Seoul Dragon

“…That’s a relief. Then I can apply for readmission and retake the semester.”
“But, will you really be able to go to school?”
“Is there any reason I can’t? I need to graduate if only to make the tuition I’ve paid so far worthwhile.”
As we talked about university matters, I felt a strange gaze on me. It was my younger sister.
“What?”
“Nothing, I was just thinking you have thick skin.”
“What now?”
“Honestly, you’re probably the only one who would think about school right after waking up with your body like that.”
“What else should I worry about if not college?”
“Is there any guarantee your college life will go well? Just being seen as a mutant will draw serious attention.”
She seems to be expressing concern in her own way, but honestly, I found it amusing.
“Hey. That’ll only last a day or two. If I don’t do anything unusual and just attend classes, those reactions will disappear. I’m a loner anyway with no close friends in the department, who would even care?”
“…Sigh. Some brother you are. Or should I say sister now? Hey, that might have been possible when you were a man, but with your face changed like that, don’t you think men will be all over you?”
She had a point.
My current appearance was captivating to anyone who looked… men would definitely be all over me.
Of course, not all of them would be like that, but the various antics of the minority obsessed with women were frequently posted on university community boards.
Ugh. Disgusting.
It’s something frightening just to imagine. Some guy with his thing dangling following me around because he likes me? My goodness…
I’m not that open-minded, so I might get goosebumps seeing something like that.
“Ugh, creepy. But it’s fine.”
“What is?”
“If they get too annoying, I’ll just show them a little trick.”
“Trick?”
“Yeah. The trick of folding a coin in half.”
“…”
“Just doing that much should prevent most guys from approaching me, right?”
Well, why, what.
I smirked at my sister who looked dumbfounded.
Thinking about it, it seemed like it would be fun.

“Seeing how calm you are, I’m relieved, daughter.”
“Can’t you just call me son? I’m not used to it yet.”
“We need to do this to help you adapt quickly. Are you okay?”
“I’m… whatever. It doesn’t matter whether I’m your son or daughter. But there is one thing I feel cheated about.”
“What?”
“If this had happened in my freshman year, I wouldn’t have had to go to the military. At least I’m fortunate that I don’t have to do reserve training.”
“Oh my, is that so?”
“Yeah. They said I’m exempt from reserve training. There’s precedent…”
The casual conversation continued for quite a while.
Since I appeared to have come back from the brink of death, my parents seemed to have been quite worried.
Of course, except for my sister.
Also, they seemed relieved because my condition looked more peaceful than they had expected.
During the three months I was asleep, our family would have seen and heard how mutants changed the world, so they probably know better than I do what kind of beings mutants are.
Including their unique dangers. They had reason to be relieved since none of that was evident in me.
Anyway, as soon as my family left, the doctor dropped by my hospital room.
I had something to ask him, so it was good timing.
“Excuse me, doctor?”
“Yes. What can I do for you?”
“When can I be discharged? I don’t have any pain or anything unusual… I was thinking it might be better to be discharged and visit periodically.”
“Would you like to do that then?”
“What?”
“The agent mentioned earlier that you control your strength well. If that’s the case, there’s no need to do anything more, and since no abnormalities were found in your medical check, we could just have you visit periodically to check your progress as you suggested.”
“Oh. Then please arrange that.”
“It’s late today, so rest in your room for now, and tomorrow you can go through the discharge procedures and leave. Be sure to contact your family as well.”
“Yes.”

