A Brand-New World

Because my checkup was scheduled for the morning, I found myself subjected to the hellish rush-hour subway once again. And just like before, I spent the entire ride clinging to my sister like a cicada to a tree.

"We apologize, but guardians must wait in this area."

This was a completely different wing from the one we visited last time. More importantly, it was a specialized ward that only male patients were permitted to enter.

"I'll be waiting right here," Yeoeun said.

"Okay. I'll be right back."

"If I'm not here when you're done, call me immediately. Don't go wandering off on your own like last time, understand?"

"Got it."

After enduring another round of her earnest nagging, I passed through the security door guarded by an imposing female security guard. The interior was remarkably quiet, practically desolate.

"Welcome. May I have your name, please?"

"Noh Jungseo."

"Yes, Mr. Noh Jungseo... Please fill out only the highlighted sections here."

There was no need to even draw a queue ticket. As I began filling out the questionnaire handed to me by the receptionist, a rather peculiar item at the very bottom caught my eye.

Sperm donation consent equals free checkup?

Naturally, the word 'free' grabbed my attention first. I read through the fine print beneath it. It explained that in exchange for consenting, the hospital would conduct screenings for various male reproductive ailments at no charge and entirely waive the fee for the checkup I was scheduled to receive today.

"Mr. Noh Jungseo... Oh! You consented to donate sperm."

"Yes. That makes the entire examination free, right?"

"Yes, that is correct. However, there are a few important notices we must go over."

When I handed the completed form back, the receptionist stared at me with wide, astonished eyes. She quickly cleared her throat and continued.

"First and foremost, please be advised that the donated sperm will be used strictly for research purposes."

She explained that my sample would be utilized exclusively for an ongoing research project within the hospital, emphasizing repeatedly that it would never, under any circumstances, be used for artificial insemination or fertilization procedures. Even though every single word was explicitly detailed on the paper, she took the care to explain it verbally once more.

"The only issue is... the attending physician currently on duty is a female doctor. Would you prefer us to reschedule your appointment for another day?"

"No. I'd like to proceed today."

"Understood. Then we will complete your scheduled examinations first, after which our staff will guide you accordingly."

"Thank you."

True to their word, there was no payment process whatsoever. Every examination proceeded seamlessly from one to the next without a moment's delay. They weren't exaggerating when they called it a male-only ward; with barely any other patients around, it felt as though I had rented out the entire facility just for myself.

Having finished the standard examinations, I was guided to a secluded consultation room tucked away in the back corner of the wing. After a short wait, the door clicked open, and a woman clad in a crisp white doctor's coat walked in.

"Hello. I am Jo Ihyeon, specialist in andrology."

"Hello. My name is Noh Jungseo."

She appeared to be in her early thirties. Her hair was pulled back into a sleek, tidy ponytail, and her subtle makeup accentuated an impeccably sharp, intellectual beauty. Her eyes shone with an acute, captivating brilliance.

"First of all, thank you so very much for consenting to donate your sample."

"Of course."

"The objective of our research lies in hormone induction to enhance sperm motility. Now then..."

After delivering a concise overview of her research, Jo Ihyeon set a small plastic specimen cup on the desk before me.

"There is specialized equipment prepared in the adjoining room. Detailed instructions are posted inside, so please read them carefully and collect your semen in this cup."

"Understood."

"I will step out into the hallway and return in thirty minutes. If you find you need additional recovery time, please feel free to use the wall-mounted intercom."

Thirty minutes seemed like a remarkably generous amount of time. Having delivered all necessary instructions, the doctor rose from her seat to leave.

"Doctor. Do you happen to have a moment?"

"Pardon? Is there something you need...?"

"There were just a few things I was curious about."

I called out to stop her. While browsing the internet over the past few days, I had encountered several cultural and physiological details that didn't quite make sense. Since I had a certified specialist sitting right in front of me, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to hear a definitive explanation—provided she had the time to spare.

"Ah, by all means."

Jo Ihyeon turned back and resumed her seat across from me.

"You mentioned that the research focuses on hormone induction."

"Yes."

"I was wondering what specific hormone you're referring to, and why that hormone is so necessary."

"Ah... so you're curious about the fundamental rationale behind the research."

