episode_0002

Preparing to go hunting with roughly packed rice balls and belongings.

Has it been about 13 years since I fell here?

Even memories of the previous world now feel vague.

What I remember vividly… is the smell?

The unique smell of Nuna’s house…

The scent of baby lotion as I move sleeping Hyunkyung to the bed,

the paper smell of hardcover books scattered around….

As the memories pass by my nose, I wake up in a forest somewhere unknown.

At that time, panic set in so much that breathing was difficult.

Suddenly falling into a mountain? Being naked without a single piece of clothing?

Of course, none of that made sense,

but what I least understood among them was how I became as young as Hyunkyung.

Tiny hands and feet, a hairless pepper, lowered perspective…

Every situation clearly indicated that I had become younger, but even though my head understood, my heart felt rebellious, or something like that?

Looking back now, it was a stroke of great luck that nothing happened to a kid panicking and wandering barefoot in a place where tigers and wild boars roam freely.

After that, there was a small hermitage along my aimless steps, and the monk there was very kind, feeling sorry for me because he had no children and helped me integrate into the hunter couple who pitied me for being childless.

I think it was all a series of coincidences of fate.

I could have wandered the mountain all day.

It was already a mountain where night fell quickly, and suddenly, with a weakened body, there was no way I could distribute my energy properly, let alone prepare for the cold in the dark mountain with no visibility, isolated and lost without clothes?

I would have come out as mountain animal dung in no time.

Moreover, this is also a place where people live.

Not everyone can be good people like the monk and foster parents.

Even if I managed to find civilization somehow, the moment a barefoot child realizes “Uh-oh!” they could easily become someone else’s slave or be sold to some lecherous old man in an instant.

Although it was a hypothetical situation, it was a scenario that could have easily unfolded, so every time such thoughts crossed my mind, my spine chilled, making me shiver.

Well, in the end, I integrated into the foster parents, and thanks to that, I was able to adapt to this world, which was a great relief.

So I’ve lived here for 13 years, and now, after losing my foster father a few years ago due to illness, I am taking care of my elderly foster mother.

“Cough! …Child.”

“Yes, Mother.”

With a cough, Mother called me.

Despite growing taller, does Mother still see me as the child holding hands with the monk and integrating into the temple?

She still treats me like a child.

“Cough! Child, Mother is worried, afraid of losing you as well as losing inspiration…. So, wouldn’t it be better to stop hunting now…?”

“Mother.”

“Cough. Do you really think I’d lay spider webs at the mountain entrance? Mother will do whatever it takes to bring food home. Cough!”

Perhaps it’s because winter is approaching and the weather has turned chilly.

Mother’s cough has worsened noticeably, making it difficult for her to even utter a word.

When the body weakens, the mind weakens too. A person who used to be so strong now worries about me going hunting and wants me to stop.

Perhaps it’s because she’s worried about my late father.

I understand her feelings, but still, I have to go hunting.

All I’ve learned here is hunting, and I can’t make my sick mother work, and besides food, I wanted to somehow get medicine for her.

“Mother, don’t worry too much because of the tiger. Father passed away so suddenly due to his age… But he was still the best hunter in Geumgangsan. Before he left, he shot an arrow right into the eyes of the tiger cub, so even though I may not be as skilled as father, I won’t lose to a dying tiger. So please don’t worry too much.”

“Mom, but still *cough* *cough*!”

“…Mother!”

With a cough, Mother staggered.

“I’m fine. It’s okay….”

Even with aching body, Mother reassured me with a soft voice full of concern, which made me feel sorry for her.

I hid my sadness and embraced her, leading her to the room and laying her down on the bedding.

Mother grasped my hand tightly as I tried to get up.

Her hand conveyed worry and anxiety towards me.

“After this hunt, I’ll go down to the village and look for work.”

I reassured her.

Despite her lingering unease, Mother nodded slightly and fell asleep with a cough.

My steps leaving the room felt heavy.

Just like how Mother worried about me when Father left, I couldn’t shake off the pain of bidding farewell to Father.

I feared that my sick mother might leave me soon.

Perhaps… she might not have much time left, a worrisome intuition crept in.

I resolved once again to succeed in this hunt no matter what.

I lit a fire in the hearth before leaving.

When I flipped the charcoal-covered embers, a spark flew out.

The cold in the mountains was incomparable to anywhere I had lived in the city.

Leaving Mother alone in such coldness weighed heavily on my heart.

Crackle!

As the firewood burned, warm air pushed away the cold.

She wouldn’t stay in the cold house without firewood while I was away.

Even if she uses up all the firewood, I just hoped she would stay warm.

Winter is a tough season, especially when living in a warm city.

I should have hunted diligently in autumn before winter arrived, but I couldn’t leave my sick mother often.

Soon, when snow falls and winter sets in, animals will hide for hibernation,

and woodcutters will raise the price of firewood.

That’s why this hunt was crucial.

If only Father were still alive…

But such thoughts were futile…

“I’ll be back. Mother!”

Leaving behind my heavy heart, I bid Mother goodbye loudly to ease her worries and set off on the road.

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“Huff, huff.”

No matter how much stamina increases and one gets used to it, climbing a mountain is still difficult.

That’s why I disliked being in the army, where you had to climb mountains whenever there was a chance.

Now, I have to ride the mountain to earn money, no choice.

When I was discharged, I swore I wouldn’t even look at the mountains, but now I wonder if I’m paying for that.

One advantage of riding the mountain is that you have a lot of time to think.

Why am I here, is there no way back, how should I live, damn author, damn god, etc.

At first, I thought I had fallen into the novel I was writing.

