It's an Academy Raid Aaaattack!!! # 4
It's an Academy Raid Aaaattack!!! # 4
It was total fucking disaster!
—Wobble!
A gray Doppelganger Slime had copied my friend Lee Si-hoo's face and was now constructing a female body!
"Why the hell are the chest that huge?!"
What was this, you ask?
I admit Si-hoo looks like a girl. I know he's a guy, so I see him as a guy, but objectively there are a lot of feminine aspects to him. If I'd seen him without knowing, I probably would've thought he was a woman. I think if he just changed into a girl's uniform, you wouldn't be able to tell.
So the slime obviously made the same mistake...!
It thought Si-hoo was a woman and mimicked a female body! But the chest is seriously way too big! No matter how I look at it, that's gotta be a G-cup! Where the hell did that bastard slime look to have a default female body like that?!
But now, other places besides the chest were starting to form...!
"Kyaaaaaaak! Noooooo! Geun-cheol, don't look!"
At that moment, Si-hoo had a fit, kicked off the ground, and charged at the slime. Wait, no!
"Hey, you bastard! The sword aura didn't even work before! Anyone can see that thing is strong as hell—"
The moment I tried to shout that,
—Fwoooosh!
Aura exploded out of Si-hoo's sword! It was a blade of sword aura that looked incredibly powerful. An energy that seemed absurdly intense. A densely compressed sword aura formed, powerful enough that even I could feel it.
"What the hell is that!"
And with that, Si-hoo, sword wreathed in aura,
"DIIIEEEEE!!!"
Slash!
cleaved right through the Doppelganger Slime.
—KABOOM!!!
The sound it made was closer to a strike than a cut. The moment the blade engulfed in intense sword aura struck the slime's body, an explosion burst out, and the slime was blown to smithereens.
"Ah."
It was a truly clean one-kill, but.
Si-hoo's face.
That killer glamorous figure.
—Crash!
All of it came crashing down and was absolutely wrecked.
"Ahh."
And I felt this oddly wistful sense of disappointment. The face, sure, whatever. But that body... it felt like a real waste to just smash it.
Honestly, I'm a guy who just got an eyeful.
The figure alone was truly, utterly wasted. Any man who saw that get destroyed would think the same as me. Though, if you asked me exactly which part I thought was wasted, I wouldn't have an answer. Anyway, a waste is a waste.
—Ding!
「Sub Quest Complete」
「Doppelganger Slime attempting to infiltrate the academy eliminated」
「Awakening of Lee Si-hoo」
「Reward: 2,000 Coin」
And the quest completion window popped up. So this doppelganger bastard really was the culprit. Huh? Doppelganger Slime?
The words Doppelganger Slime were right there in the quest window.
"What the."
That was the name I just thought up. Did my thoughts get reflected directly? Ah, wait, was that the first slime, so the name I gave it became official?
It was very strange, and I felt a sense of déjà vu. But right now, this is what I'm more concerned about: 「Awakening of Lee Si-hoo」!
"Huff, huff...! For something like this to just pop out so suddenly...! This is too much! What the hell kind of slime is this thing?!"
Si-hoo was gasping for breath.
His face had gone completely tomato-red. The slime reviving... the quest was complete, so I guess we don't have to worry. What matters now is that this bastard just awakened!
"Hey! Si-hoo! What was that just now?! That aura from your sword was insane!"
"Aura? I don't really know... More importantly, Geun-cheol! That's not what's important right now!"
Then what is?!
"Th-th-th-that slime! The slime used my face and booody!"
Si-hoo was confused, stammering as he shouted frantically. Right. I get that he's in shock.
When you encounter a doppelganger, one of you has to die.
It's a truly terrifying and scary urban legend. I don't know how scared I was when I heard it as a kid. If you meet a doppelganger, one of you must surely die, but what's even scarier is that there's no change at all.
If you die, the doppelganger takes your place. And if the doppelganger dies, you have to live the rest of your life alone with a shocking experience that no one will ever believe.
I understand that fear!
Si-hoo just killed that doppelganger!
"Hey! Lee Si-hoo! Snap out of it!"
"Ahk!"
So I immediately grabbed Si-hoo's shoulders hard, looked into his eyes, and yelled!
"Ah, aah...! Geun-cheol?!"
Startled, Si-hoo looked at me!
"You're okay, man!"
"I'm okay?!"
"Yeah! Obviously, it's humiliating! A monster copied your face and transformed with a woman's body!"
"Auuuugh! I hate this!"
His face was past red and about to burst. Based on what I've learned about Si-hoo, the guy absolutely loathes being mistaken for a girl. He has a huge complex about his feminine looks.
So I have to tell him it's fine!
Because this whole thing poked right at Si-hoo's complex!
"Sure, the fact that it turned into a woman's body is a bit much, but this was just an accident."
"A-an accident?"
"Yeah. An accident. So there's no need to worry about it."
"An accident... Right! Yeah! How dare it do that with my face...! And why did it give me a woman's body like that?!"
He really must have been mortified.
But thanks to my consolation, he seemed to have quickly regained his composure.
"What kind of monster does that?! It really drives me crazy! Phew!"
"Good. Are you okay now?"
"Yeah... Haa. I'm a bit better. Still, that was a real shock... But, Geun-cheol."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Si-hoo looked me in the eye and spoke with a serious expression.
"Tell me honestly."
"What?"
"Did you have any weird thoughts?"
"Wh-what the hell, man?! Hey, you shit! Are you crazy?!"