With the remaining time in the hospital room, all I could do was browse the internet on my smartphone.
The internet was full of talk about mutants. There were even newly created communities exclusively for mutants.
But this… looking at it, it’s quite interesting.
[Ah sh;;]
I planted a tree but it grew too much and pierced through a building
What should I do;;
-? Why did you suddenly plant a tree?
-I’m an Elfy…
-lol Are you an elf?
-Yeah;; Without trees, the air is too murky and difficult to breathe
-How are you going to afford the repair costs for that building?
-I don’t know, I’ll have to manage somehow… But why does it grow so fast?
-Isn’t that an elf characteristic?
-Even so;;
-Why don’t you get a job at a botanical garden? You could make some money as a garden manager?
-Oh that’s good?
[Vampires liv…]
It’s really hard to get blood packs;;
Please donate blood more, everyone…
Pig blood tastes too bad
-What taste do vampires get from blood?
-It just tastes like blood, but it tastes really good
-You must love blood sausage lol
-Yeah I couldn’t even touch blood sausage before because it was fishy but now I only eat blood sausage;;
There were mutants believed to be elves, and mutants believed to be vampires. There were even mutants who transformed into harpies with sprouted wings.
Truly, should I call it fantasy arriving in reality?
Of course, it wasn’t all fun and good.
[Ugh what’s with this bastard?]
If you’ve lost your mind, can’t you just live quietly?
Why are you causing a disturbance on the street? It’s already hard enough living as a mutant…
-I’ll take care of that bastard if I get the chance
-For real?
-Obviously I’m kidding, you idiot. Just looking at him, he seems like a minotaur-type mutant lol. I’d be lucky not to get flattened if I went there
-But mutants who become short-tempered are truly the most pitiful
-How terrible must his self-control be to act like that? The proportion of mutants who don’t cause accidents is higher lol
-That’s true. Just look at the vampire above who’s making do with blood packs and blood sausage instead of attacking people
[But seriously, all kinds of species are appearing]
Reality has literally become fantasy lol
Elves, dwarves, harpies, vampires, various animal humanoids…
I think I heard there are even slimes?
What else is there?
-Wouldn’t there be dragons somewhere?
-If there are dragons, all hell would break loose lol
-Whoa;; Would they be spewing breath from their mouths and stuff?
-Come to think of it… There was a rumor going around when I was in the hospital. They said there might be a mutant suspected to be a dragon
-For real??
-Yeah. I woke up as a mutant about 2 months after it all started, right? But even then, they said there were people whose mutations hadn’t finished yet
-OMG;; But what are you? Even 2-month mutants aren’t common?
-I’m an elf, but they say I’m a bit different from regular elves
-Like a high elf or something?
-Yeah
-Wow, having dragon-people would be scary;; Wouldn’t there be major accidents?
-I don’t know, but they say the longer the mutation time, the more mentally stable they are? That’s what the doctor said
-Really?
-Yeah. I didn’t feel confused or anything either
-That’s interesting;; How is a high elf different from a regular elf?
-Well…? I’ve never met an elf friend so I don’t know, but I can hear plant voices
-wtf
I flinched while reading the posts online.
Late mutation, possibly a dragon… this was likely referring to me.
I didn’t expect my story to appear in a place like this.
Maybe that person who calls themselves a high elf woke up in the same hospital as me.
After that, I continued to look up what had happened during my unconscious state.
Looking through the history related to mutants, I thought there really had been all kinds of incidents.
Well, of course. If fantasy arrived in everyday life and nothing happened, that would be even stranger.
So I looked at some stories seriously, laughed at others, and then went to sleep.

When I woke up, it was already morning.
As I scratched my disheveled hair, I felt my horns.
“…Ah.”
Solid, yet curled, jet-black horns.
Indeed, I’m not used to this. Human psychology is to lightly touch a lump if it forms on your head, but this is a full-on horn.
I fiddle with the horns, but I don’t feel any particular sensation from them.
The sensation through my hands is just like a solid bull’s horn.
I heard there were wings and a tail too, but I don’t know how to bring out those two.
I may not care about the tail, but I would like to try using the wings at least once… Well, they’ll probably come out someday as I live.
After spacing out for a moment, I realized I needed to contact my family.
The time is… 9 AM. At this time, at least my mother would be awake.
I leisurely extend my finger to call my mother.
“Yes? What is it?”
“Ah, Mom. They say I can be discharged starting today.”
“What?”
“Well, my condition is very stable, and I don’t need separate strength control practice in daily life, so they said I can just be discharged and come in weekly for progress reports?”
“So what do you want to do?”
“I want to go straight to my apartment. Did you keep my apartment unattended?”
“Ah, I forgot to tell you about this. We cleared out your apartment and found a new one. Because of maintenance costs… Since no one was living there, it seemed wasteful to keep it, so as soon as the contract ended, we moved out and got a new officetel near Seoa that’s good for two people to live in. I’ll write down the address for you. It’s near where Seoa lived, so you’ll be familiar with the surroundings.”
“Oh.”
“And I talked with Seoa too. Since you’re now a woman instead of a man, there might be some things you’ll need help with from her. That’s why we decided this way. Is that okay with you?”
“No, no, it’s fine. We’ll live together. We lived together when we were young anyway… Like you said, there might be times when I need her help.”
I was a bit disappointed, but I didn’t mind much. After all, it was because that crazy Yoon Seoa had insisted so much that we had two separate apartments in the first place.
“The address is… Ah, here? I’ve been here often when I delivered things to Seoa’s apartment. There’s a cafe I frequented too. Ah, Mom, this is all good, but I don’t have any clothes to wear right now… Could you bring something simple for me to wear?”
“Alright. I’ll be there soon, so just wait a bit. Let’s buy some clothes while we’re at it. You probably don’t know your measurements and such…”
About an hour later? Mom came to the hospital with my sister.
“Have you been well?”
“We just saw each other yesterday.”
“This girl. It’s just a manner of speaking. You can be discharged right away?”
“Yes. I’ve packed everything… I can just leave. Ah, did you bring a hoodie or something?”
“Seoa brought it. She said there would be chaos if you went out as is.”
“Oh~ What’s gotten into you?”
“What. Isn’t that just common sense?”
“I was sure you’d forget.”
“Go die.”
“Come to think of it, we need to buy underwear for you too. Let’s go to the department store first.”
“Oh, can I buy some clothes for myself too while we’re at it?”
“What clothes do you need? You already have so many.”
“No, I’m telling you I have nothing to wear these days.”
“Fine, fine. But in return, choose some good clothes for your brother.”
I thought it was strange that she was being so compliant, but sure enough, she had an ulterior motive. With the semester ending, it’s about to be summer, right? I could clearly sense her intention to buy some summer clothes.
“Sure, sure. Why not? Ah, but how will we deal with the measurements? Should I measure you?”
“You do it. We don’t want the store employees to freak out when they see her.”
“That makes sense.”