Before Going to the Fifth Tier (1)

Around the time Hwi-min was leisurely preparing to leave the country.

There was a young man commanding international attention comparable to his.

Japan's No. 1 S-rank, Renya.

'Is that moron still alive?'

'It'd be a real nuisance if he actually died.'

People weren't looking at him kindly.

And no wonder, considering how many nicknames he'd earned in just a few days.

The reincarnation of Mutaguchi.

Japan's No. 1 Filth, following the Japanese military's Three Great Filths.

It had even gotten to the point where people were saying to flush Renya down a toilet.

But public opinion was overturned surprisingly easily.

[Iron Gangmin Crosses the Sea!]

[The Gate Closes]

"…Phew."

'So he really wasn't planning to abandon me, after all. Iron Gangmin.'

First, the Gate closed.

Iron Gangmin also announced that the raid had been cleared.

With the crisis of the third devastating blow resolved, Renya's blunder wasn't something to blame him for right away.

'It's a shame they lost a national-treasure-level item, but… at least he came back alive.'

And one more thing.

There were fewer than ten Fourth-Floor clearers in the entire world, including Renya and Hyunseo.

Renya was the sort of person the Administration might invest trillions of won to produce, if they could.

They couldn't tell him to get lost just because he'd misspoken a little.

-Chatter.

"You're alive, Lord Sugiyama!"

"As expected of Japan's pride!"

Thanks to that, everyone celebrated Renya's return.

It was Iron Gangmin who handled the Gate, while Renya had merely pulled off the feat of 'being alive.'

But they praised him anyway, saying that alone was impressive.

Then the reporters who gathered like a swarm of clouds…

"So, did you see Iron Gangmin?"

"He must have given you his cloak, so you definitely saw him!"

"What does he look like?!"

…brought up Iron Gangmin again.

It was only natural; there had never been bigger news.

But what was Renya's reaction when he heard that?

-Grin.

"What I can say about Lord Iron Gangmin is a secret."

He smiled as blissfully as anyone could.

It was the smile of a boy who had fallen in love.

"A secret? What do you mean by that…."

"He must have a reason for hiding his identity. Since I owe him a debt of gratitude, I will respect his wishes."

He even said he wouldn't reveal a single piece of information about him.

Wasn't that something a fanatic would say?

The reporters who had gathered stared blankly, mouths agape.

They could hardly believe this was the same guy who had stubbornly insisted he couldn't trust Iron Gangmin.

'I alone need to know that Iron Gangmin is actually a cute, petite, buxom young woman!'

If they knew the reason, they'd all think, 'As expected, he really is a moron.'

Even Renya chose not to mention this.

It was because Dohwa had stolen his heart when she gently stroked him.

"Therefore, I will not answer any questions about Lord Iron Gangmin."

And Renya made a firm resolution.

He spoke with the coolest expression he could manage.

Looking straight into the camera, so Iron Gangmin could see him.

With extremely clear pronunciation.

"I can't say anything about her, even if I die."

"……Her?"

"…Huh?"

A slip of the tongue in front of the camera.

A brief silence followed.

"……!!!?"

'I slipped up!! It just came out without thinking…!!'

Not only Renya, who had misspoken after going five whole days without sleep,

'Her? Why did he suddenly say that while talking about Iron Gangmin?'

'No way….'

'Iron Gangmin is a woman?'

The meaning hidden in his slip of the tongue.

Even the reporters who understood it froze.

After a long silence, what erupted was, naturally, an uproar.

"I said it wrong! Not her (彼女, kanojo), him (彼, kare)!"

"No, who normally gets those confused!?"

"It was like… a typo from autocorrect…."

"As if that could happen!!"

Renya tried to cover it up with his sluggish brain, but did he really stand a chance?

The reporters closed in around Renya.

No one failed to realize that moron was holding a sensational scoop of the highest order.

As a result, just five minutes later.

A torrent of priceless quotes poured out.

[Sugiyama Renya: 'Iron Gangmin Is the Most Beautiful Woman I've Ever Seen']

[A Being Straight Out of a Manga]

[She Was the Woman Who Would Become My Mother]

"……."

'Furry, furry….'

Need I say more about Hwi-min's reaction when he heard the news on the plane?

He contorted his face in disgust.

Renya had mistaken Dohwa for Iron Gangmin, and Dohwa was a fox, after all.

So it was bound to look creepy.

'At least no one will think I'm a man anymore.'

