Mysterious Bunny Girl! (1)
The world changed into a horror story one ordinary day. An unprecedented event that humanity had never experienced before. Yet, surprisingly, South Korean society didn't fall into much chaos.
After all, this was the era when the Korean web novel market had surpassed 1.35 trillion won in scale.
Works featuring ghost stories and anomalies had already moved beyond trends to become a major genre. Modern fantasy stories had taken deep root across Korean culture as a whole.
Thanks to that, on the day anomalies first appeared in the world—and the day the existence of the Awakened was first revealed—people didn't scream or react in blind panic. There were simply too many readers who'd devoured modern fantasy novels for that.
“An Awakened! An Awakened has appeared in Seoul!”
“What? I have a status window too! Status wiiiiindow!”
“Haha, you fool. Don't you know the origin of status windows is game fantasy? You're supposed to say ‘Status.’ ”
“It's not working? Then I'll aim for a niche market… Gallery open! Check chat window!”
“This can't be! I'm not an Awakened? You mean the reason I couldn't study or get a job wasn't because I was destined to receive an SSS-rank skill?”
They'd known a day like this would come. No—in fact, they'd been eagerly waiting for it.
While the rest of the world panicked over this unprecedented event, only Korea responded swiftly, even coining unique terms like anomaly, Awakened, and Hunter.
The government had moved so fast that they'd already established a new organization called the Hunter Management Department.
There were even rumors that “the minister looked really excited during the founding press conference,” though the truth of that remained unconfirmed.
The ‘Bloody Saint’ is amazed by the swift response!
The ‘Great Victim’ asks why they are being called constellations.
The ‘Mirror of Depravity’ suspects a leak of causality information.
Anyway, Koreans were more than prepared for the new era. The same went for the constellations. These unknown transcendent beings blended into society the moment they appeared.
Just think about it. What kind of people were the citizens of the Korean Peninsula?
A race whose efficiency needed no explanation. They analyzed which people each constellation favored and what kind of powers they granted, then created efficient Hunter paths as if developing game character builds.
The influence was so strong that even an ordinary person like me knew the names of several constellations. However, among the constellations I'd heard of, there was no such thing as the ‘Praising Goddess.’
The ‘Praising Goddess’ asserts that this is only natural. She whispers only to beautiful beings.
No, I keep telling you I wasn't handsome to begin with! I was far from anything resembling beauty. Let me say it again—my job was a firefighter.
It wasn't a profession that lived off looks like a model or celebrity. There wasn't even the slightest connection between my life and bunny girls.
The ‘Praising Goddess’ points out your prejudice. She emphasizes that external beauty is superficial and that true beauty arises from the exquisite harmony of appearance and inner self.
That wasn't prejudice; it was an objective fact. And now my appearance and inner self are in direct conflict. There's a middle-aged man's ego stuck inside a girl's body, you know? Is that what you call exquisite harmony? Just give me my body back already! More precisely, send me back to the world where I was a man!
The ‘Praising Goddess’ puffs out her chest with pride. Through the Goddess's power, you have become a perfect bunny girl. She is confident that you are worthy of receiving her favor of praise.
You're not even listening to me, are you? Anyway, the constellation that latched onto me had been like this from the start. She suddenly turned me into a silver-haired, red-eyed girl and even completely rewrote my life history.
Every attempt to change my appearance was useless. My hair grew back the moment I cut it, and dye wouldn't take at all. And this damn constellation even interfered heavily with what I wore!
Justice's 'Super' Bunny Girl
Rank: SS
Effect 1. You become a bunny girl when necessary.
Effect 2. A pretty costume is automatically equipped.
Effect 3. You are the greatest bunny girl in all dimensions!
Effect 4. You grow stronger the more love you receive! As love accumulates, you will awaken the abilities you need.
Penalty 1. Wearing any clothing or accessories that do not suit a bunny girl is restricted.
Penalty 2. Behave like a proper bunny girl of justice!
After checking, I discovered I couldn't wear anything classified as men's clothing. Even with the same tracksuit, clothes bought from the men's section and the women's section were strictly distinguished. At least those were comfortable loungewear, so the standards were relatively lenient.
Outdoor clothes were on another level. Without persuading the constellation, even wearing pants was difficult. Skirt lengths had to stay above the knee as much as possible, and I couldn't hide the lines of my body too much. And if I didn't follow these rules?
An overwhelming sense of guilt would surge up… It felt like I'd committed some enormous sin against the world.
