Zero Point

#025

A few days passed quietly after the first gate. Fortunately, Choi Hanseo, who had become somewhat of an awkward presence, left for a business trip to Jeju Island the next day, so there was no need to meet. It was a leisurely time, except for using guiding to lower the team members’ numbers that had spiked due to intense training. Eunseok spent his free time studying about gates and strange creatures, and working on his physical fitness.

The 1st team left early this morning to tackle an A-rank gate that had opened in Gangwon Province. And Eunseok was in the middle of getting his makeup done for a pre-scheduled interview recording.

“Oh my. Your skin is so fair and your complexion is so good. With this, you could probably broadcast without any makeup, couldn’t you?”

The woman doing his makeup said admiringly. However, contrary to her words, she was meticulously rubbing and applying something to Eunseok’s face. Having experience with applying thick camouflage cream in the military, it wasn’t too unfamiliar. However, the hands constantly pinning and touching his hair, and the mirror in front of him were uncomfortable.

“With your height and good physique, you’ll wear the White Tiger Guild uniform splendidly. When you wear it, you’ll look like an Esper rather than a guide, won’t you?”

The woman praised, as if making final touches with a small brush sweeping across his face. As she didn’t seem to expect any reaction or answer, Eunseok scanned the interview script in his hand once more. Although he had heard that broadcasts were all scripted and rehearsed, the script surprisingly only contained a list of questions. It seemed that the answers were left to Eunseok’s discretion.

The interview took place inside the guild building. As if such interview shoots were not uncommon, there was a dedicated interview room of appropriate size within the building.

When the makeup was finished, someone handed him clothes. It was the White Tiger Guild uniform. The guild uniform with a China collar that came up to the neck was similar to a navy uniform. When he changed in the small changing room and looked in the mirror, he looked exactly like a soldier.

As he left the changing room, everyone who had been bustling about turned their gazes towards him simultaneously.

“Wow. You look great,” the woman who had done his makeup said in a small voice of admiration.

“Please sit over here,” a man wearing a headset pointed towards a wall with a large White Tiger Guild emblem. A single chair was placed alone with the White Tiger Guild emblem as a backdrop.

As he sat down in the chair, the lights shining on his face were dazzling.

“Now, please look at the camera,” the camera director said, and Eunseok directed his gaze to the camera filming him from the front.

“Good. That’s perfect. You’re very photogenic. Just keep looking at the camera naturally like that as we proceed.”

Behind the camera, the filming team surrounded him, each sitting or standing, looking at Eunseok. Soon the camera light came on, and the filming began.

“Could you briefly introduce yourself?”

A woman sitting next to the camera asked according to the script. Eunseok looked at the camera with calm eyes and began his answer as scripted.

“Hello. I’m Lee Eunseok, an exclusive guide for the White Tiger Guild.”

“You’re currently twenty-five years old. How did you feel when you found out you had awakened late?”

“I was perplexed.”

“According to surveys, over 70 percent of teenagers want to awaken as ability users. Weren’t you happy when you found out about your awakening?”

“I only remember feeling perplexed.”

Eunseok repeated his previous answer verbatim. After all, he couldn’t honestly say on broadcast media that he felt like shit, could he?

Perhaps the answer was too short. The camera director whispered something to the woman asking questions. The woman nodded and asked again.

“So you didn’t have a very positive feeling about awakening? Could we know the reason why?”

“At my age, one usually already has a general life plan in place. Suddenly, that was completely overturned, so honestly, I didn’t have positive thoughts.”

Everyone seemed slightly taken aback by Eunseok’s answer. Being a broadcasting station under the Ability Management Bureau, they had probably hoped for a positive response about awakening as an ability user.

“It’s already well-known that Guide Lee Eunseok is from a special forces background. What kind of missions did you mainly carry out?”

“All missions of the unit I belonged to are classified, so I can’t talk about them.”

Suddenly, a tall man appeared in his view as he was looking directly at the camera. Even without shifting his focus, he could tell it was Choi Hanseo.

‘Why? Does the Guild Master find me irritating too?’

