Chapter 2: Ice

Several years ago, I found myself transported into the world of a novel.

To make matters even stranger, I had become a woman.

It wasn’t as if I had left a lengthy comment for the author and received a suspicious email, nor had I collapsed from overwork only to awaken in this place.

Instead, I simply opened my eyes and found myself here.

‘If you were to ask how I realized this was a novel, the answer was simple.

It wasn’t that the reflection staring back from the mirror was a character I recognized or the protagonist; rather, my appearance bore an uncanny resemblance to my former self.

Of course, I had the common black hair and black eyes often seen on Koreans.

My face had a somewhat naive look, and crucially, there was even a small mole beneath my eye.

The resemblance was so striking that if I had a younger sister, I would have thought this face might belong to her.

The evidence didn’t end there.

The more I learned about this place, the more strangely familiar novels I had read came to mind.

The clincher was when I heard that an academy was suddenly being established here, which solidified my conviction.

After all, wasn’t it completely out of the blue?

To establish an academy in reality—there’s a limit to how fantastical things can get.

So, if you were to ask, ‘Which novel is it?’ I wouldn’t quite know.

It wasn’t as if I had only read one or two novels.

As I mentioned, I hadn’t written some lengthy comment or been reading a particular novel just before arriving here.

‘How could anyone memorize all those novels….’

I wasn’t as intelligent as the protagonists of the possession novels I had read, and to be precise, I wasn’t particularly bright.

So, if you were to ask, ‘What was the first thing you did after realizing this was a novel?’

It was immediately to go and hide in a nameless mountain, a place no one would care about.

There wasn’t any grand reason behind it.

Well, after a brief look around, it seemed this wasn’t a world steeped in despair or ruin.

If I had truly entered a novel I’d read, in line with the possession trope, then this novel’s world-building wouldn’t be particularly grim.

My reality was already bleak enough, and reading novels with dark themes didn’t exactly improve my mood.

Thus, I always read novels with a bright atmosphere.

Using that as an excuse, and with the complacent thought of, ‘Wouldn’t this world just resolve its problems peacefully on its own, even if I did nothing?’ I entered a mountain unknown to anyone and made my dwelling there.

To offer a bit more of an excuse.

Even though I had become a woman, I had blocked harem novels from my reading list, so I had no obligation to become the protagonist’s trophy here.

Furthermore, due to my appearance resembling my past self, I wasn’t exceptionally beautiful in this world; instead, my somewhat naive look might only attract men who would try to take advantage of me.

There would be no instance of this novel’s protagonist falling in love with me at first sight.

“Hmm.”

This, then, was my excuse for having entered a novel only to seclude myself in the mountains.

Someone observing me might say this:

‘Isn’t it too unambitious to be possessed into a novel? You could leverage the advantage of being possessed to monopolize fortuitous encounters or become a hero, aspiring to grander dreams, couldn’t you?’

Regarding that, it’s now my turn to speak my honest feelings, not just excuses.

By nature, I am timid and easily frightened.

It felt as though if an anomalous being like myself were to stir up trouble trying to do something here, only a bad outcome would result.

They often call it the butterfly effect, don’t they?

For instance, let’s say I, in my righteous indignation, defeated a band of bandits.

But what if those bandits were actually meant to ambush the protagonist, and because I attacked first, the protagonist’s progress was sped up, causing them to miss a fortuitous encounter by a mere instant, leading to the world’s destruction?

Of course, I know I’m overreacting.

I also know full well that all of this is just my unnecessary imagination.

However, as I said before, I am timid and easily frightened by nature.

For someone like me to fight to restore peace?

I think even a passing dog would scoff at the idea.

Well, even so….

If someone was powerful enough to send me here, wouldn’t they already know my nature?

Though I arrived here without any apparent reason.

The one who sent me wouldn’t have sent me here for no reason, would they?

Therefore, following that intention, I just need to live as I please.

Anyone who has listened this far would probably say this:

‘So, are you truly living without doing anything?’

Regrettably, that’s not entirely true either.

‘You might be thinking, ‘What the hell is this guy?’ but please bear with me and listen for a moment.’

Even before coming here, I enjoyed novels and animations often referred to as subculture (TL Note: A broad term for niche interests, often including anime, manga, and web novels in Korean context).

My explanation has been long, but to put it simply, I’m an otaku.

Therefore, in a world where the romance of swords and magic exists, it’s hard for me to just sit still.

As I mentioned earlier, because I’ve been secluded in the mountains, what I can do is limited.

I have been recalling and practicing the training methods found in various novels I’ve read.

…It’s nothing grand.

To begin with, I can’t possibly cast spells by chanting incantations I don’t even know.

I simply hold a wooden sword I carved myself and mimic plausible stances.

To add a bit more explanation about that.

