Chapter 21
Today, at Senior's request, I came to the laboratory to conduct research.
However, since the laboratory we usually gathered at had had half of it frozen by a printing mishap last time, this time we were going to a place Senior had rented.
Given what had happened, I thought Senior must have been terribly angry with me, but….
Fortunately, when I arrived and checked Senior's expression, it was blank as usual, so I was relieved and began the research, but-
“All right. That's enough. You can come out now.”
The machine that had been running all this time finally stopped at Senior's words.
At last freed from the machine, I braced one hand against the wall, barely managed to drag my trembling legs outside, and collapsed flat on the floor.
“Uweeek….”
“What are you doing? Don't spew cold air from your mouth.”
Once I came out of the machine, I immediately felt sick and threw up the cold air inside my body.
...It's amazing that cold air comes out instead of vomit.
“You collapsed after only a few spins? Pathetic.”
Senior looked down at me, completely sprawled out, with a disdainful look.
“B-but…. Isn't this a centrifuge…? What does this have to do with researching Snow Women…. Uwek….”
As soon as I came to the lab, Senior put me inside some machine and immediately turned it on.
Then the machine started spinning at a terrifying speed, just like a centrifuge, and before long I half-lost consciousness and barely made it back out.
“..............No, no, this is just a machine necessary for researching Snow Women. It's absolutely not a centrifuge.”
“What was with that pause just now…. Uweeek….”
Senior seemed to be avoiding my eyes and trying to pass it off as research, but….
No matter how I looked at it, this was obviously revenge for freezing the lab….
“Good grief…. You really are narrow-minded….”
Ms. Chaeyeon watched us with a wry smile.
You could stop her…. Ugh….
Ding-
Suddenly, Ms. Chaeyeon's smartphone chimed.
“Huh? What is it…. Oh, I guess the date for the next gathering has been announced.”
“You mean that gathering? There was so much talk about whether it would happen, but I guess it's on.”
“Starting with this gathering, one accompanying guest is allowed. Want to come too? There'll be tons of research subjects.”
“What's the point? The lab's been wrecked. I'm out.”
Suddenly, the two began having a conversation only they understood while staring at the smartphone.
What gathering could they mean…?
“Are there any kind senior figures who could explain what this is about to a Snow Woman too?”
I had been sprawled on the floor, but curiosity made me stand up immediately, sidle up to Ms. Chaeyeon, and ask.
“It's nothing special. It's a text announcing that the date for the mutant gathering has been decided.”
“A mutant gathering…? What is that?”
“Just what it sounds like—a gathering where mutants get together. You know, the kind where people just gather, eat food, and chat. Though it's on a somewhat larger scale.”
“In reality, it's more like a playground created by rich young ladies who wanted to see nonhuman species.”
“Hey, hey. You could put it more nicely... Though... it's not wrong...”
Rich young ladies…? Mutants? A large scale…?
When I wore an expression that showed I hadn't really understood the explanation, Ms. Chaeyeon gave a wry smile and told me more about the gathering.
She said that in the early days of the mutation, mutants had found it difficult even to enter society, let alone attend gatherings like this.
Unusual appearances unlike ordinary people, and special abilities possessed by only an extremely rare few.
From the perspective of ordinary citizens, it was difficult to accept people like that, which naturally led to discrimination and persecution.
However, things changed when the twin granddaughters of the chairman of the famous conglomerate Rice Group became mutants.
The twins pestered their grandfather, saying they wanted to meet mutants other than themselves,
and unable to resist his granddaughters' request, the grandfather began sponsoring a mutant gathering in his group's name.
At first, everyone was too afraid of public opinion to attend the gathering, but…
as more and more gatherings were held, people began to come, and recently so many mutants had attended that they filled the venue.
It was said that at such gatherings, the mutants felt kinship with one another as fellow patients, grew friendly and lively, and turned the mutant gatherings into a huge success.
However, there was also public opinion that did not look kindly on gatherings like this.
Apparently, some people incited others by saying that something terrible would happen if mutants gathered like this, or treating it as an infectious-disease gathering despite mutants not having a contagious disease.
In the midst of this, a mutant YouTuber uploaded videos filmed at a gathering, along with footage showing how docile the various mutants were.
The video quickly became a hot topic and spread far and wide, promoting the idea that mutants were people just like everyone else-
And, decisively, opinions favoring acceptance over discrimination rapidly gained ground because of the cute and cool appearances of some mutants, or so I heard….
So it's lookism here too….
“In reality, the chairman pulled a few strings behind the scenes so his granddaughters wouldn't face discrimination, though.”
“I never knew something like that had happened….”
I'd vaguely heard that mutants had been discriminated against in the early days, but this was the first I'd heard about what happened afterward.
I should have watched the news more often….
“By the way, Ms. Chaeyeon, you know a lot about this, don't you? It's almost like you saw the whole process yourself….”
“Hmm… Well… You could say I have a way to get detailed information… Something like that.”
Ms. Chaeyeon fiddled with the ears atop her head as though she found it awkward to talk about, and glossed over the answer.
Why is she acting like that…? Did she get the information through some unsavory channel?
"By the way, what do you usually do at the gathering?"
"Nothing much. Like I said, people just talk about how they've been doing or share tips on living as someone who transformed into the same species. But…."
Ms. Chaeyeon suddenly changed her gaze and spoke seriously.
