Don't Change the Name
"Goddammit." "Why's your name so girly?" "...It's what my parents gave me. You making fun of them right now?" "Huh?"
Words I'd heard since childhood. Not just through school, but even in college—they never stopped. Your name sounds like a girl's.In-ah's got such a pretty name. Wait, you're a guy...?In-ah-chan~ You're so kawaii today too~How about changing it to something more manly, like Seo In-ja-gang?
A girly name.
"...Maybe I should just change it."
My name was Seo In-ah. Just your average 25-year-old guy in Korea.
Not the manliest name, but I didn't have any real bad feelings about it. I'd heard "girly" so many times it just rolled off. No malice behind it, really.
It's just a name a lot of girls have.
I got the name Seo In-ah 25 years ago, before I was even born. Back then, my parents—now with my late grandfather gone—were told in no uncertain terms by him: "Get the name from a shaman, no exceptions!"
My folks weren't big believers, but they humored him and visited one anyway. The shaman took one look and handed over two names.
"Your kid's definitely a girl! Pick one of these two, or disaster strikes. Choose wisely."
Not a doctor, and the belly wasn't even showing yet, but she predicted the gender. My parents wondered what if it was a boy, but they nodded and went home. Grandpa swore by her accuracy and insisted on one of those names, no debate.
Waaah~ Waaah~ Waaah~
"Congratulations! It's a healthy little prince."
"...Pardon?"
"A boy?"
And sure enough, a boy was born. Back then, they didn't reveal fetal gender, so no one knew until delivery. Holding their son, Mom and Dad pondered deeply.
Both names were for girls. Sure, to avoid "disaster," but slapping a girl's name on a boy? Bigger problems incoming. Especially since they didn't buy the shaman bit—they worried about bullying.
Once Mom recovered, they returned to the shaman, but a "Closed for Business" sign hung there, and she'd vanished. No choice but to go to Grandpa, who was firmer than ever.
"Absolutely not."
"But it's a boy..."
"Shut it!! You want your kid cursed with calamity?! One of those two names, end of story!"
In the end, they picked the less girly one of the pair...
"...What a tearjerker, huh?"
"Legendary... Oh, what was the other name?"
"Seo Hye-in."
"...For real?"
"Yup."
In a dive bar near campus, I spilled the origin story to an old buddy over drinks, like some ancient folktale. Nine out of ten who heard it sympathized with my plight.
I'd fire back at the teasers—"My parents named me!"—but truth was, it was all a lie from the start. Not my parents—a shady shaman did it.
A gender-missing shaman and Grandpa's 100% stubbornness: their collab birthed me. Silver lining? Not Seo Hye-in. That's straight-up girly-girl territory. Seo In-ah's girly, but Hye-in? Peak femininity.
"Maybe I should change it..."
"Now?"
"That's why now's the time. Tired of 'Are you a girl?' every damn time."
We laughed it off, but constantly being misgendered by name grated. Good thing I bulked up from sports young—no full bullying like my parents feared. After decking the main jerk, I earned the title of "top fist among the school's girl-middles." No more bullying, but the name-jokes? Endless.
Grandpa, who threatened "never change it," passed a decade ago. Parents never trusted the shaman anyway. No one left to stop me.
One worry lingered...
"What if the curse is real?"
"...Bullshit."
That "disaster" the shaman warned of. Change the name, and doom hits? Doubt it.
No blessings from "Seo In-ah" either. Sports injuries, nasty falls—plenty of mishaps. Changing it wouldn't spark new ones.
I chugged my beer. Decision made.
"Screw it! I'm changing it."
"To what?"
"Nothing too wild... Seo In-jae? Seo In-ho?"
"Oho... How about something manlier? I got an idea—"
"Seo In-ja-gang my ass. Just drop dead."
"Harsh."
Six months later, I finally changed my name successfully.
"Heh heh heh..."
On my new resident registration card: Seo In-ho.
Plenty of options, but this one felt right. Undeniably masculine. Friends griped I skipped Seo In-ja-gang, but fuck those lunatics.
"Ah, green light."
I gazed lovingly at my new ID while crossing the crosswalk.
And then.
"Huh?"
Vroooooom!!!
"Oh."
CRASH!
A truck plowed into me.
"Goddammit."
Isekai reincarnation. Thought it was just novel, comic, anime fodder—never dreamed it'd happen to me.
Two moons in the sky. Ground teeming with unfamiliar plants and creatures. Goblins, orcs, elves, dwarves—a fantasy world packed with races.
In this absurd situation, I flailed to stand, but froze solid.
Flap.
"Kraaang?"
Filling my view: thick red lizard scales and claws. A massive, obviously dangerous lizard was petting me affectionately.
One look, and I went limp, accepting the strokes. Thrashing might get me skewered—double reincarnation not on the menu.
That aside...
Seems I reincarnated as a lizard. Didn't notice at first, but my hands and feet matched the big one's look.
"Kraang."
Precisely, not a lizard—a dragon.
"She's gone."
Five years under Mom Dragon's care. She said something urgent came up, left me alone in the nest, and vanished.
She'd taught me all sorts over those years—we'd bonded, kinda. Not real parents, since I had those back home.
Like a master and benefactor?
Short five years, but packed with knowledge. Even on Earth, human-to-human, she'd have been a gem... dragon or not.
Especially dragon lore, including one spell: Polymorph.
Magic to shift from dragon to human form. Humans hold sway here too, so prep for venturing out, I guessed.
Flap.
"...A girl?"
A girl. Elementary school age, just starting.
My reflection in the calm lake was mesmerizing. Sunfire-red eyes gleamed, long red hair cascaded to my waist. Red horns curved sharply from my head—lethal points. Flap. Oh, wings too. Cool, sizable ones—flyable in this form, probably.
"Nngh..."
Sighing at the lakeside beauty, I twirled in place, grinning back at her smile, then headed to the nest.
Twenty years later.
Having mastered all Mom Dragon left behind, I stepped out. Reincarnated? Time to roam.
Curious about her sudden disappearance too.
Thus began my long journey. I wandered the continent, and the world dubbed me heir to the Flame Dragon, the Little Flame Dragon.
Little Flame Dragon Lea. Supreme dragon of Flame Dragon blood.
I made a name once, fought here and there. But time dulls humans... and dragons.
"Bored."
Three hundred years passed. Back to the nest, still a small elementary-school girl—slightly bigger, but whatever.
Dragons live too damn long. Time for five human generations to rot, yet I'm barely juvenile.
Past-life memories faded. Hunting Mom Dragon's whereabouts? Meh now.
Probably dead, like the rumors say...
"Hwaaaaaah~"
Sleep... Now I get why dragons in stories just nap in nests, bored out of their minds.
Nothing to do.
Thousands of years? Sleep's the only game.
"Five years of shut-eye... Then Fairy Kingdom for strawberry cream buns..."
Eyes drifting shut...
Players are logging into the world.