Episode 1. The Wish of Obsession Begins with Salvation
Episode 1. The Wish of Obsession Begins with Salvation
"Haneul-ah, why do you keep trying to run away? Are you afraid of me?"
My back hit the cold wall.
A wrist that looked slender yet was as firm as steel pinned both sides of my shoulders, blocking my exit.
The corners of her mouth were curved into a gentle crescent moon, but the eyes staring straight at me were anything but.
Her breath, brushing against the tip of my nose, carried the sweet yet chilling scent of obsession.
Kim Sia.
The protagonist of this world, and the guardian of humanity.
And now, the name of the predator who was dying to devour me.
"P-please don't do this, Sia-ya. This is a bit much. We aren't even that kind of relationship yet. And there are other people watching..."
"Other people? Ah, you mean those girls who were wagging their tails at you without my permission? Don't worry. They won't ever appear in front of you again."
Sing-geut, she smiled as if it were nothing, and her answer made my skin crawl.
'I-I'm scared...'
Her eyes glowed bizarrely.
Her unique ability, [Wish], which should have been shining with the noble will to save the world.
It was twisted by a distorted desire to possess nothing but my existence.
"Eup...!"
There was no time to refuse.
As a strange intruder forced its way between my lips, I let out a faint, slender moan and tried to step back, but I couldn't budge against the wall behind me.
Soft yet firm.
The sensation of a red, erotic tongue that felt all the more explicit because of that.
By the time I realized her rough lips had swallowed mine, a strength unbelievable for a woman's grip was already clutching the back of my head.
"Churub... Jju-up...!"
Her thirst poured in along with hot saliva.
This wasn't so much a kiss as it was a predator's brand marking its territory.
My mind went blank.
Where on earth did it all go wrong...
When I first opened my eyes in this world, I felt like I had the whole world in my hands.
'Jackpot! To think I actually reincarnated into [Hunter's Age]!'
[Hunter's Age]
The best animation of my life, which I had binged 10 times.
It seemed like a common fusion fantasy setting where Gates open, monsters pour out, and Hunters with superpowers save the world, but there was a decisive difference here.
'The fact that the positions of men and women were completely reversed.'
A worldview called Gender Reversal or a reversed world.
A world where women are born with stronger physical strength and magic, and their sexual desire is also overwhelmingly high.
Furthermore, the monsters beyond the Gates kidnap the men of Earth for 'reproduction.'
Why, you ask?
Because all the monsters coming from beyond the Gates are female!
In short, it was a place where men were treated as 'ultra-rare resources' that needed to be protected at a national level.
'Plus, look at my appearance. This is cheating~'
Even if I looked average, men were treated well.
But the me in the mirror was a 'peerless beauty,' with none of the ordinariness of my past life.
My white jade-like skin and sculpted features made exclamations burst out naturally, and my large eyes melted women's hearts.
Just walking down the street, women's gazes would prickle, and older sisters aspiring to be Hunters would hand me snacks and talk to me!
But I didn't get cocky.
Because I knew the future of this world.
The fact that men were treated as ultra-rare resources meant, conversely, that the male gender was exposed to that much danger.
To survive among the final boss and numerous villains that would appear later, I needed a reliable 'rope.'
'In that sense, Kim Sia. I have to make her my ally.'
Kim Sia, the protagonist of the original work who would become the world's strongest Hunter.
She was a late bloomer who was bullied due to her timid personality as a child before awakening later.
'And her personality shines with justice as the story progresses.'
I decided to grab the title of 'the only male friend who helped her when she was at her lowest' before she awakened.
Because I believed that was the insurance that would guarantee my comfortable future.
"Hey, Kim Sia! I heard you don't even know how to use your ability despite having one?"
"Wow, look at her crying. She's not even a man, but she's blubbering like a girl."
A neighborhood playground sandbox.
Three girls who looked about six or seven years old were surrounding a child and mocking her.
The short-haired girl in the middle, covered in dirt and with her head bowed low, was the future hero, Kim Sia.
The current Kim Sia had low ability stats and a small frame, making her a regular target for bullying by her peers.
Of course, after she truly realized her fraudulent ability called [Wish], she would transform into something like a knight, but right now, she was just a weakling easy to bully.
'Alright, then. Shall I go get the golden rope of the future~'
I took a deep breath and walked out with a confident stride fitting for a lower-grade elementary school student(?).
"Hey! What are you doing!"
At my shout, the children's gazes all turned to me at once.
"Huk!"
In an instant, the girls' eyes widened.
It was understandable.
Even though I was a child, my beauty was already complete.
"Oh... it's a boy. He's really pretty..."
"Y-you, who are you? The great women are playing here, why is a manting in?"
Even while retorting spitefully, shyness soon appeared on the girls' faces.
Is this the power of a pretty boy in a gender-reversed world!
I stood in front of the crying Kim Sia and said firmly.
"Bullying is bad! If you bully Sia one more time, I'll be angry!"
