Chapter 7: Little Winged Angel

A crimson moon.
A desolate wasteland.
And monsters roaming aimlessly.

The moment we stepped through the booth, a different world unfolded.
Illusion magic must be capable of warping space itself.

“Hey, Kang Hawi. Give me your account later. I’ll send you the 100,000 won.”

Seo Ieung sidled up to me as she spoke.

She’s too close.
Please, don’t get so close.

I stepped away slightly before answering.

“No need. You paid for lunch.”
“Lunch barely cost anything…”

Dutch pay isn’t bad.
But I refused firmly.
I’d smacked her hand away to pay myself—accepting a split now would look lame.

“…Thanks, though. First time a guy’s paid for me.”

A guy paying for her is a first?

In my old world, that would’ve been shocking.

With guys throwing themselves at her.
Constant gifts day and night.
Seo Ieung’s stunning looks would’ve made that her norm.

But in a world full of beautiful girls, her comment made sense.

“So… just checking, you don’t get offended when a girl tries to pay, right?”

Seo Ieung asked.
This time, she wasn’t wrong.
My trauma does make it uncomfortable, to an extent.

Of course, I didn’t admit it.

“Not offended.”

No need to add to my bad image.

Being labeled a loser is bad enough.
I don’t want to be branded a misogynist too.
Even if I’m scared of women now…
Someday, I’ll overcome it and laugh freely with beautiful girls. I will.

“So, you’re just the type who believes in give-and-take?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t like freeloading, huh?”

Seo Ieung closed the distance again as we talked.

Too close.
My face darkened.

Unable to bear it, I sidestepped to put space between us.

“Oh, too close? Sorry…”
“It’s fine.”

“…”
“…”

Her apology reminded me I owed her one too.

“Sorry.”
“Huh? For what?”

“For smacking your hand earlier.”
“Oh, that? I don’t care, it’s fine.”

“Thanks.”
“Yeah.”

“…”
“…”

The air turned awkward again.

“KIEEEK!”

A chilling screech echoed.
I turned to see a monster charging at us from afar.

Human-like appearance.
Rotting flesh.
A walking corpse.

Officially called a ghoul.
An F-rank monster.

‘Ugh…’

This was my second time seeing a monster in person.
But I’d seen plenty online.
Ghouls included.

‘They’re way creepier in real life.’

Like human women, monsters can wield magic.
But not all turn into beautiful girls.

From what I’d seen online.
Many monsters are grotesque.

Though, some human-like monsters are beautiful, and some animal-like ones are cute.

Even with magic, their appearances evolve differently by species.

Humans always become beautiful.
Ghouls always turn hideous.
Professor Santo’s species always turns cute.
That sort of thing.

“KIEEEK!!!”

The ghoul was close now.
It leaped high with unnatural agility for a corpse.

“Pathetic thing doesn’t know its place.”

Seo Ieung scoffed, extending her right arm.

In an instant.
Her arm swelled and transformed.

Covered in dark fur.
Thick, heavy paw.
Five sharp, iron-like claws.

A bear’s arm.

“KIEEK!”

The ghoul lunged from the air.
Seo Ieung casually swung her massive arm.

BOOM!

The ghoul’s upper body exploded like a popped balloon.

‘Holy… that’s insane.’

I was inwardly awestruck.
Her confidence wasn’t empty.
She was stronger than I’d imagined.

‘Now that I think about it, she said she uses transformation magic to turn into animals.’

Partial transformation…
No, she could morph specific parts too.

“F-rank dungeons are so boring.”

Seo Ieung reverted her arm to normal.
Then looked at me and said.

“Kang Hawi, take one down. We paid to get in, don’t just watch.”
“Okay.”

I nodded.
It’s a bit scary, but…
If I’m scared of an F-rank monster, I’ll never become a Hunter.

I had to be brave.

I mentally compared Seo Ieung to the ghoul.
Imagining having to fight one or the other.

‘A monster’s less scary than a beautiful girl.’

I’d rather fight a ghoul than Seo Ieung.
Overcoming fear with greater fear.

‘Let’s do this.’

I steadied my mind and sat down.
Then slowly closed my eyes.

“What’re you doing? Why’re you sitting?”
“Need to focus.”
“Focus? Oh, your Mystery is transformation, right? Guess you’re not used to it yet.”

Like she said.
I’m not skilled with my ability.
Transforming requires intense focus.

