It seems about a week has passed since I fell into this forest, which I assume is another world.
Fortunately, there were fruits on the trees and streams here and there, so I managed not to starve to death.
Yesterday, I even succeeded in my first hunt and tore into meat for the first time in days.
I could have cried from joy.
Ever since I came here, every day has passed more or less the same.
I wake to birdsong, climb a tree, and survey my surroundings.
Then I walk endlessly in the direction I’ve been heading.
At the same time, I secure food, and when I’m exhausted, I light a fire and settle down.
Nothing changes.
I have no proper way to determine where I am, and it’s not as if I can stop, so I simply repeat the process.
One day, I had this thought.
In novels, comics, and movies, this kind of thing happens pretty often… What does the protagonist usually do?
Isn’t it rare for the protagonist to fall into another world with nothing but the clothes on his back?
I cleared my throat.
“Ahem… Status window!”
Silence.
“Status! Attributes!”
As expected, nothing happened.
“No one’s around, right?”
Embarrassed for no reason, I looked around.
But thinking about it now, it’s infuriating.
I don’t know why I was dropped in a place like this, but shouldn’t they at least give me some special ability?
They didn’t even drop me in some “starting village,” but right in the middle of a remote forest. What kind of setup is this?
Grumbling at whatever entity it was, whether a god or something stranger, I kept moving forward.
“Ah, I’m starting to get hungry.”
I wonder if there are any different kinds of fruit around?
I looked around.
There were a lot of mushrooms.
They say all mushrooms are edible.
It’s just that some mushrooms can only be eaten once….
For now, I passed on the mushrooms.
I couldn’t see a single thing to eat nearby.
“I guess I’ll just have to stave off my hunger with what I saved.”
I took out a few small fruits I had stashed in my suit pockets and ate them.
“How much farther do I have to walk before I can get out of here…?”
I feel like I’m slowly reaching my mental limit.
It makes me wonder if I was always this weak a person.
I sat down with my back against a tree trunk.
“Ahh, maybe I should just eat this and drop dead.”
A colorful mushroom caught my eye.
Wouldn’t it be easier to make the simplest choice?
“There’s not even a hair of another person in sight, no path, no end….”
If there were even some sign that people existed at this moment, I think it would give me strength.
My eyes slowly drifted shut.
“……!”
“…?”
“Uwaaaah!”
“…!”
I heard someone screaming.
“Where is it?”
“Kwoooooooh!!!”
A sharp beast’s roar rang out.
That way.
A person!
I grabbed a random stick within reach and charged blindly in the direction of the sound.
How long has it been since I saw another person?
I’ve never been so happy!
Through the dense tree trunks, the situation gradually came into view.
A cargo wagon, a boy, and an adult man.
Facing them was an animal that looked like a red bear.
What should I do?
Was it that bears run away if you look bigger than them?
“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!!!!”
For now, I screamed and burst out of the bushes.
“Wah! Waaaah!!!”
When every gaze focused on me, I hurriedly climbed onto the cargo wagon, spread my arms, and swung the stick around, showing off my now-enormous “body.”
“Uwaaaaaaaaah!!!”
I could see the bear flinch in confusion.
Thinking this was my chance, I screamed even louder and threatened it.
Then the boy and the man seemed to catch on, because they waved their arms beside the wagon and shouted along with me.
“Hraaaaaaah!”
“Uwa! Uwaaa!”
Just before my throat gave out, the bear seemed to realize something was wrong and slowly backed away.
“Haaah… hah…. That actually worked.”
I nearly had a heart attack.
I got down from the cargo wagon and was catching my breath when the people I had helped approached me.
“@@$^#*$%%!”
“*&(%%$@%%$~~.”
They grabbed my hand and shook it while saying something….
I couldn’t understand a single word.
It was a strange language I had never heard on Earth.
At least, since they were speaking with smiles, it seemed like they were thanking me for helping them.
I didn’t know what they were saying, but I smiled along.
“Haha. Not at all. People are meant to help each other. Hahahaha!”
Putting aside the fact that they looked like foreigners, isn’t it common sense that once you arrive in another world, you’re supposed to be able to communicate?
Something has gone seriously wrong.
###
“We nearly never saw our families again.”
“We were truly fortunate, Mr. Carter. It’s terrifying just to imagine.”
Walter looked back at the oddly dressed person in the cargo bed.
“By the way, why did that person suddenly come out of the forest? Could the smoke we saw have been from his fire?”
A person with a type of face he had never seen in his life.
He was dressed as if in formal attire, but he was so grimy that he looked like he knew nothing of civilization at all.
“Seeing as we can’t communicate with him, and he’s devouring the bread you gave him like that, couldn’t he just be a highly intelligent ape?”
The deep forest was still an unknown place humanity had yet to conquer.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be strange for one or two fascinating animals like that to exist there.
“Now, Walter. What rude words to say about the person who saved our lives! Though it was only a cub of the lord of the forest, without that man, both of us would be dead!”
After being scolded, Walter’s spirits wilted.
“You must not judge people by their appearance. Everyone should be treated equally. Think back to when you first came to me asking for work.”
“You’re right. I was being thoughtless.”
Even so, Walter found him fascinating.
So there were people in the world who looked like that.
###
What are they talking about?
Not long after we drove off the bear, my stomach let out a loud growl, and the man handed me some bread.
“Thank you! Cough. Water… water, please.”
When I mimed drinking water, the man realized I couldn’t understand him and hurriedly gave me something to drink.
“$@#&*^^ Carter.”
“#&^$†☆└# Walter.”
