In a World Where Men Are One in Ten Thousand
Family. It was something I had always wanted to experience at least once. Friends, lovers, even the smallest connections were luxuries I could never afford. An orphan who never knew his parents, I started life at the very bottom of a thorny path. To survive, I did whatever it took. I threw away trust for money and betrayed others for my own gain. And to myself, I kept repeating the same magical lie: it was all okay.
It's going to be fine… Everything's going to be fine…
Looking back now, it was all complete bullshit. In truth, there had been countless ways to escape that gutter of a life. I was simply afraid. After all, it was the only existence I had ever known. Would going back now make things any better? So I decided to change.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
I begged forgiveness from those who had pointed at me in scorn. I bowed deeply to the person who spat in my face. And to those who had ordered my death, I turned the gun on them instead. At last, my eyes were truly open. For the first time, it felt like I had changed something. It wasn't bad at all. If a new life existed, perhaps this was what it felt like.
But that happiness lasted only a moment. No matter how many times you wash a towel stained with filth, the grime never fully leaves. In the end, I was murdered by the very people I had trusted. Still, if this was to be my final end, I could close my eyes with some satisfaction. My only regret was that I had never known a family.
For the first time, I prayed to the god I had resented most throughout my life. How ridiculous. The one I had hated more than anyone while alive was the very being I called out to with my dying breath. Leaving my fading consciousness behind, I finally closed my eyes.
And when I opened them again, at first I couldn't believe what I saw.
"Is my son okay?!"
"Excuse me, sir. Can you read letters?"
The first thing that greeted me was the ceiling of an unfamiliar hospital room. A woman I had never seen before was calling me son. She had short brown hair and a youthful face that made it hard to believe she had children. I sat up, staring at her. Soon after, a woman who appeared to be a doctor entered. She worried over me with an almost suspicious intensity before bowing deeply in apology.
"I'm so sorry. I've been a doctor for twenty years, but this is my first time treating a male patient."
"...Pardon?"
"You can understand Korean even if you can't read the writing, yes? If looking at my face displeases you, I'll keep my head lowered while explaining the diagnosis."
"What are you..."
"Once again, please forgive this unworthy woman for the offense of treating someone who possesses such precious male genes."
I remembered reading something like this once, back when I had time to kill. It was a quote from a famous 20th-century French sociologist. The surest way to eliminate social conflict between men and women, he claimed, was to make one gender extremely rare. The more intellectually advanced a species, the stronger its drive to preserve itself. Since humanity was the most advanced intelligent life on Earth, drastically lowering the population of one sex would naturally cause the other to be protected. All gender conflict would vanish. A powerful order of male knights would arise on its own to guard the endangered female princesses.
In my case, however, it was the complete opposite.
"When a hundred girls are born... only one boy might appear?"
"That's right. So Mommy likes her son way more than her two daughters combined!"
The world I had been born into this time was similar to my previous one, yet the gender ratio here was completely broken. A world with a ratio of ten thousand women to one man. Male genes were extraordinarily rare and therefore extraordinarily precious. In this world, men were like oases in the desert. Like needles buried in sand. Seeing one at all was like catching sight of a mythical creature.
Of course, that included me now.
According to the diagnosis, I was suffering from memory loss caused by overwork. I had apparently collapsed after sitting in front of the computer for too long, blood pooling in my legs. Thankfully, my mother had come in with dinner and found me in time.
The country I now lived in was South Korea, the world's only remaining divided nation on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. I was relieved to learn that private ownership of firearms was impossible here.
My new name was Han Shinwoo, and I was seventeen years old. I had died, only to wake up possessing the body of some boy I didn't know. And just like that, I had gained a family I had never met before.
"What kind of person was I before, Mother?"
"M-Mother?!"
I was Han Shinwoo in body only. A fake. I worried that I might be an intruder forcing my way into this harmonious household, so I asked carefully. But my mother was drooling, her eyes shining like a child staring at a delicious dessert.
"Mother?"
"Y-Yes?! Oh, s-sorry! It's just... this is the first time my son has ever called me Mother, so I..."
"...I see."
"Yes! Anyway, about how our son used to be? You were the coolest ever!"
Her voice was unusually high-pitched with excitement. I lowered my gaze. Sure enough, this wasn't a place where someone like me belonged.
"Other sons apparently beat their mothers with blunt objects if they get upset. But our son only ever slapped me across the cheek! He was so gentle, I loved that about him especially."
Had I misheard her? My poker face, which had never cracked no matter what torture I endured, melted away in an instant.
"Han Shinwoo... I did that?"
"Yes! That's why I love my son so much!"
"Ah... I see..."
She must have been overjoyed, because she suddenly pulled me into a tight hug. No matter how rare men were, how could domestic violence like this be tolerated? But this world was apparently exactly that kind of place. She rubbed her face against me right there in the middle of the crowded hospital lobby on the first floor. I could feel countless eyes on us. It wasn't my imagination. When I glanced around, every patient and family member in the packed lobby was female, and every single one of them was sneaking glances our way. As if they had never seen family members hug before.
