Chapter 2 : Awakening in White

“I’m going to suck every last drop out of those villains.”

Frustrated, she shook the locked door, then pressed her face right up against the glass to peer inside the shop.

The owner was nowhere in sight.

It’s opening hours!

Where the hell did that damn owner go?!

“Argh!”

Before she realized it, she slammed her hand against the glass with a loud bang and let out a shout.

“Oh dear, miss, the shop owner’s on vacation. Why are you acting like such a villain?”

“Ah, he’s on vacation? I apologize for causing a scene.”

Iris snapped back to her senses at the scolding from the neighboring shop owner.

She had been so deep in her hero-comic roleplay that she, who normally avoided drawing attention, had acted far too aggressively.

But it wasn’t easy to stay calm when she was stuck wearing a haunted chastity belt.

“Do you happen to know when the owner will return?”

“He left with a huge suitcase. He was humming, saying he’d be gone for at least a week to get some real rest.”

“Haah… I see.”

Iris removed her glasses and wiped the lenses as she walked away, leaving the curious shopkeeper behind.

The thought that he went on vacation so leisurely after selling such a cursed item made her grind her teeth in frustration.

She briefly considered venting to the neighboring shopkeeper about her situation, but decided against it.

Instead, she clutched her trench coat tighter.

She couldn’t just tell anyone she was stuck wearing some bizarre chastity belt.

One slip of the tongue and she’d be labeled the town pervert—or worse, get exposed as the underwear thief and dragged off to the police station.

***

Possession

“Bunshinsaba, Bunshinsaba, Odyssey Grassey… You have to chant it with me!”

“Yes. Bunshinsaba, Bunshinsaba, Odyssey Grassey… Haa.”

Currently, Iris was in the middle of a spiritual summoning ritual with an exorcist.

So much had happened in the past week that dark circles had formed under her eyes.

During the week that the antique store owner was away on vacation, Iris had no choice but to live with the chastity belt still on.

Part-time jobs and daily life?

All on hold.

It was a nightmare of a week, stuck with a cursed chastity belt she couldn’t remove.

Even after tearing off the clothes underneath, the belt clung directly to her bare skin, and she had to shower with it on.

To prevent the ghost attached to the belt from using her body to steal underwear again, she tied her hands securely to her bed and table with long ropes before sleeping.

Thankfully, the spirit seemed either to have a conscience or couldn’t act when bound, and unlike the first day, it caused no more incidents.

Over the week, Iris learned that the ghost inhabiting the chastity belt would try to take over her body from time to time, regardless of her will.

But strangely, it also didn’t seem to want to harm her—it felt more like it wanted to coexist.

Still, the fact that she had to go around wearing the chastity belt and that her body moved against her will at times was pure agony.

So the moment the antique store owner returned from vacation, Iris stormed into the shop and hounded him until he agreed to help get rid of the spirit.

After many failed attempts, they finally found a gifted exorcist.

Word was, he was a former hero turned exorcist.

Believe it or not, that’s what the rumors said.

“So basically… the chastity belt went nuts, and—”

“Aha!”

After hearing Iris’s explanation, the old exorcist nodded.

“Alright. Let’s try the ultimate incantation that can summon any spirit! Chant Bunshinsaba!”

“Bunshin… what now?”

“Bunshinsaba. What? Something wrong with that?”

Suspicion clouded Iris’s eyes.

Bunshinsaba?

Isn’t that the kind of silly game you play with your friends in school?

But she had no better options.

It was supposedly the ultimate spell, so she had to believe in it.

And so now, Iris was earnestly chanting Bunshinsaba with the exorcist.

How many times had they chanted it?

Suddenly, Iris’s body began to glow brightly, and a transparent window appeared in front of her eyes.

You have met the awakening conditions.

Hero status window will now activate.

Entering the flow of the comic storyline.

No way—what a jackpot! I’m not possessed—I’m awakening as a hero?

Awesome!

