Call Me Doa

"Just call me Doa. Oppa."

"You're awake?"

"Sleep well?"

The moment I opened my eyes, two smiling faces filled my vision. Hunter Han Doa sat on the right side of the bed, while Hunter Baek Seorin leaned against the wall by the window with her arms crossed.

Two beauties the second I open my eyes...

Under normal circumstances, this might have been something to celebrate. Instead, for some strange reason, my heart began to pound. ...Why were they both here? Were hunters whose names alone turned heads really supposed to while away their time standing guard over a hospital room?

"Good morning, everyone."

Survival came first, so I led with a light greeting, then stole a quick look around. Snow-white walls, ornate curtains, an IV line taped into my arm. It was the kind of private room the old me could never have dreamed of. Apparently, after a nurse had more or less strong-armed me into admission last night, lecturing me about abusing my side, I'd gone straight to sleep.

"Mr. Yoon?"

"Y-yes! Hunter Han Doa!"

"My dad asked me to pass along his thanks."

"Ah... right."

Yesterday had been so mortifying I'd thought I might actually die. One way of looking at it, I'd become the man who made off with someone else's precious treasure. Fortunately, Hunter Han Doa had vouched that I was the one who saved her, so the whole thing passed without much interrogation.

"So my dad said he'll cover all of your treatment costs."

"...I'm sorry, what?"

"Your stay here included."

"R-really?"

I nearly shot upright before the pull in my side made me settle meekly back down. I'd already been agonizing over how on earth to pay for this expensive private room, and now he was footing the entire bill.

So this is the dignity of a high-rank hunter.

For a moment, I could have sworn a dazzling halo glowed behind Hunter Han Doa. To think I'd failed to recognize such an angel. Everything I'd thought about her being a little scary until just now? Officially retracted.

"And how are you feeling, Hunter Han Doa? You must have been exhausted."

"Doa."

"...Pardon?"

"Let's not bother with stiff titles like 'Hunter' between us. Just call me Doa, Oppa."

Uh...

It took me a second to parse what she'd actually said.

"O-Oppa?"

"Mm-hm. I'm younger than you, aren't I? You're twenty-six, right?"

"That's true, but... no, even so, how could I possibly call an A-rank hunter... no, someone about to become S-rank, by her first ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠name?"

Calling one of the finest healers in all of South Korea "Doa"? However much my nerve had grown lately, that was a bridge too far.

"You just have to call me casually, without making it a big deal."

"How is anyone supposed to manage that?"

Hunter Han Doa studied me for a moment, then smiled.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Sorry?"

"Then I'll make it an order, with the authority of a provisional S-rank hunter. Call me Doa."

"Ah..."

I tried to sneak my gaze away, but she tilted her head right back into my line of sight.

"Oppa? You're not going to say it?"

...This wasn't ending until I said it, was it? I'd been through something similar recently, sure. Being told to call someone "Nuna" had at least come with less resistance, but being told to just use her name...

Fine. What say did I have in this, anyway?

Out of options, I opened my mouth.

"Doa."

"Yes, Oppa."

The answer came instantly, as if she'd been waiting for it. Hunter Han Doa—no, Doa—nodded with a satisfied look on her face.

Then a low chuckle drifted over from the window.

"The little rascal actually used his head."

"What's that supposed to mean, Seorin-unni?"

"...Unni?"

"Come to think of it, 'S-rank Hunter Baek Seorin' felt like a bit much. That's fine, right?"

Hunter Baek Seorin's eyebrow twitched. The sparks that had been flying at me until a moment ago deflected neatly sideways. While the two of them stared each other down, I carefully pulled the blanket up to my chin.

"By the way, are you two really not busy?"

The moment I changed the subject, both their gazes snapped back to me.

"I finished everything urgent, so I'm free right now."

"They told me the setup for my full examination would take a while, so I have some time to spare."

Even so—people you could count on one hand in the entire country, gathered in a hospital room, all watching just me.

Unbelievable. Genuinely unbelievable.

I was still sitting there in a daze when—

"Excuse me."

An Association employee carrying a tablet and a black bag came in and set the bag on the bedside table.

"We'll be proceeding with your Awakened registration, Mr. Yoon."

Now that I thought about it, I hadn't officially registered yet. The employee confirmed my name and date of birth, then asked about my ability.

"Telekinesis type. I can pull distant objects toward me."

"Then we'll begin with a simple verification."

From the black bag, he took out a small metal weight about two finger-joints tall and stood it upright on the table. The letter F was stamped on its side—presumably a tool for testing abilities at the F-rank level.

"Would you try moving this with your ability?"

"...One moment, please."

