Upon entering the room, the interior struck him as excessively plain. Two chairs were set—one for the interviewer, one for the interviewee—and between them stood a large desk.
On the desk, there wasn’t a resume or cover letter in sight—only the results of a pre-employment medical exam, with no sign of the documents Ho-eun had submitted.
“Kwon Ho-eun, please have a seat.”
The man, his face more than half obscured by his bangs, gestured for Ho-eun to sit, then busied himself with his phone.
Sweat pooled in Ho-eun’s clenched fists. He hesitated, wondering if he should introduce himself. Just as he opened his mouth, the interviewer slipped his phone into his pocket.
“…….”
An awkward silence stretched between them as they stared at each other. Ho-eun began to wonder if this too was part of the interview. His seat felt increasingly uncomfortable, and he squirmed slightly.
“The interview is just a formality. No need to be so tense.”
“Ah… Then, should I start with a self-introduction?”
The interviewer shook his head, not even pretending to listen, and lifted his hand as if brushing against something invisible in the air.
“Radiation Guiding detected… You’re accepted. Congratulations.”
“Th-thank you—wait, what? Accepted? But I haven’t done anything yet!”
Ho-eun genuinely wondered if he’d somehow time-traveled without knowing it. He hadn’t even gotten through a one-minute self-introduction, let alone shared his motivation or goals for the position—and yet, he was accepted? This had to be a scam!
‘This kind of interview is ridiculous.’
Even pyramid schemes wouldn’t stoop this low.
“The internship lasts about a month for Guide training. It’s technically an internship, but after the rating test you’ll become a full-time employee, so there’s no need to stress.”
The interviewer showed no intention of answering any of Ho-eun’s questions. He spoke like a robot, spitting out only what he was programmed to say.
For someone who was often told to rein in his temper, the interviewer’s attitude was practically throwing gasoline on a fire.
“Look, I don’t know if it’s appropriate for me to be saying this as the interviewee, but… You’re really going to hire me? I’ve never even worked a part-time job, my TOEIC score’s low, I didn’t submit any certifications! And did you actually read my cover letter?! I wrote it completely half-assed!”
“…….”
“What kind of public institution does interviews like this? This isn’t the Guide Corporation, is it? This is some kind of new scam, isn’t it?”
Ho-eun, veins bulging in his neck, declared it with certainty. No matter how he looked at it, none of this made sense. Before entering the interview room, he’d allowed himself to hope—maybe he’d get lucky and pass.
After all, the man he’d seen in the car earlier had spoken as if he’d already passed, so it wasn’t as if he had no expectations. But that hope had been backed by Ho-eun’s own determination to perform well in the interview.
He wanted to show that he could put in the effort and earn some recognition, even as an unemployed nobody—and yet, it was all over in a blink.
“Calm down… It is the Guide Corporation. And your specs? Those only matter in regular companies. Here, they’re irrelevant. We accept even the most useless people in the world—as long as they can do Guiding. Yes, even someone like you, a so-called ‘waste of space’ living off your parents since becoming an adult. As long as you can Guide, you’re in.”
“‘Waste of space’…?”
“You understand what I’m saying, right? It’s not a scam. Now let’s get the employment contract signed.”
At the interviewer’s nonchalant attitude, Ho-eun finally shot up from his seat. He regretted even wasting a single minute here.
Reading a manga at home would’ve been a better use of his time, he thought bitterly, turning to leave—only to be halted by the sound of the interviewer clicking his tongue.
“Tch—what a pain, every damn time.”
The interviewer grumbled as he walked over. Sweeping his bangs aside with one hand, the hidden eyes beneath shifted from black to a vivid green.
“……!!”
From the flawless marble floor, green vines sprouted and quickly snaked toward the walls and door, wrapping around them completely—as if daring him to try and leave.
The interviewer reached out slowly, brushing his fingers against Ho-eun’s pale cheek before sliding his hand toward Ho-eun’s neck.
But instead of fear, Ho-eun was struck by a strange sensation. The moment the man’s bare hand touched his skin, a sharp jolt, like an electric shock, surged through him.
It felt just like the static he’d felt from the man he touched yesterday.
“Are you dense? I told you—the interview is just a formality. The moment you stepped in here, you were already a Guide and a Guide Corporation employee. Because I don’t hand out rejections.”
“Reject me! I don’t want the job!”
Even with the man’s fingers brushing his slender throat, Ho-eun showed no fear, meeting those green eyes head-on.
“To be honest, I didn’t even apply here because I wanted to work. Things just kind of happened, and I ended up here, but to get caught in some scam like this—”
Rrrrip.
A dry rustling tickled his ears as vines began to coil tightly around his body. The same ones that had sprouted from the floor now tightened little by little with every word he spoke.
“Ugh…!”
Cold sweat dripped down his back. His rage had fogged his vision earlier, but now he saw them clearly—gnarled vines covered in jagged thorns. They looked disgusting.
If they constricted any more, they’d tear through his clothes and scrape his skin.
“Why do you keep calling it a scam? You saw the building outside, didn’t you?”
“Th-that’s because… I can’t Guide!”
The interviewer had said it himself: “As long as you can Guide, you’re in.”
Ho-eun wasn’t someone who fit that description. Guiding? What the hell even was that? How was he supposed to do it?!
