Chapter 4

"Ma'am! Please get a hold of yourself!"

The chaotic community center was instantly filled with screams and shouts.

People flocked around the old woman who had collapsed while clutching her heart.

A community center employee ran over to check her condition, and someone urgently brought a phone to their ear.

I stood far away and watched the scene.

My mind was calm.

No, I tried to be calm. Honestly, even if I stepped up, what could I possibly do?

I'm not a doctor, I'm just a bitch whose body has gotten smaller. There must be someone here who can do CPR better than me.

However.

Buzz- Buzz-.

The halo above my head was emitting a different vibration than before.

As if reacting to the fading life force of the collapsed elder, the subtle light gradually became intense.

A baseless certainty flashed through my mind.

A bizarre sensation that if I poured this unfamiliar, warm energy flowing through my body into that elder, I could make that stopping heart beat again.

"Step aside!"

I moved my feet without realizing it.

Even the werewolf, who was over two meters tall, was overwhelmed by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my momentum and cleared the path. People instinctively stepped back as they watched me approach with my pure white wings spread.

"Uh, um... Angel?"

I heard someone's trembling voice, but I ignored it.

I bent my knees and sat beside the old woman.

Seen up close, the elder's face was already turning a deep blue.

I deliberately didn't think about the aftermath. I didn't have the luxury to think that far ahead.

Instead, I reached out with a trembling hand and placed it on the old woman's chest.

At that moment, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠regardless of my will, the halo emitted an explosive radiance.

Flaaaash-!

The entire community center was dyed in a pure white light.

It was an amount of light that seemed like it would blind you, but no one screamed.

Because that light wasn't an aggressive energy; it was a warmth like a vast ocean, fully retaining the life force of the beginning.

"...!"

The light that started from my fingertips seeped into the old woman's body.

The heart that had stopped began to beat again with a loud thumping sound. The old woman's rough complexion instantly returned with a flush.

"Gasp, cough!"

The old woman took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

At the same time, the intense light enveloping my body also gradually subsided.

Silence.

Everyone inside the community center was looking at me with blank expressions.

Gasps erupted from here and there.

The werewolf was looking at me with her mouth hanging open, and that Christian lady from earlier simply prostrated herself on the floor and began to wail.

I had drawn way too much aggro.

A situation where people's attention was momentarily focused on me.

Everyone stared at me with profound eyes, as if waiting for me to say something.

And I.

Perhaps because this situation was too anomalous, unconventional, and burdensome, I suddenly ended up using words that were too harsh.

"What are you looking at? Aren't you going to lower your gaze?"

...What did I just say.

Avoiding the pouring stares of the people, I shriveled up and sat on a corner chair.

...Just what was the power I showed just now.

A superpower gained from becoming a mutant? Right, it seems more correct to think of it that way.

The problem is that I used it openly in a place with people around...

It's not like I did anything wrong.

Rather than that, it's time to focus on the problem right in front of me.

"Oh my, I thought the Angel had come to take me because it was time for this old woman to go..."

"...I'm an atheist."

The old woman spoke like that with tears in her eyes.

There were only so few things I could say to that, so I roughly accepted her gratitude and moved on.

"Still, you saved my pathetic life, so I must repay you with something..."

"...It's fine. I don't even know if I really did it."

After bickering like that a few times, I barely managed to fend the old woman off.

Of course, there was also a trophy. A single, crumpled fifty-thousand won bill.

I adamantly refused to accept it, but she forcefully shoved it into my hands.

I flattened out the wrinkled paper and carefully stuffed it into my pocket.

Well, in a situation where there's a guy shooting fire from his palms... having a healing ability is entirely possible.

The secondary problems that will arise from me gaining this ability... Damn it, I don't know. A good thing is a good thing for now. It should be better than not having it. Probably.

As the old woman finally left after thanking me to the very end, someone else approached me this time.

"Achoo! Um... Hello?"

Surprisingly, the werewolf approached and spoke to me first.

Even though the image of her shouting at me not to come closer is still vivid in my mind.

When I shot her a questioning glare, she scratched her head vigorously as if embarrassed.

"I'm sorry about earlier. Earlier, how should I put it, the instinctive fear was too strong..."

"Are you saying you're fine now?"

"...Um, honestly no."

...What does she want me to do.

"But, thinking about it carefully, it was strange. Why am I afraid?"

"...Did you figure out the reason?"

"...Not that either. But before that, I realized there was no reason to be afraid. So I just mustered up some courage."

From my perspective, it's a confusing statement.

A giant werewolf and an adult male in the form of a... petite young girl.

Naturally, the one who should feel instinctive fear here is the latter, isn't it?

For now, that's the only way I can think about it.

Around the time I was reaching that tentative conclusion, the werewolf spoke again.

"So, older sister, you are... a mutant too, right? You seem a bit different from the mutants I've heard about so far..."

"That is true, but..."

...Older sister, she says.

For the sake of my dignity, I need to address this once.

"...By any chance, your age?"

"...I'm twenty now."

"Um, by any chance, could you call me older brother instead of older sister?"

"Pardon? Why..."

It's human nature to answer if someone asks why... but.

There's no proper answer I can give.

Because I was originally a man, so of course I should be called older brother. But now I'm a woman? Fuck.

In the end, all that came out was a pathetic excuse completely missing the core point.

"...T-that's just better. In many ways."

"Ah, ahh. I see. That makes sense. I understand..."

I don't know why, but she seemed to accept it.

...Is this the power of appearance.

If a man with hairy legs did it, it would be an eccentricity, but if a beautiful angel does it, it becomes a quirky charm.

