What happened in the U.S. had spread far and wide.
Actually, no—saying it “spread far and wide” doesn’t even cut it.
By the time I returned to Korea, there wasn’t a single person who didn’t know.
Messages and calls flooded in from everywhere.
First, my parents.
Are you really okay?
“I’m fine. I took care of everything.”
Still, good job.
Didn’t you save a lot of people?
As long as you’re safe and did the right thing, that’s all that matters.
It seemed my parents were just relieved to know I was safe and hadn’t done anything wrong.
I mean, saying I went up against those horrifying undead—of course they’d be worried.
Anyway, after confirming I was perfectly fine and unharmed, they coolly ended the call.
Next were my classmates and juniors.
I dropped by the lecture room for the first time in a while to attend class, and Han-gyeol, Si-hyun, and Su-yeon made a fuss the moment they saw me.
“Whoa, look who it is! I was starting to forget your face—almost, anyway.”
“Well, it was more important than class, so I had no choice. Hey, Han-gyeol. You wouldn’t happen to have notes or a summary of the lectures, would you?”
“Of course I do. Who do you think I am? But you owe me lunch.”
“That’s easy. Got anything you want to eat? You two as well—if there’s something you’ve been craving, tell me. I’ll treat you after class.”
Their faces lit up.
“Nice! Hey, Si-hyun, didn’t you say there was something you really wanted to eat?”
“I mean… there is, but… are you sure? I feel like I’ve been mooching off you since last time…”
“…In times like this, you just say, ‘Thank you~!’ and dig in.”
After I said that, the faint guilt on Si-hyun’s face finally melted away.
From that point on, pretty much everyone I met said things like “That was insane,” or “You’re amazing,” before walking off.
Seriously, how far did that video spread?
“Hey, look at this. You’re basically plastered all over every video site right now. You’ve become the queen of all those ultra-patriotic Korean channels.”
“Ugh… I really wish I wasn’t showing up on those kinds of channels…”
“But there’s no helping it. Think about it—an entire country was on the verge of collapse, and then a Korean shows up, blasts a single breath, and saves the day.”
“…Is that how it looks?”
“At least here at our university, people are used to you, so it’s pretty chill. But if you go somewhere with older folks, it’s gonna be wild.”
Now that was scary.
Older people stopping me to ask for autographs?
It’s not like I’m some trot singer…
But then again, I could see it happening.
What I did wasn’t exactly normal.
I basically saved a whole country, didn’t I?
Honestly, it didn’t feel that real because I did it so easily, but I had literally prevented a massacre.
It was enough to understand why people were calling me a hero.
…Still, it’s kind of embarrassing.
Sure, I feel proud of what I did—it was me, after all—but getting constantly praised by everyone like this makes me a little uncomfortable.
When I told my classmates how I felt, they nodded in agreement.
“Well, that’s just how you’ve always been. When that happens, just enjoy it. Sign a few autographs, do a little dance.”
“Dance? What are you even saying?”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. But seriously, haven’t any TV stations tried to book you yet? You’re a walking headline—they must be dying to get you on air.”
“…Me? On TV? Why?”
“Broadcasting lives and dies on ratings, and there’s nothing hotter than you right now.”
“That’s… true.”
“Exactly. If you show up, ratings are guaranteed. You saw how many people watched your press conference live, right?”
“…Yeah, that was kind of insane.”
“See? You’re way past being just an ordinary person now. You’re officially a public figure. A titled civil servant, even. And the more time passes, the more intense it’s going to get. You might want to start getting used to it.”
They were right.
There was no going back to the old, ordinary Yoon Seo-hyun.
I was now a dragon-type mutant known around the world—an individual powerful enough to threaten a nation’s survival.
Like Han-gyeol said, maybe it was time to stop pretending I could still live like a regular citizen.
“Is it okay if I kinda freak out about being too famous?”
“As if.”
“That’s exactly the right amount.”
“Everyone’s already seen you at your worst, messing things up left and right. Do you really think they’ll care just because you’re famous now? Oh, but if you’re gonna hang out with me, you’ll pay the friendship fee, right?”
“Pfft! You crazy bastard.”
His ridiculous comment made me burst into laughter.
Honestly, ever since I turned into a dragon, he’d been joking around like this more often.
He probably didn’t want me to feel too pressured.
And just knowing that made me feel thankful.
“So anyway, how about that autograph?”
“That’s so random. Why?”
