“Isn’t that… a bit much?”
Subin murmured, almost whispering.
I agreed.
Even in this gender-reversed world, that was basically public exposure.
“That’s nothing,” Chaerin said flatly.
“There are worse?”
“Yeah.
Some upperclassmen show up with nothing but body paint on their upper bodies, or just a jacket over pierced nipples.
What you’re seeing is pretty standard.”
Apparently this world required me to relearn the definition of “ordinary.”
There was something else strange.
Every woman dressed so provocatively would flush with open delight the moment her eyes met mine.
Yet not one of them approached or spoke.
They kept a careful distance and simply poured heat into their gazes.
Their eyes were full of raw desire and the feverish heat of women in heat, yet their behavior remained astonishingly restrained.
“Why do they only stare?
No one comes over to talk.”
At my question Chaerin clicked her tongue and looked at me.
“You don’t remember that either?
Guys hate it when women act all horny.
Makes them look like monkeys in heat.
So everyone pretends to be demure and sexless on the outside.
Inside they’re screaming for you to shove it in right this second.”
Ah.
Overflowing with lust, yet hiding it because men found the display unattractive.
So they played the modest part.
The academy gate we finally reached was far larger and more imposing than I had expected.
Massive stone pillars and ornate carvings recalled an ancient temple, as if the place were boasting its status as a pillar of society.
In a world where the male-to-female ratio stood at one to twenty, nothing mattered more than marriage and childbirth.
The social weight of this marriage academy was beyond words.
A sign directed new students to the auditorium first.
Passing through the gate and entering the hall, I was overwhelmed all over again by its scale.
The space looked large enough to hold a thousand people.
More than a hundred freshmen already sat in the chairs—almost all of them women.
Male freshmen were hard to spot.
As the only man in sight, I naturally became the center of countless stares: envy, curiosity, and above all a fierce sexual hunger.
Hundreds of eyes fixed on me made it hard to breathe.
“Sihyuk, our class seats are over there.”
Subin tugged lightly at my sleeve and whispered.
Thanks to her I recovered enough to find the sign for Class 1-1 and take a seat.
Chaerin and Subin sat pressed close against me on either side.
A short while later every light in the auditorium went out and a spotlight flooded the stage.
In that calm atmosphere the entrance ceremony began.
Familiar formalities—saluting the flag, singing the national anthem—passed.
But when it came time for the freshman representative’s oath, the mood shifted completely.
The ordinary air of the hall sank into solemn silence the moment the representative stepped onto the stage.
A woman with long black hair neatly tied back walked up.
She had a distinctly intellectual look, yet she had not forgotten to show off her figure in a form-fitting suit-style outfit.
From her introduction I learned she was Cha Ayeong, the top-ranked entrant to the academy.
When I whispered a question to Chaerin, she told me the women had taken entrance exams before admission.
While Chaerin and I muttered to each other, Cha Ayeong began reading the oath in a clear, ringing voice.
“I swear!
We, the entire body of new students, as proud citizens of the Republic of Korea and as future wives who will serve our great men, do solemnly swear the following.”
At her lead every woman in the auditorium raised her right hand and echoed the words.
Their voices became a single enormous wave that shook the hall.
“One!
We swear to uphold the noble spirit of the Male Protection Act, to recognize every man as a specially protected national asset, and to place their physical and mental well-being above all else!”
“One!
We swear to remember that any attempt at sexual contact against a man’s will is a serious crime, and that we will serve their bodies only when permission is given!”
“One!
We swear to fulfill the sacred duty of receiving a man’s precious genes, bearing healthy offspring, and raising them for the continued existence and prosperity of this nation!”
Swear, swear, swear.
Not a trace of hesitation colored their voices.
Like devotees reciting holy scripture, their faces even held a kind of grim resolve.
I had thought I understood this world reasonably well.
The freshman oath left my mouth hanging open.