He's a Man, But He Doesn't Have That
With no other options left, I ended up choosing Seo I-eung as my partner.
Among the girls in my class, she was the least stressful choice. We already ate lunch together, after all.
"Alright, let's begin! Sit facing each other on the floor! Yeon-geun!"
At Instructor Suptoto's shout, Seo I-eung and I sat down on the classroom floor across from each other. Naturally, neither of us could meet the other's eyes.
"Kang Hahwi. Want to go first?"
"Yeah."
I lay back with my spine against the floor, then bent my knees upward. Seo I-eung would hold my legs down and keep me steady from here.
I swallowed dryly. My heart had already begun to hammer.
"Hey. I, uh... I need to pin your legs... Is it okay if I touch them...?"
Was she as nervous as I was? A heavy tremor ran through her voice.
"Yeah."
I answered shortly and stole a glance at her face. It had gone bright red, like a ripe tomato. So she was embarrassed about the physical contact too. Fair enough. She put on a tough front, but when it came to guys, she had almost no immunity.
"Th-then I'm grabbing on."
After a moment's hesitation, Seo I-eung scooted her hips closer. Then—
"Hup...!"
She held her breath, turned her head away, and gently wrapped her arms around my legs. Her warmth soaked straight into me.
Unlike my previous life, no hives broke out across my skin. The nausea, though, was still there. My head felt a little light, too. Physical contact with a girl was still dangerous.
I think I'm going to throw up.
I closed my eyes halfway and took a slow breath, trying to settle myself. The one holding me wasn't Seo I-eung. She wasn't a lovely, pretty girl. A Dolhareubang stone grandfather was pinning my legs. With that self-suggestion, I barely managed to keep my fraying mind together.
Just focus on the exercise. Only the exercise...
Once my breathing evened out, I squeezed my eyes shut so I could see nothing at all. I laced my fingers behind my head and curled my torso upward.
"One. Two. Three. Four..."
Seo I-eung counted.
"Ten. Fifteen. Eighteen..."
Her voice drew near, then receded, over and over. When the count hit twenty and I was lowering my upper body only to lift it again—
Slap.
Something soft pressed against my back. It felt almost like an animal's paw pad...
"Kang Hahwi! Get higher!"
Whoosh!
A powerful shove forced my torso all the way up. My eyes flew open in shock.
"Uh..."
If either of us so much as tilted our heads, our lips would have met. Seo I-eung's face, flooded with panic, filled my vision.
"......"
"Ugh..."
Her ragged breath brushed across my face. A headache surged in. My mind started to go hazy. My breathing turned shallow, and I was certain I was about to black out when—
"What the hell are you two doing? Yeon-geun."
Instructor Suptoto pulled our faces apart.
"Do not make out in my sacred classroom. Not unless you're planning to include me."
...That saved me. I had nearly died. I had just scraped past the greatest crisis of my life.
"I-I think our lips just touched... or maybe not..."
Seo I-eung muttered to herself, slowly tracing her own lips with a fingertip.
Our lips had touched?
I rewound the memory. For the briefest instant, something had brushed my mouth.
When I sat up so suddenly, we might have grazed a little...
I shook my head and forced the thought away. No. It hadn't been her lips. It must have been her chin. I denied reality with everything I had. If I accepted the truth straight on, I would pass out on the spot.
"Um... Kang Hahwi, sorry..."
Seo I-eung apologized with the face of someone who had committed a capital crime. She hadn't done anything wrong. She had stayed perfectly still; I was the one who had jerked upright. If anyone should apologize, it was me. No—it was that damn Instructor Suptoto.
"Yeon-geun?"
I swallowed the urge to confiscate Suptoto's carrot and answered,
"It's fine."
After accepting her apology, I lay back down again. Then, pretending nothing had happened, I continued the sit-ups. I thrashed my body hard, trying to erase every last scrap of what had just occurred.
I couldn't be certain, but it seemed no one had witnessed what happened between Seo I-eung and me. If someone had seen it, the whole room would have exploded. No one had the spare attention anyway; everyone was busy with their own sit-ups. In the end the whole incident simply faded away without fanfare.
"Next we will perform push-ups! Everyone find a spot and get into position! Yeon-geun!"
Seo I-eung and I stood well apart. Push-ups were a solo exercise; we no longer needed partners.
It's been a while since I did push-ups.
The students all planted their hands on the floor and dropped into position. I found my own spot and did the same. At that moment Instructor Suptoto came toddling over on quick little steps, then lowered her voice as far as it would go.
