The Protagonist's Mom Is Excessively Beautiful in Both Body and Heart
"Oh dear. You mean you suddenly can't remember anything at all, and when you came to your senses, you found yourself here?"
"It may sound like a lie, but it's the truth. I've lost my cards and even my phone right now…."
"Goodness. You might have been mugged. Your clothes are torn too."
When I came to, I was being treated to a meal in the kitchen on the third floor of the shop. Just how trusting was she? The fact that a woman who was clearly married—judging by the ring on her finger—had invited a complete stranger not just into her shop but into her home. She even served me rice and soup while listening to my story.
At first I wondered how to explain my situation, but given the circumstances, I mixed in some lies while hoping this was all a dream. I told her I'd lost consciousness on my way to play a card game, collapsed in front of her shop, and now remembered nothing at all. After all, I couldn't exactly come out and say "I have no idea what this world is." There was no other choice.
Will she really believe a story like this?
I was a man who had suddenly lost his memory and collapsed in front of her shop. It wouldn't be strange if she grew more wary. Yet—
"That must have been terrible. Just losing your deck is frightening enough, but to lose your memories too… You've been through so much."
What am I going to do with this woman?
This narrow-eyed, short-lived beauty seemed incapable of suspecting anyone. She laughed with a soft uhu-hu and believed me completely. Not only that, once I'd finished my soup she naturally refilled it for me. Her kindness was less like she was treating a person and more like she'd taken in a stray dog.
She looks like the perfect target for a scam. And with my particular tastes, this is striking right at my weak point. Bad thoughts are starting to creep in.
I glanced at her. I was even worried that my gaze might have turned lewd. Yet she noticed nothing, continuing to worry about me and even sharing her personal details.
"That's right, I should have introduced myself sooner. I'm Han Yumi. I'm the owner of the Beyond TCG shop here, and I'm twenty-nine this year. As you can see, I'm raising my son alone without a husband."
She doesn't have a husband. Is she a widow? No, never mind that. Inviting a man she's never met before into her kitchen isn't something you just say out loud. What if I had ill intentions?
My mind was full of retorts, but I couldn't voice any of them.
"And you, sir?"
"My name is Lee Baek. I'm thirty this year, and from what I remember, I was a new employee."
"Ah~! So you're older than me! But a new employee at thirty…."
…Yes, I'd been unemployed. My name happened to be Baek, so my friends used to tease me by calling me a "baek-su"—a freeloader. Of course, I hadn't actually been sitting around for no reason. There had been various problems involving women. Especially beautiful married women like this.
"Haha…."
"Ah."
When I laughed awkwardly, Han Yumi let out a youthful sound and held back, saying it was rude of her. She was quick to trust people, but it seemed she had a sense for these delicate matters. To change the subject, she clapped her hands, leaned forward with her voluptuous figure swaying, and placed her hand on my forehead.
"Still, it's a relief. You don't have a fever, and it doesn't look like you have any serious injuries. For now, instead of the hospital, we should get you some identification."
"Is identification something you can get that easily?"
"Of course."
"…Huh?"
"…Eh?"
Our eyes met in an awkward silence. I couldn't tell if she was actually making eye contact with those narrow eyes of hers, but she soon raised her index finger as if something had occurred to her.
"That's right. You said you'd lost your memory, didn't you? I didn't realize you'd forgotten even basic common sense. In New Seoul, we use Beyond Cards as identification. One ace card representing your deck can handle most daily affairs."
This really is a children's cartoon world.
Hearing that cards were used in place of ID cards made my earlier wild guess feel all too real. I clutched my head, and Han Yumi, perhaps taking it the wrong way, tapped her foot anxiously.
"Are you in pain again?"
"A little."
"Um, you haven't forgotten how to take out your deck, have you?"
It was strange. We were clearly speaking the same Korean, yet I couldn't understand a single thing. I kept nodding that I didn't know anything, and Han Yumi's eyes welled up with tears as she covered her mouth with both hands.
"I don't know what kind of thug attacked you, but to make you forget even this—your own deck! I can't forgive it! I'm calling the police right now!"
No matter how you looked at it, she was reacting like she was looking at a victim who'd been kidnapped off the street and had his organs harvested. If this really was that kind of world, it wasn't exactly a wrong comparison. So Han Yumi's reaction was completely—well, at least in this world—common sense.
"Thank you for worrying about me. More importantly, I'd like to hear about the cards."
"Ah… yes! Of course. It is your precious deck, after all. It would be best to explain that first."
Her narrow eyes opened slightly, revealing even moister eyes. She was truly crying, and I found myself moved despite myself—until her next line completely ruined the mood.
"Do you know the story of how Adam and Eve drew cards in the beginning and angered God?"
──That's straight-up blasphemy against a certain religion.
I knew the phrase "In the beginning, there were cards," but here it was Adam and Eve…. When I made a face that said I really didn't know, Han Yumi deliberately made a "ka-kang!" sound effect with her mouth.
"As expected, you've even forgotten basic common knowledge. How pitiful. Ahem… I'll explain. It refers to Beyond—the cards. Adam and Eve obtained the cards created by God, and we humans, born as their descendants, have been deeply connected to cards from the moment we were born. That's why we are the only primates who can freely use the power of cards."
"Wait a moment. I don't understand what you mean by using the power of cards."
"We all have a Heart Deck inside us. We can draw out that power."