Still, a family hug. It didn't feel bad at all. Honestly, had anyone ever embraced me so casually? Certainly no one from my previous life, and definitely no family. So I hugged her back as a kind of service.
The effect was dramatic.
"M-My son?!"
"Mother. I wasn't a good son before. From now on, I'll show you properly what a good son should be."
"If you suddenly hug me like that...! Mommy's heart is racing so much I might die..."
It was only a hug. Yet my mother looked positively ecstatic, her face flushed with delight. The hospital grew noisy around us, but I decided it had nothing to do with me and ignored it. Once the discharge papers were ready, we could head back to our house.
If the boy whose body I had taken over had been even slightly decent, I might have looked for a way to undo this possession. But since he was the kind of trash who would slap his own mother across the face, I had no such intentions.
This body is mine now. I can do whatever I want with it.
I would have liked to drive us home myself, but minors apparently weren't allowed to drive in this country. So instead of driving, I made a promise while thinking about the future.
"Once I get my driver's license, let's take a family trip. I'll drive."
"R-R-Really?! Son! You really mean it?!"
"Yes. I promise."
Just the mention of a trip had her this excited. She was like an overgrown child, and it was honestly adorable.
"By the way, Mother. Are there other family members at home besides me?"
"Yes. You have a nineteen-year-old older sister named Chaewon and a twelve-year-old younger sister named Mijin."
"Han Chaewon... Han Mijin... I'll need to memorize their names quickly if we're going to get along."
"...You only need to get along with me."
My mother muttered something under her breath, but I assumed it was just her talking to herself and paid it no mind. We left the hospital in the car like that.
A new house. A new family. This might still be the last dream I was having before death, but if it was a dream, I hoped I would never wake up.
As we neared the apartment that seemed to be our home, something about our earlier conversation felt off, so I asked again.
"Mother. What about my father? Aren't you going to introduce me to him?"
"Hm? Son, there is no 'father' in our family."
"What?!"
"It must be the memory loss. You, your older sister, and your younger sister were all born through artificial insemination from Mommy. It's something called son gacha that's popular among women these days. Mommy succeeded on her second try!"
She flashed a V-sign at me with her fingers. It was a rather bewildering story, but she looked so happy about it that I clapped for her in congratulations.
"Congratulations, Mother."
"Ehehe. Hearing it directly from my son makes me so embarrassed~"
It was heartwarming.
My mother held an executive position at one of the country's largest semiconductor conglomerates. She earned a great deal of money, most of which she had poured into artificial insemination. Three attempts in total. She had planned to stop after giving birth to me, but as I grew up I began avoiding her, so she worked up the courage to try once more. Unfortunately the next child was a girl, and continuing would have meant spending more than she earned, so she stopped.
"Son, are you sure you can just walk in like this?"
"Pardon?"
"Your older sister and younger sister are both in the living room right now. If it's too uncomfortable, should Mommy call ahead and have them cleared out?"
We had just stepped out of the elevator and reached the front door. My mother looked at me with genuine worry, as if this were completely normal behavior for me.
"Did I... usually treat the two of them that way?"
"Yes. You kicked your little sister Mijin and broke her leg because you said she was in the way. And when your older sister Chaewon brought you dinner in my place, you spat in her face because the side dishes didn't suit your taste."
"...I see."
"Mommy was so moved when she saw a son like that!"
"Excuse me?!"
I thought I must have misheard her again.
"Most sibling families commit honor killings just because an older brother finds them annoying! Compared to that, our son is incredibly kind!"
But my mother was speaking with complete sincerity, and my heart grew even heavier.
Why is this world's Earth such a complete mess?
Still, I told her it was fine. Then, without hesitation, I opened the front door and stepped inside. I had only just entered the foyer, yet I could already see the luxurious apartment that stretched up to the second floor. Compared to the safe house I had used in my previous life, this was practically a palace.
I took off my shoes and was about to look around slowly when I heard footsteps already approaching. The two people who came to greet us seemed to be well-mannered family members.
"Mom! Welcome ba— Ah!"
"......"
Perhaps because they had been born through artificial insemination, neither of them resembled me at all. The lively girl who had come running with a bright smile froze the moment she saw me. She lowered her head in fear. She had lovely blonde hair and eyes as blue as the sea. This was my younger sister, Han Mijin.
The older girl stepped forward carefully, shielding her little sister. She had hair that shimmered like pale grapes and matching violet eyes. This must be Han Chaewon, my older sister.
In the awkward atmosphere, I tried to offer a handshake to get closer. After all, a handshake was a universal greeting. I simply held out my hand, but...
"I-I'm sorry. Does it hurt your eyes to look at things like us right after you got home?"
"...Pardon?"
"I didn't know you'd be coming in with Mother. Mijin just started learning makeup recently. She's been practicing on her own face, so... would it be all right if you hit me instead this time? I won't make a single sound. I'll endure it until my nose bleeds. Please, just hit me. Only me."
"N-No... Nooooo!!"
A harmonious family. Could I really create one here?