Chapter 1: From Man to Woman

At some point, people began to whisper about ‘that disease.’

TS Disease.

A sickness that caused a very small number of men to inexplicably transform into women upon turning twenty, the age of legal adulthood. When it first appeared on the news, it was treated as a curiosity or a bizarre urban legend, but it soon became a reality in every corner of society.

I thought a change like that had nothing to do with me.

“Seojin, it’s your birthday tomorrow, isn’t it?”

My mother’s voice was gentle on the phone. As always, it was tinged with exhaustion, but there was a small warmth in her attempt to remember my birthday.

“Oh, yeah. I guess it is.”

I tried to brush it off as if it were nothing. It was the day I would turn twenty, but it held no special meaning for me.

I now live alone in the single room of a hillside slum where my family used to live.

When I was little, at least one of my parents was always by my side, but after I started middle school, I found myself alone more and more often.

Even though it pained them to be away from me, my parents had to leave for the countryside to earn money for my future.

At first, they came back every few months, but the intervals grew longer. Before I knew it, living alone had become my normal.

Still, I never once complained. It was thanks to my parents’ sacrifice that I was able to graduate high school. I worked part-time jobs, earning enough to keep from going hungry and cover my basic living expenses.

I did like sports.

I was more physically gifted than others and was good at anything that involved moving my body. But I learned the reality of the world from a young age.

Sports required money, and my poor family could never even hope to compete. The world of elite athletics was propped up by expensive private coaching and powerful connections.

All I could do was run around the neighborhood, getting called up to play for various local teams in basketball, soccer, or footvolley, earning some decent side cash.

I managed to get by until high school, but as graduation approached, I came face-to-face with the massive wall that no student in this country can avoid: college.

My grades at a regular academic high school weren’t terrible, but I rejected the very idea of college because of the cost. I didn’t want to take out student loans, and even with a low-income scholarship, I wasn’t confident I could handle the living expenses.

That was when my homeroom teacher told me, “You’re physically fit. Why don’t you consider a career in the military?”

After that, I began to seriously consider the military as an option. I thought that if I joined the special forces, not just the regular infantry, it might open up a better path for me.

After my service, I could pursue a career as a civil servant or in the security field. It seemed like a sure path where I could make use of my body.

From that day on, instead of studying for college entrance exams, I set my sights on preparing for the special forces.

But all of those plans crumbled in a single moment.

“Ugh…”

The strange feeling began in the middle of the night, after I’d gone to bed early. I was hot. It felt like my insides were on fire.

A heat that seemed to originate from my very bones surged through me, and my body felt like it was being remade by something else. An unbearably intense heat shot up my spine, and I felt as if my entire body were gently melting away.

[00:00]

“…Hah!”

The moment I turned twenty, I was no longer a ‘man.’

The nape of my neck tickled. When I reached up to touch it, long hair flowed through my fingers.

The sensation was incredibly vivid as the hair I’d swept forward brushed against my slender shoulders. I immediately touched my face.

The skin I felt was no longer rough but smooth. My jaw, my cheeks, my nose—everything felt foreign, a soft, pale texture against my fingertips.

I hadn’t seen a mirror yet, but my sharp jawline had softened, my eyes had grown larger and more defined. My lips felt moist, and my fingers were long and slender…

Startled, I sat up.

“…The hell.”

My body felt heavy. No, a strangely alien sensation enveloped me.

I took a slow breath. The unfamiliar feeling flowed through my body, and a heavy pressure settled in my chest.

“…What is this?”

The loose t-shirt I usually slept in was still on, but it didn’t take long to realize something was seriously wrong underneath it.

A heavy weight that filled my palm… no, overflowed it.

I clumsily cupped it and gave it a light squeeze. A soft, elastic sensation spread through my fingers.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

It was a feeling I’d never experienced before.

Something I’d never had. A weight that had never been there.

I gasped for air, stunned, as I moved my hand.

The resilient, teardrop-shaped flesh yielded under my fingers. As I lightly brushed my chest, a strange shiver ran through my body.

“No, ah…”

And what about below that? My waist was narrow enough to encircle with one hand, but below it, my hips flared out into an almost excessive curve.

I took a slow, deep breath.

What… the hell is this?

TS Disease, the one I’d seen on the news? But that had nothing to do with me. I’d never known anyone with it; it was just something that happened to other people.

So… why me?

“No. It can’t be. This is all bullshit.”

I slowly lowered my hand to check the last thing I needed to… the one thing I didn’t want to confirm.

Carefully, so very slowly, I moved my hand down.

