Chapter 8: New Beginning

A lot has happened.

Among those things, the biggest issue was undoubtedly the matter of my identity.

I became a woman overnight.

No matter how much my family believed me and how the genetic test confirmed that I am Lee Yu-Jin, legally, the registered Lee Yu-Jin is still a man.

Even though I am myself, Lee Yu-Jin is no longer fully my identity.

In Korean society, identity is important.

No matter what you do, your identity and resident registration number are required, and they are essential for the new life I am about to live.

Therefore, to obtain a new identity, there were a few options available to me.

The first option was to become an unregistered person and have my parents act as guarantors to acquire a completely new identity. It’s a simple method. At first, I considered this after some research, but it was rejected due to my parents’ opposition. There were several reasons, but the main reason was this:

“You are our child. An unregistered person? Don’t even think about it.”

In other words, even if it was a legally acknowledged identity, they didn’t want to create a situation where I had no biological parents. Even if the adoption process took place later, I would no longer have legal parents.

The second option was to apply for a gender correction based on the genetic test results and my parents’ testimony. I thought my parents wouldn’t oppose this, but I was wrong.

“No.”

They didn’t explain the reason.

They simply added:

“This is for your own good, Yu-Jin.”

Other illegal methods didn’t even need to be discussed.

“Your mom and dad will handle it, so just stay quiet.”

So, I stayed quiet.

“We’ve made soup, so heat it up and eat. Don’t skip meals. I have somewhere to go. Your father will be late too.”

It wasn’t without reason that they told me to stay quiet; my parents were moving around busily.

“Yes, yes. Please take care of it.”

I heard that they used all their connections and, if necessary, spent a significant amount of money.

From what I heard, the amount spent was more than enough to buy a house.

Thus, my identity change was carried out in a somewhat unique way.

I became Lee Yu-Jin, the child of my parents, with just my gender changed.

It wasn’t merely a gender correction application.

It was a much more complicated, tedious, and seemingly unnecessary process.

I heard that they initially classified my gender as intersex and then, based on the attending physician’s opinion, corrected the error instead of changing my gender, but I’m not completely sure about this part because the details are complicated…

“What’s the attending physician’s opinion? I’ve never been to a hospital?”

“Just know it that way.”

I had an idea of where all that money went.

If I had been eligible for military service, the military service office would have been involved, making things much more difficult. But luckily, I was exempt from service, so it didn’t go that far.

They said I just needed to submit a few documents slowly.

It was something that was possible because I was a rare patient with a unique condition and had no external activities.

As a result, I didn’t become a woman from a man, but rather, I was someone who had lived as a woman, but due to a rare disease, the proper gender identification was impossible, so my gender was mistakenly recorded as male.

Honestly, from my perspective, I wondered if it was necessary to go this far.

“What’s the difference? Isn’t it the same?”

“You’ll understand later.”

It seems my parents were concerned about the societal labels that might stick to me in the future.

Unregistered person, orphan, transgender, liar, and so on…

‘Well, that makes sense.’

In a world where even a little recognition can bring up all sorts of past details, my parents, who were the most concerned about me, must have been extra cautious, maybe even a bit overly so.

“Yu-Jin, what should we do about your name?”

My name…

I thought for a moment and then answered.

“I like it as it is. Anyway, it’s not an awkward name for a woman.”

I didn’t feel the need to change it, as I didn’t have any significant social relationships other than with my family. Even if I went around with the name Lee Yu-Jin on my face, no one would recognize me.

“Alright, let’s do that.”

It seems my parents also thought the name was fine, so they didn’t mind. Or maybe they had already planned to keep it that way.

If my name changed along with everything else, it would feel like there was almost no evidence left of being their child.

“It’ll take about three months to process and submit the various documents. If there’s any delay, it could take longer.”

Three months.

About 90 days.

It seemed like a very short amount of time for one’s life to end, but since I knew it wasn’t the end, I didn’t feel overly disappointed.

“Okay.”

Instead of answering, my mother gave a light smile and hurried off again.

As she left the room, I slowly turned my gaze to the monitor.

“… Three months.”

For Lee Yu-Jin, there was nothing to arrange during that time.

I had always been alone.

But online was different.

I had formed quite a few connections online up until now.