“Kwon Ho-eun, you’re a Guide. For a Guide, performing Guiding is as natural as breathing.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Why the hell am I a Guide?!”
“Hah. Do I really have to start from there?”
Despite trembling, Ho-eun didn’t avert his eyes and continued to speak his mind. The interviewer paused in thought before clapping his hands once. Instantly, the vines wrapped around Ho-eun’s body slithered away, disappearing into the floor.
“Do you see the employment exam results in front of you?”
A document bearing his name fluttered before his eyes.
“In advanced Esper nations, there are annual Guide screenings to identify those who may awaken at any age. Unfortunately, such systems aren’t available in Korea. So, an alternative method was devised: identifying characteristic traits of Guides.”
“……”
“Guide traits can be detected through blood tests. First, we screen for potential candidates through such tests. Then, we bring in an Esper for secondary verification. Espers can sense whether someone is a Guide or not.”
“So that means…”
“The man who brought you in. He’s an Esper. If you weren’t a Guide, you never would’ve made it to the Guide Corporation in the first place.”
Ho-eun combed through the test results with desperate eyes, but he had no idea what part indicated he was a Guide.
“Once an Esper confirms someone is indeed a Guide, the interview is merely procedural. All that’s left is to sign the employment contract and go home.”
The interviewer’s voice sounded like it was echoing from the farthest reaches of space.
Like a scene out of a movie—he’d just been walking down the street, when suddenly a car screeched to a halt in front of him. “No time to explain, get in!” And once inside: “Actually, you’re not an ordinary person. You’re a hero. You’ve got to fight—now!” Only this was the “Guide” version of that insanity.
“So I’ve awakened as a Guide…”
In a daze, Ho-eun stared down at his own hand, which the interviewer gently touched. Wherever the man’s fingertips brushed his skin, tiny sparks danced like static electricity.
“You see, Espers can’t live separated from Guides. They absolutely need to stay close. That’s why, once they find a Guide, they never let go. From now on, you’ll begin learning how to live in this world as a Guide—something you never even knew about until now.”
“I still don’t really get…”
“Let me put it simply: congratulations on your employment, Kwon Ho-eun.”
For the first time, the interviewer smiled faintly as he pulled two sheets of paper from a drawer and laid them on the desk.
“Now, let’s move on to the main event—signing your employment contract. Oh, almost forgot the most important item.”
“……?”
“Here you go. An absolute essential for every Guide—your last will and testament.”
“What the f—…”
Ho-eun didn’t even realize he’d cursed aloud. His back was drenched in cold sweat.
He was screwed. He hadn’t even looked at the job posting properly and had just thrown out resumes to random places—and now it was about to ruin his life. What kind of deranged company makes you write a will on your first day?
‘Is it so they can cover up a death as suicide if someone pisses them off, like just now?’
His hand, gripping the pen, trembled. Even if he wanted to run, the interviewer could just summon those weird vines again, and he’d be helpless.
In the end, it seemed the only way to walk out of here in one piece was to sign the employment contract and fill out the will.
If someone turned this into a YouTube video, it wouldn’t get 200 views—it’d get two million. Title: “They Made Me Write a Will on My First Day at the Job Interview—WTF??”
‘Man, that’d really rake in the clicks.’
Ho-eun let out a breathless laugh at the sheer absurdity of the situation.
Forcing himself to look away from the will, he turned his eyes to the employment contract. He began reading slowly—until he reached the section about the salary. His breath caught.
“One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand… hundred million?!”
Ho-eun blinked, bringing the paper closer and rubbing his eyes with his free hand. He murmured the numbers again under his breath and then let out a disbelieving scoff.
“One hundred million won per year? Seriously?”
‘Ha. Of course. It’s gotta be a scam.’
Clearly, this was the work of some Esper with a grudge against the government, running an elaborate con. What else could explain a salary like this? A starting salary of 100 million won?
“You’re seriously offering 100 million?”
“It may seem low at first, but as you build seniority and take on field missions, you’ll earn far more. No matter where you go, entry-level salaries are modest.”
At the interviewer’s words, Ho-eun inhaled sharply. Low? Who thinks 100 million won is low? He wasn’t questioning the modesty of it—he was asking whether it was real. And here this guy was, explaining why it might seem insufficient.
‘If this is legit… maybe writing a will wouldn’t be such a bad trade-off for 100 million a year.’
With that kind of money, he didn’t even need to be coerced. He’d shout “I’m a Guide!” at the top of his lungs. If they’d led with the salary, Ho-eun probably would’ve sat through this interview like a model candidate.
“So… what’s the will for, exactly?”
“If you look at the contract, there’s a confidentiality clause. The fact that Kwon Ho-eun is a Guide is confidential for now, though it may be revealed depending on the situation. Also, the tasks you’ll be assigned may be life-threatening. And, well—dead men tell no tales. We need to inform your family immediately in case you die. That’s why we have you write the will in advance.”
One hundred million… maybe that really was the price of a life.
‘Am I really about to sell myself for a hundred million? If I die, wouldn’t my parents be devastated, even if they got the money?’
As he hesitated, the interviewer added one last thing that sealed the deal.
“Ah, and should you die, your family will receive a condolence payout of 1 billion won.”
Die and be a good son! The thought flashed across Ho-eun’s mind like divine revelation.
