The Sixth Delusion (3)
I stepped into the clothing store to buy some new outfits. Inside, one woman immediately stood out from the rest.
There were other clerks and customers scattered around, but she caught my eye like no one else. She was a stunning blonde who looked like an incredibly beautiful older sister.
Looking closer, her golden hair didn’t seem dyed. She possessed an exotic, breathtaking beauty.
A foreigner…? It looked like she worked here.
Oh. Our eyes met. Should I look away?
What’s going on? Why does she keep staring at me? Don’t tell me she’s fallen for my ridiculously handsome pretty-boy face? That’s kind of cute.
I offered her a bright smile.
When I smiled at the beautiful woman, her face flushed crimson. Whoa, she really has a crush on me.
Wow. Just locking eyes with a woman this gorgeous is enough to make her fall for me. If this were the old me from the original world, I would have turned away in clear annoyance!
This gender-reversed world is fantastic! And the appearance buff on top of it is just perfect!
Suddenly, the female “me” stepped forward and physically blocked the space between me and the blonde woman.
Huh? What are you doing? Why are you blocking her?
Ah, are you jealous?
No way. That can’t be it.
Even though you’re “me,” you wouldn’t actually get jealous… right?
Anyway, I picked out several outfits and paid at the register. By the time we finished, that beautiful blonde woman had vanished.
Still, I walked away with some nice clothes. I carried the bags out of the store.
“Hey, hand them over. I’ll carry them.”
“Thanks. But I’ll hold them. You bought the clothes for me—how could I make you carry them? Thank you so much for buying me clothes.”
“It’s nothing. You’re me, after all. I already told you I’d help you out.”
“I’m really grateful. My future felt so hopeless, but I have you. Seriously.”
If I didn’t have her, I don’t know what I would have done. No matter how gender-reversed this world was, I refused to sell my body.
I wanted to meet someone who genuinely liked me for who I was, not just for my body.
“But you said men can’t show their upper body, right? So how far is too far? Nipples?”
“Hey! Don’t… don’t say ‘nipples’ so loudly out here. Everyone’s staring at you.”
“Oh, sorry, sorry. Hehe. Anyway, how much can I show?”
Ah! That’s right—this is a gender-reversed world. In original-world terms, that would be like an impossibly beautiful woman standing in the middle of a mall and loudly shouting “NIPPLES!” at the top of her lungs.
Whoa. That’s kind of hot.
“Nipples are obviously off-limits, and you can’t show your stomach to any stranger either. Even your elbows count as slightly provocative?”
“What? That strict? There are so many restrictions. In my original world, showing a bit of a woman’s stomach wasn’t considered that strange.”
“Right. When I think about it, that part feels off to me too.”
“How so?”
“You said earlier that the clothes men wear in your world are identical to the ones here, right?”
That was true. Even in a gender-reversed world, that detail hadn’t changed, and I’d found it odd.
“In a typical gender-reversed world, everything should be completely opposite. But in your world, men have strong sexual desires and sacrifice for women yet don’t wear makeup. Here, women have strong desires and sacrifice for men, but women wear makeup and uncomfortable but pretty clothes like skirts.”
“Huh? Now that you mention it, you’re right. So it’s not a total reversal?”
Exactly. I’d always assumed a gender-reversed world would mean complete opposites.
“Correct. In your world, a woman showing her stomach isn’t a big deal, right? But here, a man showing his stomach to a strange woman is a serious offense. They’re fundamentally different.”
“Which means… this world is actually really good for men?”
“Yes. In other words, this world and your world aren’t perfectly symmetrical opposites.”
I see. After all, I’m a fourth-year retaker, while the “me” in this world who attends university has a far more successful life. The differences are obvious.
“Wait a second! So I didn’t simply come to a gender-reversed world?”
“Back at the house earlier, you said it yourself. That your usual delusions had become reality.”
That’s what I’d said. I used to fantasize about being sent to a gender-reversed world where all the women would obsess over me and I’d live an ultra-popular life.
Huh? So as my usual delusions turned into reality, this world had shifted slightly to match my fantasies?