Actually, I couldn't do anything even if I got angry since I was weaker than the girls, but the power of my appearance was truly immense.
"I-I can even beat up men, but I'll let it slide this time!"
They grumbled, but they were pressured by my momentum (or rather, my face) and slowly moved away.
Heo-heo, these kids are something else from the start.
Saying they can beat up men is the same as a man in my original world saying, "I can even beat up a woman!"
Thinking the world was going to hell, I turned around and held out my hand to Sia once the kids had disappeared.
If I collect these small acts of kindness, she won't ignore me even when I succeed later.
"Are you okay? Sia-ya?"
Sia's eyes, looking up at me with clear tear tracks, trembled.
She was still a fragile girl, but she, who would become the strongest Hunter in the near future, looked at my hand and then my face alternately, blankly, and then made an expression as if she had discovered the most precious treasure in the world.
Hu-hu, yes, yes, thank me all you want. That way, you won't forget to take care of me in the distant future.
"Th-thank you..."
A small hand carefully took mine.
I should have known then.
That her hand, which held mine, was slowly tightening.
That this was not a change in response to a small favor, but that her [Wish], which should have bloomed in the original work as a desire to 'save the world,' was starting to take root as an 'obsession' toward my existence...
Since that day, the design for my comfortable future began to go slightly, very slightly, fatally wrong.
To me, the world was always gray.
In this world where ability is supreme, I, who possessed an unheard-of ability called [Wish] but couldn't make it bloom, was nothing more than dry grass easy to trample.
The mockery of children, the cold sandy floor, and the sense of helplessness that poured down on me despite having an ability.
That was the entirety of my childhood.
But that day, 'color' invaded my world.
"Hey! What are you doing!"
When I lifted my head at the beautiful voice from above, I even forgot how to breathe.
A boy standing in the backlight.
Hair flowing softly over skin as transparent as white jade, and perfect features as if a sculptor had dedicated his whole life to carving them.
Especially when I was reflected in those large eyes looking at me, something welled up from deep within my chest.
It wasn't just admiration that he was 'handsome.'
It was a shock close to religious awe.
"Are you okay? Sia-ya?"
The hand he held out was small, but to me, it looked as huge as a pillar supporting the world.
The moment I held that hand, the warmth transmitted through the back of my hand.
Just from that short contact, I felt my colorless space being forcibly filled with his light.
'Ah, this person appeared for me.'
Since that day, Haneul-ah was always like that.
Whenever I was in trouble, he appeared at the decisive moment and saved me, as if he had been watching all my misfortunes.
When he brushed off my scraped knees,
When he secretly put snacks in my locker,
When he got angry on my behalf at the kids who bullied me.
Haneul-ah said it was just 'goodwill,' but I knew.
His affectionate gaze, that worried voice toward me... that was definitely 'love.'
Otherwise, why would he help a loser girl like me every time?
Yes, this is love.
He must be shy to say it out loud.
"Haneul-ah loves me. That's why he keeps coming to save me like this, right?"
Whispers began to be heard in my head.
What was a pure heart when I was a little girl, as time passed...
I want to be with him,
I want to hold his hand,
I want to hug him,
And...
"I want to make him mine."
Every time he smiled at me, my [Wish] inside twisted bizarrely and vibrated.
That power, which I didn't even know what it was originally.
That power that once whispered in a corner of my heart, 'It's a power to protect the world.'
It was turning into a rope to tie the existence of Park Haneul to my side.
'Haneul-ah, you're a problem because you're too pretty. The world is too dangerous, you know. A treasure like you shouldn't be let out carelessly~♡'
Sometimes, when I saw him laughing and talking with other girls, my vision turned red.
Along with the pain as if my heart was being carved out, an impulse to ignore the whispers in my heart to protect the world and twist those women's necks surged like a wave.
Thinking of Haneul,
Looking at Haneul,
Touching Haneul,
HaneulHaneulHaneulHaneulHaneulHaneulHaneulHaneul...♡♡♡
I have to endure it. It's not the time yet.
Haneul-ah is a 'good kid.'
He loves me, but because he's a good kid, he's probably smiling at those women with black hearts.
But Haneul-ah, you don't know.
How much that kind touch you reached out to me meant to me.
Every time you 'save' me, I become a monster who can't even breathe without you.
"Sia-ya, what are you thinking about so hard?"
Perhaps class is over, Haneul-ah approaches my desk and asks.
Haneul-ah, who has become even more beautiful as he aged.
Those clear eyes worrying about me.
Ah, so lovely.
"Yes, Haneul-ah. Just... I was thinking it would be nice if we were together forever."
I smiled brightly and lightly gripped his lapel.
My fingertips were trembling.
You wouldn't know.
That I'm currently suppressing the impulse to break these slender wrists and lock you in my room.
But don't worry, Haneul-ah.
Because I know you love me even if you don't say it.
Even if you were to turn away from me, if I could just have you, I would gladly become the ruin of this world.
"I love you, Haneul-ah♡"