Iris stopped chanting and dropped the pencil she’d been using.

The exorcist scolded her, unaware of the status window floating in front of her, but Iris was fully focused on it.

She had tried everything to awaken her powers—getting bitten by animals, collecting antiques—but nothing had ever worked, and she had all but given up.

To think her awakening would come like this!

And best of all, no villain powers—she got a hero status window!

She’d promised herself she’d use her powers for good if she ever got them, and now it was all falling perfectly into place.

Her heart pounded with excitement as the first window faded, only to be replaced moments later with the sound of a triumphant fanfare and a new window.

A bright smile spread across Iris’s face.

Ta-da!

Chastity Belt Girl, awakened!

It flared up, then vanished just as quickly.

Her face instantly wilted like a piece of lettuce left in the sun.

“What the hell? Chastity Belt Girl? What kind of trashy hero name is that?”

While Iris stood there blankly, staring into the air, the exorcist scolded her loudly.

“Hey now! What are you doing? At this rate, we’ll be at it all night!”

“Ah, no, it’s just… one moment, please.”

Iris stood up from her crouched position.

Drawn by some mysterious instinct, she walked past the exorcist toward the full-length mirror behind him.

Both the exorcist and the antique shop owner shouted something at her, but their voices sounded far away, as if underwater.

What is this…

Inside the mirror, a storm was raging.

Lightning crackled, and thick black clouds rolled in to block her view.

As she waved her hand, the clouds parted, revealing a figure within the mirror.

Dressed in white, wearing a white mask—completely unlike her real-life self in glasses and baggy clothes.

Iris reached up to touch her tied-up hair to check.

The Iris in the mirror wore her long hair down to her waist, no glasses in sight.

Her hair danced wildly in the wind blowing only within the mirror.

My body’s glowing here and there… what does that mean?

Her green eyes narrowed.

Parts of her body shimmered with a white glow, as if hinting at something.

Is it meaningless?

I don’t know right now, so I’ll ignore it for now.

Since she’d met the awakening conditions, this reflection had to be the hero version of herself.

She glanced down.

In reality, she was still in her regular clothes and glasses—but how could she become the person in the mirror?

Then she blurted out a word without thinking.

“Transform…! Huh?”

In that instant, her ears popped and her senses came rushing back.

A radiant light surrounded her body.

The exorcist and the antique shop owner, who had been fussing about her being possessed or needing to come to her senses, were now gaping in shock.

“Wha—!”

“Oh my god!”

Where the white light faded, stood Iris in white clothes, just like the version she had seen in the mirror.

Wearing a white veil and a white skirt down to her knees, she looked saintly, even noble.

The top part of the chastity belt acted like a waistband, while the chain running between her legs was hidden beneath the skirt—making her look completely normal and even elegant.

The exorcist stared at her in disbelief and exclaimed,

“Don’t tell me—you awakened your powers through the chastity belt?”

“What powers? All we were doing was chanting Bunshinsaba, and then out of nowhere—!”

The antique shop owner tilted his head, clearly not understanding what the exorcist meant.

But Iris was startled.

It seemed the exorcist had figured out right away that she’d awakened her powers.

She had already confessed that she woke up wearing the chastity belt and ended up turning into a panty thief, so there was no need to hide her awakening.

Besides, these two didn’t seem like bad people.

Having lived over 50 years across two lives, Iris had a knack for reading people—something no ordinary twenty-something could possess.

She made up her mind to clear up the exorcist’s doubts.

“It looks that way. I think it’s because of the chastity belt.”

“I see… Well then, now that you’ve awakened, will you become a hero? Or a villain…?”

The old exorcist’s gaze turned sharp.

It felt like one of those moments where you had to give the right answer.

Iris gulped and replied.

There was only one answer anyway—the status window said “Hero mode activated.”

“Um… I’m going to become a hero.”

“Good. If you’d said ‘villain,’ I would’ve had to exorcise you right here and now.”