Chapter 01
-ˋˏ ༻ 1 ༺ ˎˊ-
01. Prologue【序幕】
Dongbaek, an ordinary college student who was content with her life, suddenly fell into the world of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Even worse, she had become younger.
It couldn’t have been worse conditions for survival. But she had to adapt somehow. She couldn’t just sit still and die.
-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-
When Dongbaek woke up and opened her eyes, what lay before her was an unfamiliar sight, different from her usual bedroom ceiling. Out of the corner of her eye, she could glimpse a bed curtain that shouldn’t be there.
Yesterday, she had met a friend who had traveled from another city for college. They had a grand time drinking together, bottle after bottle. How many did they drink? One, two, three… Dongbaek stopped counting at 15 bottles.
Though she usually didn’t get hangovers, oddly, her memory of the night was completely gone.
‘Just how much did I drink? If I’m having a blackout, I must have really gone all out.’
Her clear eyes kept scanning the surroundings. But her body remained lying still under the blanket.
Thinking she couldn’t stay in bed forever, Dongbaek sat up.
The sliding blanket was so crude that she wondered if people still used such things nowadays. The texture wasn’t even nice… Plus, no ordinary household would have such tasteless bed curtains.
‘What is this, a motel?’
Dongbaek clicked her tongue. How foolish that she didn’t even know where she had crawled in to sleep. Moreover, the world is quite dangerous these days. She felt anxiety rising, wondering if something dangerous had happened while she was drunk.
While irritably scratching her head, Dongbaek suddenly froze as she felt something off. She slowly removed her hand from her head and looked at it.
Her fingers, which used to be long enough to span from Do to Re on a piano keyboard, were now roughly half their original size, if not smaller.
“What, what is this?”
Panicked, Dongbaek pushed aside the curtain and quickly got out of bed. The lowered perspective was unpleasant. The robe-like garment tied roughly with strings fluttered, making her legs feel chilly.
Once fully upright, Dongbaek finally got a proper look at the room. It didn’t take much thought to realize that something was wrong with the room she was in.
Dongbaek strode across the room.
The foreign-looking table, the incense burner, the decorations—everything was unsettling. A pungent, rotting stench seemed to stab at her nose.
Of course, she knew there wasn’t any actual smell. It was just the overpoweringly rich scent of the wood making her nauseous.
Dongbaek opened the door without hesitation.
Upon opening it, she couldn’t close her mouth in disbelief.
The first thing that caught Dongbaek’s eyes was an earthen wall and the blue sky stretching above it.
Ignoring the feel of dirt clinging to her soft soles, Dongbaek strode forward. Even after leaving the building, all she could see were more buildings, more walls, and more sky.
Nothing taller was in sight.
This wasn’t funny at all. The place where she had been drinking was a bar near her home. No matter how far she might have walked from there, there’s no way she could have ended up in such a remote place without a single apartment building in sight.
No, the fact that her body had shrunk was beyond explanation.
‘Is this even my body?’
Dongbaek hurriedly looked at the back of her right hand. There was a mole in the exact same spot where it had always been. It seemed this was indeed her body.
‘Unbelievable. What the ****… Is this a dream?’
However, Dongbaek’s instincts were telling her this was too real to be dismissed as just a dream.
‘Don’t tell me…. dimensional travel?’
The thought alone sent a shiver down her spine. This thought didn’t come naturally because she had read too many fantasy novels.
Dongbaek, who was a fairly ordinary college student, had one special secret: she could understand crow speech.
More precisely, she knew a crow that could speak human language.
And not just any crow, but one that constantly urged her to try dimensional travel.
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“Hey, you. Don’t you want to go to another world?”
During her high school days, Dongbaek, who was heading to school earlier than usual, happened to encounter a crow.
She was startled by the crow suddenly speaking to her. Of course she was. A crow was talking! And trying to convince her to do dimensional travel!
At first, she thought she was hearing things due to shock. But the crow stared at her again and asked.
“Yes, I’m talking to you. Do you want me to send you to another dimension?”
In hindsight, she shouldn’t have even responded. But in her shock, Dongbaek had accidentally answered.
“No, I don’t want to.”