Setting Renya's sexual preferences aside.

He didn't pay much attention to Renya's blunder.

That was exactly Hwi-min's intention, differing only in scale.

[Awakened Minor Gallery]

Title: So there really was a reason to hide her identity LOL

(Screenshot of a real-time hot post)

Why did she hide that she was a woman

Why has she never shown her face even once

= Checked the gallery and now it all makes sense LOL

ㄴ There are like several posts with weird fetishes in the hot posts, fuck

ㄴㄴ The hot posts aren't a trash can.

ㄴ But seriously, how do you even hold this back?

ㄴㄴ Goddess-level looks according to Renya + strength enough to devour a Gate Renya couldn't clear, fuck

ㄴㄴ Pink-haired, petite, big-breasted beauty, ugh… so fucking hot…

ㄴㄴ (Emoticon with a stern expression)

'I knew this would happen.'

The false information that Iron Gangmin was a woman was spreading far and wide.

His past actions were also being reevaluated.

-Whisper whisper.

"Excuse me, Lord Iron Gangmin… are you there…?"

"Why?"

"This is really awkward to ask, but… were you a woman?"

"Oh-ho."

It had gotten so bad that even Hyunseo, who was sitting beside him and had seen Hwi-min in person, was shaken.

It was safe to say that no one would now realize Hwi-min and Iron Gangmin were the same person.

'Even if someone tries to track down Iron Gangmin, I'm safe now.'

He grinned.

Hwi-min smiled contentedly.

"My gender is an Apache attack helicopter."

"…Pardon?"

"Just kidding. You must've been confused because I was speaking nasally. I was invisible, you see."

Still, he didn't hide his gender from Hyunseo.

Hyunseo had only seen him wearing a mask and hood, but there was no way she hadn't realized he was a man…

'By the way, Hyunseo is looking into the military properly, right? I can't even get exempted as an orphan. They rejected my application because of my family situation too.'

One of Hwi-min's biggest concerns: the military.

To deal with that, Hyunseo needed to know his gender.

"Anyway, Ms. Hyunseo, if we're done talking, I'm going to get some rest."

"Ah, yes…."

"You've had a hard time too, Ms. Hyunseo, so get plenty of rest."

After roughly putting Hyunseo's questions to rest.

Hwi-min picked up his phone again.

It wasn't to troll the forum currently ablaze…

'I should just lurk in the gallery for a while.'

As for the community.

Hwi-min decided not to get involved unnecessarily.

It was easier for people to misunderstand things that way, too,

'Moeifying Iron Gangmin? Ugh.'

They were calling him things like 'noona.'

He knew they were talking about Dohwa, but it still felt a little unpleasant.

'I was going to hype up Senior Yuna, but I'll save that for later….'

'…Could she be here?'

…thanks to which an Awakener with a Unique-grade information-type Trait had gained a major clue.

But neither Hwi-min nor Hyunseo had any way of knowing that yet.

* * *

When he got home, it was exactly dinnertime.

-Creak.

"I'm ba… Huh? What's that smell?"

"Oppa~! I made kimchi stew!"

"…I'm coming!!!"

His little sister had thoughtfully prepared dinner, so he shoved it into his stomach first.

"Serin."

"Hmm? Why~? Want me to cut up some fruit for dessert?"

"Can you cut it?"

"Yeah! A banana!"

"…I'll eat it myself. Anyway, we couldn't take our trip because Japan was in chaos, right? How about a trip somewhere in Korea instead?"

He got straight to the point.

A domestic trip instead of a trip to Japan.

Serin's eyes sparkled.

"Where are we going!?"

"Let's take a trip to the beach. It's a little early, but what do you think?"

"The best~!!"

She grinned brightly as she said that…

'In reality, it's a medical trip, though.'

Would Serin realize it?

That the purpose of the trip had changed 180 degrees, from clearing a Gate to treating her.

'If we're inside the Inner World, I should be able to absorb all her mana too.'

Open the Inner World again with the Genesis Sword.

Then absorb all of his little sister's mana.

Since there was no self-inflicted damage inside the Domain, it should work without any trouble.

Scrape out every last bit of mana from Serin's body and cure her excessive-mana condition.

Along with summoning a dragon, this was one of the uses that had occurred to me the moment I saw the Inner World's effects.

'I think the mana consumption will work out somehow too… The problem is the location.'

Of course, it would be a disaster if I used it just anywhere.

