“What’s all this commotion?!”
As I stood in tense confrontation with unfamiliar people, a loud voice suddenly rang out, accompanied by a cloud of dust.
Men in what looked like heavy suits of iron armour came riding on horseback toward the gathering crowd.
At the sight of them, the people around me instantly shed their wariness and threw themselves to the ground, bowing their heads low.
With everyone else prostrated, I alone remained standing upright, immediately drawing the eyes of the armoured men.
“Ah...”
At a glance, the group of five or six men looked unmistakably like generals.
Clip-clop, clip-clop—
As the sound of approaching hooves drew near, my breathing grew increasingly ragged.
Unbelievable events were unfolding before me, events that my mind couldn't comprehend, and even if I wanted to turn away, I couldn't — my body was reacting in strange ways.
Whether I did anything or not, the armoured men who had spotted me soon had expressions of surprise and a touch of fear spreading across their faces, before swiftly drawing the swords from their scabbards.
"Who are you?!"
Could I really be so insane as to experience sounds and smells this vividly right before my eyes?
The moment the sword was drawn, the metallic scent of blood drifted through the air, causing me to stagger backward.
The man in the front swiftly dismounted from his horse and approached, his posture resembling that of a tiger crouching before sinking its teeth into a deer’s neck.
“Identify yourself!”
If I wasn't crazy, and, as unbelievable as it was, I had somehow travelled through dimensions to an unknown world, did that mean I had no choice but to die here and now?
As I saw the blade pointed at me, gleaming in the sunlight, I eventually broke down, tears falling steadily as I began to hyperventilate.
I had been studying hard to turn my uncertain future into something stable, but now, on my way home, I was suddenly facing death at the hands of an unknown person.
Why was this happening to me?
“!”
Suddenly, the image of an old woman with one clouded eye flashed through my mind.
The moment before I boarded the subway and felt intense dizziness, that eerie old woman had spoken those chilling words.
“Would you even care if the world disappeared right now?”
Could it be that the old woman, who had seemed like a shaman, was behind all of this?
The same old woman who had asked if it would matter if the world disappeared — could she actually be a sorceress or a god, someone I had thought existed only in fantasy?
Thud.
Lost in thoughts of the old woman, I took a step back, tripped over a stone, and fell backward.
As I crashed down with a loud noise, the murmuring crowd glanced sideways at me, their eyes flickering over my dyed hair and clothes.
The comfortable slippers on my feet, the watch on my wrist — everything about me seemed strange and unfamiliar to them.
In the meantime, a burly man with a thick black beard growing like vines on his jaw glared sharply, still holding a blade pointed straight at me.
“Stop.”
It was then.
A voice carried on the wind, along with the stench of blood, made the burly man stop in his tracks.
Still holding the sword he had aimed at me, he turned his head toward his companions, then bowed slightly and stepped aside.
Then, a man casually dismounted from his horse and walked toward me.
My eyes were already blurred with tears, so I couldn't see the approaching man clearly.
However, judging by his towering height and the fact that all the other men on horses dismounted and stood behind him, I could tell that he held a fairly high rank in this unbelievable reality.
After blinking several times, I was finally able to make out the man walking toward me.
Despite his high rank, his features were surprisingly gentle.
Unlike the others who wore rugged helmets, he stood before me with his long hair simply tied back with a white band, giving off an impression that didn't quite match the sword he carried.
Then, he gazed at my hair, dyed a brown tone that seemed out of place here, and proceeded to silently stare at my face.
Unlike the others, who showed signs of suspicion, he neither feared nor seemed intimidated by me.
He simply observed the unfamiliar watch on my wrist and the slippers, which were made of materials completely different from the straw sandals common here.
His hair looked even better than mine, his skin was clear, and though he lacked double eyelids, his expression was sharp without being harsh.
After studying me for a moment, he turned his head toward one of his subordinates.
“Jangchen.”
“Yes!”
"It’s a stranger from another land. Bind her — we must present her to the king."
