Chapter 1
The night I got home after finishing my convenience store shift.
I was lying in bed, scrolling through the Hunter Gallery.
[Title: Live: B-Rank Hunter just awakened and joined the gallery lol]
(Proof pic of my B-Rank Hunter Awakening Certificate)
Yeah, your big bro here.
Time to escape my semi-basement studio apartment lol
-Holy shit.
-I'm so jealous. Doesn't a B-Rank Hunter make over 100 million won a year?
ㄴA “monthly annual salary,” lmao. Did you drop out of high school?
ㄴIf you're a high school grad, doesn't that put you in the top 10% of the Hunter Gallery? Why insult him?
ㄴI was jealous because he used a difficult word.
[Title: I'm a non-awakened, but being a hunter looks hard too]
You wake up around lunchtime, casually enter the Tower,
and click a few skills while killing some monsters, and you only make a few hundred million a year?
Fuck.
-I'm a non-awakened too. Even if I awakened, I'd be too scared to enter the Tower. I'm glad I'm just an ordinary person.
ㄴWelcome, hunter.
ㄴHunter bastards don't even realize how easy their jobs are lol
The posts on the Hunter Gallery fell into two main categories.
People envying hunters, and people humblebragging about having awakened.
I was in the former camp.
[Title: I want to awaken.]
I want to awaken.
-That guy's back again.
-Can someone please make this bastard awaken already?
“Ah. I wish I could awaken.”
It wasn't about wanting an easy life or wanting to get rich like everyone else.
This was a matter of survival.
[Title: So, how's Hwaseong these days?]
You know, that place next to Suwon.
I heard the Tower's collapsed there five times or so. Has it turned into an inhuman hellscape like Seoul?
-It's pretty livable.
ㄴIs that true?
ㄴYeah. It's fine, apart from the occasional monster coming to knock on your front door.
ㄴ?
-We're barely hanging on thanks to the Hwasan Guild. Without them, we'd have gone under ages ago, just like Seoul.
Hwaseong City.
The place where I'd lived my whole life, and one of the most dangerous areas in Korea.
‘I'm so sick of this place.’
You needed money to escape to another region, and a non-awakened like me could barely cover living expenses.
At least if I had family, things might be different.
My parents were caught in a Tower collapse and died around the time I graduated middle school.
‘What a life.’
At first, I thought the government would do something for me, but there was no government aid at all.
I suppose that was only natural.
With Korea falling apart in real time, would anyone care about some orphan?
‘…I want to awaken.’
I wasn't asking for much.
If I could just reach C-Rank, I might be able to get out of this city.
‘Get real.’
I closed my eyes, offering up a brief prayer.
Please don't let a goblin break into my home while I'm asleep.
***
-Ding-a-ling!
The sound of my alarm woke me up.
It was early morning, just as the sun was beginning to rise.
‘Maybe I could sleep a little longer…’
The urge welled up inside me, but I managed to get up somehow.
If I fell asleep again, I might be late for my evening shift.
‘I worked so hard to get this job. I can't let them fire me.’
Maybe things were different in the past, but finding even a single job in Hwaseong was difficult these days.
I had no choice but to stretch and get out of bed.
-Thud.
When I landed on the floor, the impact felt heavier than usual.
‘The bed feels like it's gotten taller.’
Or, more accurately, I felt like I'd gotten smaller.
‘Hmm.’
On top of that, I felt weak, and everything felt completely different from usual.
My clothes felt irritating every time I moved.
Maybe I just wasn't fully awake yet?
‘I should at least wash my face.’
The moment I headed toward the bathroom, thinking that—
“Huh…?”
I saw the reflection of a girl in the mirror.
Black hair with a silvery sheen.
Red eyes that looked like they had jewels set in them.
Her skin was as white as a vampire's, and she had the prettiest face I'd ever seen in my life.
How old was she…? Maybe around middle-school age.
‘Holy shit.’
I felt like my brain was about to shut down, but first I checked on the girl.
She looked just as bewildered as I was.
She was even wearing the white shirt I usually wore.
‘Why…?’
Had I gotten drunk last night and kidnapped someone?
The thought crossed my mind for a moment, but I soon realized that something was wrong.
The only person in the mirror was that girl.
‘Then what about me?’
I looked down.
Under the shirt, which was so oversized it looked like it might slip right off, I saw a certain part of my body.
Two small mounds that no grown man should ever see on himself.
‘…No way. It can't be.’
I cleared my throat and let out a little sound.
“A-ah.”
A clear, melodious voice came out of my throat.
And then—
-Swish.
When I raised my middle finger, the girl in the mirror did the exact same thing back to me.
There was no denying it now.
I had become a woman.
***
I opened my eyes to find that I'd been transformed into a girl.
It was shocking to become a girl, and one who looked about middle-school age at that, but…
‘I still have things to do.’
I quickly sorted through my situation.
First, my ID.
“Hmm. Male.”
The ID showed me as I had been when I was a man.
All the records of my life so far were still there. I was the only thing that had changed—I was a woman now.