Please don't use that kind of metaphor. I'm already thirty, you know. I've come too far to accept a setting like that. Unaware of my feelings, Han Yumi placed her palm on her large chest as if in prayer. Then she pulled out a pure white deck from between her breasts.
I almost misunderstood and thought she'd been storing her deck between her breasts.
"You take it out like this."
"You're saying it's not a metaphor, but actually inside your heart?"
"Of course. Surely, apart from the deck that was stolen from you, Mr. Lee Baek, this one must remain. No Beyond Hunter can steal this one."
She was purely worried about me, but I found it emotionally difficult to accept. Placing my hand on my chest and pulling out a deck—I didn't want to do something so ridiculous in front of someone else. It felt like being caught in the bathroom straining to push one out while shouting "Energy Wave!"
However, I had no choice. I copied her posture exactly. At first there was no reaction, but gradually I felt heat building in my chest. For a moment I wondered if my body was heating up from the shame. I also worried that the deck might not appear. Fortunately, my palm soon grew heavy. When I cautiously opened my eyes, an unfamiliar stack of cards had materialized.
I'm a man, but… pink?
Unlike Han Yumi's pure white deck, this one radiated an aura that looked obscene no matter how you looked at it. The pink color shimmered across the card surfaces like a holographic treatment, and it was extremely unpleasant to see.
"Oh my. This color… could it be…."
As expected, it wasn't normal. Her bewilderment was obvious. When I held the deck out slightly, she gently touched the surface, then jerked her fingers back as if shocked by static electricity.
"This is a Succubus Deck."
"By succubus, you don't mean the succubus I'm thinking of, right?"
"That's exactly the one. The one from fiction… the one that's too embarrassing for me to say out loud."
An answer that could in no way be interpreted favorably. Moreover, Han Yumi's face after touching the deck was flushed red like a girl who had been sexually harassed. She must have received some strange energy the moment her finger touched the card.
"It's only natural, but a Heart Deck pulled from within is created according to its owner's disposition. That's why your deck, Mr. Lee Baek, would be difficult to use in public."
"Do I receive the same looks as those otaku customers who come into the store carrying body pillows and mats?"
"……In terms of revealing a person's true nature, it's even worse than that."
Fuck.
I spread out the stack of cards and scanned the contents. Attack power, stamina, effects, cost—everything was a jumbled mix of rules and terms I knew. The bigger problem was the illustrations. They were mostly of the "take off your clothes" variety, and when they weren't, they were full of perverted cards straight out of adult doujinshi.
No, seriously, these are just orica. The kind of trash where they cut scenes out of doujinshi and pasted them on.
And not just any orica—they were modeled after hard-core adult doujinshi…!!
"It's okay! These are treated as degenerate outside, but since a Heart Deck isn't something you choose yourself, I won't think strangely of it!!"
Han Yumi clenched both fists and tried to encourage me in her own way. Just from her reaction, I realized exactly how my deck was regarded in this world and clutched my head. This wasn't the time to be picky about card games, but still—the me who used to play so many card games, the me who was famous for following rules and etiquette in tournaments and everything else—how could I end up with such a depraved deck!
"Sigh."
"Mr. Lee Baek…."
An awkward atmosphere lingered. I expressed my gratitude for the meal and asked about government offices. I tried my best to accept the situation, but even that seemed pitiful in Han Yumi's eyes.
"For now, let's go to the government office together. And we should get a thorough medical examination at the hospital too. You suddenly had your deck stolen and lost your memories, so there might be internal injuries."
"I can't impose on you that much…."
"You have nowhere to go and no money. You said you don't even have a wallet. Where were you planning to stay tonight?"
"I thought if I told the police, they would at least guide me to a shelter."
"Even there, if you don't know how to play Beyond Battles, you'll face hazing. Moreover, right now you're a complete beginner who doesn't even know the rules, Mr. Lee Baek. Something bad will definitely happen, so please stay here for a while."
As if to stop me from leaving, she naturally grabbed my right forearm and pulled it toward her cleavage. Was this really an attitude a woman with a child should have? The distance felt like she might be looking for a new husband. It was a grateful offer for me, but I was debating whether I should accept it when—
"Mom~?"
"!"
At the still pre-pubescent child's voice, our gazes turned toward the corner of the kitchen.
"Are you awake?"
A boy appeared. His mother had white hair, but this child had striking red hair. With his wild, spiky lion-like hairstyle, I unconsciously clutched my forehead and shouted internally.
No matter how you look at it, that's the protagonist position─!!!
I had just heard part of the world's setting and experienced it firsthand. If a kid with such an original hairstyle appeared at this exact timing, he could only be the protagonist.
"Huh? Who are you?"
"It's a long story… Anyway, he's a guest of Mom's. Come on, you should greet him, right?"
The voice of a woman suddenly rang out from somewhere. At first I was startled, but then I recalled this world's setting and realized the voice had come from the deck Han Taeyang possessed.
That unique red head, the slightly suspicious name Taeyang that evokes the sun, and even the heroine position dwelling within his card….
The formula was clear: "Energetic personality and a name that suggests fire = children's cartoon protagonist." Above all, with red coloring, if he weren't the protagonist the broadcasting station would be flooded with complaint calls.
So it wasn't just a delusion.
With that, I was convinced. I had fallen into this kind of world. I was already in my thirties. An age where I no longer had any passion… A far too late journey had begun.