The world I live in, given its setting with kings, nobles, and now even an academy emerging, seems to be one based on a fantasy worldview.

I simply couldn’t manage the training methods from fantasy novels, which vaguely consisted of phrases like ‘Feel the mana!’ Instead, I swing a sword like in martial arts (wuxia) novels and move the energy I feel within me through meditation….

Well, that’s the kind of method I’m using for my training.

Honestly, I don’t think it’s very effective.

After all, I don’t have a master like the protagonists of martial arts novels; I’m training based solely on my poor brain and memory.

Moreover, the training methods in my memory are based on content from novels written by ordinary people.

In short, it’s all makeshift (TL Note: A Korean slang term, ‘yamae,’ implying something done unprofessionally or without proper instruction.).

Naturally, I don’t expect it to be effective.

But what can I do when this is all I can do?

If I’m told to do it, I’ll do it; what else can I do?

Furthermore, it’s highly unlikely that I, who had never even held a sword before, would have any talent for it.

With that in mind, I’m practicing the Three Calamity Sword Art (Samjae Geombeop), which is considered achievable even without talent and often appears as a third-rate martial art in wuxia novels.

It simply involves horizontal slashes, vertical slashes, and thrusts.

Isn’t it truly simple and straightforward?

Since even a fool like me could do it, it was perfect for a trial attempt.

And so, I repeated this for a very long time, in the desolate mountains.

Continuously, until even I forgot the passage of time and couldn’t even tell how many years had passed.

****

“Another strong and powerful morning!”

I flung my arms dramatically toward the sky and kicked open the door to step outside.

Due to repeating this every morning, the door creaked a little, making an unsettling sound.

If I didn’t do something like this, I’d have no reason to speak, so it was my own way of passing the time and a routine.

I pulled out of my pocket the herbs I had personally gathered while wandering the mountains and began to chew them.

“Ugh, it’s bitter.”

Having personally chewed and distinguished edible from inedible almost every type of plant, what I was eating now was perfectly safe.

When I first came into the mountains, I often suffered from stomachaches after eating random plants, so I felt a quiet sense of pride in how much I had grown since then.

“…Heh heh.”

As a pungent bitterness spread through my mouth, I felt as though it cleared my mind somewhat.

Aside from the chewed herbs, I didn’t have any additional meals.

From a certain point onwards, not only did I have no problems even after not eating for days.

But I also felt energized just by consuming the herbs I had collected, so I didn’t bother to eat anything else.

“Well then, shall I begin?”

As I always did, I went to the center of the clearing, which I had made by cutting down trees, and sat down in a lotus position.

Although it might seem rather humble to call it an internal cultivation method (Naegong Simbeop), after performing this act for several years, I seemed to have become a master of sorts, getting the hang of it reasonably well.

As soon as I felt something stir in the area slightly below my navel, I immediately spread it throughout my body and began to breathe.

“Hooo.”

After a little time passed, a five-colored halo began to form above my head, and I felt my body gradually levitate into the air.

I remembered such phenomena occurring after a considerable period of cultivating my energy (Un-gi-jo-sik).

Yet, I didn’t know precisely what this was.

I merely instinctively understood, ‘I’ve grown once again!’

“…Ha.”

And so, after time passed and stabilization was complete.

I opened my closed eyes and rose, grasping the wooden sword I had briefly set aside.

Then, I immediately swung the sword.

The form of my sword swings was quite different from the initial ones, as I had realized that merely slashing and thrusting held no further meaning, and had since attempted a wider variety of stances.

Perhaps, had about fifteen years passed?

Hmm, it might have been even longer.

It seemed that, due to my continuously repetitive life, my sense of time had dulled, making it confusing.

I used to gauge the passage of time by my reflection in the lake, but I couldn’t even do that anymore.

“How was it again….”

One day, I experienced a tearing pain throughout my body and lost consciousness.

After I awoke, I saw that my appearance had become completely youthful.

Since then, I hadn’t aged even if I wanted to.

My body had become strange….

Anyway.

And so, after trying out various stances, I narrowed them down to the ten most impressive ones, creating what I considered my own set of ‘forms’ (cho-sik).

…Though it would be embarrassing to show anyone.

Isn’t there a certain romance to it?

Holding the wooden sword, I closed my eyes and began to wield the sword as if dancing, moving through the forms one by one, starting from the first.

Following the direction of the sword’s movement, a faint breeze stirred.

“Hooo….”

And finally, when I finished the last form and opened my eyes, leaves that had fallen from the sky fluttered to the ground, forming a single character.

It was my family name, Cheon (天), which had carried over from my previous life.

A smile touched my lips at the sight of the even more refined character.

“Today’s strong and powerful training is complete!”

Another repetitive day had come to an end.