Even though the guy was covered in dust, I noticed that he had a pair of beautiful bright eyes. I had never seen such eyes on any of the guys my age, as most of my classmates wore glasses. So far, I had only seen such eyes among children, but their eyes were definitely not as full of spirit and vigor as this guy. His eyes looked as if there was a fire burning inside them, but at the same time, they were also full of anger and caution. He didn’t look very friendly but was somewhat approachable. 

He was the person who had spoken up. Although he was dressed shabbily, somehow he still gave out a handsome and heroic vibe. Some people just shone through, irrespective of their appearances, just like the special force’s soldiers-in-training. They crawled in the puddles and hid in the lowlands, but no matter how dirty they got, they would still be more attractive than the rest.

This guy… he looks like a warrior!

The other guy was dressed very differently, as compared to the people here. He was wearing an extremely clean white frock, which seemed to be made out of some kind of high-quality material. It was tough yet shapely. The collar, sleeves, and the lining of the frock were embroidered with a delicate maroon design. The white frock even glistened with a silk-like luster and looked more like an outer coat—rather handsome. However, the guy was curled up in a corner, as he held his head in his hands and kept muttering, ”Don’t eat me…”

“Noooo…” Suddenly, I heard a girl’s hysterical scream. The guy who had spoken to me immediately stood up and walked to the wall of the cage in anger. I was still standing right by the cage door, so I turned to look as well. Two filthy, armed men dragged someone who looked like a girl behind them they walked past us with lascivious smiles.

Er… Why did I say she looked like a girl?

I guess it’s because… everyone in the cages was extremely dirty. Even the two people dragging the girl were dirty and wore torn clothes. If it wasn’t for her voice sounding like a girl’s, no one could tell her gender at a single glance. Her chest area seemed pretty small as well. It seemed that she had yet to hit puberty.

My attention was immediately drawn to the guns that the men were holding. These guns looked very strange and didn’t look anything like the ones that I’d normally see.

What’s going on?

I really felt like I was in the lair of a terrorist organization.

“No, save me. Save me. Ah!” The girl was dragged out brutally. She cried and screamed in agony as she struggled and kicked with all her might. The tears that flowed down her cheeks left two trails of white on her face.

The two men who were dragging her smiled lecherously. “Haha, are we lucky or what that we caught a girl!?”

“Let’s have a taste. It’s been a while since we touched a woman.”

“Hahaha, let’s inform the others later once we have had our share.”

“Alright, let’s take turns.”

“But, how do we report to the King after having our way with her!?”

“Let’s sell her off at the black market. Girls are after all incredibly valuable!”

“Yeah! Hahahaha!"

I got goosebumps after hearing their conversation. I couldn’t help but gulp. I looked around. It seemed that… everyone here was male? My heart skipped a beat again. I touched my short hair and suddenly felt grateful for my boring school rules, where we either had to braid our hair or keep it short. As I had thought braiding hair was too troublesome, I had just kept mine short. Many girls in my school had kept their hair short, as they had wanted to escape the extra work of braiding them.

Add in the trendy gender-neutral fashion, and it became hard to tell the girls apart from the guys. Gradually, the guys had started referring to us as brothers. I was not spared either since they used to call me Brother Bing, even though my name was Luo Bing.

Due to the influence of Boy Love in the media[1], the guys had become… mm… more feminine? This was one of the things that used to irk my dad a lot.

Then, I touched my chest.

Luckily, I was still wearing my school uniform… School uniform, you know? This magical item that could turn a beauty into a dweeb! It was loose and baggy, and could easily be worn for many years without worrying about it. I was also wearing a jacket over my uniform. And to top it all off, my hands, face, and hair were all extremely dirty…  

And… I had… yet… to fully develop… Cough Cough… Cough Cough…

So… When I thought about my current situation as I saw the scene unfolding in front of me, and heard the conversation between the two men, I felt happy and fortunate to be mistaken as a guy instead!

‘Really’ fortunate!

“Damn it!” The guy next to me punched the cage in anger, scaring me. Why was he so emotional? Was she his girlfriend?

He was raging with anger like a trapped beast. He said furiously, “That girl is so pitiful, she is going to get violated by those beasts!”

As I looked at him, he suddenly yelled at me, “What are you looking at!?” He vented his anger at me instead.

Suddenly, he took a huge stride forward and grabbed me by the collar. I instinctively held onto my collar, as I was very nervous and afraid of anyone finding out that I was a girl. He stared at me, “Being a radiationer, aren’t you a metahuman? Why didn’t you use your quirk! Why!?”

I looked at him dumbfounded. He… was so tall! He should be around 178cm. He had a slim build, and although his face was covered in dirt, I could still faintly see that he was pretty handsome underneath. But, I realized that his hands were clean, just like the tall and handsome guys who played basketball at my school.

“A radiationer is not necessarily a metahuman…” The guy curled up in the corner suddenly spoke. However, his voice was soft and shivering in fear, “Earlier… they… checked on him… and realized that he has no superpowers. Don’t scare him. Look, he is already frightened…”

Humph! The guy grabbing my collar pushed me away harshly. He clenched his fist and slammed it against the cage. “If I wasn’t restrained, I definitely would have killed all of them!”

I continued to be dumbfounded. He was raging with murderous intent! I could tell that he wasn’t lying, especially when he talked about killing all these people.

“Luck… Luckily he is a radiationer… Other… otherwise, he would have been eaten…” The quivering guy added with a stammer. I was startled again. What? Eaten?

Seriously!?

He means… If I were a guy, I would be eaten!?

I checked my surroundings in astonishment. It looked like a huge, old warehouse that probably might have gone through a war. Plus, there was no electricity as the overhead light wasn’t switched on. Instead, there was a bonfire in the front that gave out a faint light.

“You, what’s your name?” The guy hidden in the corner asked. I came back to reality and looked at him. He was peeking at me from under his arms.

I was still in shock. This dream was more like a Hollywood film; there were even two supporting male actors!

“I, I am Ah Xing. He is He Lei. You, how about you?” He asked timidly. He pointed at the guy who was angry but didn’t lift his head. Even then, I could tell that his eyes were bright, and his hair was shiny black. He was also the cleanest of them all!

“Luo Bing,” I answered casually. However, if it was really just a dream, why the hell was my body still aching? Hold on! Why was my voice so hoarse?!