Chapter 5 : I was adopted (1)

An irreplaceable symbol of humanity.

An S-class hero.

Among them, ranked third in the S-class.

Hero name: Flash Fox.

Her real name is Okami Makoto, and her fate was to fight a first-class monster—one labeled “the Beast of Violence”—which appeared in Y City this time.

But upon arrival, she was greeted with an unexpected situation.

“The situation’s already resolved?”

The outskirts of the city were left in ruins, with massive craters punctuating the area.

The target she’d painstakingly tracked down for a month had already been obliterated.

In other words, all the effort she poured into the mission amounted to nothing. It was a complete waste of time, leaving the fox demi-human fuming.

“Awooooo!”

“Eek?!”

“P-Please calm down, Flash Fox!”

…
According to records, the Okami family had been renowned for hunting monsters long before Hero City was even established.

As the current head of the Okami family, Okami Makoto, with her fox ears twitching and her crimson beastly eyes flashing through her black hair, couldn’t suppress her irritation.

But.

Sigh

If you think about it, the city was saved in the end.

“The two monsters fought each other and self-destructed at the same time?”

“Y-Yes, that’s correct!”

Looking at the female soldiers of the 27th Unit, who were entirely unscathed, she concluded that the results were satisfactory.

So this time, she decided to let it go with a laugh.

“Well, even though I didn’t need to come here, this kind of coincidence deserves a toast, don’t you think?”

“A-ha… Yes, you’re absolutely right…”

“But speaking of which, about that other monster who fought the Beast of Violence on equal footing—do you know anything about its identity?”

Although the situation was resolved and she was ready to return to her original duties of “pioneering activities,” the hero regulations only allowed one trip outside the city per quarter, regardless of rank.

This was, of course, for safety reasons.

Thanks to that rule, Makoto, who had no choice but to return home for the next two months, became curious about the monster that had gone toe-to-toe with the Beast of Violence. She asked about it before leaving.

“Well, actually…”

“Hm?”

“To be honest, while the Hero Association officially announced that it was destroyed…”

The monster that clashed with the Beast of Violence carried a mysterious reputation.

Makoto had asked the question out of simple curiosity, but the captain of the 27th Unit hesitated, as if silenced.

Eventually, the captain shared everything she knew with Flash Fox.

“Actually, we don’t have much information about the monster either…”

“You don’t? There must’ve been a corpse left behind. With the Hero Association’s tech, it should be easy to figure out the monster’s identity from the remains, shouldn’t it?”

“Yes, about that… The thing is, the monster that supposedly died along with the Beast of Violence hasn’t been found yet.”

…
He had unwittingly defeated the Beast of Violence.

But the real surprise came afterward.

As he hurried to leave the crater and hide among people again, heading toward the city center…

Pshhh…

“Huh?”

As if the monster’s existence was no longer necessary, his body, which had remained in this state for a week, began emitting white smoke.

And then—

“I… turned human again?”

His field of vision lowered. The massive black hands that had once belonged to his monster form had softened into the hands of a human.

He touched his face cautiously.

Instead of the hard texture of the bone mask he was used to, his fingers felt smooth, soft skin.

Rushing to find a reflective surface, he ran to a shattered building, hoping to catch his reflection in a window.

His brief smile faded.

“…A kid?”

A completely naked little boy stared back at him from the reflection.

Not only had he turned back into a human, but he’d also de-aged to his kindergarten self. Whether to laugh or cry at this turn of events, he wasn’t sure.

“No way, this is literally me from my early childhood!”

Sure, he’d returned to human form. But becoming a helpless little kid left him in utter shock.

Clank.

Cl-clank.

“Hands up!”

“A child?”

“HQ, do you read? We’ve found an unidentified, naked male child.”

Before he realized it, heavily armed female soldiers surrounded him.

As a monster, this situation wouldn’t have fazed him. But as a human—especially now—resisting them would be nothing short of suicidal.

Moreover…

“P-Please don’t hurt me…”

“Captain, doesn’t that really look like a child?”

“Don’t jump to conclusions! This child survived in a city overrun by a first-class monster for an entire month. There’s a chance it’s a monster disguised as a human.”

As expected of soldiers from a monster-filled world, their instincts were on a whole other level compared to conscripted soldiers back in South Korea.

But still…

‘I’m a human, I swear!’

I, who wanted nothing more than to live a normal, human life, decided to take advantage of my pitiful appearance—now small, naked, and seemingly defenseless—and pretended to surrender.

“H-heuh… Heuuuueng…”

“?!”

“…!”

“P-please help meee!”

I began crying, acting like the most pitiful child imaginable.

