Is This Me?
Is This Me?
Where am I?
My room ceiling is yellowed with mold in the corners.
It's not this clean.
At that moment, I heard sniffling beside me.
Someone was crying.
Who is it?
When I tried to turn my head, my entire body felt like it was burning.
"Ghk...!"
Especially my stomach. It felt like being impaled by a red-hot iron skewer.
Iron skewer?
...I remember now.
The mountain?
I reflexively raised my hand to touch my stomach.
But the hand that came into view looked strangely unfamiliar.
Pale, slender fingers. It didn't seem like my hand.
What the hell?
When I tried to flex my fingers, pain shot through my entire body again.
I lost consciousness.
"Yunha? Doctor! Yunha, Yunha woke up!"
I felt someone beside me jump up and move away.
***
When I opened my eyes the second time, my vision was slightly clearer.
The fluorescent light still stung my eyes and my stomach still burned, but it wasn't enough to make me pass out.
"Mom..."
"Yunha?"
I heard my mother's familiar voice.
"Yunha, are you awake?"
I barely managed to turn my head. My mother sat in a chair, her eyes swollen. She must have come all the way from our hometown.
I should give her money for the trip... Would 50,000 won be enough?
"You must be busy. Why did you come all the way here?"
"...Are you seriously worrying about my travel expenses? You ungrateful brat!"
Busted.
"Oh, I can't live my life properly because of you!"
My mother's wrinkled hand caressed my face.
"...Sorry."
"Sorry my foot. Just being alive is enough."
Mom sniffled.
"Yunha... Isn't this enough already?
Let's give up and come home together."
"..."
Even if I had ten mouths, I wouldn't know what to say.
I tried to force something out, but my throat closed up.
"...The doctor said we were lucky.
They happened to have emergency potions at the management office, so they could treat you during the golden hour."
"Potions?"
"Don't worry too much. I'll cover that much."
I couldn't bring myself to say I'd pay it myself.
I couldn't even imagine how much high-grade potions to heal a pierced stomach would cost.
"...How long have I been in the hospital?"
"Ten days."
"Ten days!?"
I forced my creaking body to move and looked around the room.
It was a private room.
Large windows, clean sheets.
A TV on the wall, even a mini fridge.
My studio apartment rent is 500,000 won - how much does this room cost per day?
If it's 250,000 won per day at most...
2.5 million won?!
"M-Mom! Why am I in a private room? We should've gotten a shared one!"
At that moment, the door opened.
"Has the patient regained consciousness?"
A doctor in a white coat holding a chart began speaking.
"Fortunately, the surgery went well and recovery is progressing nicely.
The internal sutures and burn tissue regeneration are complete,
and you should be able to be discharged after three or four more days of observation."
Stay here longer?!
"Can't I be discharged right now? If not, at least change rooms!"
"Huh? Why suddenly?"
"Doctor, you can ignore what she's saying."
"Mom!"
"You rest some more! Doctor, come with me outside."
"Huh? Okay."
Mom started pulling the doctor outside, occasionally turning back to glare at me.
***
About five minutes after they left, there was a knock.
"Come in...?"
"Excuse me."
A woman in a sharp business suit entered with an unfamiliar voice.
She paused slightly when she saw me.
"Are you Hunter Kang Yunha?"
"Yes, but who are you?"
"...You look quite different from your photo.
I'm Kim Ha-yeon from the Hunter Management Bureau's Compensation Processing Department."
Different from my photo? What does that mean?
"Why is the Bureau here?"
"You were found unconscious in front of a Gate. You remember, right?"
"Yes, but...?"
"In such cases, activating an escape scroll is standard procedure...
But scrolls are so expensive even high-rank hunters rarely use them.
If you used one despite that, it means the situation was that dire."
I did do that.
"The Bureau has protocols to reduce hunter casualties left at Gate entrances.
We provide emergency treatment immediately upon finding transferred injured hunters.
Hunter Kang Yunha falls under this case."
"Thank you?"
"No need for thanks.
This is all paid work anyway."
"Huh?"
Money?
"Please review the administration records."
A stack of documents was handed to me. With trembling hands, I checked the contents.
S-grade emergency recovery potion - 1 dose.
Organ regeneration accelerator - 2 doses.
Burn tissue restoration agent - 1 dose.
After reading the left column, my eyes moved to the price list on the right.
180 million...?
You're kidding.
72 million.
52.82 million.
Total: 304.82 million won.
The documents in my hands shook uncontrollably.
"Regulations state the Bureau covers all surgery and hospital fees."
I guess that's a relief.
"However, the hunter must personally reimburse emergency potion expenses."
"Me?"
"There's an interest-free 30-month installment plan. Monthly payments would be about 10.16 million won."
Reality slipped away.
I average 30,000 won per day hunting the first layer.
Working nonstop for a month makes 900,000 won.
To earn 10.16 million won, I'd need to hunt nonstop for 11 months just to pay one month's installment.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
"...Lower-rank hunters rarely use escape scrolls,
so until now this protocol only applied to upper-rank hunters."
Right, this service wasn't meant for someone like me.
"Thanks to Hunter Kang Yunha, the regulations might change.
Please sign here for now."
