National-Level Acting Skills
In this society, the "Male Safety Mark" was far more than just a simple sticker.
Featuring a smiling male face inside a blue shield, this mark signified a "Safe Zone for Male Access" officially certified by the state.
Movie theaters, large supermarkets, family restaurants, public restrooms, subway platforms, and so on.
Every place where a man could enter unaccompanied was required to display this mark.
The criteria for certification were no joke.
It required safety facilities, psychological stabilization systems, AI-assisted counseling, male-only evacuation routes, and, most crucially, a probability of over 70% that "a female employee would not faint upon encountering a male."
Thanks to this, a surprising number of businesses were disqualified for failing to meet the standards.
Whether it was because the shop was too old, the owner was overly friendly toward men, or simply because it was "a shop not yet ready to receive a gentleman," these places were automatically classified as "Unprotected Zones."
Unprotected Zones did not appear on male location-based apps, and navigation systems would automatically plot routes to avoid them.
In short, the state was telling them:
"Don't go there."
And right now, the small snack bar in the alleyway where Hyunwoo and Baek Seungha stood was the textbook definition of a place you "don't go to."
Yet, a man walked into such a place with an indifferent expression.
"Boss. Two servings of spicy tteokbokki, please. And mix in some sundae innards, and give me an assorted order of fried snacks!"
"...Uh, excuse me?"
The interior of the snack bar was filled with a "retro vibe" rarely seen these days, as if time had stopped somewhere in the past.
Four small tables, yellowed wallpaper, and a faded poster of a celebrity from over a decade ago stuck to one wall.
The plastic chairs wobbled slightly, and next to the water purifier, a tattered paper sign taped to the wall read, 'Self-service, please ^^'.
Two of the tables were occupied by a mother and daughter, and a group of schoolgirls in uniforms.
Hyunwoo headed to the innermost seat and, as if it were second nature, raised his hand to place his order.
The owner, the mother and daughter, and the students all stared at him with dumbfounded expressions.
Murmur, murmur.
"Is that person... a man?"
"But isn't the menu he ordered a bit strange?"
"Mom! Look, a man! There's a man!"
"Yeah... but wait, was this place even accessible to men...?"
In this world, the male diet was effectively stuck at an infant's level.
They would burst into tears after a single bite of spicy food, and there were actual cases of men fainting from the mere thought of eating things like sundae innards because they found them "disgusting."
Vegetables were... simply known as "poison."
The word "dietary fiber" had long since vanished even from textbooks for men.
Instead, the staple diet for men consisted only of things that were sweet, salty, or greasy.
Chocolate milk with 50% sugar content, sodium-bomb snacks, and hamburgers with oil drizzled over deep-fried patties were considered their only "nutritious meals."
Some men would collapse from a sudden drop in blood sugar if they drank anything other than cola, which is why they had to carry "so-called sugar tablets" whenever they went out.
Health was a concept abandoned long ago, and the state distributed nutritional supplements directly to ensure the survival of men.
Of course, they were flavored like chewing gum.
Yet, this man had ordered spicy tteokbokki, and he hadn't just picked plain sundae, but the one including the innards. On top of that, he chose an assorted platter of vegetable and seafood tempura instead of meat!
It was a choice no man in his right mind would ever make.
"I'll go get the water."
"Uh, uh...?"
Hyunwoo quietly rose from his seat and fetched water from the purifier.
He even performed the "miracle" of bringing a cup for Baek Seungha, who had accompanied him.
Seeing that, the owner's hands trembled so hard she nearly dropped the tteokbokki several times.
And Baek Seungha, who was watching all of this from the closest vantage point, was drenched in cold sweat.
This was the same woman who could smile even while slicing through terrorists in the United States.
"I!"
"...?"
"I'm going to eat all the squid and shrimp tempura! You... you just eat the perilla leaves and vegetable tempura!"
"Excuse me...? Ah, sure."
In reality, there were cases where some men had even attempted self-harm when forced to eat vegetables.
Normally, the standard reaction at this point would be to tear up or collapse on the floor, sobbing, "I can't eat that..."
Baek Seungha’s heart truly ached, and as a last resort, she had even resorted to such "harsh words."
But Hyunwoo simply nodded as if he understood.
"I like vegetable tempura."
"...!?!!?!?"
Baek Seungha pressed her lips together.
The line she had delivered just moments ago, like a "declaration of a strict trial," had been accepted in just two seconds, so coolly and naturally.
...This isn't how it's supposed to go, is it?
No, at the very least, he should have knelt down, eyes welling with tears, and said something like, "If that's the case, I'll just lick the batter off..."
But this guy?
He smiled, his eyes sparkling, and said, "I like it!"
Sincerity.
Baek Seungha’s breathing faltered slightly.
'W-what is this...?!'
Her blood-red eyes wavered at the sound of her own panicked breath that had escaped her lips.
It was strange.
A sense of incongruity, fear, and a slight flutter at the thought of eating favorite foods with a man?
