Small-Winged Angel
A moon dyed crimson.
A desolate wasteland.
And monsters drifting aimlessly across it.
The instant we stepped through the booth, another world unfurled before us. Illusion magic, it seemed, could warp even space itself.
“Hey, Kang Hahwi. Tell me your account number later. I’ll send you a hundred thousand won.”
Seo I-eung, who had followed me in, sidled up close as she spoke.
A little too close.
Please don’t stick to me.
I put a bit more distance between us before answering.
“No need. You bought lunch.”
“Come on, the lunchbox barely cost anything…”
Going Dutch wasn’t a bad idea. But I refused firmly. I had already swatted her hand away and paid in her place; asking to split the bill now would just look ridiculous.
“…Well, thanks anyway. This is the first time a guy’s ever spent money on me.”
The first time a man had paid for her.
In my previous world, that line would have been shocking. Wolfish guys constantly hitting on her, gifts pouring in day and night—that would have been ordinary for someone as strikingly beautiful as Seo I-eung. In a world where beautiful girls were everywhere, though, the statement made perfect sense.
“Uh… just checking, but you’re not offended when a girl pays for you, right?”
She asked carefully. This time it wasn’t a misunderstanding. My trauma did make it unpleasant to a degree. Of course, I didn’t answer honestly.
“I’m not offended.”
No need to pile more bad impressions onto myself. I already hated the “loner” label; I definitely didn’t want “misogynist” stamped on me as well. Even if I was afraid of women right now… someday I would overcome my female phobia and be able to laugh and chat casually with beautiful girls. Absolutely.
“So you’re just the type who thinks if you receive something, you have to give something back?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re the kind who hates freeloading, huh.”
As we talked, Seo I-eung closed the gap even further. This was way too close—close enough that my face darkened. The pressure finally broke me; I sidestepped to put distance between us again.
“Ah. Did I get too close? Sorry…”
“It’s fine.”
“……”
“……”
Since she had apologized, something I needed to apologize for came to mind as well.
“I’m sorry too.”
“Huh…? For what?”
“For swatting your hand away earlier.”
“Oh, that? I didn’t really mind, so it’s okay.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah.”
“……”
“……”
The atmosphere turned awkward once more.
“Kieeeek!”
A spine-chilling screech rang out. I turned my head and saw a monster in the distance charging toward us with a racket.
A humanoid shape. Rotting flesh. A walking corpse.
Its official name: ghoul. An F-grade monster.
Ugh…
This was only the second time I’d seen a monster in person, though I’d encountered plenty online. I’d even seen photos of ghouls before.
It looks even more grotesque in real life.
Like human women, monsters could wield mana. That didn’t mean every one of them became a beautiful girl, though. From the photos, a lot of them looked disgusting. Of course, there were also humanoid monsters who were beautiful girls and animal-type monsters that were cute. Even after adapting to mana, each species evolved differently in appearance: humans always beautiful, ghouls always hideous, Professor Santoto’s species always adorable—that sort of thing.
“Kieeeek!!!”
The ghoul was already close. With body control that belied its corpse-like form, it leapt high into the air.
“Something that weak has no business picking a fight.”
Seo I-eung snorted and stretched out her right arm. In an instant the arm swelled massively and transformed. A huge limb covered in dark fur, thick heavy pads, five iron-hard claws jutting sharply—a bear’s arm.
“Kieek!”
The ghoul came diving from above. Seo I-eung casually swung that thick arm at it,
Whump—!
and the ghoul’s upper body burst like a popped balloon.
Whoa, that’s insane…
I marveled inwardly. Her confidence hadn’t been empty after all. She was far stronger than I’d imagined.
Come to think of it, she said she uses magic that transforms her into animals.
Partial transformation… or rather, transformation of specific body parts was possible too, apparently.
“As expected, F-grade dungeons are boring.”
Seo I-eung returned her arm to normal and looked at me.
“Kang Hahwi. You take one down too. You paid good money to get in—you’re not just going to stand there and watch, are you?”
“Okay.”
I nodded. It was a little scary, but a hunter who flinched at mere F-grade monsters would never make it. I had to force myself to be brave.
I briefly compared Seo I-eung and the ghoul in my head, imagining I had to fight one of them.
Still, a monster is less scary than a beautiful girl.
Between fighting Seo I-eung or a ghoul, the ghoul was the obvious choice. I overcame fear with a greater fear.
Let’s do this.
I steadied myself and sat down, then slowly closed my eyes.
“What are you doing? Why’d you suddenly plop down?”
“I need to concentrate.”
“Concentrate? Ah, right—your Shinbi is transformation, isn’t it? You’re not used to the ability yet, so it takes a lot of focus.”
Just as she said, I still wasn’t familiar with my power. Transforming required intense concentration.
“How long does the transformation take?”
“About three minutes.”
“That’s forever.”
I had already shortened it quite a bit. At first it had taken a full hour. Three minutes was the hard-won result of bloody practice.
