episode_0003

“……That’s a relief. Then all I have to do is apply for reinstatement and retake the semester.”

“But… are you really sure you can go back to school?”

“Is there any reason I can’t? Even if it’s just to not waste the tuition I’ve paid so far, I should at least graduate.”

As we talked about university, I felt an odd gaze on me. It was my little sister.

“What?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking how thick-skinned you are.”

“What now?”

“Honestly, you’re probably the only person who’d think about school right after waking up from something like this.”

“Then what else am I supposed to worry about if not university?”

“Do you really think campus life will go smoothly? As a Variant, just standing out will draw insane attention.”

She was trying to sound concerned, but honestly, it was just laughable.

“Hey. That’ll only last a day or two. If I just keep my head down and attend classes, the reactions will die down. It’s not like I had many friends in my department anyway—who’d even care?”

“……Ugh. Only you’d say that. Wait, no—should I call you ‘unnie’ now? Look, that might’ve worked when you were a guy, but with a face like that, do you really think guys won’t swarm you?”

She had a point.

The way I looked now was undeniably striking… There was no way guys wouldn’t latch onto me.

Of course, not all of them would be like that, but the sheer number of bizarre antics from the few who were obsessed with women was enough to flood university forums regularly.

Ugh. Disgusting.

Just imagining it made me shudder. Some guy running after me, shouting about how much he likes me? Seriously…

I wasn’t that open-minded—seeing something like that might actually give me goosebumps.

“Ugh, creepy. But it’s fine.”

“What is?”

“If they get too annoying, I’ll just show them a little trick.”

“A trick?”

“Yeah. Like folding a coin in half.”

“…….”

“That alone should be enough to scare off most of them, don’t you think?”

What, why, huh?

I grinned at my baffled sister.

Now that I thought about it, it did sound kind of fun.

“You seem at ease, so that’s a relief… daughter.”

“Can’t you just stick with ‘son’? I’m still not used to it.”

“This way, you’ll adjust faster. Are you okay with it?”

“Me? I don’t… really care. Son or daughter, whatever. Ah, but there is one thing that bothers me.”

“What?”

“If this had happened in my first year, I wouldn’t have had to go to the military. At least I don’t have to do reserve training, so that’s something.”

“Oh, right!”

“Yeah. They’re exempting Variants from reserve duty. There’s precedent…”

The small talk went on for a while.

Given that I’d technically died and come back to life, my parents must’ve been pretty worried.

Well, except for my sister.

And since I seemed calmer than they’d expected, they seemed reassured.

Over the three months I was unconscious, my family must’ve seen and heard how Variants had changed the world. They probably knew more about what Variants were than I did.

The inherent dangers, too. Since none of that showed in me, it made sense they’d relax.

Anyway, as soon as my family left, the doctor slipped into my room.

Perfect timing—I had something to ask.

“Uh, Doctor?”

“Yes? What is it?”

“When can I be discharged? I’m not sick or hurt anywhere… Wouldn’t it be better to just leave and come back for regular check-ups?”

“Would you like to do that?”

“Huh?”

“The agent earlier mentioned you have good control over your abilities. There’s no need for further treatment, and the medical checks showed no issues. So, as you said, periodic visits to monitor your condition should suffice.”

“Oh. Then let’s do that.”

“It’s late today, so rest in your room. You can complete the discharge process tomorrow and leave. Make sure to inform your family.”

“Got it.”

With nothing else to do in the hospital room, I ended up scrolling through my phone.

The internet was flooded with Variant talk. There were even dedicated Variant communities popping up.

But this… was actually pretty entertaining.

[Ah, fck;;]

I planted a tree, but it grew too fast and pierced through the building.

What do I do now??

-? Why’d you plant a tree out of nowhere?

-I’m an elf…

-LOL, an elf?

-Yeah;; Without trees, the air feels too polluted, it’s suffocating.

-How are you gonna cover the building repair costs?

-No idea, but I’ll figure it out… Wait, why did it grow so fast?

-Elf racial trait?

-Even so, this is ridiculous;;

-Why not get a job at an arboretum? You could make good money as a gardener.

-Oh, not bad!

[Vampires gotta live…]

Blood packs are so hard to get;;

Everyone, please donate more blood…

Pig blood tastes awful.

-Do vampires taste something in blood?

-It just tastes like blood, but it’s insanely delicious.

-You’d go crazy for seonji (blood sausage), huh? LOL

-Yeah, I used to hate seonji because of the metallic taste, but now it’s all I eat;;

There were Variants suspected to be elves, vampires, even harpies with wings sprouting from their backs.

It really felt like fantasy had become reality.

Of course, not everything was fun and games.

[Ugh, what’s wrong with this bastard?]

If you’ve lost your mind, can’t you at least live quietly?

Why cause chaos in the streets? Life’s already hard enough as a Variant…

-I’ll hunt that bastard down when I get my abilities.

