Beyond The Control

Chapter 1

There are days like that in life. Days when things seem to progress smoothly, and small bits of luck seem to follow you.

For me, today was one of those days. Unusually, I woke up with a start without an alarm, put on clothes that were fresh and fluffy from yesterday’s laundry, and caught the bus that comes every 30 minutes in just 3 minutes, heading towards the guild building.

That wasn’t all. The breakfast menu at the cafeteria I went to right after arriving at work was full of things I liked. Thanks to that, I filled my stomach to the brim from the morning, to the point where my belt felt tight. Well, in fact, there’s no food I don’t like.

My steps towards the upstairs office were as light as my full stomach. Passing through a corridor no different from any other company, I came across a door with a neat sign that read ‘Team 3’.

Click.

As a member of the team, I boldly opened the door and went inside. Kim Young-joo, who was just putting down her handbag on her desk, greeted me first cheerfully.

“You’re here?”

“Yeah, good morning.”

Kim Young-joo, B-class guide. Self-proclaimed and widely acknowledged earring maniac.

With her boyish style short haircut and love for flashy and bling-bling earrings, Kim Young-joo is the only person of the same age in the team and one of the four guides belonging to Team 3. She’s also a grateful friend who willingly guides me, the mutant-like anomaly.

“Want some coffee?”

“Sure. I’ll go make it.”

The pantry set up on one side of the office is my second favorite place after the cafeteria. If the cafeteria is the light, the pantry is like the salt.

That’s because the pantry was full of all kinds of snacks and drinks. There were cookies and bread, and an expensive coffee machine available for unlimited use. If I had a little less conscience, I’d want to spend my vacation time rolling around here.

‘But that’s probably just me.’

The so-called successful team members rarely even come near the pantry. They’re often out of their seats, and even when they’re in the office, they don’t touch cheap snacks. They were people living in a world very different from mine, who could drink even lye if it was free.

Today, too, the office was empty. This was because Team 3-1, led by the team leader, had left the day before yesterday to conquer a new dungeon.

Why did I stay behind, you ask?

‘Sigh.’

Thinking about the bandage on my leg made me sigh involuntarily. The injury I sustained during the last raid when I went out as an Esper was still holding me back.

I desperately insisted that only a scar remained now, that there was no problem, but I couldn’t move the team leader’s heart, which was harder than stone. Because of the firm principle that the body is life, I had been relegated to sitting in the office doing odd jobs for nearly a month now. Or occasionally receiving calls and providing guiding.

When every penny counts, it’s maddening.

“It’s quiet today too.”

“Yeah.”

I agreed readily with Kim Young-joo’s words while sipping my coffee. As they say, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone – when the energetic people were largely absent, the already spacious office looked even more empty.

“By the way, did you hear that news? About the Esper who recently received an S-class rating.”

“I know.”

How could I not know when the office was in an uproar all of last week?

No, to exaggerate a bit, the whole of South Korea was in chaos. From mundane headlines like ‘Who is Korea’s ninth S-class Esper in history?’ to cringe-worthy ones like ‘Discovery of a Great Legacy’ and ‘Birth of Another Hero!’, articles dominated the front pages of mass media for days, spotlighting one person.

Of course, I came across the articles too, and when I saw the photo printed as big as a door, I clicked my tongue bitterly. Born with a silver spoon and now an S-class Awakened. The world is truly unfair.

“There’s a rumor that person is coming to our guild.”

I was a bit surprised by the following words. Satisfied with my reaction, Kim Young-joo continued excitedly.

“Sung-min said he saw that person in the lobby on the first floor on his way home yesterday. He said the person stood out even with a hat and mask on.”

Given his ghost-like keen eye, there was a high possibility it was true. My mouth felt a bit bitter again.

“If it’s true, the Guild Master must have spent a fortune.”

“I think he might have gone broke?”

About 15 years ago from now, simultaneous anomalous phenomena occurred all over the world. Unidentified black hole-like entrances suddenly appeared.

Korea was no exception. Starting with the first sighting by an elderly village chief couple farming in a quiet countryside, more than ten additional ones were discovered within a day.