I took the pen and signed. My body still ached, making my writing crooked.
The three characters spelling "Kang Yunha" looked like someone else's name.
"Please make timely repayments.
Take care of your health and continue your dungeon explorations."
Kim Ha-yeon neatly organized the documents and stood up.
"That will be all."
The door closed, and her heels clicked away down the hall.
300 million.
They should've just let me die.
***
"Yunha? What's that?"
Mom returned and saw the documents in my hand.
"Ah, it's nothing."
"...Give me that."
Mom's eyes began shaking as she read the numbers. She probably never imagined costs this high.
Remembering her earlier "I'll cover it" made my chest ache.
After staring at the bill for a long time, Mom finally spoke.
"...Should I find you a good match?"
"What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden!"
A good match? Out of nowhere?
"With 300 million in debt, how will you pay it alone? Better to charm some rich guy—"
"Mom. No matter how much I can change into a woman, I'm still a man."
...But why does my voice sound so strange?
Why does it sound so pleasant?
"And look at me objectively.
How could such an average-looking woman charm a rich man?"
"Huh? Oh."
Mom made a realization face and started grinning mischievously.
"Yunha. You haven't seen your face yet, have you?"
"Why would I suddenly look at my face?"
Mom rummaged through her bag and pulled out a hand mirror.
"At first when we got to the hospital, I didn't recognize you.
And you kept getting prettier each day. Your hair turned white too."
I took the mirror.
A stranger with trembling pupils stared back at me.
Silver hair. Flawless skin. High nose bridge.
...Is this me?
Now I understood why Kim Ha-yeon said I looked "different from my photo."
This was on another level from my usual female form.
My forgettable face became like this? Even bare-faced without makeup, I couldn't look away from the mirror.
I reflexively opened my status window.
[Trait: Yin-Yang Person]
— A moon is forming.
A new line appeared below the trait description. One that wasn't there before.
My hand trembled behind the transparent status window.
I lowered the mirror and looked down at my body.
Even through the hospital gown, I could feel my changed silhouette.
Curves I could never compare to my previous flat-chested self hid beneath the gown.
My strange hands, my voice - it was all because of this.
"Well, you take after your father. If you took after me properly, you'd be this pretty naturally."
I side-eyed my shameless mother.
Her face, identical to my old female form, smiled confidently.
...Okay, we do share the same number of eyes, nose and mouth.
"Mom was also beautiful when she was young..."
"..."
Voices came from the hallway.
"Did you see that patient? Is she a celebrity?"
"I've never seen her on iTube."
"Ah, must be a trainee!"
Mom brushed back my hair.
The silver strands slipped through her fingers.
"Being pretty is good, but this hair color is a bit eye-catching."
...This is it.
***
"You'll need to stay hospitalized for at least three more days."
The doctor's words made my mental calculator start running.
Since the Bureau's covering hospital fees, I should milk this.
The important thing is my future plan.
10.16 million won per month.
Money absolutely impossible from just selling wolf cores.
Even with a part-time job, I'd need to work 1,030 hours at minimum wage per month.
34 hours per day.
But days only have 24 hours.
Mom forced a sliced apple into my mouth.
"Don't worry too much, we'll find a way.
I'll talk with your father when I get home."
What can a retired farmer growing crops on his land do?
And how much have I already borrowed from my parents...
There's only one way.
"Mom."
"What."
"Can you bring my laptop from home?"
Mom looked puzzled.
"Why suddenly a laptop?"
"I need to try whatever I can do now."
"Huh? Okay."
"The sooner the better."
As I answered, I picked up the mirror on the table again.
With this face, people would flock even if I picked my nose in public, right?
Wolha.
The half-assed streams I did for pocket money using this useless trait.
A bottom-tier hakko streamer whose peak was 30 viewers when I didn't even show my face.
Monthly income at best was 200,000 won.
After fees, 130,000 won - the worst hourly wage ever.
But with this face?
I couldn't stop giggling. No, I didn't try to stop.
300 million didn't seem like an impossible number anymore.
"Besides the laptop, do you need anything else?"
Mom got up while packing her bag.
"There are lights and a camera in the closet. Bring those too."
"What? Yunha, what are you planning to do in the hospital?"
What else?
A vlog about the wise hospital life of a super beautiful woman.
First, lay the groundwork.
I picked up the phone beside my bed.
Battery at 3%.
Should've asked her to bring the charger too.
---
[Hakko Streamer Gallery]
Title: Big news coming for Wolha's stream!
ㅇㅇ: Wolha announced a big reveal today!
ㅇㅇ: Who's that?
ㅇㅇ: Dunno either
ㅇㅇ: Is it you?
ㅇㅇ: Lol if it was me would I be posting here
Can't a fan just recommend someone
ㅇㅇ: Come back with a verified account
ㅇㅇ: LMAOOOO
ㅇㅇ: Searched on Pazijik - 47 followers
ㅇㅇ: A hakko among hakkos
ㅇㅇ: So funny seeing someone struggle alone ㅋㅋㅋ
ㅇㅇ: Fuck I'm actually a fan
ㅇㅇ: Fan = OP
ㅇㅇ: Next time write more subtly lololol