“How long does it take?”
“About three minutes.”
“That’s long.”

It’s already a big improvement.
It used to take a whole hour.
Three minutes is the result of grueling practice.

‘She’s not wrong, though. Even shortened, it’s still slow.’

I know.
No enemy in the world waits quietly for you to transform, like in comics.

But I wasn’t discouraged.
With endless effort.
I believed one day I’d transform instantly, like Seo Ieung.

When that day would come, I don’t know.

‘…Enough distractions. Time to transform.’

I cleared my mind.
And focused.

To become an angel.

When I got this new body.
I instinctively knew.
I had a Mystery—the ability to transform into an angel.

How to describe it?
Like the knowledge was etched into my soul.

Also.
When I became an angel.
I naturally understood what powers I could wield and how to grow stronger.

I also knew how to gauge strength.
Wing size.
Or the number of wings.
You can roughly measure an angel’s power that way.

And my wings?
Just one pair.
The size of a sparrow’s.

I’m basically a defective angel, unable to even fly.

*

After meditating.
I slowly stood up.
And looked down at my body.

No shirt.
Just white cloth pants.
No shoes either.

My short hair now flowed long.
Its black color turned silvery white.

My eye level was higher.
I’d grown taller.

‘Transformation seems successful.’

Also, my face got more handsome.
When I checked in a mirror at home.
I looked three or four times better than usual.

Maybe subjective.
But my appearance screamed “not human.”
Same basic face, but different.

Anyway.
One last check.
I turned my head as far as I could to see my back.

My wings weren’t visible.

Not gone.
Just too small to see.
Without a mirror, I can’t check them.

‘Hoped they’d grown, but no luck.’

No change from my last transformation.

Check done.
As I turned back.

“That look’s dangerous…”

I heard Seo Ieung mutter.
Her voice was low, so I didn’t catch it clearly.
I tilted my head, looking straight at her.

“…”

Our eyes met.
Seo Ieung blushed, visibly flustered.

What’s with her?
Is it because I’m shirtless?

Surprising.

Even in this world.
A guy going shirtless is common.

If she’s embarrassed by this, she must not be used to guys’ bodies.

“…Do you always turn into such a pervert?”

She stammered.
Guess my bare torso really bothers her.

Pervert’s a bit harsh, though.
Makes it sound like I transformed into a flasher.

I nodded instead of answering.

“Why’re you shirtless…?”
“Because of the wings.”
“…Wings?”
“This form is an angel.”

I turned to show her my back.
She should see my tiny pair of wings.

Flap, flap.
I focused to move them.

“…”

No reaction.
Feeling awkward, I turned back.

As I looked at her face again.

‘Wait… What? I’m fine?’

I realized late.
I was staring straight into Seo Ieung’s eyes.

No tension.
No fear.
No nausea or dizziness.

Her gaze didn’t feel burdensome at all.

‘What’s going on? Does angel mode make me immune to my trauma?’

That seemed most likely.
It’s not like my trauma suddenly vanished.

‘Now that I think about it, I’ve never faced a girl in this state…’

How much better is it?
Does angel mode completely erase my fear of women?

I wanted to test it.
And I had the perfect subject.

Let’s try it with Seo Ieung.
See if I’m okay being close to a beautiful girl.

One step.
Two steps.

I slowly approached her.

“What? Why’re you coming closer…?”

Seo Ieung backed away.
Why’s she retreating?
Is my appearance that intimidating?

No idea why.
But I couldn’t let her escape, so I sped up.

“Why’re you getting closer…!”

As she kept retreating.
A large rock blocked her path.

Thanks to that, I reached her.

“…”
“…”

We were close.
Close enough our noses could touch.

“Why’re you doing this…? You hate being near girls…”

I silently stared into her light brown eyes.

My heart didn’t race.

No trauma.
No feelings at all toward Seo Ieung.

Strange.
It felt like looking at a rock.
To think I could face a beautiful girl this close and feel nothing.

“Explain why you’re doing this…”

Her eyes wavered.
Now she couldn’t meet my gaze.
The roles had reversed.

Anyway.
Test done. Time to apologize.

No weird intentions.
Just checking something.
As I was about to say that.

“Ugh…”

Blood dripped down.
From Seo Ieung’s nose.

“What? Nosebleed? You okay?”
“Argh…”

Her eyes lost focus.

Thud!

She collapsed, fainting.