-For real?

-Obviously joking, dumbass. Looks like a minotaur-type Variant. LOL, you’d get flattened.

-But seriously, the hot-tempered Variants are the most pitiful.

-How messed up must their self-control be to act like that? Most Variants don’t cause trouble.

-True. The vampire above isn’t attacking people—just relying on blood packs and seonji.

[Yo, but there’s literally every race now.]

Reality’s become straight-up fantasy. LOL

Elves, dwarves, harpies, vampires, animal hybrids…

I think I heard there’s even a slime?

Any others?

-There’s gotta be a dragon somewhere, right?

-If dragons exist, it’d be chaos. LOL

-No way;; You mean breathing fire and stuff?

-Now that you mention it… I heard rumors at the hospital. There might be a dragon-type Variant.

-For real??

-Yeah. I woke up as a Variant about two months ago, and even then, there were people still undergoing transformation.

-No way;; Wait, what are you? A two-month-old Variant is rare.

-I’m an elf, but not the usual kind.

-Like a high elf?

-Yeah.

-Damn, if dragons exist, that’s scary;; Couldn’t that cause major disasters?

-No idea, but they say the longer the transformation takes, the more mentally stable you become. That’s what the doctor said.

-Really?

-Yeah. I wasn’t confused or anything either.

-That’s wild;; What’s the difference between high elves and regular elves?

-Not sure…? Never met another elf, but I can hear plants’ voices.

-WTF.

I flinched reading the post.

Late-stage transformation, possibly a dragon… That sounded a lot like me.

I never thought my story would pop up here.

Maybe that “high elf” was someone who woke up in the same hospital as me.

After that, I kept digging into recent events.

Looking through Variant-related history, I realized just how many insane incidents had happened.

Well, duh. If fantasy had invaded reality, it’d be weirder if nothing happened.

Some stories were serious, others had me laughing. Eventually, I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up, it was already morning.

As I absently scratched my messy hair, my fingers brushed against my horns.

“……Ah.”

Hard, spiraling black horns.

Yeah, I wasn’t getting used to these. It’s human nature to touch a bump on your head, but these were full-blown horns.

I fiddled with them, but there was no sensation—just the hard texture of bull horns.

I’d heard I had wings and a tail too, but I had no idea how to summon them.

I could live without the tail, but I kinda wanted to try the wings… Well, they’d probably come out eventually.

After spacing out for a bit, I remembered I had to call my family.

The time was… 9 AM. At least Mom would be awake.

I lazily reached for my phone and called her.

“Hm? What’s up?”

“Ah, Mom. They said I can be discharged today.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, my condition’s stable, and I don’t need special training to control my powers. They said I can just leave and come back for weekly check-ups.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“I’ll head straight to my place. Did you leave my old apartment as-is?”

“Ah, I forgot to mention. We got you a new place. The rent was piling up, and since no one was living there… We terminated the lease and found a new officetel near Seo-ah’s place. It’s big enough for two. I’ll send you the address—it’s near where Seo-ah used to live, so you’ll know the area.”

“Oh.”

“We also talked to Seo-ah. Since you’re not a guy anymore, there might be things you’ll need her help with. So we decided… You’re okay with this, right?”

“No, no. Living together’s fine. We shared a room as kids anyway… And like you said, I might need her help sometimes.”

I was a little disappointed, but it wasn’t a big deal. The only reason we’d gotten separate places was because of Seo-ah’s stubbornness.

“The address is… Oh, here? I used to visit this area a lot when dropping off stuff at Seo-ah’s place. There’s even that café I liked. Ah, Mom, I don’t have any clothes to wear… Can you bring me something simple?”

“Sure. I’ll be there soon. Let’s go shopping too. We don’t even know your size now…”

About an hour later, Mom arrived with my sister in tow.

“You doing okay?”

“We saw each other yesterday.”

“This kid. I’m just asking. So you can be discharged right away?”

“Yeah. I’ve packed already… Just need to leave. Ah, did you bring a hoodie or something?”

“Seo-ah packed one. She said you’d cause a scene if you walked out like that.”

“Oh~ What’s gotten into you?”

“What? It’s common sense.”

“Since when did you have any?”

“Go die.”

“Now that I think about it, we need to buy you underwear too. Let’s hit the department store first.”

“Oh, can I get some clothes while we’re at it?”

“What do you need more clothes for? You have plenty.”

“I’ve got nothing to wear lately!”

“Fine, fine. But help your sibling pick out clothes properly.”

I’d wondered why she was being so agreeable—turns out she had an angle. With the semester over, summer was approaching. She clearly wanted new summer clothes.

“Yeah, yeah. Sure. Ah, how should we measure your size? Should I do it?”

“You measure. No need to scare the store staff by making them look at her.”

“Sure, whatever.”