'M-Master…!'
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙['Factory Chief Karun' kneels!] [Successfully cleared 'Factory Chief Karun'!]
'Thud!'
Dust billowed as an enormous creature—far too massive to call a dwarf—collapsed to the ground.
A raid that had dragged on for a full twenty minutes. Just three named bosses, and the rewards were as underwhelming as ever.
「Ten-minute break.」
「Ten-minute break~」
「Ten-minute break! Gonna step out for a smoke, mid-damage!」
「Personal maintenance time. Truly the sweetest thing.」
Dokgo's voice crackled through the headset, echoed by the others in chorus. Like true career soldiers, old habits died hard.
I had nowhere to go and no cigarettes to smoke, so I stretched right there, trying to shake off the fatigue.
"Kwaaaah..."
The thin, reedy voice spilling from my lips still sounded alien no matter how many times I heard it.
Even as a man, my stamina had never been great, but since becoming a woman, it had gotten worse. My focus scattered sharply after taking down each named boss.
Normally, I'd dismantle the mechanics in one go without a hitch, but this time, we'd wiped twice on them—that was proof enough.
And apparently, I wasn't the only one who'd noticed.
「Dori, you still there?」
💬 Party Chat— [Tasty Apple (Sage) / First to Summit Iron Mountain]Yeah, here.
「Just checking—what's up with you lately?」
Na Hani's sudden voice in my ear made me freeze. Was it that obvious?
— [Tasty Apple (Sage) / First to Summit Iron Mountain]Why?
「You just seem kinda off.」
She'd never even heard my voice or seen me in person, yet she nailed it spot-on. Anyone would think she'd been right there watching.
No need to spill my guts, though. I typed '/dance' instead. My tiny character toddled around cutely.
Super adorable.
— [Tasty Apple (Sage) / First to Summit Iron Mountain]Nope. Full of energy here!
「Really…?」
「What's going on? Sis, you sick or something?!」
Rustling sounds joined in—Rat Mouse must've finished his smoke.
— [Tasty Apple (Sage) / First to Summit Iron Mountain]No no, I'm fine.
「Good, stay healthy. Who's gonna handle settlements if our little sis gets sick? Haha, bro's got your back!」
— [Tasty Apple (Sage) / First to Summit Iron Mountain]-_-
Was that the reason?
I hadn't expected to be treated like a precious maknae or stellar dealer, but it still stung a little.
「You saw my parry, right? Like this—whoosh!」
Rat Mouse's character flailed its sword around hyperactively. Firefly jumped in too.
「That gonna cut it? Gotta be at least this good.」
「Hahaha, that's slow? Yap yap!」
「Rat Mouse-kun, slow as a snail. I can see it all. Easiest dodge ever.」
「…My head's already killing me.」
Discord erupted into chaos again. Just like Na Hani said, my headache was building.
And today, it throbbed especially hard. A touch of lethargy too.
「What's up? Something wrong?」
「Bro, sis says she's on her period.」
「Hm… I see.」
「Hey, oppa, what's with the 'I see'?!」
「Knew it had to be that.」
Rat Mouse's teasing remark had everyone chuckling it off, but it hit me like a brick to the head.
I'd completely forgotten. This body—was it… overflowing?
A quick glance around: life with nothing but metered trash bags. No way a hygiene-lacking micro-kingdom like this had 'those' supplies.
"Oh no…"
My lower belly suddenly warmed up—explaining the lethargy and headache, no doubt.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I'd hoped otherwise, but no such luck.
Too bad this was my first lifetime as a woman—no time to process. The warning signs were here, and things were already dire.
'Clang!'
「Parry was sick! Thanks, everyone—chant it back!」
The sharp twinge in my lower belly shattered my focus. No room to react to Rat Mouse.
Five characters huddled at the ping-marked spot before the boss. The boss's fingertip pointed skyward, and a marker bloomed over my character.
'Oh, targeted spread pattern…'
「Maknae, break off.」
I knew it. Dokgo called it. But my reaction lagged.
Flames erupted overhead.
"Ah…"
A quiet sigh, and the screen grayed out. Failed to handle the pattern—whole raid wiped.
The boss, with 10% HP left, sauntered back to spawn and reset.