“Let’s be real. The entertainment industry’s about to cling to you like a leech. Gotta grab an autograph while I still can, right? I’ll keep it safe and sound.”
“Hahahaha!”
I laughed for a while and ended up signing five autographs for him.
“Why five, though?”
“So you can sell them when you’re broke. If, like you said, I get really famous and even more popular than I am now, they might actually be worth something.”
“You’re serious about selling them?”
“Go ahead, sell them. That’s what they’re for. Think about it—it’s kind of funny, right? Some worthless piece of paper suddenly becomes super valuable.”
I’d already signed for a lot of people.
Giving that much to a friend wasn’t a big deal.
Although, honestly… who’d actually buy that stuff?
Uh, um.
Why is this real life right now?
“Uh, Deputy Director. What did you just say…?”
“There’s a casting request from the broadcasting stations. Sent directly to the Director.”
“What kind of show is it?”
“Well, there are… too many to list. It’s hard to even pick just one.”
“…Huh?”
“There’s a variety show, a talk and quiz show hosted by two famous celebrities, and even a reality show that follows your daily life…”
“Wait, wait a second. That many at once?!”
Han-gyeol’s words coming true so quickly threw me completely off.
Seriously, what was happening?
“Well, the thing you resolved in the U.S. spread like wildfire through video platforms and the internet.”
“…Yeah, I knew that, but still—casting calls for variety shows?”
“Well, it seems like this whole event really pushed public attention to a tipping point. This might’ve just been the trigger.”
“Unbelievable…”
“You don’t have to accept if you don’t want to. Just because they made an offer doesn’t mean you have to say yes.”
“That’s true, but still…”
“These days, even civil servants appear on shows—as long as it’s nothing too controversial, it’s actually fine.”
Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming…
Should I do it or not?
It didn’t feel quite right to reject everything.
My original goal was to build a more approachable image of mutants, and this might actually be a good opportunity for that.
So then, if I were to appear, which type of show would be best?
I started thinking it over.
First off, daily life reality shows?
Absolutely not.
I had zero interest in showing my personal life to others, and I didn’t want my sister or people around me to get dragged into anything.
Then variety shows?
That one kind of appealed to me.
As a kid, I used to love watching celebrities suffer in those types of formats.
And honestly, I felt like I wouldn’t really suffer all that much myself.
How could I be so sure?
Because those shows all made people suffer the same way.
They didn’t feed you, made you work, or dragged you around endlessly.
But none of that really bothered me.
…Being able to see my favorite celebrities struggling up close and comfortably?
That actually sounded kind of fun.
Talk shows… not so much.
It felt like I’d just be repeating the same stories I’d already told, so I wasn’t really into that.
Alright.
Let’s do it—time to try out a variety show.
Let’s just call it a new experience.
I’m already as famous as I can get, so how much more famous could I possibly become?
“Hmm… I’ve been thinking it over.”
“Yes?”
“I think I’d like to try being on a variety show.”
“Oh, really?”
The Deputy Director reacted with surprise again.
Well, I guess it made sense.
I’d never really talked about my hobbies, so he wouldn’t know I liked variety shows.
“I’ve actually been watching the show that sent the casting offer for a while now.
That’s why it kind of appealed to me.”
“Well then, I’ll be sure to pass that along to them. Ah, about the filming schedule—we’ll probably need to visit the network together. Would that work for you?”
“That’s fine. But are you going to be okay? You’ve already got so much on your plate.”
Now that I thought about it, I wondered if my participation would just add to the Deputy Director’s burden.
Is this really okay…?
“Haha, it still counts as work, so it’s no problem. Although… I am a little concerned about your image.”
“You mean, if I come off as too friendly, it might increase mutant crime rates?”
“Exactly. But then again, I don’t think that’ll happen. I mean, the footage of how you handled that terrifying army in the U.S. is all over the internet now.”
“Right…”
“You took care of it so decisively. Just watching it made my legs go weak.”
“I didn’t have a choice. The situation demanded it.”
“I totally understand. I saw the original footage of that corpse dragon…I’ve seen a lot of violent, gory scenes, but that one? It was almost unbearable. Monsters like that had already massacred thousands and were about to kill even more. Of course you had to act decisively.”
“…Yeah.”
“So I wouldn’t worry too much about looking too soft. As long as the public knows you have zero tolerance for criminals, that’ll be enough. Alright then, I’ll contact the station right away. We’ll need to coordinate schedules, and the sooner we reach out, the better.”
“Got it!”
And just like that, my variety show debut was confirmed.