The peaceful curiosity didn’t last long. The very next day, the red light surrounding the entrance flickered more and more intensely, and then creatures that looked like they belonged in a movie poured out. From that moment, the order and common sense of the world were completely destroyed.

Every time what is now commonly called a ‘dungeon’ or ‘dome’ appeared, the surrounding area was devastated, and hundreds or thousands of people lost their lives overnight.

It was around this time that people with unusual powers began to appear. In life-or-death crisis situations, they exhibited superhuman abilities that even they didn’t know they had.

The types of abilities were diverse. As associations to manage these so-called Awakened quickly emerged in each country, they broadly categorized them into three classifications.

‘Espers’ who directly participate in combat with physical or mental abilities, ‘Guides’ who remove and stabilize the Unfit Energy that causes Espers to go berserk, and lastly, ‘Dual Awakened’ who possess both Esper and Guide abilities in one body, rarer even than S-class in terms of ratio.

They have two things in common. First, as mentioned, they are classified as Awakened with supernatural abilities. Second, and this is more important to me: whether Esper or Guide, the higher their rating, the more astronomical their value.

If Kim Young-joo’s words are true, that is, if our guild really has recruited that S-class Esper, I don’t know for sure, but they must have uprooted at least two building pillars.

“I hope they come to our team. They’re so handsome too.”

Kim Young-joo excitedly turned on her tablet PC and even showed me the picture. I glanced at the screen, pretending to be reluctant. A close-up photo caught my eye, though I have no idea where she found it.

“Look. Isn’t he handsome?”

“…Yeah.”

Rather than handsome, he’s surprisingly pretty. I thought he’d be rugged like Gi-tae hyung.

“To think he’s S-class with that face, it’s totally awesome. If I hear any other news, I’ll let you know right away.”

“Okay.”

I answered lifelessly and headed to my seat. I gulped down the remaining coffee in one go and turned on the computer that had been resting all night.

Even though I’m unwillingly stuck guarding the office, there’s still plenty to do. The top priority task was to log into the guild-exclusive data room, which boasts thorough security.

‘Oh, there it is.’

I immediately clicked on the one with a ‘NEW’ notification among several lists on the left. Detailed information about the dungeon that Team D had conquered the day before yesterday was recorded.

‘B-class cave type with slimes moving in groups… Everyone must have had a tough time.’

I diligently engraved in my mind the dungeon types, monster species, battle patterns, etc., listed in text, simulating them in my head. It might be a meaningless task to someone else, but not to me. To be frank, for someone like me who’s not much as a guide or an Esper, acquiring dungeon-related knowledge was as important as eating three meals a day. After all, this information becomes my blood and flesh.

Beep beep- Beep beep-

Just then, the device sitting quietly on the desk made a small sound.

What’s this, a guiding request?

I quickly checked, but it wasn’t. Instead, an unfamiliar phone number was displayed on the screen.

‘Who could it be?’

The work device is, as the name suggests, a guild-exclusive communication device that can’t be connected to regular phones or mobile phones. In other words, it meant the call was from someone or somewhere within the guild. So I quickly answered the phone.

“Hello?”

– Is this Esper Lee Su-hyeon? This is Park Sang-chul, the head of Human Resource Management.

Gasp.

“Hello, sir.”

As soon as I heard who it was, I instinctively straightened up. The Human Resource Management department is a core department within the guild that has a New Member Education Team under it, educating newly recruited guild members and directly involved in combat team composition.

For a small fry like me, it’s a place I’d never have a reason to go near… Getting a direct call from the department head, not even just an employee, made me wonder what this could be about. Did they call the wrong person?

– Are you in the office? Come up to the Human Resource Management department right away. You don’t need to report to your superiors.

“Me, sir?”

– Yes.

What’s this, it seems they’re really calling for me?

‘But why?’

My survival instinct kicked in, and my mind started racing. Is it because I just accessed the dungeon conquest report? No, that can’t be it. It’s something I’ve been doing for years in the office.

Or is it because I ate three bowls of rice at the cafeteria from the morning? Or maybe because I use the pantry too often?

This can’t be… To think I have so many things to feel guilty about.

– Come up right away. I’ll be waiting.

With that, the call abruptly ended. I stood up from my seat, filled with anxiety.