Chapter 19
"This is... a train..."
Our country girl Emma, naturally seeing a train for the first time, reacted as if she had seen a real dragon.
I mocked Emma once and then whispered in her ear, "Emma. Don't tell me you're seeing a train for the first time? Your country bumpkin side is really showing."
"..."
Emma, seemingly embarrassed now, blushed and asked, "...What about you, boss? Have you ridden a train before?"
"Me? Of course."
It had been several years since the transcontinental railroad was first laid.
I, too, though not familiar with Western trains, had ridden them a few times.
Moreover, didn't I come from 21st century Korea?
"I've ridden things even more impressive than trains."
"More impressive...?"
"Things a country girl like you couldn't even imagine."
From the perspective of a modern person who had ridden airplanes numerous times, this level of train was nothing.
"Well then, let's get on, country girl."
"...If you call me a country girl one more time, I won't stay quiet… Is this the door?"
"Yeah, it said 3-A earlier, so this should be it. If we go in here... Wow..."
...or so I thought.
Shazam—
"...This is our seat?"
As soon as we entered, I couldn't help but be surprised.
That was because...
"It's really luxurious."
"...Y-yeah."
The splendor of this first-class car was beyond my imagination.
Clean white wallpaper decorated with shimmering gold leaf.
Even flowers here and there creating a bright atmosphere.
As I was stunned by the unexpected grandeur, an attendant approached us.
"This is the common area. If you show me your tickets, I'll guide you to your compartment."
"...Ah, yes."
...So this was the common area.
At the attendant's words, I fumbled to show our tickets and followed him.
Seeing me struggle to adapt to the formal atmosphere, Emma behind me sneered and said, "You called me a country girl, but you're not much better, are you, Boss?"
"..."
Having nothing to refute, I pretended not to hear and quietly walked on.
And then...
"Here is your compartment, sir and madam."
"Wow..."
Arriving at the compartment the attendant guided us to, I couldn't help but be surprised again.
A privately divided space, windows letting in bright sunlight, a sofa, and even a bed...!
I can't say it's extremely spacious, but it really has everything.
Hmm? But...
"There's only one bed."
"This is a compartment for couples, sir."
"Ah, I see."
As I acknowledged the single bed, the attendant bowed his head and closed the door.
"I hope you have a pleasant journey. I'll take my leave now."
Click.
As soon as the attendant left, I jumped onto the bed.
"I didn't know there'd be a bed on a train. What a stroke of luck!"
It took about a week by train from Salt Lake City to San Francisco.
For me, who thought I'd spend a week on cold, hard seats, the existence of a bed was a huge windfall.
But...
Plop.
Unlike me, who cheered and jumped onto the bed as soon as I saw it, Emma, though a country girl, sat demurely on the sofa as if she were a young lady from a rich family.
"...You can use the bed, Boss. I'll sleep on the sofa."
"Hmm?"
At Emma's attitude that seemed to draw a line, I patted the space next to me on the bed and said, "Why? There's plenty of room here. Why don't you just sleep next to me?"
"..."
Emma looked at me coldly.
While it wasn't as strict as “men and women shouldn't sit together after age seven”, given the times, men and women were kept separate.
Of course, people would find it strange for a non-married couple to sleep in the same bed.
However...
"What's wrong? We slept together in my office bed last time too."
"T-that was...!"
I was a modern person with an open mind.
I was willing to give Emma my spot on the bed if she wanted to sleep there.
But it seemed that was too early for Emma.
"...That time was a mistake I made while drunk! It won't happen again! Never again!"
"Why? I liked it, hehe."
"..."
"If you miss my embrace, you can come under the covers anytime?"
As I said this and lifted the covers, Emma grimaced with her usual cold expression and muttered, "What was good about such a person that I made that mistake that day..."
"Hmm? What did you say?"
"I was just saying that you're really the worst, Boss."
"I think I heard something a bit different?"
Teasing Emma, who always pretended to be cool, was one of the great joys in my life.
As I was thoroughly enjoying that pleasure, that was when it happened.
Boom.
Whooooossshhh!
"...!"
The train shook once heavily and then made a sound like a dragon's breath...
Whoom—boom.
Boom, boom.
It finally started to depart.
"I guess we were the last passengers."
"...It seems so."
As the train departed, Emma and I stopped our bickering and started to look at the scenery outside.
From a modern person's perspective it was slow, but maybe because it had been a while since I'd ridden a train, looking out the window was quite fun.
For quite a long time after the train departed, I watched out the window... especially the west where the train was heading.
And then...
"Boss."
"Yeah."
Emma, who had been staring at me, casually opened her mouth.
"You might not realize this, but you often look west, knowingly or unknowingly."
"...Hmm?"
