Did You Get In Okay?

Nine o'clock in the morning. Today I was determined to seize the computer and hold that position, no matter what.

Lurking on HuntGal was secondary. Yesterday, while bouncing from board to board, a free game had popped up in the right-hand banner and lodged itself in my brain.

The computer was a bit of a potato, sure — but it could handle something like that. Probably.

I was sitting there waiting for Jihyeon to peel her hands off the keyboard when—

Knock knock.

A knock at the door, and my plans died a clean, perfect death.

"We're from the Association. We're here to take a witness statement for the follow-up investigation."

The moment Jihyeon opened the door, her expression snapped into professional mode in two sentences flat.

"This is a bit sudden."

"Ah — did you not get the call? The section chief said he'd handle the notification… haah. If you didn't receive it, I apologize."

"…No, it's fine. Come in."

The face that walked in was familiar. Dark circles, the look ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of someone thoroughly beaten down by life — that HuntGal investigator.

"Well, if it isn't the little lady. We meet again."

"Hellooo."

"Coffee! Two sugars, right?"

"…Ah, you remembered. Thank you."

While Nayeon fumbled and set her cup down at the Association person's appearance, Jihyeon handed over the Landfill incident report.

The investigator flipped the first page. She didn't make it to the second.

"The report checks out."

The tip of her pen went tap-tap on my name.

"The person who climbed onto the weapon pile was Kang Byeori. Is that correct?"

"Yep."

She looked me over once.

…I was sitting properly on the sofa, back straight, except my feet didn't reach the floor. They dangled.

I'd puffed myself up to look serious, then belatedly remembered I was rolling a piece of candy around in my mouth.

Ugh, so much for looking cool!

"Mmph."

"I gave her permission."

Nayeon jumped in immediately, resting a hand on my head.

"Given the situation, Byeori was the only one light enough to climb up. So we tied a rope and went like this and this and—"

"That's consistent with the statements from the guild in question."

The investigator laid three sheets of paper side by side. Different handwriting, different turns of phrase — but every name written on them was the same.

Kang Byeori.

"It's nothing major. The same name showed up in the A-7 incident report, so the follow-up investigation got flagged again. It was buried in a drawer until someone pulled it back out."

Scratch, scratch.

Just that. Nothing else.

"So…… do I have to get tested again?"

Last time I went, the meter readings had spiked hard.

If that happened again… and if I couldn't even keep it under control…

I could see it already. They'd find out I was an Ego Sword, and I'd be surrounded by men in black suits…!

Alright, what's your name? Look at the camera and tell us, will you?

I-I'm Kang Byeori…

Age?

Ugh. Age is…

And then they'd tear into my abilities, ripping everything apart in the name of investigating the nation's first Ego Sword…!

"Hieeek…"

"There are two options."

The investigator glanced at my trembling self and pulled out another sheet.

"You can either undergo a remeasurement at the Association, or participate in this expanded observation and leave a field record."

"Ahh… the hilt, if they start researching that part… I-I mean, I'm confident, of course, but…"

"Expanded observation… so you're saying a field record can substitute for it?"

Jihyeon asked immediately.

"Yes. Well, a follow-up investigation isn't really a big deal. As long as you can prove you were active on an official commission like this, they'll more or less let it slide."

"Hiek… if they pour that much sword energy in…!"

"…And if we do neither?"

At Nayeon's question, the investigator tilted her head.

"If you refuse both the field record and next week's remeasurement… hmm. Do you really have to? I don't think that would lead anywhere good."

With that, the investigator heaved herself to her feet.

"The A-7 posting goes up this afternoon. If you apply, I'll change the follow-up investigation to an on-site confirmation."

3:12 PM.

Jihyeon, who had been hammering the refresh button all afternoon, spoke up.

"It's up. That mountain."

Expanded observation range…

The anomalous signals have spread wider, so we need to widen the measurement zone too. They sure dressed that up to sound official.

