Gwang-gong, Childhood Friend, Nerd — Guiding Them All (5)

Meanwhile, Seo-ah, in her private office at the Management Bureau, received a phone call and practically leapt out of her seat, buzzing with excitement, ready to head for the Human Gate.

The Human Gate should be fine—I've done my homework on it.

Unlike ordinary gates, entry into a Human Gate wasn't immediately possible. It could only be entered once it activated, which was only natural.

But by the same token, since no one could enter the gate, no one could close it either. And since it never activated, its rank couldn't even be measured. Which was precisely why such gates had to be classified as high-risk.

The Center had designated the area as a quarantined zone and could do nothing but monitor it, waiting for the entrance to open.

And of those gates, Human Gate 3—the third ever to appear—had just opened.

It was the site where Seo-ah and her matched esper had been granted entry clearance.

Seo-ah, hand on the office door handle, spotted a man standing beyond the transparent glass door.

Knock, knock, knock.

Their eyes met, but the man knocked anyway. When Seo-ah, flustered, opened the door, he stood there in a tailored suit, looking down at her.

"Pardon the intrusion. Guide Lee Seo-ah."

Seo-ah froze in place, her eyes going wide and round.

Executive Director of the Intelligence Bureau, Cha Yu-geon...?

She recognized him instantly. The reason was simple.

Everyone at the Center knew that face.

The suit lent his features a faintly indulgent smile they didn't otherwise carry. Dressed to the nines in his three-piece, he had—as always—his silver hair neatly swept back.

Rare among awakeners, some experienced chromosomal abnormalities upon awakening that changed their hair or eye color. Cha Yu-geon was one of them.

A silver-haired Korean... I thought it looked weirdly good in photos, but in person it's insane.

It suited him absurdly well. So perfectly that no other hair or eye color even seemed possible for him.

Seo-ah's suspicion that the photos must have been flattering was completely overturned.

No photograph could have captured what he looked like in the flesh.

"Of course, please come in anytime."

Seo-ah stepped back, clearing the way for him to enter. Then, forgetting she'd been on her way out, she docilely went and sat down on the sofa.

At her behavior, he raised a single eyebrow before stepping inside.

"I heard you'll be entering the Human Gate. I've come to provide the necessary information regarding your entry—would you have a moment?"

Necessary information?

In truth, Seo-ah had already memorized every monster type, rank, and the proper handling methods for each elemental category. Her diligence played a part, sure—but it was mostly her burning desire to enter a gate at all.

For a year she had prepared relentlessly so she could be deployed at a moment's notice. That was how serious Seo-ah was about gate entry—no, about guiding.

But when the head of the Intelligence Bureau himself said he was coming in person, she had no choice but to enthusiastically agree to the meeting.

How often did anyone get to see that face in real life? She couldn't possibly pass up an opportunity this good.

"Yes, I have more than enough time. If you've brought necessary information, I absolutely have to hear it."

Seo-ah gave him a look that said please, sit. Meeting her gaze, Yu-geon sat down across from her, squared the edges of his documents against the table, and handed them over.

"Given the danger involved, I've come to brief you personally. Thank you for agreeing to the entry so readily."

It was rare for an Intelligence Bureau executive director to come all the way to the Management Bureau. No—rare wasn't the word. It practically never happened.

"Not at all. I'm just glad to finally have something to do."

Seo-ah said, shaking her head.

At her eager attitude, a flicker of a smile crossed Yu-geon's face. It lasted only a moment before he returned to his usual cold expression and began his explanation of the Human Gate.

"The gate you'll be entering, Guide Lee Seo-ah, is Human Gate 3. It was under quarantine and constant surveillance since entry was impossible before activation, but it opened recently alongside an anomalous phenomenon."

So that 'anomalous phenomenon' is still classified above my clearance, huh. Rumor has it even the research labs treat it as top secret. But Seo-ah didn't particularly care.

As long as she could enter the gate, it made no difference to her whether the danger level was high or not. Besides, she had a baseless confidence that nothing like this would be the death of her.

In webnovel terms, I'm literally the female lead. There's no way an S-class like me dies that easily!

Unless this turned out to be one of those bleak tragedy-fests or creepypasta-type stories, that is. Thinking back on every novel she'd ever read, the pattern was always the same: danger existed solely so that something delicious could happen.

And the solution to that delicious danger was, naturally, even more delicious—physical union between man and woman. Sex, in other words.

It was an essential ingredient of any guide-verse story, so wasn't the situation she was about to be thrown into basically the same thing? ...That was her hope, anyway.

Truly, no thought was too deranged for her. Seo-ah casually entertained ideas that no ordinary person would ever dream of.