“Huh? Why not? Why? It’s another world! A dimensional transfer! Humans love this kind of thing these days! Don’t you want to be the protagonist?”
“Dimensional transfers are so outdated compared to regressions or reincarnations. And I’m already enjoying my life as it is. Anyway, bye now.”
“Wait, wait! There’s no way a high schooler in South Korea is happy! You’re lying!”
“What are you even talking about? You’re going to get my coat dirty. Move aside.”
Even though it was a talking crow, it was still a wild bird. Dongbaek was concerned about hygiene. She roughly waved her arm to shoo it away when the crow got too close.
The crow flapped its wings furiously in protest and flew to perch on a nearby branch, continuing to pester her.
“Come on, let’s do dimensional travel. I can tell just by looking at you that you’re meant for it. Your face says so.”
The crow wasn’t going to give up easily. Left with no choice, Dongbaek calmly explained why she wasn’t interested.
“I have no stress about grades, no tendency to escape reality, and all my family and personal relationships are fine. My family is reasonably well-off. I can enjoy the conveniences of modern civilization in this world, so why would I bother with another? I’m perfectly content with my life right now. If you’re so desperate to send someone, find someone else.”
“No, no, no! I can only send you!”
The crow’s response was oddly ominous, but Dongbaek was running out of time to make it to school. She brushed off the crow’s words.
“I’m leaving. See you never.”
“Argh! How dare you! You’re the Alice I’ve been looking for! Mark my words, I’ll follow you for life!”
The crow let out a desperate cry. But back then, Dongbaek thought little of its threats. What could a crow possibly do by following her forever? Her immediate priority was avoiding being late for school.
She truly had no idea…. that the crow really would follow her for the rest of her life.
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From that day forward, the crow continued to tail Dongbaek.
Whether she was commuting to and from school, in the middle of P.E. class, or out on a trip, it was always there. Sometimes, it perched on a tree, peeking into the classroom to watch her during lessons.
It was so persistent that everyone around Dongbaek became aware of the crow’s presence.
Even on the day of her college entrance exam, the crow circled above the school’s sports field, waiting for hours as if anticipating good news.
‘What, does it think I’ll bomb the test and agree to the transfer out of despair?’
Contrary to the crow’s hopes, Dongbaek aced the exam. She applied to her target college and got accepted, everything going as smoothly as ever.
Frustrated by Dongbaek’s perfectly ordinary life, the crow ground its metaphorical teeth, vowing to make the transfer happen. It seemed to live for cursing her every day.
And somehow, that curse had now become reality.
‘Now that I’ve actually traveled dimensions, it’s nowhere to be seen.’
Dongbaek looked around, searching for any sign of the crow, but it was nowhere in sight.
As she moved to continue her search, someone suddenly grabbed the back of her neck.
“Hey, you! When did you wake up? Sneaking around so quietly, and barefoot no less! Where do you think you’re going?”
There was no point in struggling. To get a sense of the situation, Dongbaek relaxed her body and glanced at the person dragging her away.
A woman who appeared to be in her fifties stood before her, dressed in an outfit so peculiar it looked like she had just walked out of a historical drama.
The woman muttered to herself in a voice tinged with irritation, though it was clear her complaints were aimed squarely at Dongbaek.
“Falling out of the sky like that, poking around everywhere the moment you wake up—you’re just like a stray cat! Honestly, why did our lady bother clothing you and giving you a place to stay? She should’ve just left you outside.”
From the woman’s words, Dongbaek could understand how she ended up in this mansion.
It would have been really frustrating if she had to learn the language after dimensional travel, so it was fortunate that at least the language barrier was automatically resolved.
Dongbaek hesitantly glanced at the woman and stammered,
“…I was just surprised to wake up in an unfamiliar place. If you let go, I’ll follow you on my own.”
Foreign words flowed naturally from her mouth. The woman grumbled and released her hand.
“I was worried we wouldn’t be able to communicate since you’re a foreigner, but at least your mouth works!”
“…A foreigner? Me?”
Dongbaek blinked, confused. With her pale complexion and distinct features, it seemed she had been mistaken for someone foreign.
