Episode 5
The members of Emergency Response Division 2 at the Center headquarters confirmed the following information.
One, Shim Yeongwon lost her parents when she was five years old, and after that, she grew up in an orphanage.
Two, from the age of sixteen onward, Shim Yeongwon had been locked up in a facility because of a supposed history of mental illness.
Three, unlike what the facility’s records claimed, Shim Yeongwon’s intellectual development was not stuck at the level of a seven-year-old.
Four, about a month ago, Shim Yeongwon awakened as an unregistered Guide. She was then secretly admitted to an Awakened Care Hospital under the control of a criminal organization.
Putting all of this together, they easily came up with the following scenario:
The orphanage and facility staff had falsified documents to receive government subsidies and kept the perfectly normal Shim Yeongwon locked up. Then, when Yeongwon suddenly awakened as an unregistered Guide one day, they contacted a criminal organization and tried to sell her to China.
Thanks to that, Yeongwon was given a role that she could fit into perfectly without having to add a single lie.
It was especially fortunate for Yeongwon because she didn’t have to worry about her ignorance of this world’s system giving away her identity and making people suspicious of her.
After spending the night at a hotel near Incheon, Yeongwon finally headed to the Yeoksam headquarters of the Awakened Reporting Center the next morning in a car driven by Guide Goyoryeon.
“First of all… If you want to understand what an unregistered Guide is, you’ll need to know what ‘unregistered’ means first.”
Yoryeon had her medium-length hair tied tightly back and wore rimless glasses. She kept chatting and explaining all kinds of things throughout the drive.
“‘Unregistered’ refers to special Awakened people who aren’t selected by the World Tree’s ‘Selector’ according to the criteria it announces.”
“‘Selector’…?”
“Yes. Sometimes the World Tree announces, ‘I’m going to select Awakened people according to these conditions in a certain field.’ The period of about ten days after that is called the ‘Selection Period.’”
Every term sounded completely unfamiliar to Yeongwon.
Splash, splash.
It felt like the tide was coming in.
Yeongwon was being buried under a sea of information and was desperately trying to keep her head above water.
“So normally, people go through some kind of selection process, like a test, during the Selection Period and then awaken?”
“Hmm… Not exactly.”
“Then?”
Tap, tap.
Yoryeon tapped the steering wheel as she organized her thoughts, then continued.
“The conditions announced by the World Tree are different every time. Sometimes it says, ‘I’ll select one S-rank Esper with the highest potential in this field,’ and other times it says, ‘I’ll randomly select 100 C-rank Guides.’ So you can’t really say that someone has to pass some kind of test to become an Awakened person.”
“As for me, I was just sitting in class during a Selection Period when I suddenly heard a sound like ‘dorong, dororong,’ and my status window popped up.”
Splash, splash.
More and more information kept rushing in.
The more Yeongwon listened, the more she felt like this world’s setting had way too many vague parts.
But for now, all she could do was absorb everything Yoryeon told her like a sponge.
Their question-and-answer session continued until the car was stopped in front of the headquarters for an identity check.
“Goyoryeon, C-rank Guide, Emergency Response Division 2.”
“Yes. The AI has approved you. You may enter.”
“Thank you.”
The headquarters stood on land where the entire area around Maebongsan had been cleared out, stretching from Yeoksam-dong to Dogok-dong.
“The security here must be incredibly tight…”
Yeongwon started to comment on the wall that looked like it was at least five meters high, but then she forgot what she had been about to say.
‘What the hell is that…’
She could calmly accept the fact that the original Maebongsan had been cleanly cut apart.
But part of the cut-off section was floating in midair…
‘What the hell… Did Earth turn into Pandora from A-X-tar?!’
It was a shocking sight, though it felt different from the pillar of water that had risen over the Han River.
Still, Yeongwon decided to adapt quickly.
‘Yeah, well, I guess that can happen.’
‘Sure. Why not?’
When it comes to giving up, accepting things, and convincing yourself to understand them, the sooner you do it, the better.
“Ah, that? It’s a trace left behind by a Gate.”
“Floating objects in the air are definitely unusual, though. Apparently, there are only three of them in the entire world.”
So there were two more somewhere.
“The Yeoksam headquarters has all kinds of amazing things.”
“…I can see that.”
After that, Yeongwon slowly walked around the headquarters while listening to Yoryeon’s explanations.
The headquarters was surrounded by tall walls, and several independent buildings stood around a central park.
The main building, annex, training building, dormitories, and so on.
Around three o’clock, the tour ended with a late lunch at the cafeteria.
Yeongwon tried to briefly organize all the information she had heard so far.
“So, basically, our world has an administrator called the World Tree.”
“Yes.”
“That administrator announces that it will select a certain number of people of certain ranks. If people awaken according to that announcement, it’s called ‘Selection.’ If someone suddenly awakens without any announcement, that’s ‘Unregistered.’”
“Yes.”
“So the Center can track down everyone who goes through Selection because it knows who was selected, but it can’t do the same with unregistered people.”
