paperwork yet. Could you give me a few minutes?"

"Of course, take your time. I've got all day."

And polite, too.

Watching him smile so warmly, his personality seemed good as well.

This is going to throw the Management Bureau into chaos for a while.

If he weren't Seo-ah's matched esper, espers would be lining up around the block for him. Kim Han honestly couldn't tell whether this was a blessing — or yet another trial being handed to Seo-ah.

Kim Han checked the documents on his desk.

Same age as Seo-ah, and a respectable rank. On top of that, his ability sat firmly in the top tier for combat. At this point, the year-long wait had been worth it…

Then Kim Han's gaze drifted to the notes section at the bottom of the file.

"Haha…"

This is a problem.

Of all people, his first match had to be her childhood friend.

The one silver lining was that they were both high-rank, so even light contact would be enough for guiding.

"Hmm… are you familiar with how espers and guides work?"

"Yes, I've heard plenty. I had an awakener around me anyway."

Kim Han, who knew exactly who that awakener was, gave an awkward laugh. He had no idea how much Seo-ah had told him, but judging by the man's expression, he seemed to know at least the basics.

"Then do you happen to know who your match is?"

"I came straight here after awakening and getting tested, so I don't know a thing."

Thank goodness for that…?

Kim Han let out a quiet breath of relief.

Then he flipped to the next page of the file — and froze.

Ordering a direct deployment to a gate whose rank hadn't even been properly assessed — the Operations Bureau really must have been desperate.

And the request had come from the Special Management Team, no less.

A Human Gate reactivating was unprecedented. It wasn't like other gates, where the entrance simply opens and you can walk right in. Simply put, it was like a dormant volcano that could erupt at any moment.

This time, one of them had activated — and at the same time, re-awakeners had begun to appear.

Many argued the two events had to be connected. And to prove it, they needed information. Which meant there was no choice but to go inside the gate themselves.

"Is there something wrong with my file?"

"Hmm… no, nothing wrong with you, Mr. Kang. It's just that a small — a very small, trivial thing has come up."

Seo-ah will refuse, so it should be fine… right?

Seo-ah, who had never entered a gate in her life, wasn't about to welcome a sudden Human Gate deployment. And she hadn't so much as taken a compatibility test with Esper Kang Eun-chan, let alone trained with him.

"We'd need you to enter the gate right away… That's too much to ask, isn't it?"

"I'm fine with it. I took a few days off for training because of all this, so my body's stiff and restless anyway."

"Yes, everyone says that at fi— …Huh?"

Are kids these days just fearless? His rank was high and his ability was genuinely strong, but throwing an esper with zero field experience in there was dangerous.

Human Gates were exactly what the name implied — gates that had never once opened since their creation. No one on earth knew what was inside them.

The pure unknown.

Kim Han looked at Eun-chan, whose expression hadn't so much as flickered.

This one's prime esper material — and also prime material for getting himself killed.

Gates were where hot-blooded young fools charged in without a shred of fear and came out dead. And this one hadn't even been properly scouted — its rank couldn't even be determined.

She's an S-class guide, sure, but neither of them has a lick of experience.

Kim Han let out a low groan. His head throbbed, but the higher-ups had already decided, and above all, the man himself was volunteering — he couldn't just flatly refuse him.

"You could die in there."

"Or I could not die, right? I've always liked a good thrill, anyway. I've only ever heard stories about it — I've wanted to see the inside of a gate for myself, so this works out great."

Kim Han had seen plenty of deranged espers in his career, but never one who was curious about the inside of a gate. The file mentioned he'd boxed as an amateur, and suddenly Kim Han understood why. A thrill-seeker with no fear whatsoever. Great.

Tsk.

Kim Han clicked his tongue at Eun-chan's confident bearing.

"Your matched guide might not even agree to it. If she says yes, you deploy immediately."

"No problem at all. Keeps things from getting boring — if anything, I'm pleased."

Eun-chan rose from his seat. Out of arguments, Kim Han picked up the internal phone.

"The esper's agreed to enter the gate. What does the guide say?"

—She says no problem.

"…No problem? Haah…"

—In fact, she's already heading to the gate. Human Gate 3, she said.

"…Is that so?"

Kim Han stole a glance at Eun-chan.

Come to think of it, he could see exactly why they were friends.

Seo-ah, you've been waiting for this day your whole life, haven't you. He'd assumed she'd accept the moment the order came down — he just hadn't expected the answer back within the minute.

Well, they've both agreed, so introducing them at the gate itself might actually be for the best.

Childhood friends as partners. They'd know each other inside and out — maybe they'd sync up even better because of it.

Then again, guiding with your childhood friend of twenty years was mortifying by anyone's standards, and Kim Han hadn't failed to anticipate that either.

He forced his hopeful circuit to keep turning, recalling Seo-ah's passion as she'd spent an entire year under government pressure and public scrutiny, agonizing over how she could be of use.

And truthfully, a quiet anxiety gnawed at him too: if either of them learned who their partner was, they might refuse outright and beg for time. That was why the identity of the match had never been disclosed to either side.

"Since the guide's already headed to the gate, Mr. Eun-chan, you should get going as well."

"Oh, could I ask one thing before I go? This part's kind of important."

Kim Han gave a light nod, and Eun-chan leaned in carefully.

"Does guiding actually have to happen?"

"…Hmm. If contact makes you uncomfortable, non-contact radial guiding is an option."

"Efficient. I like it."

"Between two high-ranks, even minimal contact provides plenty of guidance, and with your matching rate that high, it should be simple."

Eun-chan's expression relaxed into something almost easygoing.

I'd have pegged him for someone who'd get handsy with women, but he's surprisingly reserved.

Aversion to contact guiding was actually fairly common — among espers and guides alike.

Some had germaphobia, some simply hated the particular sensation of contact guiding. And there were even the purists who wanted nothing to do with the act itself.

Then again, once people guided a single time, they all went half-mad wanting more, but still.

Polite, reasonable, easy to talk to — what an esper.

On top of that, he said he was fine without guiding at all. For the first time in ages, Kim Han felt he'd found a genuinely decent esper.