The streets of Shibuya overflowed tonight with a light and sound so intense it felt violent. Past Center-gai, a queue of youths armed with the latest trends lined up at the entrance of the massive club, “Luminous.” The heavy bass vibrated through the walls, shaking the very foundations of the back alleys.
My name is Mika. Twenty years old.
With my voluminous blonde extensions, long nails encrusted with as many rhinestones as they could hold, and a proud, sun-kissed tan, I was the “strongest” Gal. My life motto: “I’m the rule; the one who has the most fun wins.” I lived at full throttle, using only SNS follower counts and the constant praise of “so cute” as my fuel.
That night, I was popping champagne in the VIP section with my best friends.
“Mika, your look is seriously on point tonight!”
“Duh. I even got new colored contacts for tonight.”
Surrendering myself to the high-volume EDM under the shimmering lights, I felt enveloped in a sense of omnipotence—as if I were the center of the universe. Bleak talk of the economy or the future didn’t exist here.
Then, a man stepped into my field of vision.
The way he parted the crowd as he walked made him stand out far too much. He possessed an overwhelming aura that made the surrounding men look like children. Slanted, sharp eyes, a straight bridge of a nose, and thin, confident lips. Perfectly pulling off a dark, high-brand suit, he was the definition of a “top-tier hottie.”
“Hey, you. What’s your name?”
The man—Takeru—whispered in a low, pleasant voice that cut clearly through the noise.
“Mika. Who the hell are you?”
I acted defiant on purpose, but inside, my heart was leaping at his impossibly perfect features.
“I’m Takeru. Mika-chan, why don’t we talk outside for a bit? I can’t hear your jewel-like voice very well in here.”
Takeru’s invitation was forceful, but his eyes held an irresistible magic. I painted over my slight caution with “Gal bravado” and decided to follow him.
Outside, the cold, damp night air of Shibuya stroked my cheeks, which were flushed with alcohol. Takeru stopped in a back alley a short distance away, where the shadows were thick and the streetlights couldn’t reach.
“Mika-chan, are you satisfied with your life? Don’t you want to see… a different version of yourself?”
“Huh? What is that, some religious recruitment?”
Takeru laughed lowly and pulled a thumb-sized vial from his inner jacket pocket. Inside, an eerie purple liquid shimmered suspiciously.
“It’s a special drink. Just one sip, and your soul will leap over the cage of the flesh and reach heights you’ve never seen. …Want to try?”
“Too suspicious. If that’s drugs, I’m seriously out.”
“Hardly. This is something much more… mystical. It’s fitting for a girl like you who seeks ‘the best.'”
Takeru’s smile had a sweet, dangerous fragrance—like a ripened fruit just before it rots and falls. I might have fallen into a sort of hypnotic state under that gaze.
“…Just one sip, then.”
I took the vial and downed the contents in one go.
In that instant, a searing pain shot through my throat, followed by a shock as if my brain had been struck directly with a metal bat. My vision warped like a kaleidoscope, and the concrete beneath my feet melted like mud.
“Ah… what… is… this…”
My consciousness was sucked into a dark void, like a kite with a snapped string.
===
…My head felt like it was splitting open.
The sensation of a cold floor and a sterile, inorganic smell like disinfectant. I forced my heavy eyelids open.
“…Ugh… did I drink too much…?”
The moment I spoke, a violent sense of wrongness hit me.
What escaped my throat wasn’t the high-pitched, anime-like voice I was used to, but the low, raspy voice of a man. Confused, I sat up to find myself in a suite of a hotel I didn’t recognize. Staggering to the bathroom, where the walls were covered in mirrors, I faced the most cruel despair of my life.
“…Eh? No… why…”
The person in the mirror wasn’t Mika.
The long blonde hair, the meticulously made-up face, the slender body—none of it was there. Standing there was a man nearly 180 centimeters tall, with the face of that man, Takeru.
I touched my hands. Large, rugged palms, protruding veins, and a flat, hard chest.
“WAAAAHHHHHHHH!”
Even my scream belonged to a stranger.
Panic-stricken, I scanned the room for my own body when the door behind me opened soundlessly. A “Gal” walked in. Sun-kissed skin, a pink miniskirt, and my favorite platform boots. It was undeniably *me*—Mika’s body.
“My, Mika. Are you surprised? How does it feel to use that body?”
Takeru-inside-my-body sneered, contorting my lips into a cold, ruthless mockery. Every gesture showed he was treating my body as a mere “object.”
“Takeru! What did you do! Put me back! Put me back right now!”
I swung the man’s body around, trying to grab Takeru (in my body). But the center of gravity was entirely different. My legs were too long and got tangled, sending me sprawling pathetically onto the carpet.
“It’s useless. As the owner of that body, I am well-versed in the art of the swap. But you… you are just a ‘vessel.'”
Takeru (in my body) traced his (Mika’s) cheek with the fingers adorned with my precious long nails.
“It’s wonderful. The flesh of a Gal—young, beautiful, and perceived by society as ‘harmless.’ With this, I can commit crimes, fraud, and indulge in play as much as I want. Your friends, your savings—from tomorrow, they are all mine.”
“Stop… don’t ruin my life…”
“Ruin it? No. I’m going to make your life ‘more interesting.’ You should prepare yourself to start a new life as a ‘wanted criminal’ in that ugly man’s body.”
Takeru put my smartphone in his pocket, twirled my room key on his finger, and walked out with a light step.
The cold sound of the door closing—*thud*.
Left alone, fighting a surge of nausea inside a stranger’s flesh, I bit my lip until it bled.
“…I’ll kill you. I won’t let you get away with this. I’ll make you regret taking everything from me… from the very bottom of hell!”
===
What saved me from the abyss of despair was a Gal’s trademark “quick pivot” and an intense, burning thirst for revenge. I went into hiding in the hideout Takeru left behind—a luxury high-rise apartment—and methodically scoured his computer and documents.
Fortunately, Takeru was overconfident in his own intellect. I found a secret memo detailing the refinement of the exchange drug and the conditions for a re-swap.
“This is it… With this, I can go back.”
But simply returning wasn’t enough to quench my rage. This man had used my precious body, defiled it, and laughed at me. When he finally returned from my body to his own, I would make sure he could never defy me—or escape me—ever again.
Using Takeru’s hidden fortune, I contacted underground medical channels.
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