・・・・・
“Fortunately, there shouldn’t be any serious problems. You should be more careful since you slipped."
When people discovered that I had fallen into the water and started shouting, more than their commotion, the sensation of my long hair, soaking wet in the water, sent chills down my spine.
The river water that reached up to my chest felt cold, as if it penetrated deep into my bones, despite the burning sunlight.
I held my breath and plunged back into the water again, but soon, women I didn’t even know rushed in and pulled me out.
Despite picking flowers and falling into the water, the miracle of returning never occurred.
The middle-aged woman, who had belatedly returned from the market carrying rice cakes, ran over in a panic the moment she saw me, soaked to the skin. Her face twisted as if the world were ending.
The rice cakes she had cast aside lay abandoned on the street as pitifully as the water dripping from my head. When I saw a little child in tattered clothes cautiously glance around before picking them up, I covered my face with my hands.
I had clung to the hope that jumping into the river might somehow send me back, but I must’ve really lost my mind after ending up in this unfamiliar place.
To think I naively believed something like that alone could be my way home.
When the dazed woman — whose soul looked like it had just flown out of her — asked how I’d fallen in, all I could feel was overwhelming guilt.
All I did was jump into the water, but the older woman even called for a physician. She kept bowing her head over and over, thanking the elderly man who warned me to be more careful.
Unable to face her expression, I turned my head and closed my eyes.
“How… did this happen?”
After the physician left, Madam Gyeongin asked in a voice mixed with various emotions.
She had probably already heard from the women who rescued me, but considering I had neatly taken off my shoes and jumped in, there was no way to claim I had slipped or fallen by mistake.
She might misunderstand and think I had attempted suicide, but I couldn't explain everything in detail, so I just kept turning my head away.
“General Hunmu has returned.”
It was then.
Not long after the physician left the room, I heard that General Hunmu had returned.
If he had arrived a little later, I would have shamelessly asked the physician to keep today’s events a secret — but his timing, as if fate, had him arriving just as the physician left.
Sure enough, soon I heard voices talking outside, and then the door suddenly swung open, revealing General Hunmu.
Since I was only wearing a white inner jeogori and inner baji [1], the middle-aged woman quickly pulled the blanket up to my neck, then suddenly stood up and stepped back.
“What happened?”
General Hunmu entered, but I couldn’t bring myself to face him and kept my eyes closed.
Then, the middle-aged woman, who had hesitated and struggled to speak at first, finally spoke up on my behalf, almost as if offering an excuse.
“The lady briefly went out during the day but slipped by the river and fell in. It was my fault... I should have been more attentive."
“Are you saying she went out while I was away?”
“Pardon? I… that…”
“Did I ever grant permission?”
“I apologise. It’s entirely my fault…”
I couldn’t bear to listen any longer.
Worried that the middle-aged woman was being blamed for a grave offence because of me, I sat up from where I had been lying.
As a result, my white inner jeogori was exposed, but in my world, where even bikinis were normal, something like this was no big deal. Of course, I had to be cautious in this place where I had been transported to.
“She did nothing wrong. I was the one who felt trapped and asked to go outside. It was also my idea to go to the river.”
“...”
“So… please don’t blame her anymore... Even though she was hesitant, I was the one who insisted on going out.”
“Leave us.”
At my words, his eyes briefly sharpened before he turned to the middle-aged woman and spoke.
She bowed and left, and once we were alone in the modest-sized room, I belatedly pulled the blanket up to cover my exposed inner jeogori.
Until just moments before, I hadn’t cared at all, and my bare skin hadn’t shown — but somehow, after just one day here, I felt I was already beginning to adapt.
Moreover, Hunmu’s presence, sitting so close, made me want to wrap myself up tighter and hide. After all, from his perspective, I hadn’t done anything right.
“Why did you go to the river?”
“…I went because I felt stifled.”
“I’ll ask you again. The king isn’t the only one who can kill you. If you act beyond expectations, I won’t be able to keep you alive.”
“...”
“Why did you go to the river?”
My lips quivered. Like my wet hair, my eyes seemed ready to well up again.
Now, I didn’t even know what to try in order to return, and the shattered hope tightened my throat.
“…To go… back.”
“...”
“I was trying... to go back... I thought… if I jumped into the river... I might be able to return.”
“To the place you originally lived?”
