episode_0001

A few years ago, I entered the world of a novel.

And that too as a woman.

It wasn’t like I left a long comment to the author, received a suspicious email, or collapsed from overwork and came to my senses only to find myself here.

I just opened my eyes and this was the place.

If you ask, ‘How did you realize this was a novel?’ the answer was simple.

Because the image I saw in the mirror was not the character or main character I knew, but rather, it was overly similar to my past life.

Of course, Koreans commonly have black hair and black eyes.

Even the small dot under the eye is crucial to the face that looks somewhat blind.

If I had a sister, I think she would have a similar face to me.

The evidence didn’t end there.

The more I learned about this place, the more I was reminded of novels I’d read.

Essentially, I was convinced when I suddenly heard that an academy was being established here.

That would be unexpected, wouldn’t it?

Establishing an academy in reality is so fantastical.

So if you ask, ‘What kind of novel is it?’, I don’t know.

It’s not like I’ve read just one or two novels.

As I said, it’s not like I wrote a long comment or was reading a novel before coming here.

‘How can someone memorize so many novels…?’

I’m not as smart as the main characters in the fantasy novels I used to read, and if I had to be specific, I’m not that smart.

So if you ask, ‘What was the first thing you did after realizing that this was a novel?’

The idea was to go straight to a mountain with no name and hide there where no one would care.

There wasn’t any great reason.

Well, after looking around for a bit, it doesn’t seem like this is a world filled with run-down odors.

If I had come into the novel I was reading to fit the cliche of Bing, then this novel wouldn’t have such a bad worldview.

Even though reality is already bleak, reading a novel with dark content doesn’t make me feel very good.

So, I always read only novels with a bright atmosphere.

Using him as an excuse, I came to a mountain where no one knew me and settled down with the complacent thought that ‘this world will peacefully resolve its problems without me having to do anything’.

Let me make a few more excuses.

Even though I was a woman, I had blocked out harem novels, so I had no obligation to be the protagonist’s trophy here.

And, because my appearance resembled my past life, I wasn’t particularly pretty here, and because of my somewhat blind appearance, only men who tried to do something to me appeared.

The protagonist of this novel will never fall in love with me at first sight or anything like that.

“Hmm.”

This is my excuse for coming all the way into a novel and then staying locked up in the mountains.

Someone might say this when they see me like this.

‘You’ve finally been possessed by a novel, so aren’t you being too greedy? If you’ve already been possessed, why don’t you use your strengths to dream big, like monopolizing destiny or becoming a hero?’

Now, instead of making excuses, it’s time to tell you my honest feelings.

I am naturally timid and fearful.

It seemed to me that if a country with such a foreign existence were to try to do something here, it would only end badly.

Don’t people often call it the butterfly effect?

For example, let’s say I defeated the bandits with a righteous mind.

But what if the bandits were actually the ones who were going to attack the protagonist, and because I attacked first, the protagonist’s advance was so fast that he missed the opportunity by a split second and the world was destroyed?

Of course I know I’m being a jerk,

I also know very well that all of this is just my useless delusions.

But, as I said before, I am naturally timid and fearful.

So I fight to regain peace?

I think a passing dog would laugh at me.

Well, still… .

If he’s the kind of person who would send me here, wouldn’t he already know my nature?

I came here for no reason.

Whoever sent me here wouldn’t have sent me here for no reason, right?

So, I just have to follow my heart and live the way I want to live.

Anyone who has heard this far will say this.

‘So, are you really living without doing anything?’

Unfortunately, that is not the case.

You may be thinking, ‘What is this kid?’ but just hold back your anger for a bit and listen.

Before coming here, I also liked novels and animation, which are commonly referred to as subculture.

The explanation was long, but… to summarize, I’m an otaku.

That is why it is difficult to stay still in this romantic world of swords and magic.

As I said before, since I live in the mountains, there are limitations to what I can do.

I was following along, recalling the training content from various novels I had read.

…it’s nothing grand.

In the first place, I can’t use magic by reciting magic spells that I don’t even know.

He is merely making a convincing imitation by holding a wooden sword that he carved himself out of wood.

Let me explain a little bit about that.

