Chapter 1
Otherworldly races.
Races commonly found in fantasy.
Starting with Elves, Dwarves, then Harpies, Dragons, Fairies, Spirits, and so on....
Beings that cannot be seen in modern times, truly beings that one would only expect to see in media.
Why am I suddenly talking about such things?
Well... it's because I've become a part of that fantasy.
"Yun Seo-hyun."
"Yes."
At the professor's call, the surrounding gazes turned to me, and whispers began.
Of course, they couldn't help but whisper.
Because above my head, large, pitch-black horns were curled like a sheep's.
Yes.
When I came to my senses, I had become a Dragon.
And not only that, but my gender had also changed.
There are too many assignments.
Why on earth do Korean Literature professors love group projects so much? I grumbled all sorts of complaints aloud while somehow fiddling with the PPT.
As it happened, foreign students made up more than half the group, so I was doing all the odd jobs. They did a shoddy job with the research, and it wasn't just the research; they didn't even know how to work on the PPT.
What can you do? I wanted to ask, but I just held my tongue. Fine, I'll just suffer a little more. Honestly, the juniors from the same Korean Literature department were more infuriating than the foreign students.
They were juniors in name, but they had absolutely no connection with me, a total loner and nerd.
But... no matter how little connection we had, isn't it crossing the line to openly say to a senior that you don't know how to do the PPT?
I wanted to snap back, "Do you think I know how to do it?" but with my already bad reputation in the department due to a past incident, if I did, even more troublesome things would arise.
I'll just endure this unpleasantness. Damn them.
It was pretty much an unwritten rule in this hellish department that returning students always became the group project leader. There was no avoiding it.
At least I managed to cobble together a paper by piecing together the materials the other members had prepared. I fixed the strange footnotes and clarified the citations. After that task was done, I moved on to the PPT.
As expected, it wasn't going well. I didn't know where to start. Damn it, I don't know how to do PPTs either. Since everyone else put it off, I had no choice but to do it.
Somehow, I managed to complete the PPT through sheer grit. I copied and pasted a fairly well-made PPT template from before, making it look a bit presentable and ensuring decent readability.
As soon as I uploaded the materials via KakaoTalk, I saw the usual polite words appearing.
[You worked hard.]
[You really went through a lot! (Picture of a strange rabbit crying profusely)]
[I'll treat you to a meal someday! Team Leader! (Emoticons overflowing with joy)]
There's a limit to lies. I was simply dumbfounded. The only junior who had diligently done the research simply said "good job" coolly without being obsequious, but those who did nothing at all attached all sorts of flowery language.
Right, so the presentation is my part too.
The group project was about classical poetry.
The task was to analyze classical poetry and find and analyze materials from modern movies, dramas, poems, and novels that reinterpreted them. Fortunately, it wasn't a particularly difficult topic, so I finished it quickly.
Even after this group project, it wasn't over. I had six more group projects overlapping after this. Is this how people live? The desire to drop out surged strongly, but I suppressed it.
Because the tuition fees I'd paid so far were a waste. And the university's reputation was a waste.
It was a liberal arts major, so tuition was cheap, but that was it.
Still, this isn't right. Even if it's much easier than for engineering students, six group projects? And I was the leader for all of them.
I wasn't completely without friends, but by chance, the group assignments were all random.
Yes, it's a good system for considering loners like me, but if that's the case, couldn't they just make them individual assignments?
"Damn these assignments."
I wanted to complain to the professors, but with my pea-sized courage, I didn't have the nerve. In the end, while spewing harsh words, I tried to finish the group projects as quickly as possible.
Even though the presentation was still a month away, since I was the leader anyway, I decided to go all out and urged the team members to send me at least the papers as soon as possible.
Of course, I had insurance for saying that. I assigned only the research to them, and I would do the papers, PPT, and presentation myself. All six group projects.
It was a losing proposition, but I had no choice.
The moment I tried to do these things with others, it would drag on endlessly, wasting time, and only result in a sloppy outcome.
Yes, since they have their circumstances, I'll sacrifice myself. After all, seeing how you guys do things, it's much better for me to do it alone.
And I had no desire to get personally involved with people like that.
Materials for the other group projects were also coming in one after another, and I just had to proofread the papers and make the PPTs accordingly. If I just sacrificed this weekend, it would be over.
Other people's opinions? Who cares. I'll just throw the finished product at them, and if the presenter is chosen randomly, I'll just say one thing.
"Read these papers and PPTs carefully, and present without trembling." Then I have no responsibility. What more do I need to do?
I briefly set aside the group project work and went outside. It was four in the morning. Damn it. When did it get so late?
I needed some fresh air.
Usually, when people do this, they'd have a cigarette in their mouth, but that didn't apply to me.
I never started smoking in the first place, and I quit drinking. The hangovers were too severe; if I drank once, the next day would just vanish, and I felt it was a waste of time.
Even when my friends asked what was so fun about my life, I'd just say, "This is fun," and leave it at that.
I didn't have any particular career aspirations either.
What am I going to do to make a living?
Getting some fresh air made me feel a little healed. On impulse, I looked up at the sky. It felt like it had been a long time since I last looked at the sky.
I couldn't see any stars. That was a bit disappointing.
I wanted to see stars. Well, this isn't the countryside, so how could I see stars? Even at four in the morning, it was a studio apartment in a bustling area filled with all sorts of twinkling lights.
Group projects... I don't know. If I work on them over the weekend, the PPTs should be mostly done, so it'll work out somehow.
I'm tired.
I continued to think while feeling the breeze.
How to finish the group projects, and what to prepare for job hunting after all these are done.
But again, no clear answers emerged.
As I stood there looking at the sky for a long time, I realized I shouldn't be wasting time like this.
Right. I should just finish these damn group projects quickly and then watch games or streams.
What I need most right now isn't worrying about my future, but immediate rest. I need to finish them quickly.
Thinking that, as I was about to go back inside.
Suddenly, my vision was flooded with light.
Something far away, like brilliant starlight, twinkled.
...What is that?
A meteor?
No... it's not a meteor?
That was the last memory of that day.