Contract
The Contract
As you go through life, you sometimes experience special events.
Like helping a grandmother carrying a heavy load into a deserted alley only to find a group of delinquents waiting there, who end up taking all the day's wages you earned from loading and unloading.
Or getting excited about a trade in your favorite maple leaf game where someone offered to buy at above market price, only to click "Complete Trade" and realize it was a zero-trade scammer.
And...
"Waking up to find yourself as a beautiful boy in a gender-reversed world..."
In the mirror inside the bathroom located in one corner of the hospital room.
A beautiful boy with an expression full of absurdity was staring back at me.
Despite having been unconscious for a week with hair that had become a bird's nest, the black hair shone with a luster as if polished jade beads had been sprinkled over it.
A small, slender face that seemed to personally demonstrate what it means to have a "fist-sized face."
Moreover, the skin was impossibly white, like someone who had lived their entire life in a sunless cave.
Even just these three elements alone created attractive points that would make people turn their heads on the street, but the appearance went even further - so beautiful that praises like "angel" or "fairy" came naturally.
The only minor drawback would be the small stature where you couldn't even see your upper body in the wall-mounted mirror unless you stood on tiptoes, but even that was covered by the androgynous, angel-like appearance that radiated charm.
"What on earth is this situation..."
Shaking my head to shake off the shocking visual impact, I returned to the spacious single room assigned to me simply for being male, perched my butt on the soft bed, and began to ponder.
Though my words suggested I couldn't understand this situation, my mind had some idea of what was happening.
Going back in time before I woke up in this angelic appearance as a beautiful boy.
I was an ordinary Korean man.
Though I grew up as an orphan without parents, I had nothing particularly outstanding but also nothing particularly wrong - I lived well, served in the military in my 20s, and worked at a small-to-medium enterprise that paid enough to avoid starvation, if not a large corporation. An ordinary man in my early 30s.
If there was anything different about me, it was my peculiar taste for enjoying the somewhat minor genre of gender-reversal novels?
And the reason I suddenly woke up as a beautiful boy was probably, no, 100 percent because of that taste for gender-reversal genres.
"The contract..."
You might wonder why I'm suddenly talking about a contract, but I definitely signed a contract.
And not with a human, but with a higher-dimensional being called a goddess...
The incident began like this.
After finishing my usual 12-hour labor and returning to my small studio, I dove onto the creaky mattress I bought cheaply on Karrot Market as usual and was browsing gender-reversal genre novels.
"Tch, this author went on hiatus too. Even if gender-reversal is a minor genre, isn't this too much?"
I sighed at the author who had become a runaway ninja, even though I had been leaving comments, likes, and alerts to support them since the gender-reversal genre was so scarce it felt like a famine, despite the low view counts and lack of popularity. I irritably canceled all the likes and alerts I had set, went to the latest chapter, and mercilessly scribbled a critical comment aimed at the author.
Then, with a hollow feeling, I threw my smartphone into the corner of the mattress, when suddenly a vibration indicating an alarm went off.
"What, did they leave a reply to my comment despite going on hiatus?"
Thinking another gender-reversal work I had set alerts for might have been updated, I immediately checked the screen to find a notification that the author had left a reply to my critical comment.
With the resentful thought that instead of going on hiatus, they should write even one more character of the novel with the time they spent replying to my comment, I checked the author's reply.
-Author: Did you like the gender-reversed world that much? Then how about becoming the protagonist in a gender-reversed world yourself?
"Huh? You want me to become the protagonist in a gender-reversed world?"
At first, I thought the author was being sarcastic in response to my critical comment, so I got all worked up and diligently responded with another reply, but the content of the comments seemed strange.
-Me: Are you that angry about one critical comment, you runaway ninja who went on hiatus~? What are you gonna do if you're angry? Meet up for a real fight? Do you even know where I live lololol
-Author: This reply was definitely not written because of your critical comment.
-Me: Bullshit! And if it's gender-reversal, the man should be having sex, not avoiding it like some scaredy-cat going 'eek!' all the time! You're a gay bastard, right? lololol
-Author: Would you enjoy having sex around if you went to a gender-reversed world, Kang Cheol-nim?
-Me: Do you think I'm a gay bastard like you? Of course, if I was born with a dick, I'd enjoy stormy sex as soon as women come at me!
-Author: Then let's make a contract, Kang Cheol-nim.
"...How does this bastard know my real name?"
Kang Cheol - the name given to me by the orphanage director who said "if you're a man, you should be strong."
They mentioned my real name so naturally that I didn't feel the strangeness and passed over it, but the word "contract" made me come to my senses and notice the real name I had missed.
Clearly it wasn't a taste I could proudly boast about in front of others, so I had set all my novel lists and personal information viewed in the settings to hidden...
Beyond that settings page, is it normal for an author on an anonymous platform to know a reader's real name?
"Sh-shit, what kind of bastard is this?! Is he a hacker or something?"
A hacker targeting a petty bourgeois like me, an orphan who only saves 500,000 won a month?!
With the anxiety that my meager savings might be completely wiped out just because I wrote one wrong critical comment, I left a reply in a more timid tone.
-Me: C-contract? It's not some agreement to consent to having my savings stolen... is it?
-Author: As I said from the beginning, I'm neither angry about your critical comment nor do I intend to steal your mouse-tail-sized savings, Kang Cheol-nim.
This bastard even knows my savings are mouse-tail-sized?!
As the conversation with the author continued, the situation became increasingly creepy, and I was about to quickly ignore it and close the novel platform when.
-Author: If you agree to the contract, I'll give you 10 billion won, Kang Cheol-nim.
10 billion.
