Chapter 77
“Please drink. It’s lavender tea.”
“Lavender tea? The lavender I know?”
“Yes. People often think of air fresheners, but it helps calm the mind and body too. As an herb, it’s beneficial in many ways.”
At her urging to try it, I picked up the teacup. As I carefully took a sip, a warm sensation spread through my mouth.
The doctor didn’t rush me or show any signs of being busy. Feeling somewhat apologetic, I soon slowly began to speak.
I told her about the symptoms I experienced in the dungeon over the past few days, and especially that I seemed to have definite guiding side effects in the bus today. As I recalled and explained in as much detail as possible, the doctor listened attentively without averting her gaze once.
I knew it wasn’t a situation to smile, but the doctor’s serious expression somehow made me feel uneasy. When I finally closed my mouth, she took over as if exchanging a baton.
“From a professional perspective, what guides do seems all the same. They prevent Espers from going berserk, purify energy, and sometimes provide emotional stability like this herbal tea. But if you dig just one layer deeper, everyone is different.”
The doctor glanced at the teacup she slightly lifted, then looked back at my face.
“Some guides take a very long time to warm up, some are incompatible with certain types of Espers. There’s even a guide who can easily handle seven guidings a day but mysteriously collapses on the eighth.”
I had heard the last story from Kim Young-joo. I laughed it off as nonsense, but learning it was true was somewhat shocking.
“The same goes for rank differences. Academic data shows that nine out of ten guides feel burdened when an Esper is just one rank higher, but there are guides who don’t. As a guide, you fell into this category, didn’t you? Until Song Ji-hyeok came.”
“…Yes.”
I nodded readily. For the first time in a while, a certain person came to mind.
Before meeting Song Ji-hyeok, my highest matching rate as a guide was in the 65% range, and that was with a B-rank Esper. I guided him almost exclusively, but there were no side effects at all. It was the same when I guided Jeon Hyeon-wook, who was also B-rank.
“Since you came all the way here, I’ll be honest too. A one-rank difference is so common that we don’t pay much attention to it… But I was very surprised to hear that you and Song Ji-hyeok were pushed as a pair despite a three-rank difference. Is it really okay? Is it because of your Esper qualities? While I was pondering this, I received a call from Song Ji-hyeok asking me to check on you.”
I immediately recalled when this was. I had encountered the doctor in the corridor on the day I first guided Song Ji-hyeok while being intimate with him.
“At that time, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with your body… Have you felt unwell after guiding since then? Any symptoms that felt like guiding aftereffects?”
“…No. I don’t think there was anything in particular.”
I told the doctor one more thing that just came to mind. Even when I guided Song Ji-hyeok when he was in his worst state, there were no particular problems then, but this time, when it was less severe, I experienced symptoms similar to side effects.
Theoretically, it should have been the opposite, but reality was the opposite of that, making my mind even more confused. I couldn’t figure out if this was part of the diversity where each guide is different, or if I was just mistaking it for guiding side effects when it wasn’t. The doctor seemed to be in the same position.
“It’s difficult to understand the situation or causal relationship based on what you’ve told me. Shall we start with basic tests first?”
“Yes.”
“Follow me.”
The floor with the medical office had a similar structure to the 3rd floor with the guiding rooms. There were individual doctor’s offices facing each other across the corridor, and various examination rooms inside. Befitting a large guild, they had most of the necessary equipment, saving the trouble of using facilities at the Awakened Association like smaller guilds.
“Please take off your top. Can you stand on the footprint shapes on the floor?”
The doctor skillfully operated a large piece of equipment that looked unfamiliar to me. As instructed, I took off my clothes and stood, and several pads attached to long wires were stuck all over my upper body.
I went through various tests in three or four more examination rooms. Finally, we returned to the doctor’s office where blood was drawn to finish up. After the series of processes ended, we sat facing each other again.
“How do you feel now? Is your head still hurting?”
“A little.”
The doctor then took out one of the many over-the-counter medicines on the left shelf.
“This is a pain reliever that guides often ask for. Take both pills. It’s made from herbal ingredients so there are almost no side effects, but it might make you a bit drowsy.”
Then the doctor asked me,
“Do you have to guide again today?”
“Yes. Probably.”
‘Probably’ was just a nice way of putting it; the chances of Song Ji-hyeok looking for me as soon as he left the skill training room were 100%.
“Canceling is… not an option, right? You didn’t tell Song Ji-hyeok you came here?”
“No.”
Perhaps because of her neat, dignified appearance and upright gaze, answers came out naturally. Personally, I thought Dr. Oh Hye-yeon would have done an excellent job if she had taken a specialized interrogation position in the military or police station instead of being a doctor.
“Then I recommend ending with light skinship guiding if possible. If there’s any problem, come to me immediately.”
“Yes.”
“It will take about a day to analyze the results. And as a doctor, let me add one more thing: don’t worry too much. There can be ups and downs depending on your condition, and mild guiding side effects can be managed to some extent with medication.”
I was slightly taken aback by the doctor’s smiling face as she said, “It’s like giving the disease and the cure, right?” but then I agreed, “I guess so,” and smiled a little too. Knowing it was meant to reduce my anxiety, I appreciated her consideration.
“I’ll call you tomorrow then.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
After bowing deeply, I left the medical office. Looking at my wristwatch, it seemed like it would be a while before Song Ji-hyeok would come back, so I headed to the 6th floor office, albeit late.
My steps felt lighter. Although I wouldn’t know the test results until tomorrow, just talking with the doctor who had listened to and examined countless guides was comforting.
‘I should go to the lounge first.’
In my lightly clenched left hand were the pills the doctor had just given me. There was a water purifier in the office pantry too, but it wouldn’t be good to be seen taking medicine.
As expected, the lounge was empty. There are sleeping rooms in the lounges on each floor, but contrary to their intended purpose, their utilization rate was close to zero.
Espers are often away from their desks, and even when they’re in the guild, they’re busy visiting training rooms or fitness centers. And guides have their individual guiding rooms with beds, so there’s no need to go to the lounge. Of course, the beds aren’t there for sleeping but for guiding purposes.
Anyway, thanks to this, I could comfortably pop the pills into my mouth. I threw the now useless pill packaging into the large trash can and took out a paper cup to fill with water from the purifier.
Just as I was about to bring the cup to my mouth, the lounge door suddenly swung open.
“Guh, cough!”
Startled, I choked and started coughing. If only it was just coughing. The water I hadn’t swallowed yet gushed out, and I belatedly covered my messy mouth while continuing to cough. I wanted to stop, but I couldn’t control it.
“Cough, cough!”
Tears even welled up in my eyes from the physical reaction. Someone approached me and asked in a very flustered tone.
“A-are you okay?”
This voice… I finally managed to suppress my cough and looked up. As expected, Jeon Hyeon-wook was standing in front of me.
I held out my palm to him, signaling to wait a moment, and drew a new paper cup to fill with water from the purifier. Only after slowly drinking it did I regain my composure.
Whew, I thought I was going to die.
“Ahem, ahem.”
After clearing my throat loudly as if to get rid of the lingering tickle inside, I finally faced Jeon Hyeon-wook again.