'If this keeps up... I might actually end up taking him as a sidekick...!'
He was tall, handsome, and his lower body... looked sturdy, too.
...As a woman, it was obviously a "Yes."
But as a hero, it was a complete disaster.
"I-I won't take responsibility if you get sick from eating spicy tteokbokki!"
"Yes, of course."
"I'm going to eat the sundae innards, too. Don't just watch me!"
"That's great. I like innards, too."
...This crazy, stubborn bastard.
It's real.
This man, he really intends to eat them.
That kind of persistence is stimulating my lower abdomen... No, no! That's not it!
This isn't the time for that!
If this keeps up, I'm really going to... I'm going to fall for him, aren't I?!
What do I do.
What am I really supposed to do!
Just as Baek Seungha’s body was trembling, that was when it happened.
"Come out, come out!"
"Give me your money!!"
"Aaaagh!!"
"V-villains!!"
Suddenly, as if to balance the scales of the world, a group of villains kicked the door open and stormed in.
No, they didn't even open the door.
They just smashed it.
At the same time, a new hope began to bloom in her heart.
'This is it...!'
Ms. Baek Seungha.
Since there was a saying that Westerners ate saltier food than Easterners, I had wondered if she might have picky eating habits, given how she insisted on spicy tteokbokki, innards, and even seafood tempura.
Perhaps that was why.
A flicker of hope emerged that it might be easier to score points with her than I thought.
'If I handle everything she leaves behind because she doesn't want to eat it, she'll surely be pleased.'
It was right then, as I reached for my chopsticks toward the tteokbokki set that had started to arrive, watching Ms. Baek Seungha break into a sweat before even taking a bite.
"Everyone, hands up!!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots tore through the small Korean snack bar.
I hadn't known since I was facing away from the entrance, but the customers inside and the owner who had been serving the food had all dropped to their knees on the floor at the sound of the gunfire.
As I turned around...
As expected.
This world was one where heroes and villains had existed even before the Great Reversal.
True to such a world, even in South Korea, where gun ownership is illegal, three masked robbers were holding pistols and threatening the people quite nonchalantly.
"Oh my, why are you doing this all of a sudden..."
"Hmph! Shut up! We came here knowing this snack bar boasts a 40-year-old secret sauce and pulls in 1 billion won in annual sales!"
"Plus, we got intel that you don't put your earnings in the bank but hoard them in a safe! Hehehe!"
Thanks to the robbers being overly generous with their TMI, I was fully convinced of why this small shop had been targeted.
But today, they were truly, horribly unlucky.
Because sitting right here was a hero currently active in the United States, the "home of heroes."
Ms. Baek Seungha.
In this world, being a hero from the U.S. meant that your level was different just by existing.
I turned back to her with a face full of expectation.
However.
"Hehehehe..."
"...?"
Ms. Baek Seungha was laughing strangely, with an expression that looked more villainous than the villains behind her.
"Those are the kind of creatures villains are. They’ll stop at nothing if it’s for the sake of their evil deeds."
Ms. Baek Seungha shook her head and spoke with a serious face.
"Villains are always like that. A single bullet will pierce your gut, and a knife is just... used like a ladle to scoop out your innards. But... the truly scary ones are different. The worst villains are the ones who mess with men. Those guys will make a man spend his whole life in diapers just by making eye contact."
Her voice was strangely calm, which made it feel even more surreal and terrifying.
But at the same time, it was also strange.
She was a hero from the U.S.
She should be a skilled fighter capable of handling armed robbers with ease, so why was she just sitting there and only explaining things?
Moreover, the current situation was just too exquisite.
The timing of the robbers' appearance, Ms. Baek Seungha’s lines, and even the look in her eyes as she strangely stood by and watched the situation.
'Could it be... is this a test?'
Suddenly, that thought flashed through my mind.
The fact that Ms. Baek Seungha wasn't stepping in directly in such a perfectly staged situation and was instead "just watching" meant, in other words, that she was observing me.
Don't tell me... did she even rent out this entire snack bar?!
My head nodded on its own.
The time had finally come.
'As expected, a hero from the U.S. is in a different class... Testing me like a movie!'
A scenario designed to test whether I would run away or fight in a situation that suddenly broke out late at night, catching me off guard.
Those villains were undoubtedly all hired stunt actors.
...Of course, it wouldn't have mattered even if they were real robbers. I had already decided to become a hero.
So, I pressed my lips together and rose from my seat.
"I'll be right back."
"...Where to?"
Ms. Baek Seungha looked genuinely dumbfounded.
She was acting so well that it was so realistic I was getting confused.
As expected of a hero from the U.S., home of Hollywood... her acting skills were also on another level.
That surprised expression, the flustered mouth, and even the trembling of her pupils—there wasn't a single flaw.
"I'll do a good job."
"Do what...?"
'Her expression until the very end is truly art... A pro is definitely different.'
With that, I began to advance toward the masked robbers who were trying to loot the snack bar's safe.