Meanwhile, she was studying Cha Yu-geon's face. His expression was cold, but the fact that he'd personally come all the way to the Management Bureau to brief her on the gate suggested he wasn't happy about essentially being forced to send her into an unknown gate like this.

No need to worry about me, though.

Having spent a full year drilling in preparation, Seo-ah knew her own abilities better than anyone. Frankly speaking, with her power, there was no gate her matched esper couldn't clear—in theory.

Because her ability was that most precious of phenomena: resonance. She synchronized with an esper's core to maximize their power. At minimum, she could raise their output by a full rank or more—and at maximum, the ceiling was literally unpredictable.

And there was no way Yu-geon didn't know about the ability everyone at the Center was aware of. It was precisely because of that ability that she'd been slated for deployment into a Human Gate the moment an esper was matched to her. As long as the esper entering with her wasn't a total deadweight, there would be no problems whatsoever.

Yet even knowing all this, the fact that Yu-geon still worried made him seem like a good person to her.

Handsome face and a warm heart, huh.

So that's why pretty faces only get to be cocky—the looks and the decency never come together.

"Should an emergency arise, press the red button on your device. The special management team will enter immediately."

"Yes, yes, of course."

If I'd known an executive director would come all this way to explain things, I should've grabbed some low-rampage-rate esper ages ago and begged my way into the Human Gate.

Yu-geon continued his calm, measured explanation of the Human Gate.

So virtuous. I wish this briefing were even longer.

With the most studious eyes she'd ever worn, Seo-ah kept nodding along as she watched him.

Eun-chan left the Management Bureau with Team Leader Kim Han and headed for the quarantine zone where the Human Gate was located. On the way, he found himself remembering the day he'd first arrived at the Center.

Eun-chan had never been particularly interested in other people's conversations.

All he'd planned to do back then was get his rank assessment, find Seo-ah on the way home, and tell her he'd awakened.

Her face is going to be pretty entertaining.

Eun-chan had been thinking only of how he'd tease her when a conversation between other awakeners drifted into his ears.

"I want to see that guide with my own eyes. I was so curious I hung around the Center all day hoping to run into her, but no luck."

"Who? Oh, you mean the S-class guide?"

There was only one S-class guide at the Center. Eun-chan's gaze naturally drifted toward them.

"You've heard the stories, then. Crazy, right?"

"You'd get torn apart too. Apparently nobody even approaches her anymore—she stares at guys like they're bugs, and everyone comes away hurt."

Torn apart? Seo-ah goes around rejecting people?

This Lee Seo-ah?

Eun-chan scratched at an eyebrow, frowning thoughtfully.

Well, she does have exacting taste when it comes to men.

Nobody knew better than Eun-chan that even as a lifelong virgin, Seo-ah wasn't uninterested in men. He'd just always assumed she had her own standards.

As it happened, Eun-chan was quite popular himself. Women lined up for him; some went to absurd lengths just to get a date with him, and he'd even had a stalker or two. And yet Seo-ah, of all people...

"If you want a relationship that badly, just date me."

"Are you insane? You and me?"

Remembering how she'd recoiled in disgust at what had been a joking remark left him feeling a little sour.

Now that I think about it, it's actually funny. What's so wrong with me?

To be fair, he hadn't brought it up with any real intention of dating her either. She'd seemed so desperate for romance that he'd figured, half as a joke, he might throw her a date or two—and she'd reacted like the offer itself was a disease.

Eun-chan rose from his seat and headed for the water purifier.

"Wait, so she really does reject people?"

"Yep. Straight-up, to their faces. That's why she still doesn't have a partner."

"Seriously, how big does a dick have to be to satisfy this woman?"

"Pfft—!"

Dammit.

Eun-chan spat out the water he'd been drinking.

...Dick size?

Wearing an expression of utter bewilderment, he approached the group.

"So you're telling me the S-class guide filters men by dick size?"

With his towering height and a body hardened by training, his shadow fell over the men the moment he stood before them.

"Excuse me?"

"What you just said—I need to know if it's true."

Eun-chan forced himself to hold onto his sanity as he asked.

"Oh! The guide, right? Yes, it's true—she's famous. S-class guide Lee Seo-ah. Known for turning down partners based on dick size."

"Haha."

Seo-ah, what on earth have you been doing at this Center?

Eun-chan didn't believe every word of it. But then, Seo-ah did pull the occasional batshit stunt.

She does have a bit of a pervert streak, come to think of it.

"So how big were the guys who got rejected?"

Well, obviously anything less than huge gets shot down on sight.

Eun-chan was confident.

He just had no idea he was about to prove that confidence to Seo-ah in person.