Meeting (2)
Sitting on the sofa and looking down at me was a woman of devastating beauty — almost certainly my master.
Is this a good thing?
A female master had to be better than some perverted male one, right?
"Are you listening? You really ought to pay attention when I'm speaking."
"Pardon?"
"Hmm… for a maid to be this clueless."
"Well… I only Awakened less than a day ago."
"I suppose you'll improve in time."
That settled it. This woman wasn't listening to a single word I said.
"As I mentioned earlier, you'll be living in this mansion from now on. There are plennnty of empty rooms."
"Um… what should I call you?"
"Hmm… my name is Kim Seoyeon, but you may call me Master."
My face twisted on the spot.
Master? What kind of word was that to be throwing around in the modern world?
"Thaat… Seoyeon-ssi, isn't 'Master' a bit much?"
"No. Just call me Master. That'll do nicely. This is an order from your master."
"What? Master?"
Why is this happening?
"Huh? Master? Huh?"
I had clearly said Seoyeon-ssi — and yet what kept coming out of my mouth was Master.
"Mmm~ I like this."
"What on earth is going on?"
"It's a skill. A skill. The same one that summoned you here is the one issuing commands right now."
"Then… could you release it?"
"I can only issue one command. I could swap it for something else, though?"
At those words, the fantasy circuits in my brain spun into overdrive.
A different command? What kind of command…
Far too many possibilities flooded in at once, and the whole world seemed to tilt.
Making me talk in some weird way, making me do weird things…
I hurriedly shut the fantasies down.
"So? Shall I change it to a different command?"
"No… Master."
"Good. I like that. From now on, then, your form of address is Master — no exceptions."
My thoughts couldn't keep up with the situation.
This is way too fast!!
Even so, the mere suggestion of a different command landing on me was terrifying enough.
"Um… Master, so I really will be living here?"
"Why? Curious about where you'll stay?"
"Yees…"
"Then follow me."
I followed her out of the room.
Beyond the doorway stretched a long corridor, lined with more rooms than I could count on one hand.
"Lots of rooms, right?"
"You live here alone?"
"I already told you there were plenty of spare rooms."
"You did. But can one person even manage a place this size?"
"Obviously I hire a service."
"Ah…"
A master who casually hired cleaning services and owned a house this enormous. She was richer than anything I'd imagined.
If it was this bad…
"Oh, right! Do you have clothes?"
"Pardon? Clothes?"
"Yours are looking awfully shabby. They even look like men's clothes — am I right?"
For a split second I nearly blurted out that I used to be a man.
If I said that, she might find it disgusting and start tormenting me.
I scrambled for an excuse.
"Men's clothes are just more comfortable…! That's why!"
"I see~ Well, from now on you'll be living here and doing work, so you'll have to wear something less comfortable."
"What?"
If she meant women's clothes, she could just say women's clothes. What was this about uncomfortable clothes?
"Looks like I'll have to call a friend I haven't spoken to in a while."
"A friend?"
"I have one. A creature who makes clothes better than anyone."
"I could just wear ready-made clothes, though?"
"Absolutely not. If you're going to live with me, you have to be pleasing to my eye."
"Then what am I supposed to wear?"
"What do you think? What are you?"
"Kwon Siyu."
"Not that — your class."
Class. One particular outfit floated up in my mind.
"You're a maid. And a maid wears a maid uniform."
"A maid uniform… so there's a dress involved?"
"More of a skirt than a dress, really. You meant the skirt, right?"
"And frills too, I suppose?"
"Why do you keep asking about the obvious?"
Warning lights went off in my head.
Of course, I was a woman now.
But I lived as a man for over twenty years. A maid uniform is going too far.
"Got a problem with that?"
"Not a problem, exactly… but couldn't I wear something other than a maid uniform?"
"If you hate it that much, you can just live naked. That could be fun too."
"Are you insane?"
"What kind of way is that to speak to your Master? Do you have any idea what I might do?"
"No, I just…"
"I'll let it slide this once."
That was when it hit me.
No — that was when I finally understood.
My master was a damn master from hell.
"Your eyes look awfully impure… Well, as long as you don't say it out loud, I won't dig."
And she was a damn master with far too sharp instincts, to boot.
"We're here. This will be your room from now on."
The door opened onto a room that was enormously spacious.
A single room looked like it could swallow two-thirds of my old apartment.
My old place was a two-room and not exactly small, but this is on a whole different level.
"There's no bed today, so head back for now. I'll contact you later."
She finished speaking and held out her hand.
Thinking she meant a handshake, I moved to take it.
"Pfft — not a handshake. Give me your phone so we can exchange numbers."
My face burned.
I hurriedly handed over my phone.