Cold sweat broke out down my back. I'd swapped to Emergency Self-Recovery yesterday. I looked back and forth between the metal weight and Hunter Baek Seorin, blinking hard.

Help me out here.

Hunter Baek Seorin's eyebrow arched slightly.

Why.

I tipped my eyes toward the metal weight and gave the smallest shake of my head.

Not right now.

Hunter Baek Seorin studied me for a moment, then turned to the employee.

"Does it have to be right now?"

"Excuse me? Well, official registration can only be completed once the ability check is done."

"This kid was bleeding his way through a Gate until yesterday. He collapsed after using his ability, too."

"Still, it's a simple check, so the strain should be—"

"And if something goes wrong, are you taking responsibility?"

At the word responsibility, the employee's eyes darted around for a moment.

"Th-then I'll postpone the practical verification to tomorrow at Association Headquarters."

"Good. Do it all tomorrow."

"Understood. I'll arrange that."

He hurriedly packed up his things and left.

That was close. Way too close.

I really hadn't expected yesterday's thoughtless swap to come back around like this.

"Thanks, Seorin Nuna. That was a genuinely close call."

"Forget the thanks. Why did you do that, Jaemin? You could've moved a weight that size, easy."

"It's just—of all days, I swapped abilities yesterday. Once I swap, it takes about a day before I can swap again. And this time... when I saved Doa, I gained a new ability, and I was just trying it out, and..."

"A new ability? You can swap abilities?"

Doa tilted her head. The slip-up hit me a beat too late, and I shot a quick glance at Hunter Baek Seorin; she gave a small nod that said it was fine.

"Ah. Explaining it in detail would probably take a while."

So I gave her only the key points she'd need to roughly understand the situation.

"Huh? So right now, you can heal yourself?"

"Yeah. Look here, at my side..."

To show her, I lifted the hem of my hospital gown. On my side—the wound that had torn open over and over with every movement until yesterday—a red scar still stood out vividly. With that in view, I used Emergency Self-Recovery once more.

"Nnngh..."

The familiar warmth wrapped around my side and spread, and the remaining traces of the wound began to fade little by little. I held the ability until a headache started creeping in, and by then the vivid red mark had faded to something noticeably fainter.

"See? With an ability like—"

"W-what do you think you're doing?!"

Her sudden shout cut me off mid-sentence. At some point, Doa had whipped her head away, one hand covering her eyes. The ears peeking through her fingers had flared scarlet.

"...Why?"

"What do you mean, why?! You can't just throw your clothes open like that out of nowhere!"

"But the wound's on my side. If I want to show you—"

"I don't care! Just cover up, right now!"

It wasn't like I'd shown her anything else—just my side. I wondered if she really needed to react this strongly. But when someone tells you to do something, you do it. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Without another word, I let the hem fall back down and covered my stomach. Only then did Doa finally lower her hand, though the tips of her ears were still dyed red.

"How long until the swap cooldown ends?"

"About twelve hours and forty minutes."

"Then it should wear off around evening."

Hunter Baek Seorin nodded as if it were nothing. The moment I saw that look, some inexplicable sense of dread washed over me.

"I'm the one who got it pushed back to tomorrow for you."

"...That's right?"

"Which means tomorrow, you'll have to show me for certain, won't you?"

The corner of Hunter Baek Seorin's mouth curled up slowly.

"Tonight, I'll train you myself."

"Yourself...?"

Ability training under the personal guidance of an S-rank hunter. To some people, that would be an opportunity worth a king's ransom. But to the current me, it didn't sound like that at all.

...I'll survive to the end of it, right?

Why was it that ominous premonitions were never ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wrong? I pinned my last hope on Doa and looked at her.

"Good luck, Oppa."

"...Good luck? Shouldn't you be stopping me right now?"

"I would have, if you were still a patient."

"I got admitted yesterday?"

"Oh, come on. You healed yourself just now. You looked mostly recovered to me. By evening you'll be perfectly fine."

Doa beamed at me and even gave a tiny fist pump.

"Fighting!"

"..."

That evening, when the swap cooldown finally expired, I followed Hunter Baek Seorin down to the Awakened rehabilitation room in the hospital basement. When the door opened, Doa—who had apparently arrived first—waved at me.

"Hi, Oppa!"

"...Why are you here?"

"Seorin-unni called me, so I've been waiting."

She'd headed off that afternoon, saying she had plenty to do, yet here she was waiting—patient bed and chair already set up and everything. On the opposite side, metal weights that looked to have been prepared by Hunter Baek Seorin were lined up in a row.

Hmm...