"Not this time."

Nayeon cut in first, sharp and final.

"Not what?"

"You were about to say you wanted to go."

"Was nooot."

"So you're not going?"

"……We do have to go, though."

"No."

Busted.

I didn't want the Association measuring me again. Last time we'd scraped by somehow, but I couldn't be sure the next one would go as smoothly. Nayeon and Jihyeon both knew why.

But there was a bigger reason than that. The reason I couldn't tell either of them: curiosity.

I never got a proper look last time. That rift definitely seemed connected to me, but I'd gotten out without knowing exactly what it was.

And they'd said the anomalous signals had spread wider.

…What if it was looking for me?

"I don't wanna get measured. And… I want to see."

That was all that came out of my mouth. A half-truth — the kind they wouldn't object to if I told them.

Nayeon pressed her lips together and looked away. Then she and Jihyeon exchanged a glance, and the conditions came pouring out.

"If you start hurting again, you tell us immediately. If we say pull out, you don't ask why. You don't go past the control line."

Jihyeon ticked off each finger.

"Anything else?"

I asked, looking at Nayeon. She nodded with a serious expression.

"The rope."

"Huh?"

"Like last time. I'm tying you again. Twice."

"The blood won't circuuulate…"

I complained, but I didn't refuse.

It's not because you did anything wrong. Unni was just scared. I don't want to lose another guild member.

…How was I supposed to act out after hearing something like that.

Once I settled down, Jihyeon hit the apply button at the bottom of the posting.

Not long after, a phone buzzed.

Jihyeon turned the screen toward me.

"It changed."

The follow-up investigation. It wasn't completely over yet, but things were flowing more or less the way I wanted.

Could I call this a win?

"Haa… more paperwork to fill out."

Jihyeon mixed herself a cup of instant coffee and sat down at the computer.

If I had any conscience at all, I couldn't throw a tantrum about wanting to play games in front of someone whose workload I'd just increased.

Calling it a win was a stretch. Let's call it a draw.

Evening.

I wondered what Nayeon was rustling around for, and it turned out she was stuffing rope into my bag, packing it down tight.

"The bag's already full…"

"I won't feel better unless I do this."

"…It's too heavy. I can't lift it."

"It's fine. I'll carry Byeori's bag."

…Then it wasn't my bag anymore, was it?

"And this is emergency rations, just in case."

A handful of snacks, too. Half rope, half snacks.

Hmm. With just this bag, I could survive on a deserted island.

I was about to grumble, then stopped.

Potato chips. The green bag, no less.

"Mhehe."

I'd just realized my master's taste was pretty decent.

Unlike those wicked heathens who only ate the blue bag!

Night had fallen by the time I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠finally sat down at the computer for the first time that day.

I tried to install the game, but the specs weren't up to it. Reluctantly giving up, I headed to HuntGal instead.

The chat window blinked as if it had been waiting for me.

Oh, come on. Hearing a real S-rank hunter say that was just funny.

A brief pause before the reply came.

Honestly, I wasn't that surprised this time. The way things had been going lately, I'd had a feeling we'd run into each other again.

"Ugh."

I didn't type I'll be there too.

I knew who she was. I didn't want her knowing who I was.

I shut the computer down earlier than usual and quietly stepped in front of the mirror.

"Hello. We meet again—"

No. That sounded way too happy to see her.

"Oh. Fancy running into you again—"

Too rehearsed.

"Nice weather today."

In front of a rift?

"Aigoo."

Unlike last time, I'd actually had time to prepare. And I still couldn't come up with a single decent idea.

"Better to just run into each other without knowing…"

Worry, worry, worry.

The cooperation request was still sitting on Rina's phone.

Rina swept the request aside and went back to the gallery chat.

The window she'd been typing in just moments ago still held the sentence she had sent.

I'm going back to that mountain next week.

"I haven't even accepted yet…"

Rina let out a small sigh and lowered her phone.

