Zero Point

#006

“I’m sorry about this. When they heard that the White Tiger Guild Master and an S-class Guide were coming, everyone got excited… They’re not usually like this. Haha.”

The man laughed with an embarrassed look.

“It’s fine. Let’s head to the examination room instead.”

Choi Hanseo said with a relaxed expression.

“Yes, yes. Let’s go to the wavelength examination room quickly.”

The man, suddenly regaining his composure, began guiding them again.

With each door they passed through, the number of people they saw decreased, and the color of the corridors gradually turned whiter.

Eunseok glanced at Choi Hanseo walking beside him as they moved. Sensing the gaze, Choi Hanseo turned his head to look at Eunseok.

“How far are you coming with me?”

Eunseok asked, to which Choi Hanseo gave a slight eye smile.

“All the way.”

Choi Hanseo answered simply.

Do as you wish.

Instead of objecting, Eunseok diligently moved his feet.

The place they arrived at wasn’t much different from what he had imagined. Large monitors lined up, and beneath them, keyboards and various mechanical devices filled one wall.

There was a large glass window on the wall, and beyond it, in a white space, was a chair that could seat one person, surrounded by various machines. Presumably, that chair was where Eunseok would sit for the examination.

“Mr. Lee Eunseok, you can sit comfortably in that chair inside. There’s no harm to your body, we’ll just attach patches and electrode devices to your head and body, so don’t worry.”

“Understood.”

“Hunters and Guides each have their own unique wavelength. In your case, you’ve been confirmed as S-class, but your wavelength information is unregistered. Once this wavelength examination is complete, your matching rate with all hunters registered with the Hunter Association will be automatically calculated. This troublesome examination will be just this once.”

“Noted.”

Eunseok briefly replied and was about to cross through the door leading beyond the glass window when he paused momentarily. He turned his gaze to Choi Hanseo, who was standing leisurely with one hand in his suit pants pocket.

“What is it?”

Choi Hanseo asked, slightly curling the corner of his mouth as he received the gaze.

“Will you be watching the whole time?”

When Eunseok asked, Choi Hanseo nodded.

“If you’ll allow it.”

Since there wasn’t anything particularly embarrassing to show, Eunseok nodded and followed a person in a white gown into the white space.

“You can sit back comfortably here.”

The middle-aged man in the gown pointed to the chair. The chair, covered in white leather, was similar in shape to those commonly seen in dental offices.

As Eunseok sat in the chair, people in white gowns who had been standing in the corner of the examination room approached with machines.

“Now, this won’t hurt.”

The man in the gown said as he attached patches connected with wires to Eunseok’s temples and forehead. As Eunseok remained still, they lifted his top to attach patches to his chest and clipped metal clamps to his wrists and ankles. It was a mix of an electrocardiogram and brain wave examination.

“Now, we’ll start the examination. It will take about 20 minutes.”

The man in the gown said and stepped back. The gowned individuals filed out of the white room. Left alone in the room, Eunseok closed his eyes, suppressing his nerves that were on edge from the unfamiliar environment.

[We’re starting the examination. Please don’t move. Breathe slowly as usual.]

A woman’s voice came from the speaker. Then, as if signaling the start, a beep- machine sound rang once.

Although it seemed the examination had started, there was no physical stimulation as the kind explanation had promised. It felt almost too simple to be an examination.

Eunseok felt an intense gaze upon him. Even with his eyes closed, he was certain that gaze belonged to Choi Hanseo. Naturally, his thoughts drifted to Choi Hanseo.

A man threatening even by simple physical conditions. With his ability on top of that, Choi Hanseo was undoubtedly a formidable force.

According to what he had investigated, even a single B-grade ability user could devastate an entire military base. An A-grade could completely destroy a city. Then, an S-grade… they were monsters capable of wiping out more than half the territory of this small country, Korea.

It was fortunate that such monsters possessed human reason and intelligence. While thinking this, Eunseok secretly wanted to see that man’s combat, cleverly packaged in a gentlemanly appearance, firsthand. If he entered a gate with him, he would surely be able to see such a sight as he expected.

