Chapter 11
First, I decided to enter a nearby back alley and sit down to minimize stamina loss as much as possible.
"Haa…."
I lay sprawled in the back alley, where sunlight couldn't reach,
and my stamina had been completely drained, leaving me unable to move anymore.
At least there was a fan, so I could hold out….
[Beep-beep- Beep-]
Suddenly, the fan made an ominous noise and stopped working.
"W-Wait a second?! I definitely charged the battery properly!"
I sensed something was wrong and checked the battery, but the fan's indicator was glowing red.
That meant the battery was empty.
I'd charged it instead of my phone while I slept…. Tch, this is why you don't buy cheap stuff….
I hit the fan, shook it, and even begged it, but there was no getting it to turn back on.
In the end, the fan I'd been counting on met a heroic end, and all I had left was my phone.
I'd have to use this to call someone and ask for help….
"...You're kidding, right?"
But even the phone I'd been counting on had no battery, so it wouldn't turn on.
I guess its battery had run out so quickly because I hadn't charged it yesterday.
I was crazy... Why did I charge the fan instead of my phone…
“Ugh…. I should've eaten my ice cream more slowly….”
When I get close to cold air or food, my stamina recovers a little.
If what my senior had said was true, even a single ice cream could have helped me get out of this crisis, but…
I'd already eaten the ice cream all at once as soon as I bought it, and it had been long gone.
In the end, it turned out I didn't have a single item left.
Oh…. This is bad…. At this rate, I'll melt from the heat….
I knew I'd melt…. I'd melt away….
As despair engulfed me, my vision gradually blurred. Strength drained from my entire body, and my consciousness began to fade.
I never thought I'd end up dying like this...
Dying while out for a walk.... What a stupid way to die….
"...A child?"
Just before I melted away after accepting my foolish fate,
a voice came from the direction of the alley.
I turned my head, wondering if an angel had come to take me away-
“...Eek.”
Apparently, the one who'd come to take me away wasn't an angel, but a demon.
“Hey.”
“Eek…?!"
“Huh?”
“I-I-I haven't done anything that bad in my life! You must be mistaken! S-So please, anything but Hell…!”
“...Hell? You look like you're in pain. Come over here for a moment.”
Despite my desperate plea, the hooded demon gradually approached me, one step at a time.
I wanted to run away somehow, but my body was already too exhausted to move, and all I could do was tremble in fear.
Eventually, the demon came close enough that its outstretched hand could have touched me.
The hooded figure stood there staring at me for a while, then-
“...!”
With a look as though they'd realized something, they reached out toward me-
“Huh?!”
Suddenly, they began touching my cheek.
...Why?
“Huh…! S-Sorry, I didn't mean to….”
The hooded demon…? seemed to realize what they'd done, blushed, and stepped back.
“Uh…. Huh?”
I sat there dumbly, unable to understand what was happening because my cheek had been rubbed so naturally.
Why had they suddenly touched my cheek...? Could it be?!
That's when I remembered what Hyeonwoo and Juhyeok had said.
That person who'd been wandering around this area lately and was supposedly fond of cute-looking girls—
“A-a pervert…?”
“A-a pervert? That's a misunderstanding!”
When I called them a pervert, the hooded pervert suddenly panicked and protested.
“It's just that I can't control myself when I see something cute!”
The pervert was making the sort of excuse criminals often made.
If they couldn't resist and touched me, that was still a crime….
“So it's a misunderstanding. I was just playing around with a friend, and the rumor got blown out of proportion.”
The pervert kept making excuses to prove their innocence, but-
Since there was no evidence, I couldn't believe them at all.
"Anyway, let's start with introductions…. My name is Shin Chaeyeon. Nice to meet you."
"...I'm Seolhwa."
I gave my name without letting my guard down.
I didn't know what might happen if I relaxed in front of someone suspicious.
...Though I had no way to resist, with my stamina gone.
“...You're really on guard. I guess I brought it on myself….”
The other person must have noticed how wary I was,
so I silently nodded.
“How can I get you to let your guard down?”
"...At the very least, take off that hood and show me your face."
“M-my hood…? Sigh. All right.”
After hesitating for a moment, the other person took off their hood.
Then the face of a short-haired woman emerged from beneath it.
And squirrel-like ears were attached to the top of her head.
Cute…!
“Uh…. You’re a woman?”
“Yeah. My voice is a little low, so everyone gets confused.”
It was true that, until she'd taken off her hood, I'd thought she was a somewhat short man….
She was pretty sturdily built, too.
