Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Club Room Surprise
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“Open it?”
“Open it. No, Han-gyeol, why are you the one getting nervous over something as simple as opening the department lounge door?”
“Hey, this isn’t just any ordinary thing. Plus, I’m kinda looking forward to the kids’ reactions.”
“What’s there to be surprised about… Just open it.”
*Clunk.* The sound of the door opening rang out, and the students inside the lounge turned to stare.
Judging by the many unfamiliar faces, it seemed like there were a lot of freshmen from the class of ’18.
“Huh…?”
And there was my classmate, Han Tae-hoon. He’d been lounging around casually, trading jokes with the underclassmen, but when he saw me walk in with Han-gyeol, his eyes went wide.
“Hey, Han-gyeol. Who’s that woman behind you?”
“Hey, Yoon Seo-hyun, you explain.”
“…Yoon Seo-hyun? Wait a sec. That grumpy bastard is the one next to you?”
“Sorry for being so grumpy, Han Tae-hoon. I was shocked too when I woke up looking like this.”
The only classmate in the lounge was Han Tae-hoon. Jo Min-hyuk and Heo Ji-hoon had just headed to the lecture hall.
“Wow, damn… You really startled me. What’s with those horns?”
“Dragon horns.”
“So you’re that Dragon-type Mutant from the internet rumors?”
“Yep.”
“You even called down lightning?”
“I can use fire too. Want a demo?”
“Ooh… Show us. That’s cool.”
I raised my fingertip just a bit. Couldn’t make it too strong—just a tiny candle flame.
*Fwoosh.*
As the small flame flickered at my fingertip, Han Tae-hoon and the freshmen’s eyes widened.
“Wow…”
“Hey, is that all the firepower you’ve got?”
“No way. If I maxed it out, the whole building would burn. This is just the minimum, dialed way down.”
“Sunbae, you can use fire too?”
“Yeah. Feels more like my main thing than lightning? Lightning takes prep time, but fire’s just about roughly controlling the output and boom, it’s there.”
“Wouldn’t it have been better to just blast that Minotaur-type Mutant with fire back then?”
“Fire doesn’t knock ’em out. The doc said tasers work on Mutants, right? Means electricity does the trick… Something like that.”
“Ah, got it.”
“But Seo-hyun, how do you know Sihyun and Soo-yeon?”
“Sihyun was on site when I took down the Minotaur-type Mutant… And Soo-yeon, I got to know her through getting close with Sihyun.”
“Sihyun?”
Since it involved Sihyun, one of the underclassmen asked me curiously.
Sihyun nodded and explained to her classmate.
“Oh, yeah. I almost died, and that’s when Seo-hyun sunbae saved me. Showed up out of nowhere, hurled the Minotaur aside, slammed down a massive lightning bolt, and vanished. Felt like watching the hero from a movie.”
Sihyun summed up the incident super briefly. Han Tae-hoon looked at me, utterly baffled.
“But why haven’t you started speaking informally with her yet?”
“You’ve known me for years—how do you not get it?”
“Oh, right. This guy’s a voluntary loner. Forgot for a sec ’cause of the looks. At least you’re getting friendly with the underclassmen now. Good for you. Kids, this is my classmate Yoon Seo-hyun. You saw her briefly at orientation, right? Isn’t her Mutation power insane? She went from super grumpy-looking to gorgeous enough to outshine celebrities.”
“Ah, haha…”
The underclassmen looked downright awkward at Han Tae-hoon’s words.
Still, they couldn’t hide the curiosity lighting up their faces—eyes sparkling one and all.
My changed appearance probably helped.
My old face… Yeah, it was seriously intimidating.
The kind that kept everyone at arm’s length.
A total transformation.
“You all look like you’ve got questions. Fire away.”
“Do you have wings too, since you’re a Dragon?”
“Yep.”
“Wow… Can we see them?”
“Nope. Everything else is fine, but not that…”
“Any reason why?”
“Tears the clothes. Unless it’s backless, they get shredded… Don’t really wanna anyway, and they’re about four meters wide, so no room here. Whole place would get wrecked.”
“Wow… That big?”
“Yeah. I messed up unfolding them at home once, and my little sis chewed me out.”
“How’s it feel going from guy to girl?”
“Uncomfortable. And unfair. If it’d happened just two years earlier, I could’ve skipped the military.”
“Ah…”
“Speaking of, you doing reserve training?”
“Nah, they exempted me.”
“Kinda jealous…”
“Then mutate yourself.”
“Pass. I like ordinary. Anyway, won’t engineering schools be lining up for you?”
“To experiment on?”
“Yeah.”
“No thanks. Not into being a guinea pig.”
“Sunbae-nim, you coming to the club general meeting?”
“Yeah. Late to the party, but figuring I’ll join club life now.”
“You? Mutation turned you into a whole new person or what?”
“Dunno… Public perception of Mutants is so trashed, feels like I gotta do this or it’ll bite me later.”
“Why?”
“If I don’t show I’m a safe Mutant, people’ll freak just knowing one’s at school. End up having to hide forever. Even now, I was wearing black colored lenses and a hat till just before.”
“…Must’ve sucked. Oh yeah, do you even get drunk?”
“Nope. Alcohol just auto-decomposes.”
“Damn… Can’t drink with you anymore. Weakest drinker in our year’s now the strongest.”
“You know I quit drinking ages ago?”