A stranger from another land? Had he figured out that I wasn’t from here?
Wait a minute, so I wasn’t crazy? Did that mean I had somehow travelled to another dimension?
Still dazed, I stared at the man in front of me.
Soon, his burly subordinates, who had seemed so frightening, approached with thick ropes and bound my arms and hands tightly.
Even when I groaned in pain, they tied me so securely that I couldn’t move.
Just like in the dramas I’d seen, they didn’t put me on a horse; instead, they rode theirs while I was forced to walk behind.
The man with the gentle features, who had mentioned taking me to the king, glanced at me briefly, then mounted his horse and led the group forward.
As they passed, the people who had shown wariness toward me earlier remained kneeling on the ground, still bowed until the horses were out of sight.
With my arms and hands bound, I was dragged away before I could gather my thoughts.
The surroundings were so vividly and perfectly reminiscent of an ancient era that it was impossible to mistake them for a film set.
Overcome with confusion, tears silently began to flow down my face once again as I struggled to make sense of what was happening.
Come to think of it, the subordinates kept glancing back at me as they walked, so I couldn’t understand how the man who called me a 'stranger from another land' could remain so calm, eyes fixed straight ahead.
Meanwhile, due to my lack of exercise from focusing on studying, I couldn’t keep up a fast pace.
The scorching sun and the overwhelming thirst made me feel like I might collapse at any moment.
Thankfully, they spoke a language similar to mine, so communication wasn’t a problem. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to ask for water.
“Haa...”
Breathing heavily, I lowered my head.
The thirst meant my body was already severely dehydrated, and with all the crying on top of it, it was no wonder I was on the verge of heat exhaustion.
“General, she’s been staggering since earlier.”
After walking for a while with my hands tied, my strength began to give out, and I started to stumble.
One of the subordinates, unable to ignore it, spoke up to the man walking ahead.
Only then did the man turn his head toward me, his sharp eyes taking in my pale, exhausted state and laboured breathing.
Just knowing that someone noticed I wasn't feeling well was surprisingly comforting.
I still didn’t know who he was, but as I looked at the long-haired man with a slender face, my knees slowly buckled, and I collapsed to the ground.
At that moment, the man suddenly jumped down from his horse and approached on foot.
Swish.
“Ah!”
He came close, gripping my chin tightly and lifting it up, then quickly pulled out a gourd from his waist.
Opening the stopper, which was tightly sealed multiple times with cloth, he let the contents flow toward my mouth.
The liquid was slightly sweet, but since I couldn’t open my mouth properly, he pressed my cheek with the hand holding my chin, forcing me to drink.
“Cough, cough!”
Strangely enough, the sweet liquid that was forced into my mouth quickly relieved my thirst, and the sensation of relief spread through me in no time.
"That precious Dalbi!"
As I drank, the subordinates watching let out brief, regretful murmurs.
I didn’t know what Dalbi was, but the man made me drink about half of the gourd's contents before finally releasing his grip on my chin.
"If she dies before the king sees her, it will be troublesome. Make sure she keeps up.”
“Yes, General.”
After drinking the precious Dalbi liquid, my dehydration symptoms quickly eased.
Only then did I truly feel the heat and flush in my face as I realised that an unfamiliar man had been holding my chin.
Even though I was confronted with an unbelievable reality, it wasn’t something I could focus on right now. Instead, my attention was drawn to the man called the 'General,' whose face was strikingly handsome, almost beautiful, despite being a man.
I wish he were an actor and that all of this were just a scene from a film script.
So what was going to happen to me now?
If I weren’t just going crazy, but had actually travelled to another dimension, how could I return to the place where I originally lived?
I racked my memory and recalled books filled with mysterious stories from long ago. Some people in them claimed to have jumped from somewhere and briefly visited another world, while others said they returned to their original world after picking a flower.
Now, after stepping onto the subway and opening my eyes, I was experiencing something so absurd that I wondered — should I try jumping into a waterfall or river? Or maybe, like in the books, should I try picking hundreds of flowers?
