As If I'd Wear This Forever

As if I'd wear something like this for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, just as the youngest hunter had said, no other monsters attacked while we waited for the rescue team.

I spotted a few people approaching from a distance and was just starting to relax, thinking we might actually make it out without further incident—

"Daughter-in-law!"

Why on earth was Jihoo's mother here? And shouting "daughter-in-law" at the top of her lungs, no less.

Jihoo's mother had always been a frequent face in the media, so plenty of people recognized her even when she was just casually browsing a department store. And everyone here was an Awakened who'd come for basic training to work as hunters or in related fields. There was no way any of them wouldn't recognize Madam Yu Hyerin, the head of the Y-Group—famous for its magic engineering.

"I was so worried about our Miri that I came running right over."

Just imagining how it looked to everyone else—watching someone as famous as Madam Yu call me "daughter-in-law" and "our Miri" with such casual intimacy—was enough to make me want to crawl into a hole.

"M-Miri un-unnie…? Wait, no—Miri-ssi? Or… ma'am…?"

Even Ayun—the golden-retriever of social butterflies who'd been glued to my side, playing with my hair—scrambled away from me with a look of pure shock, stumbling over her words. Just thinking about the flood of gossip that would explode by tomorrow—no, by this evening—was already making my head spin.

"Miri. You look even prettier than before."

"…"

"I'm only joking. Though you do seem to have grown a little taller, at least."

Jihoo's mother smiled warmly and gave my head a light pat. To me it was nothing special—perfectly ordinary—but the weight of all those stares on the back of my neck was enough to make my skin crawl.

"So, what exactly happened?"

"Well…"

I gave Jihoo's mother a brief rundown of everything that had happened inside the gate. Especially when I got to the part about that bastard of a team leader who'd abandoned us and run, her eyes seemed to gleam with something downright murderous.

"Hmm…. So trash like that can climb all the way to team leader."

The sheer coldness in her gaze made me swallow hard without meaning to, a slight tremor running through me. Was it just my imagination, or did the Association's reputation take a nosedive every time I badmouthed the team leader?

"B-but! Th-that person threw himself in front of us to protect us!"

I frantically pointed at the youngest hunter being carried off on a stretcher by the arriving rescue team, shouting in desperation. The team leader was garbage, sure—but not every Association hunter was like him. Had my desperate defense gotten through?

"I do hope the rotten roots are few and far between."

"…Yeah."

I watched as Jihoo's mother slipped a business card into the hand of the youngest hunter on the stretcher. Whether the Association's plummeting reputation had recovered any ground, I couldn't say—but at least it didn't seem to be falling any further. Small mercies.

Following the youngest hunter on the stretcher, the others began heading back under the rescue team's guidance. I would have liked to join that procession, but I still couldn't properly stand thanks to my shaky control over my strength, so I decided to rest a little longer before setting out.

"Unnie! I'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠call you later, okay!"

Ayun, trailing after the rescue team, turned back with a bright smile and waved at me. I lifted my hand a little and smiled back.

I could see the other people around us shooting envious looks at the golden retriever happily waving her hand. Were they under the impression that the annoying little green kid who'd shown up late to assembly was actually some chaebol heiress? They looked jealous that Ayun had gotten close to me.

I was about as far from a chaebol as you could get—just the son of a mom who ran a little restaurant.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Park Miri."

Once everyone else had moved far enough away, leaving only me, Jihoo's mother, and Association President Kang Taeyong—a face I'd occasionally seen on the news—President Kang immediately bowed his head to me.

"I sincerely apologize for the series of incidents that occurred this time."

"I-it's fine. I followed along without properly verifying anything myself, after all."

"But the fact remains that without you, Miss Miri, this could have turned into a major disaster."

I waved my hands in flustered protest at the idea of someone as high-ranking as the Association President bowing to me, but President Kang continued to regard me with a heavy expression.

"I will take full responsibility for this matter and see it through to the end."

"Huh? Okay."

"…And I promise you appropriate compensation and measures. Would you be willing to visit Association headquarters at a later date?"

"Yes. I will."

For just a moment a second ago, it seemed like President Kang had exchanged a look with Jihoo's mother. Feeling oddly unsettled, I snuck a glance at her face—but she just beamed at me with an innocent smile, as if she hadn't a clue about anything.

Had it just been my imagination?

"One more thing. Regarding the problem you're currently facing, Miss Miri—I believe I may be able to offer some advice."

"Problem?"

"You're having difficulty controlling your newly strengthened power, correct? It's an uncommon case, but situations like yours do arise from time to time."

President Kang continued in a calm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠voice.

"Occasionally, there are cases where the amount of mana generated within the body is absurdly low compared to what the body can hold. You appear to be one such case, Miss Miri."

"And because Miri is a half-dragon, that already scarce mana seems to be getting used just to maintain her body. That's probably why she grew once she entered the gate."