“Yes, exactly.”
That was why the Center officials had naturally accepted the fact that they had known nothing about a newly awakened unregistered Guide until Yeongwon herself reported it.
‘But I definitely…’
However, Yeongwon had received a notification saying that the World Tree had selected her.
[For special SSS-rank Guides only, advance announcement and notification of field-wide Awakened selection will be omitted.]
[Selection, Shim Yeongwon]
After hearing Yoryeon’s explanation, the selection process felt even stranger.
But Yeongwon couldn’t possibly tell Yoryeon about the SSS-rank selection process.
So she quietly kept her mouth shut and focused only on Yoryeon’s explanation.
“If an unregistered person refuses by their own choice, they aren’t even included in the Awakened rankings.”
“So if an unregistered person doesn’t want to reveal themselves, they can stay hidden for quite a long time.”
“Guide Yeongwon, you might not understand it yet, but unregistered Awakened people are incredibly rare and valuable national assets.”
“…So you’re saying your division chief will strongly want me to stay at the Center.”
“Not just Chief Lee Chang-gyeol. Everyone at the Center will.”
“It’s really fortunate that you came to us like this.”
For some reason, Yeongwon became overwhelmed by the uneasy feeling that she had ended up in a very difficult situation.
“The Center desperately needs research on unregistered Awakened people right now.”
“For now, the equipment that checks matching rates and ranks has been sent to Busan for inspection, so you’ll have to wait about two weeks…”
“Even if the rank you receive is lower than the B-rank you were assessed as at the care hospital, don’t worry at all. The value of an unregistered person isn’t determined by rank alone. And besides, it’s not like there’s no way to raise your rank through hard work.”
Yeongwon’s concern was heading in a completely different direction from what Yoryeon assumed.
“For now, get plenty of rest until dinner. I’ll come pick you up again around six-thirty.”
The fact that her schedule still wasn’t over for the day was another huge problem.
Yeongwon already felt like she had used up more than her entire daily energy limit.
“You’ll be having dinner with Professor Yoon Hee-yoo. She’s the country’s leading authority on unregistered Awakened people.”
“…Yeees.”
Without noticing Yeongwon’s mood at all, Yoryeon continued explaining everything with an incredibly high-energy attitude.
“Anyway, even if an unregistered person has a low rank, there are still so many things you can do. You can ask Professor Yoon for more details.
“You really, really don’t need to worry about not being able to contribute to world peace, saving humanity, defeating monsters, clearing dungeons, and all that.”
Outside of world peace, saving humanity, defeating monsters, and clearing dungeons, not a single one was something Yeongwon cared about right now
Not one.
Absolutely none.
“Even I have so much work that, despite being a C-rank Guide, I have to work six days a week and even work overtime! Anyway, I’ll see you later!”
Click.
Left alone in the single dorm room, Yeongwon was confused.
Six days a week…? Six days?’
And then there was something even more terrifying after that.
Something so horrible that she didn’t even want to think about it again.
I absolutely have to escape to the penthouse… I can’t live here while working six days a week.’
Yeongwon rubbed her goosebump-covered arms several times.
Awakening Reporting Center, Yeoksam Headquarters.
Exactly one full day after arriving there, Yeongwon had learned a few things for certain.
First of all, every employee at the Center was very, very, VERY serious about recruiting an unregistered Guide.
There hadn’t been even the slightest exaggeration in Yoryeon’s words.
It’s not even about the endless overtime loop.
And another thing.
Assigning a dedicated Guide to Esper Kim Yeohyeon was the most important issue at the Center headquarters.
It had been that way for more than ten years, all the way from the distant past until now.
Researchers and professors spoke with serious expressions about things like reverse guiding and emphasized just how important it was for Esper Kim Yeohyeon to have a Guide.
So Yeongwon vaguely remembered the information and tried to search for more details on her phone before going to sleep.
But she couldn’t find anything that explained it in greater detail through the green search portal.
Anyway, Yeongwon had absolutely no intention of working at the Center headquarters six days a week.
‘Even my home is supposed to be a dorm inside the walls? It’s basically the same as never leaving work.’
‘Absolutely not. No way. Absolutely, definitely not.’
There was no way she could let this situation continue.
Esper Kim Yeohyeon might not have the slightest idea, but Yeongwon had already started thinking of Kim Yeohyeon’s penthouse as her own home.
‘Dear landlord, please come back soon.’
Especially within the next two weeks, before the equipment comes back from Busan.’
No matter what happened, Esper Kim Yeohyeon had to survive the Ilsan Gate and return safely.
Yeongwon desperately hoped for Kim Yeohyeon’s safe return.
Just as much as the other Center officials did.
Maybe even more than they did.
Ding.
[Ilsan Gate, Closed]
[The world ranking of S-rank Espers in the top 10 has changed.]
Several days later, when Kim Yeohyeon’s return was broadcast live to the entire world,
he displayed a level of overwhelming power far beyond what Yeongwon had expected.
And on the TV screen, he showed her a beautiful scene she had never expected to see at all.