As I was eating the bread, they pointed at themselves and said something.
Were they telling me their names?
“Mm… So you’re Carter, mister, and this kid is Walter?”
“$%^&*^)~!”
Seeing them nod vigorously and look pleased, I think I was right.
“Ah, I’m Kim Cheolmin. Cheolmin.”
I pointed at myself and said my name.
“Cholmin! @#$%%$!”
Then they pushed me on the back, telling me to get on the wagon.
And so, I began traveling with them.
What changed the most was that I no longer had to walk on my own.
And that I wasn’t alone, and I got to eat something fit for a person.
Warm stew and comfortable soles.
Just that much made them nothing short of saviors to me.
Clop-clop. Clop-clop.
Rattle.
“@#!$#%%!”
I had entrusted myself to the swaying of the wagon and was resting when Walter urgently woke me.
“What is it? Did the bear show up again?”
I sprang up, and what I saw before me was a completely different landscape from everything so far.
“!##@$% Miran. Miran #@#.”
A small, beautiful village visible below the hill.
“Are you saying that village is Miran?”
“#@$ Miran.”
“#%^%^”
This place, with its autumnal hue and cozy atmosphere, was probably their home.
As we reached the village entrance, people who recognized them began to appear one by one.
A neighborhood child.
A market merchant.
A kind-looking woman.
A few people met my eyes as I sat in the cargo bed and began whispering.
“%$%#!”
“Neigh!”
The wagon stopped.
“@%%^%^^*!”
Mr. Carter gestured to me and called someone else over.
“Clothes? I should wear these?”
“#%^$^%”
The person who brought the clothes guided me somewhere.
It was a shower room.
“Outside looks like the Middle Ages, but this part is modern.”
“$^#$%%$”
“Yes. Thank you. Thank you, thank you!”
I didn’t know what they were saying, but they explained how to use it and left.
It wasn’t much different from Earth, so I was able to use it without trouble.
“But I’ve never used a razor before.”
Somehow or other, I managed.
“Wow, damn. I feel alive.”
For the first time in a week, I cleaned myself.
That feeling of the unpleasant stickiness disappearing all at once.
I never want to experience that again.
Even in the military, it wasn’t this bad.
After finishing my shower and trying to put on the clothes, they gave off a very medieval feel again.
“What the hell is the state of civilization in this world?”
Just as I was getting dressed.
Slide.
The door opened.
“…Hello?”
“Kyaaaah! #%#@*!”
Some woman screamed and then closed the door again.
What was that?
In any case, I put the clothes on properly and went outside.
Only then did it finally sink in.
I had come to another world.
This was not the world I knew.
The language they used, the appearances of the people and animals, the food, the style of the buildings.
Everything was different.
“Cholmin!”
Mr. Carter called me from behind.
“Thank you, Carter. Thank you. For giving me clothes and letting me wash.”
But there was someone familiar beside him.
“@#$@ Elin. Elin Carter. $@%$ Thomas Carter.”
“Elin Carter? Your daughter? And your full name is Thomas Carter?”
The woman Mr. Carter introduced as his daughter was the one who had opened the door while I was getting dressed earlier.
“%*$@%?”
“Yes. We met earlier.”
When I held out my hand for a handshake, Elin blushed and didn’t know what to do.
“%$@%$* Hahahaha!”
“?”
Mr. Carter laughed heartily and just left.
Come to think of it, what do I do now?
Am I supposed to live as a stranger in this village of Miran, where I have no connections at all?
When I can’t even speak the language?
I’m screwed.
As I stared blankly up at the sky, full of worry, Elin tapped my shoulder.
“Min, %^%^$&.”
It was a gesture telling me to follow.
After walking a little, we arrived at some kind of restaurant.
“Min, #%^&$#”
“Here? Sit here?”
Since she pointed at a chair, I sat down for now.
As I sat there without knowing what was going on, Elin brought out food.
Flat bread, salad, soup, fruit, pieces of meat, even a drink.
It was probably the kind of meal people here ate as a staple.
“Me, eat this?”
When I mimed eating, Elin giggled and said something.
But I had no way of knowing what it meant.
I roughly interpreted it as telling me to eat, and while watching her reaction, I tore off a piece of bread.
“Mm, it’s good.”
Since it was edible, I tried this and that from the other dishes too.
As I ate with relish, Elin watched me with a smile.
What?
Did I do something wrong?
That was when it happened.
The proprietress approached from the side and placed a fork and knife on the table.
Ah.
I had naturally assumed you were supposed to eat with your hands.
When Elin saw my dumbfounded expression, she burst into laughter.
The proprietress was looking at me like she had seen a barbarian.
“Min. #%@$#% Marie Carter. #%@%^^%.”
It seemed the proprietress was Mr. Carter’s wife.
My first impression was probably very bad.
I finished the rest of the meal as politely and courteously as possible.
Once my stomach was full, my worries began to bloom again.
What do I do now?
How am I supposed to make a living?
What happens to my money back on Earth?
Then I guess I’ll have to work again here?
Who would hire a foreign laborer who can’t even speak the language, and for what?
“Min! #%^#$.”
Just then, Elin approached.
And handed me a broom.
She made a motion of sweeping up dust with her hands and looked into my eyes.
She wanted me to clean.
I bent down and swept the floor, rinsed a rag, and wiped the floor.
When customers left, I carried the dishes they had finished eating to the kitchen.
I wiped the tables with a cloth.
The sun set, and the shop closed its doors.
Marie came out of the kitchen and offered me a handshake.
She was smiling.
It seems I have probably gotten a job here.