The rigid, professional mask she had maintained dissolved into a bright, pleasant smile. My inquiry seemed to genuinely delight her.

"Well... this isn't common knowledge among the general public. To explain it as simply as possible... whew, give me just a moment."

"Take your time. Please feel free to speak comfortably. It's completely fine even if I don't grasp every detail."

"It's just that... there are parts of this that might sound somewhat unpleasant or uncomfortable for a man to hear."

"I don't mind at all. I asked because I truly want to understand."

Her smile had vanished, replaced by an anxious, hesitant furrow of her brow. Sensing she was carefully weighing her words, I offered a reassuring smile of my own to signal that I was genuinely unbothered. Watching my calm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reaction, she organized her thoughts for a beat before opening her mouth again.

"As you know, global birth rates are currently sitting at catastrophic lows. While there are countless socio-economic factors, the medical community has honed in specifically on male sexual dysfunction."

"Right."

"Oh, please don't misunderstand—I don't mean that men are inherently flawed or at fault."

She seemed practically itching to speak, yet she held herself back with immense caution, looking like someone who had been badly burned by past encounters. Her expression was tinged with wary apprehension.

"Most people aren't aware, but in the distant past, male sexual stamina and reproductive function were vastly superior to what they are today. The established academic consensus posits that male sexual capability progressively degenerated as an evolutionary response necessary for survival..."

Her cautious hesitation didn't last long. The moment Jo Ihyeon dove into her area of expertise, her face lit up with the unbridled enthusiasm of an excited child.

According to her explanation, the core problem had been sexual violence.

In this world, women possessed a significantly larger physical frame on average compared to women in my previous life. Their sexual appetite and physical aggression were far more pronounced as well. In ancient times, it was shockingly common for men to be assaulted repeatedly until they died of physical exhaustion.

"Because of that, the male body evolved toward a single imperative: to ejaculate as quickly as humanly possible. As a direct consequence of that adaptation, severe abnormalities developed in the neurotransmitters responsible for registering sexual pleasure."

"I see."

"Another byproduct is post-ejaculatory collapse. The overwhelming majority of men experience profound lethargy, powerlessness, and depressive exhaustion immediately following ejaculation. To put it simply, it is an instinctual dread etched directly into your DNA. When climaxing historically carried the imminent risk of death, the male psyche naturally developed an overwhelming aversion toward sex and women."

To me, this sounded completely foreign. I had masturbated in this body before, and I had never once experienced the slightest hint of depression, panic, or debilitating fatigue.

"Of course, individual variances exist. I am speaking purely in terms of broad physiological generalizations, so please don't take it the wrong way."

"Don't worry, I won't."

"It's just that... some men become extraordinarily enraged when presented with these evolutionary theories."

She had been bubbling with genuine excitement while discussing her field, yet she suddenly shrank back, reading my face with an apologetic, nervous glance. Her emotions shifted at a dizzying ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠speed, her expressions flitting across her features like an open book. There was something remarkably transparent about her.

I wanted her to speak without holding back, so I decided to ease the tension with a slightly bolder approach.

"I promise I won't get mad, and I won't turn around and complain later. So please, speak freely. Noona."

"P-Pardon? Noona?"

"Ah... my apologies."

"N-No, no, it's quite alright... Ahem! Well then."

Flustered by the casual honorific, Jo Ihyeon coughed into her fist, yet she couldn't completely suppress the involuntary twitch of delight tugging at the corners of her lips. Yeoeun had warned me never to throw the word 'noona' around recklessly, and now I finally grasped why. Women in this world had an intense, visceral weakness for being called 'noona' by a younger man—provided, of course, that the boy saying it caught their eye.

Ihyeon noona's initial impression had been that of a poised, razor-sharp intellectual. Yet the moment that single 'noona' slipped past my lips, she had unraveled into something delightfully endearing and a bit clumsy.

"In the end, the ultimate goal of all this research is driving up the birth rate."

"And inducing hormone secretion is just one step in that process?"

"Exactly. It's still in the experimental stage, but the prevailing hypothesis is that if we can stimulate vigorous hormone production, sexual function and endurance will naturally follow."

