Am I That Valuable?
Was I really worth that much? Peaceful times passed by far too quickly. And in a world where the gender ratio had collapsed this badly, living as a man meant that so-called peace vanished even faster.
It had been roughly a week since the start of my second year. Surprisingly, I was adapting to an ordinary university life better than expected. I ran into Professor Na Hayeong again during the first Hunter Trauma Studies class, and I was relearning this world’s medicine through subjects like Hunter Physiology and Dungeon Infection Studies.
Occasionally Sora would drop by as well. She taught me things you couldn’t learn in lectures—the atmosphere of hunter society, the unspoken rules between guilds, how hunters actually got injured and endured it in the field. All useful knowledge for someone aiming to become a hunter surgeon.
Time flowed on in what looked like peace until one particular day. I had finished my morning classes and was heading home around lunchtime when I had to stop in front of the university’s main gate.
“Nice to meet you, Seo Jihou.”
“...Reproductive Agency?”
The white uniform alone was enough to identify her affiliation. The woman standing before me had sharply groomed hair that revealed cold, piercing eyes. She wore a smile, but it contained no warmth that treated a person as a person.
“Yes. I am Kwon Doyeon, Deputy Director of the Korean Branch of the International Reproductive Resource Management Agency.”
Behind her stood a line of Agency employees in identical white uniforms. It resembled a small army. No—honestly, it felt worse than an army. At least soldiers didn’t pretend they weren’t military force.
“Are you here to pressure me into registering again?”
“You’ve avoided our contact for far too long, Seo Jihou.” Kwon Doyeon smiled softly. “We had no choice but to come speak with you in person.”
Her smile was polite. But it was only surface-level courtesy. Still, after more than twenty years of experience in this world, did she really think I wouldn’t see through the situation? Any ordinary man from this gender-reversed world would have already shrunk back in fear at the sight of so many white uniforms swarming him. They would have been overwhelmed by the atmosphere, swayed by the words, and ultimately forced to sign the documents.
So I did the exact opposite.
I walked straight past Kwon Doyeon without answering.
“Huh? H-hey!”
The simplest way to show I wasn’t intimidated was to ignore them completely.
Looks like they boost their performance numbers by scaring men like this every day.
But I didn’t make it more than a few steps.
Step. Step step.
The white uniforms moved instantly. On the pavement in front of the main gate, Agency staff formed a semicircle around me.
“We’re still in the middle of a conversation, Seo Jihou.”
When I turned at the voice behind me, Kwon Doyeon was standing in front again. This time she wasn’t smiling. The corners of her mouth remained lifted, but her eyes had hardened noticeably.
“What conversation? I have nothing to say to you.”
“We have plenty to discuss. And first, you will come with us.”
“Why should I go anywhere with you people?”
“The Director wishes to meet you personally, Seo Jihou.”
The Director… that would be Seomun Hui, the woman who had tried to pull strings against me at the Baekho Guild. If she wanted to see me, she could come herself. Why send someone as high-ranking as the deputy director to pull this kind of stunt?
After thinking for a moment, I quickly realized the reason.
A chuckle slipped out.
“...Did you just laugh?”
“Ah, excuse me.” I couldn’t help it. “I suppose the Agency must be in complete chaos right now. My condolences on all the hard work.”
“!!”
The Agency had crossed the line not long ago—quite aggressively. The international organization that justified its existence with male protection and the continuation of humanity had interfered in the merger of Korean hunter guilds. Thanks to that, simply turning on my phone brought an endless stream of news about the Korean Reproductive Agency and YouTubers’ stitched-together propaganda videos. Headquarters had to be suffering a massive headache.
“If she has business with me, tell her to come herself,” I said, staring directly at Kwon Doyeon. “And if you ever surround me like this again to intimidate me, I’ll report you immediately.”
A murmur rippled through the Agency staff. They were probably only used to dealing with men who bowed their heads the moment they were blocked. My reaction must have been a fresh shock.
But then—
Clap!
A single handclap cut through the air. Just that short gesture from Kwon Doyeon silenced everyone.
“My, my… I heard you were an S-class male resource, so I tried to treat you with the utmost respect.”
“Respect? No matter how politely you phrase it, the end result is still being dragged away and turned into a management target, isn’t it?”
“Watch your tongue, Seo Jihou.”
She scanned me from head to toe. “Management by the Reproductive Agency is an international obligation for the continuation of humanity. When an outstanding specimen like yourself acts uncooperatively, it is not a simple personal choice. It is a social loss, and in some cases, it borders on crime.”
“Crime? For refusing to be dragged off by you?”
“Yes. Intelligence, physical ability, reproductive function, hormone levels, genetic stability… Honestly, you are not a man who should be left to run wild in the wild.”
It felt disgusting. Those were not the eyes of someone looking at a person. They were the eyes of someone reading a report card, a test result, a grade sheet. Kwon Doyeon wasn’t seeing me—she was reading the numbers attached to my body.
“So you expect me to follow you quietly?”
“If possible.”
“And if not?”
She snapped her fingers as though she had been waiting for exactly those words.
By the authority of Kwon Doyeon, Deputy Director of the Korean Branch of the International Reproductive Resource Management Agency, this area is hereby designated as a Male Resource Emergency Preservation Zone effective immediately.
“...What?”
