Chapter 2: Still, I Live On

I became a woman.

At first, I couldn’t properly accept this fact.

How could it be that I turned into a woman?

Could there be someone else like me?

How am I supposed to live from now on?

Various questions swirled chaotically in my mind, and the whirlwind of those doubts clouded my reason.

Thus, a day passed, and a week went by.

I ordered all my meals through delivery (I requested that the food be left at the door).

Unable to adapt to the changes that had occurred, I didn’t even play the games I used to enjoy; instead, I curled up in a corner, hiding my true self under the blankets.

However, at some point, I began to think this way.

Is it really possible to keep hiding like this for the rest of my life?

Even if I could solve my daily necessities through delivery,

there would surely come a time when I needed the identity of who I was before, Son Minwoo.

Who would think of me as Son Minwoo?

As these thoughts crossed my mind, what immediately came to mind was the need to acquire a new identity.

I sought various avenues to obtain a new identity or to launder my existing one, and I eventually managed to get in touch with a business called “Night Relocation.”

Night Relocation was a company that provided clients with a new identity and new job.

It was said that the more complex one’s human relationships were, the higher the costs would be.

Since I had no friends or family, my dealings were quite smooth.

With the help of Night Relocation, I was able to liquidate the inheritance and insurance money left by my father.

Disposing of my old identity and acquiring a new one, along with the liquidation service, cost a total of 1 billion won,

but I didn’t feel it was too expensive or that I was wasting money.

In a way, it was as if I was finally liberated from that damned father forever.

Having shed the skin of Son Minwoo, I would now live as someone else.

Even if that meant living as a woman.

***

“Phew… Is it over?”

I, no longer Son Minwoo but ‘Choi Nayeon,’ let out a sigh.

It hadn’t been long since I moved, yet here I was, moving again.

But I didn’t feel tired at all.

On the contrary, I felt a sense of pride.

It felt as though I had completely liberated myself from the person known as my father.

The freedom I hadn’t felt before filled me both inside and out.

“The house is nice too.”

The house prepared for me by Night Relocation was a single-family home.

I hated large houses, but that was only because I found cleaning them bothersome.

Nowadays, it was easy to hire cleaning help.

‘I also like that it’s not in Seoul.’

The rent in Seoul was way too expensive.

Since my father’s house was in the metropolitan area, once I decided to start a new life, I wanted to live in a completely different region.

The Night Relocation service accommodated my request, and this is the place I ended up with.

It was a single-family home located in Seo-gu, Incheon.

Being a recently constructed building, the interior was nice.

It wasn’t overly flashy, but I liked the subtle atmosphere.

“Sigh… It’s finally over.”

I went up to my room and threw myself onto the queen-size bed.

The plushness felt like it was melting me away.

This first experience of Night Relocation was truly special.

I had requested their services with the statement, “I underwent gender reassignment surgery and want to leave my life as a man behind.”

If that wasn’t a special experience, then what could possibly be?

Even now, when I recall that time, my face heats up, and I want to hide in a mouse hole.

As I enjoyed the power of the queen-size bed for a while, boredom gradually approached.

Having been busy with various things for some time, I had been unable to play games, and my fingers were itching.

I got out of bed and sat in a chair, moving my slender fingers to turn on the computer.

Vroom vroom vroom—

Hearing the sound of the computer after such a long time put my mind at ease.

Even though I became a woman, my daily life wouldn’t change much.

What does gender matter?

The most important thing, “me,” remains the same.

Anyway, the game I was going to play was League of Legends.

Commonly referred to as “LoL,” it was a national, no, a global game.

“Shall I warm up my hands?”

As I was about to log in with my main account, I cleared the username field and entered the username of my alternate account.

Since I hadn’t played LoL for a month, it would be better to warm up with my lower-tier alternate account rather than jumping right into my main account.

After logging in with my alternate account, I checked the account information.

[Nayeon Queen]

Personal Rank / Diamond 3 75P

Originally, my alternate account was at Diamond 2.

But now, my alternate account was at Diamond 3.

Having not played for a month, I was demoted due to inactivity.

While it might be a disappointing situation,

it didn’t matter since I had a high hidden matchmaking rating (MMR) in the LoL ranking system.

As long as my matchmaking score was high, I could quickly climb back up.

Moreover, my alternate account wasn’t meant for ranking up.

It was created to target streamers or BJ’s (Broadcast Jockeys) who streamed LoL.

Famous BJ’s and streamers crowded the upper tiers of Diamond, within the top 1%.

There were streamers known as “AD Carry Human Rights Activists” or players who retired from professional gaming and became the “King of Diamond,” like a former player named Patta.

In addition to that, various notable players inhabited this upper Diamond tier, commonly referred to as “hell.”

For someone like me, known as a “malicious player,” this tier felt more like heaven than hell.

I applied for a match, and before long, one was set up.

