I Decided to Go Outside!
“Mmph...”
About an hour had passed since I woke up. I was still clutching my head in thought at my desk, dressed in nothing but a white cotton T-shirt that draped loosely over me like a dress thanks to my shrunken frame.
“What am I supposed to do now...?”
Should I register as a Hunter? If I officially registered, the Association would provide a starter pack along with plenty of generous welfare perks.
The Korean Hunter Association boasted a world-class reputation, largely because Association President Kang Tae-jun had moved swiftly to overhaul the system back when Gates first appeared. The Association he led placed the survival and safety of hunters above all else, earning him daily praise on the Hunter Gallery boards.
Still... no matter how wonderful an organization it was, would they really leave an 'irregular' whose race and gender had swapped overnight alone? Who could guarantee they wouldn't strap me to a dissection table and treat me like a lab rat?
“Besides, I’m only an F-Class...”
A coward by nature, I quietly decided to postpone formal registration. Even without registering, I could still buy and sell magic stones through secondhand marketplaces anyway.
So what should I do right now? Just as my thoughts were spiraling in endless circles and I was clutching my aching head—
Bzzzzz—
A vibration buzzed from the corner of my desk.
“Gah! Scared me. Ugh, it’s probably spam anyway. Nobody’d ever bother calling a voluntary outcast-shut-in-unemployed bum like me.”
Muttering self-deprecatingly, I stole a glance at the glowing screen.
Store Manager
...I was screwed.
I had completely forgotten. I was supposed to go to work today. Seriously, had I lost my mind?
Wait, what time is it? Holy crap, it’s already 1:30 PM?! My shift started at one! Haah... I was so out of it that I completely lost track of time. I haven't even eaten yet... Wait, food isn't the problem! What do I do about work? Man, should I answer? Should I ignore it? If I ghost him, will I get fired on the spot? How am I going to pay for living expenses then? Ah, but I awakened, so I can just go into a Gate! But can an F-Class even earn any money?
My thoughts refused to settle into any kind of order. I hopped down from the chair and paced frantically in circles around the room.
Bzzzzz—
Aargh, he still hadn't hung up!
Cold sweat seemed to trickle down my spine. The manager's roaring voice echoed in my ears like phantom tinnitus. That scumbag franchise owner had been paying me sixty percent of minimum wage for six months under the excuse of a 'probationary period,' all while working me to the bone!
“Ugh, screw it! I quit! I'm not going anymore!”
I had already received last month's paycheck anyway, so I’d just consider the few days I worked this month as... volunteer work? A talent donation? Whatever, call it charity!
As if reading my mind, the phone finally fell silent. Only then could I pat down my wildly pounding heart. Oddly enough, once I resolved to quit, a refreshing sense of relief washed over me, as though a heavy burden had been lifted from my chest.
Growwwwl—
“Ugh, I'm so hungry. Come to think of it, lunchtime has already passed...”
I didn't know how many hours it had been since waking up, but it was already past 1:30 PM.
Pattering over to the sink on tiptoe, I poured a trickle of tap water into a cup and drank it down. Then I reached for the refrigerator right beside it.
“Hmm, is there anything to eat in here?”
Hoping against hope, I swung the fridge door open, but as expected, there was nothing edible. Just some yellow pickled radish and pickled radish cubes leftover from deliveries eons ago, plus... what was that? Raw garlic cloves. Yep, giving up.
No matter how starved I was, I couldn't bring myself to eat pickled radish as a main course garnished with leftover chicken radish and raw garlic.
The cupboards within arm's reach were completely bare—not even a single packet of ramen. Even for someone who never cooked at home, having this little food was downright tragic.
If what happened to me today had been a zombie apocalypse instead of an awakening, I would have called 'GG' and ascended to heaven from starvation within a week.
“Sigh, guess there's no choice.”
Giving up on scavenging, I picked up my now-silent phone to order delivery.
📱 13 Missed Calls
✉ 2 Unread Text Messages
Naturally, they were all from my (former) manager. The gist of the notifications was pretty obvious: Get your ass over here right now,Wanna die?—that sort of thing.
Ghosting without a word made me feel a tiny pinch of guilt, but what can you do, Manager? Everyone has a secret or two they can't tell a soul, right?
“Let's see here... Why do I suddenly crave spicy malatang, something I've never eaten in my entire life? Hmm.”
My fingers smoothly opened the delivery app and began tossing items into the cart, only to freeze. The culprit was none other than the villainous delivery fee and the minimum order requirement.
Thinking it over, I had just thrown away my part-time job, and I had no idea whether I could actually earn money in the Gates. I might have to survive next month—or even the month after that—on the microscopic pittance I had left.
...Payday was just a few days ago, so could someone please explain why I was dead broke?
Tossing the phone back onto the desk, I flopped down onto the bed.
“No matter how I look at it, by my current standards, there's only one place where I can eat for free.”
The very place I was supposed to be at just moments ago: the convenience store.
Right about this time, sandwiches and bento boxes past their expiration dates would be getting pulled from the shelves.
“But if I go now, the manager—rendered even uglier by his burning rage—will be covering my shift...”
Sure, my appearance had changed so he wouldn't recognize me, but scary was still scary.
“Haaah...”