Tilting my head at this sudden remark, Emma calmly continued, "Many Americans migrate from the East to the West, don't they?"
"That's right."
"While carrying their swollen dreams, they turn back to look at the east where the sun rises whenever they get the chance."
"..."
"Because that's where their hometown is."
In modern times, America was called a scam map or a superpower or whatever, but the lives of Americans in the 1800s were not easy.
In the early days of the nation, Americans who lived huddled together only in the east began to turn their steps westward as the territory expanded.
The reason they came west was simple.
Because life was terribly hard where they were originally.
To try to turn around their shitty lives in the west.
But the West was not paradise.
Rather, it was like a battlefield where the law of the jungle applied more strongly than anywhere else.
I understand Emma's words that people in the west look east where the sun rose whenever they got the chance.
Living hard in this fucking west, they must think of the hometown they left behind.
And it was the same for me.
"I'm the same. I'm looking towards my hometown too."
Except my hometown is in the direction where the sun sets, not where it rises.
At my answer, Emma nodded as if she understood.
"Ah... Your hometown was California, boss."
But that was wrong.
"You're wrong."
"Pardon? But the westernmost part of the American continent is California..."
My hometown was much further west than California.
As I silently looked out the window, Emma tilted her head and asked, "There's only the Pacific Ocean west of California."
"..."
"Don't tell me your hometown is Hawaii?"
"...Even further west."
Not wanting to become a Polynesian for no reason, I answered vaguely, and Emma continued her questions.
"West of Hawaii is Japan, right?"
"...Further west."
"West of Japan is China."
"Is Asia only Japan and China to you people?"
To these damn Americans, Asians were only fucking Chinese and Japanese.
Of course, I understood.
To Americans in 1874, Korea, or rather Joseon, would not be a familiar country.
"...Were there other countries in Asia besides Japan and China?"
"..."
Even though Emma was smart, there were limits to her knowledge.
Not wanting to become Japanese or Chinese for no reason again, I stopped answering.
Then...
"...Actually, I've always been looking west too."
"...?"
"Because I have a fantasy about the bigger world that's greater than my longing for my hometown."
This time, Emma calmly began to tell her own story.
Since Emma rarely talked about herself usually, I paid special attention to her words this time.
"California... Hawaii... Japan and China."
"..."
"Hong Kong, Macau, Philippines, Singapore, India, Egypt, Africa, Europe. And even the eastern United States."
Emma's eyes sparkled like stars as she continued speaking.
"I want to leave Justice Town... and visit all those places."
"..."
"That's my dream."
I had roughly guessed that Emma wanted to leave Justice Town since she asked to be taken to San Francisco this time.
But Emma's dream seemed much bigger than I thought.
Not just going to San Francisco, but wanting to travel around the world.
In this era, as a woman... and with just 10 dollars a month salary from me, how long would it take to travel the world?
It was too big a dream, but I couldn't laugh at it.
Because Emma, who always had a cold expression and chilly face...
Smile.
Smiled for the first time while talking about her dream.
Of course, it wasn’t like Emma showed her gums in a bright smile.
She just slightly raised the corners of her mouth.
But...
"..."
Even that was enough to make me unable to take my eyes off her.
I always acknowledged that Emma was pretty, but... smiling Emma looked even more beautiful.
So I stared at Emma intently for a while, and then...
Swish.
I turned my head back to the window and casually replied, "...Right, make sure you achieve that dream. I'll make sure to achieve my dream too."
If Emma's dream was to travel the world, my dream was to return home.
And...
[Unable to log out]
[Remaining amount until logout: $904,259 / $1,000,000]
Not much left.
This was why I decided to go to San Francisco this time, even though I really didn't want to.
I planned to gather money as quickly as possible starting with this request and leave this game world.
Just imagining leaving this fucking Western game and returning to the original world made me happy.
— What should I eat first when I get out? Grilled eel? Kimchi stew?
As I was happily contemplating what to eat when I got out, that was when it happened.
Emma, who had been smiling while looking out the window...
As if she had started talking about hometowns earlier, for this reason, bowed her head to me and said:
"Thank you for taking me to San Francisco this time, Boss."
"..."
"I really wanted to say this."
Emma expressing gratitude?
It seems taking her to San Francisco this time was really that meaningful to her.
So I smiled slightly and replied, "...When we actually arrive in San Francisco, not everything will be good, you know."
"...Pardon?"
"Never mind."
When we actually arrive in San Francisco, Emma, too, would probably look back east towards Justice Town, longing for her hometown like other immigrants.
She'd probably realize that living in a backwater like Justice Town for her whole life was a blessed life compared to going out into that harsh world.
But not wanting to take the smile off Emma's face right now, I didn't tell her this.