Well, she’s not wrong. Even shortened, it still takes a long time.
I knew that. Unlike in comics, no enemy in the real world was going to politely wait around for a transformation sequence. Still, I didn’t despair. If I kept grinding endlessly, the day would come when I could transform in an instant like Seo I-eung without even concentrating. I had no idea when that would be, but…
…First, clear out the stray thoughts. Time to transform.
I emptied my mind and focused my spirit—to become an angel.
When I first gained this new body, I instinctively knew: I possessed a Shinbi—the power to transform into an angel. How to put it? It felt as if the information had been engraved directly onto my soul. On top of that, the moment I took angel form I naturally understood what powers I could currently wield and how I could grow stronger. I even knew how to gauge strength. Wing size, or the number of wings—those let me roughly measure an angel’s power.
And my wings? A mere single pair, each no bigger than a sparrow’s. Flight was still impossible. I was basically a defective angel.
I woke from my meditation and slowly rose to my feet, then lowered my gaze to look over my body.
No shirt—just pure white cloth trousers. No shoes either. My short hair had grown long and cascading; the black had turned to silver-white. My eye level was higher, too. I had gotten taller.
Looks like the transformation worked properly.
For reference, my face had gotten even more handsome. When I’d checked in the mirror at home, I’d looked three or four times better than usual. Subjective as that might be, just looking at me gave the overwhelming impression that I wasn’t human—even though the basic facial structure was the same.
Anyway. One last check remained. I twisted my head as far as it would go to inspect my back. The wings didn’t enter my field of vision. Not because they were gone—because they were simply too small. Without a mirror they were impossible to confirm.
I was hoping they might have gotten bigger, but no chance.
Nothing had changed from the last time I transformed. Check complete. As I turned my head back forward—
“That look is dangerous…”
Seo I-eung’s mutter reached me. Her voice was so quiet I barely caught it. I looked straight at her face and tilted my head in confusion.
“……”
The moment our eyes met, her cheeks flushed crimson and she became violently flustered.
Why was she acting like that? Because I wasn’t wearing a shirt? That was unexpected. Even in this world, a guy taking his top off was completely ordinary. If she was blushing over something this mild, she apparently had less immunity to the male body than I’d thought.
“…W-wait, so when you transform you always end up looking that perverted?”
She stammered. Just as I’d guessed—my bare torso was making her uncomfortable. Calling it perverted was a bit harsh, though. Someone listening might think I’d transformed into a flasher.
I simply nodded in reply.
“No, seriously, why are you shirtless…?”
“Because of the wings.”
“…Wings?”
“This form is an angel.”
I turned my back to her. That should let her see the dainty pair of wings. I focused and gave them a little flutter.
Flap-flap.
“……”
No particular reaction came back. Embarrassed, I turned around again. While I was staring straight at Seo I-eung’s face—
Wait… what’s going on? I feel completely fine.
I realized it late. Right now I was looking Seo I-eung dead in the eyes. No tension. No fear. No queasy stomach, no spinning head. On top of that, her gaze locked onto me didn’t feel burdensome in the slightest.
What’s happening? Does angel mode strengthen my mental fortitude enough that the trauma goes into immunity?
That seemed the most likely. There was no way the trauma had suddenly been cured out of nowhere.
Come to think of it, I’ve never once run into a woman while in this state…
How much better had it gotten? Did the female phobia vanish entirely when I became an angel? I wanted to check right now. And luckily, I had a perfect test subject.
“More than that, you got crazy tall… Your face is… mmm…”
Time to experiment on Seo I-eung over there. Could I handle being this close to a beautiful girl?
One step.
Two steps.
I walked slowly toward where she stood.
“W-what? Why are you coming closer…?”
She started backing away. Why was she running? Was my current appearance that overwhelming? I didn’t know the reason, but I couldn’t let her escape, so I picked up the pace.
“Why are you coming at me…?!”
While she kept retreating, a tall boulder blocked her path. Thanks to that, I finally reached her.
“……”
“……”
The distance was tiny. Close enough that our noses might touch.
“Why are you suddenly doing this…? You said you hate sticking close to girls…”
I wordlessly stared straight into her light-brown eyes. Yet my heart didn’t pound. No trauma, and looking at Seo I-eung stirred no emotion at all. It was fascinating—like staring at a rock. I could stand right in front of a beautiful girl and still be perfectly fine.
“At least explain why you’re doing this…”
Her gaze wavered. Now she was the one who couldn’t properly meet my eyes. Our positions had completely reversed.
Anyway. The check was done; time to apologize. I hadn’t had any weird intentions—I’d just wanted to confirm something. I was about to say that and apologize when—
“Uuuu…”
Bright red blood began trickling down. The source was Seo I-eung’s nose.
“Wh-what? A nosebleed? Are you okay?”
“Aaaugh…”
Her eyes lost focus,
Thud!
and she collapsed on the spot, out cold.