Episode 4: Guiding—What Is It, and How Do You Do It? (1)

“Well… Wait a minute. Why are you suddenly so articulate? Is this part of your drunken antics too, maybe?”

“Hehe, maybe it is? So, where are you headed, unni? I’m about to head to work.”

“I’m going to the Association to get some info on Baek Ju-yul. Do you want a ride?”

In truth, So-dam was feeling a bit hopeless at the moment because, no matter how much she searched, she couldn’t find her wallet anywhere in the house.

To get from her home to the Association, she’d need to use public transportation, but she couldn’t find her transit card or any cash.

She could choose to walk… but even though she felt like she was freezing to death, the thought of walking for almost two hours under the scorching summer sun in winter clothes was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

Aside from the physical exhaustion, walking around in winter gear in the middle of summer would likely result in a few police reports filed against her.

Given her situation, there was no way she could refuse Hyun-ju’s offer, which felt like a lifesaver. Overwhelmed with joy, So-dam grabbed Hyun-ju’s hand and, almost tearing up, said,

“Unni, you’re a goddess. From today onward, I want to serve you for life.”

“Goodness, your tongue is slick as ever. Get ready quickly. It’s not just me—you’ll be in trouble if you’re late too, right?”

“Yes, unni!”

“I’ll be out in a flash, so please wait just a teeny bit longer!”

“Oh my, anyone would think you’re trying to escape or something, huh? Take your time; I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes, yes!”

So-dam, who had answered brightly, quickly made her way to the bathroom. She didn’t even notice how neatly the bathroom was arranged, in contrast to the rest of the messy room.

She hastily splashed some cold water on her face and brushed her teeth. Just as she was about to leave, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and paused for a moment in thought.

Her outfit—a hoodie and sweatpants—was fine. After all, she wasn’t working a desk job, so there was no need to dress formally. She just needed to go, do the Guiding, and return.

In her hurry to not keep Hyun-ju waiting, she focused on tidying up her appearance, paying more attention to whether her hoodie was gray or black than to the fact that she might not even be wearing proper undergarments.

This small oversight would lead to consequences that So-dam couldn’t possibly imagine at the moment.

Having finished her preparations in a flash, she started searching for her wallet one last time when something finally caught her eagle-like gaze. The reason she hadn’t noticed it earlier was likely because it had gotten buried under the books when the desk collapsed.

“…A will?”

The thin wallet lying on top of the crumpled paper no longer held So-dam’s attention. Instead, her eyes were drawn to the black writing that filled the page.

The handwriting was nearly illegible, suggesting that the owner of this body had terrible penmanship. The words were scrawled across half of an A4-sized sheet, and although the sentences were disjointed and unclear, the gist could be summarized as follows:

“Baek Ju-yul is using Guiding as an excuse to kill Guides one by one.”

“What nonsense. He’s just too overwhelmingly powerful for F-class Guides to handle. How does that equate to him killing Guides?”

Moreover, according to the original story, the only person who actually died after Guiding Ju-yul was Maeng Guide, the character So-dam had now become. And even she hadn’t died because of excessive Guiding, so the claim that Ju-yul had directly killed someone was baseless.

Of course, for an F-class Guide, who barely made ends meet by Guiding low-ranked Espers, the intense strain of Guiding someone like Ju-yul could indeed have been overwhelming.

But that didn’t excuse pushing someone’s life into ruin.

“Probably in the original story, Hyun-ju unni found this first and exposed it. Yeah, that’s right. It was briefly mentioned in the narration—’The reporter who touched the sacred ground,’ or something like that.”

If the reporter was Hyun-ju, then the “sacred ground” naturally referred to Baek Ju-yul.

No matter how enticing a target he might have been, the titles and power backing him were formidable.

In other words, Hyun-ju was bold enough to ignore all that pressure and break a major story. Whether she did it out of care for So-dam or out of ambition, it didn’t really matter—either way, it wouldn’t harm So-dam.

“Wow, she’s actually a really good unni. I’m definitely going to keep her close. I’ll make her my best friend.”

As for Ju-yul, well, that was one thing, but when the time came, So-dam was determined to teach that rude B-class Guide a lesson, making sure they tasted the wrath of the press.