“So you’re saying this place is a world created by my delusions?”
“Well, it could be. Hey… just listen without overthinking it too much, okay?”
“Why? What is it?”
“Have you ever had any delusions related to university?”
What was she talking about? I’d been retaking the exam for four years—of course I’d had university delusions. Since she was “me,” she must have done the same.
“Of course I have. Almost every day. Since you’re ‘me’…”
No, wait. She said she passed on her first try. But which university does she attend?
“Then, in your delusions, what CSAT score did you imagine getting, and which school did you picture yourself entering?”
“Huh? Obviously I imagined getting a perfect score and taking first place in admissions to Korea University’s Business Department.”
“Ah… so that’s what it was.”
Why? What’s wrong? Why does she look so shocked?
“You know… that’s exactly what I did.”
“What? What do you mean, that’s what you did?”
“…I got a perfect score on the CSAT and took first place in admissions to Korea University’s Business Department.”
For real? A perfect CSAT score? First place admission to Korea University’s Business Department?
“R-really? Wow, you’re incredible. I’m on my fourth retake and…”
“But I thought I had achieved it myself. Turns out I hadn’t.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“My entire life only exists because your delusions became reality! It’s all fake!”
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ah! So that’s it? The university entrance fantasies I used to have became reality and shaped this other “me’s” life?
So this world is one created solely for me through my delusions?
And she’s a fictional being born from my delusions?
No, this is ridiculous… Then what does that make of the life I’ve lived until now? I’ve spent twenty-three years experiencing everything that’s happened to me.
All of it was fabricated? Does that mean I’m nothing but a fake created from this real “me’s” delusions?
Then I’m not really “me”? Just one of the trophies in this world for the real “me,” the protagonist, to enjoy? I’m not the main character?
Just an extra? I…
I am!
Am I… me?
“Hey.”
My mind went completely blank. Everything I had believed in and lived for until now—what was any of it?
Was all of that fake too? How could that be possible? Does that mean even the delusions I’ve had weren’t truly mine, but copies of the real “me’s” delusions?
“Hey!”
If that’s true, then I can’t be with “me”?
That can’t happen. Please.
“Hey! Female ‘me’! Snap out of it!”
“Uh… yeah? Oh, right.”
She suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace.
!!!!
The real “me” was hugging me!
“Didn’t you say earlier that since I’m a stranger in this world, you’d help me? That ‘me’ would help ‘me.’ Where did that ‘me’ who promised to help me go?”
!!!!!!
“And what? That your life itself is fabricated? Who forced you to live your life until now? Huh? Is this some Truman Show? Are all the people around you actors in a play? You have twenty-three years of life! Are all those memories fake?”
“Uh, I don’t think so?”
“And you have me. You told me earlier to trust ‘me.’ To rely on me.”
“Y-yeah, I did?”
“I’m ‘me’ too. We’re all ‘me.’ So you can rely on me as well. I’ll help ‘you.’”
“…Thank you. ‘Me.’”
Wow. She wasn’t just pretty.
She was cool.
Is this what a boy-crush feels like?
“Besides, what? Just because the roles of men and women aren’t complete opposites but slightly different, that means this world was created from delusion? That’s too much of a leap.”
“…Yeah. Why did I think that way?”
“And another thing. You imagined getting a perfect CSAT score and first place at Korea University’s Business Department, so that became your entrance achievement? No, I was just imagining the absolute best-case scenario. Or what—are you bragging that you got into Korea University while I was stuck retaking the exam for four years?”
“Pfft. Sorry, it’s not like that.”
“See. If this world was truly created from delusions, wouldn’t my card-game monsters have materialized and be running around? It’s just a completely peaceful, ordinary everyday world.”
I really don’t know why I’d thought that way. Looking back now, I had almost no basis for it.
“Thank you, ‘me.’ I said I’d help you, but I’ve only been the one receiving help.”
“It’s nothing. You helped me earlier too. Let’s hurry and go watch the movie. We’ll miss the showing!”
Yeah.
The only one who can truly understand me is “me.”
“Yep!”
With someone like this, how could I not fall for her? I already had, but now I was falling even harder.