A Cooking Broadcast Might Actually Work
A special dish made by an Awakener from the school cafeteria... I wondered what would happen if other Awakeners ate it. Would it affect regular people too? What about someone who was sick? Since I didn't know any Awakeners personally, there was no way to test it. I'd become an Awakener myself, but I had zero interest in stepping foot inside a dungeon or tower. I was a total coward! Besides, I wasn't even a combat class! The last thing I wanted was to get hurt.
Then my eyes landed on the webcam sitting on my desk. I'd bought it after hearing that game streamers made bank, only to turn it on three times before abandoning the whole idea. A painful reminder of money wasted. But now?
“...A cooking broadcast...?”
It didn't seem half bad. An Awakener with top-tier cooking skills. On top of that, a white-haired beauty. If someone like that started streaming on the internet...
“It might actually do well.”
I muttered it without thinking, then shook my head.
“No way. What broadcast?”
I'd become an Awakener, so I needed to complete my registration. But the most urgent thing right now was getting to school. The question was what to do about clothes.
I looked down at myself.
“....”
I had to solve this first. I walked to the closet and opened the door. The closet had completely changed. Most of my old men's clothes had vanished, replaced by women's outfits. Knits, blouses, skirts, jeans, dresses—the works.
“There's so much...”
I opened a drawer. Underwear. I quietly closed it again.
“...Ha.”
The System could really go this far. I flopped onto the bed. My white hair spilled over my shoulder. When I ran my fingers through it, the strands felt like silk.
“For now...”
I let out a deep sigh.
“Let's wash up.”
I was already late, but I still had to go to school. The Awakener registration could wait. And my part-time job... Oh. My part-time job! I suddenly remembered I was supposed to cover the night shift at the convenience store this evening.
I checked my phone. There was a message waiting in the part-time job group chat.
This stuff hadn't changed at all. I let out a small laugh. Well, if this was how things were now, I might as well enjoy it!
I picked up my phone and replied in the group chat, then set it down.
Time to wash up.
Is this for real?!
After I finished washing up and looked at myself in the mirror, I froze. I'd thought I looked pretty this morning, but after a shower it was on another level. The wet white hair clung to my shoulders and back, my skin was porcelain pale, and my lashes were long and glistening with moisture. And I was completely naked. It felt like I was seeing something I shouldn't. It still didn't feel like my body. I couldn't get used to it.
I roughly toweled my hair and grabbed the hair dryer. The problem was how long it was. Back when I was a guy, two or three minutes was enough. Now ten minutes passed and it was still damp. So this was what women dealt with every day...? I felt a spark of genuine respect.
In the end I sat down in a chair and spent a long time drying it. Since going to school with wet hair would be annoying, I decided to tie it up. After rummaging through the closet drawers I found a hair tie and attempted my first ponytail. It took several failed tries before I managed something decent.
“Ugh... why does it keep coming out weird!”
Now came the clothes. I opened the drawer again and stared at the underwear. Delicate matching sets, light and airy.
“They really expect me to wear this...?”
What choice did I have? I had to wear something if I wanted to leave the house. I grabbed a set, squeezed my eyes shut, and stepped into it. For the top, I looked up a tutorial on my phone and somehow managed. Pushing down the wave of embarrassment, I looked at the rest of the clothes. Knits, blouses, skirts, dresses. There was no way I had the courage to go outside in any of those.
In the end I put on a black long-sleeved t-shirt, gray sweatpants, and a thin gray zip-up hoodie.
“This should be fine...”
I checked the mirror. Yeah... it really wasn't. The clothes were ordinary. The problem was the person wearing them. Snow-white hair and a strikingly beautiful face.
“A hat...”
I quickly searched for one. Luckily there was a black ball cap. Even pulled down low it didn't completely hide my white hair, but it helped. I added a mask for good measure. Only then did I feel somewhat presentable. A lot was covered now.
Finally I grabbed my bag.
“Let's go.”
I headed to the front door. The shoe cabinet had changed too. Sneakers, loafers, flats, low-heeled boots... The System was seriously impressive. It had changed everything. I slipped on a pair of comfortable white sneakers and opened the front door. My heart pounded in my ears. It was scary. The thought of stepping out in front of people looking like this.
“Hoo... It'll be fine... What could happen?”
I kept my head down as I left the house. Outside everything looked the same as always. The one thing that was different was my sense of smell. Exhaust from cars, the savory aroma from a bakery, the rich scent of coffee someone carried past, the spicy smell of tteokbokki from the snack stall beside the bus stop.
“Ugh...”
I was even wearing a mask, but the smells were so vivid. Sensory Correction. Was there a way to turn this off? It seemed like a great ability, but in daily life this level of sensitivity was honestly painful.
The bus arrived. I got on and tapped my card. Usually there were plenty of empty seats, but because I was running late the bus was packed. I grabbed a handrail and stood. A few stops later, a middle-aged man sitting in front of me glanced at me, then stood up.
“Please, take my seat.”
“...Huh? No, it's okay.”
“You remind me of my daughter. And I'm getting off soon anyway.”