“Yes... but... nothing happened.”
“You will not be able to return.”
“What…?”
“Do you believe you’re the first to attempt returning?”
・・・・・
“Do you believe you’re the first to attempt returning?”
“That… what do you mean? Has someone else been here too, besides me?”
I recalled him mentioning to the king that a person named Sahwa said that a long time ago, someone claimed to have come from another world, just like me.
But when he said so directly that I wouldn’t be able to go back, my eyes widened as I urgently asked if anyone had come here before.
However, General Hunmu didn’t answer and just stared at my wet hair.
I lowered my eyes in guilt, knowing this mess had happened because I went out on my own while he was gone. But even that didn’t last long, as I quickly looked up again in surprise.
“The king is looking for you. Prepare to leave.”
“Pardon? The king?”
Swish.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“…No… why all of a sudden…”
“You’re being insolent. If I hadn’t found you, who knows what others might have done to you after dragging you away? You only avoided that thanks to the king."
“...”
“If the king wishes to see you, you must go to him — no matter where you are. And if he demands something of you, you must do it — no matter what it is. Even if it is death.”
General Hunmu struck a nerve when he pointed out that my life here was in the hands of that terrifying, emotionless king.
Having already failed to return, the thought of entering that jaw-droppingly vast palace again to face him made everything go dark before my eyes.
“…Earlier, when you said I couldn’t go back… what made you so certain…? Please, tell me.”
“...”
“Has anyone else come here, like I did?”
“Whether you want to or not, you’ll hear about that part from Sahwa soon."
That was all General Hunmu said before standing up. Then he told Madam Gyeongin, who had been waiting outside, that I would be going to the palace that evening and asked her to dry my wet clothes.
I couldn’t understand why the king, who seemed completely emotionless, would call me back in less than a day. And who was this person called Sahwa?
I glanced toward the door the man had exited through, then turned away when I made eye contact with the middle-aged woman.
I couldn’t help but feel that I had unfairly caused the innocent woman to be scolded by General Hunmu for no good reason.
Honestly, I wanted to argue that if the king wanted me dead simply because he disliked me, how would that be any better than being discovered by someone else?
“Huu.”
Feeling helpless, I used the excuse that I hadn’t digested lunch properly, skipped dinner, and slept without interruption. I only woke up when people sent from the palace came to rouse me.
I had been complacent about the situation. They even brought a hanbok completely different from the one I wore yesterday and carefully tidied up my hair, which had dried messily at General Hunmu’s house.
It was astonishing to see so many women gathered just to prepare me for meeting the king. Once everything was ready, a palanquin awaited outside — the kind you’d expect to find only in a traditional folk village.
I had gained five kilograms while preparing for the civil service exam over the past two years. Seeing the palanquin bearers, who were barely bigger than me, I couldn’t help but wish I could just walk instead.
I did my best to tense my body, hoping to ease the burden on the palanquin bearers as I pondered.
If picking flowers or jumping into the river weren’t ways to return, then what other options were there? General Hunmu said I couldn’t go back, but that was just his opinion, not the absolute truth.
I tried to recall every book and novel I’d ever read, searching for any other possibilities.
By the time we arrived at the palace, thoughts of the king returned, and I felt my whole body shrink in dread.
But General Hunmu was there to greet me, so I could at least catch my breath for a moment.
He looked at my neatly groomed appearance without any expression, then promptly turned and led the way to where the king was.
Today, I hadn’t worn the white cloth on my way here, so the moment the door opened, I could see the king — and a man I had never seen before standing before him.
I quickly bowed my head and only caught a glimpse, but unlike General Hunmu, the man standing before the king was wearing a samo [2] (a traditional hat worn with official robes), so I assumed he was the one called Sahwa.
As soon as I entered, the door closed behind me, and the room fell silent. I took a few steps forward, following General Hunmu, but no one made a move to break the stillness.
Instead, I could feel the gaze of the man wearing the samo fixed on me, so I bowed my head even lower than I had yesterday and quietly kneeled down.
“That’s the woman.”
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will report once more."
Even without seeing it, why did the king’s face come so vividly to mind just from hearing his voice?