‘So it's not a parallel world.’
That left just one thing to try.
“…Status window.”
I shouted it, but nothing happened.
Awakening after getting turned into a girl was practically a law of nature. And I didn't even get that?
The situation was pretty bleak.
‘I'm not in a parallel world where I'm a woman, and I didn't awaken some crazy power, but my appearance changed?’
I'm just a pretty undocumented immigrant now.
“What is this…?”
I clutched my head and tried to think.
What on earth was I supposed to do now?
‘The parents I could tell the truth to… are long dead.’
I didn't have any close friends, either. There was no one who could prove my identity or help me at all.
Should I go to the district office and tell them the truth?
‘No. I can't do that.’
I'd be lucky if they simply deported me.
They might use me as bait during a monster hunt, or I could be trafficked by a criminal organization.
That was how bad things were in Korea.
“Ugh…!”
No matter how I looked at it, I had no future.
Just as my vision was going dark—
[Physical reconstruction complete.]
[The Swordsmanship Gallery is now active.]
A blue message appeared before my eyes.
‘Gallery…?’
More importantly, did “physical reconstruction” mean I'd turned into a beautiful girl?
As I was left with nothing but questions, another blue window appeared.
[Swordsmanship Gallery]
Gallery Description: A swordsmanship discussion forum for Sword Masters
The blue window showed what looked exactly like a gallery forum.
After taking a quick look around, I tapped on a post that caught my eye.
[Title: Pro tip for boosting aura output (according to the blue-tag mod)]
There ain't one, you sword nerd lol
Just focus on understanding your inner world and keep training.
-I knew it was a lie and still fell for it, fuck;;
-This bastard keeps doing this even after getting banned.
-There is a way to boost your aura output easily, yeah. Here's what you do…
Show more
└Wow, this is incredible.
└Holy shit, damn.
└GeniusSwordMaiden) The “show more” button won't work for me. Could someone tell me how to see it?
└To see it, you just…
Show more
└GeniusSwordMaiden) I can't see this one either ㅠㅠ
At a glance, it looked like an ordinary online community.
But if you looked closely at what they were talking about, something seemed off.
[Title: Isn't ‘swish, shwooom, boom’ worse than ‘shwoom, swish, vwooom, boom’?]
Author: GreatswordFan
I'm optimizing a surprise combo for 1v1 duels,
but the more I research it, the more of a headache it gives me;;
-For 1v1s, ‘vwooom, swish, shing, kaboom’ works too.
└GreatswordFan) Oh, thanks!
-Greatsword bastards are talking about stuff only they understand again.
[Title: I want to fight the Demon King again]
Author: FormerHeroYoungMan
I went toe-to-toe with the Demon King back in the day and died,
but if I fought him now, I'd blow him up in one hit, right?
-You think the Demon King spent the last 2,000 years goofing off?
└Upvoted lol
-You died to a measly Demon King???
└FormerHeroYoungMan) No, the Demon King in my world was insanely strong;;
└Wow… You died to the Demon King and spent all this time posting guides?
└FormerHeroYoungMan) Fuck you, accept my duel request.
└Sorry lol
‘They'd already died?’
Judging by the context, it seemed like everyone in this gallery had died once already.
They were even from different worlds, and it seemed they had nearly peak-level swordsmanship.
‘But why am I in this gallery…?’
The question crossed my mind, but then I accepted it.
I'd been turned into a pretty little undocumented immigrant. It was only fair that I got some sort of bonus.
‘I have to make use of this gallery somehow.’
I immediately made a permanent account in the gallery and posted a question.
[Title: Newbie here. What is this gallery?]
Author: WokeUpAsATSGirl
I woke up this morning and found I'd become a woman.
And then a message said something about my physical reconstruction being complete, and this gallery appeared. What is this?
-Holy shit, a new member after 300 years?
-What does “TS girl” mean?
└It's a good thing.
-Wah, let's go!
-Big sis, take me!
-GeniusSwordMaiden) Oh, nice to meet you! Let's get along from now on!
.
.
.
.
“Wow.”
A flood of comments filled the screen in an instant.
Of course, like any gallery, most of them were nonsense, but there were some serious replies, too.
-But doesn't this guy seem a little weird? How could you not know what a gallery is?
└True.
└Turns out he was an old Sword Saint who just believed he was a girl. Damn.
Just as they were deciding I was a delusional old man, I hurriedly replied.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) There was no explanation at all, so I really have no idea;; What is this place?
└Huh. There was no explanation?
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Yeah, it just suddenly appeared.
└You'd usually get an explanation as soon as you died… Could you have just been sucked into your inner world?
They kept mentioning the inner world in the gallery, too. What on earth did that mean?
It sounded like an important concept, so I asked right away.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) What's an inner world? I don't know anything about that.
└?
└?
└Seriously?
Amid the endless string of question marks, one question appeared.
└Do you even know what swordsmanship is?
They seemed to think I was a total amateur. I knew at least that much.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Of course I do. It's basically swinging a sword.
└You're joking, right?