My chest would grow unbearably tight, and I'd be tormented by the feeling of having become the greatest sinner in history. That was exactly what happened when I tried to wear men's trunk underwear.
Why on earth? What kind of grudge does she have against me to do something like this?
The ‘Praising Goddess’ protests that she merely answered your prayer. In reality, you succeeded in your rescue mission and even saved your own life. This is a result worthy of praise!
“Praise my as—”
Swearing is not behavior befitting a bunny girl of justice!
The curse that had risen to the tip of my tongue vanished completely. This was also a matter of guilt. It was fine when I was alone, but if there were people watching, there was no escape.
According to the constellation, it was to build a sense of professionalism. It really seemed like this thing was determined to turn me into a bunny girl down to the bone.
I don't even know how many fights we'd had over clothes and behavior in the past two days. The only consolation was that I didn't have to wear makeup. That was the fruit I'd gained from throwing a tantrum and threatening to rather die.
The ‘Praising Goddess’ feels genuinely disappointed.
Shut up. I have to talk to people now, so stop annoying me.
“Welcome. What brings you to the Hunter Management Department today?”
“Um… I'm here to register as an Awakened.”
“I see. May I see your ID?”
That's right. It had already been two days since I became an Awakened. It meant I'd spent a full forty-eight hours fighting with the constellation.
Adapting to the changed world, distinguishing between clothes I could wear and clothes I couldn't… Just thinking about it made me angry again.
Anyway, in Korea, once you awakened an ability, you were required to register with the Hunter Management Department. It was a mandatory procedure if you didn't want to be treated as a villain.
“Yes, confirmed as Lee Hasol. For the registration process, please fill out these documents, and we can proceed with the examination right away.”
“Do I have to write down all my skills here? There are… quite a few.”
“Are you a multi-ability user? Even so, you must list them all. They'll all be revealed during the detailed examination, so please don't lie about anything.”
“It's less that I have multiple abilities and more that other skills keep branching off from one main skill.”
“Understood. It looks like it will require continuous management. Still, please write down all the skills you can see for now.”
The receptionist’s gaze turned toward my paperwork. It seemed she'd grown curious even though she'd see it eventually anyway.
Objectively speaking, it was a natural reaction. A multi-ability Awakened. A rare combination of silver hair and red eyes.
An appearance personally crafted by the Praising Goddess herself. No matter how you looked at it, these were all elements that would draw other people's attention.
Of course, none of these facts made my embarrassment any easier to bear. My hand trembled as I wrote down the characters.
— Skill Name: Justice's ‘Super’ Bunny Girl
— Effect: You become a bunny girl when necessary. A pretty costume is automatically—
My pen stopped after just a few words. The receptionist's mouth fell open, and I covered my face with both hands.
This is embarrassing. It's not just embarrassing—it's mortifying enough to die. My face is burning so badly I can't even lift my head. A fully grown adult writing something like this on an official government document.
If there was a form of torture, this would be it. If there were a horror story about killing someone with nothing but shame, I would definitely be the first victim.
Not to mention, the receptionist was now looking at me with sparkling eyes.
“Please continue writing. A bunny girl ability? How unique. Is the rank really SS?”
“Could you please look after I've finished writing…?”
“Oh dear, I'm sorry. That must have been uncomfortable. Please take your time.”
Fortunately, the receptionist looked away. Thanks to that, writing itself became a bit easier, but the truth was I still didn't fully understand my own skill. Become a bunny girl when necessary? What exactly counts as a situation where a bunny girl is necessary? To begin with, an SS-rank skill is an incredibly high rank, right? Is “a pretty costume is automatically equipped” really something that belongs on the second line? And what does “behave like a bunny girl of justice” even mean?
‘Ah, I get that one. It's about the outfit and speech.’
Anyway, the explanation for my skill felt pretty unfriendly. In games and such, isn't the best skill description supposed to be intuitive? Something like ‘Throws a spear at the enemy to deal physical damage.’ But there was one part I understood very well.
The gazes I'd received while coming here. And the receptionist's eyes, which were overflowing with kindness and goodwill. By my estimate, it was about time.
Sufficient love has been accumulated!
A new ability is awakening!
I grow stronger by receiving people's love. It seemed this “love” also included simple goodwill. Every time I'd gone outside so far, miscellaneous skills had kept popping up one by one. Since this was a skill too, I supposed I had to write it down. I let out a sigh and checked the description.