No matter how I looked at it, this was not shaping up to end easily. I'd braced myself, sure... but seeing it all laid out in front of me like this...

"Oh. I had my rank measured today. It came out S-rank."

"Oh yeah? Then shouldn't I really be calling you S-rank Hunter from now on?"

"Come on. Just call me Doa, like we agreed. Right?"

"Uh? Uh... right. Doa. I was just teasing."

...One look at Doa's face just now told me that if I joked about it a second time, I'd be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crossing straight over into the afterlife.

Just then, the door opened and Hunter Baek Seorin walked in. Without so much as a backward glance, she shut the door—and then, as naturally as breathing, engaged the lock.

"...Why are you locking the door?"

"Just because. Can't have anyone wandering in from outside. Security reasons."

Was that really the intent? It seemed deeply suspicious, but all I could do was nod in understanding.

"You can swap your ability now, right?"

"Yes. I can."

The moment the ability changed, the sensation shifted in an uncanny way. Hunter Baek Seorin picked out the smallest metal weight and set it down in the middle of the room.

"Keep pulling this toward you."

"Until when?"

"As far as you can. Until it won't move no matter how hard you try."

"...Okay. I'll give it a pull."

I focused for a moment, then curled my fingers inward. The metal weight scraped along the floor as it dragged slowly toward me. Just as I tried to pull it a little further—

Huh?

The sensation hooked at my fingertips suddenly went taut. I was clearly holding on, yet as if a far stronger force had intervened from the other side, the weight stopped dead. And the next instant—with no regard for my will whatsoever, the metal weight slid back the other way. I tried to force my grip to hold, but it was useless. Like a rope being yanked clean out of my hands, control changed owners in the space of a breath.

Hunter Baek Seorin returned the weight to its original spot and said, shortly:

"Again."

So this was S-rank. Watching from the sidelines and colliding with that strength head-on were two entirely different things. The vague sense that she was strong and the raw experience of my own power being crushed face-to-face weren't even in the same category.

...Focus. I need to focus.

Before the look in her eyes grew any sharper, I hurriedly gathered myself and pulled the weight again. The first few tries weren't all that hard. But after repeating the same motion dozens of times, my temples began to throb, and my concentration frayed along with them. The weight sliding across the floor lost momentum and stalled again and again, and the time it took to get moving once more stretched longer and longer.

"Nuna, I really can't anymore."

"Ah, is that so? That's fine. That's what I brought her for."

Hunter Baek Seorin tipped her chin toward Doa without missing a beat.

"Hang in there, Oppa."

Doa had appeared beside me without my noticing; the moment she took my wrist, a warm current seeped into my body along my arm. Strength returned to my limp limbs, but the skull-splitting pain in my head stayed exactly where it was.

"The headache's still here, though?"

"That one I can't remove. Even an S-rank healer can't heal the penalties from ability overuse."

...Hmm.

"But it's okay! A headache doesn't mean you instantly can't use your ability. It's... it's like an electric car, you know? When the battery drops below a certain level, a warning light comes on, right? But it doesn't just stop right away—you can still drive for a while."

"..."

"Think of it like that. The headache is a kind of warning light."

"And if I use my ability in this state?"

"You'll keep feeling the headache."

So in the end, I just had to keep feeling this pain? That was a fact I could have gone my whole life without learning. At this point, I didn't care who it was—anyone, please, burst through that door and liberate me from this suffering.

"Shall we start again?"

"You can do it!"

Then again, no one was getting past those two in the first place. In the end, I clutched my aching head and reached out once more.

"You lost it. Again."

"You can do this."

"You've still got more in the tank."

"No excuses."

"Don't lose focus now."

"One more. Just one more."

"You've got it, Oppa!"

...Not a single person on my side.

How many times did we repeat that? By the time dawn drew near, even my thoughts wouldn't string together properly. Partway through, they added obstacles to the course, and I steered the pull by feel alone, following the sensation caught at my fingertips.

Once.

Again.

I cleared the same course twice in a row, and the moment I hauled the weight all the way to me without dropping it a third time—

The blue text I'd been waiting for filled my vision. At the same moment, the strength left my fingertips, and I collapsed flat onto the floor.

"Did it rank up?"

"Yeah... it just said I made it to E-rank."

Doa grabbed my shoulder, beaming.

"Congratulations, Oppa!"

"Thanks..."

Hunter Baek Seorin nodded with a satisfied look as well.

"Then, to celebrate the rank-up, shall we do a bit more?"

"...Have mercy."

This time, I begged in earnest, pride and dignity cast aside completely.

And then, the next day.

"That one? He's just my disciple."

And just like that, the leash snapped shut around my neck.