Chapter 1
Twenty-three-year-old Jeong Yushin fell into another world.
It happened without warning.
He had been on his way home after buying cigarettes and drinks at a convenience store in the early morning.
It was the hour when everyone was asleep.
Jeong Yushin stood in the middle of the road with a cigarette between his lips.
Sizzle, sizzle.
No flame came from the lighter.
“Why the hell won’t this work?”
Irritated, he tried the lighter again, and only then did a flame appear.
He lit his cigarette and drew deeply on it, filling his lungs with smoke.
“Phew. Huh?”
When he raised his head and exhaled smoke, he realized that he was standing in the middle of a forest.
Beautiful women with long ears were kneeling on the ground, tied up with ropes.
Those people resembled the race known as elves, as depicted in books and movies. When he turned his head, he saw rough-looking humans standing beside him as well. Since they carried swords and bows, they looked even more threatening.
A one-eyed man looked at Jeong Yushin and cautiously asked,
“Who are you?”
“Who are you? Where is this place?”
“....”
The men stared at him suspiciously. But they did not move.
“Where is this place? I was definitely on my way home. Gack.”
With a smack, the back of his head suddenly grew hot. The ground rushed up toward his eyes. As his consciousness flickered and faded into darkness, he heard a frivolous voice behind him.
“Boss! I got him.”
“So he was a dimwitted mage. Good work.”
Jeong Yushin lost consciousness.
Clatter, clatter.
Yushin opened his eyes to the swaying. A gag had been shoved into his mouth, and his hands and feet were bound in shackles. His neck was stiff, probably because he had kept his head lowered for quite some time.
“Mmph.”
Looking around, he saw elves. They had gags in their mouths as well. With dead eyes, they stared only at the floor of the wagon.
Clang!
The wagon stopped, and a hoarse voice rang out.
“We camp here tonight!”
“I’m dying. This is rough, so rough.”
Grumbling could be heard all around him.
Creak.
The rear door of the wagon opened, revealing the one-eyed man from earlier.
“Drag out that mage from earlier. We need to question him.”
At the one-eyed man’s command, two young men beside him stepped forward and dragged Jeong Yushin out of the wagon.
The men roughly dragged Yushin out and slammed him onto the ground.
“Mmph!”
Shing.
A sharp longsword was pointed at Jeong Yushin’s neck.
“Listen, mage. One wrong word and you’re done for. Best not think about casting any spells.”
The gag covering Jeong Yushin’s mouth was removed.
“I’m not a mage.”
“Then what’s this artifact?”
The one-eyed man pulled out the lighter.
“It’s a tool for starting fires.”
“How does it work?”
“Press the button while turning the round wheel.”
After a few failed attempts, the one-eyed man soon managed to make a flame with the lighter.
“Ha! Now this is an amazing little thing. But you say you’re not a mage?”
“What’s a mage? Where the hell is this place?”
The one-eyed man let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re a real funny bastard.”
“Huh?”
“Friend, let’s think logically. If a guy who suddenly drops out of thin air isn’t a mage, what is he? Do I look like a fool to you?”
A dull throb started in his head.
The one-eyed man’s tone grew increasingly menacing.
‘Should I just tell him the truth?’
Judging by the one-eyed man’s expression, he did not seem like someone who would believe a word he said.
“Answer me.”
Jeong Yushin swallowed.
“I think I came from another world. I don’t really know either.”
“Kahaha!!”
“Hahaha!”
The one-eyed man and his subordinates burst into uproarious laughter.
They laughed loudly for quite some time.
The one-eyed man abruptly stopped laughing and grabbed Jeong Yushin by the hair.
“Make him kneel.”
His subordinates kicked Jeong Yushin in the knees and forced him down. The one-eyed man pressed a gleaming blade against Yushin’s throat.
“Do you know what I hate most after ten years as a slave hunter?”
“.....”
His body froze in the face of the sudden threat to his life.
“Lying. Saying you’re this kind of person, that kind of person, that you have this ability and that ability—in short, that you’re valuable, so I should untie you, let you go, and spare your life.”
The man continued,
“Liars are people with a severely underdeveloped ability to see themselves objectively. They’re brimming with baseless confidence that they can deceive everyone.”
The one-eyed man continued,
“Mage, if you’re going to deceive people, at least put some effort into it.”
“I’m telling the truth! I really did just drop here from somewhere else!!”
The one-eyed man gave a derisive chuckle.
“That mage bastard really doesn’t get it. Looks like he’s trying to buy time, expecting his companions to come rescue him, but they’re late. Goodbye.”
“Fuck.”
The blade pressed into his throat. The one-eyed man’s sole remaining eye was impassive.
Am I going to die like this?
Whoosh. Thud!
An arrow flew in from somewhere and pierced the one-eyed man’s head. He collapsed without even getting a chance to scream.
“Boss!”
“It’s an ambush!”
The men flattened themselves against the ground and hurriedly crawled toward their weapons and shields.
But the arrows were faster. Each time he heard them slicing through the air, screams followed.
Thud!
A large wolf beastfolk landed in front of the kneeling Jeong Yushin.
“Don’t move a hair, human.”
“Huh?”
As the evening glow began to darken, a wolf beastfolk with red ears and a red tail walked out of the forest.
