Seoul Dragon - Chapter 75

Taehoon and Hangyeol regained consciousness.

Their reactions immediately upon waking were priceless.

"Oh my goodness! Huh? What? S... Oh my!"

"What the hell is this! You're saying I became a woman?"

Hangyeol tried to curse out loud, but the curses wouldn't come out.

Taehoon screamed in terror as he saw the blue flames self-illuminating from his body.

Ah, this.

A familiar scene.

Is it because Hangyeol is an Angel-type mutant that he can't curse? Maybe some kind of self-filtering mechanism has developed in his body.

Looking at their predicament was just hilarious.

What on earth is going on here?

"You're awake?"

"Oh, Yoon Seohyun? Hey, what's happening? Why am I like this, and who's this angel next to me?"

"Calm down, Han Taehoon. The angel next to you is Hangyeol, and you're an oni."

"What's an oni, anyway?"

For reference, I had planned to call him a goblin-type mutant, but no matter how you look at it, he resembles a Japanese oni, so it would be more accurate to call him an oni-type mutant.

It's a bit strange, but anyway... I can write "oni-type mutant" on his mutation registration number later.

"Your skin has a slightly reddish tint, and the horns on your head are exactly like the oni from the anime you like. Of course, the definition of oni is very broad, so it's a bit premature to definitively call you that... but if a more accurate species name comes to mind later, you can tell me."

As I said that, I stared at his horns intently.

Unlike my somewhat rugged and large horns, his two thin horns, which seemed to extend from his skin, looked extremely smooth, as if they were crafted from porcelain.

I want to stroke them once. I never expected to find a horn comrade.

"Damn, what the hell is going on? Wait, why did I become a woman? Oh, seriously, what the... Hey, how long has it been?"

"Two months since the second mutation started."

"...Two months?"

"Yes. Two months."

At those words, their expressions contorted. That's understandable.

They just woke up from what felt like a short sleep, but two months had passed.

"So, does that mean the semester starts in a month? No, what are you saying, reallyyy!"

Taehoon let out a loud scream.

That's right.

They had just started their vacation with hopeful minds and went to a pojangmacha to have some drinks.

But... what happened?

They were hit by the mutation beam shot from the World Tree and mutated.

Even becoming women.

For guys who had just finished military service and were looking for girlfriends again, it was truly like a bolt from the blue.

Yes, I can understand that very well.

It must be incredibly bewildering.

For reference, we learned how the mutation beam started from the World Tree as soon as the second mutation began.

Sia confessed everything. The mutation beam was shot from the World Tree, and it happened in the blink of an eye.

When I, overwhelmed with overwork, glared at her with terrifying eyes, she trembled like when we first met and said:

'I-I'm so sorryyyy...! I, I never thought this would happen!'

She apologized like that, even kneeling down and prostrating herself on the ground.

Now, here's a question:

How exactly did the World Tree emit a mutation beam?

Is there some secret of the world that I don't know about?

Since there's no way to know how mutation occurred in the first place, I could only sigh and focus on my work.

Thus, although I had originally planned to graduate from university right away... I was thinking of taking a semester off for now.

It's also a hassle to keep asking professors for understanding, and since we never know when or where something might happen, I wanted to focus on my duties as the Bureau Chief until the situation stabilized.

By the way, these guys, an angel and an oni, what are their abilities?

I was about to ask that, but I shook my head.

No, they've just woken up, so they probably can't control their abilities well yet.

Just in case, I should stay with them for now.

"Hey, what do we do now?"

"First, basic counseling and a medical check. And I'll be staying with you in case of emergencies."

"...Oh. Ah, has anything changed during these two months?"

"A lot has changed. Really."

"Like what?"

"First, I'm taking a semester off next term."

At my words about taking a semester off, their eyes widened.

No, Hangyeol even dropped his jaw.

"You're taking a semester off? Why?"

"...Busy."

"Huh?"

"I'm busy. Hey, you know the Mutant Crime Management Bureau, right? It's just become the Mutant Management Bureau."

"Oh, s..."

They understood exactly what I was saying.

"So it doesn't just deal with crime, but handles everything related to mutants?"

"Correct."

At that, they had understanding expressions.

With so many mutants suddenly appearing and being busy, how could I have time to worry about grades?

If I get stuck with another group project, it would be a burden on others, a real burden.

"You won't have time to attend school."

"So I'm just taking this semester off... and planning to return next semester if the situation improves."