This meant that, at least until three months from now, I would have to sever all the connections I had made online.

It felt strange.

In a way, they were just online connections…

But the feeling was odd.

‘I could stay this way, but… I’ve already taken the professional test as a prisoner.’

The result was disastrous, but because of that, information about prisoners spread widely.

For me to live a new life, I had to let go of my life as a prisoner as well.

‘If I hadn’t taken the professional test, it wouldn’t have been necessary… but no, there’s no need to regret it.’

Even if the information about prisoners hadn’t spread, to become a professional, I would have needed a personal account anyway, so I would have had to create a new ID under my new identity.

Despite all of this, once I became a woman, it was inevitable that my life as a prisoner would eventually end.

Solo rank 1, Prisoner.

Amateur rank 1, Prisoner.

The fame that had always been my pride would now have to end by my own hands.

And if the end was coming, I wanted to face the best possible end as a prisoner.

Fortunately, there was still time.

“Alright.”

The remaining time was three months.

During that time, I would make my final moments the best.

How should I end as the best prisoner?

The answer to that had already been more or less decided.

Solo warrior, Prisoner.

For someone like me, there was only one thing I could do.

[Game found!]

[Accept / Decline]

“Of course, accept.”

qidpoqwjtw has joined the lobby.

Glurr’s s*ave has joined the lobby.

Bangyabangya has joined the lobby.

MAX Lineover has joined the lobby.

Prisoner has joined the lobby.

“Oh.”

It’s the final pick.

It’s the Red Team’s final pick.

There’s a saying that goes like this:

For the Blue Team, the first pick is the most important, and for the Red Team, the final pick is the most important.

In this case, depending on what pick I choose, the outcome of this game could depend on it.

‘The problem is, the top laners on my team are first picks…’

In these cases, the reaction is usually similar.

[Glurr’s s*ave: Jungle, would you be able to swap?]

Hmm, as expected.

Glurr’s s*ave.

Despite the username, they’re actually a top laner.

And I know one more piece of information.

Their original nickname was MYE LaLaLa.

A professional gamer from MYE.

As the name “Glurr’s s*ave” suggests, their playstyle isn’t about pushing the lane and pressuring the enemy laner. Instead, they typically help the jungle or take vision from the enemy jungle.

Unlike other top lane enthusiasts, this player contributes significantly to the team, so I thought it wouldn’t be bad to give way.

I looked at the bans.

[Banned list]

Rumble / Kai’Sa

Graves / YuNi

Morgana / Sylas

Kai’Sa / Jui

Aatrox / Shaku

Should I say it’s fortunate? That “pick” was still available.

[Prisoner: Please pick Lee Sin]

There’s nothing better than this for a first pick.

[Glurr’s s*ave: gsgs]

Most importantly, I’ve recently found great enjoyment in playing Lee Sin, so it wasn’t a bad choice.

• I must go there.

As Lee Sin was picked and the pick was passed to the opposing team, the enemy jungle pick immediately appeared.

• Kieeeek.

Rek’Sai.

A traditional counter to Lee Sin, but depending on Lee Sin’s skill, it could go either way.

Of course, that’s from the past. The current Lee Sin is an overpowered champion, so counters don’t really matter anymore.

The ban-pick phase proceeded, and finally, it was my turn.

[Glurr’s s*ave: Lee Sin, may I play Lee Sin?]

Lee Sin is currently a hot OP champion in the top lane as well.

It was something I had anticipated, and since there was nothing wrong with it for me, I had no reason to refuse.

[Prisoner: Sure]

[Glurr’s s*ave: Thank you!]

This is the effect of an OP champion that allows for lane swaps.

‘This is the way to go.’

Without hesitation, I picked Kindred.

• Either run away or face me, the result is the same!

Kindred.

If Rek’Sai is the traditional counter to Lee Sin, Kindred is the age-old counter to Rek’Sai.

However, there’s a difference between the Lee Sin vs Rek’Sai matchup and the Kindred vs Rek’Sai matchup. While Lee Sin vs Rek’Sai is around 4.5 to 5.5 with Rek’Sai slightly favored, the Kindred vs Rek’Sai matchup is more like 6 to 4, and sometimes even 6.5 to 3.5 in favor of Kindred.

This guy is probably going to dodge.

To be continued…