Chapter 11

It’s a little long to explain

“Why are you two holding hands?”

The moment I heard that, a chill ran down my spine.

For starters, just looking at the movement of the sword floating beside her⋯⋯.

I belatedly tried to let go of the hand I was holding.

But before I could even uncurl my fingers, Hunter Han Doa tightened her grip on my hand instead.

She even firmly interlaced our fingers.

“You can’t let go right now, you know? S-rank Hunter Baek Seorin?”

“... Why can’t you let go?”

“Because I’m treating him right now. Here.”

Hunter Han Doa pointed beneath my protective vest.

“The wound on his side opened up pretty badly. If I’m not treating him like this right now, there’s a risk it’ll open again.”

“As far as I know, you don’t necessarily have to hold hands.”

“Still... It would be a little awkward to hold somewhere else. We’re not even the same sex.”

“Oh. Is that so?”

Hunter Baek Seorin snatched my opposite wrist.

“Then there shouldn’t be any problem with me holding him like this too, right?”

“Why are you holding him, S-rank Hunter Baek Seorin? You’re not even a healing-type Hunter.”

“Well. Since he’s injured badly enough to need treatment. I thought I’d protect him by at least holding his hand like this.”

“Uh...”

What about my opinion?

Hunter Han Doa on one side.

Hunter Baek Seorin on the other.

Standing there with both arms seized between the two of them as they gave off murderous energy, I felt less like someone who had returned after completing a rescue and more like a criminal arrested at the scene.

“It’s been a while, and your complexion looks better, kid.”

“Really? I was worried. I’m glad. More importantly, it’s truly nice to see you again.”

“Really? You don’t look that happy.”

“Ahh. As you know, I’ve only just gotten out. Maybe I’m a little tired. I should manage my expression properly in front of my superiors...”

Hunter Baek Seorin’s eyebrow rose slightly.

“Superior?”

“Yes. You’re a much more senior Hunter than me, and you’re older too. S-rank Hunter Baek Seorin.”

“...You’ve been saying S-rank Hunter this, S-rank Hunter that for a while now. Don’t tell me it’s because of that thing from before?”

“Oh, come on. Of course not. How could I possibly do that to the extremely senior S-rank Hunter Baek Seorin? It’s purely a sign of respect.”

“Ehehehe...”

They were both smiling.

Then why had another sword appeared?

Just as I tried to subtly pull my arms free, an Association employee who had appeared at some point grabbed his radio.

“Hunter Baek Seorin’s return confirmed!”

Immediately afterward, medical personnel and Association employees came rushing out in a crowd.

There were more of them than I expected.

I thought they were originally supposed to wait outside the gate.

‘Are they giving special treatment because it’s Hunter Baek Seorin?’

Well. It hadn’t been long since she returned.

And she was all over the news right now.

It made sense.

“Additional person confirmed besides the accompanying party! One woman!”

“Wait. That face...”

The voice of the employee checking the missing persons list on a tablet cracked.

“I-It’s Hunter Han Doa!”

“What?”

“We believe she is Hunter Han Doa, who went missing here five years ago!”

The employee’s words were followed by a brief silence before everything erupted at once.

“Missing person confirmed returned!”

“Bring the identity verification equipment!”

“Get the medical team on her first and send an emergency report to headquarters!”

“Expand the control perimeter! Block all outside filming!”

Shouts and footsteps exploded from every direction at once.

Apparently it was a little awkward to keep having their battle of nerves in this atmosphere, because only then did the two of them let go of my hands.

‘Whew... I thought I was going to die.’

They were both ridiculously strong.

If one side pulled, the other side pulled right back.

And caught between them, I was literally being stretched in both directions.

‘...If I hadn’t Awakened, wouldn’t I actually have been torn apart?’

Trying to kill an innocent person just because of a simple battle of nerves.

The thought sent a chill through me for no reason..

“Hunter Han Doa. Can you hear me?”

“Yes. I can hear you clearly.”

“Are you feeling dizzy or short of breath?”

“I’m fine other than being a little tired. More importantly, check this person first. He lost quite a bit of blood.”

Hunter Han Doa, surrounded by medical staff and answering questions, pointed at me.

“I’m really fine.”

“You said that earlier too, didn’t you?”

“You treated me earlier, so I really am fine.”

“Tsk. That’s not something the patient gets to decide.”

The medical staff’s gazes naturally dropped to my protective vest.

The nurse who saw the dried blood immediately called for another bed.

“We have another injured person!”

In the end, Hunter Han Doa and I were dragged side by side into the temporary medical area.

On one side, they checked Hunter Han Doa’s blood pressure and temperature, while on the other, they cut open my protective vest and examined the wound.

“The wound is already closed.”

“I treated it. He still lost quite a bit of blood, so start an IV first.”

At a single word from Hunter Han Doa, a needle was immediately inserted into my arm as well.

Naturally, without asking me a single thing.

‘... Sigh.’

Being a weak Awakened sure was miserable.

Since yesterday, I felt like I had just been getting dragged around everywhere.

“Hunter Han Doa. We’ll compare your mana waveform to verify your identity.”

“I just put my hand here, right?”

Meanwhile, an Association employee entered with a portable mana measuring device and old records.

Hunter Han Doa nodded and placed her hand on the device.

Energy began surging around her as the graph started rising.

The graph appearing on the screen formed at exactly the same position as the record from five years ago.

It meant the unique waveform matched.

But the height was different.

The line following the old reading upward reached the end of the screen and began flashing red.

“Waveform match. Identity confirmed.”

The employee swallowed dryly.

“However, the output exceeds the portable measurement range. A precise rank assessment will be necessary. And probably...”