A comment offering 10 billion won, not 100 won or 1 million won.
My finger that was about to close the platform stopped abruptly at the enormous amount that I couldn't save even if I worked my whole life scrimping and starving.
As if reading my feelings, the author's new comment appeared.
-Author: I know it sounds like a joke or prank. If you're suspicious, shall we meet in person to talk?
Meet in person?
"How do you know where I live to suggest meeting at this hour of the night...?"
As I muttered these doubt-filled words to myself.
Knock knock knock...
Suddenly, a knocking sound echoed through the small studio room.
This can't be... no way?
With eyes shaking roughly as if there was an earthquake, I looked at the smartphone in my hand.
-Author: Would you open the door ^^
It was the author!
Even adding a smiling emoticon to clearly identify themselves, the author's creepy attitude made my mind scream not to open the door, but for some reason my body was moving steps toward the door.
The distance from the small studio to the door was short, and as I opened the door as if bewitched, there stood a goddess.
"Hello, Kang Cheol-nim. Do you believe it's not a joke now?"
A woman with a beaming, kind smile naturally entered the studio room and locked the door.
I could only silently watch the woman entering my studio without permission.
How could I possibly stop such a being?
Golden wings that immediately revealed this was no human, and a round ring floating above her head.
A goddess who only appears in fairy tales or novels had appeared before my eyes!
"Judging by your expression, I don't think I need to explain that I'm anything but an ordinary human. Shall we get straight to the main point?"
As I stared dumbfounded at the goddess before me, she lightly gestured toward empty space.
Amazingly, a self-illuminating A4-sized white document appeared in the previously empty space.
Contract
1. Contractor Kang Cheol must reside in the Goddess's World (Gender-Reversed World) for one year and have sex at least once per week.
※Violation will result in the stay period in the Goddess's World being extended by one year each time.
2. If Contractor Kang Cheol faithfully fulfills clause 1, the Goddess will provide virtual coins worth 10 billion won in cash upon completion of the entire stay period.
※Violation will result in the Goddess losing her divine powers.
3. The Goddess must create an identity for Contractor Kang Cheol so he can live naturally in the world.
※No other support will be provided.
---Omitted---
The above terms are agreed upon as the legitimate contract terms between Contractor Kang Cheol and the Goddess.
Kang Cheol (Signature)
Goddess (Signature)
"You'll give me 10 billion just for having sex?!"
I couldn't help but shout at the contract terms written on the mysterious document floating in the air.
"As I explained in the comments, I can send you to the gender-reversed world you love so much. Coincidentally, the world I manage happens to be exactly that world where male and female roles are reversed that you've been longing for. And if you have sex at least once a week in my world, I'll give you virtual coins worth over 10 billion won, albeit modestly."
The goddess lowered the mysterious contract that had been floating at eye level to chest height to make signing easier, as if 10 billion won was nothing.
Just letting me live for one year in the gender-reversed world I love would be more than enough, but she's offering virtual coins worth 10 billion won just for having sex once a week?
I wanted to immediately sign the contract and kiss the goddess who brought me such fortune, but there was something I needed to confirm first.
"Um... Goddess-nim? The gender-reversed world is great and 10 billion is wonderful, but what kind of world is this world you're sending me to?"
Not all gender-reversed worlds are the same.
Generally, the worldview where women try to court and seduce men is common, but there were also gender-reversed worlds in apocalyptic settings with zombies eating people alive, and many where the setting was medieval times and men's social status was terrible.
In other words, if I fell for the keywords "gender-reversal" and "10 billion won" and signed the contract, I might end up in a trembling survival story rather than a happy gender-reversed sex life.
"Hohoho~ I know exactly what concerns you have. Let me tell you in advance that the world I manage isn't the terrible world you imagine, but a world exactly like Earth today, except with reversed gender roles where the population ratio is so skewed that for every one man there are 30 women. It's the perfect world for someone like you, Kang Cheol-nim, who wants both the gender-reversal tag and the gender-ratio imbalance tag for your sex life."
"Okay~! Do I just sign with my hand? Or with a pen...?"
I've held back enough now.
A world with both gender-reversal and gender-ratio imbalance tags?
I'd be an idiot not to sign this!
With an impatient expression, I looked at the goddess, ready to write in blood if she wanted.
"Heheh! You can just use your finger to sign. And let me ask you once more, Kang Cheol-nim. Will you really have sex to your heart's content as per the contract if you go to the gender-reversed world? This is necessary since I'm arbitrarily moving a human from another world to a different world."
The somewhat unsettling question made me hesitate a little, but by now I was 99 percent convinced by the unrealistic amount of 10 billion won and the sweetness of the gender-reversed world I usually enjoyed.
"Yes! I, Kang Cheol, fully agree to the goddess's contract and promise to have sex at least once a week if I go to the goddess's world!"
Afraid I might change my mind, I quickly scribbled my signature on the contract signature line with my finger.
Fwaaah!
The already brightly shining contract emitted a flash of light that filled the small studio room, and as I raised my hands to cover my eyes from the tremendous light...
"The contract has been successfully completed. Since you might be a bit disappointed going with your current appearance, I'll change you to a beautiful appearance as a service. Most women probably won't leave the changed you alone. And... it will be a world quite different from the sex you know, hehehe!!"
The goddess's voice coming from beyond the blinding light.
Changing me to a beautiful appearance as a service was good, but what did she mean by it being different from the sex I know...?
An inexplicable anxiety swept over me at the goddess's sinister laughter and the unsettling final words, but the light penetrated even my tightly closed eyes beyond my covered hands, and my consciousness gradually faded until eventually, I collapsed completely...