The Second Delusion
I let out a low whistle. Whoa, holy shit. This was insane. He was ridiculously handsome. Like, the very definition of a beautiful boy. Just… wow. So it wasn’t just that I’d crossed over into a gender-reversed world. I’d also gotten an overwhelming beauty buff on top of it?
Well, that made sense. No matter how much the world had flipped genders, if I’d kept my original face, the difference wouldn’t have been that dramatic. Back in my original world, ugly women didn’t exactly get treated well either. The life I wanted—the life I’d always imagined in a gender-reversed world—was one where I received everyone’s love. Where just walking down the street drew every woman’s gaze. Where all the successful, beautiful women fell for me and made the first move. A world where internet streamers, top-tier idols—didn’t matter who—they’d all obsess over me.
A world where someone like me, who sucked at games and had zero social skills, could start an internet broadcast with no foundation whatsoever and still have everyone watching and loving it.
But with the face I used to have in the original world, even in a gender-reversed setting, that kind of life would’ve been nothing but a pipe dream. However… with this face! With a face more handsome than any man I’d ever seen! With looks like these, I was the protagonist of this world.
Khhhhhhhh! That’s right! Honestly, if you’re gonna drop someone into a gender-reversed world, you’ve gotta give them at least this level of looks! It’s only fair!
“What the heck? Why are you suddenly running to the mirror?”
“Dude. My face completely changed.”
“Your face changed?”
“Yeah! I got the beauty buff too!”
“Ah… so that’s why you’re this pretty…”
Oh! So she must have gotten the beauty buff too, which is why she looks like this. Right, even if this was the gender-reversed version of me, being this beautiful felt off somehow. The other version of me from a gender-reversed world should’ve been plain-looking, just like I was in the original world. It seemed like when I crossed over, her face got prettier too. Huh? Then that meant she didn’t even realize her own face had become beautiful.
“Hey, go look in the mirror. You got really pretty too.”
“Huh? Oh! Wait, did I get handsome? Let me see… What the…?”
“How is it? Super pretty, right?”
“What? This is just my original face. What are you talking about? It’s my twenty-three years of being a forever-alone face. And anyway, you’re not supposed to call a girl ‘pretty.’ I get that you’re trying to make me feel good, but saying someone with this face is pretty is…”
What the hell was she saying? This was her original face? Also, in this world they apparently called girls “handsome.” Anyway! So she’d always been this pretty? Even though she was another female version of “me”? Was she really “me”? If she was really “me,” that would mean she’d gone twenty-three years without a single romantic experience. Twenty-three years without dating with a face like this? Even in a gender-reversed world, that seemed weird. Did that mean every woman in this world was prettier than her? Because with her level of looks, she’d be prettier than any woman from my original world.
“Wait, hold on! This is really your original face?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“With a face like yours, you’d be prettier than any celebrity in my world. Oh! So in this world’s terms, you’d be called handsome. But why do you think you’re ugly?”
“In your world, this face is considered handsome?”
“Exactly. If you went to our world, you’d have been insanely popular.”
“So my level of appearance would make me an incredibly handsome alpha female in your world?”
Uh… yeah, pretty much. But no matter how much she was another “me,” hearing such a beautiful girl talk like that felt… strange somehow.
“Well… yeah, I guess. More accurately, an incredibly beautiful alpha female…”
“Ughhh. I’m so jealous! I should’ve been the one who crossed over to that world!”
Well, if she really was “me,” of course she’d want to cross over. Wait a second. Then… if I was considered an incredibly handsome man by this world’s standards, did that mean every woman here would like me and lust after me?
“Aaaaaaaaah! No matter how I think about it, I should’ve been the one who went to that world! This is so unfair!”
“Hey, but I’m the one who has to worry about surviving now. What am I supposed to do? My identity’s probably gone too. Should I tell my parents? Do you think the parents in this world will believe this story?”
“That’s a worry too. But right now our parents are on a trip in Europe. Let’s think about it while we wait. Alright. So we’ve come to the reversed world. What’s the first thing you want to do?”
The first thing I wanted to do now that I was in a gender-reversed world? She already knew, right? Since she had the same thoughts as me.
“Hehehehehe. You already know, don’t you?”
“Ah. That thing?”
“Exactly! That thing.”
“Then… you’re not seriously thinking of going outside, are you?”
“Of course I am!”
You know how it always goes in those gender-reversed novels, right? The protagonist who lived in a world where men had high sex drives unconsciously goes outside wearing short sleeves and shorts. Then the women who originally lived in this world see him and freak out.
—Hey, hey, look at that guy over there!
—No way, a man walking around in a tank top and shorts!
—Is he a slut?
—Should I ask him to get it up for me?
—Sis? What are you looking at?
—It’s not like that…
—Hmph! Fine! We’re done!
