Chapter 12

Just call me Doa. Oppa.

“Are you awake?”

“Did you sleep well?”

As soon as I opened my eyes, two smiling faces entered my vision.

Hunter Han Doa was sitting on the right side of the bed, while Hunter Baek Seorin was leaning against the wall by the window with her arms crossed.

‘Two beautiful women as soon as I open my eyes...’

Normally, this might be a situation I should be happy about.

But for some reason, my heart started pounding.

...Why are both of them here?

Was it normal for Hunters whose names everyone would recognize to have enough free time to sit around guarding a hospital room like this?

“Good morning, everyone.”

Since I wanted to survive, I started with a light greeting.

Then I quietly looked around.

Pure white walls and fancy curtains. And an IV line inserted into my arm.

It was the kind of private hospital room I normally wouldn’t even dare dream of.

It seemed that after the nurse had practically forced me to be admitted last night while telling me to stop abusing my side, I had fallen asleep just like that.

“Mr. Jaemin.”

“Y-Yes! Hunter Han Doa.”

“Dad asked me to tell you thank you.”

“Ahh...”

Yesterday had been so awkward I thought I was going to die.

Depending on how you looked at it, I had become someone who had taken another person’s precious belonging without permission.

Fortunately, Hunter Han Doa backed me up by saying that I was the person who had saved her, so it passed without any further questioning.

“So Dad said he’ll cover all of your medical expenses.”

“...What?”

“Including the hospitalization fee for this room.”

“R-Really?”

I almost shot upright without thinking, but my side pulled, so I obediently lay back down.

I had already been worrying about what to do about the cost of this expensive private room, and now he was saying he would pay for all of it.

‘So this is the dignity of a high-ranking Hunter.’

For a moment, it felt like a dazzling halo was shining behind Hunter Han Doa.

I couldn’t believe I had failed to recognize such an angel. I took back everything I had thought earlier about her being a little scary.

“Are you feeling all right, Hunter Han Doa? You must be very exhausted.”

“Doa.”

“...What?”

“There’s no need to add stiff things like Hunter between us. Just call me Doa, Jaemin oppa.”

Uh...

For a moment, I didn’t understand what she meant.

“O-Oppa?”

“Yes. I’m younger than you. You’re twenty-six now, right?”

“That’s true... No, but how am I supposed to call an A-rank Hunter... no, someone who’s about to become S-rank, by her first name?”

Calling one of South Korea’s top healing-type Hunters ‘Doa’ so casually.

No matter how much bolder I had become, that was too much.

“You can just call me comfortably without overthinking it.”

“How is that supposed to be possible?”

Hunter Han Doa looked at me for a moment, then smiled brightly.

“Really?”

“Yes?”

“Then I’ll order you with the authority of that future S-rank Hunter. Call me Doa.”

“Ah...”

I subtly looked away, but she tilted her head and entered my line of sight again.

“Oppa? Aren’t you going to say it?”

...This doesn’t look like it’s going to end until I do.

I had gone through something similar recently.

Being told to call someone noona had at least been less uncomfortable, but now she wanted me to call her by her first name...

‘Right. What power do I have?’

With no other choice, I opened my mouth.

“Doa.”

“Yes, oppa.”

Her answer came immediately, as though she had been waiting.

Hunter Han Doa.

No. Doa nodded with a satisfied expression.

Then a low laugh came from the direction of the window.

“The kid used her head a little.”

“What do you mean, Seorin unni?”

“...Unni?”

“Come to think of it, calling you S-rank Hunter Baek Seorin feels a little too stiff. This is okay, right?”

Hunter Baek Seorin’s eyebrow twitched.

The sparks that had been flying toward me until moments ago naturally shifted to the side.

While the two of them looked at each other, I carefully pulled the blanket higher.

“By the way, aren’t both of you busy?”

When I changed the subject, both of their gazes returned to me.

“I finished all the urgent matters, so I’m not busy right now.”

“My detailed examination setup is taking a little time too. So I have some time to spare.”

Even so, it was unbelievable that two of the country’s most remarkable people were gathered in a hospital room just watching me.

‘I really can’t believe this.’

While I was sitting there dazed for a moment.

“Excuse me.”

An Association employee carrying a tablet and a black bag entered and placed the bag on the bedside table.

“We’ll proceed with your Awakened registration, Mr. Yoon Jaemin.”

Come to think of it, I still hadn’t formally registered.

After confirming my name and date of birth, the employee asked about my ability.

“It’s telekinesis-type. I can pull distant objects toward me.”

“Then we’ll start with a simple verification.”

He took a small metal weight about two finger joints long out of the black bag and stood it on the table.

The outside had an ‘F’ written on it.

It was probably a tool used to test abilities at the F-rank level.

“Could you move this with your ability?”

“... One moment.”