"According to a record written around 250 years ago, a man dressed in strange attire appeared near a waterfall. He claimed to be from another place and, like that woman, carried several objects unknown to this land. The person who first encountered him reported the incident to the authorities, and the late King Haetae personally granted the man an audience. However, deeming it sacrilegious, the king ordered all of the man's clothing and belongings to be burned. As a result, only a written account remains, and nothing else connected to him has survived."
Someone dressed similarly to me travelled here through dimensions about 250 years ago? This must be what General Hunmu was referring to when he said I would soon hear more about it.
“Like that woman, he had no difficulty communicating. In fact, he was said to be intelligent and provided great help to the people. For instance, while the records aren't detailed, one note mentions that during the time he lived here, the rice harvest for that year doubled.”
“What became of him?”
“Unfortunately, the records only state that he disappeared one day. It is said that no one witnessed whether he died or survived, and that he tried several times to return to where he came from but was unable to do so. Although he provided tangible help to the people and earned the king’s favour, very few records about him remain.”
Like me, he tried to return but couldn’t.
So that was why General Hunmu was so sure earlier that I couldn’t go back.
I wanted to know a little more about that man, but the man in front of the king said no more about him. Instead, he went on to talk again about the clothes, watch, and shoes I had brought.
“The clothes and shoes worn by that woman are made from materials never seen before, indicating that she, like the man in the records, came from another world. The ornament she wore has an unknown purpose, but a thin needle moves repeatedly over a set of numbers, suggesting it is a small clock. Although its timekeeping differs slightly from what is used here, with some adjustment, it can function as a very accurate timepiece.”
"Would this woman be of much use?"
As I listened, I was once again struck by how little the king valued human life, reducing a person to nothing more than their usefulness.
“Yes, like the man recorded in the documents, it is believed that there are many aspects of her that could be of help."
No. That man might have been intelligent enough to increase the rice harvest, but I was terrible at science and didn’t do well in school either. Especially since I studied the humanities, I had no talent for anything related to science. What was needed here wasn’t the poetry or legal precedents I once mindlessly memorised every day.
Even if I pretended to know something, it was as obvious as a fire that I'd be caught. The more I thought about it, the bleaker my future seemed, unlike the man who came before me.
“When the day breaks tomorrow, ask this woman about the things you need.”
"Yes, Your Majesty. It's late, and you must be tired. Please rest now."
The man, who had been speaking to the king in a calm, steady tone without any fluctuation, soon bowed respectfully and left. Before I could properly see his face, he was gone.
Then General Hunmu stood up and offered another bow.
“We found the man who was managing the tomb. He's an elderly man staying in a nearby thatched house, and he said he was once a servant to that person."
“How many years has it been?”
“He said he had been managing the tomb for about twenty years. He's already quite old and frail, so his memory isn't very clear. Also, since he has been without food for several days, we are allowing him to rest and recover for now."
“Could he be spouting nonsense?”
“Inside the house were that person’s last belongings: a set of clothes and a binyeo. It didn’t seem like he was lying.”
“...”
“I will call a physician to stabilise his condition as much as possible and then investigate further.”
"Well done."
With just a single phrase of praise, General Hunmu bowed so deeply his head nearly touched the floor.
I still didn’t know what the tomb they had been talking about since yesterday was, but I hoped that today, I could follow General Hunmu and return home once again.
“How has that woman been?”
“She attempted to return to where she originally lived.”
To report that to the king! For a moment, I looked up at General Hunmu, then lowered my gaze again. I’d trusted him more than the king, thinking he at least had some basic human decency. But the way he so bluntly revealed everything left me with a faint sense of betrayal.
If there was any consolation, it was that the king didn’t appear particularly angry.
Instead, he casually threw a remark at Hunmu — the kind that made me think it would’ve been better if he’d simply just gotten angry.
“You don’t need to take the woman with you today. You may leave now.”
Translator's Corner:
Thanks for your patience, everyone~ I'll try to translate some more chapters over the weekend! Enjoy your day, afternoon and night! 🐾
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[1] The inner jeogori (sokjeogori) is a thin, undershirt-like jacket. The inner pants/trousers (sokbaji) are worn under the hanbok. This is equivalent to modern-day undergarments. More info: https://www.aks.ac.kr/cefia/webzine/2402/focus_eng.html and http://www.j-koreans.org/en/exhibit/exhibit_04.html
[2] A "samo" is a rounded hat with protruding sections on both sides at the back. It was worn by government officials. More info: https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/7049
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