I Turned Two

After the day we went to the supermarket, I managed to claw back a little of my confidence.

These days, when I went outside, I no longer ducked my head just to avoid meeting a woman's eyes.

Whew. Another successful eye contact with a woman today.

Nice.

I was working at it every single day, aiming for a future where locking eyes with a woman no longer made me tense up.

The System was cheering me on, too.

With one full point, I could raise any ability rank on my status window by a single tier, so I was clearing the daily missions without fail.

Before I knew it, a month had passed since I was born, and I'd scraped together 0.3 points.

Just 0.7 more to go.

Honestly, the rewards felt stingy, but the missions weren't hard either, so I let it slide.

So it's February first now, huh.

I wished winter would hurry up and leave. Every time I went outside, it was freezing.

A reward that made my eyes go wide.

One whole point.

With that, I could bump my looks from S straight up to S+ right this second.

Not that I have any intention of raising my looks, though.

As I'd said before, it was worth remembering that I was only one year old.

At one, your features aren't even fully out yet, right? Baby fat has to melt away completely before anything can really bloom, and that doesn't happen until high school at the earliest.

So there was still plenty of room for my looks to climb on their own.

More ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠than that—even at S right now, I hadn't met a single baby cuter than me.

I'd run into plenty of other babies at the apartment moms' gatherings, and not one of them came close.

Sure, the sample size was small, but I trusted my eye for looks.

For thirty years I'd lived under the boot of an ugly face, endlessly imagining what it would have been like to be born handsome—and to make those fantasies sharper, I'd hunted down every so-called good-looking person on the internet.

My eye for beauty was rock solid.

I hadn't looked up pretty women much, of course.

Well, I never expected I'd end up as one.

Still, it was fine. I'd watched plenty of girl idols for a little dream and hope, and thanks to that, my standard for "pretty" was the standouts among fourth-generation girl idols—the ones everyone agreed were exceptionally beautiful.

Right now they'd be babies like me.

No—they'd be in kindergarten by now.

Anyway, the point was this.

Even as a one-year-old, my looks alone could slap the faces of the prettiest girl idols twice over.

That was what an S-rank face meant.

So of course I felt zero urgency about raising my looks any further right now.

I already had a face that could land a couple of clean hits on idols people called exceptionally pretty.

I want to add a different ability.

So the points were on hold for now.

When I'd first added looks as an ability, something called a yearly mission had popped up—which meant next year I should be able to add a new one.

For now, let's clear this one.

Hmm. Thinking about it, though—how was a one-year-old supposed to make a friend?

If we just play together, will that count?

Time to run an experiment.

Conveniently, the baby from next door was over at our place.

"Raising a baby really isn't easy, is it?"

"It's hard, sure, but I think I feel more rewarded than worn out."

While my mom and the neighbor lady chatted, I crawled over toward the other baby on all fours.

After what felt like forever of scrambling across the floor, I finally arrived in front of a big-eyed baby boy.

I held out a cute stuffed animal from around the house.

"Doo?"

"Doodada!"

"Doowoo?"

"Doodadada!"

I poured everything I had into getting the message across. Let's play with the toy I just gave you.

Luckily, the neighbor baby seemed to get it.

He giggled and clutched the rabbit plush in both hands.

I grabbed a T. rex dinosaur plush of my own.

The second I confirmed he had a firm grip on his toy, I slammed the T. rex into the rabbit.

"Doo!"

"Da?"

The neighbor baby laughed and swung the rabbit right back at the T. rex.

Just like that, we were playing with the stuffed animals.

"Hehe. They're so adorable."

"Right? Both of them are so pretty—and handsome."

For the record, I could see other people's status windows too.

Ah. Unfair. Some of us only got to taste the sweet fruit of a pretty face on our second life—and this kid snagged it on the first try.

The world really was unequal.

But unlike in my past life, no jealousy stirred.

Probably because I've got the looks weapon now too.

This kid would naturally hit S-rank looks once he grew up—but by then, I'd already be sitting on EX.

So what's the clear condition?

I'd already been playing stuffed animals with Park Ha-jun for a full ten minutes, and still no completion message.

Does he have to acknowledge me? Accept that I'm his friend?

Nothing to lose by trying.

"Doodadada!"

Hey. Wanna be friends?

"Da?"

