Outing (2)

I'd gotten an earful about not going around with bare legs exposed, among other lectures.

When I asked whether other people's stares were any of my business—I was already sick of the hassle—I got another round of a girl shouldn't talk like that and so on. We finally compromised: I changed into long pants.

Does it really matter what you wear, so long as you don't make other people uncomfortable?

I grumbled to myself but didn't show it. For one thing, I was living off Lee Haneul's goodwill. For another, I knew full well that if I tried to argue, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my slow speech would guarantee a total loss.

So I rode the bus in silence, and by the time enough of it had passed, Lee Haneul and I were standing in front of the Hunter Association Headquarters in Yeongdeungpo-gu.

The building's entire outer walls were floor-to-ceiling glass, glowing a cool blue, and it towered so far above the surrounding high-rises that just looking up made me dizzy.

Beside it sat a massive structure that looked like a gymnasium. It wasn't nearly as tall as the tower, but mana wavelengths kept leaking from it without pause.

A mana shield? Running that twenty-four hours a day is impressive.

It seemed to convert a portion of incoming damage into absorbed mana. The fact that they'd implemented something like that not as equipment but at the scale of an entire building earned a small flicker of surprise from me.

"Whoa…"

Lee Haneul, standing next to me, let out a quiet sound of awe. Apparently it was her first time here too.

"First time?"

"Yes. Unless you're a Hunter, ordinary people almost never have a reason to come here."

That made sense. I nodded and pointed at the gymnasium-like building.

"Then… do you know what that is?"

Her gaze followed my fingertip. The moment the building filled her eyes, the answer came easily.

"Ah, that. That's the Measurement Hall."

"Measurement Hall?"

"Yes. From what I've seen on the news, Hunters go in there to have their ranks measured, or to acclimate in advance to a Gate's environment."

"Ah."

Effects I'd only ever seen inside a game, reinterpreted and built into reality. I didn't understand the technical side of it, but it felt as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠though the game were slowly overwriting the real world.

"……"

It was fascinating—and it grated on me in a strange way. Maybe because it made the dungeon I truly hated feel like it was still clinging to me.

I shook my head left and right to scatter those stray thoughts and stepped inside the Association. A broad lobby opened out before us. People carrying weapons mixed with people in suits, all of them bustling back and forth.

I approached the counter and explained that I was a Returnee. Word must already have gone around; the clerk placed a call somewhere, then asked me to wait a moment. Before long, a woman hurried out of an elevator and came rushing toward us.

"Uwaaah—the R-Returnee is already here, I'm doomed… doomed…!"

Brown hair falling to her waist, brown eyes. An office look that sat in sharp contrast to her full figure. I watched the high center of gravity bouncing up and down with each step and thought,

She's even wearing heels. Isn't she going to fall?

Fortunately, she didn't. Better physical ability than she looked, maybe? Though she still seemed precarious enough.

"Haa… haa…. R-Returnee, you… didn't wait long… did you…?"

"Nah. Not really."

I hadn't been waiting that long. Just as I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thought that, a light tap landed on my shoulder. I turned; Lee Haneul was looking at me.

"That's the person from this morning. I'll sit in the lobby and wait, so go handle things yourself, okay?"

She waved, so I nodded back in greeting.

When I turned around again, the woman was standing there, clothes neatly straightened.

"Ahem. So. I'll be the one guiding you through the adaptation program going forward. My name is Min Chae-won. May I ask the Returnee's name?"

"…Yu Sia."

"Yes, name confirmed…. For identity verification, we'll need a few simple tests. Is that all right?"

I nodded. Min Chae-won led me into an elevator, took me up, and showed me where I needed to go.

Ah. Should I just cut the talking? Gestures alone get the point across just fine. It's so convenient. If speaking is hard, maybe expressing myself with my body is okay too?

While I was thinking that, a long string of examination procedures rolled past.

It started with a basic health check—drawing blood and the like—then moved on to searching the digitally registered missing-persons list for my identity.

When nothing came up, I told them to search under male. That earned me a look that said, With that appearance, you're a man?

So I said I was a woman now, and the gazes around me shifted in a subtle, awkward way.

What. What is it.

You think I became a woman because I wanted to? Screw that.

I put force into my eyes and glared; people looked away.

In the end they found a male record with the same name, and a prior address registration at the same place I'd returned to. That was how I barely got my identity back.

Except the leading digit of my resident registration number had changed from a three to a four. Having the country itself process it like that left me with a strange, unsettled feeling.

I've really become a woman….

Something about it was… a little humiliating. Then again, I'd already spent long years as a woman in the dungeon—so why get newly self-conscious about it now?

But the opposite thought—Fine, I'm a woman now, so I'll just live like one!!—was every bit as uncomfortable. Even so, I didn't want to live that way.

