TGIC Ch 4

Chapter 4

“Ah! You’re the new guide scheduled to start today, right?”

Just as I was seriously considering getting back on the elevator I had just stepped out of, an employee passing through the hallway spotted me and approached.

They looked to be around my age, with a bright and energetic face. Believing the fleeting vision of dying from overwork had just been a misperception, I nodded and answered.

“Yes, I’m Guide Kwon Gidam, a C-rank guide starting work in the Temporary Guide Department today.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Guide Jo Wooyeon, B-rank. Shall we head inside first?”

Seeing his kind smile, I reassured myself that it really had been just my imagination. Right, maybe the people here just really like coffee.

I deliberately ignored the ominous signs stacked at the entrance and followed the staff member who had come to guide me.

As soon as I arrived, I was assigned to the same team as Jo Wooyeon. After greeting the team members, I underwent another wave spectrum test.

Since wave patterns tend to be unstable right after awakening, this follow-up test was conducted to ensure accuracy, but unsurprisingly, there were no significant changes. Once it was confirmed that there were no issues with performing my duties, training officially began.

“Guide Kwon Gidam, you have a broad guiding spectrum, so you’ll mostly be assigned Espers that other temporary guides have difficulty guiding.”

“Does that include higher-ranked Espers as well?”

“They’ll be assigned according to your rank, so try not to worry too much.”

I asked the question just in case, but Jo Wooyeon simply laughed and shook his head. Good to know that this workplace still operated with some common sense. I grinned in satisfaction.

After receiving a brief explanation of my duties from Jo Wooyeon, I watched him conduct a guiding session. Temporary guiding was absurdly simple. You just sit in a single-room guiding chamber, embrace the Esper for about an hour to provide contact guiding, and then write up a guiding report afterward.

Is that really all there is to it?

It was even simpler than I’d expected, leaving me a bit bewildered. Of course, guiding—even just by holding hands—was physically draining, so I’d probably feel tired afterward. But compared to fighting life-and-death battles in Gates, just sitting and guiding felt completely foreign.

I was truly glad I’d escaped from being Vasily’s guide.

Under Vasily’s command, I had to undergo combat training at dawn every day, enter Gates, fight monsters, and then guide him once the mission was over. Thinking about it now, it was sheer madness.

The morning was spent on simple job orientation and observing temporary guiding sessions. In the afternoon, I began working right away.

As Jo Wooyeon had mentioned, the Espers assigned to me were mostly C-rank or lower. Guiding low-ranked Espers was easy. Even before returning to the past, I had always shown high compatibility rates with most Espers as a versatile S-rank guide. Compared to that guy, these cases were nothing.

However…

Temporary guiding was busy, busy, and more busy.

Rumors had long spread about the staff shortage, and they weren’t wrong. Even on my first day, I was assigned far more Espers than the recommended guiding limit.

I spent the entire day guiding like a machine, and by the time work ended, I was practically a corpse when I got home. Even though it was just light contact guiding, the sheer volume drained all my energy.

Normally, this amount of guiding wouldn’t affect me, but maybe it was the suppression chip. After guiding, I’d get fevers and severe headaches, likely due to the chip implanted in the back of my neck. Once work was over and I got home, I’d collapse and have to take that strange pill before even thinking about getting up.

“Ah… I’m gonna die…”

I managed to endure the first few days, but after repeating the same routine for a whole week, it felt like hell.

It had only been a week since I started, and already I felt like I was going to drop dead from overwork. I deeply regretted underestimating temporary guiding as an easy job. I was now dragging myself to work while guzzling energy tonics on an empty stomach and felt like I could collapse at any moment.

This couldn’t go on. I needed a plan.

Even before sitting at my desk, I peeked over the partition. Sensing my presence, Jo Wooyeon looked over and flinched when he saw my exhausted eyes.

“Gidam? Do you have a question?”

“You’re scheduled for Gate deployment tomorrow, right?”

The moment the word “deployment” left my mouth, Jo Wooyeon’s expression visibly darkened.

“Yes… I just went not too long ago, and now it’s already my turn again…”

“Could I go in your place?”

“What? Deployment?”

His voice instantly brightened.

Jo Wooyeon’s face lit up. He was probably so happy because most people strongly avoided going near Gates.

Gate zones were dangerous for ordinary people, and whenever monsters escaped, casualties were almost guaranteed. That’s one of the main reasons why temporary guides were unpopular even within the association. The accident rate was quite high, so everyone tried to avoid those missions.

Great, judging by his reaction, he might just take the bait.

But just when it looked like he would gladly accept my offer, his face turned somber again.

“You wouldn’t know since you haven’t been yet, but Gate deployments are tough… Once the operation begins, wounded Espers keep getting carried out… You have to guide them until they reach the hospital… People die right in front of you, and if you’re unlucky, monsters could break out too.”

“I know. But I really want to try it. Would it be okay?”

“But…”

“Please? I signed up to be a temporary guide because I wanted field experience.”

I smoothly lied with a smile. Of course, saying I wanted to go out into the field was the opposite of how I actually felt, having already spent countless days trudging through Gates.

“Hmm…” Jo Wooyeon seemed unable to make a decision. The offer was tempting, but he looked hesitant.

“All right…”

After much deliberation, he finally nodded. It felt wrong to dump the task on a rookie, but the temptation had won him over.

As he explained the duties I’d be taking over, his expression steadily brightened. Standing beside my now-cheerful colleague, I sighed in relief.

Back when I was Vasily’s guide, I often saw temporary guides at Gates. They usually yawned with bored expressions and withdrew faster than anyone else once the operation was complete.

According to Jo Wooyeon, once I arrived at the Gate, I just needed to provide light contact guiding to any Esper who requested it. If someone was critically injured, I’d accompany them to the hospital and give emergency guiding. Otherwise, I could go home right after the mission ended. Even better, I could rest the next day and submit a simple report.

Sure, it wasn’t appealing for guides who had never approached a Gate—deaths were common, and monsters often ran amok. But for me, it couldn’t be more convenient.

Most Gates that appeared in Korea were low-ranked and were usually cleared within a day unless they were exceptionally large. There were no overnight missions either. I clearly remembered the major Gates, so I could just avoid those and volunteer for the others.

Ah, just imagining it already feels relaxing.

I finally felt like I could breathe again. Waiting outside a Gate until the operation ended might get boring, but that was far better than exhausting myself to death.

I clenched my fist tightly.

Yeah. This has got to be way easier than being a guiding machine all day long. As long as I don’t get unlucky and run into a rampaging monster, it’s practically like taking a short vacation.

This would finally be the start of a sweet, easy life!

The very next morning, I headed straight for the Gate.

At the crack of dawn, I boarded a shuttle bus in front of the guide association with the other guides and set off for the Gate. Since it was my first deployment, I was paired with a senior guide for formal training.

“Is this your first time today? Did someone explain what you’ll be doing?”

“Yes. I heard I need to provide quick guiding to Espers before they enter the Gate, or give emergency guiding if there are any critical cases until they reach the hospital.”

I hadn’t yet experienced a Gate deployment as a temporary guide, but I had heard a brief explanation from Jo Wooyeon yesterday, and I had often watched them from afar with envy. So I had a general idea of what my role would be. The senior guide asked a few questions, then quickly wrapped up, apparently deciding there wasn’t much else to explain.