I lifted the hem of my t-shirt and ran my hand down my smooth lower abdomen.

“…It’s gone.”

There was nothing there.

The part of my body that had always been with me, the part I’d been rather proud of, had vanished. Below my now-smooth abdomen, I felt an entirely new… a completely foreign texture of skin.

My breath hitched.

I didn’t want to believe it… but now I couldn’t deny it.

“…Ah, shit.”

My heart plummeted. My mind went blank, and the world spun.

It felt like a God I didn’t even believe in had abandoned me.

I’d never had much in my life.

My parents, whom I loved and respected, were kind but always busy. The poverty I was born into was a given, and I never complained about it.

From a young age, I learned to give up on the things I wanted. It was natural for me not to have expensive things like others or to hope for better opportunities.

But there was still something I had left.

This body my parents gave me. The self I’d been my entire life. Did you have to take that away from me, too?

“…Ah, shit…”

I covered my mouth with the back of my hand and squeezed my eyes shut, but I couldn’t stop the emotions churning up from inside me.

My throat burned. My chest felt tight.

A wave of injustice and despair washed over me, threatening to suffocate me.

“…Fucking hell.”

The tears came. I couldn’t stop them.

My eyelids grew hot, and tears streamed down my cheeks, soaking the pillow. I tried to hold it in, but sobs escaped me.

Alone in the empty room, I cried until I collapsed into sleep.

Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the room.

My head was splitting. It felt like I’d downed a bottle of liquor I hadn’t even drunk. My eyelids were puffy, and my body felt limp.

But the splitting headache wasn’t what mattered. I dragged myself up as if crawling.

I prayed it was a dream. Desperately. I hoped this was all just a nightmare.

I took a ragged breath and shoved my hand inside my t-shirt.

But it was still there.

The heavy weight that filled my palm. The soft, elastic feel of a woman’s skin that wasn’t mine.

“Ha…”

I sighed and moved my hand down again. As my fingertips traced the soft skin and reached my groin, my brain went numb once more.

It’s gone.

Exactly as I’d confirmed last night.

“…This is insane.”

I clutched my head as if suffering from a vicious hangover. The emotions I’d cried out yesterday rose up in my throat again, like vomit I hadn’t managed to bring up.

What do I do now? Can I really not go back to normal?

I grabbed my phone. My fingers trembled, but I managed to open the search bar.

“TS Disease… transformation cases…”

Only now did I begin to properly research this disease.

The words I typed into the search bar made it all feel more real. With a trembling hand, I scrolled through the screen.

[Increase in TS Disease Patients… Urgent Need for Social Countermeasures]

‘TS Disease refers to the phenomenon in which a very small percentage of men, upon turning 19, inexplicably transform into a female body. To date, no clear scientific cause has been identified, and it appears to occur so irregularly that calculating the probability is difficult.’

‘When the transformation occurs, not only the external appearance but also the physiological characteristics become completely female. However, basic physical abilities are often influenced by their time as a male, and most cases result in physical specs superior to that of an average woman.’

I unconsciously clenched my fist.

‘Completely female.’

Reality hit me over the head once again.

‘Physical specs superior to that of an average woman.’

“Easy for you to say. How the hell am I supposed to live in a body like this?”

[A Look at the Social Standing of TS Patients: A Minority Within a Minority]

I kept scrolling, reading through the articles.

‘Transformed individuals are required to undergo mandatory identity verification. To be recognized as citizens and to prevent fraudulent changes of identity, they must complete a ‘Special Service.’ If they do not complete this service, their identity will not be recognized, and they will be unable to engage in legal economic activities.’

I sighed as I read that sentence.

“I don’t care about having to go to the military… the problem is having to go in this body.”

It wasn’t like I was trying to dodge enlistment. I was about to apply for the fucking special forces, not just the regular army.

The body I’d expected, the plans I’d made—everything was ruined.

‘Currently, TS patients must fundamentally complete military service to be recognized as citizens. This service differs from general military duty and involves performing special missions, with dedicated units that utilize the physical characteristics of TS patients.’

‘Some patients refuse the service and drift into the unofficial sectors of society. However, these undocumented individuals cannot hold normal jobs and often become involved in illegal activities.’

‘In particular, some are reported to enter into private contracts with the elite for economic survival, or in worse cases, are exploited by human trafficking organizations.’

I scowled as I read the article.

Illegal activities. Exploitation. Human trafficking.

The bottom line was, ‘You have to go to the military to live a normal life.’

And if I didn’t?

If I don’t, I’ll be abandoned by society.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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