"...What is this?"
After leaving the convenience store, I pondered.
"Is that what popular people are like?"
She was a bit odd. Every time a conversation unfolded, it felt like the focus was off.
Especially when she warned me about men being cautious on nighttime walks. What was she talking about? It wasn't like there was a red-masked figure prowling nearby.
Then there was the blatant staring when I walked in again, or her sneaky look when rifling through tracksuits.
To her, she might have thought she was being discreet, but it was perfectly visible to me. Honestly, she seemed sick somehow.
"Well... there are all sorts of people in the world."
Though slightly uneasy, I decided to let it go. I bought everything I needed.
Two cans of beer, buttered squid, and snacks. This was enough to get through the night.
"It'll be enough."
Living alone, there are times when one is consumed by their own thoughts.
With no one to talk to around, one can often become trapped in negative consciousness. At those times, mistakes or failures from the past would replay in my mind.
For me, it happened often after work or in bouts of loneliness, like today.
At such times, alcohol worked wonders.
It blurred my thoughts and decisions, making them indistinct.
Even just eating snacks and drinking could swiftly pass the time.
A very valuable friend who helps reduce futile thoughts.
"Though, two cans might be a bit lacking."
Well, no matter. I could drink roughly, then call it a night. Or sketch some trivial drawings.
With these thoughts, I walked along the path, step by step. The night air felt cool and pleasant. I enjoyed it while strolling leisurely.
"Wow..."
"Look over there..."
...But something felt unusual.
While walking down the street, I kept sensing gazes. Sticky glances that seemed to be licking my body...
Strangely, all of those gazes came from women. Female college students heading home after drinks with friends, tired office workers returning from group dinners.
"..."
"sis, Where are you looking!"
Even couples out for a night walk.
Whenever I passed by on the street, they all stealthily looked at me.
"What, what is this."
"No, it's just... Haha. Sorry, my eyes just went there on their own..."
"Ugh, what do girls even see in that? Just look at him—he totally looks like he's in the business of selling his body."
"Babe...! they can hear you!"
The couple walking by mockingly talked behind my back.
I was left slightly dumbfounded.
'Those damn bastards...'
If only I had that kind of looks. Does anyone think someone tries to keep their purity until 23 years old just because they don't want to lose it?
'Phew, calm down.'
I was momentarily pissed, but I restrained myself with superhuman patience.
I, Lee Se-won. A nerd with a tendency for instinctive anger management in the presence of more than two people.
Nevertheless, those gazes continued. Some women were glaringly straightforward in staring.
Usually, when women sent such gazes, it might feel subtly pleasing... but without understanding, it was simply frightening.
There was nothing to do but zip up my tracksuit and quickly retreat to my studio apartment.
*
"...What the heck?"
The whole day was filled with bizarre happenings. Upon returning home, I thought while stripping off my tracksuit.
Women weren't collectively in heat, either... so because of them, I couldn't fully enjoy the night air and had to hurry back.
Once inside, warm and comforting air engulfed me. In this tiny 9-square-foot home, occasional loneliness might envelop me, but within it was a comfortable space nonetheless.
I quickly cracked open a drink and settled in front of the computer. Staring at the wall while drinking would be no fun.
"I didn't get to upload the illustration earlier…"
After rough finalizing tasks, I needed to post on a site starting with P. The site's name was Pixiv.
Anyone, upon joining, could freely upload illustrations on it, making it the world's largest illustration community.
Just the number of illustrations uploaded daily was around 20,000. Naturally, the daily user count was several times that.
Artists uploaded whether mainstream or niche, and most illustrators were already signed up on Pixiv.
I was among those illustrators and had a degree of notoriety as a mature artist.
My illustrations bore a dark ambiance, yet clean and unique depictions, with solid fundamentals.
For this reason, my illustrations were fairly popular. Such popularity also allowed me to accumulate enough money to pay rent.
Gulp.
Taking a sip of beer, I logged into Pixiv. The main screen with a blue top and various illustrations unfolded before my eyes.
And immediately, curses emerged.
"...What the hell?"
From H to now P, men dominated.
Sexy male characters, cute male characters, weak-looking male characters...