“Of course. You look exactly like one. No one would ever think you’re Han (漢族).”
“Uh…. What country is this?”
Dongbaek asked, just to confirm. If this were a fictional world, the question would be pointless, but a faint hope lingered that she might still be in a world she recognized.
You know the type of thing—getting transported to a novel or a comic book world. Dongbaek fervently wished this place would be at least somewhat peaceful and comfortable.
“This is the Han (漢) dynasty. You didn’t even know where you were?”
A sense of unease washed over her. Surely not that Han Dynasty… Dongbaek would have preferred it to be a fictional era.
The woman glanced at Dongbaek, who was nervously biting her lips while trying to gauge this world, then pushed her back.
“Come on, let’s go. The lady is waiting for you.”
From what she heard, it seemed this ‘lady’ that the woman had been mentioning like a mantra was the one who had saved her.
Having suddenly become younger and with nowhere to go, Dongbaek needed to make the best possible impression on her.
Dongbaek carefully put aside her thoughts and tried her best to appear pitiful and docile. Unfortunately, her naturally upturned eyes made this effort not particularly effective.
-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-
Before long, they arrived at a warm chamber (暖閣). Unlike the harsh tone she had used with Dongbaek, the woman spoke softly and respectfully.
“My Lady, I’ve brought the child who has regained consciousness.”
“Bring her in.”
Though hesitant, Dongbaek entered the room with an upright posture.
A woman who appeared to be in her fifties stood before her, dressed in an outfit so peculiar it looked like she had just walked out of a historical drama.
Although wrinkles had dimmed the freshness of her youth, they couldn’t hide what must have been beautiful features. She poured tea with an elegant demeanor and casual grace.
Spotting what appeared to be her seat, Dongbaek carefully asked,
“Um… may I sit?”
“Sit.”
When the ‘lady’ gave permission, Dongbaek sat down. Although Dongbaek, raised in modern times, thought she was being appropriately cautious, by this world’s standards—where one should refuse three times to be considered polite—her behavior would likely be seen as forthright to the point of impudence.
However, the owner of this house, Madam Geum Danyo, actually preferred this attitude.
Geum Danyo observed Dongbaek’s features.
Her face was white and smooth, with distinct features. Despite her young age, her beauty was clearly exceptional.
Even more eye-catching were her light ash-colored hair and eyes.
If Housekeeper Wang, Geum Danyo’s only servant, hadn’t confirmed while changing her clothes that she was female, her refreshing appearance could have easily led one to mistake her for a beautiful young man.
Geum Danyo’s gaze briefly fell on Dongbaek’s hands before moving away. They were white and delicate. The hands that had never done hard labor and the unblemished fair skin indicated that the girl had been raised in privilege.
While Housekeeper Wang insisted this mysterious girl must be either an assassin or a demon, to Geum Danyo’s eyes, she didn’t appear to be someone malicious.
If anything, she seemed more like a being from the celestial realm…
That would explain falling from the sky. But why would such a noble being fall specifically into her house’s pond?
‘Perhaps heaven took pity on my childlessness and sent her as a gift…’
Geum Danyo soon smiled at her own fanciful imagination. What reason would heaven have to bestow gifts on someone like her?
It must just be a coincidence.
Questioning her identity would likely yield no answers, and Geum Danyo wasn’t the type to pry into others’ pasts anyway.
Come to think of it, she still didn’t know the child’s name.
“What is your name?”
“So Dongbaek. Written with the ‘Dongbaek’ from camellia flower.”
“So Dongbaek…”
Unlike the expectation that a flower name would be gentle, the girl’s name carried the spirit of a great man.
The girl matched her name perfectly. Geum Danyo liked her even more.
‘They say people live up to their names.’
Geum Danyo decided to think of the girl as a gift from heaven. She had been lonely these past ten years anyway. Living with just Old Wang, without children or a husband, wasn’t uncomfortable but did bring about a considerable loneliness.
“Do you have somewhere to go?”
And so Geum Danyo extended her hand to Dongbaek. For Dongbaek, who had fallen into another world with nowhere to go, there was no reason to refuse Geum Danyo’s warm and gentle hand.
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Thank you for reading! ♡
