Stuck Like This Forever?!
The woman on the other side of the peephole.
Click—!
The instant I saw her, I threw the door open. She stood there in a hanbok top, tailored slacks, and heels, a suit jacket draped over her shoulders.
"Y-you...!"
I froze in the open doorway, so flustered I couldn't get a word out, just opening and closing my mouth.
"It's been so looong!!"
Arms flung wide, she beamed and came crashing into me with that heavy chest of hers. The things jutting out in front of her were far too threatening.
"Kya— kyaaah!!"
The sudden hug wrung a scream out of me before I could stop it — and a terribly delicate one, at that.
"Kyaaah, huh...? So you've really become a girl now...?"
"N-no! Th-that's not—"
"Nnngh...! You're too cute!"
She squeezed me tight and started rubbing her face all over mine.
"Let go...!"
"It's been so long. You're really going to be this cold with me?"
...And she didn't even loosen her arms.
"Who ran off first, huh...?!"
I shoved at her with everything I had, but of course it was useless. With this frail, feeble body, I didn't have a prayer of pushing away someone who'd surpassed S-Rank and reached the realm of a Transcendent.
"Mint-colored hair? Did you dye it? Even the tail is all mint."
Her hand stroked through my hair. When she reached for my tail, I hurriedly tucked it down and hid it.
"...I took the wrong potion."
"Hehe. Who knew you'd get this cute in just three months."
Why is she licking her lips like that...?
"W-why are you looking at me like that? It's creeping me out."
"Hmm? What did I do?"
She tilted her head, playing innocent, as if she had no idea.
"You just licked your lips! I saw you!"
Her eyes were off, too — she was looking at me, but it felt like she was seeing something else entirely.
"Aww, no way. It's not like I'd strip you down and do something—"
......?
Did I hear that wrong...?
"...What?"
"Ah. Slip of the tongue."
That was no slip. Even as a joke, those words were terrifying. I needed to get out of her arms — fast. She wouldn't actually strip me, but I might still end up subjected to something just as bad.
"Let go of me, you pervert!"
"It's a joke...! A joke... um..."
"You— what are you thinking about me now?!"
She'd just trailed off mid-sentence this time!
I shoved her away with everything I had.
"I said let go...!"
"Ahem. Fine, fine."
She finally released the arms that had been pinning me. I immediately put some distance between us, then crossed both arms over my chest to shield myself.
"...Don't come any closer."
"So cold..."
"Think about what you just did!"
We hadn't seen each other in ages, and this was how it went?! In front of the last person I wanted to see me like this...
"Okay... I'll reflect on it. Won't you forgive me?"
"What kind of reflection lasts less than a second..."
She'd always been like this. Always messing with me, shaking me up, then making it impossible to stay mad at her.
...Given how I look right now, I don't even want to pretend to forgive her.
She looked at me with a subdued face, as if she were genuinely sorry. I caught the faint lift at the corner of her mouth, so I knew it was an act, but... how could I not forgive her? I owed her far too much.
"Haa... Fine. Just take your shoes off and come in."
"Okay! See, I knew it. There's no one like our Sihyeon~"
At my words, her face lit up in an instant. She kicked off her shoes and stepped inside.
"It's been a while since I've been here, too~"
She casually slipped a hand onto my shoulder.
"Where the hell have you been for three months?"
Instead of calling her out on the gesture, I asked her that.
"Mm... I had some business. On the Riana Continent, actually."
"Why there?"
"It's a seeecret. A woman who tells you everything isn't attractive, you know."
...A secret, huh.
At that, I gave up on getting an answer. Whenever she said the word "secret," her face had always looked sad. She was walking ahead of me now, so I couldn't see her expression — but through the voice she was putting on so brightly, a faint tremor she couldn't quite hide still came through.
"...Yeah. Forget it."
Well, maybe she'd just wanted to go somewhere for three months. Whatever she'd been doing there, she looked fine, and that was a relief.
We walked down the short hallway. Once we reached the living room, I turned to her.
"Alright then. How about you undo this?"
The biggest reason I'd been looking for her: I needed to become a man again.
"Hmm? Undo what?"
She tilted her head as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
"What do you mean, 'what'? You're the one who left me like this!"
