I folded my wings and checked on the condition of the paragliding instructor and the participant I’d just caught.
“Are you okay?”
“Goodness… you saved our lives. Thank you, thank you so much!”
At least the instructor seemed to recover his senses fairly quickly.
But the participant.
A man—still looked half out of it.
Which made sense.
It’s not every day you nearly die in a freak accident.
If anything, staying calm would be the strange reaction.
The man collapsed where he stood.
His legs gave out, and his face was pale.
“Um, are you alright?”
“Ah, y-yes? I-I… I’m fine.”
Dripping with cold sweat, he let out a long sigh of relief.
Most likely overwhelmed by the fact that he was still alive.
He then wobbled to his feet and gave me a shaky bow.
“Thank you so much… I almost died.”
As soon as the man finished speaking.
The instructor bowed his head repeatedly in apology.
“I’m so sorry! The turbulence wasn’t in the forecast—I had no idea this would happen…”
“Forget it. Just make sure I’m compensated. I seriously almost died.”
“Well, um…”
The man snapped back at the instructor.
While the instructor looked around nervously, clearly unsure what to do.
Well, whatever.
Let them sort that out on their own.
Once their back-and-forth settled down a bit.
The man, now slightly more composed, turned to me again.
“Really, thank you again. I owe you my life. Is there any way I can repay—”
“No need. I’m technically a public servant, after all.”
“Still… I don’t even know how to properly express my gratitude…”
“There’s something I always say, Not all mutants are bad.
If you can remember that from today’s experience.
That’ll be more than enough thanks.”
“…I absolutely will. Thank you, truly!”
As I smiled and turned to head back into the café.
I heard murmurs of admiration and even applause from the people around me.
This is… way too embarrassing…
Some people even came up to ask for photos and autographs.
“Um, excuse me—could I get a picture with you too?”
And the guy who had just nearly died?
Yeah, he wanted a picture too.
Like, hello? Sir?
You just came back from the brink of death.
I guess you could say he’s got nerves of steel or something…
Still, I didn’t really mind, so I smiled and took a photo with him.
Photos, huh…
Come to think of it, I didn’t get any pics while wearing the paragliding gear earlier.
Maybe I should’ve asked to snap one.
They say photos are all you really have left after a trip, right?
Yeah.
Not a bad idea at all.
“Man, how does stuff like that always happen when you’re around? We’re seriously lucky you were there.”
“No kidding.”
“You’re a total hero. Seriously.”
“Ugh, don’t—can we not?”
“What?”
“That’s just way too cringe. Just say I did my job as a public servant.”
“You’re such a weirdo, honestly.”
“I’ve always been bad with that kind of reaction. I dunno, it’s just… embarrassing.”
“But you did something amazing. Why be embarrassed?”
“I just… I dunno, okay?”
It was the kind of embarrassment I couldn’t really explain.
It’s not like I’m in a superhero movie or anything.
So having people call me a hero just felt… off.
Maybe it’s because, at heart, I’ve always been just another regular citizen.
Even with this weirdly overwhelming pride that came from turning into a dragon.
It didn’t flare up in moments like this.
Not that I hated it.
I still felt a little proud, knowing I’d done something good.
“Bet this is gonna be all over the news again.”
“Does this really count as newsworthy…?”
“Of course it does. These days, even random stuff on social media becomes news articles.”
“…Fair point.”
“Still, maybe this’ll help change some people’s perception. There were definitely folks who felt uneasy about you, even if they didn’t show it.”
“Really?”
“Think about it. A dragon the size of a sports field suddenly appears in the middle of campus, You think people weren’t scared? They just hid it well.”
“…Yeah, I guess that does make sense.”
“We know what kind of person you are, so we weren’t worried. But people who don’t know you wouldn’t understand that. That’s why what happened today could actually help you a lot in the long run.”
“Mhm. I guess you’re right.”
I nodded at Tae-hoon’s words.
Then I remembered what I’d been thinking earlier.
Right—photos.
“Hey, since we came all the way out here, how about we snap a pic before we leave? What do you think?”
“Now? We should’ve taken one when we were still in the gear.”
At my suggestion, Jo Min-hyeok grumbled.
Hmm… I guess that’s true.
But then Han Tae-hoon chimed in.
“Come on, Seo-hyun’s saying let’s still take one. Photos are all you really keep after trips anyway. Oh, and we should totally check the footage from the body cams later. I bet Min-hyeok looked hilarious in his.”
“Me? Why?”
“You screamed like crazy when we jumped. Even after we took off, your screaming kept echoing.”
“Oh.”
“For someone who talks big, you scare way too easy.”
