Chapter 29: “……Female♥Mister♪”

As soon as I stepped out into the airport lobby after clearing immigration, I shouted it out loud.

People passing by glanced at me, some openly staring.

It wasn’t because I was deliberately trying to draw attention by shouting.

From the moment I arrived at  Airport, when I got on the plane, and even just now while clearing immigration

at this glorious 1st-tier Korean state-owned enterprise of an airport—

I was already a walking spectacle.

Well, it makes sense.

If I were still my past self—or even now, after getting used to this TS body—I’d probably do a double-take too.

I mean, who wouldn’t stare if a real-life anime character, a middle school girl with waist-length, silky silver hair,

walked by in front of them?

Even after the first glance, they’d keep sneaking peeks.

Some would eventually cave and ask for a photo, maybe even a handshake—or try touching the hair just once.

If they were especially bold, they might even politely ask if they could store me inside their suitcase for safekeeping…

Huh? That’s not normal?

Was that just me?

[Jinzuko: “Umm… Akihabara? Out of nowhere? Also, we’re in Seoul right now, just so you know, Shizuko.”]

“Listen, it’s the unspoken rule to yell ‘Akihaba~!!’ when you land somewhere. Don’t you know Oreimo? My Little

Sister Can’t Be This Cute.”

[Jinzuko: “Hmm… I vaguely remember some anime from the dreams I see through your memories, but… when was

this from?”]

“Hmm, around 2010?”

[Jinzuko: “Whoa, that’s right before I was born! That’s ancient history.”]

“See? This is why kids these days… Back in my day, if you were a Korean man, you had to be obsessed with middle

school girls and little sisters.”

Look at this masterpiece.

Oreimo has both—a middle school girl and a little sister. What more could you ask for?!

[Jinzuko: “…The more you talk, the more my image of Korean men is getting deeply weird, thanks to you.”]

“Oh, right. Also, this isn’t Seoul. This place is actually…”

I opened up a map app and showed it to Jinzuko.

[Jinzuko: “Ahh… Wait, isn’t this place super dangerous? I remember seeing something about this being basically the

demon realm…”]

“Hey! Who taught you to talk like that? That’s some serious regional discrimination.”

[Jinzuko: “Hmm… your memories? Oh, speaking of, in the dream I had last night, there was something like… just

like I have an older brother, you had a little sister…”]

I pretended not to hear and dug around in my bag instead.

People were already staring at me weirdly, and standing around arguing with the air was only making it worse.

It’s already hard enough being an excessively attention-grabbing middle school girl—I really didn’t need to make

things even weirder.

―Rustle.

My hair, which used to have a slight wave to it, is now perfectly straight and silky thanks to religiously brushing it

every morning and night.

But cutting it would’ve been too much of a waste, so now the sides are practically reaching my knees. I tucked a

strand behind my ear and slipped in one earbud.

Or tried to—

―Plop, plop.

“Ahh! My earbud!”

My tiny middle schooler ears were still too small for these chunky Bluetooth earbuds, and one of them popped right out.

―Taptaptap.

I dashed after it, making sure my skirt didn’t fly up.

I lowered myself carefully, bending at the knees instead of the waist.

Naturally, I gathered my sailor uniform skirt inward so nothing was exposed.

Thankfully, the rebellious earbud was kind enough to stop rolling after a short chase.

[Jinzuko: “……”]

“Hm? What’s up?”

Jinzuko had silently witnessed the whole process and was now staring at me with a classic  expression.

If this were an anime, there’d be a long “jiiiii—” sound effect right now.

[Jinzuko: “…Shizuko, you were just talking about how men should be obsessed with little sisters and stuff, but…

you’re already way more girly than any real middle school girl I know.”]

“Wh-what?!”

[Jinzuko: “I mean, a month ago, if this happened, you wouldn’t have cared if your skirt flew up—you’d just chase

after it. But now… the way you ran, the way you knelt down… even I, a real middle school girl, have to admit you

were flawless.”]

[Jinzuko: “And even before that, the way you tucked your hair behind your ear—just pure femininity.”]

“No, that’s not true…!!”

[Jinzuko: “Oh? And now you’re blushing too? If Aya-chan was here, she’d definitely be all over you right now—

probably drooling and clinging to you like crazy.”]

“Aya-chan does that all the time! Even at , she was pretending to give me a farewell hug but actually groped

me all over and sniffed me like a perv…”

[Jinzuko: “Well, that’s just Aya-chan for you.”]

[Jinzuko: “Honestly, all that ‘Oreimo’ talk earlier… it felt like you were forcing yourself to say it. Like you were

desperately clinging to some piece of your old identity.”]

“Ugh… uuuu…”

That’s right.

It’s been two months since I transmigrated into Amae Shizuko.

Two months.

So much has happened.

From the very first day, when I broke a fellow middle school girl’s nose with my fist.

To creating fake rumors about myself online to boost my profile, applying to KAIST while doing all that, and getting

the acceptance call.

On my first stream, I rode the hype so hard that I ended up doing a face reveal immediately.

I never expected to be the one hacking into the quantum-encrypted security system I installed on my own PC.

Then there was her.

That little gremlin who kept shit-stirring in my stream chats.