"Ah, right. Please, speak comfortably..."

"...Should I?"

I confess, it actually wasn't easy to drop the honorifics.

Because the werewolf's size was truly massive.

She was probably well over two meters tall.

In my situation, where my physique had already gotten smaller, she was quite intimidating.

But well, if she's setting the stage like this.

"Yes, hehe. I'm Shin Ah-yoon."

"Um, I'm Han Yoo-jin. But are you okay with your allergies?"

"Ah, hehe. It's not that severe. If I sneeze loudly once, I'm fine for a while."

Well, that was somewhat fortunate news.

Because if her allergies were severe, she would face huge difficulties living her life.

"O-older brother, how did you end up in that form?"

"Just, woke up from sleep. And ended up like this."

"It's the same for me. By any chance, was there anything else...?"

"Ah, I also had a dream. It was an absurd dream, though."

"I-I had one too, an absurd dream!"

Shin Ah-yoon jumped up and shouted.

I flinched in surprise at that. It's scary for no reason when a massive body acts like that.

I tried to hide my surprise as much as possible and asked.

"Really? What kind of dream did you have?"

"It was a dream where it felt like I met a very, very colossal entity. I can't remember what it was, but I only recall that it was a very terrifying being."

"...I think I had a similar dream."

Silence flowed for a moment.

The entity I saw was rather a warm and benevolent being.

If I hadn't realized its true identity was the Ministry of National Defense, even I, who didn't have an ounce of faith, would have been completely fooled.

"As expected..."

"Huh? Do you know something?"

"Before coming here, I looked up various things. Since it's a serious matter, after all."

"...Right."

...I certainly didn't do proper research compared to the gravity of the situation.

Honestly, I know nothing about what's going on right now.

But mutations or whatever, it's something that just happened overnight.

With a hangover on top of that, there's no way I had the luxury to think.

"Listening to the stories, it seems the mutants all had a dream in common. This is consistent with testimonies from people all over the world."

"...This bullsh— I mean, this incident is happening worldwide?"

"Yes. For now..."

"Fuck, it really is huge..."

It makes sense; it would be weird if such a bizarre phenomenon only occurred in South Korea.

"It seems the entity they met in the dream differs depending on their mutated form, but... there's one commonality."

Shin Ah-yoon paused for a moment before speaking.

"...That they are beings that absolutely must not mix with humans."

The weight of those words was eerie.

"...To call it a commonality, that's far too abstract."

"But everyone's testimonies say so. I also think that way."

But the entity I met didn't give off that feeling at all.

There's a high possibility it is.

At least for now, it's considered that way.

"Well, leaving that aside. How many other mutants like us are there for those kinds of statistics to be compiled?"

"Exact statistics haven't come out yet, but... roughly 1%. That's what people are thinking."

1%.

As a ratio, it doesn't seem that big, but looking at the absolute numbers alone, it can never be ignored.

Because the population of our country is 50 million. Calculating 1/100th of that is a whopping 500,000 people.

If this kind of number pours out all at once, there's no way the state's administrative power can handle it.

"Anyway, it's fascinating."

"What is?"

"Isn't the government's response too fast? For something that happened overnight."

Shin Ah-yoon nodded her head.

"Right. Everyone on the community was talking about that too."

"What did they say?"

"That it's so fast, it's almost as if they prepared for it in advance. But what's also strange is..."

She lowered her voice.

"They're just making mutants like us register and that's it."

"Just registering?"

"Yes. No quarantine or treatment; just draw some blood, take physical measurements, and that's it. To the level of 'live carefully'. Of course, it seems they take separate quarantine measures for dangerous people, but..."

It's certainly true that they are responding quickly.

But how should I say it, I can't erase the feeling that we're being somewhat neglected.

Honestly, people turned into monsters overnight, and this is the extent of their countermeasures.

When I conveyed that feeling, Shin Ah-yoon made a meaningful expression.

"There are rumors going around the community that that might be the truth. That the state's administrative power has reached a state of overload to the point where they absolutely cannot pay attention to us..."

"Why on earth? In a country that was perfectly fine just yesterday... Ah."

Come to think of it, besides the mutants, there was one more issue.

Shin Ah-yoon looked around and spoke carefully.

"The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blackout zones."

"...The ones from the emergency alert?"

"Yes. The Gangnam and Yongsan areas... It seems things are really serious there."

"How bad?"

"They say the military is pouring everything into it. And that the soldiers who go in lose contact..."

Only then did I recall the contents of the emergency alert.

The message saying, 'Do not open the door even if you hear a baby crying or bizarre screams.'

"So there's something more serious than the mutations."

"Probably. So I think they don't have the capacity to pay attention to us."

She said it like that, but Shin Ah-yoon's expression was dark.

Of course it would be. Because it means a situation so severe is occurring that the state is neglecting them.

"But isn't there communication from the inside? I saw some verification posts and things like that uploaded earlier."

"That was also in the early stages of the incident... They say all contact is completely cut off right now."

That's truly despairing news.

Upon hearing this serious situation, I looked around.

People were still pulling their number tickets and waiting their turns.

That Christian lady who was highly praising me earlier calling me Angel had urgently disappeared, perhaps because something came up.

Other than that, it was hard to find any sense of urgency or anxiety among the people.

It felt like even though they had the awareness that the world had changed, they believed it wouldn't cause any major harm to them.

Just as it always had been.

I, too, hoped that nothing major would happen.

Because I don't have even the slightest intention of going around saving people just because I became an angel.

I just hope no misfortunes befall my family and friends.

That was all.