The taxi arrived in front of the house, so I paid with my card.
It was already past 11 AM.
At 11 AM on a weekday, Dad wouldn't be home, and neither would Hyung.
There was a chance Mom wouldn't be either, but she was likely home since I hadn't come back yet.
I naturally opened the gate to the house, entered the password for the front door, and went inside.
"I'm home."
The first thing I saw upon entering the foyer was Mom. She looked at me as if seeing me for the first time.
I realized my situation then.
"Uh... Mom?"
Mom, with her experience as a former A-Rank Hunter, began to subdue me.
I couldn't even react properly; my right arm was grabbed and twisted behind me, and then my legs were swept out, breaking my stance.
I thought I was going to be slammed into the ground, but thankfully, that didn't happen.
Mom gently placed me on the ground and subdued me.
"M-Mom? Can you at least hear me out?"
"Young lady? I'm sorry, but we only have a son in this house?"
Mom started to raise my right arm higher.
It didn't hurt that much. My body seemed more flexible than I thought; I could still endure it for now.
"I'm! Mom's son, Su-hyun! I Awakened and changed!"
Mom didn't release her hold even after my words.
"Do you have any proof?"
"I have my ID in my wallet!"
"That could be stolen; do you have anything else?"
Kkyaeeeek!!! Mom increased the pressure on my right arm, and even though I was flexible, the pain grew as it went beyond my limit.
"Shi-hyun! Call Shi-hyun-nim!"
Mom loosened her grip on my right arm, perhaps to verify my words.
I quickly took out my phone with my left hand and called Shi-hyun.
The call connected after about two rings.
-Yeah? Su-hyun-ah? Why did you call?
"Hey! Explain my situation to Mom!"
Shi-hyun's explanation followed, but even after the call ended, Mom didn't seem convinced. And what she said next was truly shocking.
"It might be a monster that stole your memories."
Mom seemed a bit less suspicious after Shi-hyun's words, and I was able to escape from being pinned to the floor.
But all that meant was I was tied tightly to a chair.
"So, what's your Awakened ability?"
"Feminization..."
Mom's doubt is understandable. There's no reported ability like that.
As the number of Awakeners increases, new abilities are being discovered, but I know that there's no case like mine where the gender changes.
About an hour passed, and Hyung, having received a call from Mom, returned.
"So, this little thing is really my younger brother?"
Mom sighed and nodded.
"It's hard to believe, but that's what they say."
Hyung grabbed my face and started examining it from every angle.
He moved me around roughly with brute force, making my neck hurt.
"S-Stop it."
"I think it's real? Looks similar to Mother, doesn't she?"
Hyung! You believe me!
"Seong-yeon-ah, you believe that?"
"Well, she has some features that resemble Mother, and you confirmed it with a friend, right? Then I have to believe it; what else can I do?"
"What if it's a monster that's mimicking her or stealing memories?"
Mom, please believe me...
"It's not a problem without Father, right? And the aura she gives off is incredibly weak? More than that, wouldn't a genetic test give us a definite answer?"
Genetic test?
"Hmm... There was that."
Huh? Can I prove it with that?
"There are research results that even if a Heteromorphic or Transformative Awakener's body changes after Awakening, their genes themselves don't change. So, if this kid is really your younger sibling who changed due to Awakening, we can immediately find out by doing a paternity test with a genetic test, just like with Transformative Awakeners, right?"
"Then I should prepare right away."
Saying that, Mom took out a few zipper bags from the kitchen and plucked out some of my hair.
"Collect Father's separately and submit it directly."
"Well, if I submit it, they'll test it first."
"Don't loiter around and go quickly."
Hyung looked at me and smiled, as if he found something amusing, and leisurely headed to the front door.
"Wow~ To think my dimwitted younger brother turned into someone so cute, it's better than I thought?"
My teeth grind at Hyung's words.
"Fuck..."
Hyung went outside, and I was left alone with Mom.
"Hoo... Is it really Su-hyun?"
"I'm telling you, it is?"
Mom started massaging her temples, as if she had a headache.
"An unprecedented Awakening ability, huh."
