Thirty Minutes as Yeonhee

Thirty minutes a day—I briefly step into the path of Summoner Lee Yeonhee. After the 'Huh?' message appeared, something the size of an A4 sheet of paper flashed rapidly through my mind. It was a film of highly fragmented memories, broken into tiny shards. The small fragments that began from when Yeonhee was taking her first steps took a long time to reach the version of her that I remembered. Sometimes the images would freeze on a single scene, and those were undoubtedly the most painful memories of her life. Even now, seeing it from Yeonhee's perspective, it felt as vivid as if it were happening right before my eyes. The memory of her father, drunk and throwing punches at her mother in a boxing stance. She screamed at the top of her lungs for him to stop, but the man who was her father didn't even pretend to listen.

The world spun into madness. Endless rage, sorrow, and powerlessness dragged me into the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠darkness. Monsters as squishy as mud rose from the floor, grabbing me and pulling me downward, as if they wanted me to become one with them. I finally escaped that dark, damp swamp of memories that seemed like it would last forever the moment I summoned that shabby skeleton soldier.

'That was the first me...'

It was an appearance from only a short while ago, yet it was thick with the damp, gloomy aura typical of the undead.

'...... I was pretty far gone back then.'

It made me look back at myself in a new light.

"Clack clack clack!"

I returned to Yeonhee's perspective. I nearly burst into laughter at the skeleton's clacking. Suppressing my slightly upturned lips, I gently lifted my head from the pillow and spoke.

"Wow... I really didn't think it would actually work... Well, of course it should work since it's my ability. Still... it's so fascinating!"

It was the ability first manifested after her second awakening. A resounding success.

The summoned skeleton soldier was surprisingly intelligent. A child who could even come up with his own name. A monster that could read text—it was an unbelievable thing. The skeleton kept looking around and tilting its head. Though I didn't know where this child had been called from, it felt as if I had created him myself. That skeleton soldier was entirely mine. My complete possession... His name is Ilwol.

I wondered how much time had passed while repeatedly viewing myself from Yeonhee's perspective. I was feeling relieved that the light emitted by the memory fragments was growing brighter after meeting me when—

'......!'

I barely managed to regain my senses.

'Ha— ha— No way... I won't have to go through this every time I use Mimicry, will I?'

The first time I endured it because I didn't know anything, but the thought of having to experience it again made goosebumps rise all over my body.

"......"

While I was barely holding onto my sanity and feeling bewildered by the changed field of vision, a familiar voice seeped into my ears like it was being poured directly inside.

"Kyaaaah—!"

'What? What is it? An enemy?!'

I instinctively expanded my senses and then noticed something strange.

"Ah?"

"Ah...? You made a sound just now!! Kyaa! Ilwol? Do you recognize me? Can you make sounds? Huh? Quick, say something!"

'...... Um... Did I really change into Yeonhee?'

Unlike before, I slowly moved my hand within the now rounder range of my vision. Though it was hard to believe before seeing it, I realized that the shape my senses detected was already that of a human. A small, precious, and lovely silhouette. I had truly transformed into Yeonhee.

Right. There was this bonus effect. 'Sinister group... Blue Eye.'

A square map formed inside my head. A single red dot appeared on it. That had to be the nearest sinister group to me.

'It's closer than I thought? Doesn't even seem like two hundred meters.'

At this distance, I could slip out for a moment and return without issue. Given that this area was full of studio apartments, the guy was probably holed up in one of them too.

"Ilwol?"

"Ah?"

"Kyaaaa! You spoke again! Amazing! Quick, say something else!"

'Oh, right.'

I had gotten distracted by the new ability for a second. I looked at my hand again. Squeeze—

'These are Yeonhee's hands. Small and white.'

I fumbled around and touched my face as well. It was Yeonhee's face too. I knew because I had touched it a few times while she slept leaning on me.

'Good thing I'm not naked.'

Blue dolphin shorts and a white t-shirt. It was the outfit Yeonhee often wore at home.

'Hmm...'

It seemed she was wearing underwear underneath as well. I couldn't exactly check right now, but... I lowered my gaze for a moment. Two full, rounded shapes that a man would never normally see unfolded before my eyes. The deep cleavage between them...

'... Right. There were restrictions on speaking.'

I momentarily couldn't recall the mechanism behind producing sounds, but I gathered my courage and tried to speak.

"... Ah.. uwa—?"

'What? Babbling?'

"Kyaaaa! So cute! More! Do more!"

'It's my first time, so it's not going well... Let me try again.'

"Ababru!"

"Kyahaang! It's so cute how you're trying to make sounds~!"

'... This isn't what I had in mind. The restriction is worse than I thought? Damn! If it's like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this, there's no point in changing forms!'

I was extremely flustered because I hadn't expected the restriction to be this severe, but Yeonhee, who had been repeating how cute it was, suddenly ran over to me as I sat there and hugged me tightly.

'?!'

"Ubp—"

"You're mine. My cute little Ilwol-ing~! Uuuung!"

Squish—

Buried deeply in her cleavage, I felt like I was suffocating for a moment. Of course, it was only a sensation ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠recalled in my mind; I wasn't actually unable to breathe.

"Huu—"

I was breathing, but this was merely a false action stemming from Mimicry, an attempt to get as close as possible to the real thing. Since I wasn't even conscious of it, my breathing stopped.

'I guess I'll need practice even for breathing.'

But that wasn't what was important right now.

"Auu!"

"Hehe, how cute."

'Damn it! It'll get better with practice, right? Please say yes.'

There were other difficulties as well.

'This is uncomfortable.'

The chest structure, completely different from a man's body, was extremely uncomfortable.

'How does she move around with these big things attached?'

