Chapter 80
What’s this message about suddenly? Did he send it by mistake?
Unable to reply immediately to the unexpected question, I just stared at it. Then another message came in.
[It’s taking f***ing forever to get there this time too]
Thanks to that, I finally understood the situation. It seemed he had been assigned to a dungeon far away again. Debating whether to offer comfort or sympathy, I sent this reply:
[That’s tough haha]
[You find this funny? ㅡㅡ]
[We can’t cry about it haha]
[Why can’t we cry? You cry a lot]
[Me?]
[Yes. You cry every time I’m inside you]
Well, that’s… humanly unavoidable, isn’t it? How could I not tear up when you’re putting that in and stirring up my insides?
[Damn.. I want guiding already. If I knew it’d be like this, I should’ve brought you along this time too, senior]
My eyes wavered slightly at the next message. It felt like someone had put a large stone on my solar plexus, making my chest feel tight.
Am I nothing more or less than a guide to you? If I ever become unhelpful or someone better comes along… will you abandon me?
[I’ll do it when you get back]
Sadly, this was a question I could never voice out loud.
***
The test results came out the next day again this time. More precisely, I received a message from the doctor the next morning.
But there were two other differences from yesterday. First, the message said to come to the Vice Guild Master’s office instead of the examination room. Second, it said our team leader should come along too.
A little while later, the team leader called me separately. From our conversation, I learned that the team leader already knew I had taken a retest. After briefly discussing it, we left the team leader’s office together when it was time.
The Vice Guild Master’s office, which I visited again after a couple of months, didn’t seem to have changed much from the last time I came. The old-looking wooden desk and bookshelf were perfectly tidy without a speck of dust, and a flower pot with lush petals sat modestly on the guest table covered with a hand-knitted tablecloth. Overall, it exuded a cozy and neat feeling, but there was also an inexplicable sense of pressure.
It suddenly felt surreal to be sitting here now. The Vice Guild Master was the undisputed power and center of the guild, and her office was definitely not a place where an ordinary employee like me could come and go freely. In fact, I hadn’t even been near it, let alone inside, until I came here for the first time in 7 years to sign the pair contract with Song Ji-hyeok.
Anyway, the reason for being called here today was obvious. It must be because of the retest results. Although guide side effects are an important issue, they would usually be resolved at the working-level staff and only reported to higher-ups. But since I’m Song Ji-hyeok’s pair guide, it seemed the Vice Guild Master was getting directly involved.
The tension manifested in physical reactions. Even though I moistened my throat with the tea provided by the staff, my mouth kept getting dry. Despite the warm air from the heater, my fingertips were ice-cold. As I was clenching and unclenching my hands, the Vice Guild Master and Doctor Oh Hye-yeon entered together. The team leader and I stood up to greet them, and the Vice Guild Master smiled pleasantly and invited us to sit down again.
“Doctor.”
“Yes.”
Receiving a nod, the doctor turned on the screen of a tablet PC and placed it on the table. As I lowered my gaze, I saw the graph I had seen in the examination room yesterday.
“These are Lee Su-hyeon’s retest results, and they came out similar to the first test. The differences between items are large, making it impossible to establish reliability. Therefore, based on these test results alone, it’s impossible to determine whether there are guiding side effects or not.”
After the doctor’s explanation, silence hung in the air despite four people being present. I, as the person concerned, was particularly restless. With even the retest results being inconclusive, I felt frustrated and an indescribable anxiety surged.
Before the atmosphere could get heavier, the Vice Guild Master spoke up.
“Did you look into what I asked? I asked you to see if there were similar cases.”
“Yes. Actually, I already looked into some data the day before yesterday, but I couldn’t find a single similar case. But something seemed a bit strange…”
“What is it?”
The team leader, who had been listening intently, urged with an anxious face. As the Vice Guild Master nodded, the doctor continued. Her expression was serious without a hint of a smile.
“A few months ago, when two B-class guides complained of unusual symptoms in succession, I looked into some data thinking it might help. There’s a specialized site that only guild-affiliated doctors can join and use. I definitely saw a report there with inconclusive results similar to Guide Lee Su-hyeon’s, but when I looked again yesterday, they were all deleted.”
“Really? Are you sure you didn’t mistake the site or enter the wrong search terms?”
The Vice Guild Master’s question seemed reasonable at first glance, but it was pointless given that the person being asked was Doctor Oh Hye-yeon. The doctor was known for her intelligence and was famous for remembering all guild members’ personal information and all sorts of miscellaneous details. It was impossible for such a person to misremember or be mistaken about work-related matters.
“Yes. I also looked on overseas sites, but likewise, not a single case of inconclusive results came up. This is just my conjecture, but… it feels as if someone deliberately deleted the related records.”
“Who on earth would do such a thing…”
I had the same thought as the team leader. If the doctor’s guess was true, who could have deleted all the inconclusive cases? For what reason?
This was something even the doctor couldn’t answer. The Vice Guild Master, who had been listening quietly, spoke softly.
“We’ll have to look into it through the Guild Master. Let’s not share Lee Su-hyeon’s test results for the time being.”
“Yes, understood.”
Like any other society, information is very important in this field. When new types or peculiarities related to dungeons, monsters, and awakened ones are discovered, they are reported to the Awakened Association for public benefit, and sometimes shared through the Guild Association or Academic Association. We’ve survived until now by doing so for over a decade, and minimal information sharing is essential for everyone to continue living together in the future.
The key here is ‘minimal’. In other words, there are things that are never shared, commonly known as confidential, and our guild is no exception. And thanks to the Vice Guild Master today, my test results have also become confidential, but I didn’t feel excited or happy at all. Rather, my anxiety only grew stronger.
Trying hard to resist the urge to bite my nails, I spoke for the first time today in this place.
“So what should I do?”
The doctor answered in a calm voice to my question.
“As I mentioned the day before yesterday, there isn’t a single guide in the world who’s exactly the same. The sensations and reactions during guiding, the state after completion, the quality and quantity of energy – everything is different. In that sense, even the average point for determining whether there are guiding side effects is, if you think about it, a standard formed by the accumulation of individual experiences, not an objective value at all. There are guides who should have side effects based on the numbers but feel perfectly fine, and there are guides who should be fine but complain of pain.”
The team leader, who had been listening intently, spoke again.
“Are you saying we shouldn’t be too hung up on the test results?”
“Yes, that’s exactly it. It’s true that Lee Su-hyeon’s test results are unusual, but this too can be seen as one of countless results. So I hope you won’t worry too much or get stressed about it.”
“But what if unusual symptoms appear again or get worse…”
“That’s why Lee Su-hyeon’s reports are important.”
The doctor’s straightforward gaze turned to me. I unconsciously swallowed dry saliva at that moment.
“Except when you’re sleeping, please record your physical condition daily, if possible hourly, and send it directly to me. If that’s not feasible, every few hours is fine, but shorter intervals are better. Especially right after guiding Song Ji-hyeok, make sure to record how you feel, and if you notice anything even slightly unusual, come to me without delay. I’ll do my best to look into more data on my end.”
“The same goes for me. I’ll discuss with the Guild Master and look into what happened with the data deletion. Above all, Guide Lee Su-hyeon, please keep thorough records as the doctor said.”
With the Vice Guild Master’s final request, the interview concluded. However, the doctor remained in her seat, while the team leader and I left the office.
