ALL NOVEL A few years ago, I ended up in the world of a novel.
And to top it off, I became a woman.
It wasn’t because I left a long comment for the author and received a suspicious email, or because I collapsed from overwork and woke up here.
I just opened my eyes and found myself in this place.
If you ask, “How did you realize this was a novel?” the answer is simple.
It wasn’t that my reflection looked like a character I knew or the protagonist, but rather it looked disturbingly like my past self.
Of course, the common black hair and black eyes of a Korean.
Even the slightly blank look on my face and the little dot under my eye that was remarkably similar.
If I had a sister, she might look like this.
And that wasn’t the end of the evidence.
The more I learned about this place, the more I thought of the novels I had read.
I became certain when I heard the sudden news of an Academy springing up here.
After all, isn’t that a bit unexpected?
To build an Academy in reality? There’s a limit to how fantastical that can be.
So if you ask, “What novel is it?” I wouldn’t know either.
It’s not like I’ve only read one or two novels.
As I said, I didn’t write a long comment before coming here or read a novel just before arriving.
“How can someone remember all those novels…?”
I’m not as smart as the protagonists in the possession novels, and honestly, I’m not that bright.
So, if you asked me, “What’s the first thing you did after realizing this is a novel-owned world?”
I would say it was sneaking away to hide in a nameless mountain that no one would care about.
There wasn’t any great reason for it.
Well, after taking a quick look around, it didn’t seem like a world drenched in hopeless despair.
If I had indeed entered a novel adhering to possession clichés, it probably wasn’t such a bad world.
Considering how harsh reality already is, reading a dark-themed novel doesn’t really lift my mood.
So, I always read novels with bright, cheerful themes.
With that as an excuse, I thought, “Wouldn’t this world solve its problems peacefully without me meddling?” and settled into the mountains where no one knew me.
To add a little more justification…
Even though I had become a woman, I had blocked harem novels, so there was no obligation for me to become the protagonist’s trophy here either.
And because of my past-life resemblance, my appearance was not exceptionally beautiful, but rather gave off a dull vibe, which attracted only a few men trying to make moves.
There would be no story about the protagonist falling for me at first sight or anything like that.
“Hmm.”
That’s my excuse for hiding alone in the mountains after fandangoing into the world of novels.
Some might say, “You’ve gone through the bother of entering a novel but don’t you have any ambition? Why not leverage that and aim for a grand dream such as monopolizing destiny or becoming a hero?”
Now it’s time to honestly express how I feel about that.
I’m inherently timid and anxious.
I figured that my alien existence trying to do something in this place would probably end in disaster.
Isn’t it commonly called the butterfly effect?
For example, let’s say I defeated some bandits with righteous intentions.
But those bandits might have been the ones to ambush the protagonist, and because I attacked first, the protagonist gets delayed and misses the chance to seize their destiny, leading to the world’s demise.
Of course, I know I’m being overly dramatic,
And I also understand that all this is just my pointless imagination.
However, as I mentioned, I’m inherently timid and introverted.
Me? Fighting to restore peace?
I think even passing dogs would laugh at that notion.
Well, still…
If the one who sent me here was noteworthy enough to bring me here, wouldn’t they already know about my timid nature?
I might have come here without reason,
But surely, the person who sent me here didn’t do it on a whim either.
So, I just have to live as I wish.
After hearing this, someone would probably ask.
“So, are you really doing nothing?”
Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
You might think, “What’s up with this guy?” but just listen a little longer.
Before I came here, I used to love what they call subculture: novels, anime, and such.
That was a long explanation, but in short, I’m an otaku.
Therefore, it’s hard for me to stay still in a world where swords and magic exist.
As I mentioned, my chances of doing anything were limited since I was holed up in the mountains.
Yet, I often recalled and practiced training methods from the various novels I’d read.
…Nothing grand, of course.
I can’t just chant magic spells I don’t even know.
I merely carved a wooden sword and practiced some decent looking stunts.
To add a little explanation,
This world I’m living in is clearly in a fantasy setting, with kings, nobles, and even an Academy sprouting up.