“Is that hurting you in any way?”
“…Not really.”
“Then why you starting something, dumbass?”
“Just felt like it.”
“You little—ugh.”
Tae-hoon and Min-hyeok bickering like this is just part of the routine at this point.
Anyway, now that we’d agreed to take a picture, that was settled.
Min-hyeok always has to push back at least once like that.
So annoying.
“Cut it out and come take the photo already.”
“Alright, alright.”
“You got it set up? Let’s find someone to take it for us.”
“Oh, let’s just ask the instructor over there.”
And just like that, we asked one of the paragliding instructors nearby to take a photo.
One.
Two.
Three.
Click!
We all looked at the photo that was just taken.
In the photo, our smiling faces were captured—bright and cheerful in the moment.
I looked at the photo and smiled.
Come to think of it.
This might be the first picture I’ve taken with friends since turning into a dragon.
It didn’t feel bad at all.
I found myself hoping that there’d be more days like this in the future.
[I almost died today.]
Fucking worthless meteorological agency.
They said there were no weather issues.
So I went paragliding—and hit turbulence that nearly sent me to the afterlife.
I seriously almost died, but Seo-hyun noona saved me.
– Really?
– Yeah, someone caught it on video.
– She’s surprisingly active for someone in her position.
– I wanted to offer some kind of reward, but she waved it off like, “It’s fine.” lol
Then she said, “Not all mutants are bad,” and went back to chilling at the café with her friends.
[Honestly, that dragon-type mutant seems to have a great personality.]
Without hesitation, she rushed to save someone, turned down any reward,
Spoke up for mutants—and then just casually hung out like nothing happened.
It honestly makes me wonder if that’s why she became a dragon in the first place.
– Doesn’t seem like a government puppet either.
– Are you kidding? The government wouldn’t dare use her like that. They’d lose the whole administration lol
[I work for the Mutant Crime Eradication Agency…]
Our Director is seriously kind.
I’m a total awkward loner in real life, but she was really considerate.
From the way she spoke, she made an effort to put me at ease.
It felt like she really understood how people like me operate.
Like she totally gets what makes things comfortable for someone who’s shy.
– Really?
– Wait, aren’t you that vampire who said the blood was delicious?
How’d you end up there…?
– Just… it kind of happened, I guess……?
[But like… Mutant Crime Eradication Agency? Isn’t that name kinda lame?]
Would’ve been cleaner if they called it something like the Mutant Crime Control Bureau.
And “Director” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, either.
If it were something simpler like “Chief,” people could just call her Chief casually.
– lololol
– Seriously, the people naming government stuff have no sense.
And so, a civil complaint requesting the agency’s name to be changed was submitted.
The next day, when I picked up a call, the deputy director’s tired voice greeted me.
There was already plenty to worry about during this agency’s launch phase.
And now people were submitting requests to change the agency’s name.
“Oh. But… is that something we can actually change just because we want to?”
“Right now, it wouldn’t be that difficult. Since the agency has just launched, this is the perfect time to make changes. If we wait too long, it’ll require extra budgeting later…”
“Well, I’m fine with it, honestly. Calling you ‘Deputy Director’ is kind of a mouthful…
Wouldn’t it be easier if we just went with ‘Deputy Chief’?”
“Your opinion matters more than mine as the Director. So, do you approve?
Honestly…”
“I’m all for it.”
“……Understood. Then, what would you like the new name to be?”
“Let’s go with something under the National Intelligence Service… How about Mutant Crime Control Bureau?”
“Sounds good. Got it, Chief. I guess I’ll start calling you that now instead of Director.”
“Between us, I also prefer being called Deputy Chief over Deputy Director. Feels more… important, don’t you think?”
“Haha…”
“Well then, that’s settled. Anyway, nice work. You’ve been through a lot.”
“Thanks.”
“Haha, yes… Still, you did really well saving that civilian last weekend.”
“Did I?”
“Thanks to you, a lot of favorable articles are being published across different media outlets. Public sentiment is very positive.”
“…That’s good to hear.”
“Well, you’ve risen to a pretty high position now, Chief. And people like it when someone like that takes action personally.”
“Still, I don’t actually have that much authority, you know? I’m just a college student.”
“Even so, the title matters. Thanks to you, we might be able to steer things like budget allocation in a more favorable direction.”
It hit me again.
Our Deputy Chief is no joke.
He’s handling all the administrative tasks a national agency requires without a single hiccup.
Of course, he’s not doing it alone.
I’d heard that several new team members had joined the agency recently.
But even managing them is a skill.
Yeah, he didn’t get that direct connection to the NIS Director by luck.