This Isn't a Gang, Right?
It wasn't a gang, was it?
A strange girl with waist-length green hair and blue eyes stared back at me from the mirror, wearing a white t-shirt and short shorts. The reflection looked exactly like me.
“W-what is this? A dream?”
I pinched my cheeks hard, but nothing changed. When I had fallen asleep and woken up, what on earth had happened?
After calming down a bit, I instinctively grabbed my phone to search for what had occurred to me.
“Eh? Messages?”
There were two messages from Noa-ang. One looked like a link to some gallery, and the other simply said “Check out this link once you wake up.”
Something mysterious tugged at me from the link. It felt like entering it would reveal exactly what had happened to me. Maybe my head was just buzzing and my judgment was off.
“Huh? What kind of gallery is this?”
Hunter Nadenade Gallery. I knew most derivative galleries from the hunter fandom, but this name was brand new. It looked established, and the notice writer was clearly Noa-ang, the Ju-ttak.
I had no idea what kind of gallery this was, so I read the notice first. Derivative galleries had weird rules like never mentioning specific guilds. Checking the notice was mandatory when browsing them.
The first line I saw when I tapped the notice jumped out at me.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[Each awakening only accessible to awakeners]
“Eh?! Awakener?!”
I had heard that some awakeners experienced physical changes after becoming hunters, like growing wings or muscles… small changes. But chromosomal change? Becoming a girl with this body? It didn't feel real.
I didn't even read the rest of the notice. I hurriedly started writing a post. I also sent Noa-ang a direct message: “Noa-ang, what is this?!” but she hadn't read it yet.
“First, I'll tell her my gender has changed…”
I stopped typing. The notice had said only awakeners could access this gallery. So there must be other people with my situation. Before asking questions, I should check if anyone with the same case had posted.
“Umm…”
I searched using keywords like gender change, TS, gender swap. Nothing came up. The only thing I found was a comment saying, “No cases of gender change due to awakening have been reported worldwide.”
So I was the world's first TS hunter? That… I shouldn't directly say I became a girl, right? I should phrase it carefully. The association might get involved.
[POST]
Replies poured in.
Pa-bbang: “Being able to access this community proves you have awakened as a hunter. Physical changes are common, so you can relax.”
Karasa: “Oh, newbies. Newbies seem to be increasing lately.”
Baby A-grade hunter fan: “It seems to be increasing. In just one generation, we'll see the entire humanity awaken.”
Wolha: “Pa-bbang-nim said everything needed. If you just awakened, register with the association and check your skills first. Your body will adapt completely and you'll see it.”
[COMMENT]
It seemed I had awakened. I could do this much, at least. I replied to her comment.
[REPLY]
Suddenly, the gallery name was Nadenade Gallery. Noa-ang was praising and encouraging hunters like she did for me? That was nice work. A reply came.
[REPLY]
[REPLY]
[REPLY]
Whoa, a blue G mark. It was Pa-ttak. The first comment from a Pa-ttak? Was I getting attention? Getting attention was good, but I didn't want responsibility as an awakener. It felt heavy.
Anyway, Pa-ttak had come here through the same path as me. If we weren't causing trouble, I wanted to chat later.
“Ah, I need to focus. First, let's check my skill…”
First, check the skill. I blinked and tried to see if I could check it. My head was still buzzing, so my body hadn't adapted to awakening yet.
Awakening was just talk yesterday, but now I was doing it without understanding. It was a bit shocking. According to Pa-ttak, did Noa-ang have the ability to spot pre-awakeners?
My gender had changed, and no one knew about cases like mine. The world's first TS awakener. I was jumping for joy. I looked back and forth between my phone and mirror, memorizing the gallery and my changed self.
“…You're pretty.”
It was my appearance, but my eyes kept wandering. Adorable cuteness that made me feel comfortable! Maybe it was my ability. Perhaps a kind of hypnosis skill I didn't know about. Then I fought with the mirror version of me in my head, startled by a voice that echoed inside my skull. I fell backward.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[Awakener unique skill available for viewing]
“Aiya…”
As I fell, a hologram labeled [Ability Information] appeared on the left of my vision. Only awakeners could see it. The buzzing in my head stopped. I reached out with my hand to check my awakening skill as quickly as possible.
