Woman
When Cheongwol opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the ice cave blanketed in shattered blocks of ice.
"...?"
What on earth had happened during the great technique for the cave to end up like this?
She was about to look around in bewilderment when a cracking sound rose from nearby.
Crrrack—
The noise swelled until, with a sharp rupture, it scattered snow and shards of ice across the floor.
"Haa... haa..."
The one who smashed her way free of the ice was none other than Soga-yul, pale-faced and gasping for breath.
If I'd been even a moment slower wrapping myself in protective qi, I would have been in serious trouble. What in the world is this...
Once she had steadied her breathing, she cast a hurried glance around the cave.
Cheongwol knew at once that her master was searching for her. She forced strength into her throat and called out.
"...Master?"
Soga-yul's head snapped toward the sound. She strode over with a face as if she had seen a ghost, seized both of Cheongwol's arms, and held on tight.
"Cheongwol, are you all right?"
The hands gripping and shaking her arms. The wide eyes and urgent voice that had forgotten even a Sect Leader's dignity in the shock of it. Feeling her master's affection in every one of those things, Cheongwol smiled as brightly as she could manage, so that Soga-yul would not worry.
"Yes. I think I'm fine. Though my voice does seem a bit strange. Ahem, ahem."
She lifted a hand and felt along the throat that had been producing the awkward sound.
"It doesn't feel like my voice at all. How should I put it... too thin, or too high... Ah—could this be the price of completing the great technique?"
Having opened her eyes in one piece, Cheongwol assumed the technique had succeeded without incident. She spoke lightly, almost teasingly, as she looked up at Soga-yul—only to find her master's face even more stunned than before.
"You... you..."
"...?"
It was an expression Cheongwol had never seen on her master in her life. Only then did she feel that something was wrong.
But what, exactly?
Her voice had gone a little strange, true—but it would return to normal with time. And her body felt light as if she could take flight, vitality surging through her without end. The technique did not seem to have gone awry.
Ah—maybe a big scar appeared on my face?
If so, it would be a little regrettable, but she was a man; it would hardly matter.
A few thick scars like Grandfather's on the face—that's what makes a real man.
Recalling her fierce-looking grandfather's smiling face, Cheongwol raised a hand and felt along her features.
Eyes see fine, so no problem. Nose is properly attached. Mouth and chin... also fine. Nothing wrong that I can tell?
She tilted her head at the intact features and was about to check her ears just in case—when an unfamiliar weight near her chest settled along her shoulders.
"...?"
It was far too distinct to be bunched muscle or a cramp. She could not simply ignore it. Slowly, Cheongwol lowered her head.
"This is..."
Confronted with the white, soft-looking flesh, her face drained of color in an instant.
Something that should belong only to a woman—why was it on her?
"What is this..."
Thud.
Faced with the unbelievable reality, Cheongwol finally lost consciousness and toppled forward as if collapsing—hoping, desperately, that the great technique had not yet finished.
"Cheongwol! Pull yourself together! Cheongwol!"
Soga-yul caught her falling disciple and called out, but Cheongwol only came to again two days later.
When she opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling, Cheongwol still believed she was trapped inside a nightmare.
And with good reason—the pressure on her chest was still there, was it not?
Thinking what a strange dream this was, she let the heavy sleep pull her under again and closed her eyes.
When she opened them a second time, the same unchanging ceiling looked down on her.
Can you have the same dream more than once...?
The weight on her chest remained, and even her breathing felt oddly obstructed, but Cheongwol soon closed her eyes again.
I suppose it's possible...
And when she opened her eyes a third time, Cheongwol screamed loud enough to shake the room.
It's gone, it's gone, it's gone!
With a face on the verge of tears, she groped between her legs again and again.
Why—why is it gone? Did the great technique go wrong somehow? And so while I was unconscious, Master cut it off?
It was a thought that would have left Soga-yul thoroughly indignant had she heard it. Cheongwol's breathing grew more and more rapid.
