“I originally had green eyes?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Originally… green…”
Doah looked in the mirror again.
Her eyes seemed larger, making the color of her irises stand out more.
“But I’m a native Korean? So… what do you mean by ‘covered’?”
“It means there was a slight confusion spell to make them appear black. Anyway, this is your true color now. Your hair color is also close to its original.”
“My hair color too? I thought I had black hair.”
“No, it’s a strong bluish navy.”
Doah stared blankly into the mirror.
She leaned in closer to examine her face.
Her irises were beautiful, and her whites were so clear they had a bluish tint.
Her dense eyelashes looked like they could hold several matchsticks stacked on them.
Her face naturally seemed contoured.
It was like a picture taken from the most flattering angle on a smartphone.
She wondered if she had always been this pretty.
‘I Originally had green eyes?’
Could what her mom said be true?
She couldn’t hide her confusion, and the staff cautiously asked,
“How is it? Do you like it? Or would you like us to change something?”
“No! It’s fine! I love it just as it is!”
When Doah shook her head vigorously, the staff smiled with relief.
May opened the changing room door.
“Then please change back into your original clothes.”
When she changed back into her original clothes, she realized how much slimmer she had become.
‘Wow. They’re loose.’
Her pants had become loose, and the cuffs were shorter too.
The same went for her top.
She wondered if her flexibility had also increased, so she tried doing the splits—
‘I can do it!’
She could do the splits.
‘Wow, amazing!’
She tested her flexibility in various ways in the changing room.
She found that her stiff neck and shoulder pain were gone, and her posture had completely changed.
Even her skull at the back of her head felt perfectly rounded.
‘Whoa…’
What felt like being scammed now felt like a great benefit.
She couldn’t help but smile in her excitement.
‘Is this some kind of life-flashing-before-your-eyes moment?’
She wondered if this was a dream induced by a surge of dopamine just before death.
That’s how incredible it felt.
Doah came out of the changing room, still feeling her body all over, and asked,
“But this is my original body, right? It’s not just my soul here?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“So my body in reality just disappeared? And I seemed to be severely injured…”
“We quickly healed your injuries when you arrived here. And since you are outside of time, no commotion will occur.”
“Outside of time?”
May smiled.
“Yes, this place transcends both time and space. It’s under the shade of the World Tree.”
“Is it the actual World Tree? The one that supports the world, sacred and all that?”
May laughed.
“Yes, something like that. It looks like a tree, but it’s not a real tree. Anyway, don’t worry about going back. We’ll send you back to the moment right before you came here.”
May raised a finger.
“That way, no accidents will happen.”
“I think I get it now.”
So it’s like no time has passed in reality.
Doah nodded in understanding, and May continued.
“Now we’ll go to learn the skills. You pre-selected your skills during the reservation, right?”
“Yes, I did.”
Next to them was a room labeled ‘Skill Acquisition Center.’
A center, yet just a room.
When they entered, there was a magic circle drawn inside.
“Please step onto the magic circle.”
Doah stepped onto the magic circle without much tension.
Although, she felt a bit nervous.
May spoke.
“Cooking, herbalism, swordsmanship. There are three skills, right?”
“Yes.”
“We’ve brought in the best instructors for each field, so don’t worry.”
“Instructors?”
Doah tilted her head at the unexpected statement.
‘Aren’t they just going to implant them into my mind?’
May nodded.
“Yes, they are all excellent top-tier instructors. You have unlimited time to learn these skills, so take your time.”
“Unlimited?”
She had a bad feeling.
“It will probably take a long time to reach a certain level with all three skills. Maybe about a hundred years?”
“What??”
Did she hear that right?
Doah looked at May with that expression.
May said with a bright smile,
“Our World Tree Travel Agency provides the best education for our customers. Please trust in our perfect support.”
Wait, that’s not what I meant.
“See you shortly, Ms. Doah. Good luck!”
As the magic circle under her feet lit up, Doah felt her surroundings distort.
“Wait, hold on—!”
