First Time Seeing a Man Taller Than Me
That night, Yoon Arin couldn't sleep.
She had been lying in bed staring at the ceiling for hours.
Every time she closed her eyes, that scene kept replaying in her mind.
The fist that shattered her guard and came crashing in.
The impact that slammed into her jaw. And the unfamiliar sensation of her knee touching the canvas.
She lost. For the first time.
Whether above ground or underground, Yoon Arin had knocked out everyone she faced.
She believed she was the strongest in the world, and she actually was.
After all, she was the undefeated champion who had never lost a single official match.
But she lost. To a man she had never seen before.
"……I'm so frustrated."
She muttered through gritted teeth. She should have been frustrated. Her undefeated record had finally taken a hit.
Yet something felt off.
"……Why doesn't it feel bad?"
She couldn't understand it. She had lost. The record she had been so proud of was broken.
She was frustrated, but somewhere beneath that frustration lay a strange heat she had never felt before.
And at the center of that heat was that man.
A man taller than her.
A breathtakingly handsome face.
Shoulders as broad as a door, and that grin he wore even while covered in blood.
"……I've never seen a man taller than me before."
Yoon Arin mumbled without thinking. Then she flinched at her own words, her face flushing hot.
What was she thinking? A fighter, reminiscing about her opponent.
She pulled the blanket over her head.
It didn't help.
Whether her eyes were open or closed, that face kept appearing.
She tossed and turned meaninglessly on the bed. After a while, Yoon Arin suddenly sat up.
"……This won't do. I need to call him."
Her hand moved on its own.
She found the contact information of the man she had lost to and pressed the call button.
After a few rings, he answered.
"……Hello?"
The moment she heard that voice, her heart dropped.
Yoon Arin, unlike herself, stammered.
"I-it's me. From today…… the one who fought you."
『……Who is this?』
"……."
For a moment, her mind went blank.
Who? Who was he asking about?
He didn't even remember the person he had fought so fiercely with today, the one he had devoured like an animal?
Yoon Arin bit her lip in disappointment.
She was the undefeated champion, after all.
Among people who knew anything about fighting, there wasn't a single person who didn't know her face.
"……It's me. Yoon Arin…… If I say I'm the opponent you devoured on the ring, will that ring a bell……"
『──Ah』
From the other end of the line came a voice that finally seemed to recognize her.
『So it was you.』
"……."
That indifferent response brought another wave of disappointment.
But then—
『……Yoon Arin. Hmm, that really is a nice name.』
With those words, Yoon Arin's heart inexplicably softened again.
A nice name. She couldn't believe how much those words affected her, and she quickly suppressed the smile trying to form on her lips.
This really wasn't like her. Not at all, not for the entire day.
Just then, the man on the other end spoke first.
『……Actually, I was』
"……?"
『I was thinking about you too. ……I was just about to call you.』
At those words—
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Her heart began to race on its own.
『So, about that』
The man paused for a moment before asking.
『……Want to meet up separately sometime?』
"……S-sure, let's do that."
She barely managed to get those words out. She could feel her voice trembling.
『Then…… how about tomorrow?』
"T-tomorrow?"
Was that too soon? No, what did it matter if it was soon? It was better that way. Yoon Arin licked her lips and answered, trying to sound casual.
"……Time's fine. I don't have anything going on anyway."
It was a lie. Tomorrow was supposed to be her training day at the gym.
Yet the words had slipped out so naturally.
She had just casually discarded training she had never missed a single day of in her life.
『Then let's meet tomorrow. I'll text you the location.』
"……Yeah. Got it."
Just before hanging up, Yoon Arin spoke without thinking.
"……Hey."
『Yeah?』
"……Today, um…… have a good night."
Even after saying it, she felt how awkward her words were and her ears turned red.
"Have a good night," she said.
As if they hadn't already parted ways.
As if they were anything more than two people who had met for the first time that morning in the underground arena and exchanged a few punches.
What was she even saying to someone like that?
'……Why am I really like this?'
She couldn't understand herself at all.
But the man didn't seem to find it strange and just chuckled briefly.
『Yeah. Sleep well.』
Click.
The call ended.
Yoon Arin stared blankly at her phone for a long time after the call disconnected. Only after the screen went dark did she finally come to her senses.
"What should I wear tomorrow?"
She jumped out of bed and stood in front of her closet, naturally wondering what to wear the next day.
Then Yoon Arin realized what she was doing.
'Clothes? I'm worrying about clothes right now?'
She had never cared about anything except fighting her entire life.
Makeup, outfits, the excitement of meeting someone—she had always thought those things were for other people.
But now, standing in front of the mirror picking out clothes, her heart was pounding like it might burst.
"……Am I going crazy?"
She placed her hand on her chest.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Her heart was racing like mad, something it had never done before.
Not even when she had been fighting for her life in the ring.
Yoon Arin stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror.
Flushed cheeks. Eyes shaking with uncertainty.
It was a face she had never seen before.
And only then did she vaguely understand the nature of this unfamiliar heat.
'……Ah.'
The fact that losing didn't feel bad.
The fact that his face kept appearing in her mind.
The fact that a single comment about her name being nice had softened her heart.
It was all connected.
For the first time in her life, Yoon Arin was facing something she had never experienced before.
It was…… love.
/ / / / /
How did I end up falling into the erotic fighting game I was playing?
I sighed and looked at the mirror in front of me.
The reflection staring back was still the same 189cm giant with door-like shoulders—the human weapon, Kang Hyunwoo.
But the moment I stepped outside, I had to clutch my forehead at the dissonance of this world.