Unable to believe it and still in denial, my mind was soon consumed by the overwhelming thought that I had to find a way back.
Before long, I found myself standing before a colossal castle, far larger than any tiled-roof house I had ever seen. Its immense size seemed to block out the very sun.
Stunned, I watched as the gatekeepers recognised the man’s face, hurriedly greeted him, and laboriously opened the heavy main gate by hand.
Creak.
“Wow...”
As the gate opened, the scene inside was even more breathtaking.
A broad expanse of flat stone spread out across the floor, and above it, a staircase — at a glance, perhaps fifty steps — rose in tiers.
Only when looking up did the entrance to a grand residence, where the king would reside, finally come into view.
The golden roof tiles shimmered brilliantly — whether they were real gold was anyone’s guess.
Beside the entrance stood a line of armoured soldiers, so many that it was impossible to count them at a glance.
I had pored over Korean history again and again while studying for the civil service exam, but never once did I see a historical record describing anything this extravagant.
Before even meeting the king, I was overwhelmed by the castle’s grandeur and no longer doubted the reality of the situation.
I had crossed dimensions into an unknown era of the past, and unfortunately, I couldn’t say for certain what would become of my life here.
Unlike them, I climbed the long staircase in a loose black shirt, worn-out summer pants made from breathable fabric, and a pair of flip-flops.
No sooner had I climbed ten steps, a sharp pain shot through my calves.
I didn’t know what kind of person the king was, but I found myself hoping he would be warm and kind — someone fatherly.
Someone who might be willing to help me return to my own world (I was even willing to leave my watch behind, if he wanted it).
The soldiers standing in formation at the entrance bowed in unison the moment they saw the man who had given me the liquid, called Dalbi.
As I looked at him again, I wondered if he held a much higher rank than I initially thought. But since he was so young, I also speculated that he might be the king’s son.
“Is the king inside?”
“Yes, he is.”
But since he didn’t use the word 'Father,' it seemed unlikely that he was the king’s son.
Feeling tense, I followed the man through the open door.
Indeed, the polished wooden floor and the walls adorned with intricate patterns were just as impressive inside as they appeared from outside, truly befitting a king’s quarters.
“From now on, keep your head bowed until the king speaks. It doesn’t matter which country you come from or who you are. If you offend the king, your head will be severed immediately.”
“!”
At the door where the maidservants bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle, the man who appeared to be their superior suddenly spoke, offering advice like a warning.
I noticed that the other subordinates who had come with us were standing frozen outside the brownish, wooden floor, and didn’t dare step further inside.
Awakening in this unfamiliar place with an even more solemn atmosphere, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something truly momentous was unfolding.
Creak.
“General Hunmu is entering.”
Hunmu? Was that the name of this man?
The man bowed his head and stepped inside, then tugged on the rope tied to me.
I quickly bowed my head and followed.
Even through my lowered gaze, I could sense a heavy, oppressive atmosphere swirling around us.
The silence was so profound, not even a breath could be heard, making me wonder if we were in the presence of a tyrant rather than someone with a gentle and benevolent nature.
“Hunmu reporting, I have returned after completing the mission.”
With my head still bowed, I couldn’t see the king’s face. All I heard was the quiet sound of something being pressed and the man in front shifting his body slightly as he spoke.
Thud.
“Ouch!”
Suddenly, Hunmu put firm pressure on my shoulder, forcing me to kneel on the floor.
As I instinctively tried to lift my head, he pressed it back down.
Then, he knelt down beside me.
“I brought her because I believed Your Majesty should see her. On the way back to the castle, I discovered a strange woman in the bushes. Judging by her clothing and appearance, she seems to be from another world. I present her for Your Majesty’s judgment and disposal.”
Translator's Corner:
Hi everyone! Thank you for your patience, and sorry about the late post (had a bit of a busy weekend). I'll finish translating a few more chapters and post them tonight as part of this week's post~ Happy reading! 💕
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