“Eh, but…”
If the awakened skill was combat-related, what would I do? Could I fight properly with this body…? If I was a combat hunter, I'd be deployed to the front lines where people's lives were at stake. That was soon something I'd have to risk my life for others… something that didn't suit me.
That was scary!! I had decided to be a model citizen and help first, but why did I become an awakener?! What is this monkey business? I said ‘From tomorrow I'll be a new person,’ but it turned me into an actual new person.
No time to panic! I swallowed and touched the [Ability Information] hologram. From the start, many skills appeared in the air.
Grade: Unmeasured
Type: Unmeasured
Level: 1
Skill 1 - Mental Synchronization [LV. 1]
- Grants mental synchronization to up to three allies and myself. Allies with mental synchronization gain an external mental damage protective shield proportional to their own level and maximum mana.
- The caster receives increased internal mental damage proportional to the number of allies with mental synchronization. If an ally's shield breaks, the caster takes severe internal mental damage proportional to the ally's level.
Skill 2 - Soul Guide [LV. 1]
- Greatly reduces the mental pollution level of an ally in special mental pollution state instead of the caster receiving severe internal mental damage.
- This skill cannot be cast voluntarily and activates automatically when an ally's special mental pollution worsens.
Passive - Cheon-a (Heaven Child)
- Increases maximum mana proportionally to level.
- If there are allies around, their mental pollution gradually decreases. The effect is amplified if the ally's level is lower than the passive possessor's level. The effect is also amplified when interacting with them.
- ??
- ??
I thought I'd see something simple like “swings a sword and deals physical damage.” What kind of non-literary work is this? I skimmed it and tried to figure out how to use the abilities.
Umm… So summarizing the three skills in one line:
Skill 1 - Give an insanely strong mental attack shield, but if it breaks, I'm done for.
Skill 2 - Automatically heal an ally in irreversible mental pollution state, but I take damage.
Passive - Just hanging out with the team lowers their mental pollution steadily!
What? A walking no-side-effect ecstasy?
Both skills and the passive focused on defending against mental attacks. Not supporting allies' attacks or speeds, just pure mental defense. The passive had something hidden, but it probably unlocked when leveling up.
A very strong buff in the specific field of mental defense, but with a downside. Still… if this skill lets me sit in the back lines, that's hopeful. I don't know how much it would crush my mental, though. I didn't want to test it by taking damage either.
I copied the skill description word for word and posted it in the gallery. Searching showed quite a few people posted their skills online.
[POST]
Replies:
Cheon-hwa-seong: “Just awakened, why? The people posting skills here are all TV celebrities.”
Baby A-grade hunter fan: “What buffer?! Join our guild!”
[REPLY]
[REPLY]
[REPLY]
Wolha: “Just go to the association quietly.”
Pa-bbang: “Whether the skill is useful is decided by the association. If you post your skill here, you might get a weird nickname or get identified.”
Ah, I couldn't post it! Umm… Everyone seems kind. Is this the atmosphere of the awakener community?
Being a member of the awakeners, and the amazing awakeners giving me advice without hesitation! It felt good. I didn't know how long this feeling would last, but I wanted to enjoy it more.
Noa-ang who made this gallery was probably a skilled hunter, based on the Pa-ttak's comment. There really were people who hid their hunter status and went to the gallery. One mistake as an official hunter could be disastrous.
Anyway, if Noa-ang was that great a hunter, I had received her support. It wasn't bad. Noa-ang hadn't replied yet. Since she was a high-level hunter, she was probably busy.
The situation was clear and I had adapted a bit, so next I had to tell the association about my awakening and get my registration card. Then I'd pick up my ID card and…
“Ah.”
The ID card showed my old self, when I was a man. If this gender change due to awakening became a topic, my face would be in the news, “TS awakener appears in Korea” would be on the front page, and dozens of interview requests would flood my phone.
“T-that's not what I want… Umm…”
The attention from the frequent gallery users and the awakener status were completely different. Now, even a small mistake and the gallery members would point fingers at me?
At least, I wanted to live quietly in an unnoticed place, doing ordinary things…
“What should I do, what should I do?” I was stomping my feet when an alarm beeped like a lifeline.
Noa-ang: “Anything happen? Tell me if there is, I'll fix it.”
Aah, the light from my phone made it hard to open my eyes.