[TS] The Return of The Gamer - Chapter 2

I didn't believe in the afterlife.

When humans die, they return to nothingness.

That was my worldview of death, and that belief continued until the moment I died.

"─yo!"

That's why I realized I wasn't dead after all when I realized a familiar voice was shaking me awake.

"─gi yo!"

When I barely came to my senses, the first thing I felt was an unpleasant wetness all over my body.

Ugh, what is this?

Apparently, I had wet myself, even if it was only a little, when I had the seizure.

It wasn't something that happened often, but it wasn't like it had never happened before, so I immediately understood.

...My self-loathing rose a little, though.

"Hey!"

That's when the person who had been waking me up since earlier came into view.

It was my mother.

‘Huh?’

But… somehow, my mother's condition was strange.

From her pale face to her slightly trembling fingertips.

‘What is it?’

Something's strange.

And that sense of incongruity reached its peak in the words that came out of my mother's mouth.

"Yujin, where's our Yujin?"

It was a strange thing to say.

Why was she looking for me from me?

It was like looking for glasses while wearing glasses.

"What do you mean?"

"Where's Yujin!"

My mother's voice rose.

I couldn't help but flinch at a sight I couldn't have imagined from my mother usually.

"Uh, Mom... Why are you doing this? I'm here."

"...What?"

My mother's expression was colored in a very strange way.

It was an incomprehensible reaction.

"Why, why are you doing this?"

"...Stop joking, where's our Yujin? And who are you! That outfit, it's Yujin's clothes!"

"Who, who am I? Of course I'm Yujin─"

I was speechless.

At first, I thought this sense of incongruity was just my imagination.

But seeing my mother's reaction, which was more than just strange, I couldn't just brush it off.

"You know where Yujin is, don't you? Tell me. Hurry!"

It felt as if she was treating me as someone other than myself.

"Uh, uh...?"

My gaze slowly went down.

The liquid that I thought was urine was an unknown liquid with a strangely murky black color.

‘What does it smell like…….’

The strange thing wasn't just that.

‘…Breasts?’

The image reflected in the black-stained T-shirt was clearly that of a woman.

A beautiful shape, not too big, nor too small.

For me, who had a shriveled body, it was something that should never have been there.

My hand moved without me realizing it.

My lower body felt empty.

Something that shouldn't be there is,

Something that should be there isn't.

"Uh, uh, uh?"

I urgently reflected my face on the smartphone screen that was lying on the floor.

Long, silver hair.

A face that gives off a sense of mystery, with both exotic and oriental vibes.

How can I describe the indescribable atmosphere emanating from it, but still, if I were to express it…….

Beautiful.

A face that I could only describe like that with my impoverished vocabulary.

And, the owner of that face is none other than me.

"...That's impossible."

Now everything became clear.

I had become a woman.

"Have you decided to speak now? Where's Yujin?"

I was momentarily lost in thought by my mother's voice, and I returned to reality.

"Uh, well, it's like that…."

"Tell me. Where is our Yujin right now?"

My mother's voice was much softer than before.

She seemed to have judged that she couldn't solve the situation by just being angry.

What should I answer?

Even if I said I was Yujin, I don't know if my mother would believe me or not.

I can't believe what's happening to me right now, so how could she believe it, even if she's my parent?

The deliberation didn't last long.

Regardless of whether my mother believed me or not, there was no reason for me to lie in the first place.

"...I'm Yujin."

"What did you just say?"

The sharpness returned to her softened voice.

It was an unfamiliar sight for me, who had always seen only a warm and devoted side from my mother.

"I... I'm your son, Lee Yujin."

*

It is often said that blood is thicker than water.

However, even my mother, who had always been devoted to me, doubted my identity, and the change that had occurred to me was significant.

‘Ugh.’

Well, I myself couldn't believe what was happening to me, so there was no way she could easily believe it, no matter what kind of parent she was.

And… the question-and-answer session disguised as a conversation followed.

"……."

"……."

It was a long conversation if it was long, and short if it was short.

My mother, who had glared at me as if she would kill me at first, gradually had a blank expression as my story continued.

"Really… Yujin?"

"I know it's unbelievable. But, it's really me."

My mother is a famous announcer, a so-called 'educated' woman.

In other words, she is an extremely rational person, except for my problem.

Of course, she wouldn't believe such a ridiculous story, but she was still ambivalent.

"...Wait a moment."

My mother said so and turned on the security app on her smartphone.

It was to check the video from the security camera installed on the front door.

"……."

My mother's eyes, who had been trying to act composed, trembled violently.

Of course, there was no sign of anyone coming and going in the recorded video.

And Lee Yujin, who couldn't even walk, couldn't have gone out the window, so my claim had to gain more credibility.

"Yujin…."

My mother dropped her smartphone with a face as if she was about to cry.

"Are you, are you really…?"

Her trembling hand stroked my face.

It was still a warm hand.

"How, how did this happen…."

I don't know if she finally started to believe my words, or if she was half resigned to the reality that was hard to accept.

But what was clear was that my mother had started listening to my words, at least on the surface.

"I don't know either. I had a seizure... and when I woke up, it was like this."

"Are you okay? Are you not in pain anywhere?"

"...I think I'm fine."

Come to think of it, it's strange.

What's happening to my body right now is not normal at all.

It went beyond simply changing genders, my entire body itself had changed to be almost like another person.

Even though such a big deal had happened, I was unusually okay.

‘…Wait.’

Suddenly, that thought came to mind.

If my body had really changed completely, the illness that had been plaguing me until now might have also disappeared.

‘No, that can't be.’

I rejected the hypothesis that had come up.

‘In the first place, the fact that my body changed was because of the seizure. The illness couldn't have disappeared.’

Since when did I become afraid of having hope?

It was a kind of victim mentality and defense mechanism that had developed because everything I had tried to do had been blocked by the walls of reality.

‘Still… there's nothing to lose.’

That's why I tried not to expect anything, but at this moment, I couldn't contain my pounding heart.

‘Let's not expect too much. Let's not expect too much. Let's not expect too much.’

While repeating it to myself, I slowly touched the floor with my palm.

"Hoo."

I took a deep breath slowly, and pushed my body with the tips of my palms to stand up.

My mother's expression, watching that, became very strange.

"Yujin…?"

Regardless of what my mother was doing, I concentrated as much as possible.

How do I use my legs?

Like this?

As if entrusting my body to instinct, I slowly got up.

Little by little, little by little.

Like a baby taking its first steps.

I took my first steps in my life.

Thud!

Perhaps because I'm not familiar with the concept of walking yet, I fell before I could take a few steps.

But, I definitely walked.

"Kyaah! Are you okay?"

My mother screamed, but I couldn't help but hide my smile.

"I… walked."

"...Huh?"

Only then did my mother realize what I had done, and her expression slowly hardened.

"You… how did you…?"

For ordinary people with no disabilities, it's strange to even feel a sense of incongruity.

But for me, it was a wish I wanted to achieve no matter what the cost.

"I… walked!"

The significant fact that I had become a woman disappeared from my mind in the meantime.

The only thing that matters is the fact that I can walk now.

I became a woman.

No, I got a new life.