The Inner World's range was large enough to cover an entire colossal Gate, after all.

But what if it were an uninhabited island?

'Even if something got caught up in it, it'd only be a few ships, and I could just watch with Dragon Eyes and open it when the timing was right.'

I'd already looked at a map on the plane and found a suitable island.

Land that looked uninhabitable to anyone, practically a reef.

If I treated Serin there and returned, there shouldn't be any major problem.

Of course, to get there, I'd have to put on the Rare-grade shoes that let me run across water and run all the way there.

I could put up with that much with a smile.

"Let's just have fun, the three of us, including Dohwa. Doesn't that sound fun?"

"Yeah! The best!"

"Okay. Let's go."

Since Serin liked the idea too, we quickly made plans.

The day the Genesis Sword's overload ended.

We decided to go on a trip to an uninhabited island, just the three of us.

"Heehee~ I'm going to buy a swimsuit that will give Oppa a huge surprise!"

"Oh, what kind?"

"It's a secret~ You can't look before I show you, okay?"

"……?"

For some reason, Serin got incredibly excited and made a big fuss about keeping her swimsuit a secret.

-Swish.

"The package is mine! No touching it, Oppa!"

After that, whenever a package arrived, she'd snatch it up before I could touch it, saying she was the only one who would look at it.

I didn't particularly stop her.

I just assumed she was looking forward to the trip.

…I shouldn't have.

"Heehee~ What do you think, Oppa? I look totally grown-up and pretty, right?"

"……."

One week later, on an uninhabited island.

I put a hat on her and told her to change since no one could see her, and she came out wearing that.

Good grief, that's indecent.

"Isn't there too little fabric?"

"What's it matter~? It's okay because it's just Oppa and me here~."

"Good grief. And what did you put on your body?"

"Oil! Grown-up, right~?"

"That's baby oil…."

Despite her appearance, she was still a child inside, which left me troubled in more ways than one.

When on earth is she going to grow up?

"Anyway, if you're done changing, can you give me the hat back?"

"Can't you just change too, Oppa~? I'll keep my eyes tightly shut!"

"No, I want to look around and see if any boats pass nearby."

"If that's all! Here~."

"Thanks."

First, I took the invisibility hat back.

Then—whoosh. Tap.

I made a full-power jump and landed.

I surveyed the surroundings with Dragon Eyes, and fortunately, there were no boats within range.

'Looks like I can draw out the mana first and then play.'

"Serin, wait here for a moment. I'll show you something amazing."

I immediately took out the Mythic-grade sword, the Genesis Sword.

Then I swiftly manifested the Inner World.

I didn't know what would happen if a boat got caught up in it.

So I planned to finish the treatment quickly while I had the chance.

"Open."

"…Eeeek!? What is this, Oppa!?"

"Domain Expan… ahem, it's the sword's ability."

"That's amazing!!!"

Thanks to that, Serin's eyes sparkled.

She was thrilled as she looked at the forest with fruit hanging everywhere.

"Oppa, there's honey flowing here—honey!!"

"…Tsk."

The stream that flowed with honey instead of water, which I hadn't had time to notice last time, left even me speechless. Anyway.

While Serin wasn't looking, I extended a finger toward the ground.

Then I murmured, Spatial Slash.

A silver trajectory stabbed deep into the ground.

-Pshk.

[Mana is not consumed within the Inner World….]

-Ding!

[A rule has been added to the Inner World. Causality applies to added rules.]

- Mana is consumed only for 'Spatial Slash+' and 'Blood Explosion'.

- The power of 'Spatial Slash+' and 'Blood Explosion' increases in proportion to mana consumption.

'Okay.'

Just as I'd vaguely sensed.

I was literally a god here.

It seemed I could customize the effects to some extent too.

Judging by the mention of causality, the added rules probably wouldn't be as powerful as the original ones.

But it didn't matter, since my goal was to waste mana like crazy.

"Then, Serin, want to give Oppa a big hug for a moment~?"

"Yeah!"

"…Thank you."

I'll draw out every toxin built up in your body.

I'll make you better now.

I activated the Stigma while murmuring inwardly.

"Usurpation."

Fwoosh—!!!

The sigil on my forearm glowed red.

And then, a moment later.

-Ding.

[The Inner World has been forcibly deactivated.]

"……Serin."

"Mmm~? Oppa, why~?"

"……."

I realized that my little sister's illness was incurable.