As I did, I caught her expression — she was fighting hard not to laugh.
Phone in hand, she finally burst out laughing.
"Pwahaha, you're seriously adorable. You'll hear from me in a few days. Off you go."
At that, I made a hasty exit.
I was fretting over Where's the way out? when the exit came into view, so mercifully I didn't have to go back and ask.
I opened the door, stepped outside, and looked back — a massive mansion filled my vision.
So a place like this had been sitting in the neighborhood all along.
With that idle thought, I searched for the route home on my phone.
By the time I got home, every ounce of strength had drained from my body.
I really have a master now.
I dove onto the bed without even changing clothes.
Tonight, for once, I'll dream a nonsense dream instead of a nightmare.
I had a habit of having jumbled, absurd dreams whenever my head filled up with too many random fantasies.
Right now my mind was packed with every possible thought about Kim Seoyeon, who had become my master — so a nonsense dream was basically guaranteed.
Time to sleep.
As for future plans… those could wait until tomorrow.
Today had been far too full of far too many things.
"Nngh!!!"
I woke with a vigorous stretch.
Nngh?
Yesterday came flooding back.
I turned into a woman, didn't I?
The events of the day before replayed one after another, and my head grew complicated.
Everything in the house was still arranged for the old me — and yet I myself had become something completely different.
In a wretched state of mind, I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.
The woman standing there in the same pose as me was the kind of beauty you'd only ever see in an anime, right up until two days ago.
I thought I'd adapted, at least a little…
I closed the door and came back out.
Maybe I should play a round of games for the first time in a while?
I went to the computer and launched the FPS I'd always loved.
In the top-left corner, a friend I used to play with was online.
Been a while — want to queue a match?
I sent a chat without thinking.
I was about to start the game and turn on voice chat when I flinched.
Ah… my voice.
I typed in a hurry.
"Then how are we supposed to call outs… Sigh. Fine. Hope you get better soon — just sync up on your own."
We lost. And not just lost — we got demolished.
"You said you'd sync up on your own, but you're playing twice as bad as usual. Does it hurt that much?"
The truth was, I was just bad now.
Different hand size, different reaction speed — my entire control scheme had fallen apart.
"Yeah. Get well soon."
I shut the computer off.
Becoming a woman meant nothing worked anymore.
My life did not seem ready to change.
Computer off, I tried to do something…
"What am I supposed to do?"
Unable to game, I had no idea what to do with myself.
What did I usually do?
I thought back through last week, last month, last year — and all I had ever done was game.
"Wow… I've literally done nothing but game, huh?"
The absurdity of it made me say it out loud.
I fretted for a while, then eventually turned the computer back on.
I pressed the power button, and just as the tower started to boot again, my phone rang.
For someone who'd cut ties with the world for years, there was nobody who would call me.
No. There wasn't.
I dug through my memory and remembered — yesterday, someone had appeared.
Someone who might actually contact me.
"Hello?"
"Siyu, right?"
"Yes. Master."
I flinched at the word Master popping out even over the phone.
"Yes, yes — it's your Master."
"Why are you calling?"
"Ah! I need to buy you clothes, but I don't know your size."
"My size?"
"You don't have to send it. My friend prefers to take measurements in person."
"Then…"
"You're not doing anything special, are you?"
"No…"
"Meet me in Apgujeong in three hours. You can make it, right?"
"Three hours?"
From here to Apgujeong, with transfers, took an hour and forty minutes.
Which meant I had to shower, get ready, and leave immediately.
"Then I'll see you in three hours at Apgujeong Station, Exit 5."
Click. The call ended.
That damn master of mine—
Afraid of what might happen if I was late, I went straight to shower.
Shhhhhh—
Hot water pouring over my whole body from the showerhead settled my mind a little.
If you think about it, being hired by a rich whale of a patron isn't so bad, is it?
Judging by the size of the house and the flashy clothes, my master had money — a lot of it.
It's just that the terms feel a bit like a servant contract?
I quickly stopped thinking and got on with the shower.
My hair, once short, had grown long enough to take extra time, but I managed to finish somehow.
When I checked the clock after showering, fifty minutes had already slipped by.
I hurriedly towel-dried my hair and hunted for something to wear.
Clothes that fit…
Anything too big would slide off, and anything that didn't cover me properly was out of the question.
While I was fretting, a hoodie caught my eye.
Top can be this. Bottoms…
I picked a pair of pants with a solid elastic waistband.
They were long, so I carefully rolled up the extra length.
Good. Looks decent enough.
Hair more or less dry, I checked the time again — an hour and ten minutes gone already.
I threw on the rest of my clothes in a rush and burst out the front door.
If I'm late…
Just imagining it made the situation feel bottomless. I put on speed.