Beyond The Control

Chapter 58

‘He ignored me and snorted.’

Anyway, what’s done is done, and the important thing was to prevent the same thing from happening again. As soon as I returned to the office yesterday, I moved Su-hyeon’s name to the pair tab with Song Ji-hyeok.

“I’ve taken immediate action, so this will never happen again.”

However, Song Ji-hyeok didn’t seem to want to let it go. He sighed dramatically and gave me a reproachful look with a tilted posture.

“What if you make another mistake?”

“That won’t happen…”

“If there hadn’t been someone who could teleport, I might have died from going berserk at that time.”

No. Thinking back on it later, it wasn’t that serious. Even though I exceeded the safety threshold, it wasn’t enough to go berserk!

But when the person involved said it like that, it was difficult for someone like me, without any special abilities, to refute directly. Song Ji-hyeok, having successfully taken the initiative, confidently added a few more words.

“So, I’m asking you to change it to an official pair contract now.”

At those words, Director Park immediately refused as if he had never broken a sweat.

“That’s not possible. Once a contract is made, it can never be changed or revoked.”

There are only two cases where a contract can be terminated. When the affiliated guild goes bankrupt and disappears, or when the contracted party dies or suffers an irrecoverable injury that prevents them from fulfilling the contract conditions. This clause had been continued since the early days of fierce competition when guilds fought each other, stabbing each other in the back, and eventually reached a dramatic agreement.

Although one might expect him to cower at this assertion, Song Ji-hyeok remained calm. After taking a sip of the tea that an employee had belatedly brought, he stared at Director Park with unwavering eyes. It was clear who had the upper hand.

“Really, you can’t change it at all?”

“That’s correct.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not true.”

Director Park hesitated at the bold retort.

“I know it’s possible if the Guild Master approves. But you didn’t even mention that and rejected it right away at your level. If I were the Guild Master, I would have approved it immediately… What do you think?”

…How did he know that?

But what’s a bit unfair is that I didn’t intentionally withhold that information. It might sound like an excuse, but when terminating contracts due to death or retirement, we reported to the higher-ups, but the practical matters were handled at my level. There have been hardly any people who boldly requested contract modifications for other reasons, so I had forgotten about the method of Guild Master approval.

It was a mistake like a monkey falling from a tree, but Director Park gave up on making excuses. That’s something you do with people who might listen, but doing it now would just be like spitting in his own face.

Pointless power struggles were even more meaningless. Although his way of speaking was annoying, looking at the request alone, it was something the Guild Master would likely approve without hesitation.

Director Park quickly regained his composure. Unconsciously pushing up his glasses with his left middle finger, he smoothly changed his stance.

“…I was about to mention that there are exceptions, but you already knew. I’ll report to the Guild Master as soon as possible.”

“As soon as possible?”

“…I mean as quickly as possible.”

Somehow suppressing the rising indignation and forcing a smile, Song Ji-hyeok acted like a lazy cat, as if he had never applied any pressure.

“I thought you’d handle it right away, Director. And I’ll talk to Senior Su-hyeon, so you can call him directly without any prior notice. It would be troublesome for you, right?”

He’s sitting there thinking like a cat eyeing a mouse.

“Oh, and thank you for sending Senior Su-hyeon to me by teleport the day before yesterday. How did you think of that in that situation?”

Even the stubborn Director Park likes compliments, but for some reason, it didn’t make him happy at all right now. If anything, it felt like something was poking at his chest.

Whether he knew or cared about others’ feelings, Song Ji-hyeok ended the conversation with a bright smile and stood up.

“Then, I look forward to your continued support, Director.”

After bowing at a ninety-degree angle, Song Ji-hyeok left the office.

Director Park stared blankly in the direction he had disappeared. How could someone who knew how to bow like that have only nodded his head when he came in, as if he had a neck brace on?

Feeling the pain intensify a bit more, Director Park finally took out some painkillers and popped them into his mouth. Deep wrinkles formed on his forehead, deep enough to insert a business card.

‘Why are all these successful guys like this?’

Why can’t I find a case where they have manners and courtesy?

“Oh, my head.”

