Past Life Recall (2)
“Whoa, legendary.”
“Fucking legendary.”
The last traces of sleepiness vanished in an instant. Staring at my utterly incredible reflection in the bathroom mirror, I let out a gasp of awe, and my friend clapped along, equally amazed.
“Bravo.”
“Is this really me? It still feels like a dream.”
“Dreamlike, but real.”
“No way. This doesn't make sense.”
“Even I think it's nonsensical.”
“Right?”
“Totally.”
“If I go back to sleep and wake up, will I snap out of this dream?”
“It's not a dream.”
“Nah, it has to be.”
“I'll make you realize it's reality.”
—Squish.
“……”
“……”
“This psycho.”
I kneed the lunatic who had suddenly groped my dramatically enlarged chest.
“Ow!”
“You're dead.”
“Okay, but at least we confirmed it's not a dream!”
“Die, asshole.”
“Aaaack!”
I cast another knee on his shin as he clutched it and collapsed, then ignored the criminal rolling in agony and turned back to the mirror.
“Feels so fucking weird.”
“Ow, that shit hurts. Hiss. How's it weird?”
“Like, it feels like an AI art filter come to life in reality.”
“Yeah, but I'm more shocked by your height.”
“My eye level doesn't feel right either.”
My original height was under 170cm for sure. But now, I looked like I was pushing 190cm, easily over 180.
“I never liked girls taller than me, but now I'm discovering new tastes. Kinda weird for me too.”
I flinched at the criminal's creepy grin from the floor, where he was still clutching his shin, and crossed my arms over my chest, backing away. His face soured in real time.
“Whoa, for a sec there, your old self overlapped with that move—fucking gross. Urp.”
“Hey, you're the one who said gross shit first and pinned it on me.”
“Whatever. So, what now?”
“Yeah…”
The face hadn't moved me much in the illustration (…), but seeing it in person, the sheer destructive beauty hit hard. Unfamiliar yet familiar. This striking, gorgeous look was exactly what I'd seen in the Status Window app I'd accidentally installed at dawn. Down to the AI-art vibe.
The long, wavy black hair cascading to my waist, emerald eyes, porcelain skin—it was all surreal. And then there were the long, pointed ears sticking out beside my face. Like a full-on elf cosplay. I poked them, tugged them, fascinated.
Hmm… In manga, they seemed super sensitive, like erogenous zones, but thankfully not that intense. A faint tickle, nothing lewd—just normal. But when I lightly scratched one, it twitched on its own, like it had a mind of its own. Almost like a cat or dog's ear perking up. Even knowing it was me, it was kinda cute.
Of course, that was all thanks to this face. Imagine if my old male body did the same… Urp. Goblin vs. elf face gap…
Anyway, what the hell do I do now? The looks were a massive upgrade, no doubt. But with everything changed except my mind, how was I supposed to live like this? No ID, no proof this was 23-year-old part-timer Im Gyeong-guk—only my buddy here knew.
If we'd both been asleep, he wouldn't have seen the change and would've been totally confused. Put yourself in his shoes: wake up, landlord's gone, some naked stranger woman in bed. How baffling.
“Oh yeah, you saved the transformation vid, right? Lemme see.”
“Sure.”
Luckily he was awake, so I took his smartphone with the full recording and hit play.
“This is straight out of wuxia—shedding bones and marrow or whatever.”
“Not shedding marrow, shedding shell, idiot. Talking like it's a membership signup.”
“Whatever, asshole.”
I ignored his jab and rewatched. Fascinating. Me, sleeping soundly, suddenly rose like sleepwalking, crossed my legs in full lotus or whatever, then my body started floating. Light leaked out, growing brighter until it filled the room, burning off all my clothes. Miraculously, only the clothes burned; the light faded soon after, and my glowing body dropped back onto the bed—totally transformed.
It was just like the bone-shedding rebirth from wuxia novels I'd read occasionally. No, more like metempsychosis.
“Send it to me too.”
“Sure. Oh yeah, check your phone.”
“Right.”
The phone that'd rebooted or whatever at dawn. I'd freaked, thinking hack or bad app. Now? Peanuts compared to this. I poked the criminal still eyeing my chest, jabbing his eyes with two fingers, and headed back to the room.