"Those ears…. Are you a mutant too, by any chance?"
"Yeah, I am. Judging by the 'too,' I guess you're a mutant as well?"
"Yes, I'm a Snow Woman."
Hearing that we were both mutants made me feel a sense of kinship, and my guard lowered a little.
Besides, if she was a woman, she should be fine. I looked female on the outside now, too.
“Ms. Chaeyeon, are you a squirrel mutant?”
“Ah, uh…. Well…. I am, technically, but I suppose you could say I'm a little different….”
When I asked about her species, her squirrel ears flapped wildly.
Are there different kinds of squirrels…?
"A lightning squirrel…."
"...Excuse me?"
"I-I mean, Squirrel Thunder! That thing that used to go around online forums!"
Ms. Chaeyeon's face turned red with embarrassment as she shouted, her ears perking up.
By Squirrel Thunder, she must mean that picture of a squirrel that looked like it was using lightning, which had circulated online….
You can mutate into something like that, too…?
“Well…. I know what you want to say. I was incredibly flustered at first, too….”
Ms. Chaeyeon said while avoiding my gaze, apparently embarrassed.
“Even the doctor said they'd never seen anything like this before. I suppose that just proves how nonsensical this syndrome is.”
The syndrome's exact nature and symptoms still weren't fully understood, so I supposed it wasn't strange for something like that to emerge….
But still, Squirrel Thunder? That was strange in so many ways.
“In that case, can you use electricity, too?”
“Of course. If I couldn't use electricity, I'd just be a squirrel.”
When Ms. Chaeyeon raised her hand, electricity crackled out of it!
Wow…. Cool…!
“What about you? If you're a Snow Woman, can you use ice techniques or something?”
“Ah…. I can't at all….”
I did happen to release something like an icy breath last time, but nothing had happened since.
My senior seemed eager to study me, saying I should be able to use ice techniques too, but whether they'd actually manifest….
As I thought about that and continued staring at Ms. Chaeyeon, I saw something moving up and down behind her.
Could that be… a tail?
“Hm? Ah, this? Yep, it's exactly what you think it is—a squirrel's tail.”
As she said that, Ms. Chaeyeon wagged her tail up and down.
That round, curled tail looked so incredibly fluffy that it made me want to touch it at least once.
“Do you want to touch it?”
“Oh…. Is that okay?”
“...In exchange, let me touch your cheek.”
“Eek….”
Ms. Chaeyeon offered to let me touch her tail in exchange for letting her touch my cheek.
I wasn't thrilled that more and more people seemed to want to touch my cheeks….
But I'd wanted to touch that fluffy tail at least once, so I readily agreed.
“Hwaaah…. It's so incredibly fluffy….”
Ms. Chaeyeon's tail was truly amazing.
It was fluffy and soft, with soft fur.
It was as comfortable as a bed, and when I buried my face in it, I gradually started to feel sleepy.
If I fall asleep... nooo... uhehe….
“W-Wait! Don't fall asleep! You'll drool on it!”
======
After Chaeyeon wiped the drool off her tail,
we sat in the back alley and talked to each other.
“By the way, what were you doing in a place like this? You're a Snow Woman, so why are you out in this heat?”
“Ah, well….”
I summarized what had just happened and explained it to Ms. Chaeyeon.
“What? That sounds pretty dangerous. Should I call an ambulance…?”
“N-no, there's no need for an ambulance.”
Calling an ambulance over something like this seemed like overkill.
...I wouldn't be able to afford it if insurance didn't cover the cost….
“Is that so? Then tell me if there's anything I can do to help.”
“Um…. Could you perhaps charge my phone with electricity?”
In manga, characters with electrical powers often charged their phones, too….
So I asked, thinking maybe Ms. Chaeyeon could do the same.
“Sure. Here, give me your phone for a moment.”
Ms. Chaeyeon said it as if it were nothing.
When I handed her my phone, her hand was suddenly engulfed in electricity. Then she handed it back and said,
“There, all done.”
Just as Chaeyeon had said, I turned on my phone and found that it really had been charged.
Whoa…. That's amazing….
“Glad I could help.”
“Yes! It helped me a lot! Thank you so much.”
“Then that's good. Well, Miss Snow Woman, I'll be going now. I hope we run into each other again.”
“Ah, miss…. Yes. Goodbye, Ms. Chaeyeon.”
I was a little shaken by being called “miss,” but I said goodbye to Chaeyeon as she went on her way, and we parted without incident.
I thought she was a pervert, but she was a nicer person than I'd expected.
...Though she did touch my cheek.