"Huhh?!"
No, this insane bastard!!!
"Hey! No matter how good the body was, come on! I'm not some lunatic, do you really think I'd have weird thoughts when my friend's face is stuck on top of it?!"
That's not my taste!
I'm a guy who likes women, plain and simple!
I've heard there are some unique people in this world who like girly-looking men, but that's a sensibility I will never be able to understand! Girls are girls! Guys are guys!
No matter how much a guy looks like a girl, he's still a guy! I'm saying I'm a normal heterosexual...!
"I seriously didn't have a single one of those thoughts, so quit talking nonsense! I absolutely will never think like that!"
"What, whaaaat?! You never will?! You didn't have a single one of those thoughts?!"
Great reaction.
It seemed Si-hoo was delighted that I said I absolutely wouldn't have weird thoughts. You could tell just by how he asked again with such emphasis.
"Of course, man!"
We're friends!
"But to be completely honest, that body was seriously amazing! I really liked it!"
"Y-you liked the body?!"
"I'll objectively admit that. But man! The face is Lee Si-hoo! For fuck's sake, no matter what body you put on it, if my friend's face is there, how could I have weird thoughts?!"
So powerfully!
I convey my will!
"Whaaaaat?! Geun-cheol, yoooou! What does it matter if the face is Lee Si-hoo?!"
But then Lee Si-hoo suddenly snapped at me. Huh? What's with this reaction? So was I supposed to feel something?
"Wh-what? Lee Si-hoo, what the hell are you saying? How could I have weird thoughts when my friend's face is attached? That's normal, isn't it?"
"N-no! Wait a second, Geun-cheol!"
Si-hoo yelled urgently.
"That's not what I meant...! Ah! You, Geun-cheol! You're talking like my face is super weird-looking!"
Was that it?
"For a second, I thought."
Whoa. But, this fussy bastard, he's worried about that at a time like this? Look at that sensitivity.
"It's just 'cause we're friends, that's all. Shit, if you're weird-looking, then what the hell am I?"
"Hrk."
Objectively, Si-hoo's face is beyond just okay. If you saw him not knowing, you'd think he was a girl. It's just because I know that I don't think anything.
"Anyway, Si-hoo."
Now to the main point.
"I was thinking for a bit, and that thing seems like a monster with the ability to transform into a human. Ever heard of anything like that?"
"Uh, uhh? No. Never heard of it. More importantly, Geun-cheol—"
"Right now that's the important thing, not the other stuff. Si-hoo. That monster from the Otherworld saw you and immediately copied your face. It even turned its body into a woman's. That means..."
Just as I was about to say it,
"Nooo! What are you thinking?!"
"Huh?"
"I keep telling you, I'm a guy, not a girl!"
Who said you weren't?
"Hey. Hey. I know, that's why I'm saying it. Don't worry, there's nothing to misunderstand."
"..."
Si-hoo gave me a weird look. Moving on.
"The monster probably made a mistake. By the monster's standards, it decided you were a girl and built a female body. But that's on the monster, right? Isn't it?"
"That's... yeah. You're right."
Only then did Si-hoo calm down.
"Anyway. It means that thing has some understanding of humans. Si-hoo. What if monsters like that mimic human forms and infiltrate human society?"
"Ah."
Now his face got serious.
"That's dangerous. It's something that can never be tolerated."
"Right?"
Whatever else, Si-hoo is the main character. I have to let him know this kind of essential information. Even if I don't know much about the game, I can still understand and reason about the situation.
A monster transformed into a human infiltrating? Anyone can see that's a dangerous storyline.
Total faculty meeting, for real.
"So even though this slime naked-body incident is a bit much, I think we have to make it public! Si-hoo!"
"M-make it public?!"
"Of course, Si-hoo. I get that it's unpleasant. Naturally. If my face had been stuck on that thing, I'd be thinking the exact same thing."
Kim Geun-cheol's face on a naked, glamorous female body.
That's terrorism on a whole other level. Even if Ryu Cheon-hwi sings the Taliban song every day, that would be a bomb he could never handle. Definitely.
It's a relief it had Lee Si-hoo's face, or I would have fainted. If it had been the face of some other average guy? I'd have passed out already. Like Ken or Brian? That face on a glamorous body? I would've instantly collapsed, crying and wailing for my mom.
"Still, what can you do. If there's an unknown monster, we have to report it. This could genuinely be a huge deal."
"Yeah... okay. You're right about that. A monster that perfectly mimics a person is definitely dangerous. Fine. I'll write up a report on this. Geun-cheol. Is there any of the corpse left around?"
Finally, he's come to his senses.
Right away, I followed Si-hoo's orders and looked for slime remains, but there wasn't a trace. Not a single piece left.
Well, I guess that's why the quest completion popped up.
"There's nothing here."
"Then it can't be helped."
Oh, right!
There's one more thing I have to ask!
"Hey! No, but Si-hoo! What about just now?! That was an incredible output! What the hell was that? Did you awaken some kind of true power? That aura, what is it?!"
"Huh? Aura?"
Si-hoo reacted with a moment's puzzlement.
"Oh yeah!!!"
Only then did he realize, looking at his own hand and shouting.
"I don't know! I have no idea! The power just surged up in an instant...! Geun-cheol! I think I might have just experienced a sudden Breakthrough!"
"Whoa, you bastard! That's awesome! You got so damn strong in a flash!"
Man, I'm so fucking jealous!
Is this because he's the main character?
All I did was a little quest, but this dude went and had a full-blown awakening.