I Wished for Non-Face-to-Face Lectures

Late evening.

As the sun set and the moon rose, vitality began flowing back into my powerless body as if it had been waiting for night to come.

The fatigue I felt in the morning had vanished without a trace, replaced by an inexplicable elation and overflowing strength.

Thanks to this, I could no longer fall asleep even with my eyes closed, so I first got up from bed and checked my phone.

When I turned on the internet, I still saw articles about the alien species situation on the main page.

Wondering if there might be some useful information, I checked and was able to glean a few details.

First, the alien species discovered so far weren’t extraterrestrial life forms but humans who had transformed into different species.

There was another hypothesis that these alien species might be consuming people’s memories and impersonating them, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

In my strange transformation, I only had “my” memories.

Second, people who had become alien species still maintained at least a human form.

Some people had taken on forms that suspiciously wealthy people might appreciate, but at least everyone largely remained within the category of “human.”

To put it simply, they had taken on the form of fantasy races that appear in subculture media.

Third, not everyone was transforming into an alien species.

Looking through the articles, there weren’t as many people who had become alien species like me as I thought.

Roughly one in ten thousand people?

Since it had only been a day, the ratio would likely change, but what was certain was that the world hadn’t completely gone to hell.

Just imagine if everyone had become an alien species—it would take a damn long time for the chaos to settle down, right?

Even with just one in ten thousand people becoming alien species, there was this much commotion. How much more chaotic would it be if the ratio were higher?

Anyway, these three facts were the only reliable information.

I was curious about the conditions and reasons for transformation, but it would be difficult to figure that out just one day after the incident.

Hoping that information would be released quickly, I put my phone back at my bedside.

“Haah.”

I sighed and buried my face in the pillow.

Then I muttered complaints in a weak voice.

What does it matter if the world isn’t ruined when I’m ruined?

My reflection doesn’t even appear in the mirror, so I can’t tell what species I am.

Of course, I could guess roughly.

Burning to death when facing sunlight, becoming incredibly strong at night.

Moreover, there’s only one species with skin as pale as a corpse.

“Vampire.”

Yes, I must be a vampire.

That sunfish species with so many weaknesses that you could die at the slightest thing.

“Out of all the possible species, why the hell did I have to become a vampire?”

I opened the window and cursed into the cool night air.

Afterward, I turned on the camera app to check my appearance with a selfie.

“It’s pretty enough to make me swear, which is somewhat fortunate I guess.”

Vampires in subculture media appear in two ways.

One is the hideous appearance that stays true to the description of being a “living corpse,” and the other is the beautiful appearance befitting the title “nobility of the night.”

Fortunately, my current appearance fell into the latter category.

Silver hair that shone brilliantly in the cold moonlight.

Lovely blood-red eyes that looked like embedded rubies.

A woman’s curvaceous body where everything was in the right place.

If this body had belonged to someone else instead of me, I would have immediately approached her and asked for her number.

“…Except for looking extremely frail, I still look human at least.”

Maybe I should be grateful that I didn’t become a goblin, orc, or troll?

I couldn’t stay depressed forever.

Determined to think positively, I started dealing with the mountain of missed calls and messages.

It was overwhelming to think about how to explain this insane situation, but I couldn’t just do nothing either.

“Come to think of it, I skipped work today without any notice…?”

For my worried parents, I sent a message saying I couldn’t explain the situation over the phone and would visit them on the weekend.

For my friends who were cheering about reality becoming fantasy, I texted them not to tell anyone they were my friends.

While checking messages from the store manager, I realized I hadn’t gone to work without leaving any notice.

The fortunate thing was that the manager was actually worried about me, since I had been working consistently without breaking schedule until now. But seeing those concerned messages made my guilt grow rapidly.

I should have at least left a message saying I couldn’t make it today before sleeping. Regretting this, I immediately apologized to the manager.

[I’m sorry, manager. Something suddenly came up at home, and I forgot to contact you.]