That kind of thing. All the women on the street would go into heat over the protagonist, and all the peaceful couples would break up. Kyaaaa. The demonic protagonist! That’s me!
Ah. Maybe I got a bit too carried away. Hmm, even if the genders were reversed, it probably wouldn’t be that extreme. No matter how attractive someone was, and even if women had much stronger sex drives, it wasn’t like everyone would suddenly go into heat and couples would break up left and right. Still, with this level of looks, wouldn’t everyone around me pay attention to me and like me?
“Okay, I get it. I know what you want to do since I’ve fantasized about the same things. But it’s winter right now. How are you planning to dress slutty and go anywhere?”
“Ah! You’re right. It’s winter. Damn… I can’t do the ‘sexy guy that makes every woman stare’ thing!”
“Good grief. You really are me, huh. Whatever, go wash up first.”
“Huh?”
“We both just woke up. Go shower first.”
“But I…”
“Hurry up and wash. This is a world where men are treated well, so I’m being considerate of you.”
“But I don’t have any clothes to change into…”
“Ah. Right.”
Wow. The moment I came to another world, the first problem was clothes. I really had lost everything I used to have. By the way, had we been talking to each other this whole time wearing nothing but underwear? Wow. Having a conversation with such a beautiful girl while only in underwear, and not even having dirty thoughts… She really was another “me.”
“Here. I brought some bigger clothes. Take these, shower, and change into them.”
“Okay. Thanks! I’ll go wash up.”
What weird thoughts was I having? Still, she was “me,” so there was no way anything like that would happen between us. She’d probably hate it too.
That incredibly handsome guy was another “me”? So a male version of “me” had appeared? I’d often had delusions like that before. But how could something I only ever fantasized about actually happen?
I’d woken up because it felt like something was touching my chest. I opened my eyes with the faint hope that maybe someone was actually groping me. Even though in my twenty-three years of being forever alone, there was no way anyone would touch my chest. But what I saw the moment I woke up was literally a male god.
A man more beautiful than any idol or actor I’d ever seen was sitting on my left, looking down at me.
“Hngh, w-who are you?”
“Ah… um, please don’t panic and just listen… I’m sor—”
“I’m sorry!!!”
“I was wrong! I’ll do anything you want, so please don’t report me for sexual assault!”
In that instant, I instinctively apologized first. If this man reported me, whether I’d done something wrong or not, I’d be dragged away for sexual assault. In this world where men were overwhelmingly favored, someone like me whose entire life had been twenty-three years without a lover—if something like this happened with a man? It would obviously look like I was at fault. Even if I was innocent, getting arrested was basically guaranteed.
“What are you talking about? Even if I reported you, who would believe that a beautiful woman like you tried to sexually assault an ugly man like me? If anything, I’d be the one getting dragged away.”
What was he saying now? He was this handsome but thought he was ugly? And what did he mean by calling me beautiful? Me, whose entire life had been twenty-three years without a lover, was pretty?
“Huh? No, what are you talking about? You’re an incredibly handsome man…”
“Ah! You mistook home invasion for sexual assault. Don’t worry. If you don’t report me, we can just pretend this never happened.”
Oh. Was this person apologizing because he’d accidentally broken into my room? Well, if he was willing to let it go, that was a relief… Wait? What was he saying? This was his room? This was my room.
“Excuse me? This is my room. What are you talking about? I don’t know how you ended up in my room, but…”
“This is my room? No, what have you been saying this whole time?”
Then suddenly he started saying weird things too. He was claiming my room was his. What the hell was going on? Was this some new organ trafficking scheme?
“Look here. This phone.”
Huh? Why was he suddenly grabbing my phone?
“See? This is my phone, right?”
“What…? How do you know my phone’s lock pattern?”
He unlocked my phone. What? How did he know?
“Excuse me? Hey!”
“Ah, y-yes!”
“I don’t know how you know my phone’s lock pattern, but can you give me my phone back?”
“What? Ah… j-just a moment…”
He suddenly opened the gallery.
Oh shit, no! That’s where my secret collection was stored! If he saw that I’d be sent to prison for obscenity! In this country, if a woman looked at erotic comics she became a sex criminal! Me, a sex criminal?
“W-wait, stop! Why are you opening my phone’s gallery!”
“Eh?”
I tried desperately to snatch the phone away. But damn, why was this guy so strong? In the end, my secret, filthy gallery was exposed.
“Hey! How long are you going to keep looking? I’m not a pervert. Women normally keep pictures like that in their galleries, okay? Give me back my phone.”
Would an excuse like that even work? Goodbye, warm outside world. I guess I wouldn’t see tomorrow’s sun. A woman can look at a few erotic comics, can’t she? The one that’s wrong is this world that suppresses women’s sexual desires!
“Um… by any chance… are you me?”
Eh? What was this guy saying? You’re me?