In the peaceful Sunday morning living room, only my little sister was bustling about.
With large hair rollers still in her hair, she bounced back and forth between her vanity, the full-length mirror, and the closet, her footsteps never ceasing.
She was even humming a light tune—clearly in high spirits.
Hugging a cushion, I watched her chaotic movements before speaking indifferently.
"What's with all the fuss this early? Going on a blind date or something?"
At my dry question, Ha-eun whipped her head around mid-curl with her straightening iron.
"Ah! Oppa, you've been so busy lately you wouldn't know!"
She lifted her chin triumphantly at the vanity.
"Do you know what day it is? It's the first offline subculture convention since the Gate Shock! I've been waiting three years for this festival!"
Subculture convention.
Before the Gates opened, it had been a fairly well-known event.
When monsters started pouring out, all large-scale gatherings were canceled, but after I pushed back the front lines and opened up trade routes, the world had stabilized quite a bit.
Enough for otaku festivals to make a comeback.
"I might be really late today! I need to sweep up all the limited edition goods, so eat dinner without me!"
Ha-eun slung her crossbody bag over her shoulder and hurried toward the entrance.
Then she suddenly stopped and turned to me with a grin.
"Wanna come, Oppa? You love anime too."
I casually turned my gaze to the TV.
"Nah. Too much of a hassle with all those people. Go by yourself."
"You sure? If I use my VIP pass, you won't have to wait in line for goods."
"I said it's a hassle. If you end up with too much stuff or run into trouble, just call. I'll come haul it for you."
"Okay! Porter reservation confirmed! I'm off!"
Ha-eun noisily opened the front door and left.
Like a typhoon passing through, the living room fell quiet again.
A clattering sound came from the kitchen, then Mom emerged carrying a plate of neatly cut apple slices.
Sitting down next to me, she speared a piece with a fork and held it out.
I naturally opened my mouth and accepted it.
"Our puppy loves watching cartoons too. You should've gone with Ha-eun. It's stuffy just staying home all the time."
Mom gently stroked my silver hair as she spoke.
"I like watching them, but not enough to go stand in lines where it's packed with people. This is paradise—why would I go anywhere?"
Crunch.
I chewed and swallowed the apple while pressing the remote.
The regular news channel appeared on the living room TV.
[Next story. Authorities have launched an investigation as unexpected side effects are being reported for the so-called miracle hair loss treatment developed using monster byproducts.]
I stopped chewing.
The bald crowns of the neighborhood soccer club uncles came to mind.
Hair loss medication side effects—did their hair fall out again after taking it?
[According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, middle-aged and elderly men taking the medication are reporting extreme increases in vitality alongside hair regrowth. Cases include not feeling fatigue despite staying up all night, or physical stamina surging to levels comparable to people in their twenties and thirties—essentially like mixing an energy tonic with Viagra...]
"......"
[Citizens are responding that this isn't a side effect but rather a blessing, leading to shortages of the hair loss medication at pharmacies nationwide. Experts cautiously suggest this phenomenon might help address the low birth rate problem...]
"What. How is that a side effect?"
A laugh escaped me at the absurdity.
Now I understood why the neighborhood uncles had been running around the soccer field like madmen.
Since it was made from monster byproducts, it would be on a completely different level from ordinary chemical compounds.
I flicked the remote to change channels.
[Breaking news. An Unmeasurable Rank Gate has appeared in downtown Osaka, Japan. The Self-Defense Forces and Japan Hunter Association are doing everything they can to establish a defensive line, but...]
On screen, a massive, grotesque rift was torn open in Osaka's sky.
Unlike typical Gates, blue otherworldly mana was visibly leaking out from the rift.
"That place is in chaos again."
Unmeasurable Rank.
The Japanese government was probably burning up their diplomatic lines right now, frantically calling Korea to request S-Rank Hunter support.
But that wasn't my concern.
It wasn't my jurisdiction.
"Nothing worth watching."
I turned off the TV and stood up.
Entering my room, I flopped face-first onto the bed.
I rolled around for a while with my face buried in the soft mattress.
Lying still, thoughts about the Imugi and Gates I'd experimented with at the North Korean border a few days ago began creeping up.
'Did the System emerge when Gates opened on Earth?'
Or.
'Did Gates appear because a transcendent entity called the System chose Earth as its stage?'
The cause-and-effect relationship was peculiar.
Poor monster refugees forcibly relocated from another dimension.
And the perversely tasteful System that transformed me into a silver-haired girl.
I couldn't tell what came first or what was real.
I slowly rolled over and stared at the ceiling.
To form a hypothesis, I needed to thoroughly understand myself first.
According to Eastern martial arts principles, any living being with overwhelming power should have an organ where energy concentrates—a core, inner core, or dantian.
So did I have something like that inside my body?
I closed my eyes tightly.
I focused my consciousness inward.