“I understand everything, so let’s keep quiet about it for now. That’s fine, right?”

“Y-Yes! Understood.”

The employee nodded with a ramrod-straight posture.

“Hunter Han Doa’s identity confirmed!”

“Register her as an official returnee!”

With the official return procedure completed.

Just like with Hunter Baek Seorin yesterday, blue text appeared before my eyes.

[Safe Transfer of Rescue Target Confirmed.]

[Rescue Mission Complete]

[Rescue Target: Han Doa]

[Acquiring Ability Fragment.]

[Original Ability: Healing]

[Compatibility Conversion: Emergency Self-Recovery]

[Ability Fragment - Han Doa: Emergency Self-Recovery (F)]

[You can stabilize your own minor bleeding and pain.]

‘...Self-recovery.’

Compared to Hunter Han Doa healing my wound without leaving a trace earlier, it was pathetically unimpressive.

Still, it was better than nothing.

I was about to try using it on my side right away.

[Available Ability Fragments: 1]

[Would you like to replace the active Ability Fragment?]

[After replacement, you cannot switch to another Ability Fragment for one day.]

‘Ah...’

Remote Pull and Emergency Self-Recovery.

It seemed I could possess both, but could only use one at a time.

‘That’s a little disappointing.’

It probably wasn’t something someone who had been unawakened until yesterday had any right to say.

Still, disappointing was disappointing.

Well. I should at least test the newly acquired ability first.

I switched my Ability Fragment to Emergency Self-Recovery.

[Switching Active Ability Fragment.]

[Remote Pull → Emergency Self-Recovery]

[Remaining Switch Restriction Time: 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds]

As soon as the blue text disappeared, I focused my attention on my side.

The sensation of using the ability was simpler than I expected.

I had never learned how to do it, but the power flowed naturally as though my body already knew.

Soon, lukewarm heat spread through the inside of my side.

‘Oh.’

The stabbing, throbbing pain gradually subsided.

It didn’t feel like the wound had completely healed.

If I took a deep breath, it still hurt heavily, and the discomfort whenever I moved remained the same.

Still, the irritating pain from earlier had definitely decreased.

‘Not bad for F-rank.’

I hadn’t expected much, but at least it looked useful enough for enduring things in an emergency—

“Ah!”

A delayed pain like something stabbing through my temple washed over me.

Whether it was Remote Pull or Emergency Self-Recovery, apparently the splitting headache after using an ability was the same.

‘Does self-recovery not work on headaches?’

It was probably because the headache itself was a penalty for using Awakened abilities.

“Mr. Jaemin? Are you okay?”

“Ah. Well ”

“See? I told you that you weren’t okay. Seriously... Can we go to the hospital now?”

“Once the basic examination is finished—”

“I asked whether we can go to the hospital right now.”

“Ah. Y-Yes, we’ll escort you immediately! We’ll prepare things so the examination can continue at the hospital.”

“Come on. Let’s hurry, Mr. Jaemin.”

Hunter Han Doa held out her hand with a bright smile.

For some reason, seeing that made cold sweat run down my back.

___________

The area in front of the hospital emergency center was even more chaotic than when we left.

Hunter Baek Seorin’s brother’s surgery still hadn’t ended, and because of the people brought in later from the foundation, the inside of the emergency room was packed with police and Association employees.

We avoided the reporters and entered through an underground passage.

When we reached the floor with the operating rooms, a doctor who had taken off his surgical cap came running from the end of the corridor.

It was a familiar face.

The doctor who had been holding the penlight at this hospital earlier.

More precisely, the person whose penlight I had secretly taken.

‘...Ah.’

My conscience belatedly pricked at me, but Doctor Han Dojin’s gaze did not linger on me.

The moment he spotted Hunter Han Doa standing beside me, his eyes trembled slightly.

The shock on his face was so obvious that it was difficult to pretend not to notice.

“Doa?”

The penlight in Hunter Han Doa’s hand trembled faintly.

“Dad.”

Han Dojin slowly approached and cupped his daughter’s face in both hands.

“Is it really you?”

“Yeah. It’s me, Dad.”

“Are you really our Doa?”

“I told you, it’s me...”

Hunter Han Doa bit her lip several times as though trying to hold back her tears.

Then she finally buried her face in her father’s arms.

“I’m back.”

After those words, no coherent words followed.

Han Dojin stroked his daughter’s back over and over, and Hunter Han Doa looked as though she were finally letting out the tears she had held back for five years.

The medical staff in the corridor also silently turned their heads away.

I was about to give them some space too, but Hunter Baek Seorin grabbed my arm first and pulled me back.

“Let the family have some time alone.”

“Yes.”

Hunter Baek Seorin didn’t look toward the father and daughter.

She only stared at the opposite wall with an indifferent expression, but there was quite a bit of strength in the hand gripping me.

‘...My clothes aren’t going to tear, are they?’

I moved my body as much as possible in accordance with her pulling.

Just as I was slowly reaching my mental limit, voices came from over there again.

“Dad, you kept this the whole time, right?”

“Y-Yeah. But how did this...”

“Mr. Jaemin over there gave it to me... Didn’t you give it to him?”

“No? How could I possibly give this to someone else?”

At that moment, the sounds around me strangely grew distant, as though separated by a thin membrane.

It felt similar to the sound barrier I had experienced in the car earlier.

Doctor Han Dojin apparently didn’t notice, because he showed no reaction and simply looked at me.

At first he didn’t recognize my face, but after looking back and forth between the penlight and me, his expression stiffened oddly.

“Aren’t you the patient who was in the treatment room earlier?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Then how did you come to have that penlight?”

“W-Well. It’s a little long to explain...”

How am I supposed to explain this?

Sweat began trickling down my face.