The Butt Awakener's First Humiliation
I am a butt awakener. Everything that happened yesterday had swept through my once ordinary life like a storm. I struggled to organize the dizzying swirl of thoughts in my head. The nationally certified S-class judgment. The student council president's recruitment offer, coming from someone with an extraordinary aura. And even Lee Chaeyeon, the girl of lightning who had saved me in that alley on the way home from school. But among all these unreal events, the one thing I still couldn't believe was the existence of Jinny—the golden-haired beautiful spirit girl now residing inside my butt.
'Is... is this really okay for me?'
Hidden beneath the flashy shell of being S-class was the rather embarrassing truth of being a butt awakener. What if this fact spread throughout the entire school? Yeah. I'd definitely get teased mercilessly. Just imagining it made every hair on my body stand on end. The expectations placed on me as Gaon High's top freshman would instantly turn into ridicule, and my brilliant high school life would meet its end before it even began.
Still, when I remembered that horrifying moment yesterday when I had nearly been devoured by a residue, the thought of survival taking priority over embarrassment did cross my mind.
Using Jinny's grumbling from inside my butt as a lullaby, I finally managed to close my eyes. All while sensing that tomorrow would be an even more difficult day than today.
The next morning, the classroom at Gaon Special Abilities High was already filled with the heated energy of youths welcoming a new semester. Today was the day we would elect the class president and vice president. With students of such varied personalities and abilities gathered together, a subtle tension hung in the air.
"Alright, today we're holding the class president election! Any candidates who want to be our class leader?"
The moment our homeroom teacher spoke, every student's gaze turned to one spot as if on cue. Straight at me.
"Teacher! Obviously it has to be Gangjin, our top freshman, right?"
The cheerful Deokgu slapped his desk and started hyping me up.
"An S-class should be president if we want Class 1 to have any real prestige!"
"Exactly! He's one of the top five S-class awakeners in the entire first year!"
Starting with Deokgu's shout, a chorus of agreeing voices exploded from my classmates.
"W-wait, I... I don't..."
I waved my hands trying to refuse, but their eyes were filled with the clear desire to secure the reassuring title of "S-class President." In the end, with an overwhelming number of votes, I became the class president of first-year Class 1.
"Then what about the vice president?"
Our homeroom teacher scanned the room, looking for potential candidates. But no one raised their hand right away. They might have wanted an S-class president, but standing next to one and being constantly compared was apparently too much pressure.
"I'll... I'll do it for vice president."
The student who quietly raised her hand was a girl with a plain appearance and round glasses. Her name was Jang Bora. She seemed like a calm and somewhat introverted friend. Since no other candidates stepped forward, Bora naturally became vice president by default.
And so, the class leadership of S-class President Baek Gangjin and A-class Vice President Jang Bora was born—an outwardly perfect elite combination.
After school, we began our first official duty as class officers: surveying the awakened abilities of every student in our class.
"Good work, Gangjin."
I had gone around to every classmate to fill out their information, and Bora had delivered the completed documents to the teachers in the staff room. The task wrapped up cleanly.
"You too! See you tomorrow, Bora."
I parted ways with her and walked with heavy steps toward the neighboring Class 2. I had wanted to chat about this and that while working with the vice president, but Bora's introverted nature made it hard to strike up conversation. Since I was also quite shy, the silence that had lingered throughout our work felt a little awkward. Still, we had managed some small talk, so maybe next time we could have a more natural conversation? I had planted the seeds of friendship, at least.
I pulled out the business card I had received yesterday from my pocket.
Jungshim Taekwondo Dojo
The terrifying events of yesterday—when I had nearly been eaten by a residue—flashed through my mind.
"...Alright."
I couldn't keep putting this off forever. As an S-class awakener, I needed to learn how to handle the mana that had been granted to me.
When I arrived in front of Class 2, the classroom was already noisy. It looked like they had finished dividing up cleaning duties. Peeking through the door crack, I saw that Chaeyeon must have been elected president—she was giving instructions to the students. With her natural charisma, she had the entire class wrapped around her finger in an instant.
"Oh, you're here? Perfect timing."
Just as she said, the cleaning for Class 2 was almost finished.
"Everyone, put away the cleaning supplies and head home."
She gave the dismissal order, grabbed her bag, and came outside.
We walked toward an old shopping building in the rundown old city district, far from the flashy neon signs of the new town behind the school.
"Where are we going?"
"Jungshim Taekwondo Dojo—the place on the card I gave you yesterday. It's my dad's dojo."
Chaeyeon glanced at me before continuing.
"From what I saw yesterday, you have zero control over your mana. If we leave you like this, you'll just attract more residues."
She was right. Even though I was an S-class awakener, I still couldn't control my ability or my awakened body part at all. When I thought about it, that was only natural. How could I control something I had no idea how to use? I had lived seventeen years without any power, and now that it had finally manifested, I was no different from a baby taking its first steps as an awakener.
"My dad is pretty much an expert in that area."
I nodded at Chaeyeon's words. It felt like I was on my way to meet someone who could awaken my latent potential.
"We're here. This is it."
The place we arrived at was Jungshim Taekwondo, filled with the smell of worn punching bags and the heat of hot sweat. As I creaked open the door and stepped inside—
"Haaap!"
A middle-aged man was throwing a powerful straight punch with a heavy shout. Every time his fist cut through the air, the sound of wind and vibration echoed throughout the entire basement space. This must be the director Chaeyeon had mentioned. And he was also her father.
"Oh, Chaeyeon! You brought a guest?"