The moment the words Male Resource Emergency Preservation Zone left her mouth, a chill ran down my spine. It was an emergency authority that could only be invoked by at least a branch director or equivalent deputy director within the Agency. The justification was simple: in cases where there was serious concern regarding damage, concealment, seizure of male resources, or major disruption in securing reproductive cells within a specific area, the Agency could temporarily control the zone and enforce identity verification, movement restrictions, protective isolation, and emergency examinations on all males inside it.
But—
“You can’t just declare a Male Resource Emergency Preservation Zone on the spot like that.”
Men were precious in this world. Precious meant protected, but it also meant they could not be touched recklessly. The Emergency Preservation Zone directly restricted a man’s movement and bodily freedom. In principle, it required prior review, consultation with state agencies, and approval from the Ministry of Male Family Affairs. It was a card even the Agency’s president could not pull out freely. Yet a mere deputy director of a single branch had invoked it without authorization, and Kwon Doyeon remained perfectly composed.
“Hehe. So what?”
“...What?”
“It is an emergency, therefore it is an emergency preservation zone.” She took one step closer. “Of course there will be repercussions. The Ministry of Male Family Affairs will throw a fit. The Korean government will protest. The media will make another fuss.”
“You’re doing this even though you know that?”
“The Director said it herself.”
And then the words that followed:
“A man of Seo Jihou’s caliber makes the backlash worth enduring for the Reproductive Agency.”
“...!”
“Three days.” She held up three fingers. “For the three days the Emergency Preservation Zone remains in effect, you, Seo Jihou, will undergo movement restrictions, physical examinations, genetic sample collection, and compatibility assessment according to the Agency’s protection procedures.”
Her tone remained polite. The content, however, was repulsive. Protection procedures. Physical examinations. Sample collection. Compatibility assessment. These women were kidnapping someone yet insisted on wrapping everything in bureaucratic language until the bitter end.
These bastards… Are they actually serious?
They had already caused an uproar by meddling in hunter society, and now they were arbitrarily declaring an Emergency Preservation Zone on top of it? All to obtain me, even if it meant suffering that much backlash?
Am I really worth that much?
I thought about the men of this world. Protected like rare species, they were generally weak, dependent, or severely lacking in social experience. As a result, they lived on state support until adulthood, then entered the Agency’s management system as a matter of course. Put nicely, it was protection. Put bluntly, it was a lifetime of being tamed.
A man with medical-school-level intellect, whose hobby was physical training, and who could hold a normal conversation. On top of that, someone who had awakened as a hunter—something the Agency still didn’t know about.
…
I didn’t want to admit it, but I could somewhat understand why they were acting this way.
“Did you know, Jihou? Men adapt to their environment surprisingly quickly. They all resist at first. But once management begins, they change.”
Kwon Doyeon drew even closer. “After being examined, recorded, classified, and left with only the minimum necessary freedom… they eventually accept where they belong.”
“Fuck. Come any closer and I’m calling the Ministry of Male Family Affairs.”
I clenched my teeth. But—
“Hoho. Go right ahead.” She remained utterly calm. “The moment you pull out your phone, your wrist might end up broken.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It is necessary restraint for the protection procedure.”
Crazy bitch.
I immediately pictured the phone in my pocket. Emergency number one—the direct line to the Ministry of Male Family Affairs I had preset for exactly this kind of situation.
But Kwon Doyeon, as if reading my mind, raised a finger.
“And you still haven’t noticed?”
I slowly lifted my head. Only then did I see it. The sky had turned red. No—every direction was enclosed by walls of crimson light. The space that should have been the university gate was completely silent. No car engines. No student voices. Not even the distant café music. Everything had been severed.
And the only kind of person capable of something like this was…
“You… were a hunter?”
“Hoho. Correct.” Kwon Doyeon lightly adjusted her uniform collar with a white-gloved hand. “I once reached B-class.”
“B-class?”
“Yes. You need at least that level to deploy a barrier of this scale so naturally~. This place is now a temporary zone isolated from the outside. No one outside will even know we’re here.”
Deputy Director of the Reproductive Agency. Former B-class hunter. Male Resource Emergency Preservation Zone. And a barrier cutting us off from the outside world.
We were completely fucked. There was no other way to describe it.
But that didn’t mean I would obediently let myself be taken.
At this point, it’s do or die.
I raised my right hand.
Scalpel Summon
Blue light exploded from my palm.
“Wh-what?”
“A knife… from his hand?”
“No, that’s a scalpel.”
“Hunter ability? A man is using hunter powers?”
The Agency staff all stepped back at once. For the first time, Kwon Doyeon’s eyes shook. What I held was a blade that could only cut a patient right before surgery. Of course they wouldn’t know that. The mere appearance of a magic-infused blade in my hand was more than enough of a threat.
“If you came to ruin someone, you should have been prepared to be ruined yourself.”
“Ugh…!”
“Are you prepared? Because I am.”
At the same time, I slipped my other hand into my pocket, reaching for the emergency number one—the direct line to the Ministry I had prepared in advance. Just as my fingertip touched the call button—
“Indeed.”
An unfamiliar voice rang out.
“It seems I was saved by quite an impressive man.”
“Huh?”
“Who…?”
A woman with red bobbed hair walked out from between the Agency staff. Black eyes. A solid, powerful build. Firm muscles visible beneath her combat uniform, and a voluptuous chest that refused to be hidden even so. Red magic power blazed over her clenched fist.
“Out of the way, lady.”
“What—”
Crack!
In the time it took to blink, Kwon Doyeon’s body bent sideways. Her former B-class hunter career proved meaningless as the glowing red fist struck her squarely and sent her flying.