She drew the sword at her hip. Blue sword aura climbed the blade, then scattered before traveling even a palm's length.

"…My condition just keeps getting worse."

She sheathed the sword, and out of habit, adjusted her grip on the hilt twice.

She decided not to think about which sword that habit had come from.

Back to the phone.

"Kang Byeori…"

That ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠child she'd met last time. The same child whose name had been written on the Association's documents.

Would she come again this time? She'd probably just do the remeasurement, right? After an accident like that, a kid that young wouldn't go looking for somewhere as dangerous as A-7.

But that child… if you thought about how she always seemed to seek out the most dangerous places…

Rina's finger moved on its own.

Only then did the chat she'd sent a moment ago become the truth.

The morning of the entry day dawned. Jihyeon handed over the lunchboxes and said,

"Two slices of rolled omelet. I put ham in them today."

"Oh?! Really?!"

"Only in Byeori's portion, of course."

"……Making them separately like that sounds harder."

Nayeon looked dejected, but as far as I was concerned, this was great news.

"Mhehing."

Ham rolled omelet! The menu quality just kept going up!

Nayeon and Jihyeon carried the heavy bags. I carried a plastic bag with two lunchboxes in it.

Yesterday I'd been full of worry. Today, though… I had a good feeling?

The site felt different from last time.

The festival-like tents had been cut in half. The chatter was down by half too, but the number of gauges seemed to have gone up.

Our job was to make the rounds of four outer observation points and check the equipment.

Nayeon really did wind the rope around my waist and her own forearm.

"M-Master. Are we seriously walking around like this the whole time?"

"Yep."

"People are staring."

"Let them."

The first gauge was fine. The second was spotless. It was only when we stopped in front of the third that a dull ache bloomed in my chest.

"Master."

The instant I called her, Nayeon clenched the rope.

"Ah — don't pull yet. I just felt something."

"What percent is the feeling?"

"How am I supposed to put that in percents…"

"Just try."

"Nnngh. About half of last time?"

Jihyeon noted the time.

"Half. Recorded."

Three Association staff were clustered in front of the third gauge, all of them staring fixedly at the numbers. I watched the order in which those numbers moved.

Point 3 climbed, then dropped. A moment later, point 5. Then point 2.

The readings shot up and sank back down one after another, like a game of whack-a-mole.

"Hmm. Senior, doesn't this seem off? They said the signal had spread wider, but it doesn't really look like that…"

What was the pattern? There didn't seem to be a rule. Just random.

Like something poking around, checking one place at a time—

"Jihyeon Unni."

"Hm? What?"

"This… it feels like it's searching. Like it's checking one by one, looking for something."

Saying it out loud only made it more unsettling.

It had widened the range because I wasn't here. The moment I showed up, it started poking around everywhere.

It could be a coincidence. Maybe it was only like this right now, and if we watched for another hour it'd change.

But if my guess was right — if what that thing was looking for was really me — then I at least shouldn't let it wander around digging in the wrong places.

"How about now?"

Nayeon asked.

I pressed a hand to my chest. The ache was still there. It hadn't gotten any stronger.

"Still half."

"Then stay next to me. Unni will protect you."

Protect me? She'd spent the whole day laid up groaning after swinging me just once.

"…Okay."

Still. I couldn't bring myself to resent the hand that tucked me behind her back.

I nodded quietly and hid myself behind Nayeon.

In the afternoon, the cooperation personnel vehicles rolled in.

Three of them. And in the very last one.

"Ah."

She stepped out of the car, received her equipment, and adjusted her grip on the sword hilt twice.

I'd known she was coming, and my breath still trembled for no good reason.

…Forget it. If our paths were meant to cross, we'd meet.

I turned toward the crates. But when I set down the sixth one—

"……"

Footsteps sounded behind me.

Light. Measured. So terribly familiar…

"Excuse me."

I knew before I even turned around.

That today, she was the one who spoke first.