Chapter 6: A New Reality Unveiled
Reality is stranger than fiction.
The elevator was pretty spacious, but the moment the lizard man stepped in, it felt cramped.
His imposing presence made me shrink back and put some distance between us.
Not only was there a huge size difference, but his appearance was just so intimidating…
Anyone would be scared facing a giant lizard (bipedal, no less) one-and-a-half times their size. So it’s only natural I was freaked out. Yep. Totally.
…
… But then, the lizard man looked super dejected when I backed away. Is he sad because I’m scared of his appearance?
Hunching his shoulders in the corner of the elevator, the once-intimidating lizard man looked so deflated it was almost comical.
Pfft.
I couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the contrast between his massive frame and his pitiful demeanor.
It’s just too mismatched.
Hearing my laugh, he glanced over.
The atmosphere lightened, and I spoke first.
“Hello?”
His face lit up with the brightest expression.
“Oh, hello!”
Was a simple greeting that exciting? His tongue flicked as he spoke, and his enthusiasm made me feel good, so I continued.
“Do people often get scared of you?”
“Well, yeah. With this appearance, even if they pretend not to, they sneak away. It makes me a bit sad. I’m not hurting anyone. Sigh.”
Once he started talking, he didn’t stop. Did he have a grudge about people avoiding him?
Feeling bad for trying to edge away earlier, I listened attentively as he sighed.
“But you’re lucky, little lady, turning into something cute. If you ended up like this…”
“Um, I’m not a kid or a lady.”
“Huh?”
“I was an adult male, but I turned into this. A girl…”
“Oh… You’ve got it rough too. Geez. Why does this phenomenon even happen…”
“I feel you.”
As we chatted, the elevator reached the lobby, and the doors opened.
“Well, I’ll be off. Thanks for talking to me, little lady—er, I mean, uh…”
“My name’s Garam Lee.”
“Haha, right. Garam. I’m kang-hyeok Woo. See you around.”
“Bye, sir.”
I waved, and he gave a small wave back before striding toward the restaurant.
He walked with such confidence, probably thrilled from our chat, but it made him look twice as big, startling others into dodging him.
A moment of silence for the poor guy.
An angel’s silence, so it’s worth double. Probably.
The morning restaurant was bustling.
Learning from last night’s mistake, I took a reasonable amount of meat. And lots of ice cream.
Jimin’s plate still gave off a spicy scent, but it was less intense than yesterday.
“Was the candy good?”
“Candy?”
“The one I left by your bed. Didn’t see it?”
“Oh, that.”
It was tasty. Orange-flavored.
“I ate it. I wondered who left it. Thanks, Jimin.”
“Yesterday, you seemed to love sweet stuff, so I left one from my pocket.”
“Oh… Thanks.”
I nibbled a piece of meat. The sweet marinated ribs lifted my mood.
Hehe.
“By the way, I saw you talking to that lizard person in the elevator.”
“Oh, the lizard man?”
“Yeah. When did you get close? Honestly, he’s kinda scary-looking…”
Gulp. I swallowed my meat before answering.
“Met him in the elevator. He’s nice. He’s just sad that people avoid him.”
The image of the lizard man popped into my head.
His gentle nature, so at odds with his appearance, made me chuckle. It’s just too funny how dejected he gets.
“Maybe you should try talking to him, Jimin. He looks scary, but he’s just a regular guy inside.”
“Hmm…”
Jimin tapped the floor with her tail, trailing off.
She might know it’s fine in her head, but still feel uneasy. He does look pretty creepy.
Jimin’s a dragon, technically a lizard too, but she’s mostly human with dragon parts. The lizard man, though… he’s straight-up lizard-faced.
So it’s natural to feel uneasy.
I can’t do much about that. All I can do is say he’s a good guy.
…
Let’s eat.
Nom nom.
Ice cream too.
Sunlight streamed through the window.
Basking in its warm rays felt like frolicking on clouds.
Hehe.
My mood’s soaring. I can’t help but giggle, feeling like I could do anything.
I bet I could fly right now.
Flap, flap.
No matter how much I flapped, my body didn’t lift, but I was in such a good mood it didn’t matter.
Ehe.
Wait, did my little wing-flaps actually do something?
… Snapping out of it, I realized someone had lifted me up.
“Jimin?”
“Sorry, you were just too cute… I came to give you this. They were handing these out.”
Jimin set me down and handed me a piece of paper. I took it with both hands.
“Species… Transformation… Management Headquarters?”
Reading closely, it said they’d establish an agency to handle transformation-related matters after the public announcement.
They were just informing us beforehand.
I don’t get how government agencies work, but one thing was clear: the big phone number on the paper meant “call here for questions.”
I saved it in my phone and neatly folded the paper into my pocket.
“Thanks for bringing it.”
“No big deal.”
I waved Jimin off as she left, then focused on sunbathing again.
Thankfully, another clear, dust-free day. Bright sunlight warmed me, my halo glowed, and my mood soared again.
Day six.
Home’s not far off now.
A slightly messy studio apartment.
Three guys tearing into chicken.
The strikingly handsome one was Junseo Kim. The notably chubby one was Kanghyuk Park. The skinny one was Minjae Seo.
They were waiting for their friend, who’d vanished after a “can’t meet for a week, bye” message.
Eating chicken, drinking beer.
Today marked a week.
They’d insisted in the group chat for him to come to the usual studio, so he should show up soon.
What would they say? What were you doing all week, ignoring us? Whose voice was that woman’s?
One thing was certain: they’d grill their jerk friend.
Of course, beneath that was their dude-bro worry about him disappearing without a word.
But guys don’t say sappy stuff like that. They’d just smack his head and celebrate his return.
Waiting endlessly, they turned on the TV to kill time.
Boring variety shows. Pointless ads.
Flipping channels, thinking of switching to YouTube, something caught their eye.
—The government has officially acknowledged the species transformation phenomenon. They’ve announced the establishment of the Species Transformation Management Headquarters to oversee the “transformed”…
“What’s that?”
“Huh?”
On the screen were people who looked straight out of a cosplay convention.
Long-eared people, cat-eared people, people with tails, horns, wings, tree bark, fur, scales…
For a moment, they thought they were watching a fantasy drama, but checking the channel, it was the familiar news program.
What is this? They checked their phones, finding headlines like “Breaking: Species Transformation Phenomenon Revealed.”
Was the world pulling a Truman Show on them? This isn’t fiction—how could this happen in reality?
They stopped eating, trying to make sense of it.
Then, the door lock beeped.
Only four people knew the code. It had to be their friend, gone for a week.
They didn’t get the chaotic situation, but for now, they’d welcome their buddy back.
… Or so they thought, but when the door opened, they were speechless.
“Uh… Hey, guys.”
A tiny girl, scratching her face shyly, with wings on her back and a glowing ring above her head.
“It’s me, Igaram.”
Reality, indeed, was stranger than fiction.