Just before bewilderment and fear could drag her under again, the door rattled open and Soga-yul stepped inside.
"Cheongwol! Have you come to?"
"...Master..."
Facing her master's face amid the chaos, Cheongwol finally burst into tears.
"I... I... what do I do now..."
"The great technique was completed successfully. Though there are a few minor issues."
Looking at the changed Cheongwol, Soga-yul forced herself to speak with calm detachment.
"Minor?"
"...Is the Sunflower Manual not a peerless divine art? Compared to obtaining a peerless divine art, this is minor. Is it not?"
"..."
"..."
When Cheongwol simply stared at her without a word, Soga-yul could no longer endure it and averted her gaze.
"There are occasionally martial artists whose eye color changes while training. Strictly speaking, it isn't that unusual."
"..."
"And so what if your voice has changed a little. I rather find it quite pleasant to listen to now."
"..."
As Cheongwol continued to keep her silence, Soga-yul finally shot up from her seat.
"I didn't do it! A blizzard suddenly hit during the technique, and when I came to my senses, it was like that!"
"I know."
"What do you know! Someone who knows wouldn't look at their master with eyes like that!"
When Soga-yul finally lost her temper and shouted, Cheongwol at last lowered her eyes sheepishly.
"...I'm just shocked too. I open my eyes and I'm... like this..."
At that shrinking voice, Soga-yul quickly recovered her composure. As Cheongwol said, the one most confused right now would be her.
Pressing her throbbing temples, Soga-yul sat back down.
"I'm sorry to repeat myself, but that really is all. The technique seemed to be progressing smoothly—then suddenly everything started going wrong."
Still unable to shake the shock and bewilderment of that moment, she felt her heart tighten again even as she spoke.
"Endless cold qi poured toward you, and a blizzard began raging inside the ice cave. And when I came to, you were calling me."
At the mention of the blizzard, Cheongwol recalled the woman she had met in the hallucination—but she did not bother to speak of it. She could not be sure it had truly happened, and even if it had, she did not know how to explain it.
That during the technique she had lost consciousness, unable to breathe properly, and a mysterious woman had helped her wake—even thinking it through herself, she would be lucky not to be treated as spouting nonsense.
"And as for you becoming a woman..."
Soga-yul glanced over at Cheongwol.
The facial lines now so refined they were nearly faint. The Adam's apple that had once protruded slightly, now completely vanished. And the chest that, unlike when she had been a man, now asserted a clear and unmistakable presence. Beyond that, the slightly fuller thighs and wider hips also caught Soga-yul's eye.
The only things that barely changed are the facial features...
A man had become a woman, yet the face itself showed no particular difference beyond thinner lines. Soga-yul wore an expression of absurdity as she continued.
"It was probably that kind of technique from the start. Think about it. Isn't it a technique that transforms you into a body suited to practicing the Sunflower Manual? And the Sunflower Manual is a mind method that uses powerful yin energy."
Indeed, chewing over Soga-yul's words, it was rather strange.
"Then... the part about having to cut off the yang organ—could that mean..."
"That it doesn't matter, since you'd become a woman anyway. Being a woman is better than being a cripple, after all. Of course, there are those who would disagree."
Saying so, Soga-yul looked at Cheongwol.
"What about you? Wouldn't living as a woman be better than being a man without a yang organ? You'll come to know it naturally once you live it—but living as a woman isn't all that bad either."
Even to her master's question, Cheongwol could not answer yes. Even though her own master was a woman.
"Certainly... it would be better than living with that kind of body. But still..."
As Cheongwol kept biting her lower lip with a dissatisfied expression, Soga-yul finally let out a small sigh.
"Well—how could someone who was a man until just recently accept overnight that they've become a woman. But."
Soga-yul rose from her seat and walked toward the door.
"It would be best to adapt to that body even if you have to force yourself. If you still have any desire for revenge left, that is."