[Inactive Ability Fragment.]

[Remaining Switch Restriction Time: 12 hours 43 minutes]

Cold sweat broke out on my back.

Right. I had switched to Emergency Self-Recovery yesterday.

I alternated between looking at the metal weight and Hunter Baek Seorin, blinking hard.

‘Help me.’

Hunter Baek Seorin’s eyebrow lifted slightly.

‘Why.’

I pointed toward the metal weight and gave a very slight shake of my head.

‘I can’t right now.’

After looking at me for a moment, Hunter Baek Seorin asked the employee.

“Do you have to do this right now?”

“What? Well, formal registration is only possible after the ability verification is completed.”

“He was wandering around inside a gate bleeding until yesterday. He even collapsed after using his ability.”

“Even so, it’s only a simple check, so it shouldn’t be much of a burden...”

“If something goes wrong, are you going to take responsibility?”

At the word responsibility, the employee’s eyes shifted for a moment.

“Th-Then we’ll postpone the practical verification until tomorrow at Association headquarters.”

“Right. Do it all at once tomorrow.”

“Yes. We’ll do that.”

He hurriedly packed his things and left.

‘That was close.’

I really hadn’t expected the thoughtless switch I had made yesterday to come back and bite me like this.

“Thanks, Seorin noona. That was seriously close.”

“Forget the thanks. Why was that, Jaemin? You could’ve moved a weight like that easily.”

“I happened to switch abilities yesterday. Once I switch, it takes about a day before I can switch again. This time, while rescuing Han... Doa, I gained a new ability, and I tried it once, but then...”

“A new ability? You can switch abilities?”

Doa tilted her head.

I suddenly realized my mistake and glanced toward Hunter Baek Seorin, but she nodded as though saying it was fine.

“Ah. It would take a little while to explain in detail.”

I only told them the key points necessary to roughly understand the current situation.

“Oh? Then right now, you can heal yourself?”

“Yeah. If you look at my side here...”

I slightly lifted the hem of my clothes to show her.

The red wound was still clearly visible on my side, where it had burst open several times whenever I moved until yesterday.

In that state, I used Emergency Self-Recovery once again.

“Ughhh...”

As the familiar warmth wrapped around my side and spread, the remaining traces of the wound slowly began disappearing.

I kept the ability active until the headache started coming, and before I knew it, even the vivid red mark had noticeably faded.

“What do you think? This abili—”

“W-What are you doing right now?!”

The sudden shout cut my words off.

Doa had already whipped her head away and was covering her eyes with one hand.

Even the tips of her ears visible between her fingers had turned bright red.

“...Why?”

“What do you mean why?! Why are you suddenly lifting your clothes like that!”

“No. The wound is on my side. If I’m going to show you—”

“I don’t know! Just lower it already!”

It wasn’t like I had shown her anything else, just my side.

I wondered if she really needed to react this strongly.

‘I should listen.’

Without arguing, I lowered the hem of my clothes again and covered my stomach.

Only then did Doa lower her hand slightly, though the tips of her ears were still red.

“How much time is left on the switch restriction?”

“About 12 hours and 40 minutes.”

“Then it’ll be lifted around this evening.”

Hunter Baek Seorin nodded as though it were nothing.

The moment I saw that, an ominous feeling came over me for some reason.

“I postponed it until tomorrow for you.”

“... Right?”

“Then tomorrow, you’ll have to show them properly, won’t you?”

The corner of Hunter Baek Seorin’s lips slowly rose.

“I’ll personally train you tonight.”

“Personally...?”

Ability training directly supervised by an S-rank Hunter.

For some people, it would probably be an opportunity worth paying a fortune for.

But to me right now, it didn’t sound like that at all.

‘...I’ll be able to finish it alive, right?’

Why were ominous predictions never wrong?

I looked toward Doa with my last shred of hope.

“Good luck, oppa.”

“...Good luck? No, aren’t you supposed to stop her at a time like this?”

“If you were still a patient, I would.”

“I was admitted just yesterday.”

“Come on. You treated yourself just now. From what I saw, you recovered quite a bit. I think you’ll be perfectly fine by evening.”

Doa smiled brightly and even made a small fist.

“Fighting.”

“...”

___________

That evening. When the switch restriction was about to end, I followed Hunter Baek Seorin down to the Awakened rehabilitation room in the hospital basement.

When the door opened, Doa, who had arrived first, waved her hand.

“Hi, oppa!”

“... Why are you here?”

“Seorin unni called me, so I was waiting.”

She had left earlier saying she had a lot to do during the day, but now she was waiting with a patient bed and chair already prepared.

On the opposite side, metal weights that looked like Hunter Baek Seorin had prepared were lined up.

‘Hmm...’

No matter how I looked at it, this didn’t feel like it would end easily.

I had prepared myself... But actually seeing it all in front of me...