Clutching my rumbling stomach as I rolled onto my side, a brilliant idea flashed through my galaxy-class brain!
“...! Status Window!”
◈ Charm increases drastically.
◈ Consumes Yokai Power (10) to interfere with the target's emotions and judgment.
◈ The lower the target's standing, the greater the effect.
◈ Cannot be reused on a target for a certain period if they successfully resist.
Hold on a second. It said the lower the target's standing, the more potent the effect, right?
Hmm, even if I was only an F-Class, I was still an Awakened, wasn't I? And by definition, wasn't a nine-tailed fox the very epitome of 'charm'?
Against a mere ordinary human—and a stingy manager who cheated his workers out of minimum wage under the pretext of probation at that—wouldn't his 'standing' be practically crawling on the floor?
Yeah. If I couldn't even handle one fat, ugly middle-aged guy with a nasty personality, how was I supposed to hunt monsters in perilous Gates?
Let's test it out.
“Hehehe.”
Letting out a villainous chuckle all to myself, I leaped up from the bed and marched over to the wardrobe.
“Wait, do I even have clothes I can wear right now...?”
I pulled open the wardrobe doors, but no matter how I looked at it, there wasn't a single article of clothing that would fit this tiny frame. And no wonder: before awakening, I had the build of an average adult male—which rounded up to nearly two meters!
First off, underwear. Naturally, the adult men's boxer shorts I normally wore were practically hula hoops around my waist now. I wondered if wearing thicker pants without underwear would be fine, but the pants were just as ridiculously oversized.
The only bottoms that might work were... Ah! Cropped shorts!
“Oh! This is actually pretty decent?”
Sure, they were baggy and loose, but pulling the drawstring tight around my waist kept them from sliding down. Plus, with my current height, they came right down to my ankles. What a stellar pick.
“Okay. Bottoms cleared.”
Next, a bra... Well, yeah. Fortunately, I didn't seem to have the curves of an age group that needed to worry about that yet. Somehow that realization felt a little depressing, but let's move on.
...I will grow, won't I?
Anyway, after digging like a mole through every corner of the wardrobe for a few minutes, I thankfully unearthed a relatively small black hoodie. When I slipped it on, it was still pretty huge. No matter how I looked at it, I seemed like an elementary school brat who had stolen her dad's clothes.
“Ugh, if I tuck the hem into the shorts... and blouse it out a bit like this...”
Struggling to mimic a dapper male model tucking his shirt into his slacks, I fumbled around until it looked somewhat more presentable than before. I flipped the hood over my head and pulled the drawstrings snug, which managed to conceal the fox ears atop my head without looking too unnatural.
“Phew. That clears the top too.”
Going outside was a serious ordeal. Would I have to dress like this every single day when going to Gates? The second I made money, clothes were my top priority.
Having roughly sorted out the outfit, I headed for the entryway. But one final trial remained.
Fuc—no, shoes. Every single damn pair of shoes I owned was 270 millimeters. There was no way to work any magic on them.
Left with no choice, I slid my dinky little feet into the easiest option: classic three-striped slides. And just like that, the 'brat cosplaying as an adult' look was complete!
“Haah, my life... Or rather, my nine-tailed fox life...”
Clutching my wallet and phone tightly to my chest, I stepped out the front door. Thankfully, the convenience store where I worked wasn't too far from home. Maybe a ten-minute walk?
Ugh, but my feet felt horribly clumsy in the oversized slides. Plus, the biting breeze of early March made it pretty chilly.
“...?”
Passersby threw inquisitive glances my way. It was probably because of my ill-fitting clothes and the silver hair peeking out despite the pulled-up hood.
It was so embarrassing I could die.
After shuffling along in oversized slides for about fifteen minutes—taking a bit longer than usual due to my shorter stride—I finally arrived. Now I had to enter the familiar convenience store before me as a 'customer.'
“Phew. Don't be nervous. He won't recognize me anyway.”
Peering inside from a short distance, I spotted the store manager resting his chin on his palm behind the counter. The deep furrow in his brow made it obvious he was in a foul mood.
“Status Window.”
As expected, my Yokai Power had recovered quite a bit over time. The activation cost for 'Charm' was 10 Yokai Power, meaning I could cast it at least twice.
“Deep breath in, breath out. Let's do this.”
Taking a deep breath, I pulled open the convenience store door.
Ding-dong—
The chime hung over the door rang out, announcing a customer's arrival.
“...’lcome.”
Glancing briefly toward the entrance, the manager slurred out a half-hearted 'welcome' as if it were too much bother before turning his head right back. Without sparing another glance in my direction, he went back to fiddling with his smartphone.
Phew, he didn't catch on after all. N-Now, hurry up and do the test...!
With tension surging through me, I tightened my grip on the wallet and phone clutched against my chest and stepped up to the counter.
“...?”
At that, the manager looked up from his screen and stared down at me.
Convenience store customers rarely marched straight to the counter without picking up an item first, unless they were buying cigarettes.
“...Need something?”
Ugh... Him speaking directly to me ratcheted my anxiety up a whole notch. The only saving grace was that there weren't any other customers inside.
Still, I couldn't just stand here like a statue in front of the counter staring at the floor forever!
Steeling my resolve, I raised my head and met the manager's gaze. Then, I shouted in my heart:
Charm!