“Yeah, but at the club meeting, kids’ll keep filling your glass. Can’t dodge every time?”
“True… But I’m not big on soju. Oh, underclassmen here coming too? Stick to beer for me if you can. Soju tastes bad.”
“Yes!”
“And if you ever feel threatened ’cause of your Mutation or whatever, hit me up on Kakao or whatever. I’ll help. Pretty strong, see.”
“Speaking of, they say later Mutations mean stronger power. How strong are you?”
“Hm… Wanna see? Han-gyeol, got a coin?”
“Here.”
I crushed a 100-won coin with my fingers. It didn’t just fold in half—the center straight-up punched through with a hole.
“Whoa… Never messing with you, for real.”
“Han-gyeol said the same earlier. And that wasn’t even much strength…”
“What if you went all out?”
“Dunno. Can’t gauge my limit.”
“Scary stuff.”
“Don’t worry. No plans to use it on people. Unless it’s a Mutant crossing lines.”
“Good to hear. But won’t reporters swarm you on campus?”
“Maybe.”
“Media’s been chasing safe Mutants for interviews lately… Yours’ll spread fast.”
“If they come… Guess I’d do it. Wanna show I’m safe. Plenty of Mutants blending fine into life, hate seeing them suffer ’cause of a few bad apples.”
“Solid thinking. Hey, if you go viral, can I photobomb?”
“Why you?”
“Fun to be on the news.”
“…You’re impossible.”
“That’s my charm. Sorry, kids. Got carried away catching up with my classmate. At the club meeting, snag her number and make her buy you food.”
“Hey, Tae-hoon. Yoon Seo-hyun’s sense is disastrously zero. Said she’d buy Sihyun and Soo-yeon lunch, took ’em straight to the freshmen cafeteria.”
“For real?”
“Class right after, couldn’t go far. Said she’d buy again.”
“When’s this guy gonna become human.”
Han Tae-hoon clicked his tongue at me. Damn… Yoo Han-gyeol, didn’t expect her to rat me out like that.
What’re the underclassmen gonna think?
“Human? Nah, I’m a Dragon now.”
“Right. Anyway, get friendly with her, drag her around. She’s good people, just socially awkward.”
“Hey, you lecturing me on social skills? The guy who spouted nonsense at orientation, got us all in trouble with sunbaes.”
“I turned out fine later.”
“Ugh. Anyway, folks, he’s as crazy as me, so don’t give me that weird look alone. Got it? Snag my number at the meeting, I’ll buy something pricey—no assuming I’m the cheap cafeteria guy.”
“Ahaha! Yes!”
“Oh, Seo-hyun. Lecture soon, right?”
“Time flew. Han-gyeol, you taking Dialectology?”
“Yeah. Anyone else? Looks like no.”
“Let’s go. Gotta grab back seats.”
“Hey, your horns make you stand out anyway.”
“I just like the back.”
* * *
“Wow, damn. Total shock. This surprise tops all surprises, dude.”
“We were too.”
“Not just me, huh? So, what’s the vibe, Seo-hyun?”
“Seems nice?”
“Right? Get close to her. She’s the real deal. Always helps others first when shit hits the fan. Like earlier—she mentioned when I screwed up as a freshman and got us all assembled.”
“Yeah.”
“Anyone know the details?”
“We just heard bits—like she turned the department upside down.”
“She used to look so damn intimidating, sunbaes left her alone. Total tough-guy vibe. Y’know those dudes who don’t work out but got the build and frame? That was her. Explains why a jock ended up in Korean Lit. I was scrawny back then, though.”
“You, oppa?”
“Yeah. Anyway, some real assholes around—graduated now. Couldn’t believe a top school like Korea U still had that boot camp bullshit. Yoon Seo-hyun hated it too, apparently. I got picked on for nothing, about to get hit, and she stepped in, glaring like she’d kill the sunbae. Here, pre-Mutation pic. Look—eyes full of murder from a face like this?”
“Whoa… Mess up and you’d be folded in half.”
Nam Soo-yeon commented while looking at the photo Han Tae-hoon showed of Seo-hyun.
“Exactly. Told that scumbag sunbae straight-up, ‘You fucking bastard.’”
“For real!?”
“Yeah, no lie—the most murderous ‘you fucking bastard’ I’ve ever heard. Then she went off on the sunbaes, like, ‘This is what you do at a prestigious Korean uni? LARPing army?’ Sunbae swung ’cause ego bruised.”
“Yeah.”
“She took some hits, then beat the crap outta him. Sunbaes pulled her off, but she was feral. That sunbae got like 8 weeks injury leave? She’s a beast in fights.”
“No way.”
“After that, boot camp crap vanished from the department. TAs shielded her hard—especially Teaching Assistant Shin Jeong-min. That’s why our class never messes with him. He looked out for us most when we were isolated.”
“Ah…”
“Anyway, she’s great. Builds thick walls against people, but once you’re in, she’s infinitely generous. Hang with her at the club meeting this time. She’s got great reactions—fun to poke.”
“But sunbaes aren’t weirded out she’s a girl now? That face would turn heads with guys.”
Han Tae-hoon shot back like it was nonsense.
“We spent years with pre-Mutation her—those feelings? Nah. And she’s still Yoon Seo-hyun, looks or no. Attitude doesn’t change.”
“Kinda jealous of that bond.”
“Environment forced it tight. Anyway, get along well with her from now on.”
“Yes!”
Sihyun replied to Tae-hoon.