#115
Ignoring the stares clinging to him from everywhere, Hyun Dowoon reached the director’s office and took out his continuously buzzing phone from his pocket. It was filled with missed calls and messages to the point of explosion.
Seeing another new call coming in real-time, Hyun Dowoon confirmed that all the numbers were from overseas and sneered. It was clear that everyone was desperate to contact Lee Jaeha somehow. As a high-level guide rarer than wild ginseng, and moreover, an unclassified guide with the highest guiding ability in the world, they would want to take him away even if it cost them billions.
Checking the messages, as expected, there were congratulations on meeting a guide with a perfect matching rate, along with sincere inquiries about whether he would consider additional matching rate checks.
With two espers recording matching rates of 99.9% or higher, they were suggesting that such S-class espers might emerge in their own countries as well. If that happened, it would be up to Lee Jaeha’s choice, so they intended to try and persuade him.
‘Typically, guides and espers of A-class or higher are matched regardless of their country of origin until they find a partner with a matching rate of 70% or higher.’
The threshold was set at 70% because it’s not easy to meet someone above that rate in the first place. But Lee Jaeha had already recorded amazing figures with two espers, which made them even more covetous.
Even if it had been an ordinary guide, he had no intention of sending them overseas for the sake of national power, let alone Lee Jaeha, who was the person he loved. Naturally, he had no intention of giving him up at all.
“Director.”
The secretary who had been waiting in the director’s office until Hyun Dowoon finished checking his phone called him softly.
“I’m also being bombarded with requests to connect with Guide Lee Jaeha. Perhaps… wouldn’t it be better to block Guide Lee Jaeha’s phone for the time being?”
He meant to block unnecessary contacts.
As the secretary of the Korean Awakened Center Director, it wasn’t a wrong judgment. Probably, if there hadn’t been any special issues, he would have thought the same.
“No. Rather, discreetly spread Jaeha’s number.”
It was the opposite of what he had been thinking until just now, but there was no hesitation in Hyun Dowoon’s voice.
“Pardon?”
The confused secretary questioned. Unable to understand Hyun Dowoon’s words, he had reacted unconsciously.
“It’s exactly as I said. Do as I told you.”
“But… this might really make Guide Lee Jaeha have different thoughts.”
“Whatever choice he makes, that’s up to Jaeha.”
“Director.”
However, Hyun Dowoon’s face bore a light smile full of confidence as he said this. The secretary recalled the extraordinary matching rate and nodded, understanding on his own that Lee Jaeha wouldn’t leave Hyun Dowoon.
Looking at the secretary’s expression, Hyun Dowoon also recalled the matching rate verification from earlier.
‘This would be better for him to realize how much he’s loved by many people.’
Hyun Dowoon hoped that Lee Jaeha wouldn’t think deeply, intoxicated by being loved. After all, this world was nothing more than a cage created for Lee Jaeha.
If contacts explode from various places and everyone wants to be friends, even Lee Jaeha with his low self-esteem would sufficiently understand his situation.
He might get a little tired, but Hyun Dowoon wasn’t sure if Lee Jaeha would understand his position just from the reactions the public showed in the community.
“Inflate the reactions from the community and the media in the most positive direction possible.”
“Even without touching it, we’re already getting such reactions.”
“I mean to inflate it even more explosively. Make sure to promote that Jaeha has been verified to be able to conquer dungeons alone.”
For Lee Jaeha to remain comfortably in his arms, marinated in love. To never notice that the world has already been destroyed.
Hyun Dowoon smiled a strange smile, leaving the secretary tilting his head as if wondering if this was really necessary.
***
When Hyun Dowoon arrived home, Lee Jaeha was asleep, looking tired. He seemed fatigued from being unaccustomed to large crowds, shocked by various events, and undergoing verification.
“Was everything alright?”
“How could anything happen when I was by his side?”
Shin Haejun replied with an even colder attitude than usual. He seemed frustrated at not being able to win with the matching rate.
What Shin Haejun had envisioned was Hyun Dowoon facing a miserable result. Even if he couldn’t actually become Lee Jaeha’s esper, he wanted the public to judge that it was more justified for him to be by Lee Jaeha’s side than Hyun Dowoon. But with this result, he had only hurt his pride and his heart.
There was no need to deal with each of these reactions. Hyun Dowoon calmly brushed it off and approached Lee Jaeha, who was sleeping quietly.