Dreaming of a brighter future, So-dam folded the will and stuffed it into the bookshelf, then quickly tied her disheveled hair and dashed out.

This time, her face was lit up with a genuine, beaming smile.

“Hyun-ju unni, let’s go! I’m all ready!”

With her wallet now in hand and a supportive unni by her side, So-dam felt as if she could face even the grumpiest version of Ju-yul from the original story without flinching.

‘I know this world’s future better than anyone, so what’s a protagonist to me? Easy!’

She puffed out her chest, armed with confidence as fragile as a balloon, which sadly didn’t take long to deflate.

As she confidently entered the grand building of the Association, So-dam was still full of self-assurance.

Even as the B-class Guide droned on, belittling her and listing precautions while leading her to Ju-yul, So-dam managed to ignore them, letting the words go in one ear and out the other.

But when she finally stepped into the Guiding room where Ju-yul was waiting…

“Thanks to a certain great Guide, I’m short on time, so let’s just get this Guiding over with.”

“Pardon? Oh, yes…”

‘Wow, his personality is killer. I never imagined he’d be this prickly since the original story didn’t show any scenes of him with Guides before everything went down.’

Just five minutes earlier, So-dam had been planning to boldly say everything on her mind to Ju-yul’s face.

But there were two crucial things that she, despite having memorized the original story down to every detail, had overlooked.

First, while reading the text, Ju-yul’s way of speaking might have come across as the cute meowing of a blue cat, but when spoken with a cold voice, it felt even colder and more painful than the chill of Siberia. Second, she had underestimated the impact of his appearance.

‘Fine, his way of speaking is one thing. But I thought his face wouldn’t affect me since it’s been plastered on the cover of the novel and I’ve seen it so many times in illustrations…’

As So-dam approached Ju-yul, her heart felt heavier than ever. No matter how sharp Ju-yul’s demeanor had been, she had once walked confidently. How had she come to this? To understand the reason, we need to rewind about “five minutes” to earlier.

* * *

“Ahem. Excuse me? This is Guide, Maeng So-dam.”

So-dam, with her shoulders slightly hunched, arrived at the Guiding room deep within the building. The first thing she did was knock. Despite the cautious inquiry, her hand pushing open the door was full of confidence.

What greeted her was a man sitting on a king-sized bed in a fairly spacious room.

He had a unique hair color that started snow-white and transitioned to a blue hue, as if a chunk of a glacier had been brought down from the North Pole. His eyes were a bright sky-blue, with long, lazy lashes fluttering gently. His smooth nose and lips, neither too thick nor too thin, completed his look.

In short, the official setting that his abilities and appearance were both SSS-class was perfectly justified as his face came into full view.

At that moment, So-dam truly understood what it meant to have your legs give out when seeing a handsome man. She nearly collapsed, but what saved her pride was the presence of Ju-yul sitting right in front of her.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and come over.”

“Oh, yes! I’m coming right now.”

Even during this brief, unremarkable first exchange, So-dam hadn’t entirely lost her confidence. Although she could sense an inexplicable hostility in Ju-yul’s gaze toward her, her baseless confidence was too strong to be shaken by such a subtle difference.

‘Well… after all, it’s the Esper who’s in danger if they don’t receive Guiding.’

Considering that Espers needed to receive “Guiding,” something only Guides could provide, on a regular basis, didn’t this make the Guide the one in the superior position in this relationship?

In other words, from So-dam’s perspective, there was no reason to be wary of Ju-yul.

However, as soon as Ju-yul began to speak in earnest, the confidence she had maintained, even in the face of his appearance, started to crumble rapidly.

“Did you say your name was Maeng Soda?”

“No, it’s Guide Maeng ‘So-dam’. Like the ‘dam’ in ‘dam wall.’”

“Well, whatever. Do you believe that an F-class can awaken into an S-class overnight?”

“What? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“I haven’t seen it myself, but I think it might be possible.”

As mentioned earlier, So-dam had memorized the original setting inside and out, so she couldn’t help but gape in astonishment at Ju-yul’s ridiculous question.