Settling In with the Sisters and My First Superpower
After scarfing down some junk food from Gender Reversal Hero Live, I made a bed on the living room sofa and lay down, opening the guidebook. The super fluffy cushion felt way better than the mattress in my old studio apartment back home.
[You are currently traveling in the world of Gender Reversal Hero Live.]
[Tester's location coordinates: xx.xxxx......]
'Oh, this is more useful than I expected.'
Not only coordinates, but a simple map popped up next to them, which surprised me a bit. I'd heard you could check it out once you arrived at your destination, but I guess it had a map function after all.
'But is this it for the map? If so, it should be called a map, not a guidebook. Shouldn't a guidebook introduce famous spots or souvenirs or something?'
I pondered that for a moment, and then the guidebook updated.
[The guidebook provides guidance on matters unknown to the tester, based on the original work's knowledge.]
[Use of the guidebook is entirely up to the tester's discretion.]
[The tester's coordinates correspond to the residence of characters Lee Hye-ri and Lee Yoo-ri.]
[Lee Hye-ri and Lee Yoo-ri are characters who support the hero in the original work. They awaken one month from now at the current point in time, though the awakening timing may change based on the tester's intervention.]
[The meteorite stored in the tester's inventory can accelerate their awakening.]
[Upon the tester's awakening, the superpower registers as a souvenir, and it can be brought back by paying mileage.]
Text suddenly poured out in a rush. It almost looked like it was protesting, 'That's because you don't know how to use it properly.'
'The final evaluation last time was like that too. Is this not just a script— is someone actually responding directly?'
It felt like chatting with a customer service rep that could read my mind.
'More useful than I thought. Separate from the shady attitude, it's basically an all-purpose search engine. This'll be a huge help.'
I figured I'd use it a lot whenever I hit a snag during my travels.
'Anyway, looks like I can get superpowers after all.'
To use it in the real world, I'd need mileage, but I'd figure that out somehow. Knowing I could actually become a superpowered person made a grin creep onto my face unbidden.
So, I'd take out the meteorite after visiting the police station tomorrow, then hit the hay.
"It seems like you're an unregistered resident."
"Unregistered?"
"Yes. No matches on fingerprints or name."
Lee Hye-ri's face twisted in shock at the officer's response. An unregistered person in modern society? Hard to believe, but the facts were the facts. These cases weren't entirely unheard of anyway.
After that, the three of us chatted about all sorts of things for nearly two hours— where we'd met, my name, if I'd been abused, and so on.
"We might find a match in our database, so we'll just extract some DNA info additionally and wrap this up."
The officer meant they'd cross-check against their records of criminals or victims, just in case. Once the procedures were done, the officer asked the big question.
"While we investigate Min-ho's situation, you'll need a place to stay..."
She glanced at my hand gripping Hye-ri nuna's and continued.
"Normally, we'd send you to a protection facility, but if the person involved and guardian agree, and you get periodic check-ins from an observer, you can stay with the guardian."
I squeezed tighter.
"......Please let me do that."
Hye-ri nuna hesitated a moment, but when I gripped harder and looked up at her, she finally decided to take me in. Good thing I'd thrown a fit when we first met and crashed there.
From there, things moved fast. We signed the extra paperwork in a flash, got the warnings, and stepped out around noon.
"Shall we head back?"
"Yeah, Hye-ri nuna."
Back home, I heard movement inside.
"Sis is back?"
"Yeah."
Lee Hye-ri's little sister, Lee Yoo-ri, whom I hadn't met yesterday since she'd been asleep. Same green eyes as her sister, but her hair was dyed blue instead of black. She was still in her sleep clothes— T-shirt and dolphin pants. She glanced our way in her comfy outfit.
"This the kid?"
"Yeah. We're protecting him here for a while."
"Oh?"
"Hi. I'm Min-ho."
Hye-ri nuna must've texted her the situation on her smartphone beforehand, since she didn't say much, but she couldn't hide her awkward expression. Her family had suddenly gotten bigger out of nowhere.
"I'm Yoo-ri."
Lee Yoo-ri said.
"Whatever. Just don't sneak into my room or touch my stuff without permission, and I'm fine."
Her tone had a bit of a prickly edge. But coming from such a beauty, it sounded kinda nice.
"Guess I'll head to my lecture then."
"Have a good one."
With that, Yoo-ri showed her face briefly and left. Hye-ri nuna turned to me.
"I gotta head to work too. I barely squeezed out this morning... You'll be home alone till Yoo-ri gets back— you okay with that?"
"Yeah, no problem."
"Tomorrow's a two-day holiday, so let's go shopping for stuff you need. Living with two girls means we probably don't have a lot of guy things."
"Thanks."
Personally, just a place to crash was fine, but being a guy, I was getting all sorts of consideration. Never had this back home— felt fresh and thrilling.
"Alright, I'm off. Grab whatever from the fridge or shelves if you get hungry."
"See you later."
Once both sisters left, silence filled the empty space. Finally, some alone time.
I reached straight into my inventory and pulled out the meteorite.
"Hot hot hot!"
It was still scorching like I'd just picked it up, so I tossed it back in like a hot potato.
'Still burning like fresh out the crater.'
Looks like items in the inventory stayed in the state they'd been put in. To leave it out, I'd have to cool it first.
I went to the bathroom, filled the tub with cold water, and dropped the meteorite straight from inventory.
Splash! Sizzle—
Steam billowed as it cooled. After a few minutes, only a lukewarm black rock remained.
I fished it out, held it up, and opened the guidebook.
'How do I use this to get superpowers?'
[This meteorite emits a specific energy wavelength.]
[If the tester maintains contact with the meteorite as now, superpowers will awaken in 5 hours, 13 minutes, and 2 seconds.]
[After awakening, the meteorite will lose most of its energy.]
'One-use deal, huh. Whatever.'
Even drained, sticking it in the yard could still trigger the sisters' awakenings. They awakened without one in the original anyway.
I tucked the meteorite under my arm and left the bathroom. After that, nothing much happened.
I poked around the house, snacked from the kitchen, and when I ran out of things to do, pulled out my smartphone from inventory— but with no saved stuff to watch, I put it back quick.
Instead, I turned on the living room TV. A movie was on, full of explosions and crashes— perfect for killing time.
As the movie ended, something felt off. Heat was building in my body, like a cold coming on— stuffy nose, rising eye pressure.
But unlike a cold, it hit all at once in seconds. I'd been fine moments ago, now I felt flu-ridden.
'What the hell? Why's my body acting up?'
Awakening time was near, but instead of powers, it felt like I'd caught some disease, so I opened the guidebook.
[The tester's body is currently adapting to the awakened superpower. It is recommended to remain in a safe location.]
The moment I read that, I pulled up the menu and checked [Souvenirs]. Sure enough, the first item was there.
"Heh heh... ha ha ha ha!"
Seeing it made me burst out laughing, even as my head felt like it might split open. I'd finally gotten my first superpower.
High-speed thinking. Probably made my thought processes way faster.
But separate from the joy, it didn't seem that impressive. I wasn't dreaming of Superman, but I'd hoped for fire from my hands or invisibility at least.
'Kinda disappointing, but first trip and all.'
I decided to call it an average hit.
Even so, the headache showed no sign of stopping. Cold sweat drenched me, clothes sticking uncomfortably.
If the sisters came back like this, I'd reek, so I rushed to the bathroom for a shower.
Even mid-wash, my mind grew foggy, and I sensed danger. Could you die awakening powers?
'This feels bad... like I'm screwed...'
Under the pouring water, I blacked out.