"If that's the case, would I grow taller if I had enough mana?"

I wasn't hoping for the average height of an adult man like before. I'd be more than happy just to escape being this ridiculously short—just the late 150s would be perfect!

"Unfortunately, that form is likely your limit for the most part. Auntie said you'd grown, but the truth is you'd just been shrunken from mana deficiency until now."

"That can't be…"

So my height maxed out in the early 150s. Disappointing—but at least I had grown some….

"In fact, if your mana runs low again, you'll shrink right back down."

"…"

"The mana inside the gate simply filled what was lacking. Your innate mana deficiency hasn't been fixed."

So I could shrink again. Damn it….

Once I entered the Academy I'd be using mana left and right—did that mean I'd have to top it up separately every time it ran low? Anyway, the reason I was having trouble controlling my strength was that a body which had been starving for mana to the point of shrinking simply couldn't adapt to overflowing mana for the first time.

"Therefore, restricting the mana available for you to use should help with your strength control, Miss Miri."

"Is something like that even possible?"

"It's simpler than you'd think. Expensive, yes—but already commercialized and in use by all sorts of people."

So there was a way to restrict an Awakened's mana. Well, of course there were Awakened who committed crimes. To subdue people like that, you'd naturally need to restrict their mana too—so of course the technology existed.

"That's why I asked the rescue team to contact Professor Lee on their way out—to bring a tool for mana restriction."

"…Professor Lee?"

"Professor Lee Jihoo. Among Association personnel, he's the only one who knows you personally."

Well, the Academy itself was run by the Association. Naturally, Jihoo as a professor would be Association-affiliated too. Once the thought reached that far, I nodded. At least they weren't dumping a bothersome errand on some stranger. That was a relief.

Go ahead and suffer a little for your friend, Jihoo.

Fuck. Why the hell are you the one bringing this, Jihoo.

"Hey. How do you think I feel, having to buy this myself?"

Jihoo spat out, his face twisted in pure disgust.

When Jihoo had first come running over with a little paper bag, I hadn't thought much of it. The problem was what was inside the paper bag.

"What the hell is this slogan about 'for a hot but safe sex life' doing here?"

"…Because it's a mana restriction tool that helps Awakened people have a safe sex life."

"Fuck! This is an adult product!"

On the pink box inside the paper bag Jihoo had brought, some thoroughly lewd slogan was printed in huge letters:

I hadn't had the courage ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to read the main text out loud, so I'd gone for the smaller "safe sex life" line printed in the corner of the box—but even that was humiliating enough to say.

"Fuck! Fuck! Are you insane? Why would you buy something like this?! Are you a pervert?!"

"This was the only thing I could buy on short notice, personally!"

"So you still went and bought this?!"

"A choker is basically just an accessory! Would you rather I'd gotten you fuzzy handcuffs?!"

I knew Jihoo was a hundred percent right. It was the packaging of the choker he'd bought that was filthy—the choker itself looked perfectly ordinary.

"Then you could've at least ditched the packaging before bringing it!"

Who brings something over still in its filthy packaging like an idiot? He could've just thrown the box away.

"Then I'd be the only one who suffered through the adult shop. That's not fair."

"What?"

"You want me to be the only one who went ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through that humiliation? You should suffer too. That's only fair."

Crazy bastard.

"Just take it already. I don't even want to be holding this."

Jihoo opened the paper bag and shook it at me, urging me to take it—but all I could do was stare at the bag.

"I can't take it…. I can't control my strength…."

I couldn't even control my strength enough that a light touch would shred clothes—how was I supposed to open a box by myself?

At my words, Jihoo's hand—still shaking the bag—went rigid. Looks like he'd only just realized that fact after hearing me say it.

"And how am I supposed to put this on…?"

"…Fuck. I should've gone with the fuzzy handcuffs."

Jihoo scrubbed a dry hand over his face, muttered a low curse, and roughly tore open the box to pull out the choker.

"I'll put it on you. Come here."

"…What?"

"What choice do we have? There's no one else here."

The Association President and Jihoo's mother had left the moment they saw Jihoo arrive. They'd said they had work to handle and had come in a rush….

"…Fuck. Just put it on already."

Looking resigned, Jihoo lowered his head and took a step closer. The black choker held in his large hand slowly approached my nape.

"Hey. Move your hair out of the way."

"…Haa."

At his words I let out a small sigh and gathered my hair up with both hands.

"Hurry up and put it on. What are you doing?"

"…Stop rushing me."

Jihoo's low voice brushed past my ear. The fingers touching my nape tickled. As the choker gradually settled around my neck, the cold sensation sent a slight shiver down my spine.

"Hhk…."

A small sound slipped from my lips—and with a click, the choker locked around my neck.

"Get a custom-made ring or bracelet later."

"I was going to even without you saying so."

As if I'd wear something like this for the rest of my life.