Seoul Dragon

I pull the hood down deeply. It was cumbersome because of the horns, but it was covered up reasonably well.
Knowing that there was no benefit to openly revealing that I was a mutant, I had no choice but to act cautiously.
And so we arrived at the department store.
“Ahh… it feels better now that we’re inside the store. By the way, sis. Aren’t you hot?”
“Sis?”
“Well, with your current appearance, should I call you brother? You know that would be weirder, right?”
“…True. At this point, what’s there to be bothered about? I should get used to it.”
“So, are you hot or not?”
“Not particularly.”
“You’re wearing a hood pulled down like that in this weather and you’re not hot? Wow…”
“Ah, is it hot today?”
“Heat wave warning.”
My sister’s brief response.
…Heat wave warning? Isn’t it June right now?
“…Isn’t it June right now?”
When I asked my sister that, she stuck out her tongue.
“That’s right. The weather’s gone crazy. Anyway, it’s good that you’re not hot. Keep your hood pulled down. There’ll be chaos if you’re discovered. We might even get kicked out of the store.”
“Is it that serious?”
“Mutants have caused so many accidents that there are stores that don’t allow mutants. Especially large stores like this don’t accept mutants unless they’re certified not to cause accidents.”
“I really need to be careful. But what kind of department store has entry restrictions?”
“What can they do? Blame the ones who caused a lot of accidents. There was even a time when a major disaster almost happened in a department store.”
“Tsk.”
My tongue clicked. This is ridiculous. At this rate, I’ll have to spend my life with a hood pulled down.
If there’s one thing that’s really, really fortunate, it’s that I don’t particularly feel the heat right now.
After becoming a dragon, did I develop resistance to heat and cold?
That’s convenient.
“What are you going to do about clothes?”
“I’ll take your measurements, and you just stay in the fitting room. I’ll coordinate your outfit.”
“Do as you please.”
“I’ll be grocery shopping, so call me when you’ve bought all your sister’s clothes.”
“Yes.”
…And so began our department store exploration.
My sister picks out clothes with a bright smile. Her movements are like those of someone possessed, indicating that this behavior is very familiar to her.
She looked at various things quickly, then called me over.
“Hey! Come over here!”
“Coming, coming.”
Then she shoved me into the fitting room, brought a hat from outside the fitting room, put it on my head, and said:
“Take it off.”
“…”
What is this pervert-like statement?
Anyway, my sister skillfully measured my size and brought underwear and clothes that fit my body.
“The world is so damn unfair,” she grumbled.
“Why, again?”
“No, does this make sense? Having such a slim body but also such large breasts? It’s cheating!”
“They do seem big… but are they that big?”
No matter how I look at it, they don’t seem that big… is it because I’m skinny?
“They are! They must be at least D cups!”
“Hey, hey. Your voice. Your voice. But are they really D cups?”
“It’s because your body is slim. Anyway, I’ve bought all the clothes, so hurry up and wear the hat first. If you don’t want to wear the hood.”
“Alright.”
“The world is so unfair. Why give such a body to someone who used to be a man…!”
“There’s plenty to envy there. I’m treated like a walking bomb.”
“Aside from that, it’s all good things.”
“That’s the problem… I have no idea how to handle social life. The social perception of mutants is worse than I thought.”
As I muttered slightly, my sister said:
“What? I thought you were calm about everything, but you actually have your own concerns?”
“Of course I do. But well… I’ll manage somehow as I live. I’m fortunate that I won’t be harmed by others. I’m used to not having people around since I was always a loner.”
“Won’t people talk behind your back?”
“Let them. As long as I don’t hear it, it doesn’t matter.”
Whatever others say about me, it doesn’t particularly matter. I already thought I’d half-ruined my department life. Because of the colorful record of my past actions.
“Is that so… But you never know, right? You might end up being a super popular socialite.”
“Ugh. That’s a bit… I know exactly what kind of people they are, and if they suddenly act friendly now, it would only make me uncomfortable.”
“In my opinion, your problem is that you’re too picky about who you befriend.”
“The narrower and deeper human relationships are, the better.”
“True. With your attitude, how could it change in a short time? But really, don’t you have any close friends in your department?”
“I can’t say I don’t have any, but I can’t say I’m very close with anyone either? Just attending classes together, playing games together… that sort of thing.”
“For you, isn’t that already quite close?”
“It is, but I’m not sure if they’ll still be the same when they see me now. As you said, there might be guys who approach me with strange intentions. If it’s someone I don’t know, that’s one thing, but if someone who knows me from before my mutation approaches me in that way, I think I’d feel really… uncomfortable.”
“Didn’t you say you’d fold a coin in half?”
“That’s just a figure of speech. I have no intention of becoming a mutant who causes trouble.”
“Well, you’ll figure it out. By the way, how do you like the clothes we bought? Do you like them?”
“For starters, there’s nothing flowy, so that’s a pass. Even though I’ve become a woman, I still feel uncomfortable wearing a skirt right away.”
“Ah. I can definitely understand that.”
“But you never know. Maybe someday that discomfort will disappear.”
“Hmm. Are you going to wear them now?”
“Yes. I have a hat anyway… and just because I don’t feel hot doesn’t mean it’s not uncomfortable to go around with a hood pulled down.”
I put on what looked like the most ordinary outfit from the clothes. A short-sleeved black shirt and black wide pants.
Black clothes might be hot in summer, but since I can’t feel the heat anyway, I just went with all black.
There’s one reason I chose black.
Even if something gets on it, it won’t show.
My sister said my fashion sense was terrible, but… the face completes the fashion anyway.
With this face, I’d shine even in rags, so what’s wrong with dressing a bit dull?
“What about lunch? Let’s eat something delicious before we go.”
“Hm? What about Mom?”
“It took us a long time, so she’s already at home. She seems to have an appointment to go to.”
“Then let’s just go home and order delivery. It’s uncomfortable to eat with a hat on.”
“Okay. Should we order pizza then?”
“Not bad.”
“Let’s hurry and catch the subway. I’m dying of heat.”