After wiping his wet lips, Director Park stood up. Despite the burning in his stomach, his body moved efficiently as if programmed.

At the same time, Song Ji-hyeok, who had left the office, headed towards the skill training room with a visibly satisfied expression. It was because of the achievement he had just accomplished.

Belief in verified facts doesn’t exist for no reason. As time passed, he was increasingly feeling the truth of what Su-hyeon had confidently stated before, which he had completely ignored.

‘The matching rate is more important than the grade. You’ll understand when you experience it.’

It was exactly as he said. Having someone next to him who could purify energy just by holding hands meant he could use his power freely without worry in both real battles and sparring. The battle the day before yesterday was the same. Naturally thinking Su-hyeon was at the scene, he was able to go all out against the boss mob without worrying about the aftermath.

But how shocked he was when he found out Su-hyeon wasn’t at the base camp…. It was fortunate that he was in a place where teleportation was possible; if he had gone to another dungeon, it would have been a huge ordeal.

The terrifying fact is that this could have easily become reality. If they hadn’t written even a temporary pair contract belatedly, no one would have known if Su-hyeon might have been fighting as an Esper in another dungeon at the same time.

Through this incident, Song Ji-hyeok finally realized how arrogant he had been.

Publicly, it’s always the Espers who receive attention and praise, and many consider Guides to be mere shadows of these Espers. But that was literally the thinking of people who knew jack shit.

If anything, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Guides hold the lifeline of Espers. To put it bluntly, Guides can live without Espers, but in the opposite case, Espers would be nothing more than shiny crabapples.

Because of this, Song Ji-hyeok felt something close to regret for the first time in a while. If he had known this would happen, he should have swallowed his pride and made a pair contract from the beginning. He had just wasted time.

In his mind, he thought of Su-hyeon. If he told him that the contract would be modified soon…

‘He’d be overjoyed.’

He knew well that Su-hyeon had made a lot of effort to form a pair with him, and how happy he had been even with the temporary contract. He could clearly imagine how happy Su-hyeon would be when he heard that even the word ‘temporary’ would be erased.

Beep- Beep-

As he was walking briskly with the corners of his mouth unconsciously raised, his device suddenly beeped briefly. Unusually, a message came from the reception desk.

[Guide Ham Seo-ryul from Moonlight Guild has requested a meeting. How would you like to proceed?]

Song Ji-hyeok’s steps paused momentarily at the somewhat unexpected content.

The only person he knew in Moonlight Guild was that damn brother of his. He had never heard the name Ham Seo-ryul before, so it was puzzling that they requested a meeting.

Normally, he would have ignored it without even replying, but he was still in a good mood because of the contract issue. As if doing a favor, he asked back if they were really looking for him, and immediately received an affirmative reply.

As luck would have it, he had some free time. Since he didn’t need stress relief under the guise of sparring right now, Song Ji-hyeok checked the location and leisurely made his way there.

When he opened the door, a man was sitting there. As soon as he confirmed Song Ji-hyeok’s face, he stood up abruptly and greeted him warmly.

“Hello.”

Although he had been treated like leftovers because of his overly successful brother, Song Ji-hyeok was quite intelligent. As soon as he saw the smiling face of the other person, he recognized who it was. It was the person who had grabbed his clothes and informed him of the boss mob’s location during the battle the day before yesterday.

At the same time, he understood the current situation. Well, had he come to express his gratitude?

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ham Seo-ryul.”

Song Ji-hyeok half-heartedly accepted the handshake offered as if in awe. As mentioned, it was a rare day when he was in quite a good mood.

Soon, the two sat facing each other across a conference table. Ham Seo-ryul was the first to speak.

“Thank you so much for helping during the battle.”

No matter how good his mood was, his manner of speaking didn’t change easily.

“I didn’t do it for your sake.”

“Yes. But if it wasn’t for Esper Song Ji-hyeok, it would have been a disaster… Actually, my pair Esper was severely injured, so I couldn’t think straight.”

While thinking ‘So what do you want me to do about it?’, one more thing made sense. For a Guide to be in the combat area without fear, it seemed he had come looking for him knowing he was there.

Song Ji-hyeok’s eyes, which had been bored even when facing people, gained a bit of interest.