It felt like I would lose something important. If that was nothing more than petty pride, fine, I had no defense….

"Mmngh…."

"Is something the matter…?"

When I made a low sound, Min Chae-won asked in a carefully deferential tone. I briefly considered just saying it, then decided it was too embarrassing and let the answer slide past.

"No. Nothing. If I need a photo… just guide me."

"Ah, yes! Yes, ma'am!"

Taking the photo finally closed out every procedure. Min Chae-won said a resident registration card would be delivered to my address within a few days.

Ordinarily, reclaiming an identity meant various filings through family court and a trial, but Returnees apparently received considerable special treatment thanks to the Association.

I stared in silence at the four displayed on the screen, then turned my head away. There was no reason to dwell on it further.

"What's next?"

"Ah, next is issuing a Hunter license. Every Returnee is required to receive one. Since your combat power is fundamentally high, the system has to manage you under the Hunter classification rather than as a civilian…."

Ah. So that was why Park Min-cheol had said Returnees had an easy path into becoming Hunters.

If they were obligated to receive a Hunter license and renew it periodically, the Hunter Association could manage Returnees more easily—and from the Returnees' side, the Hunter profession ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠became far more accessible.

They put some thought into that.

"So how do I get the license?"

"First…. We'll start with a mana measurement. After that, a mock battle to confirm your skill, and then you'll need to attend the mandatory lectures."

"…Lectures?"

Mana would just be MP, and I was confident enough about combat. But the word lectures made me tilt my head.

"What do I have to learn?"

"Nothing major. Precautions inside Gates, Gate structure and characteristics, a simple summary of how the world ended up like this…. So for today we'll just do the mana measurement and combat-power assessment, and then—let's see… today's the twenty-third? If you take classes for five days including today, that should cover it."

Today was Monday, yes. Hmm.

The clean scheduling made sense. I nodded.

"So we measure now?"

"Yes. Mana first. Please follow me this way!"

Min Chae-won and I rode the elevator back down to the first floor and headed toward the Measurement Hall. She seemed a little less tense now, walking more easily, while I trailed after her in a sort of dutiful shuffle.

I closed my eyes for a moment. Even with them shut, Telepathy let me sense every sapient mind completely, so there was no risk of bumping into anyone.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd walked this leisurely under warm sunlight.

Didn't you walk when you came to the Association with Lee Haneul? Back then I had no identity. My very right to survive was at risk.

Now? Who was I? Yu Sia, owner of a Republic of Korea resident registration card. The fact that that alone set my mind at ease proved the old saying true: the position makes the person.

Ah, come to think of it, Lee Haneul uses an A-Phone, doesn't she.

Why use a foreign one instead of a domestic phone? I should ask her later.

Following that stream of consciousness from one thought to the next, I somehow arrived at the mana measurement room.

"Once you enter, please wait a moment. The staff member will explain the measurement method over the speaker—just follow along."

With that, Min Chae-won opened the door leading into the mana measurement chamber. I nodded flatly and stepped inside.

The interior was fairly narrow. One wall was painted black, made of opaque glass that blocked any view of what lay beyond, and in the center a transparent crystal orb glittered.

I stood still without touching anything. After a short wait, a brief crackle came from the speaker, and a man's voice followed.

I nodded, and he went straight to the point.

A strange feeling? What kind? The curiosity rose—and the answer arrived not long after I set my hand on the orb.

Resonance. The slow waves radiating from the crystal binding with the mana inside my body. The vibration that started at my palm, climbed my arm and shoulder, passed through my heart, and spread through my entire body created a peculiar sensation, as if the orb and I were fusing into one.

So that's what he meant by strange.

A variant of the fourth-hierarchy spell Mana Link—the magic that connected another person's mana to mine, the one I'd often cast on mage-type summons.

Of course it would feel awkward the first time. Thinking that, I deliberately loosened my control over my mana even further so the binding could settle more cleanly. It seemed they were using the resonance to measure mana with fine precision.

When the binding released, a languid heaviness settled through my whole body. Not so much exhausted-to-death as simply weighted down. I slowly took my hand away, yawned, and waited for him to speak.

After a brief rustle of paper, the man opened his mouth again.

So mana had criteria like purity and sensitivity too?

I wasn't the type to get hung up on measurement results, so I gave a slight nod of acknowledgment and stepped out of the chamber. It wasn't an important result to me. I had not the slightest desire to rank myself against others and show off how strong I was.

No one was outside the door. I stood waiting, and within a few minutes Min Chae-won came running from the far end of the corridor, a paper envelope in her hands.

"Huff, huff…. I-I'm not late… right…?!"

I nodded.

"Let's go. We still have to do the mock battle…."

Ah. I just want to finish everything fast, go home, and rest….

That was the only thought in my head.