A hundred years?!!
Her words were cut off mid-sentence.
The world became blurry and then clear again.
Doah looked around.
‘A forest?’
Doah, a city girl to her core, had only seen such forests on TV.
Unconsciously, she hugged herself with her arms and rubbed her arms when she heard voices.
“Is the new student such a young girl?”
“Oh my, how cute.”
“I wonder how long she’ll last.”
Startled, Doah turned around quickly.
Three figures stood there.
No, it was two people and one creature.
The blonde woman with a bright smile said,
“Welcome to the training ground. You’d better forget about going back alive.”
The man next to her frowned at her words.
“How do you think she’ll feel hearing that?”
“Wasn’t our mission to send her back alive?”
The last comment came from a cat.
It was a bipedal cat that spoke.
The man, smiling at the dazed Doah.
“We’ll be with you until you pass the graduation exam. I’m counting on you.”
❖ ❖ ❖
The three instructors were heroes from stories her mother used to tell.
At first, she was so surprised when she heard their names that she had to confirm if they were indeed the same people.
Josephine, the knight who defeated the legendary beast Behemoth.
Elibas, the great mage who created a canyon during the Battle of the Plains.
Rakshasha, the sage who saved many from the Red Plague with her herbal knowledge.
‘Though I didn’t know Rakshasha was a cat.’
So, it was really, really strange.
‘Was my mom really from the continent of Rencia?’
That would be the only explanation.
Or was this just an illusion in her mind as she was dying?
But such an illusion seemed unlikely.
Hearing Doah’s heroic tale, Rakshasha tilted her head.
“It’s a court-style hero story, were you a noble?”
That question made her burst out laughing.
A noble?
A noble?
Memories of shivering in the cold of a semi-basement apartment and struggling to save money flashed through her mind.
And her mom’s delusions.
‘Then is mom also on the continent of Rencia?’
Could she meet her?
Did her mom also come through the World Tree Travel Agency and return to the continent of Rencia?
Such questions came and went like waves.
The one-on-one tutoring from the heroes was fascinating at first, but then it became tough.
Time felt both infinite and incredibly fast here.
Even though she was handling an enormous workload daily, there seemed to be no end.
‘It feels like it’s been over thirty years since I came here…’
Training was still slow and difficult.
Was this okay?
Even so, Doah began to like the three more and more.
No, she now liked them very much.
She had never been this close to anyone in her life except her mom.
So she began to worry more.
Because of these thoughts, her training was even slower that day.
Exhausted, Doah sprawled on the floor like a jellyfish washed ashore.
“Doah, why don’t you lie on the sofa instead of the floor? Or take a bath first?”
Elibas suggested gently.
He had brown hair and butter-colored eyes.
Elibas, the epitome of kindness, looked like this.
Despite Elibas’s gentle urging, Doah struggled but couldn’t muster any strength to get up.
‘What should I do?’
As she worried, Elibas approached with a smile and lifted her from the floor.
“Sorry, I forgot Josephine squeezed out every drop of your energy during training.”
The great mage, the ring leader of the Magic Circle. The canyon creator.
Elibas, who taught cooking, never got angry.
Listening to his soft, gentle voice, it felt natural that delicious food would be the result.
When Elibas carried her to her room, she felt a bit more energetic, as if she could take a bath.
“Thank you, Elibas.”
“You’re welcome.”
Elibas quietly closed the door and left.
Doah went to the bathroom to take a bath.
For some reason, taking a bath always revitalized her.
“Are you done bathing?”
Josephine appeared with her energetic voice, asking if she had finished bathing, and hugged Doah tightly.
“Josephine?!”
“Oh my, you’re so cute. You’re so warm. Your cheeks are like apples. Why are you so adorable? Hmm? Who’s the cutest in the world? Our Doah is the cutest.”
“Josephine!”
Doah laughed and pushed Josephine away.
Despite being merciless during training, Josephine would shower her with unfiltered affection during their regular interactions.