The man smiled gently as he stood. I bowed my head awkwardly.
“Thank you...”
I sat in the offered seat, feeling strangely guilty. I was just an ordinary college student... Had I ever been given a seat like this before? Not once in my entire life.
Maybe because of what just happened, I started noticing the stares around me. Especially the two male students standing nearby. They kept sneaking glances and whispering. Thanks to my enhanced senses, I could hear every word clearly.
“Dude, did you see her?”
“She's insanely pretty... Is she an idol trainee?”
“For real. Even just her eyes are beautiful.”
I pretended not to hear, pulled my cap down lower, and stared out the window. My cheeks and ears burned. Thank god for the mask. When the bus finally stopped, I hurried off.
I passed through the school gate I saw every day and entered the classroom. Several classmates spotted me and waved.
“Hayan! Over here!”
So they really were calling me Hayan now. I awkwardly raised my hand in greeting.
“...Hey.”
The moment I sat down, my classmate Park Minji next to me stared intently at my face. Back when I was a guy we'd grabbed drinks together, but she'd treated me like any other male classmate. Now though...
“Why do you look so drained today?”
“Uh... do I? I didn't sleep much...”
“You stayed up gaming all night again, didn't you? You're always up until dawn playing games.”
She reached over and pressed her hand to my forehead. We hadn't been close enough to share hobbies like that before. It seemed that in this new reality, the female version of me was best friends with Minji. Not a bad change, actually.
“Go to bed earlier. And make sure you eat properly.”
“Are you my mom? Why are you worrying about that stuff...”
I could respond comfortably now. Just then, the sound of the door opening came from behind us. It was Minjae.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
A brief silence fell.
“...You good?”
“...? About what?”
“You missed the first class again. But I got the proxy attendance done.”
“Ah. Thanks. Something came up this morning... I'll buy you a meal later.”
“Deal. I'm picking something expensive, okay?”
“As long as it's not crazy expensive.”
“Nice~”
Minjae sat down next to another male classmate after hearing my answer.
“...Is there something going on with you and Minjae?”
Minji, who had been listening, asked with a teasing grin.
“What? No. I have the first class with him, and I asked him to mark me present because something came up.”
“Hmm... Not a situationship?”
“Cough—cough!! What?!”
My expression froze instantly. A situationship? Me? With a guy? Even if it was Minji, that was crossing the line. I looked at her and spoke firmly.
“Don't say stuff like that again. There's nothing like that.”
“...Was the joke too much? Sorry if I upset you. Hehe...”
I thought I saw the corner of her mouth twitch upward, but I let it slide. The professor entered, and class began.
After sitting through another painfully boring lecture, it was finally lunch time. I closed my laptop and started packing up when Minji grabbed my arm.
“You're eating at the school cafeteria, right?”
“Uh? Yeah...”
“Then let's go!”
I'd actually wanted some time alone, but I'd missed my chance to refuse. In the end the two of us headed to the student dining hall. Today's menu was spicy pork rice bowls. We grabbed trays, got our food, and found seats.
I took a spoonful. Normally I would have thought it was decent for cafeteria food. But now all the flaws stood out sharply. The meat had been stir-fried too long and carried a slight burnt taste from the seasoning. The rice was dry. The miyeok soup that came with it was heavy on the MSG. It wasn't bad, exactly... but I kept thinking my own version would taste much better.
As I was mentally critiquing the food, Minji spoke up beside me.
“Why aren't you eating?”
“Huh? Oh... I am.”
“Does it taste bad?”
“No... It's just. A little disappointing, I guess.”
I took another bite of the pork rice bowl.
“Really? I think it's good. But Hayan, that face you're making right now is exactly like a cooking show judge.”
“...Is it?”
“Yeah. You look just like Ahn Sung-jae evaluating school cafeteria food.”
I choked on my water.
“Cough—cough!!”
Minji giggled.
“Anyway, you like cooking, right? Why don't you do a cooking broadcast or something?”
“A cooking broadcast?”
“Yeah. You're pretty and you cook well, don't you? I think it'd do great.”
“You think so?”
“Right now the internet is flooded with Awakener content. Dungeon vlogs, people saying they're going to clear this or that. But if you did cooking content in the middle of all that? It'd be a total blue ocean.”
I silently poked at my rice. I'd thought about it this morning too, but hearing it from Minji made the idea feel more tempting. Was I that easily swayed?
“I'll think about it.”
“So you're considering it? If you do it, let me know. I'll be your first subscriber.”
“Got it.”
After we finished eating, I attended the last class with Minji. She must have matched her schedule to mine. At four-thirty I packed my bag and stood up.
“Heading straight to your part-time job?” Minji asked.
“Yeah. My shift starts at six.”
“What about dinner? You'll be hungry.”
“I'll grab something there.”
“Convenience store food again? You didn't even like the cafeteria, yet you always eat convenience store stuff.”
“I don't always eat it. And it's cheap. Plus I got coupons from an event.”
“Suddenly so realistic,” she laughed.
I chuckled too. No matter how much I'd changed, being broke was still the same.
...Should I really start streaming?