Upon clicking accept, a waiting room appeared where I could pick and ban champions.

Nayeon Queen has entered.

AD Carry Human Rights Activist Commander has entered.

Pregnant Woman’s Favorite has entered.

Showdown has entered.

The Lonely Gourmet has entered.

Shifting my gaze to the entry messages in the chat room, I noticed that every nickname was quite unusual.

Two of them were outright malicious, while the other two were notable players.

The Lonely Gourmet was the nickname of “Curry,” a popular streamer in LoL.

Showdown was the nickname of the mid-laner from the team that won this year’s World Championship.

When I searched his previous records, I found that Showdown was indeed the real deal.

“Is he planning to play ranked after returning home?”

Usually, professional players aren’t found in this tier.

It seemed that I had just timed it perfectly.

The problem was that Showdown was assigned the “support” position.

Showdown was a player who had the greatest influence in the mid position in LoL.

He was a legendary player who turned the city of Shanghai into his library during the World Championship.

The rest of the team members, aside from Showdown, were all assigned their main roles.

Curry, the typical top lane streamer, took the top lane.

The AD Carry Human Rights Activist was in the bot lane.

The long-named malicious player was in the jungle.

And finally, I was in mid.

The Lonely Gourmet: “How about giving up mid to the 5th pick?”

Curry typed in the chat to ask for my opinion.

It was clear that he wanted to send Showdown to mid to exploit a potential advantage.

As I moved my mouse to access Curry’s stream, the first thing that caught my eye was Curry’s messy hair on the camera.

“Please, Nayeon, just help me out this once…”

It was pretty amusing to see him asking for help, but if I was willing to fulfill such a small request,

I wouldn’t have been called “malicious” in the first place.

[Nayeon, you’re awesome! Nayeon, you’re awesome! Nayeon, you’re awesome! Nayeon, you’re awesome! Nayeon, you’re awesome! Nayeon, you’re awesome! Nayeon, you’re awesome! Nayeon, you’re awesome!]

[Wow, Showdown is here, and he’s not giving up the lane?]

[Hyung, you need to turn that guy into the Shanghai library.]

[What? Is he famous?]

The reactions in the chat room regarding me were icy.

Well, I was just a loser who targeted players, and they were the World Championship winners.

But that’s that, and this is this.

– Adventures are definitely more exciting when shared with friends!

“Ahhh!!! You bastard, Nayeon!!”

When I picked Nana and Willump, curses automatically came out of Curry’s mouth.

[No seven rounds… No seven rounds… No seven rounds… No seven rounds… No seven rounds… No seven rounds… No seven rounds… No seven rounds… No seven rounds… No seven rounds…]

[Now, if we just get Purification and Ethereal Form, we’re set.]

[Vroom vroom, a tiny snowball~]

[As expected of a malicious sniper recognized by the 0th Army.]

[Are you going to shove mid Nana in? *laughs*]

[Isn’t that getting nerfed? Is he still good?]

[I will destroy Curry, who killed Nayeon, who killed Nana… That thought has been in my mind from the very beginning.]

The reason I am called a “malicious player” among the LoL streamers is simple.

My main position is mid, but I don’t play mid champions in mid.

After finishing the picks, I analyzed the current pick situation.

The opposing mid was Zed, the representative champion of AD assassins.

Originally, Nana was Zed’s counter, but Goliath Games, not wanting the trend of mid Nana, implemented a patch that cut her off.

The mid Nana meta that was popular at that time became unusable because of that patch.

Unless you had a considerable amount of affection for Nana and a matching level of skill, you wouldn’t be able to use her effectively.

AD Carry Human Rights Activist Commander: “If you want to deal damage, just pick Garen.”

As I contemplated the matchup between Zed and Nana, I eventually reached the last picks.

Showdown placed “Brand” on his portrait, and our 4th pick chose “Garen.”

Garen was a melee champion with no mobility, truly the original “stomping” champion.

Choosing Garen in a situation where long-range fights were rampant in the bot lane?

That was practically a declaration of surrender, a type of proclamation.

“No, 4th pick, calm down.”

Curry must have sensed the “seriousness” of that 4th pick, as he tried to calm him down with a trembling voice.

[The saying that one out of five people is trash is wrong, Jirob Sensei…]

[How do we have three actors on our team? *laughs*]

[One of them retired and then returned.]

[That guy is really a malicious player.]

[Shall we prepare the ‘Curry Flavor Buster Call,’ Master?]

Korean Diamonds are harsh on players… I’m just proud of it!!! Showdown

Only 10 seconds left until the next pick.

However, Showdown ultimately picked Brand, the representative “dealing support.”

– My sword and heart belong to Demacia!

“Hey, you crazy bastard!!!”

The AD Carry Human Rights Activist Commander also started his “human rights movement.”

<The game is starting>

To be continued…