The Face on the ID Card
Oh no, my ID…! I shut off the game and tried to order chicken, but a problem popped up. I’d forgotten the phone number for my usual chicken place, so I had to use a delivery app. Yeah, honestly, forgetting the number wasn’t the real issue. The problem was signing up for the app. To register for an app I’d never used before, I needed identity verification—and right now, I wasn’t even sure if my identity existed. In other words, I was basically an illegal resident.
“Ah…” I stared blankly at the chicken image on the delivery app and swallowed hard. Still, just in case, I clung to that tiny sliver of hope and forced myself up. I rummaged through the pockets of the padded jacket hanging on the rack in the corner of the room.
“Found it.” I pulled out my wallet, took out the ID card, and flipped it over. “Please… please…” Whether it was my old ID or this body’s ID, I didn’t care—as long as something, anything, was there.
“…Ah.” The ID still showed a face that felt completely unfamiliar. A girl with yellow hair and purple eyes. The name written on it was Han Eunseo. I glanced down at the date of birth and felt a small wave of relief—she was twenty-one.
“Thank god…” I wasn’t sure if “thank god” was the right reaction, but at least I could order chicken and beer now. I grabbed my phone, opened the app, and signed up. Luckily the ID wasn’t fake; the registration went through instantly and I even got a new-user discount coupon.
“Oh, free food.” I shoved that tiny silver lining into my head and ordered fried chicken plus a can of beer. Once the order confirmation popped up, I tossed my phone onto the bed and headed to the bathroom to wash up.
“Hoo…” I took a deep breath in front of the bathroom mirror. I’d seen this naked body just the other day, but I still wasn’t used to it. My head knew this was my body, yet a deep, unpleasant feeling kept rising from somewhere in my subconscious. No matter what I did, I couldn’t shake it off.
“Let’s just wash up…” I used to like showering, but lately I’d started feeling reluctant about it. The water from the showerhead poured down as I stood there, zoning out and trying to sort my thoughts. Ever since I became a girl, way more things had changed than I’d expected. All my old clothes had vanished from the closet, replaced by feminine ones. There was even a neatly folded dress and skirt in the corner that I’d never wear—I’d grabbed the back of my neck without thinking when I saw them.
Well, clothes were something I could just pick out myself, so I let that slide. The real problem was the gap that came from my body itself having changed. Cabinets I used to reach easily were now out of reach, so I had to drag over a chair. Keys that should’ve been easy to press were too small for my new fingers. Tripping when I got out of bed had become routine. Sometimes I even wondered if I was mentally ill. No matter how much I told myself this body was mine, the sense of disconnect only grew wider instead of closing.
“Shit…” The more I thought about it, the more depressed I got, so I spat out the curse and shook the thoughts away. Then I started planning what to do after eating the chicken. First, I’d watch Kits’ stream while eating. Once it ended, I’d just go straight to sleep. If not, I’d snipe someone else’s stream, mess with them a little, then log off.
“Yeah, perfect.” Praising my flawless plan, I started lathering soap over my body. I scrubbed every corner, even the parts that made me feel more embarrassed than excited, then rinsed everything off. The hot water warmed my skin and washed the suds away.
“Haaah…” Even so, the refreshing feeling I always got from showering made me let out a satisfied sigh. Once all the soap was gone, I wet my hair. Ever since becoming a girl, washing and drying my hair took way more time and shampoo. The bottle that had already been running low was now almost empty, and the whole process took over thirty minutes. No wonder I’d seen those posts online saying girls don’t wash their hair every day. I shampooed, rinsed, and scrubbed until I was done, then stepped out into the living room with towels wrapped around my body and hair. I flopped onto the sofa and just sat there, zoning out for a while. I didn’t feel like doing anything right now—not even the games I used to love, not watching TV, not even internet streams. I just wanted to sit like this for a bit and feel the sensation that “I” was still me. That I was still alive as myself.
I was still sitting there when the notification that the chicken had arrived finally made me move. Payment was already done, so the food was waiting at the door. I decided to get dressed first and went back to my room. I opened the closet, skipped over everything I couldn’t bring myself to wear, and picked out the two most normal-looking items: a plain white short-sleeve T-shirt and dolphin shorts. True to their name, the shorts were so short they looked more like panties than actual shorts. I put them on anyway and opened the front door.
“Oh yeah, chicken, nice.” I grabbed the bag and hurried back inside, tossing it onto the table. My hair was still wrapped in a towel, but if I wasted time drying it the chicken would get cold, so I left it for later. I sat in front of the TV, turned on Kits’ stream, and opened the chicken box.
While watching Kits get yelled at by her teammates for dying again, I started on the chicken. Since I was the only one drinking, I didn’t bother with a glass. I picked up a drumstick first and took a big bite. The crispy coating shattered and juicy flavor flooded my mouth.
“Mmm… so good…” I mumbled my review through a mouthful of chicken and grabbed the beer can. The carbonation stung a little, but it still tasted great.
“Hoo…”
Meanwhile, Kits got hit by the boss’s pattern again and begged her viewers for help.
Of course, the viewers had zero intention of actually helping.
“Pfft.” I chuckled while alternating between the chat and the screen, then took another bite of chicken. “Mmm.” Chicken really did taste best after a hard day.
“Aaaagh!” My character rolled across the ground again. It wasn’t the prettiest sight, but I somehow managed to avoid the attack. I kept dodging the boss’s patterns one by one, chipping away at its health, when a donation came in.
“Who doesn’t know that already?!”
“Kyaaah!” I got distracted by the donation and nearly ate an attack. Luckily I dodged at the last second, and a teammate landed a timely stun on the boss. While mixing normal attacks and skills on the boss, Soyun checked who had just donated.
“Who the hell—”
“…Huh? It’s the veteran player!” The donor was the same high-level player who had helped her kill that orc earlier.
Some chat messages tried to badmouth the donor, but Soyun ignored them and spoke up.
“That username… Ah, Menhera-nim! Let’s play together again next time!”
The reply was neither yes nor no—just vague.
“Hngh…” Soyun was about to say something else when the boss’s stun wore off.
“Kyaaah!!” She screamed and rolled, barely avoiding the attack. Ever since she’d played with that Menhera player, she’d gotten a little more used to gaming on stream. …Though she still couldn’t stop the reflexive screaming.
“Hoo… I’m focusing now!” She turned off her mic, determined to finish the boss and get another game promise from Menhera. She dodged incoming attacks by a hair’s breadth and kept piling on damage with her skills. The boss’s health bar dropped fast.
“Kyaa!” She made a few mistakes and took hits, but the priest kept healing her so she never died.
Just like the chat said, the perfect moment for her ultimate came when her teammate stunned the boss again.
“Arrows, follow my will!” The slightly cliché line rang out as an arrow flew from her character’s hand. Instead of going straight at the boss, it curved in midair as if guided and struck the boss right in the head.
“Nice, now all my skills…!” Seeing the arrow land, she unloaded every remaining skill without holding back. Just like the ultimate, every skill homed in perfectly on the boss’s head. All of them hit the exact same spot the ultimate had struck. After several normal attacks landed on top of that, the boss let out a scream and collapsed.
“Got it!!” She turned her mic back on and shouted. The viewers were startled and scolded her for the sudden yell, but the joy of soloing the boss was way bigger.