"Mom, more than that, tell me about the Stat window."
I asked about the abilities I needed to know, both to change the atmosphere and because I was bored.
Mom looked like she was debating whether to tell me about my question or not.
"Okay. Let's think of it as giving a lecture for a moment."
Mom accepted my suggestion more readily than I thought.
Mom is a retired Hunter who was active for over 10 years since the early days of the Gate incidents, and now she works as a freelancer, going out as a daily instructor or helping with combat training.
The content about Stats that followed from Mom's explanation.
The Stat standard for a healthy adult male is D. Even with the same numerical value, differences exist in reality, and it's only an indicator of that level, not an absolute value.
For Strength, C means being able to easily do the three major exercises of a "health nut" at 800kg, and it's said to be a realm that ordinary people can reach with enduring effort. Whether or not you have Stat C determines whether you can become a proper Hunter.
From Stat B onwards, it's called the transcendent realm, where you start to exhibit abilities that literally transcend humans. It's said that just having one B-Rank Stat gives you the potential to become a high-ranking Hunter, a B-Rank Hunter.
From Stat A onwards, there's no need to even mention it.
Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Endurance are physical abilities that don't need explanation, and it's said that even after Awakening, Stats can increase by combining appropriate training and exercise. This is said to be unrelated to the Awakening ability.
Mana is a Stat that some Awakeners don't have, and it's a Stat that combines various abilities, from the amount of Mana possessed in the body to the ability to manipulate it. If you have Mana, you can strengthen your body with Mana or release Mana to attack, but it's said that the method of handling it is very difficult.
It's already been 30 years since Awakeners appeared, but even if you have the Mana Stat and possess Mana, it's said to be a subtle Stat that you can't properly utilize if you lack the sense to do so.
Thanks to the knowledge accumulated over 30 years, knowledge about how to sense and use Mana has been accumulated, but it's said that only about 60% of those with the Mana Stat actually handle it.
According to Mom, just having the Mana Stat benefits you in terms of physical strength, even if you can't handle Mana yourself, but I don't know because I haven't actually felt it.
Lastly, the Special Stat is a Stat granted according to the Awakening ability, and it's said to be a Stat about how well you can handle the Awakening ability.
"Ex. Then am I weak?"
"Well, you won't know unless it's a real battle."
If I definitely possess Mana but can't use it, I probably won't even be able to become a C-Rank Hunter.
"So, if all the Stats are D and the Special Stat is G, it'll be tough unless some additional ability arises."
Ugh... Mom has been active as a Hunter for many years, so she probably knows the reality of other people well, right?
For reference, Mom's Awakening ability is Divine Spear Unification, an ability that allows her to handle spears amazingly well.
If it was just an ability to handle spears well, it might have been different, but the Special Stat was Growth, and thanks to the effect of the Growth Stat, other Stats also grew steadily, and at her peak, she had Strength A, Agility A, Stamina A, Endurance B, and Mana B.
At the time, there was no S-Rank, and Hyung told me that Mom received a moderate rank when the ranking system was applied because she was older and after Hyung and I were born.
It was hard to listen to the lecture that lasted for over 3 hours.
In the first place, I had never concentrated on a class that much, but I was still able to roughly understand the Stats.
"In the end, the important thing is the additional abilities that will arise later?"
"It could be, and it might not be."
What on earth are these additional abilities that make them say that?
"What are additional abilities?"
"Abilities that help you use your Awakening ability better."
According to Mom's explanation, additional abilities related to the Awakening ability arise.
Additional abilities are basically different from Awakening abilities in that they are not abilities that exert power independently, but abilities that can assist the Awakening ability.
Mom's additional abilities include an additional ability called 'Never Miss,' which is an ability that helps her not drop the spear from her hand, and another additional ability called Throwing Spear, which helps her hit the enemy well when throwing the spear.
Since the Stat window cannot be manipulated, you have to do various experiments to find out the details of abilities with ambiguous names, unless they are intuitive abilities.
Looking at the conclusion, it seems that my current ability is an ability that makes my appearance a woman, but my physical abilities are at the level of a healthy adult male.