A New Beginning (2)

"Nngh..."

I was certain I'd still been inside the gate just a moment ago. Then, at some point, my consciousness had simply cut out.

The feeling was familiar.

When had I felt something like this before...?

Wait. No way.

Had the aftermath somehow killed me and forced another reincarnation?

I opened my eyes at once and took stock of the situation.

"Huh...? Um..."

The moment I spoke, relief washed over me. The same voice as before. The same familiar hands in front of my eyes. The same hair, the same chest, the same body.

It didn't look like I had died and been reborn again.

"Thank god..."

It was the most anxious I had been since becoming a mage. Dying while working as a hunter? That was just part of the job. That would only mean my predictions had been incomplete — my own mistake, really. And if I had gone in knowing the risk, I would already have made my peace with it.

But a freak accident was different. Dropping dead of a heart attack tomorrow? You couldn't predict that. After everything I still had left to finish, dying like that would have been too unfair. Fortunately, it seemed I had sidestepped that future.

"Oh? Patient? Doctor! Patient twenty-one is awake!"

Not long after I came to, a voice rose from beside me. A nurse hurried off to find the doctor.

Moments later a physician came in and examined me. I simply let them work, and before I knew it the checks were finished.

"For now... you're fine. I think about a week of hospitalization should do it."

"Ah... is that so...? And... what exactly happened...?"

"You collapsed at the scene and were transferred here. At present you're stable. It's been less than three hours since you left the gate. There's no major physical abnormality, so you could technically be discharged immediately — but since we don't know what kind of mystery was involved, my recommendation is to keep you under observation for about a week."

"Ah..."

Thankfully nothing serious. Good.

"And... patient? Do you remember... when your last memory is from?"

Then there was that one detail I had almost forgotten. The improvised cover story I had spun the moment I saw the agents in suits was about to pay off.

Inside the gate, the sight of those suited agents had thrown me. Anyone could tell they weren't C-rank. They had come for some other purpose.

And what purpose would that be? Looking for me, right? It might have sounded like an inflated sense of self-importance, but at my level that was the only conclusion I could reach. The fact that they had called me "young lady" only confirmed it.

The problem was that I had no idea whether those people and I already knew each other. If we did, I would have been exposed on the spot. So I had pretended my memory was incomplete.

After all, the only people who knew what had happened in there were me and that assassin. And if the assassin claimed his own memory had gone strange because of a mishap with my unique ability, no one would think twice about it.

"Uh... that is... when was it...?"

"What is the most recent older incident you can clearly recall?"

"That one...? Was it when I awakened...? You know, the blue power pouring out of my body?"

"Approximately when was that?"

"About a month ago, I think...? I registered the very next day, so if you check the registration date, that should line up. I awakened the evening before I registered."

I pinned the amnesia on my awakening — a convenient enough cause. A sudden, unexplained memory blank was less convincing; if you layered a clear event like an awakening over it, people would naturally assume the two were connected.

"...I see. Then, is there anything you remember about your family?"

"My family...? My older sister came by. And... who else was there?"

"You don't remember?"

"No. That is... I called her unnie, so she must be my sister, but... uh..."

The doctor calmly recorded every word. Of course he already knew that Baek Sowol had one older brother, one older sister, and two living parents. But those people would never approach me first. I didn't know why.

Judging from what my sister had said before, even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if she might, the others almost certainly would not. Which left me with no way to gather information.

So what was I supposed to do?

"Then... could you please contact them for me? Or, where is my phone..."

All I had to do was create a situation where they would have no choice but to come themselves.

"Ah. Yes, of course. Your phone is right here — if you'd like, you can use it immediately. There shouldn't be any health issues with that. Please rest, and if you feel any discomfort or anything unusual, contact us right away."

I still didn't know the state of the family relationships. But if it was a relationship Baek Sowol had been refusing, they would come now. Even if they hated each other, it wouldn't matter.

Baek Sowol and Baek Soae's relationship hadn't seemed that bad. Soae would come. And once she did, I could just ask her.

...I made it.

Only after the doctor and nurse had both left and I was alone in the room did it truly sink in.

I had survived again. And this time, I hadn't even borrowed anyone else's help. I had overcome the crisis with my own power.

On top of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that, I had awakened a unique ability — and in barely a month, no less. Considering there were even A-rank hunters without unique abilities, that was an exceptionally fast growth curve.

There's a lot I need to do. First I've got to dump a bunch of posts on the gallery. And I need to hear what happened with the stream...

Plenty of things I was curious about right now, but the immediate priority was the real world. I hurriedly powered on my phone and scanned the contacts.

Opening my phone revealed a pile of messages. Lee Jihyeon wasn't among them. Come to think of it, we had never exchanged numbers.

Calling people back... probably not a good idea right now.

Contacting anyone at this moment could get messy. Family would be arriving soon. Cutting a call short mid-conversation would look awkward. At the very least, I wanted to avoid anything that might force me to explain family history.

So I passed on the calls. Instead I opened the gallery — a place where getting interrupted mid-scroll wouldn't matter.

I went into the Hunter-Mage Gallery as usual and checked the recommended posts.

The recommended posts were nothing like what I had expected. I had assumed threads about Lee Jihyeon would be stacked end to end — instead, the government was dominating the board.

Scrolling further down, of course, there were quite a few posts about Lee Jihyeon too. I would check those later. Something about the government being hit and her ambush felt connected.

From what I could gather, the National Assembly had kicked up a fuss over embezzlement and the like, which exposed the security vault's location — and villains had cleaned the place out.

And one of those leaked prototypes had to be the machine that controlled the magical beast I'd seen earlier. I moved on to other posts.

Everyone was confused from the lack of solid information. Thinking about it, it was hard to believe that someone who was basically just a pretty civilian like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me would have a massive background worth targeting.

As I scrolled through the list, a new post went up.

That roughly filled in the picture.

First: a government facility had been breached. Information had leaked from it.

In the process, Hermes technology had been exposed — and at the same time, so had my identity.

Given that, Baek Sowol's parents had to be government-side figures. If they weren't, a government breach wouldn't have spilled information about me.

In any case, the kidnappers who saw that data had decided to snatch me for profit. And since the prototype was going to fall apart soon anyway, they used the attempt as a field test.

Their failure was the current situation.

Is there any way I can use this...?

Revealing my true identity was still premature. My rank was far too low for that. I had awakened a unique ability, sure — but openly disclosing it could land me in the same ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mess as Han Yaeseo.

The hunter industry evaluated people strictly by ability. Even with a good family, if your strength as a hunter was lacking, you could never claim a high seat. You might end up in a position that commanded hunters, but you would never become an outstanding hunter.

All I had to do was keep working at it. And right then—

"W-wait a moment...! Even if the patient herself requested it and you are family, visitation this early is still far too soo—"

A commotion rose outside. The voice of the doctor who had so kindly explained everything to me earlier floated through the door.

I turned my head. Several presences gathered just beyond the threshold. Moments later, the door slid open with a heavy rattle.

A man stood in the doorway. His face was twisted with something close to anguish.

"..."

And in that instant, instinct told me everything. That man was my father.

"Um... hello? If it's not too rude, might I ask who you are...?"

I had no idea what to say, so I hedged as carefully as I could. Losing my memories was technically true — half true, at least.

I was still trying to keep my words as neutral as possible when—

Thud—

"Huh? Wha...!?"

My (presumed) father simply lost the strength in his legs and dropped to his knees.

"Ah...! Ah!"

Tears already half-brimming in his eyes.

Um... this wasn't how this was supposed to go?