Every man on the street looked frail.
Men walking while holding parasols, carrying makeup pouches, and constantly checking women's reactions.
Guys who looked barely half my height yelped "Eek!" when they saw me and quickly moved out of the way.
"……A gender-reversed world, as expected."
It had been frustrating enough to watch in the game, but seeing it in person was something else.
'……Don't these guys in this world need some human rights?'
I felt like I might cry for no reason.
A world where men were treated like this just for being men.
'What the hell…… Where did men's rights go?'
As an octagon champion, I was on the verge of tears.
Just as I was half-jokingly wondering if I should give these men some physical education on behalf of all the guys in this world—
"Oh my, look at that man……"
"Is he crazy? Is he a model? No, even models don't have that kind of build."
"Wow, look at those muscles…… If you hugged that chest, wouldn't your bones break?"
The gazes of the women around me pierced into me sharply.
Every time I heard their whispers, goosebumps rose on my skin.
It was like the eyes of starving wolves looking at a delicious piece of meat.
'……Ah, this is a bit troublesome.'
Just as some of the more aggressive-looking women started approaching me—
A soft, warm sensation wrapped around my forearm.
At the same time, the greedy stares directed at me froze instantly, as if cold water had been poured over them.
"……Don't touch him. He's mine."
A low but sharp warning. At those words, the women flinched and quietly backed away.
When I turned my head, the blood-covered monster from yesterday was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a woman so radiant she was almost blinding stood there.
"……Yoon Arin?"
I stared at her blankly without realizing it.
A bright white dress with a cardigan draped over her shoulders.
Her blonde hair let down naturally—she looked like a beautiful girl, pure and simple.
Her unrealistically stunning appearance seemed more suited for a sunny café terrace than a brutal fighting arena.
Even among gamers, Yoon Arin's casual outfit had never been officially revealed—a legendary data point with a 0% clear rate. That made sense, but the woman standing before me was more vivid than any character in the game.
"Um, did you…… sleep well last night?"
Yoon Arin asked in a small, shrinking voice, her head bowed low.
The fierce momentum she had shown yesterday when she wrapped her arms around my neck like a beast and kissed me was gone. Now she couldn't even meet my eyes and was just fidgeting with her fingers.
"Huh? Uh, yeah…… Well, the bed was nice."
I answered awkwardly, scratching the back of my head.
The heated memory from the canvas yesterday came rushing back, making my face burn.
Should I be honest or not? After a brief moment of hesitation, I decided to just tell the truth.
"……No. Actually, I couldn't sleep well."
"……Huh?"
"……I kept thinking about you. Yesterday's events kept coming back to me. ……So I couldn't get a wink of sleep."
It was something I had said without much thought. But at those words, Yoon Arin's face instantly turned as red as a ripe apple.
"……."
Yoon Arin couldn't say anything and just lowered her head even more.
Her ears were visibly flushed red.
The battle maniac who had bled and laughed on the ring yesterday was gone. After staying like that for a while, she mumbled in a shrinking voice.
"……Me too."
"Yeah?"
"……I couldn't sleep either. Because of you."
Embarrassed after saying it, Yoon Arin quickly turned her head away. Even her profile was bright red.
"……Idiot."
That single word she added didn't sound like an insult somehow.
"……."
"……."
We were both too embarrassed to speak and just stared at our shoes when the women's gazes around us grew even more blatant.
"……Hey, did you see that guy? How tall is he even?"
"And his face, why does it have to look like that? I've never seen a man like that in this neighborhood."
"Yoon Arin's guy? No way…… Still, I could at least try talking to him once, right?"
"Right. A man like that, you might only see once in a lifetime……"
The women who had supposedly backed off were still lingering at a distance, murmuring with lingering regret.
Well, I could understand.
In this world, all men were short and weak, and then someone like me was standing right there. It was enough to make anyone's eyes spin.
Not to brag, but by this world's standards, I was the ultimate alpha male that no one had ever seen before.
Yoon Arin seemed to notice the stares too. She frowned in annoyance and grabbed my large hand.
"Hey, Hyunwoo……"
"Yeah?"
"There's…… a nice café nearby. Want to go there? We…… still have more to talk about……"
"C-café? Well…… that doesn't sound bad. Let's go."
I nodded, even stumbling over my words.
Pink atmosphere in the life of octagon champion Kang Hyunwoo.
My heart was pounding harder than when I landed a counter on an opponent inside the octagon.
Yoon Arin held my hand tightly and started leading me forward.
Yesterday we had been beating each other like we wanted to kill one another and indulging in each other's bodies one-sidedly, but in this moment, we looked like the most awkward novice couple in the world.
'Is this…… the after story of that damn game I knew?'
I thought as I watched Yoon Arin's small back leading me.
Maybe falling into this world wasn't the worst thing that could have happened.
Of course, that was until we entered the café and the female employee taking orders saw me and got a nosebleed.
"W-welcome…… Huh."
The moment our eyes met, the employee's words cut off. Then bright red blood began to trickle from her nose.
"W-would you like to order……?"
Even while blood was dripping from her nose, the employee tried her best to take our order.
Plugging her nose with one hand and holding out the menu with the other—her professionalism was almost pitiful.
But her gaze never left my face for a second.
"……You should wipe your nose first."
"I-it's fine……!"
She didn't look fine at all, but I couldn't bring myself to say more.
At the sight, Yoon Arin's brow twitched again. She pulled my arm firmly toward her, clearly displeased.
"This world…… really doesn't feel real."
I gave a bitter smile and adjusted my grip on Yoon Arin's hand.