But regardless, the vague phrase “Feel the Mana!” in training from fantasy novels is something I can’t just handle; so, I’m swinging a sword in martial arts style, moving the energy within me through meditation….
Well, that’s my training method.
Honestly, I don’t expect it to be effective.
It’s not like I have a master like typical martial arts protagonists, and I’m relying on my own pitiful brain and memory to practice.
Moreover, the training methods in my memory are based on content from novels written by regular folks.
In other words, it’s a hack job.
Naturally, I don’t expect to see any results.
But what can I do when this is all I’ve got?
If told to act, I must comply; after all, what could I do?
And in any case, isn’t it unlikely for someone like me, who has never even held a sword, to have any talent for it?
So, in the spirit of something that seems doable despite lacking talent, I’ve been training in the Three Essentials Sword Technique from martial arts novels.
Just slashing horizontally, vertically, and stabbing.
Isn’t that delightfully simple?
It’s something even a fool like me can attempt, making it a perfect experimental endeavor.
Thus, I repeated this for an incredibly long time in the empty mountains.
Continuously until I lost track of time and didn’t even realize how many years had passed.
*
“Another day of powerful and robust morning!”
I exaggeratedly stretched my arms towards the sky and kicked the door open.
Daily repetition has made the door creak uncomfortably, but hey, if I don’t do this, I’d have no chance to speak, and it’s my own little routine to keep boredom at bay.
I pulled out some herbs I gathered while wandering around the mountains from my pocket and started munching on them.
“Ugh, bitter!”
I’ve nearly eaten all herbs I could find and identified them for consumption, so what I’m eating now is safe.
When I first entered the mountains, I had a tough time eating random plants and ended up with stomach aches, but I secretly feel proud of how I’ve grown since then.
“…Hehe.”
An invigorating bitter taste spread in my mouth and felt somewhat refreshing.
I don’t have any additional meals aside from the herbs I’ve gathered.
At some point, I found I could go days without eating without any issues, and eating just the herbs I collected lifted my spirits so there was no need to force a meal.
“Well then, shall I begin?”
As always, I headed to the center of the clearing I’d created by cutting down trees and sat cross-legged.
It might seem a bit pitiful to call it breathing techniques,
But after a few years of doing this, I’d gained a bit of skill and could manage a respectable routine.
As I felt something wriggling just below my belly button, I instantly spread it throughout my body and began my breathing exercises.
“Ahh.”
After some time, a colorful ring appeared over my head, and I felt my body slowly lift into the air.
I remember this phenomenon happening after a long time of practicing this technique,
But I didn’t exactly understand what it was.
All I knew was, “I’ve grown once again!” was a reflexive realization.
“…Ha.”
And as time passed, after stabilizing my state,
I opened my eyes and grabbed the wooden sword that I had set down.
Then, I immediately swung the sword.
My form while swinging it was significantly different from when I first started; I realized just slashing and stabbing was meaningless and began trying out more diverse stances.
Maybe it’s been about 15 years?
Maybe even more, who knows.
It seems that after living a life of monotonous repetition, my sense of time has become dulled, and I’m confused.
Before, I would gauge the passage of time by looking at my reflected features in the lake, but now I can’t even do that.
“How was it again….”
There was a day I felt that my whole body was about to tear apart and then lost consciousness.
When I woke up, I found myself looking completely rejuvenated.
Since then, I can’t seem to age even if I wanted to.
My body has gotten weird…
Anyway.
Henceforth, after experimenting with a variety of stances, I narrowed it down to ten that looked the most impressive to create my own original techniques.
…It’s a bit embarrassing to show to anyone.
But isn’t there a certain romance in that?
With the wooden sword in hand, I closed my eyes and began to dance through my first technique, moving the sword in sequence.
A gentle breeze flowed in accordance with the sword’s direction.
“Ahh….”
And after gracefully completing the final technique, when I opened my eyes, leaves falling from the sky fluttered down, landing to form a single character.
The character in my family name that’s spanned from my previous life, Cheon (천).
Seeing the letters now refined, the corners of my mouth lifted.
“Today too, strong and powerful training finished!”
Another repetitive day came to an end.