[I’m truly sorry for missing work without notice.]

After leaving the message, I quickly considered my options.

Could I continue working at the convenience store?

The answer was “no.” A vampire’s body had far too many restrictions.

Working with a body laden with all sorts of constraints would inevitably lead to an accident someday.

Having made my decision, I suppressed my guilt and sent an additional message.

[I’m really sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be able to come to the convenience store anymore. It’s become impossible due to personal circumstances, manager.]

Ding!

After waiting a moment, an alert sounded indicating a reply had arrived.

What did the manager say? They’re such a gentle person, so they probably wouldn’t say anything harsh.

When I picked up my phone to check the reply, there was the manager’s rather troubled response:

[It’s difficult if you quit suddenly…]

[If your circumstances are that pressing, it can’t be helped, but could you possibly help out for just one more day? Either day or night shift.]

I pondered the manager’s desperate request.

If they’re saying that, the situation must be truly difficult… shouldn’t I help them?

I did make a mistake after all.

With the naive thought that one day should be fine, I was about to send a message agreeing, but suddenly I remembered that I hadn’t properly tried moving this body yet, so I slowly got up from the bed.

Effortlessly.

Unlike the heavy, leaden feeling of the morning, my body was now light as a feather.

Feeling an intense sense of liberation, I gently stepped on the floor with my snow-white feet.

Crack!

The shape of my cute foot imprinted itself into the fragile floor.

“Uh…”

This doesn’t seem possible, manager.

Thinking that I might accidentally demolish the entire convenience store, I had no choice but to decline the manager’s request, despite my guilt.

Right after declining the manager’s request, the first thing I did was search the internet for vampire characteristics.

Strong but with way too many weaknesses—a frail body.

Since I absolutely didn’t want to suffer by not knowing my weaknesses, I started taking notes of each weakness in my notepad.

“…Why are there so many?”

After writing them all down, I realized there were far more weaknesses than I had thought.

Die if you look at your reflection in running water.

Burn to death if sunlight touches your body.

Have seizures at the sight of pointed objects, and have to run away from the smell of green onions, onions, and garlic.

“This is… nobility of the night?”

At this rate, shouldn’t I be called a sunfish instead of a vampire?

No, that would be an insult to sunfish.

Unlike their reputation for dying easily, sunfish are actually damn sturdy fish.

“…But it’s okay! There’s still hope!”

After all, this species is called the “nobility of the night.”

Surely not all of these things can actually be weaknesses, right?

I tried to think positively as I prepared to experiment, but unfortunately, that mindset didn’t last long.

Because.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

When I picked up a needle as a test, I screamed uncontrollably and threw it out the window.

“Huff… huff…”

Breathing heavily, I looked down at the arm that had held the needle, and saw goosebumps spreading over my pale forearm.

…If this is how it starts, I’m doomed. How could I possibly continue the experiments when I’m this scared?

The chilling sensation that ran down my spine.

I wanted to stop the experiments rather than feel that terrifying sensation again and again, but I had no other choice.

Whether intentional or not, if I died miserably because my weakness was exploited, it would ultimately be my responsibility.

Since I would literally die if I refused to do this, I had no choice.

“Heh heh, fuck.”

With a dry laugh, I took out garlic, green onions, and onions from the refrigerator.

…I really can’t afford not to eat these. Half the pleasures of being Korean would vanish.

Praying in my heart, I brought the garlic close to my nose, but.

“Urgh… cough…! Hack…! Ugh…”

Sadly, garlic was also one of the weaknesses of this pathetic body.

“No…”

I can’t eat garlic…? Wait, does that mean I can’t eat kimchi either…?

With trembling eyes, I stared at the vegetables for spicy stir-fried pork and the well-marinated pork neck in my refrigerator.

Then, I let out a plaintive sigh loud enough to shake the apartment.

“FUCK, MY SPICY STIR-FRIED PORK!!!”

That day when I lost all drug-like spices.

My world collapsed.