└Seriously, it sounds like there's something wrong with this guy.
Just as suspicion toward me was mounting.—
-PureAndLovely*) This girl really seems to know absolutely nothing. I tried to access her inner world, but there's nothing there.
A permanent account with a blue armband beside its name appeared.
└There's no inner world?
└You're an untouchable outcast?
└You're not even human??
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) No, what the fuck is an inner world!!!!
Only after I exploded in the comments did the gallery users start explaining what an inner world was.
└An inner world is like a “mental image.” Each person has a unique mental image that takes shape as a world.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Got it.
└And swordsmanship is the technique of manifesting that inner world in reality.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) …Got it.
Actually, I didn't understand it at all.
I got that an inner world was a mental image, but swordsmanship was about pulling it out into reality?
‘What the hell is that, you weeb.’
It was a concept that didn't exist on Earth.
After listening to their explanation in a daze—
└Newbie, you didn't understand a single thing, did you?
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Gasp!
└Knew it.
They saw right through me immediately.
***
After that, I was treated to several dozen minutes of back-to-back explanations.
To sum up what I learned—
1. Only the single most talented person in any given world can enter the Swordsmanship Gallery.
Apparently, that was me on Earth.
2. There are no living people in the gallery.
Usually, people learn about the gallery right after they die.
After that, they're moved to a space for sword training, and the gallery activates—
-What are you?
└You don't have an inner world, and you didn't die, so how'd you get here?
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) No idea~
For a while, every topic in the gallery revolved around one thing.
Why had the gallery activated while I was still alive?
‘No idea.’
They threw around all kinds of plausible theories and nonsense posts, but in the end, no one came to any conclusion.
[Title: So, what are you going to do now, newbie?]
You don't seem interested in swordsmanship, but
if you want to learn, I can teach you, yeah.
-Raising a newbie sounds fun.
-If they're in the gallery, their talent is basically proven. This could be really fun.
-You're bored and got lucky, lol. Let's learn swordsmanship.
Most of them seemed eager to teach me.
‘What should I do?’
I had two options.
1. Ignore the gallery and live as a pretty undocumented immigrant.
2. Learn swordsmanship and try to do something with it.
‘…The second one, no question.’
There was nothing to think about.
The reason Awakened climbed the Tower was that they were strong.
Even a non-awakened like me could enter the Tower.
‘What if I learn swordsmanship and get stronger?’
Maybe I could become a hunter.
[Title: I'll give swordsmanship a try]
Author: WokeUpAsATSGirl
But how strong are you guys? The number one ranked person in my world fought a dragon and barely won.
I asked a question to gauge the combat strength of the people who might become my masters.
And then—
-?
-?
-PureAndLovely*) ?
-GeniusSwordMaiden) ?
As if on cue, dozens of question marks appeared in a row.
‘Was mentioning a dragon too much?’
Well, even in fantasy novels, dragons were absolute beings.
They must be tough even for a Sword Master.
-WokeUpAsATSGirl) Sorry, sorry. Was bringing up a dragon a bit much?
└Hey.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Yes?
└Why are you comparing us to a dragon;; If anyone in this gallery can't kill a dragon, they might as well kill themselves.
Huh?
-I wonder if there's anyone in the gallery weaker than a dragon. Now I'm curious.
└Then they wouldn't have gotten into this gallery.
└Dagger users might just barely qualify? lol
└DaggerTechniquePro) Want to duel?
└We don't sit at the same table as dagger freaks~
Judging by the reactions, they seemed serious.
‘…Are dragons on Earth different from these dragons?’
The thought crossed my mind, but it didn't seem like something I needed to worry about right now.
Even if dragons were different, how different could they be?
[Title: Masters, please teach me swordsmanship.]
Author: WokeUpAsATSGirl
Please pass on your teachings to me.
What should I do?
-GeniusSwordMaiden) Just follow me, and I'll make you a Sword Master in no time!
└Sword Princess is the real deal, no doubt.
└The way this account talks is kinda gross, but the skill is legit.
-DaggerTechniquePro) Want to just dip your toes into dagger techniques?
└Don't corrupt the newbie.
└Ugh, Dagger Freak, just get out of here for a bit!
I got plenty of other offers, too.
But one comment stood out above the rest.
-PureAndLovely*) I have a method I used to awaken my aura back in the day. Want to try that first?
└Isn't that kind of dangerous?
└Newbie, never listen to the blue-tag mod. You'll die if you mess it up.
The only thing the comments said was that I absolutely shouldn't listen to the mod.
‘If the gallery says never to do something, that means you definitely should.’
Having translated the gallery slang, I left a comment.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Sure, no problem. I'm a total alpha male, so it doesn't matter.
└PureAndLovely*) Oh, I'm touched.
‘The mod seems like the strongest one here.’
I'll try following the mod's advice first.
-WokeUpAsATSGirl) So what's the method? Do you have some secret Sword Master technique or something?
The mod replied as if they'd been waiting for me to ask.
└PureAndLovely*) Any sword will do. Stick it in your stomach.