Not long after taking the subway, we arrived at the subway station near our apartment.
It wasn’t that far from the department store.
But.
Weeee-oooh–!
Suddenly, a disaster alert sound that seemed to pierce the eardrums rang from the smartphones of everyone walking on the street.
The surroundings instantly became chaotic.
Since it happened on our way home, my sister and I checked the message at the same time.
Though it was written in a complex manner, it could be summarized simply as follows:
Minotaur-type mutant escape.
Current location: Seoul.
Detailed location:
Hanguk University Station.
…Wait. This is near our apartment.

Boom!
A loud noise as soon as we exited the subway station.
The sound of something being destroyed can be heard vividly.
Unfortunately, the location where the mutant was rampaging seemed to be close to us right now.
My younger sister was speechless. She seemed to recognize that this was a serious situation.
Even more serious than me, she was fidgeting nervously.
“…What should we do?”
Even I, who hadn’t directly experienced mutants yet, considered this a serious situation, so it was natural for her, who had witnessed mutants for several months, to feel anxious.
“Aaaaaaah!”
People’s screams can be heard. The screams came from a place quite far away, but when I concentrated my senses, I could hear them strangely clearly.
People screaming such desperate screams means it’s an extremely dangerous situation.
I felt urgency.
If there were deaths due to a mutant in the middle of downtown, I instinctively felt that the perception of mutants would plummet even further.
And if that happens… it might become difficult even to walk the streets like this.
That can’t happen.
At the very least, I don’t want to be treated like a walking bomb.
Then, I have to stop it.
The moment I thought that, I felt my vision suddenly opening up.
No, it wasn’t just my vision. All senses, including hearing, felt like they were expanding.
As if looking down from the sky, I could see the surroundings clearly. If there’s such a thing as clairvoyance, is this what it feels like?
The mutant’s location is… near Exit 2 of the subway station in the bustling area.
It’s a sad coincidence, but the officetel where I would live from now on was in that bustling area.
In other words, the creature was standing in our way.
If I took my younger sister there as is, she might be in danger.
I stopped running and spoke.
“Yoon Seoa.”
“…What?”
“Stay right here. The mutant is rampaging near the bustling area. And the really shitty thing is, that bastard is going wild right in front of the cafe near our home.”
“How do you know that…?”
“I’m a mutant too. I don’t know why, but I can see its location? And right now, it’s a very dangerous situation. If something goes wrong, someone might die.”
“You’re not saying you’re going there, are you?”
“I think I have to.”
“What!? Are you crazy!?”
My sister was shocked. I would have reacted the same way.
But I had to go anyway.
Because I still need to attend university, and if the perception of mutants falls to the worst level, I might have to drop out altogether.
Considering the tendencies of people in our country, it’s only a matter of time before a movement to expel mutants from campus arises.
If I weren’t a mutant, I might have joined that movement, but unfortunately, I am a mutant.
Just to not waste the tuition I’ve paid so far, I can’t accept being expelled from school.
Some might say I’m overreacting for such a thing, but it’s a major issue for me.
After studying hard, grinding my teeth, wanting to enter Korea’s best university, and finally achieving that result, I declined to be expelled from the university due to an absurd accident.
And anyway, as long as the creature was camped out in front of the cafe in front of the officetel, I had to remove it either way.
Whether I liked it or not, I had no choice but to step up.
“Think about it. If news breaks that someone died here, what would the social perception be towards me, a mutant? Wouldn’t I not be able to walk the streets like this?”
At those words, she looked anxious but seemed to understand.
“…Can you even stop it if you go?”
“Yes. It might be groundless confidence… but somehow, I feel like I’ll be okay.”
And the reason I’m so willing to go is because I’m convinced that I can stop the rampaging mutant.
“So, just stay here for now. I’ll contact you when the situation is over.”
“…Be careful.”
“You don’t need to worry. The doctor said that mutants get stronger the longer they mutate, right?”
“So?”
“I’m the mutant who mutated the latest in the world. I told you before when I woke up. Just casually swinging my fist dented an alloy barrier.”
“…Alright.”
As soon as the words ended, I ran at the maximum speed I could muster.
It wasn’t the time to think about controlling my strength or anything like that.
Then… like riding a train, the surrounding scenery passes by in an instant.
“Whoa!”
I hear someone expressing surprise. But there’s no room to pay attention to such things. I run, and run.
Eventually, I was standing at the scene of indiscriminate destruction.
And in the center of it was the creature.