Just looking at the currently popular ones on the main page, it was this much. Who knows what lay beneath.
Suddenly, my mind grew hazy.
'No... let's calm down... It might only be the case here.'
Momentarily, I collected my thoughts.
As Pixiv combines mainstream and niche, sometimes such illustrations could emerge on the popular list.
When accompanied by quality drawing skills, it could prominently appear on the main page.
Thus, those were mainstream. A deeper dive into niche was necessary.
I opened the settings to review censor options. Naturally, R-18 and R-18G were disabled.
I felt slightly relieved. Yes, that's as expected; Paxive wouldn't become peculiar.
Thinking this, I enabled R-18G and went into the latest illustration tab.
...And there was nothing but despair.
"Oh, dear God…"
If the main page was mild, this place was wild.
Far wild, with destructive power akin to Cthulhu Mythos.
Here too, huge penises, there too, huge penises… What the fuck, who drew a black guy with a shotacon?
"Nyarlehotep... why do you bestow such trials upon me?"
Was it because I made hentai with your tentacles...? Can a cosmic entity be so petty?
Confronted by overwhelming sights, I couldn't but exit Pixiv quickly. It must be forgotten.
I had to cleanse my mind with alcohol.
Without hesitation, I downed the beer in one go.
"...Ahh."
The carbonation scratched at my throat. Coldness seeped in, slightly chilling my head.
'Why is Pixiv acting like this?'
Thanks to it, I could think a bit more rationally.
'It's hard to get terrorized over there.'
If Hitobi was terrorized, sure, that could be understandable.
As they only accepted comics without illustrations, their upload numbers were relatively low.
With Pandora's box opened by someone, overtaking 1-2 pages was sufficiently possible.
But not in Pixiv case.
As mentioned before, the daily illustration uploads alone numbered 20,000.
An individual could not terrorize this space.
Even if attempted, they'd be briefly exposed before disappearing.
Dragging down as hard as possible (I checked even 10 pages） gay photos are surfacing could be impossible.
Feeling the oddity, I quickly accessed the BC site.
A collection of diverse galleries and individuals.
Given Pixiv chaos, there was a high likelihood of the gallery being a wreck too. Where perverts also gathered.
No, quite a big portion were perverts.
Hence, I entered BC with expectations.
Never had I anticipated chaos so much this time.
...But the forum was surprisingly peaceful. Tranquil perverts engaged serenely about mature content and conversed with fellow perverts.
Anon(128,131）:
[Found an incredibly arousing illustration today haha］
A shotacon with a black guy standing and crying pff… it was so cool lol. I came twice thanks to that.
Anon(31,1）: Address.
Anon(222,121）: Address, moron.
└Anon(128,131）: Uh~ You guys find it yourselves haha
SpoiledMe:
[I want to be stepped on by a handsome man]
I want to be stepped on mercilessly by a handsome man with decent muscles…
I want to look up at that contemptuous gaze while being stepped on with his heels…
Anon(117,58）: Your nickname is crazy;;
Anon(203,170）: Are you a weirdo?
DarkRibMouse: "Fake."
Not much different from the norm. The usual maniacs diligently spewing nonsense.
Discussed was not men, ideally it showcased normalcy.
"...Huh."
I sighed at the ridiculous scene.
At this point, I couldn't help but reflect once more.
Rather than being terrorized, felt like something overlooked by me existed.
A sense of discord.
"Well, the entire day seemed unusual…"
Fortunately, deducing the discord wasn't challenging.
Small signs showed throughout the day. Just a quick convenience store outing revealed the discord.
Women seemed odd. Not only them, for both men and women appeared strange. Men clinging like rippling gays to women, who also seemed pervertedly off. Like something was altered in their minds.
"What does this mean?"
A thought surfaced prominently in my mind.
"Could it be gender reversal?"
Sounded like utter gibberish from myself.
Firm disbelief at such nonsensical words hovered for a moment.
Just as I aimed to dismiss my statement –
"Ughc!"
It flooded my mind.
An unfamiliar yet somehow customary memory. Although it contradicts conventional wisdom, somehow links with known experiences.
It was the memory of "Lee Se-won" from this alternate world.