I was out drinking with my buddy, completely wasted, thought I had a blackout.

  Then suddenly I got thrown into this pitch-black space.

  Was I actually thrown in here?

  Anyway, it was dark as hell.

  Slowly, the darkness seemed to expand,

  and starlike points of light began to flicker.

  Gradually... as time passed, the dark space transformed into a universe.

  Was it because I realized this was the cosmos?

  A sudden intense feeling of weightlessness hit me.

  I had no clue what was happening.

  Countless stars shone in the vast universe,

  and one particularly bright star stood out,

  its light almost calling me to choose it.

  I couldn't touch any of the other glowing stars,

  but this one felt like I could grab it-

  though some inner voice warned me

  I absolutely shouldn't touch it.

  If I grabbed it, I'd never return... call it intuition?

  I wrestled with it, but the answer was clear.

  Guess curiosity won out in the end?

  Who cares what happens, I'm grabbing it first!

  Regret? That's a problem for future me~ I'm grabbing it now!

  The moment I reached out and seized that brilliant star,

  the light suddenly condensed and shot into my chest.

  The warm celestial body invaded my heart,

  then my whole body erupted in a blinding flash-

  followed by excruciating, gut-wrenching pain.

  I'd never experienced pain on this level before,

  more like every cell from my limbs to my chest, stomach, butt, and head was screaming.

  I wanted to pass out from the agony, but my mind grew sharper,

  I tried to scream but no sound came out.

  During a brief lull in the pain, I heard cracking sounds from inside my body.

  Crack, crack

  A fresh wave of agony felt like my bones were breaking.

  I don't know how long it lasted, the constant pain made thinking impossible,

  I just prayed for the torment to end.

  Ah, so my intuition was terrifyingly accurate?

  I shouldn't have touched that thing, right?

  The severe pain stopped abruptly at some point, and light gradually filled my vision.

  My body, which had been paralyzed, suddenly felt light.

  When I opened my eyes, my vision was blurry, then slowly cleared to reveal

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  an unfamiliar ceiling and my buddy's horrified face.

  "Shit... damn..."

  Whether from sleepiness or lingering pain, my body still felt stiff.

  The guy looked at me like he'd seen a ghost:

  "Who are you?"

  Damn... this childhood friend can't even recognize me?

  "Who else would I be? Your buddy Si-yeon."

  But what came out was an unfamiliar, high-pitched female voice.

  "You're Si-yeon?"

  He frowned and shoved a hand mirror in my face-

  reflecting back was the face of a complete stranger.

  It looked vaguely familiar, but it definitely wasn't me.

  My already somewhat long messy hair had grown even longer,

  my right eye pupil that should've been black had turned red,

  like some cringey anime character.

  "Huh? What...?"

  In my confusion, I noticed the mirror showed a beautiful girl,

  but I had no idea what was happening.

  "You're really Si-yeon? My bro?"

  How the hell should I know what's going on!

  "Duh! You forgot when you got caught buying that pocket pussy on college?"

  "Holy shit? It's really you? What's my real name?"

  "Seong Si-hyun, you bastard!"

  Watching him freak out and pound his head pissed me off.

  "Did you see the universe?"

  The universe? That's when I remembered the dream of the vast starry sky,

  and grabbing that starlight.

  Suddenly I recalled posts from the Awakened forums:

  [Awakened today lol I'm an Ability User now]

  [Suddenly saw the universe and some light zoomed inside me]

  [Then my hand shot flames hahaha]

  [Is this Awakening?]

  [Hell yeah! Finally a Hunter instead of unemployed]

  Was that dream... real?

  "Explain what's going on."

  "Si-yeon, try saying 'Status Panel'."

  Could this really be an awakening?

  Hard to believe, but our shared experience made me trust this bastard.

  Shouting the command in front of someone was mortifying,

  but I forced it out anyway:

  "Status Panel!"

  -

  [Jeong Si-yeon]

  Strength |D| Agility |D|

  Stamina |D| Endurance |D|

  Mana |D| Feminization |G|

  -Awakened Ability: Feminization

  -

  Damn... it really happened.

  If the Status Panel exists, this must be real.

  But Feminization as an ability? What kind of madness is this?!

  I desperately wanted to know what the Feminization ability did, but nothing happened.

  Controlling the Status Panel was supposed to be impossible anyway.

  They say you can only view it.

  "Fuck..."

  That was all I could manage.

  I had hoped for an awakening.

  And awakening itself was something to celebrate.

  But why Feminization?

  What did that 'Female' on the Status Panel even mean?

  "Did it work?"

  "Yeah, it worked."

  "Well, uh... congratulations on awakening. What's your ability?"

  Damn... hearing my friend say it made the awakening feel real.

  But what kind of ability is Feminization?!

  "Feminization."

  "Huh? What did you say?"

  Damn right it's ridiculous!

  "Feminization! God-dammit!!"

  The bastard didn't laugh. His expression turned serious.

  I expected to be mocked, so his reaction was a relief.

  "You said you'd become a Hunter after awakening, right?"

  What? Why bring that up now?

  "Then there's no choice, is it? Let's become Hunters together!"

  "Wait, what? Are you insane? Your friend turned into a woman! Shouldn't that be your main concern?!"

  "Not my problem? Congrats on awakening. Let's be Hunters."

  Damn... this asshole is my friend?

  Son of a bitch!!

  Sure I talked about becoming a Hunter after awakening, but show some concern first!

  "Where are we anyway?"

  "Huh? A motel."

  Fuck, my mind raced with thoughts.

  From how to prove my identity to my family, to having to leave this motel with him, everything pissed me off.

  I sang about wanting to awaken, but I never said I wanted to be a woman!

  After about 30 minutes, I could finally move, but not properly.

  My limbs felt different, my height changed. The shifted center of gravity made every movement awkward.

  I nearly fell after just ten steps.

  I spent the next hour forced into rehabilitation exercises, barely managing normal movement.

  Having to accept that bastard's help made it worse.

  "Wow, a girl's body really is girly! Super soft."

  Damn. Physical contact was unavoidable to prevent falls.

  But 'super soft'? I knew he meant to lighten the mood, but it still annoyed me.

  Once mobile, I left the motel for home.

  I ignored his fake concern.

  On the way home, people's stares felt sharper, but I pretended not to notice.

  My sleeves and pants were too long.

  My shoes didn't fit, so I had to shuffle.

  Lucky I wore a long padded coat because of the cold.

  Without telling my parents I was staying out, they must have been frantic.

  I caught a taxi halfway home and rode in comfort. The warm cabin, probably heated, let me watch the world through the window. My reflection in the glass showed the feminized version of myself. Had my mind relaxed enough to see it? The hazy face looking back was undeniably beautiful. Some features felt familiar, turns out I resembled my mother in certain ways.

  I’ve decided to accept that I’ve awakened a strange Ability. Whatever it is, I’ve awakened, and the important thing is climbing from unemployed to Hunter. With Si-hyeon by my side, it should be manageable. Though the specifics of my Ability remain unclear, being able to access the Status Panel is what matters. Being weak now is fine, I’ll grow stronger eventually, right?

  With that thought, I began dreaming of the future. Visions of crossing the Hunter threshold into C-Class, then rising to A-Class and living in luxury, of course, I pictured my male self in those scenes. Still, at least now I could hold my head up at home.

  How naive I was back then.

  Feminization brought Si-hyeon to my side, and he trusted me without hesitation. But thinking back, it made sense. How could my family recognize me when I looked completely different? The possibility that returning home as a woman would make them suspicious never crossed my mind during that journey.