‘Knowing that, are you stripping in front of me now? Are you brave, Mr. Lee Eunseok, or reckless? Or are you trying to seduce me?’

The conversation from a few days ago that he had momentarily forgotten filled his mind again. His tongue felt dry from the awkward feeling. Fortunately, there was no problem maintaining his expression.

“Oh. Saying it’s classified makes it sound even more intriguing and cool. Then, were you satisfied with your activities as a special forces member?”

“Yes, I was.”

“In what aspects were you satisfied?”

“The professional training process and the physical and mental conditioning through that process. And the process of successfully carrying out missions as a result of that was satisfying.”

“I see. After awakening as an S-rank guide, you must have received offers from not only within the country but from all over the world. Among those, why did you choose the White Tiger Guild?”

Choi Hanseo’s gaze felt piercing. Eunseok forcibly restrained his focus that was unknowingly trying to turn towards him.

“I liked the conditions.”

“I heard you cleared a C-rank gate with the White Tiger Guild’s 1st team a few days ago. How was your experience of the gate?”

“It was a satisfying experience.”

“Then, do you plan to continue participating directly in gate conquests in the future, Guide Lee Eunseok?”

“Yes, I do.”

Eunseok answered without hesitation.

“Why is that?”

“Perhaps because of my years living as a soldier, I feel that being directly active in the field suits my personality better.”

“Didn’t you face any dangerous situations in the gate, or feel any threat to your life?”

“The teamwork of the members was so perfect that there were no situations where I was in danger or felt threatened.”

“With your participation in gate conquests, other guides might feel pressured to participate in gates as well. There might be voices of concern about this. What do you think about that?”

It was a sensitive question. Eunseok thought for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.

“I understand that guides are physically no different from ordinary people. Therefore, I think it’s excessively dangerous for guides to enter gates. Of course, it would also add burden to team members who have to protect such guides while fighting. I think I can accompany gate entries because I’ve been conditioned through years of intense military training. Of course, even I am prepared to make constant efforts not to be a burden to team members.”

Perhaps because he had voluntarily participated in gate conquest? The filming team was visibly disappointed to hear a negative response about guides entering gates. The Ability Management Bureau probably wanted to use Eunseok’s case as a basis to get guides to enter gates again. However, having experienced a gate firsthand, Eunseok had no intention of dancing to their tune.

Even Eunseok, with his extensive combat experience, was of no help in combat despite it being only a C-rank gate. Of course, he maintained area guiding continuously, but if the combat had been dangerous and intense, there would have been ample possibility for one combat personnel to be pulled away to protect Eunseok.

As if shaking off the atmosphere, the woman changed the nature of her questions.

“Seeing you in person, you’re quite handsome. I think you might become a star overnight after this broadcast airs.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you plan to appear in public often in the future?”

“If there are opportunities, I plan to do so.”

“I heard you worked as an intelligence agent among special forces members. Don’t you feel any aversion or burden about appearing in public?”

“I do feel some.”

“Despite that, what’s your reason for wanting to be active in public media?”

“Because weapons and armor are very expensive.”

“…Pardon? Ah… That’s quite a unique reason. Could you explain in more detail?”

“To enter gates, you naturally need weapons and armor that work against strange creatures. These are made from gate byproducts, so they’re extremely expensive compared to weapons used by ordinary people. Especially ammunition, being consumable, needs to be constantly replenished. It’s to cover those costs.”

“Ah… Haha… I see. Thank you for your honest answer.”

‘Cut all of this part.’

Eunseok heard the camera director whisper to the person next to him. He didn’t mind.

“Lastly, as a member of the White Tiger Guild, considered the number one guild in the country, and as a guide, could we hear your future aspirations?”

“I’ll work hard.”

As the short interview ended, Eunseok finally turned his gaze to Choi Hanseo. He was standing in his consistently relaxed posture, staring at Eunseok.

Their gazes met in mid-air. Not wanting to avert his eyes first, Eunseok stared back at him. Fortunately, the camera director called Choi Hanseo. As Choi Hanseo turned his gaze to the monitoring screen first, Eunseok inwardly swallowed a light sigh. He really was a man who made people uncomfortable.