「Damn! We almost had it.」
「Agh, Dori—total wipe.」
Sighs poured through the headset. I squeezed my eyes shut. Unthinkable in the old days.
— [Tasty Apple (Sage) / First to Summit Iron Mountain]Sorryㅠㅠㅠ
「Don't sweat it, maknae.」
「Sis position's Na Hani-unnie's trademark. Can't steal her patent~」
— [Na Hani (Bard) / First to Summit Iron Mountain]-_-
All because this damn body.
Hunching over, my training pants were soaked through. The fishy stench nearly turned my stomach.
Yeah, no more today.
Raid scheduling was tough, but no choice.
— [Tasty Apple (Sage) / First to Summit Iron Mountain]TBH feeling kinda rough today, gonna be hard to keep goingㅠㅠ;;
「Knew it, man—bro spotted it right away. You looked off.」
「I knew since yesterday.」
「Ugh, what're you all talking about…」
It was basically an announcement, but thankfully, everyone was cool about it.
I added that a sub was fine for the week, brushed off their half-hearted comforts, and yanked off the headset.
The heavy silence settled in, brutally familiar—but this crisis? Not so much.
'…Gotta go out, huh?'
Even now, scouring the net for same-day pad delivery. Laughable.
No, really—not happening. Same-day? Unreal.
For emergency triage, I rolled up toilet paper and crammed it into my pants.
'Weekly settlement's due too… How much are pads in gold? This week's expenses…'
Gold on the brain mid-crisis. Wadding TP while pricing pads in-game currency. Pathetic and hilarious.
Never cried in my life. All this woman crap's fault.
'Knock knock knock.'
That's when the familiar rap came from the door.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Haon Park headed to 302 as usual, arms full of Landlady's home cooking. He'd grabbed a slice of cake too.
'Didn't seem to like coffee last time.'
No woman hates cake, so second-best pick. He'd loved it as a girl himself.
Of course, still did.
'…Wonder if Awakeners count.'
The thought flickered, but he shook it off. Statistically, everyone loved cake.
"..."
Lost in thoughts, time slipped by, but the door stayed shut. Another knock—still nothing.
'…Out?'
The thought nagged, but memories of the apartment's state over her shoulder—and her vibe—pushed it away.
"…Hm?"
Then, an article flashed in his mind.
📰 Breaking NewsDespairing 20s Awakener Makes Extreme Choice
That hot-button social issue lately. Stories of Awakeners crumbling under sudden societal shifts.
Why pop up now? Chills ran down his spine anyway.
Haon was adapting fine to his changed body, but her?
'…No way?'
His face hardened.
Given her situation, it wasn't far-fetched. Had to stop it.
'…Please.'
Heart pounding, he pressed his ear to the door. Praying for any sign of life.
Thank god—rustling from beyond, tiny footsteps pattering closer.
'Bang!'
The door flew open without warning.
"Ah…"
Caught off-guard, the recoil stung his forehead. He tumbled back, back slamming the balcony door with a sigh.
Cake and pork stir-fry flew through the air.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
'Crash!'
Followed by a wet 'splat!'—chaos outside.
Something felt off opening the door—heavy resistance. Then, there he was: Haon Park, drenched head to toe in pork stir-fry and whipped cream.
'You okay?'
"What the hell…"
"Pardon?"
"Oops…"
How'd he hear my thoughts? The question hit just as his baffled words snapped my mouth shut.
Whoops—thoughts slipped out as speech.
Super light-novel moment.
'Looks like I yanked the door too hard and caused it.'
I grabbed tissues from inside and handed them over. Red gochujang sauce mixed with white cream—not a pretty sight.
Intentions were good regardless of the mess, so I crouched to help clean while he wiped himself.
"Uh… by the way, are you…?"
"…Yeah?"
"That uh…"
"..."
Following his uncharacteristically hesitant gaze: my crotch. The makeshift TP stuffing made an absurdly bulging mound.
Not a good look. I clamped my legs shut. Face burning.
"…I-I'm on my period."
"Ah…"
Stupid thing to blurt. Any guy would freak or flush, right? But Haon seemed unfazed.
"Hold on. I've got spares at home."
"Oh, okay…"
Spares—meaning those, right?
Wow, prime alpha material.
Gotta keep that stocked, huh.
Pure awe and admiration.