As Hyun Dowoon came close, Lee Jaeha mumbled softly and groped with his hand. He didn’t seem to have woken up, and when Hyun Dowoon lightly grasped the hand that was fumbling around the edge of the bed as if drunk with sleep, Lee Jaeha’s breathing became more audible, as if reassured.
Lee Jaeha had no idea what situation he was in. He had no other friends, only the two of them to get information from, and at best, he could only see reactions from the community, so there was no way for him to find out the truth.
Thinking like this made him feel a little pitiful. However, there are parts that one absolutely cannot concede. He couldn’t tolerate leaving Lee Jaeha alone in this already destroyed world and never being able to see him again. If it had been confirmed that he would continue to stay in this world, and there was even a faint hope that they might meet someday even if Lee Jaeha didn’t choose him, he wouldn’t have thought to act so extremely.
‘I wonder how Jaeha would take it if he knew the truth.’
Whatever it was, it was certain that it wouldn’t be good. Hyun Dowoon looked at Lee Jaeha’s fingertips, thinking once again that he would absolutely not let Lee Jaeha find out. It was cute to see a faint flush of blood in his fingertips as his body had warmed up from sleeping.
Did you handle everything well?
The moment of tranquility was brief as an emoticon that always made him feel unpleasant floated up above Lee Jaeha’s phone. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with that emoticon, but for some reason, it made him feel bad every time he saw it.
“Yes. We’ve verified all of Jaeha’s guiding ability and confirmed the matching rate.”
I saw all that from inside the phone too. I’m not asking about that, but whether you’ve set things up well so that Yeonsoo doesn’t suspect the current situation, as I ordered.
“Jaeha doesn’t know anything, and he won’t know in the future either. I’ve also decided to more actively inflate his greatness so that he can become more attached to this world.”
The emoticon spun around happily at Hyun Dowoon’s words.
“Why… why wasn’t my matching rate with Jaeha higher? How can it exceed 100% in common sense?”
Suddenly, Shin Haejun asked the emoticon in an annoyed voice. The emoticon tilted its body and answered nonchalantly.
There’s a reason for everything, you know?
Both Hyun Dowoon and Shin Haejun focused on the emoticon at the sudden remark. It seemed there was some secret to the ambiguous figure of 101.8%.
Kim Sehyun didn’t just take the guiding ability. He also stole the matching rate. And for dramatic effect, the author set an extremely low matching rate for ‘Lee Jaeha’. I don’t know why it was specifically 1.9%, but maybe they wanted to give it some symbolic meaning since it adds up to 99.9% when combined with Kim Sehyun’s 98%?
“Then shouldn’t it have come out as 99.9%?”
The matching rate the author set for Kim Sehyun and Shin Haejun was 98%, right? The set value Yeonsoo should have received was 1.9%. But when Yeonsoo entered Lee Jaeha’s body, an error occurred where the matching rate was applied twice. To put it simply, Lee Jaeha’s 1.9%, the 1.9% Yeonsoo received by error, and the 98% matching rate that Kim Sehyun stole returning, resulted in 101.8%.
After listening to the explanation, Shin Haejun tilted his head slightly with a face that couldn’t comprehend. His matching rate with Lee Jaeha was 99.9% from the beginning. Then, why wasn’t the error value of 1.9% applied at that time?
“Why wasn’t that error applied to me?”
At Shin Haejun’s question, the emoticon pretended to blink for a moment and then quickly changed the subject as if it didn’t want to answer.
More importantly, focus on this. Come to think of it, Yeonsoo seems to need a villain.
“What?”
Both of them frowned simultaneously at the sudden mention of needing a villain again, when they thought Lee Jaeha’s life had become peaceful after Kim Sehyun’s death. Above all, hadn’t they said they would create the gentlest world possible so that he could become attached to this world?
“What are you talking about? Jaeha needs a villain?”
Shin Haejun reflexively inserted his body between the phone and the bed, blocking Lee Jaeha from the emoticon’s view. He felt very uneasy about this.
I care about Yeonsoo more than you do! Hmph!
“If you truly think so, explain properly.”
Yeonsoo doesn’t know that the author has let go and left, right? What if he becomes even a little suspicious in this situation?
“So?”
Although he could guess what was coming next, Hyun Dowoon asked, suppressing a sigh and anger.
We need to create a fake author.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