Espers enter gates that occur sporadically to neutralize the gates themselves. They are also deployed when undetected or uncleared gates burst open and monstrous creatures pour out. Dealing with mutant species excluding humans is also the job of Espers.

But Guides are tasked with supporting Espers from the rear. Guides have no physical differences from ordinary people except for their ability to regulate and calm Espers’ wavelengths. Therefore, they are always the top priority for protection. Only in the very beginning, when ability users were recklessly thrown into gates like consumables, were Guides thrown in together.

Guides, physically no different from ordinary people, died first inside the gates, and as the number of Guides drastically decreased, leaving no means to control Espers, the Espers’ rampages followed like a curse. Only after numerous such sacrifices did the government recognize the importance of Guides and establish guidelines for their protection. Now, they prioritize the protection of Guides even over ordinary people.

Eunseok didn’t like this point. It was frustrating enough not being able to fight on the front lines, but to become a simple object of protection? Such treatment was unbearable. He would rather be rolling around on a construction site. In such a situation, Choi Hanseo’s proposal to enter a gate together couldn’t help but be sweeter than honey.

Beep-.

[The examination is over. Please remain still for a moment.]

A woman’s voice came from the speaker. When he opened his eyes, he saw gowned figures entering through the door. They approached and removed the attachments from his body with familiar hands.

“Thank you for your patience. You can leave now.”

Eunseok got up from the chair and left the white room. He re-entered the room full of large monitors and machines, but no one paid attention to him. The same was true for Choi Hanseo.

Eunseok turned his eyes to the large screen mounted on the upper wall that people were staring at as if entranced. There, a screen that seemed to be expressing Eunseok’s wavelength occupied half of it. And on the other half of the screen, strings of text were scrolling up.

“…Good heavens!”

Someone exclaimed in astonishment. As if in agreement, sounds of sharp inhales and exhales followed.

⁝

Kim ** (A-grade) | Matching rate 75%

Lee ** (A-grade) | Matching rate 78%

Park ** (A-grade) | Matching rate 82%

Han ** (A-grade) | Matching rate 67%

Moon ** (A-grade) | Matching rate 72%

Yang ** (A-grade) | Matching rate 69%

Yoon ** (A-grade) | Matching rate 77%

⁝

The screen continued to scroll, pouring out matching rates between Eunseok and the Espers affiliated with the Hunter Association.

Although he didn’t know the details, Eunseok could sense that such high matching rates with the majority of Espers was a very rare occurrence.

“W-we need to check until the end to be sure, but based on the data output so far, it’s expected that Mr. Lee Eunseok will have an average matching rate of over 70 percent with almost all hunters…”

The man in the gown said with a trembling voice.

There was no need to ask if this was good news. The faces of those staring entranced at the matching rates quickly moving on to B-grade clearly showed an emotion that could only be described as elation.

Including Espers serving mandatory service for the state, there were only 2 S-grade Espers in the country.

Given that the matching data was going from higher grades to lower, the matching rate with S-grade Espers would have appeared at the very beginning. Eunseok became curious about his matching rate with Choi Hanseo.

When he looked at Choi Hanseo, the man who had been fixated on the screen turned to look at Eunseok right on cue. The man’s eyes, which had always seemed languid and bored, now shone with an unusual light as they directly gazed at Eunseok.

“What about you and me?”

Eunseok asked his question straight away. The man’s expressionless face, which had been staring at Eunseok with that unusual light, suddenly relaxed all at once. A faint smile, which he seemed to always wear, spread across his face.

“What do you think it might be?”

Choi Hanseo asked in return. Eunseok, not feeling it worth answering, silently tilted his head to the side. Choi Hanseo’s smile deepened slightly. A strong male-specific leisureliness emanated from him.

“98 percent.”

The answer came not from Choi Hanseo, but from the middle-aged man in a white gown who had been blankly staring at the screen. The middle-aged man, speaking with a slightly trembling voice, pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses and spoke again towards Eunseok.

“The matching rate with the White Tiger Guild Master was… 98 percent.”