"Kang Hahwi."
"Yes?"
She dropped her voice even further, glancing around to make sure the other students weren't looking.
"I've been wondering since earlier. Why do you turn into a mute who swallowed honey the second you're in the classroom? Back in the faculty office you talked just fine."
Why was she asking me this now? She clearly had enough social awareness to whisper and check the surroundings, so she could at least pick a better time and place.
"...I'll tell you later."
"Yeon-geun. Understood. There must be a reason it's hard to talk about. I'm the type who can't stand unanswered questions, so I apologize."
Instructor Suptoto left. Right after, a girl came over and set up right beside me. An exotic-looking beauty. Isabella Chambers, if I remembered right. During introductions she had said she was from Britain. She was the only white student in our class, so she stuck in my mind.
"Tch."
What was that? Isabella had just clicked her tongue while looking straight at me. I had no idea why. Did she not like me? Anyone watching would think I had done something wrong.
Isabella dropped into push-up position, then turned her head and shot me a blazing stare. The intensity made me look away at once, but in that brief flash I saw pure competitive fire.
Why? I genuinely had no clue. Maybe she was a little unwell in the head.
"Yeon-geun! Everyone is down! Begin push-ups!"
At Instructor Suptoto's command the push-ups started. There was no time limit; we were told to go until we hit our own limits. And my count reached 225. In my previous world I never would have dreamed of that number. The body the Transcendent had given me really was something else.
I finished, brushed off my hands, and stood. That was when a grinding sound came from beside me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Isabella's face twisted tight as she glared at me. Judging by the reaction, I had clearly won. That was the face of pure defeat.
She didn't use mana, huh. If she wanted to win that badly she could have just used it like the other girls... She would have beaten me easily.
Next came pull-ups. Isabella wordlessly poured the same fierce competitive energy at me again. I still had no idea why she was treating this like a match, but—
"Urrgh...!"
—I won this round too. I hadn't even counted her reps, but the bitter, frustrated look on her face told me everything. If she had won she would have been smiling.
Seriously, if you want to win that badly, just use mana...
Isabella never used mana the entire time. If she had drawn it out, a man like me would have been easy to beat—except for monsters like Jang Mugeon over there churning out thousands of reps, of course.
Maybe she held back because she knew I can't use mana, so she matched me?
That seemed likely. No way she used mana and still lost to a guy. That would be ridiculous. Someone aiming to become a hunter couldn't possibly be that low-level...
"Whoa. Kang Hahwi just did a hundred and twenty pull-ups."
"Ah, damn. I lost to a guy. And I even used mana."
"Just go die already."
...Apparently some people were that low-level. This academy was a lot weaker than I had thought.
Isabella glared daggers at me, then her face crumpled and she fled to the far end of the classroom. I had no idea what her deal was. Staying far away from her looked like the smart move.
The academy had bathhouses. In a place overflowing with paid facilities, the baths were one of the few free amenities. And right now we were standing in front of them. Class was still technically in session, but Instructor Suptoto had decided the classroom might start smelling of sweat, so she ordered us to go wash.
"Kang Hahwi, you don't need to wash. Carrot."
"Yeon-geun. Your sweat smells fragrant."
I ignored the nonsense from the rabbits beside me and entered the men's bath with the other male students.
"There aren't many guys, but they built this bath really huge."
"I like it."
The tattooed male student and Jang Mugeon looked around the bathhouse with satisfied expressions. Only the three of us were inside. It felt like we had rented the whole place out.
"Well then, shall we wash combat-style."
Riiip—!
Jang Mugeon savagely tore his shirt open. Wait, why tear it...? When the tattooed guy and I both stared in disbelief, Jang Mugeon noticed our gazes and explained,
"Ah. I brought spare clothes, so there is no need for concern."
That still didn't answer why he had ripped the clothes. I wanted to ask, but we weren't close enough yet, so I let it go. He must have had his reasons.
Next Jang Mugeon yanked his pants off in one motion, then dropped his underwear as well.
At least he didn't tear the pants and underwear.
I pulled my gaze away from him and was about to start undressing myself when—
...Hold on.
Something felt off. Just now, hadn't it been missing...?
I slowly turned my head and checked Jang Mugeon's lower half again.
What the hell. He's insane.
I hadn't imagined it. The thing that should have been hanging there... simply wasn't. The most precious, most important part of a man's body was gone.