"I will pay off the debt, sir. Please don't take my house."
At his immediate and genuine response, the buff man stared him up and down. The other guy whispered into the man's ear, and then the man whispered back. They went back and forth for a while.
"This is the first time I have heard you say that... should I give you a chance too?"
"Yes!"
He nodded with brilliant eyes that shined with determination. The determination to keep the house he had already grown to like quite a lot. Once attached he will want to keep it no matter what.
The men and him sat down in the courtyard. He even found the kitchen by stumbling around in the house and offered them water. Standing with both his hands in front as the men sat on the wooden bench, he gave a quick bow.
"Please give a chance, sir! I will pay off all the debt this year."
Sipping the water with his tattooed arm, the man listened to him and then, tasting the water in his mouth, gazed at the sky.
"How are you planning to pay it all off this year? Are you going to win the lottery soon?"
"....No..."
"Let's speak realistically, then. You pay the monthly interest for now, and if you do happen to strike gold... clear your debt so I can have less to deal with."
"Yes..."
At his solemn tone, the man's eyes moved to him. The buff man got up from the bench, the other man following suit. Both of them stood close to him. Gripping his upper arm with the hand of the arm exposing many different tattoos, the man spoke eye to eye.
"I'll come back after a few days. I want to see some progress. You have potential. I can see it, so don't let me down."
"Potential?"
He muttered. Without explaining further, the men left the house, hunching down to get out of the open gate.
Does he mean that I have the potential to get a job in this world?
"That must be it!"
He should apply for jobs as soon as possible.
But there was an issue. If he worked a full-time job, there wouldn't be enough time to complete the mission he was entrusted with. Pondering more for a solution, he faced the house, absorbing Vitamin D under the open sky.
At that moment, the sliding courtyard door scraped open with a weary groan. A woman emerged—not gracefully, but with the jagged energy of someone ripped from sleep. Her pants were loose and wrinkled, faded to a soft gray at the knees. Her oversized shirt hung off one shoulder, the collar stretched thin from restless nights. Dark hair spilled messily across her face as she squinted into the dim light.
Then she saw him. And she erupted.
"Oppa!" Her voice shattered the quiet like a stone through glass.
"What is wrong with you now?! I'm trying to sleep here! You're too noisy!"
"There are other people living in this house?"
The girl scoffed, a guttural "Ugh, really!!" that carried more exhaustion than anger. Then, with a flick of her bare foot, she kicked off his slippers. They flew—one spinning end over end, the other flipping sideways—and struck him square in the chest and arm. He flinched backward, hands shooting up in defense, fingers splayed.
Barefoot and fuming, she stormed back inside, the sliding door rattling shut behind her like a final punctuation mark.
For a long moment, he stood there in the sudden silence, the ghost of her voice still ringing in his ears. Then he bent down, gathered the slippers—one by one—and placed them neatly in front of the door. Side by side. Perfectly aligned. As if nothing had happened at all.
"I wonder who else lives here."
Smiling, he mused lightly.
[Participant #555, you are a guide. According to the mission, you have been given the status of a match potential human. If you want to become a guide and join the same center as the main character and male lead, you can select any Esper and get a match rate that will instantly turn you into a guide.]
"A guide? What class?"
If he were a low-class guide, he would have to get pretty intimate with the Espers to guide them. He didn't want that.
[The class will be determined once you get a matching test with an Esper. Also, this path doesn't increase your chances of completing the mission; that depends entirely on you.]
Of course. Guides couldn't even enter the restricted zones, but he could still be in close proximity to the characters and have a job that pays him. He was planning to obstruct Wi Hajoon anyway. He would just get a matching test with him. He would just have to become Wi Hajoon's guide.
***
And that's how his glorious plan burst into action...
Fishing out his identity card from his wallet after the police officer reminded him of it, he checked his name and picture firstly. It was the same. Rim Young was still Rim Young with the same appearance. Filling the form given to him by the officer, he sat in the station, waiting.
The police officer said Wi Hajoon was coming over right now to the station and he was to stay here to wait for his arrival. Going through his phone, he saw that he only had one phone number saved. Calling that number, he brought the smartphone to his ear. After a few rings the call connected.
["What trouble did you get in now?"]
Still sounding sleepy the other person spoke first and he recognized the voice immediately.
"What's your birth date?"
["You seriously woke me up again for that? Do you wanna die? I told you I have a hangover today, and you've been bothering me nonstop!"]
"Ah... I will get you hangover soup on my way back."
["Really?... don't take too long, then. There are many bad guys out in the streets at night so come home before dark."]
"Are you worried about me? I will listen well to you and get home before dark!"
["...I will send you my real birth certificate, but what do you need it for?"]
"I just wanted to remind myself of how old you are."
["....."]
Not hearing anything for a while, he spoke out again.
"Hello?"
Checking the phone screen, he saw that the call had been cut.
She must've ended the call by accident...
He concluded because she seemed to be quite hung over.
After a few minutes, he received a picture of the birth certificate. Confirming their ages, he named the contact 'Nuna'. His sister, Rim Juhee, was two years older than him.
"Anyone can come up and blabber shit to you bunch, and you'll believe him now?"
"That's not it. He just didn't seem like the type to lie."
"Yeah, you're a terrible judge of character."
Overhearing the conversation, he raised his head from the phone screen. The police officer he was familiar with now was coming over with another person in tow, his face covered with a black mask and large black sunglasses, making it hard to recognize him. But his platinum blonde hair was staring at him, telling him exactly who he was.
"Wi Hajoon," he mumbled out unconsciously.