I wasn’t hit by a truck, nor was I an expert in games (shouting status window), and I didn’t even have a novel to read, so I thought it might be the novel I was writing.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

All the works I wrote were fantasy or sci-fi novels, but monks, hearths, and thatched-roof houses are already out.

Am I falling into the past? It’s too ambiguous for that.

Of course, it was a Korean worldview.

Coins with holes in the middle, old Korean architectural structures like thatched or tiled houses.

Up to this point, I would have thought I had fallen into the past or into an alternate history novel.

Yeah, if only the country wasn’t named Yuldo.

Where have I heard that name before? Thinking carefully, it’s from Hong Gildongjeon, that Yuldo Kingdom.

The king’s surname is Hong, so I confirmed it.

Oh…. Once, thinking this was really our country’s past, soap, steam engines, the law of the land flowed through my mind like water, changing Korea’s tragic history and becoming the first emperor who established an empire, fulfilling the long-cherished dream of Samcheok Sacheop….

Ouch! My head!! Ugh…. The embarrassing past should disappear!! Forget about it in my mind!!!

…Anyway, I gulped down a bowl of kimchi soup.

By the way, soap is often thrown away by hunters because they discard animal fat, and I thought it might be worth making, but…

Hmm…. It wasn’t something to sell. The smell wasn’t good either.

I must have done something wrong.

I vaguely remember seeing the manufacturing method on Namuwiki while writing a novel, so I didn’t remember it properly.

Still, it was a product worth trying to do laundry with.

I tried selling it once on market day, but no one bought it….

Even though I showed them how it lathered up, they said the smell was bad and just left, saying they’d rather use wood ash water. It was unbelievable.

This is soap, it’s soap! Even if I say that, they say it’s over-technology here!

I confidently set out on market day, hoping to become rich by selling soap, only to return empty-handed without earning a single penny….

That day, I had to spend the whole day cleaning the dirty stove that I had dirtied while making soap with sweat and tears. And since it was already hard to get water, the stove was so heavy that I suffered from body aches for a while.

In the end, my grand plan to become a conglomerate by selling soap quietly remained buried in my heart….

…Come to think of it, isn’t this frustrating?

While we’re at it, let’s say a word to the author, even if I don’t know if they are a writer or a rookie!

Sending the protagonist to some unknown place like Yuldo Country without any character development?

Just splash soap and suddenly people go “Wow, soap!” and become rich, huh?

Try something like a contract with a progressive and attractive female merchant who tries to surpass her brothers and become the first female top merchant! Huh?

Let’s have some competition from another top merchant aiming for the soap recipe! Overcoming such trials, a beautiful merchant appears, and romance blossoms! Isn’t this already a damn good development?

What the hell! This dirty and cold reality! No one buys it! It’s soap!!! They don’t even care!

Who likes this kind of sweet potato storyline!!

What kind of place is Yuldo Country supposed to be anyway? After living there for 13 years, it’s no different from medieval Korea!

If that’s the case, is there a need for Yuldo Country! Just write historical dramas about the Joseon or Goryeo dynasties instead!

Doesn’t this world need some special ability unique to its worldview? Some martial arts, magic, or something to gain enlightenment and make efforts to return to the original world!

Is this what you call a traditional bow and arrow hunt after going through inter-world transfers?

There’s not even a crossbow!

Chopping wood, lighting a fire in the stove, sitting down—what should a hunter’s son do!

If it were an alternate history, at least have a sense of purpose to stay and change history.

Ah, annoying.

And what’s the trend these days, rebirth or something?

But starting with some ancient time-traveling inter-world transfer???

It’s not like I’m some old-fashioned nerd from the Iris Gold Coin era….

No, Iris picked up gold coins, I just randomly threw them off a mountain, you bastards.

In fantasy worlds, there are many nobles like dukes, marquises, and in martial arts, there are Namgungs, Jegals, and many others, but what’s with Yuldo and all that…. Hunter… sigh….

Looking at my frustrating little story, I am convinced.

The person who sent me here is definitely a third-rate loser infected with writer’s block! (I don’t know if this is in the novel)

Clearly lacking talent, this writer who follows clichés because they dislike writing mass-produced novels is so full of writer’s pride.

The writer’s disease is inflated by those who have no talent.

If you don’t have the skills, you should have followed the clichés!! This nerd just shows off superficially!

Why do I have to suffer when you’re the one who wrote such a shitty piece!

If you’re not going to write mainstream fantasy or martial arts, study history hard and write alternative history!

Study economics and write about chaebols!

Mixing Goryeo and Joseon together like this, is it fresh? Huh? Is this fresh? What are you doing now! The setting alone smells fishy!

Tell me honestly! Did you create a strange world like Yuldo Kingdom where you don’t have to care about authenticity because you couldn’t write alternative history?

Yeah, that’s right. I’m an artist who takes a different path from others! Are you kidding me!!!

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He cursed at writers for a long time.

…I know it well too.

That all of this is meaningless.

This world may not even be certain if it’s a novel or something else, and the possibility of there being no writer or god-like existence is greater… I know it well.

Perhaps I could live here forever as a hunter….

Thinking that way made me miss my original world more.

Pizza or hamburgers, a clean restroom, my cellphone, a soft bed….

My sister’s nagging, Hyunkyung’s tantrums….

And our mother….

Damn… tears are coming for no reason.

What’s this because of some third-rate writer with Hongmeo disease!

Tears came thinking about family, so I vent into the empty air again.

In fact, even cursing at meaningless writers like this reflects my wish that this world is actually a novel.

The protagonist trying to return home is a cliché, so maybe somewhere the writer designed a way back.

If it was really a dimension shift for no reason, due to accident…

Sigh… Let’s not think about it anymore.

For now, I’ll just focus on earning money for my mother’s medicine.

Because she’s our mother too….

And so, I climbed up the mountain for a while.