Josephine was an extraordinarily beautiful woman with blonde hair and purple eyes, and hearing such words from someone so stunning left Doah feeling flustered.
At first, it felt incredibly awkward, but as it continued, Doah began to think,
‘Am I really that cute?!’
Life with the three of them was enjoyable.
Living together, sharing warm meals, and having fun conversations made Doah realize how happy she was.
She wondered several times if it was okay to be this happy.
Training was tough, but Doah liked the three of them so much that she wanted to keep up with the training and show progress.
However, things didn’t go as planned.
Despite her hard work, her skills didn’t improve rapidly.
She repeated the same tasks every day.
‘What should I do?’
Doah started to worry about how the three would perceive her lack of progress.
‘Why isn’t it working? I’m trying so hard.’
She felt like crying.
‘Maybe I’m just not cut out for this.’
It had been the same when she lived with her mom.
She worked so hard, really hard.
Yet, in the end, her mom…
‘Ah, I can’t sleep.’
Doah sat up in bed.
The wooden, two-story house had the three instructors’ rooms on the second floor, and the first floor had the living room, kitchen, and Rakshasha’s workshop.
Doah quietly went downstairs.
She crept down the creaky wooden steps, poured herself a glass of water in the kitchen, and went out to the porch.
She sat in a chair and stared blankly into the darkness.
How long had she been sitting there?
“What are you doing out here in the cold?”
Startled, Doah turned to see Rakshasha.
Rakshasha, a bipedal cat and a member of the Thule race, belonged to the cat tribe.
In Rencia, both humans and Thule were referred to as ‘people.’
To Doah, Rakshasha looked like a large Persian cat, with lush white fur and beautiful blue eyes.
Her silent movements were likely thanks to her soft paw pads.
“Just…”
When she mumbled, Rakshasha moved closer and took out a coffee stick.
Here, coffee wasn’t drunk but smoked like a cigarette. Soon, a spark flickered, and a soft coffee aroma spread.
“So, what’s on your mind?”
Doah blinked.
It was dawn, and the crescent moon was very thin.
The sounds of forest animals rustling could be heard from afar, and her confessions seemed to disappear into the dark night.
“I didn’t do well in training today…”
Josephine had taught her so diligently, yet she hadn’t done well.
Rakshasha didn’t reply.
The smoke wafted away, leaving a rich coffee scent—Rakshasha’s scent.
“What if they abandon me?”
As she voiced her true feelings, tears welled up.
Her mom had abandoned her too.
She needed to be useful to someone.
She had to be needed, or everyone would leave her.
So she was always desperate.
She tried to do everything well.
She wanted to be acknowledged.
To be loved.
To have someone stay by her side.
Feelings she had never expressed to anyone, not even herself, began to surface.
As she struggled to hold back her tears, Rakshasha spoke.
“Come here and hug me.”
“?”
Confused, Doah looked up, and Rakshasha was standing right in front of her.
“Come on.”
Hesitantly, Doah reached out and hugged Rakshasha.
Rakshasha’s fur was incredibly lush. Soft and fluffy.
Moreover, she was only about 130 cm tall.
It was perfect for sitting in a chair and hugging her.
She smelled warm and pleasant, soft and…
Tears began to fall silently.
As Doah clung to Rakshasha’s warmth, her tears soaked into the fur.
“No one will abandon you. No one will leave you. Doah, we will continue to teach you, not give up on you, or be disappointed until you decide to leave us.”
Normally, Rakshasha would have scolded her for worrying about silly things.
But this time, her voice was even. Not soothing, but simply stating a fact.
Doah started crying loudly.
After sobbing intensely, she began to feel a sense of relief and gentle peace filling her inside.
Rakshasha patted her head and asked,
“Are you done crying?”
Doah nodded.
Rakshasha’s fur was soaked with tears and snot. She handed Doah a handkerchief and said,
“Then let’s call in those two nervous people lurking inside.”
Surprised, Doah turned to see Elibas and Josephine awkwardly smiling and waving from inside.