In the world of Monster Frontline, things were different from reality. Instead of men protecting women…

“Tsk!”

“Captain, come on! He’s just a little boy! And a kid at that!”

“Exactly! I’d rather die than not give this poor boy my vest to wear!”

…it was a matriarchal society where women protecting men was the norm.

Maybe because of that, my combination of “male” and “child” unintentionally became a cheat-level formula for eliciting sympathy.

Feeling somewhat relieved, I followed the kind female soldiers who escorted me out of the ruins of Y City.

“You don’t remember anything at all?!”

“No… Except for my name, I don’t even know why I was there.”

“This is bad—could it be amnesia?”

In typical monster-world fashion, saying “I have amnesia” could conveniently explain away almost anything.

Using that cliché to my advantage, I managed to settle down without much issue at the Hero Association’s base in City A, even scoring candies from the researchers there.

“Alright, just a simple health check-up, and then you can stay with the nice ladies, okay?”

“Huh? A check-up?”

I thought they’d just let me go, but…

“A check-up? Why?”

Why are they being so overly nice?

And why was I the only one getting tested, when the other girls who came from Y City with me were let go without any checks?

Was it because I looked like “a frail little boy with no parents”?

I’d been so focused on using monster-world clichés that I hadn’t fully accounted for the reverse-world dynamics.

“I-I’m scared of needles…”

“Haha, don’t worry. I’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt too much. Just give me your hand, okay?”

“I-I’m really fine, though!”

Even though my body had shrunk, my mind was still intact.

‘Wait, this is bad, isn’t it?’

No matter how I looked at it, I was no longer an ordinary human.

I instinctively knew—my body held a terrifying power capable of easily killing something as strong as the Beast of Violence.

But if that power was discovered during the check-up, what would happen?

Even if this was a matriarchal society, and even if I looked like a helpless boy, the Hero Association in a monster world had zero tolerance for monsters.

“C-can’t we skip the test? I’m really, really healthy right now…”

“Haha, I know, sweetie. But just in case, let’s do it. This is a special service from me~.”

In a bar, when someone offers a special service, you bow your head in thanks on the spot.

But here? In the underground research wing of the Hero Association, surrounded by the corpses of countless dead monsters preserved in massive glass tanks, I was about to bow my head and beg for mercy for entirely different reasons.

The moment they find out, I’ll beg for my life.

The moment they find out, I’ll beg for my life.

The moment they find out, I’ll beg for my life…

‘Still, I look like a little boy right now. Surely the noble women of this reverse-world wouldn’t—’

Bang!

‘—shoot me on the spot, would they?’

“I’m screwed.”

“Oh my, Janghoon! You’re still so young, but you’re already using bad words? That’s not okay! If you do it again, big sis is going to spank your butt!”

Lady, I’m about to have a bullet spank my skull. Please let this one slide.

Realizing there was no way out, I reluctantly went with my hastily crafted Plan B.

Once they drew my blood and the lab descended into chaos upon seeing the results, I’d seize that moment to escape from City A.

“I mean, I seem fine. Can’t we just finish this quickly?”

I was waiting for my chance, when—

“Oh, w-welcome, ma’am!”

…The researcher holding the syringe suddenly stiffened, and I felt an overwhelming, heavy presence from behind me.

Carefully, I turned my head to look.

“Hmm… I heard you have amnesia. Can you even speak?”

Standing behind me was a fox demi-human in a kimono, her red eyes glaring down at me as her ears twitched.

At first, seeing her fox-like appearance, I thought she was the S-class hero I spent 300,000 won trying to max out in Monster Frontline.

But no—her eyes were red, not yellow, and that small difference immediately snapped me out of my shock.

“Y-yes, I can speak…”

“Hmm, and your age? I assume you don’t remember that either?”

“I think… I might be around kindergarten age…”

“Kindergarten age, huh…”

Judging by my size, I was somewhere between early elementary school and kindergarten, but I couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. So, I told her what little I knew.

Then, with a knowing nod, she replied:

“Well, you seem about the same age as my daughter.”

“…What?”

The fox-eared hero nodded to herself, looking completely satisfied. And then she said:

“As promised, the compensation for wasting my time will be taking this child in as my adopted son.”

“Ah, yes, of course! Please, take him away!”

“Wait, what?!”

Completely ignoring my input, the adoption discussion wrapped up in record time. Before I knew it, I was whisked away.

—And that’s how I found myself face-to-face with a young girl.

“Hoshino, this boy is Kang Janghoon. Starting today, he’ll be your playmate.”

“Oh, hi!”

“…Uh, hi?”

And just like that, I’d somehow become the exclusive playmate of a pampered princess from an influential hero family.