Beyond The Control

Chapter 3

However, my heart started to race a little again. It was an instinctive tension before facing a significant result.

Eventually, my gaze turned to the central monitor. In the early days, it took an hour or two after the test for results to come out, but now they were available immediately.

I wasn’t the only one looking at the monitor screen. Director Park Sang-chul was also staring at the same spot with his arms crossed and an extremely serious expression.

A moment later.

“Good heavens!”

An exclamation broke the silence. The person who made the sound was Director Park. He always had a wrinkle between his brows like a stoic impressionist painter, and it was almost the first time I’d seen him express such intense emotion.

I couldn’t hide my surprise either. It was because of the large number that finally appeared on the monitor.

[S-class Esper Song Ji-hyeok – C-class Guide Lee Su-hyeon

Matching rate 82.27%]

It was an incredible figure that was hard to believe even after seeing it.

***

Even after leaving the examination room, Director Park couldn’t hide his excitement. His face, where exhaustion and vitality coexisted, was almost uncomfortable to look at.

We headed to the Human Resource Management Director’s office. As soon as we each sat on the sofa, a formal three-way meeting began. The leader was, of course, Director Park.

“First, let’s introduce you two. This is Lee Su-hyeon, a promising guide in our guild.”

An awkward forced smile appeared on my face. Calling a 7-year veteran a promising newcomer, not even a 7-day rookie, made my face flush.

“And this person, as you probably know without me saying, is Esper Song Ji-hyeok, who will strongly lead our guild from now on.”

I could feel the discrimination in the flowery words. But this is reality, so it can’t be helped.

Anyway, now it was my turn. I slightly rubbed my hands, which were starting to sweat, against my uniform. Then, with a big smile, I offered a handshake to Esper Song Ji-hyeok.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Su-hyeon.”

But the expected didn’t happen. What I mean is, Song Ji-hyeok’s hand didn’t move at all.

He only nodded slightly in response to my greeting. I could clearly see his smooth brow furrowing slightly, as if even that was reluctant.

What’s with this response?

“Ahem, ahem.”

If it weren’t for the Director’s timely fake cough, I would have continued staring at Song Ji-hyeok with a dumbfounded expression. Soon, the Director continued with a long speech.

“It was good that we pushed hard to bring Esper Song Ji-hyeok here somehow. Haha.”

“My intuition was correct. I knew he would be perfect for our guild, that’s what I mean.”

“The reason why the compatibility between an Esper and a Guide is important is…”

Although it started with the Director’s self-praise, I could sense the skillfulness in his words, subtly emphasizing that Song Ji-hyeok made the right choice in selecting our guild.

The guild boasting continued for a while. My ears perked up at the part about reputation followed by capital.

Capital. It’s important indeed. Forget about reputation or whatever. For me, who has a family to take care of for life, money was the most important thing.

But as I said, my reality is that I’m C-class as both an Esper and a Guide. If only one of them were B-class, my life would be much more prosperous, but such a miracle didn’t come even after several years. On the contrary, I was grateful just for not falling further.

But today, a lottery ticket-like guy fell from the sky.

The unpleasantness faded, and a hopeful future unfolded in my mind. In my imagination, I was leisurely waving bundles of dollars, enjoying a vacation on some quiet beach.

The me who used to be desperate for even a thousand-won bill is now gone, that’s what I mean. Although I seemed to have gotten a taste of his temper, anyway, if I could form a pair contract with an S-class Esper…

“Wait a moment.”

Now I’m about to join the ranks of the nouveau riche, no, millionaires…

“Let me ask one thing.”

An unfamiliar voice broke my daydream. It was Song Ji-hyeok, who had been silent all along, who opened his mouth.

I was a bit surprised because his voice was lower than I expected. Just looking at his face, you’d think he’d have a soft, fluffy voice, but he’s unpredictable in many ways.

“Go ahead.”

The Director still had a beaming, happy face. On the other hand, Song Ji-hyeok glanced at me with an indifferent side-eye and opened his mouth again.

“What’s the matching rate with the person who’s the next best match for me after this person?”

I couldn’t help but look at Song Ji-hyeok with a surprised expression. Disappointingly, the Director immediately answered that question.

“It was over 68 percent. Of course, it’s high, but…”

“What’s their grade?”

The spirited newcomer abruptly cut off the Director’s words. Thanks to that, what I was unsure about became a bit clearer. It seems his nasty personality is no joke from the start.

Anyway, I was curious too. I looked at the Director, desperately hoping it would be a C-class like me, or at least a B-class. But the goddess of luck wasn’t on my side.

“A-class.”

My heart sank at the calm answer. Disappointment washed over me immediately. Of all things, it had to be A-class.

While the extremely rare S-class Awakened were symbolic figures, it was the A-class Awakened who actually led battles or provided guiding with vast energy.