“Agh! That fucker!”
I tuned out his “My eyes! My eyes!” whining, plopped on the bed, and powered on the phone.
Status Window update complete.
A message about an update finishing popped up, and tapping "Next" brought a full tutorial screen, like those new phone game prompts highlighting spots to tap.
…As there is no connection point between aaa123's Earth and the previous world, a manual link is required to borrow power from the previous world.
Some lengthy explanation, but skimming it: previous world used gods' power for magic/mana, but Earth's mana is scarce, signal to that dimension weak—needs a link point. Like a Wi-Fi hub or base station.
Link it, and I get magic? For real?
Select a seal. Note: Only one seal can be chosen.
“Whatcha doing?”
The guy approached, towel-drying his damp face from washing up. I showed him the screen.
“Food God Seal, Earth God Seal, Dragon Lord Seal… What the hell?”
“Pick one, and boom—magic powers, I guess?”
“For real?”
“Dunno if real-real, but yeah.”
“Damn, jealous. Guess I had no past life?”
“If you did, probably orc or goblin. Gotta save the world like me. Or turtle ship helmsman.”
“Bullshit. Lemme see. No seal descriptions? Looks game-like.”
“Nah, scared to tap—might select instantly.”
“Usually explains first or confirms. Long-press.”
“Nervous, man.”
“Pussy.”
“Yeah, now it's pussy.”
“Whoa… Saying that in that body shuts me up, but you sound retarded.”
“Hits different saying it myself.”
I slumped, face-palming, and he cackled. Worst case, no loss—might as well long-press the first one, Food God Seal. Nothing. Released.
Food God Seal selected. View description?
Guess tapping selects, but asks for description first.
Calorie, the Food God who loved eating. Once a mage obsessed with tasting every delicacy in the world. Unable to bear the inevitable excretion and fattening from her passion, she devised this ultimate spell-seal.
It turns organs into mana generators, granting immense digestive power from life force or food intake. Excess calories beyond body maintenance convert to mana—a revolutionary idea that shocked the magical academia.
Unnecessary waste is banished to sub-space, eliminating excretion and fullness. But it forces a body constitution change, incompatible with traditional mage training, and demands constant eating—a side effect that limited its users.
Best with raw foods; can even convert male essence to mana.
No mana conversion from life force, nutrients, or excess calories → Heightened appetite and sex drive beyond normal humans.
Also, no intoxication or fullness satisfaction from any meal.
“But the name's hilarious. Creator named Calorie? Lazy as fuck.”
“Forget that. This is OP as hell.”
“How?”
Might be OP, but as an ex-guy, the sex drive penalty felt iffy. I shot him a "what?" look.
“Sex penalty's meh, but appetite? Calories to mana. Perfect for modern times—no fat, no fullness, even fills mana. Who cares what mana does now? Zero fullness, no shitting? Blessing.”
“Why's that a blessing? No pooping's convenient, sure, but zero fullness?”
“Think, dumbass.”
“About what.”
“Sigh, dense. Eat endlessly without getting full. What's the play?”
“Uh… mukbang?”
“Bingo.”
“Me?”
“Duh. Mukbang's huge globally now—MUKBANG as a proper noun. Plus your looks? Game over.”
He snapped his fingers and sliced his neck with his hand. Streamer/YouTuber background—brain spins to content fast. Impressive.
“Insane looks, endless eating streamer. Hits jackpot just thinking.”
“Weird not to.”
“Right?”
“Yeah… but check others first. Might be better.”
“This is perfect.”
“Shut—oh fuck.”
Fuck. Meant to cancel, hit confirm.
“Ack! Idiot. Lmao. Heaven's gift—roll with it.”
“Shit, feels like a huge L.”
“Didn't see others anyway. Dumbass.”
“Fuuuuck. Waaah.”
Felt like massive regret, but spilled milk…
“Ungh?”
“Why the moan all sudden…”
“Shut… hngh… up. Look.”
Sudden burning pain like fire. I groaned involuntarily. Scorching, stinging, sharp ache from gut and back. As I endured, he freaked beside me.
“Huh? Whoa!”
“Wha—urgh. Why?”
“Your back's burning!”
“What? Hot!”