“Ah. I had my rank measured today. It came out S-rank.”

“Really? Then don’t I really have to call you S-rank Hunter now?”

“Come on. Just call me Doa. We already agreed, remember?”

“Huh? Uh... Right. Doa. I was joking.”

... Looking at Doa’s face just now, I felt like if I joked a second time, I might cross the River of the Dead on the spot.

At that moment, the door opened and Hunter Baek Seorin entered.

Without even looking back, she closed the door and naturally locked it.

“...Why are you locking the door?”

“Just because. We can’t have someone coming in from outside. For security.”

Was that really her intention?

It was extremely suspicious, but there was nothing I could do besides nod to show that I understood.

“You can switch abilities now, right?”

“Yes. I can.”

[Switching Active Ability Fragment.]

[Emergency Self-Recovery → Remote Pull]

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

As soon as I switched abilities, my senses changed in a strange way.

Hunter Baek Seorin selected the smallest metal weight and placed it in the center of the room.

“Keep pulling this.”

“Until when?”

“Until your absolute limit. Until it won’t move no matter how much strength you use.”

“... Okay. I’ll try pulling it.”

After focusing for a moment, I curled my finger.

The metal weight scraped across the floor and slowly slid toward me.

Just as I tried to pull it a little farther.

‘Huh?’

The sensation caught on my fingertips suddenly pulled taut.

I was clearly holding it, but the weight stopped as though a much stronger force had intervened from the other side.

And the next moment.

Regardless of my will, the metal weight slid in the opposite direction.

I tried to forcefully hold onto it, but it was useless.

It felt like the rope I had been gripping had been completely snatched away from me, and control was taken from me in an instant.

Hunter Baek Seorin returned the weight to its original position and spoke briefly.

“Again.”

So this was an S-rank.

Watching from the side and directly clashing strength with her were completely different things.

There was no comparison between vaguely thinking she was strong and actually feeling my power being crushed head-on.

‘... Focus.’

Before her gaze became even sharper, I hurriedly pulled myself together and dragged the weight toward me again.

The first few times weren’t that difficult.

But after repeating the same movement dozens of times, my temple slowly began throbbing.

At the same time, my concentration gradually started to slip.

The weight sliding across the floor would lose force and stop here and there, and it took longer and longer to get it moving again.

“Noona. I can’t do any more.”

“Ahh. Really? It’s fine. That’s why I brought her.”

Hunter Baek Seorin immediately gestured toward Doa with her chin.

“Oppa. Hang in there.”

Doa, who had approached without me noticing, grabbed my wrist, and warm energy traveled up my arm and seeped into my body.

Strength returned to my limp arms and legs, but the splitting pain in my head remained unchanged.

“My headache is still there.”

“That can’t be removed. Even an S-rank healing-type Hunter can’t heal the penalty caused by using an ability.”

... Hmm.

“But it’s okay! Just because the headache starts doesn’t mean you immediately become unable to use your ability. Um... you know how electric cars give a warning when the battery drops below a certain level? They don’t stop right away, and they can still go for a while.”

“...”

“Think of it like that. The headache is a kind of warning.”

“What happens if I use my ability in this state?”

“You’ll keep feeling the headache.”

So in the end, that meant I would have to keep feeling this pain?

That was something I never wanted to know.

At this point, I didn’t care who it was. I just wanted someone to throw open that door and come in to free me from this suffering.

“Then shall we start again?”

“Hang in there!”

There was no way anyone could get past those two and come in anyway.

In the end, I held my throbbing head and reached out again.

“You lost it. Again.”

“You can do it.”

“You can still do more.”

“Don’t make excuses.”

“Don’t lose focus there.”

“One more. Just one more.”

“You can do it, oppa!”

...Not a single person was on my side.

How long did we keep repeating that?

By the time dawn drew near, I could barely even think properly.

At some point, obstacles were added too, and I changed the pulling direction by following only the sensation caught on my fingertips.

Once.

Then again.

After succeeding on the same course twice in a row, I managed to pull the weight all the way in front of me on the third attempt without losing it.

[Ability Fragment proficiency requirement fulfilled.]

[Ability Fragment - Baek Seorin: Remote Pull (F) → Remote Pull (E)]

The blue message I had been waiting for filled my vision.

At the same time, the strength left my fingertips, and I collapsed onto the floor.

“Did it go up?”

“Yes... It just said it rose to E-rank.”

Doa smiled brightly and grabbed my shoulder.

“Congratulations, oppa!”

“Thanks...”

Hunter Baek Seorin also nodded with a satisfied expression.

“Then since it ranked up, should we do a little more to celebrate?”

“...Please save me.”

This time, I sincerely threw away all dignity and begged.

_____________

And the next day.

“Just say he’s my disciple.”

I’d gotten myself collared.