Although they might seem relatively numerous compared to S-class, I know that the proportion of A-class among registered Awakened is less than 5 percent. Among them, guides are even rarer.

‘And a matching rate of 68 percent at that.’

It was sufficiently high, just slightly below the 70 percent that’s the standard for pair contracts. I’m living proof of that. I’ve had countless matching rate tests with numerous Espers, but the highest I ever got was 65 percent, and that was only once.

Anyway, the point is this:

C-class guide with an unprecedented 82 percent matching rate vs. A-class guide with a sufficiently excellent 68 percent matching rate.

‘If only I were B-class, I’d insist hard…’

I’m confident in being thick-skinned, but even that depends on the situation. Knowing too well how good an A-class guide’s abilities are, I couldn’t brazenly tell him to choose me.

Instead, I looked at Song Ji-hyeok with all the desperation of the universe. Please… Please…

But it was useless. Without even looking at me, Song Ji-hyeok continued in a dry voice.

“Then I’ll go to that team.”

It was the moment when my anxious premonition sadly became reality.

I couldn’t say anything and just opened and closed my mouth like a carp. Soon, I dropped my head in resignation.

‘I guess that’s how it is.’

It’s not even disappointing since it was predictable from the moment I heard that the guide with the second-highest matching rate was A-class… Bull.

Damn it. I feel like I’m going crazy with disappointment. Although I’m trying to sit there pretending to be okay, inside I’m a mess like a typhoon has swept through. Disappointment and self-loathing rushed in uncontrollably. Beyond disappointment, even anger set in.

‘Is this “pine worms should only eat pine needles”? You could give a special meal once in a while!’

If it was going to be like this, they shouldn’t have gotten me excited in the first place.

I felt like grabbing the goddess of luck by the collar and shaking her vigorously.

My reddened eyes turned repeatedly to the seat next to me.

‘Should I grab that bastard’s collar instead?’

…Let’s not. I’d probably be punished before I could even reach him. I couldn’t add more injuries when I was just about healed.

“That’s not possible.”

But then, the Director’s voice was heard again. Wondering what this meant, I stopped my internal raging and looked at the Director.

“As stated in the Awakened Association guidebook provided upon contract signing, the pairing contract between an Esper and a Guide prioritizes matching rate above all else. This applies without exception to any guild or any Awakened.”

“There’s no such thing.”

“Here it is.”

Song Ji-hyeok tried to flare up again, but was sharply cut off by the Director.

“This is no joke. It’s already a well-established fact through numerous real-world experiences and research that a higher matching rate leads to superior guiding efficiency, not just higher grades being unconditionally better. Therefore, it’s a principle that an Esper should primarily receive help from the guide with the highest matching rate.”

Frankly speaking, if a person of his position spoke like this to a newbie, most would have cowered and bowed their heads. But Song Ji-hyeok was no pushover.

“What if they can’t receive it primarily?”

“Pardon?”

“From what I’ve seen, it’s not a one-to-one matching, but one guide takes care of multiple Espers. What happens when I urgently need guiding, but the guide with the highest matching rate for me is with someone else?”

Wow… This guy is really something else.

The Director seemed to feel similar to me. He looked at Song Ji-hyeok with an expression that said, ‘What kind of bastard is this?’ and belatedly answered with a voice mixed with a sigh.

“…It depends on the situation.”

“Please explain specifically.”

“Ah, I’ll explain! I’ll explain!”

Finally, the Director burst out in anger. He looks like he might collapse from high blood pressure at this rate… It’s almost admirable how he’s still fulfilling his duty in the midst of this.

“If it’s bearable, you wait, and in urgent cases, you get put on the priority waiting list. …If the waiting time seems long, we sometimes look for another guide as a temporary measure.”

“So you’re saying there’s flexibility.”

“Only when it’s unavoidable! Otherwise, we must strictly follow the principle.”

“Yes. I like following principles too.”

Why does it sound like he wants to destroy them…

I thought he might overturn the table in extreme anger, but the Director was a much more patient adult than I thought. Whew, he let out a big sigh as if to show us, and then stepped back to propose a compromise. Of course, that compromise was as painful to me as cutting flesh.

“I understand what you’re saying. However, since we can’t ignore the principle from the start, please receive guiding from Guide Lee Su-hyeon for the first month, which is the new employee training period. After that, you can also try receiving guiding from an A-class guide, and then make a final decision. I can’t compromise any further than this.”

“Yes, thank you for your consideration.”

“…Consideration my ass.”

I heard him mutter quietly. Then the Director, looking like he had aged 10 years in that moment, issued an order for us to leave.

“We’ll start the training right away, so please wait outside for a moment. Guide Lee Su-hyeon, you stay here.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Yes. That’s all.”

Then Song Ji-hyeok got up from where he was leaning on the sofa. He nodded carelessly as if to say ‘good job,’ and left the office without even looking at me.

Thud-

As soon as the door closed, the Director pressed his temples and shook his head.