"Good thinking. Ah, but this... oh my."

"Why do you keep saying 'oh my, oh my'?"

"No, whenever I try to curse, this sh... Oh my! Oh, geez."

...Is it because he's an angel? It seemed that Hangyeol couldn't curse at all.

It couldn't be a more inconvenient penalty.

No matter how infrequently Hangyeol cursed among us, as a Korean youth in his 20s, he's not someone who doesn't curse at all.

But with those curses being automatically filtered out, he had an incredibly frustrated expression.

"Am I going to be unable to curse for the rest of my life?"

"Probably... species characteristics seem to last forever."

"Oh my!"

As he once again exclaimed "oh my" with a bewildered expression, Taehoon threw in a comment:

"Hey, why don't you quit Korean Literature and just convert to Catholicism?"

"I'm already Catholic, sh... Oh my!"

"Oh... then just showing your face at Mass would rake in money now, right?"

Hangyeol grimaced at Taehoon's joke.

Even as a Catholic, becoming an angel himself felt somewhat awkward.

Since he was a more devout person than expected, he was probably wondering if he was worthy of being an angel.

"Am I crazy? To do such a thing."

"Why not? There's an angel descended to the mortal world, you should use it. Like Yoon Seohyun there, right? Shrewdly."

"Then you should fly to Japan and become a shrine maiden at some shrine."

At Hangyeol's words, Taehoon slapped his palm with his fist and said:

"Are you a genius?"

"Oh, I was going to say this is cr... Ah!"

"What now?"

"The filter even works on that, how am I supposed to live..."

From what I could see, it wasn't just that he could only shout "oh my!" but rather something was blocking his speech with interjections.

...For an angel title, it was an incredibly sad penalty.

Well, it's still better than having an unstable mind, right?

Since they both seemed to be of sound mind, I could breathe a sigh of relief.

That's a relief, really.

The medical check proceeded without any issues. Perhaps because they were already two-month-old mutants, their physical abilities were quite extraordinary.

"...Oh, my body feels light?"

KWAAANG!

When Taehoon struck an alloy partition with his fist, a savage sound reverberated.

Judging from that, his physical abilities were top-notch.

The dent wasn't as deep as when I tested before, but it was still significantly dented.

"Hey, Seohyun."

"Yeah?"

"Do you have something like a sword? I feel like swinging a sword."

...Suddenly, a sword? I looked at him with a bewildered expression.

"What's with the sword all of a sudden?"

"I don't know either. I just want to swing it. Ah, wait a moment."

Then, as if something had come to mind, he created a sword from blue flames.

He can do all sorts of things too.

"Can I swing this?"

He even asked the doctor.

"...Hmm, yes, well. There have been people testing their abilities before, so go ahead."

As soon as he got permission, he took a stance.

Even though he was someone who had never held a sword in his life, his stance looked like... one that someone who had dedicated their entire life to swordsmanship would take.

Then, as he concentrated and brought down the sword.

There was no sound. However... the alloy partition before us was split in half.

"Wow, shit."

Everyone—me, Hangyeol, and the doctor—was shocked by the result.

Of course, the most surprised was probably Taehoon himself.

"Wow, I could appear in movies now. Are there any stuntman positions available?"

"Weren't you just saying you'd go to Japan and become a shrine maiden?"

"...I'd have to learn Japanese, right? That's impossible. I'm already struggling with Korean Literature classes because I can't even speak Korean properly, and now you want me to learn Japanese? That's a bit..."

"Isn't it a bit funny for someone who watches anime all the time to say that?"

At my words, he snorted.

"Hey, just because I like anime doesn't mean I can speak Japanese!"

"...That's true. But don't you understand to some extent?"

"Understanding and speaking are different things. And just because I know phrases that frequently appear in anime doesn't mean I can use them in real life."

"I guess you're right."

"Guys like me can say 'Let's train until we die so we can win tomorrow even if we lose today!' better than 'Please grab the item on the right shelf'."

...Now that I hear it, he's right. He liked hot-blooded sports manga the most.

"Well, let me know if you have any thoughts. Anyway, Jinha-ssi will be making clothes for you guys soon, and since she has quite a few connections in the broadcasting industry, you could learn at a stunt school or something."

"...Oh, that sounds pretty good! Then I'll take this semester off too."

His decision was quick. He's really a guy full of decisiveness in many ways.

And as for our Ms. Hangyeol.

"Wowww!"

She was busy flying around, flapping her large angel wings.