At some point during our chat, Ihyeon noona had completely abandoned formal honorifics, casually slipping into comfortable informal speech. The cool, almost chilly aloofness from when she first stepped into the room had melted away entirely, replaced by an easy, goofy grin.

Thanks to her openness, I acquired the precise answers I had been searching for. The men and women of this world were physically and biologically distinct from those of my previous lifetimes.

From an evolutionary perspective, men's instinctual drive to reproduce had plummeted off ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a cliff. Possessing superior sexual vigor or immense endurance offered absolutely zero survival benefit—in fact, it was a fatal liability. Over countless generations, male sexual function gradually atrophied, rendering the vast majority of modern men chronic premature ejaculators. The average size of their genitalia had shrunk considerably as well.

Of course, this assessment was based strictly on my memories of my former life. In this world, reaching climax in under sixty seconds was considered the universal norm. By finishing rapidly, the body minimized unnecessary energy expenditure and reduced the window of vulnerability.

On top of that, men in this reality required an extraordinarily long refractory period before they could achieve an erection again. Medical scholars hypothesized that this was an evolutionary defense mechanism designed to prevent death from gang rape or consecutive orgasms. Everything came down to survival-driven natural selection.

So the genes for superior male virility were essentially culled from the gene pool?

Before written history began, records concerning ancient humanity were practically nonexistent. Because of that immense historical void, much of what Ihyeon noona described was grounded in educated hypotheses and anthropological conjectures.

"Naturally, you can't ignore cultural and societal norms either," she added thoughtfully. "The historical preference for female offspring, or the psychological side effects of Polygamy... But those social constructs fall outside what medical doctors can treat."

The humans of this world and the humans of my past lives were different enough to almost be classified as separate species. To sum it up: women had grown taller, physically more powerful, and possessed an intensely voracious libido. Men retained a relatively standard frame, but their stamina, refractory speed, and penile size were drastically diminished.

It was a crude oversimplification, but it gave me a clean, structured framework to understand this reality. In modern times, these accumulated physiological quirks had culminated in a catastrophic gender ratio imbalance and a freefalling birth rate—the single greatest existential crisis facing this society. A dense tangle of systemic factors had created this dilemma, and medical researchers were pinning their hopes on unlocking male sexual function.

"Noona. Why do you keep staring at my feet?"

"Huh? Ah... n-no, I'm not!"

Throughout our entire conversation, Ihyeon noona's gaze had been constantly darting downward toward my feet. At first, I assumed she was merely averting her eyes out of shyness, but now I was completely certain: every time I wiggled my toes, her delicate nostrils flared in a tiny, subtle twitch.

"Be honest with me."

"Well, it's just..."

"It's okay. You can tell me."

"They're just... so unusual," she murmured, her cheeks flushing pink. "They look like a baby's feet. You don't have a single callus."

The clinic had provided loose patient clothing and open slippers, leaving my bare feet completely exposed to her view.

"It looks like you find them more than just 'unusual.'"

"What? What do you mean by that...?"

"Do you want to see them up close?"

I slipped one foot out of the slipper and extended it slightly toward her. At my question, Ihyeon noona gave an involuntary, reflexive nod, only to snap back to reality and shake her head furiously from side to side.

"N-No! I can't. That's completely wrong."

"Pardon? What's wrong about it?"

"It's just wrong! It's utterly unprofessional."

Her reaction eliminated every shred of doubt: she harbored a distinct fascination with my feet. And to be fair, compared to any ordinary adult from my previous life, these feet did not look like they belonged to a grown man. Was this another manifestation of the 'body that cannot be obtained in this world,' bestowed upon me by the Goddess?

"Are you absolutely sure?" I asked teasingly. "If you don't tell me the truth right now, I'm never going to ask again."

"Wait, hold on..."

"Noona. It's totally fine. I swear I'll keep it our secret."

Ihyeon noona swallowed hard, an audible gulp slipping past her throat. Her pupils trembled violently, quaking like an epicenter of pure temptation.

"......I want to see."

"I can't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hear you."

"I want to see them up close," she confessed in a tiny, crawling whisper.

Satisfied with her surrender, I straightened my knee and extended my pale, slender foot directly toward her. The young doctor's dark eyes followed the movement, utterly entranced.