The little idiot just tilted his head at my friendship proposal.

Just nod, would you.

I grabbed his head and pushed it down.

"Doo?"

Thankfully he didn't fight it—

and just like that, the mission cleared.

As expected—just going through the motions was enough.

Could a one-year-old even understand a question about becoming friends and sincerely nod along?

Of course not.

Watching my points jump from a measly 0.3 to 1.3 filled me up even though I hadn't had lunch yet.

Ahhh. This is the stuff.

Now I could raise my looks to S+ whenever I wanted. Not that I planned on spending the points on that.

What mattered was knowing I could boost an ability rank at any time.

Next year I'll get a new ability—what should I pick?

That one was going to take some thought.

I turned two.

My teeth had come in enough that I could manage something close to normal pronunciation.

Compared to a full set, it was still rough… but the important part was that real words were possible now.

"Papa!"

"Honey! Yena just said Papa!"

"Really?!"

I looked at Mom as she came rushing in from the kitchen.

"Mama!"

"Kyaaah! Did you hear that? Yena just looked at me and said Mama!"

Just like that, the whole house flipped upside down.

All because I'd called them Mom and Dad.

Something warm caught in my chest.

Getting praised over something this small…

This is nice.

Praise from Mom and Dad really was the best.

Huh?

I already acknowledged that I was pretty. What was this about?

I'm pretty.

…Yeah, nothing. Awkward silence from the System.

Hmm. Thinking about it, after thirty years of believing I was ugly, maybe sincerely accepting that I'm pretty after just one year is harder than it looks?

This wasn't something I could fix from the inside. I needed outside confirmation.

Mom and Dad will obviously say I'm pretty, so skip them. Right—let's go to that kid.

I spoke up to Mom and Dad, who were still glowing with joy.

"Mama, Papa, go playyy!"

I pointed toward the house where Park Ha-jun lived.

"You want to go play at Ha-jun's place, Yena?"

"Ung!"

At my answer, Mom looked at Dad and sighed.

"Honey. I think our Yena has a little crush."

"If it's Ha-jun, that's fine. He's a handsome kid."

"Well, yes, but…"

"You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worry too much. Kids are supposed to try out all kinds of little loves when they're young."

Why on earth had this turned into me liking him?

I was only going over to clear a mission.

Hah. Whatever. Getting serious about this would only tire me out. Better to clear the mission fast and add a new ability.

"This is the first time Yena's asked to go see Ha-jun, so the crush must be recent."

"Mm. At that age they don't even really know what a crush is yet. Yeah, it must have started recently."

Father, Mother—isn't two also way too young to understand what a crush is…?

Forget it. Just go clear the mission.

Mom carried me over to Park Ha-jun's place.

We were right next door, so it took less than a minute.

"Yena. Did you miss Ha-jun that much?"

"Nooo!"

I shook my head hard side to side.

Dad, watching from the side, laughed.

"She's just embarrassed. That's why she's saying that."

"Looks like it."

No… I genuinely had zero feelings for the kid.

How was I supposed to have a crush on a two-year-old?!

I like women in the first place!

With thirty years of memories as a man, if I ever dated anyone, I planned for it to be a woman.

I'd become a girl, sure—but the idea of dating a guy still made me recoil.

Let's just get this over with.

I crawled toward him.

I could walk now, but crawling was still faster.

Once I reached him, I asked the question.

"Am I prettyyy?"

The second the words left my mouth, I tensed up.

A bad memory had surfaced.

I was seven.

Before I'd fully understood just how ugly I was, I'd walked up to a baby—and had to watch that baby burst into wailing sobs.

What hurt worse was that the second I pulled my face away, the crying stopped cold.

I still couldn't forget the awkward silence that followed.

Uh. Kid.

Yes…

I think we'll look at our daughter's face another time.

Yes…

There never was another time.

I never went ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠back to that playground.

"Ung! Yena pwetty!"

Maybe it was because of that past. Even though it was just a two-year-old calling me pretty, confidence surged through me.

The younger they are, the better they are at telling pretty from handsome.

I'd learned that the hard way—so now I could finally accept it for real.

I was pretty.

What should I add?

Hmm.

Honestly, at two years old, most abilities wouldn't be usable even if I added them.

Ah.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

It hit me.

The ability I was going to add this time was singing.