“Karin, we found him.”
The beastfolk called Karin swished her tail.
“Set him free.”
Several beastfolk who had followed Karin entered the wagon.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
The sound of several shackles breaking rang out. Everyone inside the wagon was freed.
“Ngh.”
The red wolf beastfolk stretched both arms overhead. The tops of her ample breasts bulged as though they might spill out of her leather armor.
The situation was settled quickly. Ten sturdy wolf beastfolk gathered and cut down the humans who had been struck by arrows.
There were plenty of screams, but few sounds of clashing swords, and no groans.
Even Jeong Yushin, who had come from the modern world, could tell that there was an overwhelming difference in skill between the slave hunters and those wolf beastfolk.
Tap.
Human heads came rolling to a stop right in front of Jeong Yushin’s eyes.
“Black hair? What’s a northern barbarian doing here?”
Jeong Yushin, who had been kneeling, raised his head.
A red-haired wolf beastfolk stood over him with her arms crossed. Her name was Karin, wasn’t it?
“Bow your head.”
A rough hand seized Jeong Yushin’s head and slammed it into the ground.
“Urk.”
Because blood from the slave hunters’ throats was flowing across the ground, Jeong Yushin’s face was smeared with it.
The hunters’ blood tasted fishy and sticky, with a metallic tang.
“Speak.”
As the hand gripping the back of his head tightened, Yushin’s head was forced even deeper into the dirt.
“Randolph, take your hand off his head.”
“But, Karin.”
“Randolph.”
“Understood.”
When the grip loosened, Jeong Yushin raised his head.
“So you’re not going to talk? What’s a barbaroi from the north doing here?”
Barbaroi.
It meant barbarian.
They had already decided he was someone from this world.
He had seen elves and beastfolk. With proof shoved right in front of him, he could no longer deny reality.
He had fallen into another world.
They had been treating this fact like a joke.
He had no intention of going through that again.
He didn’t want his life threatened again.
Especially not when facing someone stronger than the slave hunters.
The right move was to give a harmless answer.
“I was caught while walking through the forest.”
“Ha!”
Karin snorted. Then she picked up the lighter the one-eyed man had dropped.
Click. Click.
Karin easily produced a flame from the lighter.
“Interesting. Randolph, undo this human’s chains.”
“Yes.”
It was a brief reply. The instant a chilling swish cut through the air, Jeong Yushin’s hands and feet were free.
“All right, human. Let’s go our separate ways. I’m taking this artifact.”
Karin put the lighter in her pocket and led the elves and wolf beastfolk out of the forest clearing.
Jeong Yushin shifted out of his kneeling position and sat down on the ground. He wiped his dirt- and blood-smeared face with his palm. Looking around, he saw nothing but severed heads and bodies. He was the only living thing there.
“What a mess. Fucking otherworld.”
He had absolutely no idea why he had fallen into another world.
“Status window!”
Nothing appeared.
“Status.”
No response.
“Fuck your mother. Fuck this shit.”
Jeong Yushin stood up. He could not just sit there. He had to gather supplies and survive. A mystery could only be solved while he was alive.
He searched the headless corpses. He collected a pouch filled with copper and silver coins, water, jerky, and hard bread, then stuffed them into a bag.
He stripped off the best-preserved hard leather armor and put it on. It was fairly easy to remove since the body had no head.
Among the intact weapons, he took a bastard sword and strapped it to his waist, then gripped a round shield in his left hand.
He tried to leave the clearing, but it was already dark. Night had fallen.
He had the nerve to remain calm at the sight of severed heads, but not enough to cross a forest on a moonless night.
He decided to spend the night in the wagon and climbed inside.
* * *
When dawn broke after the night passed, Jeong Yushin opened the wagon door and stepped outside.
The surroundings were just as they had been yesterday. Headless corpses were sprawled everywhere.
Jeong Yushin sat down on the ground, leaning against one of the wagon wheels.
Grrr.
His stomach felt glued to his spine.
He drank the water in the canteen and chewed on a piece of jerky to ease his hunger.
Where should I go?
The hopelessness of it all made it hard to breathe.
Smack!
Jeong Yushin slapped himself across the cheek.
“After leaving the forest, head for the nearest village.”
He voiced what he needed to do out loud. He would think about the rest when the time came.
After standing up and gathering his belongings, Jeong Yushin did not set off on an adventure into the dense forest.
Instead, he retraced his steps along the wagon tracks. He thought safety was more important than adventure.
The two horses that had pulled the wagon had been taken yesterday by Karin, a red-haired wolf warrior, and a huge male wolf beastfolk. His name was Randolph. Yushin could not forget the name of the man who had rubbed his face into blood-soaked mud.
The hoofprints showed that they had gone back along the wagon tracks as well.
Jeong Yushin frowned.
Following Karin’s group made him uneasy. Even so, he was sure it was not a bad choice. He walked for quite some time. Three or four hours by feel, perhaps?
Instead of the smell of grass, he caught the fishy scent of blood.
Jeong Yushin immediately drew the bastard sword from his waist.
His body trembled with tension at its weight, so different from that of a kitchen knife.
He slipped into the grass beside the road and moved as slowly as possible.
The carnage on the road suddenly came into view.