After arriving at the guild office, I changed into Changwi Guild’s uniform in the locker room.

The combination of a white shirt and black robe always looked unbalanced, but I never said anything—because it reflected Jihui noona’s tastes to a tee.

Besides, it was the perfect outfit to conceal my identity.

I put on sunglasses and a large mask that covered most of my face, then pulled the robe’s hood deep over my head.

Being one of the few S-rank Guides in Korea came with unwanted notoriety.

Especially in this world, there wasn’t a soul who didn’t know my face—so I had to cover it completely.

If someone recognized me and reported that I was doing side work as a Guide, I could be disciplined by the academy.

Once I finished getting ready and headed down to the guiding room, Jihoon-hyung greeted me warmly.

He was the guildmaster of Changwi Guild, Jihui noona’s older cousin—and one of the few people here who knew my true identity.

“Yeonsu, it’s been a while.”

“It’s only been two weeks.”

“Still happy to see you.”

He gave me a friendly smile.

“How many people will I be guiding today?”

“Five. Two B-ranks, one C1, and two C-ranks.”

“Understood.”

Ability users were broadly classified into S, A, B, C1, C, D, and F ranks.

S- and A-ranks—known as upper ranks—were so rare they were called the ones chosen by heaven. Most gate raids were handled by B-ranks, the so-called middle ranks.

But even B-ranks were limited in number compared to the upper ranks.

To address this shortage, the government had split the top 20% of C-rank ability users into a new tier called C1. B and C1 were grouped together and considered the new middle rank.

Originally, they planned to merge C1 into the B-rank tier, but the idea was scrapped due to fierce opposition from existing B-rank users.

Anyway, today’s batch included three middle-rankers and two lower-rankers.

“Sorry about this.”

“Hmm? For what?”

“Having an S-rank Guide do middle- and lower-rank guiding feels like a waste of talent.”

“It’s fine. Honestly, I prefer it this way—it’s easier.”

Even as an S-rank, guiding upper-rank Espers—A-rank or higher—was demanding. You had to account for matching rates, and the difficulty level itself was high.

Some Guides refused to work with lower-ranked Espers out of pride, but I didn’t care about that at all.

“Thanks for saying that. Yeonsu, you’re still not contracted anywhere, right?”

“No.”

“What do you think about joining our guild? Money’s great and all, but a person needs a dream—”

“Oh please, don’t start peddling that crap.”

The guiding room door slammed open as Jihui noona stormed in.

“Hey! Watch your mouth when you talk to your cousin. Who’s peddling anything?!”

“I told you not to feed Yeonsu any of that nonsense. He came to help because of me—don’t put pressure on him with your weird life lessons.”

“I wasn’t pressuring him! I was just trying to tell him, as someone older, that there are values more important than money—”

“I’m the poster child for getting screwed over by that kind of thinking, okay?”

She scoffed, and Jihoon-hyung glanced at me, sheepish.

“Come on, don’t say it like that. He’ll think I’m serious.”

“You still haven’t given up, huh?”

“Noona, it’s okay.”

I tried to mediate, but she was resolute.

“No. I need to be clear about this. One more word of pressure, and I swear I’ll never bring Yeonsu here again.”

“Hey! Park Jihui!”

“You’ve been warned. And Yeonsu, if this guy starts talking crap, ignore him and just leave, okay?”

“Yeah. Got it.”

After giving Jihoon-hyung one final warning, she walked off to her own guiding room.

“Man, she’s got one hell of a temper.”

Jihoon-hyung shook his head and gave me a look. He clearly still wanted to recruit me, but noona’s threat made him hesitate.

I didn’t say anything either—since I had no intention of joining Changwi anyway.

Watching Jihui noona struggle had shown me the hard reality of small guilds. And more than anything... I wanted to make real money.

People called awakening as an upper-rank Guide winning the lottery.

If even one child awakened with high potential, the whole family could become rich.

I almost had that. If I’d followed the original plot and become Joo Seunghyuk’s exclusive Guide, my family would be living in luxury by now.

But I had never signed a contract with anyone.