So I pranked her back by sending her a creepy ‘Unknown Caller’ video titled “Teacher♡and♥♥♥ Video.avi”, NTR-

style, half as a joke, half seriously.

When my suspension was over and I returned to Jinzuko’s middle school, it was chaos all over again.

The school administration tried to deny my re-enrollment, claiming there was no precedent for my case.

So, naturally, I flipped the whole place upside down. Again.

By then, my donation link was live, and in just one day, I raked in over a million yen.

It was my first time seeing more than ten million won hit my account in a blink.

Even back when I teamed up with that bastard Kwak Youngjin, wringing out every ounce of intelligence, cunning,

trickery, and strategy we had to run the Auto Rice Shower Macro, it wasn’t this insane…

I get it now—why streamers end up dancing, putting on cutesy nasal voices, making that “female face,” and sneakily

showing some skin.

You guys don’t understand… Once you’ve tasted that sweet, sweet cash, there’s no going back, for real…

Ah, and just to be clear, I never did an actual strip stream, okay? Seriously.

It’s just~ back then I still had a bit of my male instincts left~

So I accidentally showed some skin without even realizing—purely subconscious, you know?

“—N-no!! I’m still, on the inside if not the outside, a totally filthy, sleazy, degenerate Korean f*cking kimchi man at

heart! A proud male, through and through…!!”

[Huh? Isn’t that the famous yogurt ice cream shop? The one everyone was talking about on stream yesterday, saying

it’s crazy popular in Korea right now?]

“Wait, that’s Yoajeong?! Why the hell is that in the airport lobby?”

Just as I was thinking my blood sugar was crashing, boom, I spotted it.

And right when I was starving too, since my flight wasn’t at breakfast or lunch time, so there wasn’t even an in-flight

meal.

Jinzuko, you’re the best ♡

“Hehe, this’ll make perfect content for my ‘First Day in Korea’ stream♬ Let’s dig in♡”

[Hmm, but Gat-chan, isn’t it almost lunchtime? Wouldn’t it be better to go to that Korean restaurant over there?]

“Where? Oh… that place? Hmm… It is lunchtime, but I’m not really feeling something heavy like spicy pork stir-fry

or a pork cutlet right now…”

And the moment I said that—

Jinzuko floated right in front of me, flashing a bright smile.

[Gat-chan. Don’t you think it’s time to just accept it? Forget whether you’re in Korea or Japan,]

And with those words, she delivered the final blow.

[No matter how you look at it, you’re already just a full-blown middle school girl, through and through♥]

…She’s right.

I wanna deny it… but I can’t.

Even last week, when it was that time of the month, I totally snapped at Jinzuko for no reason…

But the way she just took it in stride, like “Ah, so Gat-chan finally knows what it’s like^^” —that pissed me off even

more…

And then, when I got so frustrated I barged into my big brother’s room and grabbed one of his red books to read…

For some reason, seeing someone else’s “son” after being separated from my own for two months… or maybe it was

because it wasn’t mine in the first place… either way, I ended up blushing without realizing it…

Even so, I forced myself to keep reading—and at some point, I realized I wasn’t relating to the fat old man doing the

f*cking, but to the girl underneath him, getting pinned down and used…

And at that moment… I knew.

“…Ugh!! T-this is all your fault, Jinzuko!! Everything went downhill the moment you started calling me Gat-chan!

Back when you called me Mister, at least that was a mental safety net…!”

Right then, I saw it.

It was only for a second.

But beneath Jinzuko’s smiling eyes, I caught it—that same predatory gleam Aya-chan gets.

That hungry, almost worshipful glint in her gaze—

As she slowly licked her lips with the tip of her tongue.

“Y-you… you little… Jinzuko, don’t tell me… You stopped calling me Mister because you thought it didn’t fit

anymore, so you went with Gat-chan instead… And all this time, you were thinking—?!!”

To anyone watching, it probably looked like I was pointing accusingly at thin air.

But I couldn’t help it. My trembling finger naturally aimed straight at Jinzuko.

But Jinzuko had already turned her back to me.

[……♬]

It wasn’t the flustered reaction of someone caught red-handed.

It was the smug vibe of someone going, “Oh? You’re only figuring that out now?”

Like someone casually humming a tune while strolling along a sunset-lit balcony.

Hands clasped behind her back, exuding perfect composure.

If this was some cheesy romcom, this is where the cute junior would twirl around with a playful “Senpai~ you

know~!” line.

But Jinzuko wasn’t some romcom heroine—she was a ghost middle school girl.

Instead, she did the Shaft-style head tilt, twisting her neck in that unsettling way to face me again.

And then, for the first time in ages, she called me by my old name.

With just one extra word in front—the one label I absolutely refused to accept.

“—N-noooooooooo!! Waaahhhh!!”

In the end, I broke down crying like a total girl.

Right there at Incheon Airport.

Home.

“……”

A room with no owner anymore.

Congratulations, Han Seol-ah, on passing the first round of KAIST admissions!

The schedule for the second-round interview is listed below…

And on the screen of the computer, now abandoned by its owner—

“…I passed the first round. For Oppa’s school.”

That word—Oppa.

I hadn’t called him that even once since my first year of middle school.

How many years had it been?

“Oppa…”

I tried saying it again.

But now, no answer came from that empty room.

And it never would again.

Forever.