Drawing mana up from my dantian, I slowly circulated it through my blood vessels and muscle fibers.
The blue energy flowing through my veins painted a precise 3D scan in my mind.
'...There's nothing.'
The dantian below my navel.
A mana core near my heart.
None of that existed.
Instead, my body structure was shockingly alien.
Rather than energy being concentrated in specific areas like human organs or monster organs, it was different.
My skin, muscles, bones, even every drop of blood.
Every single cell composing my body contained mana itself and breathed with it.
Mana flowed throughout my entire body without the slightest resistance.
'My whole body is just one giant core.'
Like a doll sculpted from mana.
No—it was closer to a pure mass of natural mana taking human form.
No wonder I could pour out mana endlessly without depletion, regenerating near-infinitely.
"Phew..."
My eyes snapped open.
I let out a deep sigh.
"Disgustingly efficient."
I understood a little better why the System had made me into this deformed body.
But I lacked too much information to grasp the underlying intent.
Pondering further would only give me a headache.
"The old man's research team is probably analyzing it anyway."
Complex contemplation didn't suit me.
Looking outside, the sun was already setting.
I got up from bed and stretched.
I was hungry.
"Mom, feed me."
I stuck my head out the door and called out.
The smell of stew wafted from the kitchen.
I sat at the table and scooped up the meal Mom had prepared.
With one hand, I held my smartphone, lurking on gaming community forums.
—Beep beep.
The sound of the front door lock opening.
Soon after, heavy bundles thudded onto the floor.
"Aaaah! I'm dying! My legs are killing me!"
Ha-eun entered the living room looking completely wiped out.
In both hands she carried shopping bags and paper bags as big as herself.
Her straightened hair had come undone, and her face was shiny with sweat and dust.
She carelessly dumped her haul onto the living room carpet and plopped into a dining chair.
"Mom! Food! I'm so hungry I'm getting dizzy!"
Mom clicked her tongue and brought out a bowl of rice for Ha-eun.
I watched my sister's pitiful state with a spoon in my mouth and smirked.
"Have fun? From the looks of it, you went through combat."
"Don't even. I seriously thought I'd die crushed by the crowd. But I got everything I wanted!"
Ha-eun frantically pulled out her smartphone from her pocket.
"Oppa, look at this. This was the hottest cosplay at the event today."
Giggling, she suddenly thrust her smartphone screen in front of my face.
The moment I saw it, I nearly spat out my water.
The photo showed an outdoor plaza at the event venue.
In the center.
Three hairy men with bulging pecs and biceps were striking poses.
The problem was what they were wearing.
Flowing silver wigs on their heads.
Red contact lenses in their eyes.
That much could pass as recreating my appearance, but the pink frilly dresses and heart-shaped magic wands squeezed onto those muscular bodies—what the hell?
"Oh, shit!!"
A curse reflexively burst out.
I swatted away Ha-eun's hand holding the smartphone and recoiled.
"Unsee. Get that away from me right now."
At my violent rejection, Ha-eun started laughing breathlessly.
"Ahahaha! Why! The accuracy is amazing! And these people are the female version!"
She swiped to show the next photo.
This time, actual female cosplayers had recreated my silver hair and red eyes while striking coy poses.
Visually much better than the muscular men, but the very fact that others were imitating my face and outfit gave me chills.
"Oppa's cosplay was the most popular at the event today. People were going crazy asking for photos everywhere they went. Shouldn't the real Hunter Kang Tae-ho visit the convention sometime?"
Ha-eun teased me while spitting rice.
"Don't say such unlucky things. I'll never go to that kind of event."
I scrunched up my face and quickly stuffed down the rest of my rice.
Ignoring her mockery, I turned my gaze to the shopping bags scattered on the living room floor.
"But what's all this? How much money did you spend?"
I put down my spoon and walked toward the sofa where my sister had dumped her haul.
Sitting on the sofa, I began examining the spoils Ha-eun had lugged home.
Various anime art books, posters, and limited edition goods.
Among them, I spotted a physical figure with a familiar logo.
It was a limited edition die-cast figure from a robot mecha anime I'd recently binged and enjoyed.
My eyes lingered on it.
"Hey."
"What."
Ha-eun looked up from her meal.
I pointed at the figure.
"Can I have this?"
I shamelessly claimed ownership.
Since all household expenses and purchases in this house were made with my black card anyway, it was a legitimate claim.
Ha-eun slurped her soup and replied casually.
"Take it. I ran to that booth to buy it for you."
I looked at Ha-eun in surprise.
She must have been busy enough buying her own goods, yet she'd considered her shut-in brother's tastes too.
Usually we were like enemies, but at times like this, she proved blood was thicker than water.
I carefully cradled the figure in my arms.
"Thanks."
"If you're grateful, raise my card limit later."
"I'll think about it."
I examined every corner of the figure with a very faint smile on my lips.
