Thank you...?

"Um..."

I made up my mind.

To tell her about myself.

Of course, I don't know if this is actually a good idea.

Honestly, the story I'm about to tell sounds insane even to me.

A kid suddenly says they were originally an adult man, lived working part-time jobs, went to a clinical trial, and ended up like this?

What kind of reaction would you normally have if you heard that?

I probably would have told them to go to a hospital or quietly taken them away.

No, wait, I just came out of a hospital...

'Ughhh...'

Still, I had to ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do it.

Because if I didn't say it now, I felt like I'd never be able to say it forever.

"Hmm?"

Han Seol, who was walking ahead, stopped and turned back toward me.

"What's wrong?"

"Um... I have something to tell you."

"Now?"

Han Seol looked around for a moment.

It was a bit ambiguous to call it the middle of the street, but it wasn't exactly a good place for a quiet conversation either.

"Is it important?"

"Yes... I think so..."

At my answer, Han Seol's expression became just a little more serious.

"Then let's sit down for a moment."

Han Seol took me to a small park nearby.

Perhaps because it was a weekday afternoon, there was almost no one there.

As soon as we sat on the bench, Han Seol didn't rush me and waited quietly.

That was actually more burdensome.

If she had told me to hurry up and say it, I think I could have just blurted it ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out...

Because she's waiting like this, it feels even more burdensome for no reason.

"You can take your time."

"Okay..."

I fidgeted with my hands on my lap and carefully opened my mouth.

"Um... actually."

"Yeah."

"I was originally... a man."

"..."

Han Seol's expression froze.

Of course it would.

'Did I screw up?'

Seems like I already screwed up.

[It is too early to judge.]

Is it? No...

'Should I not have brought it up...?'

Swallowing hard from anxiety, I carefully continued.

"Uh, so... it might sound like a weird story... but I was originally an adult man and I had a different name..."

"What was your name?"

"Hyun-woo."

Han Jia...

I was originally a man.

As such, the name Hyun-woo was, after all, my original name and the name I could call my identity more than any other.

Even if it wasn't a super amazing name, hadn't I lived my life until now as that name, as a man with that name?

If I had just changed bodies while keeping my identity, or at least if I had been able to talk about myself within my small circle of relationships, it might have been different.

Abandoning all my connections and living as a girl named Han Jia was not an easy thing for me.

"Hyun-woo..."

Han Seol quietly repeated the name, then made eye contact with me and continued.

"Can you keep telling me?"

"Y-yes..."

I nodded.

"I originally lived alone. I worked a lot of part-time jobs. I worked at a convenience store, a restaurant... and, well, various other things..."

As I spoke, I felt a bit embarrassed for no reason...

I tried hard to hide my embarrassment, but struggling to come up with what to say was a real pain.

"There was a store manager... and the landlady grandma too. They were very kind people. So, if I suddenly disappeared, I thought they would be worried..."

"..."

"And I went to the clinical trial because of the money. The conditions were good. They also said it was certified by the government..."

Honestly, thinking about it now, it was a stupid thing to do.

Of course, what did I know... but since the result turned out like this, it's true that I thought about it too lightly.

"But I took the medicine there, went to sleep, and when I woke up, I was like this..."

I looked down at my hands.

Small, white hands.

Not the rough man's hands that had calluses from this and that.

Honestly, sometimes it still feels strange that these are my hands.

"After that, well... eonni...? You guys saved me."

After finishing my story, I cautiously checked Han Seol's reaction.

Han Seol was quietly looking at me.

Her expression didn't change much, but her eyes were more complex than I thought.

It was an expression where bewilderment and confusion coexisted, but the gaze looking at me was somehow filled with sadness.

'Why that expression...'

It was a reaction I couldn't understand at all.

Han Seol couldn't easily bring herself to speak.

The story the child in front of her was telling was difficult to accept by common sense.

That they were originally an adult male, participated in a high-paying ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clinical trial, took medicine, fell asleep, and woke up as a young girl...

If she accepted those words as they were, didn't it mean that literally, a soul had been transferred, or a body had been completely reconstructed?

First of all, she couldn't conclude that such things absolutely didn't exist.

It's an era where Hunters exist, Gates open, and phenomena that cannot be explained by human common sense occur all over the world.

However.

Even so, a slightly different possibility came to mind first.

'Hyun-woo.'

There was definitely a memory associated with that name.

It was from the data secured while investigating the research lab.

Circumstances of illegally recruiting test subjects; among the people called in under the pretext of clinical trials, there were definitely adult males.

The exact list was still being organized, but she had already received reports about the identities of the missing persons and victims.

And the purpose of the experiment was to become a being closer to the System; it was a lab that aimed to approach the source of the Gates.

There was no mention of this girl, but where did all those test subjects go?

It's hard to think that the researchers were idiots and poured money into turning an adult male into a small, young girl.

It wasn't certain, but she suspected that perhaps some of that man's memories or personality had been mixed into the child before her.

Could it be that they are accepting those memories as their own?

If they twisted a person's body, ruined their identity, and even overlaid someone else's memories onto the test subject.

The moment she thought that, Han Seol's hand tightened.

It was an unforgivable act.

"...... It must have been very hard for you."

Han Seol said quietly.

"Huh?"

Jia widened her eyes.

"It couldn't have been easy to bring up a story like that."

"Ah, um... yes..."

Jia nodded, looking relieved for some reason.

She probably thought that she believed her words to some extent.

Han Seol didn't bother to correct that thought.

What was important right now wasn't to conclude the truth.

Ensuring that this child, at the very least, didn't have the memories they held denied—that was the priority.

"I'll look into this person named Hyun-woo."

"Really?"

Jia's face brightened up instantly.

"Yes. I'll also check on the store manager and the landlady grandma you mentioned if possible. Can you tell me later what you'd like me to do for them?"