We weren’t poor, but we weren’t well off either.

It would’ve been easy to be swayed by the jaw-dropping offers from corporations, but my parents always respected my choices.

Not once did they pressure me or guilt-trip me about contracts.

I was deeply grateful to them—and I promised myself I’d give them a life of comfort someday.

“Ready to start guiding?”

“Yes. Let’s begin.”

Jihoon called over the radio, and a B-rank Esper walked in.

“Wow, lucky me.”

He whistled when he saw me. Jihoon-hyung sighed in exasperation.

“Knock it off and take a seat.”

The B-rank Esper clicked his tongue and flopped into the leather chair reserved for Espers.

“Guildmaster Park, the way you hover every time I get guided makes me feel like a criminal. No wonder Changwi can’t grow.”

“We’ll handle our business. You don’t need to worry.”

Corporations and Centers had CCTV and security systems to prepare for any incidents during guiding sessions.

Changwi couldn’t afford that yet. So when mercenary Espers came in, guild-affiliated Espers stood guard instead.

This was one reason I preferred doing guiding gigs at Changwi. I couldn’t take official jobs at Centers or companies, but at least here I was safe—and my identity was protected.

The merc glared at Jihoon-hyung. But since Jihoon was an [N O V E L I G H T] A-rank and he was just a B, he didn’t push it.

“There’s a rumor that the hooded Guide at Changwi gives the best guiding—leaves your body feeling amazing. There’s a bunch of Espers who only work with Changwi just to meet you.”

He grinned stupidly at me. Unbelievable—he was picking a fight just a moment ago.

Still, it was a compliment, and I didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere. I gave a small nod.

“Thank you.”

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got.”

Disgusting. I suddenly lost all motivation.

But mercs were usually foul-mouthed. This kind of comment was common.

“The higher the rank, the worse the attitude. There’s a reason high-rankers end up working as mercs.”

Jihui noona’s words came to mind.

Jihoon-hyung must’ve thought it wasn’t worth escalating either—he didn’t intervene.

And I had no intention of making a scene. Guiding mercenaries meant bracing for this kind of behavior.

“I’ll begin guiding now. Please give me your hand.”

I deliberately lowered my voice—another tactic to hide my identity.

Planning to finish quickly, I reached out.

The mercenary gave a pervy grin and fondled my hand.

Before I could protest, Jihoon-hyung smacked his hand away.

“What do you think you’re doing? Is this your first time? Just place your hand down lightly.”

“You must be new at this, Guildmaster. Guiding’s about connection. Like this—”

The merc suddenly tried to pull me into an embrace. But at that moment, the guiding room door blew open with a deafening crash—and the door itself shattered into pieces.

And the man standing outside was revealed.

“Joo Seunghyuk...”

That wasn’t me speaking.

It was the B-rank merc, who shouted in shock.

And the next sound from him... was a scream.

“Aaaagh!”

His arm was severed in an instant, flung to the ground.

The guiding room was splattered with blood and shrieks. But the one who caused it all ignored the screaming entirely. He strode in and grabbed my hand.

“S-Seunghyuk-ah...”

His whole body radiated murderous energy. Without a word, he tugged on my arm.

As he tried to drag me away, Jihoon-hyung urgently intervened.

“Joo Seunghyuk-ssi! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Seunghyuk glared at him. That same black mana that sliced the merc’s arm now turned toward Jihoon-hyung.

But no matter how skilled Jihoon was as an A-rank, Joo Seunghyuk was in a league of his own.

If Seunghyuk attacked... he wouldn’t be able to stop it.

I shouted in desperation.

“Don’t!”

Seunghyuk looked down at me. His stare was so cold it could freeze my heart—but I couldn’t just stand by while someone might die.

“Seunghyuk-ah, don’t do this.”

“This is one of those times you should use banmal.”

He muttered coldly, still holding my hand, and walked out with me in tow.

“Wait!”

“Jihoon-hyung, it’s okay.”

Jihoon tried to stop me, but I quickly shook my head. If anyone made the mistake of provoking Joo Seunghyuk now... someone really would die.