"The food is incredibly delicious."
Saying that, Ms. Chaeyeon took out her smartphone and showed me pictures of the food she'd taken at the previous gathering.
Countless dishes filled the tables, and all kinds of dishes from around the world that I'd never seen before, along with desserts that looked sweet, whetted my appetite.
"They're made by personal chefs whose cooking I don't get to enjoy very often, so they're incredibly delicious."
Gulp….
Since I was catastrophically bad at cooking and could only order delivery food, those luxurious dishes looked incredibly tempting to me.
"...Ms. Chaeyeon. I can go to that gathering too, right?"
"Of course. You're a Snow Woman mutant too, so you should be able to apply online."
“...Is there an entrance fee?”
“You only have to pay ten thousand won.”
Ooh….
I could eat such luxurious food and sweet desserts for a mere ten thousand won…?
My life had been full of nothing but bad things since I'd become a Snow Woman.
But today, at least, I was incredibly happy to have transformed into a Snow Woman.
“Ms. Chaeyeon! I want to go to that gathering too!”
======
And several hours later.
After escaping Senior's lab and returning home, I immediately looked up information about the mutant gathering.
“It's being held farther away than I expected…. And it has a large capacity….”
Since the gathering itself was being held with sponsorship from the Rice Group, it seemed to be taking place on an enormous scale in a rented party hall rather than a small party venue.
To think I could go to a place like this for only ten thousand won….
I don't think I've ever been happier to be a mutant than I am right now.
“By the way, it says one accompanying guest is allowed….”
The notice said that one accompanying guest was allowed.
Apparently, starting with this gathering, even an ordinary person could bring one person along.
According to Ms. Chaeyeon, it was being implemented to narrow the gap between mutants and ordinary people….
Well, that had nothing to do with me.
Who should I bring…?
“...Oh, come to think of it, I owed Hyeonwoo a favor.”
While I was wondering whom to bring, I remembered asking Hyeonwoo to run an errand for me during my first period a few days ago.
He'd braved his embarrassment and bought me sanitary pads and medicine from the convenience store….
I still hadn't properly repaid him for that, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it.
I immediately sent Hyeonwoo a message to ask what he thought.
A little while later, Hyeonwoo happily agreed.
“I've found someone to go with me too…. Now I just have to wait for the gathering date.”
Having submitted my application and found someone to go with me, I couldn't help smiling foolishly at the thought of getting to eat the delicious food I'd seen in the pictures.
I can't wait for a few days to pass. Heheh….
======
And several days later, early in the morning.
Unlike usual, I had gotten up early and was getting ready to go out.
Needless to ask why—it was to go to the mutant gathering!
“Hehehe…. Delicious food….”
The thought of getting to eat the luxurious food I'd only seen in pictures already had my mouth watering.
Just as I was getting ready to go out with an unstoppable smile on my face,
Riiing-
When I checked my smartphone at the sudden alarm, I saw that Haru had sent me a message.
[Haru—Seolhwa, Seolhwa! I got a coupon for a big discount. Want to go buy clothes?]
It was an invitation to go out together sent at truly terrible timing.
...Actually, timing aside, I didn't want to go clothes shopping with Haru.
[Seolhwa—Sorry, I have somewhere to go today.]
[Haru—??? Seolhwa has plans…? You're fake, right?]
The moment I said I had plans, Haru immediately declared me a fake.
No, I can have plans too! What's wrong with you?!
...Though I'm more likely to have no plans.
[Seolhwa—Seriously. Look at this.]
Because Haru didn't believe me at all, I had no choice but to send her a photo of the invitation I'd downloaded from the internet.
[Haru—?????? You're going there? Really? What about me? What about me??]
The moment she saw the invitation, Haru seemed to realize what kind of gathering it was and begged me to take her, but….
[Seolhwa—Sorry, I'm already going with Hyeonwoo.]
[Haru—With Hyeonwoo? Ah…. Mm-hmm…. I see…. Got it!]
Haru, who had been making a fuss about wanting to go too, suddenly seemed to understand and let it go when I said I was going with Hyeonwoo.
...She's not getting the wrong idea, is she?
[Haru—But Seolhwa, what are you planning to wear?]
Just then, Haru suddenly asked what I was planning to wear.
“I was thinking of just wearing whatever I usually wear….”
Since all the clothes I'd bought after becoming this body were the ones I'd purchased with Haru that time, I had nothing to dress up in even if I wanted to.
[Seolhwa—A hoodie and track pants.]
[Haru—? That's not really appropriate….]
So when I casually mentioned the clothes I had in the back, Haru's chat suddenly turned strangely cold.
Um, huh…? Did I get something wrong?
[Haru—It's called a gathering, but it's basically a party. If you go dressed like that, you'll be kicked out immediately, okay?]
K-kicked out…?
But Ms. Chaeyeon hadn't told me anything about what to wear….
[Seolhwa—Seriously?]
[Haru—Of course. Isn't that just common sense?]
Apparently, there was a separate dress code for the gathering that only I hadn't known about.
W-what do I do…? I don't really own anything formal….
[Seolhwa—Then I have nothing to wear??]
[Haru—Don't worry, Seolhwa. You have me.]
I was afraid I'd be kicked out without even getting to touch the delicious food because of my outfit, but Haru texted to reassure me as though she'd had everything planned from the beginning.
[Haru—I'll be at your place soon, so wait for me.]