The world I live in seems to be a world based on a fantasy worldview, considering that it has a king, nobles, and even an academy.

I can’t possibly do the training methods from fantasy novels where I only remember vague phrases like ‘Feel the mana!’, swinging a sword like in a martial arts novel, and moving the energy I feel inside me through meditation…

Well, that’s how I train.

Honestly, I don’t think it will be very effective.

Unlike the protagonists of martial arts novels, I don’t have a teacher, so I’m training based on my poor brain and memory.

Besides, the training method in my memory is based on the contents of a novel written by an ordinary person.

In a word, it’s a black market.

Of course, I don’t expect any results.

But what can I do if this is all I can do?

If I have to be picky, what else can I do?

And, there’s no way I, who’s never even held a sword in my hand, could have any talent for it.

While at it, I am training in the Samjae Sword Technique, which is often featured as a third-rate martial art in martial arts novels and is considered something that can be done even without talent.

Just cut horizontally and vertically and stab.

Isn’t it so simple and clear?

It was something even an idiot like me could do, so it was a perfect opportunity to try it out.

So, I repeated this for a very long time in the mountains where there was no one.

On and on, until even I forgot the passage of time and didn’t even realize how many years had passed.

* * *

“Today is another strong and powerful morning!”

I kicked open the door and went out, stretching my arms exaggeratedly toward the sky.

Because I kept doing this every morning, the door started to creak a little, which was a bit unsettling.

This is my way of killing time and routine because I have nothing to say if I don’t do it.

I took out some grass I had collected while wandering around the mountains from my pocket and started chewing it.

“Ugh, write it down.”

Since I have chewed and eaten almost all the grass myself and have determined its edibility, there is no problem eating it now.

When I first entered the mountains, I would eat any grass and get a stomachache, which was a lot of trouble, but I was secretly proud of myself for having grown since then.

“… Hehe.”

A bitter taste spreads through my mouth, and I feel as if my mind is being cleared a little.

They do not eat any additional meals other than the chewed grass.

At some point, I was able to go several days without eating without any problems.

I didn’t eat it because I felt like I was getting energy just by eating the grass I had collected.

“Then, shall we begin?”

As I always did, I went to the center of the vacant lot where the trees had been cut down and sat cross-legged.

It may seem a bit shabby to call it a method of internal energy, but after practicing this for several years, I have become a master and have somehow gotten the hang of it.

As soon as I felt something moving slightly below my navel, I immediately started breathing, spreading it throughout my entire body.

“Hoo.”

After a while, a five-colored ring began to appear above my head, and I felt my body rising into the air.

I remember this happening quite a while after I had my breakfast.

I didn’t know exactly what this was.

All I could understand was, reflexively, ‘He’s grown up again!’

“… ha.”

Yes, after some time and stabilization.

He opened his eyes, which had been closed, and stood up, holding the wooden sword that he had put down for a moment.

And then, he immediately swung his sword.

The sword swing form was quite different from the first one, and after realizing that just cutting and stabbing would be meaningless, I tried a little more diverse poses.

Maybe about 15 years?

Okay, it might have been more time later.

I guess, because I live a life that is constantly repetitive, my sense of time becomes dull and I become confused.

I used to be able to gauge my age by looking at my reflection in the lake, but now I can’t even do that.

“How was it… .”

One day, I lost consciousness and felt a pain that felt like my whole body was being torn apart.

When I woke up, I saw that I looked completely younger.

After that, even if I wanted to grow old, I didn’t grow old.

My body feels strange… .

anyway.

So, after trying out various poses, I narrowed it down to 10 that looked the coolest and created my own version of the superfood.

… I’m embarrassed to show it to anyone.

Isn’t it romantic?

He closed his eyes while holding the wooden sword and started dancing with the sword in order, starting from the first movement.

A small wind blows depending on the direction the sword goes.

“Hoo… .”

And then, when I finally finished my last meal and opened my eyes, the leaves that had fallen from the sky fluttered and touched the ground, forming a single letter.

Cheon (天), my surname that has been with me since my previous life.

The corners of my mouth went up at the more refined handwriting.

“Today, another strong and intense training is over!”

The repetitive day has ended again today.