The man approached while wiping the sweat from his neck with a towel. Director Lee Cheolsu had a bushy beard and tanned skin. The moment he saw me, he scanned my entire body—especially the area around my lower half—like a predator sizing up its prey. Even though it was our first meeting, the overwhelming pressure I felt made me swallow hard.
"So you're Baek Gangjin... right? I heard about you from Chaeyeon."
The uncle offered me a handshake with a bright smile.
"I hear you're Gaon's top freshman? Nice to meet you."
It was a moment that made me realize how far the rumors about me had already spread.
"Hello. Chaeyeon told me to come here once I learned about my ability."
I glanced at Chaeyeon standing beside me. She gave a small nod.
"You came to the right place! I think I can help regulate the flow of your mana."
The uncle let out a hearty laugh and continued.
"The basics of awakener training is achieving perfect harmony between your awakened body part and your ability... So tell me, Gangjin. Exactly which part of your body awakened?"
"Well... um... that is... Ah, it's still a bit..."
Here it came. The part I had been dreading most. And the inevitable trial I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid if I was going to train my ability. I stammered, dropping my gaze to the floor.
Chaeyeon, who had been watching from the side, crossed her arms and spoke calmly.
"Baek Gangjin. You remember getting chased by that residue yesterday, right?"
She walked past me lightly and stood beside her father.
"Your ability is currently completely out of control."
Then she stepped a little closer, looked me in the face, and said,
"My dad can't help regulate your mana flow or guide your energy unless he knows which part awakened."
Her face was so close that I started to feel embarrassed.
"Hiding your ability might be a strategy, but if you can't even do basic training, there's no point in coming here."
The uncle chimed in with a kind but firm tone.
"Gangjin. Your awakened body part is a fate granted by the heavens. There's no need to be ashamed of it."
He tried to comfort me as he continued persuading.
"Whether it's the eyes or the heart, every part has its own purpose."
That was true, but... my awakened part was my butt, and there was a girl my own age standing right next to me.
"You possess an enormous amount of S-class mana concentrated in one place. If you don't tell us where it is, you'll be controlled by that power for the rest of your life."
Their sincere persuasion left me feeling cornered. What weighed on me more than ridicule was their genuine concern. If I didn't reveal my awakened part here, forget training—I might get my butt torn off by some nameless residue again tomorrow. The fear hit me hard.
I squeezed my eyes shut. My face had already turned as red as lava right before a volcanic eruption.
Ha. No way around it.
"...My butt."
"Hm? What was that?"
The uncle leaned his ear closer. I squeezed out a tiny voice and shouted.
I didn't care anymore.
"I said my butt! My awakened body part is my butt!"
For a moment, silence fell over the dojo. Chaeyeon's eyebrows twitched upward slightly, and a flash of bewilderment crossed the uncle's eyes. But the ridicule I had feared never came.
"...The butt, huh."
The uncle stroked his beard, falling into serious thought.
"That's certainly an unexpected part..."
He closed his eyes, seeming to ponder deeply.
"As a martial artist, I'd say the butt—the center of the lower body—is the part capable of generating the greatest power in the human body."
The butt characteristics discussion session had begun again. My dad used to say the same thing.
"In fact, there might be no better vessel for containing the massive mana of an S-class."
Chaeyeon looked a little flustered too, but she suppressed it and added calmly,
"The density of the mana I saw from you yesterday was definitely..."
An indescribable awkwardness flowed between us, and she glanced at me again.
"Now it makes sense. So what about your ability? What kind of power manifested?"
The water had already been spilled. I realized I couldn't avoid explaining about Jinny inside my butt either.
"My ability... I discovered it by accident while showering yesterday..."
There was no avoiding the unavoidable... but that didn't make the embarrassment any easier to bear.
"Should I... show you?"
The uncle gave a firm, strong nod.
"Yes. I need to see the real thing to decide on a training direction."
I let out a deep sigh and walked to the center of the dojo. Chaeyeon and Cheolsu continued watching me with heavy gazes. It was incredibly embarrassing, but I decided to recreate the method I had used to awaken Jinny yesterday.
I spread my legs slightly into a horse stance, clenched my butt tightly, and began rubbing it over my school uniform pants.
Swish, swish.
The sight of me earnestly rubbing my own butt with both hands made Chaeyeon's brow twitch faintly. Eventually she turned her head slightly to the side and muttered under her breath.
"...This is a bit awkward."
The uncle watched me rub my butt with a completely serious expression.
"Hmm, it seems direct contact is the medium."
The more my hands moved, the more mysterious mana smoke began rising around my lower body. With a soft hiss—! Just like in the bathroom, fluffy, fragrant flower-scented smoke filled the floor of the dojo. And soon, from within that smoke, a girl with dazzling golden hair rose up.
"Ow, rub me more gently! You're gonna peel my skin off!"
Jinny floated in the air, stretching as she appeared. The moment her presence revealed itself, the flow of air inside the dojo completely changed. Jinny glanced around, spotting the uncle with his mouth wide open and Chaeyeon whose ears had turned red.
"Oh? We've got an audience? Hello there, bearded muscle uncle!"
She also greeted Chaeyeon, who was looking away.
"And there's the lightning girl too? I heard you became class president? Congratulations!"
Despite Jinny's bright and cheerful appearance, the overwhelming mana waves unique to a spirit swirled through the dojo.
"I'm Jinny, the lamp fairy living inside this guy's butt!"
Me standing there rubbing my butt, the golden-haired beautiful spirit girl, and the uncle and Chaeyeon staring at Jinny with eyes full of awe. With this extraordinary spirit's descent, my turbulent butt training had begun in spectacular fashion.