"Ah, that? Um, ahaha..."
All of a sudden, she let out an awkward laugh.
"Why... why are you laughing like that? It's making me nervous."
For someone always overflowing with confidence to look away and laugh like that...
"Don't tell me..."
"Weeell, you see...? I-I think I got a little carried away back then..."
"...And?"
"That... I can't undo it either..."
......?
What?
"...I-I misheard that, right?"
There was something wrong with my ears. Can't undo it? I must have dosed myself with too many potions. I was hallucinating.
"Ahaha, well... the Authority I used back then is still sitting on you, I guess..."
The news that came out of her mouth was staggering.
"You used an Authority on me...?!"
Authority. The crystallization of a Transcendent's power, distilled and forged from their own strength. Within the domain they had transcended, it could wield godlike, absolute force — or impose their own laws upon another person. In short, it was an EX-rank skill a Transcendent had created themselves.
EX-rank: the grade assigned to things that fall outside the system's scale. Meaning even the System couldn't properly rank an Authority.
"...Then just reclaim it right now—"
"About that...? I already tried three months ago... and it didn't work."
The creator of an Authority couldn't reclaim it...? That didn't make any sense. An Authority was a fragment of a Transcendent's own being. Normally, if you could grant one to someone else, you could take it back.
"...What?"
"Back then... I made it completely customized for you..."
What the hell was she talking about... She'd split off her own power to create an Authority whose sole purpose was to turn me into a woman?
"Why would you even...?"
"Weeell... I was pretty drunk at the time, you know? So I thought... if you were a girl, I could hug you even more..."
...Has she lost her mind?
Even if it was "because I was drunk," there are things you do and things you absolutely do not.
"You hugged me just fine when I was a guy! What were you even thinking?!"
Irritation boiled up in my head. She'd done this to me for a reason that stupid?
"Th-that's a little different..."
Faced with my anger, she didn't know what to do with herself. But that didn't matter to me right now.
"You— you...!"
I couldn't control my emotions. The rage rising from inside flushed my face red and made my eyes burn. Tears spilled from my burning eyes, as big as the anger itself.
"Do you have any idea... how much I've..."
Looking panicked, she dropped to her knees in front of me, matching my eye level. Her hands hovered helplessly in the air, grasping at nothing.
"I-I'm sorry...."
"Don't apologize! How am I supposed to live like this from now on...?!"
I'd spent my life tucked away doing alchemy, but that didn't mean I never went outside. After becoming like this, though, I couldn't do a thing. With a body this much weaker and smaller, I could barely get around, let alone drive.
"Even as a prank, this is way too far!"
One of her jokes had demolished my entire daily life. For three months, I hadn't been able to properly see my comrades or my disciples. Some people had come by out of worry, but I'd sent most of them away. I couldn't let anyone see me like this.
"...I'm sorry."
"I said don't apologize!"
I'd never been able to hate her — but this time was different.
"Hic... hh..."
My emotions wouldn't listen to me. Ever since I'd changed into this body, I couldn't easily hold back these impulses.
"...I'm truly sorry."
I would rather have died than let her see me crying so pathetically.
"Hic... g-go away..."
"I won't make excuses... You can hate me as much as you want."
Her expression came into focus — worry, apology, and something tender and aching, all mixed together.
"I'll take responsibility, no matter what it takes."
"...How... hic... how are you even going to take responsibility?"
The spell she'd put on me — no, the Authority — had already left her hands. It had fully settled inside me, locking me in place as a woman. Even she couldn't remove it, and slapping on a new spell wouldn't undo it either.
"...I'll keep you with me for the rest of my life."
......
...What?
"What... are you even—"
"From now on, I'll live by your side for the rest of my life. I'll stay with you."
...What was she saying all of a sudden.
The absurd declaration that had just come out of her mouth stopped my crying cold. A joke. Right. This was a joke. She was kidding, like she always did. She just didn't have a grip on the situation and was saying whatever came to mind.
"You... you said you were sorry, and now you're joking again?!"
"No. I'm serious."
Her expression was grave. The smile she always wore was gone. This was the face of someone who'd made a decision. She took my hand — the one that was still dripping with tears.
"......?!"
What the hell was she talking about...?