In a way, I felt a new respect for Yeonhee. My intuition told me that adapting to Yeonhee's body would be quite difficult. Even now, just being hugged, my chest felt stuffy.

Squish— Squish—

'Ah... S-stop...'

Having two such large things pressing and bumping against me while hugging was uncomfortable, but strangely, it made my face feel hot.

"Hehe.. Sniff sniff— The smell seems a bit different too. Is it copying my scent as well? Sniff— Does my body give off this kind of fragrance? Sniff—"

"Uuu..."

'Stop coming so close to my neck and smelling me like that...'

After becoming a skeleton, I kept surrendering my body to these strange sensations I had never felt before.

'...... This is bad. The physical senses are vastly superior to when I'm a skeleton, so it feels weird.'

Yeonhee was still quiet and passive outside, but when she was alone with me at home, she became a completely different person. And today, the gap was more extreme than ever.

"Sip— Haa— Now, Ilwol. Can you try saying my name one more time? You need to keep practicing. It's not just for me. Haa— Come on, quickly."

Yeonhee's face was flushed red, and her breathing had become quite rough.

'I'm a bit disappointed. So she does prefer the human form over the skeleton.'

For some reason, my mood sank. I find the skeleton form comfortable and good, but she prefers the human one, I guess.

'... Well, it's only natural.'

I tried a few more times in response to her expectation to speak more, but producing words wasn't easy. Babbling at this age, haa...

'Maybe it's because I've been living thinking of myself as a skeleton. Speaking has become too awkward...'

"Euhui, eoni."

"Kk... Aang— So cute!"

Whoosh—!

Yeonhee attempted the chest attack again after briefly letting go. I had no choice but to surrender my body to the swaying waves while helplessly embraced in her chest. I had thought she would feel awkward seeing her own appearance, but perhaps with that level of beauty, even if it was her own face, she couldn't help but like it? It was something I couldn't understand.

After that, for about ten minutes, I spoke and she cheered and hugged repeatedly.

Squeeze—

"Ohh— Ilwol's cheeks stretch a lot."

'These are yours, though?'

"Auu..."

Strangely, I felt drained. This must be what they mean by exhausted. But I did feel my mouth loosening up little by little. In a few days, I might be able to say simple words.

"Hehehe—"

She sat behind me completely and hugged me. To think she'd like me becoming human this much... Tsk...

'Well, it's better than showing any aversion.'

Besides, it was only thirty minutes a day. Maybe that's why she was clinging so much. She touched my face, stared at it from the side, and kept brushing against my sides and touching my chest. I wished she'd be a bit more careful.

"Your expression still looks a bit awkward. Will it get better after some time? Hehe..."

"Auu?"

"Auu? Like this! Pffft— Ah! But this isn't me saying my own appearance is cute, okay? Don't misunderstand. It's because the usual Ilwol's expression seems overlapped with it right now. Hehe—"

"Eh—"

"Hehe— It's just that Ilwol trying to do something is too cute. Usually, all you did was clack your teeth."

Hmm... Was that so? It seems I had been a bit lacking in reactions. I'll have to pay attention to that part in the future.

Yeonhee kept making me speak until the Mimicry time ended. Like a mother talking to a child who had just started babbling. While responding to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her, I continued to monitor the mini-map in my head. It was a little before 8 o'clock now. The tracking ability I gained thanks to Tania had first identified the sinister bastard, who hadn't moved from his spot since earlier. No, he was moving, but his range of action was clearly defined. He must be operating within exactly that much space, just like the space we were in.

Since I had been using the wave of my senses for a long time, I could quickly find the sense of distance by constantly cross-referencing and comparing the mini-map with the waves.

'If I can't pinpoint the location with this much information, I'd be an idiot.'

207 meters in the north-northwest direction. A space 12.6 meters above the ground. That's the fourth floor.

I nodded my head and said.

"Ab—!"

"Huh? Ab? What does that mean? Anyway— continuing the story, I can understand Sister Yeonsu a bit now. Even right now, it's hard to resist the urge to touch Ilwol's cheeks."

Squeeze— Squeeze—

'You're already touching them, so what...'

She let go of the cheeks she was holding and continued the story while carefully brushing my hair back.

"Only thirty minutes a day...? It's a shame, but it can't be helped. But won't there be no chance to use this ability? It's not like you're fishing like a mimic."

"Uuu?"

"It would be troublesome if you transform into someone else and end up in a dangerous situation. You have to use it as carefully as possible, got it?"

"Eh!"

"Yes, yes!"

I didn't know how long I'd have to keep babbling like this, but it definitely felt easier than communicating with clacks.

Uuuuung—

"Ah... Time's up already."

Seeing my body gradually fading like a ghost, her lips pouted out.

I wanted to do something for her since she looked so disappointed. Mustering all my strength, I finally uttered one word.

"Yeoni—"

As soon as it was released, the fair skin attached to my bones scattered like dust and disappeared cleanly. What remained was my familiar, bony original body.

"You called my name at the end..."

"Clack clack clack!!"

"Hehe..."

She showed an extremely happy smile as if that was enough. The sight was so beautiful that I momentarily forgot what I had to do.

'Anything is fine. As long as you smile...'

While thinking that and smiling contentedly inside, Yeonhee, who was behind me, slowly wrapped her arms around my neck again.

'... Huh? Why is she doing this...'

Did she want to savor the memory of when I was still human? I thought that made sense, so I quietly waited for her to release my neck.

But after a moment, in a slightly subdued voice, she said something unexpected.

"Ilwol... But there's one thing I'm curious about..."

A chill ran down my spine—the air in the living room seemed to freeze.

"Why... didn't you transform into the first one... and changed into the second one instead...?"