A reader’s greatest wish is to live one’s life in another world- to escape from the bland and monotonous reality of the mundane.

Eat, work, sleep and repeat. It’s what we all do, all day, every day and until we die. Sometimes, there’d be an occasional time for leisure but hey, do we really get that much leisure time?

Anyway, I’m telling you this because for some reason, I’m now in that ‘other world.’

“S-son you’re alive!”

A bony old man hugged me tight. His frail sharp arms wrapped around my back. He wasn’t my earth father (he had already passed away) but a complete stranger I had never seen once.

I wanted to push him away but my entire body couldn’t move. Heck, I couldn’t even talk.

Was I drugged and kidnapped? Was it a dream? Or did I turn into a complete nut job after all the stress in the office?

Through time, I realized that I had transmigrated. Hell yeah. It’s time to use modern knowledge to conquer the world. Or so I thought.

Seven years passed.

***

Celestial Dragon City. Now a medium sized city, it was once an insignificant town at the border of the country of Yeochon.

As the morning sun rose, the citizens began to work. Merchants put up their stalls, mothers started laundry and children trained their martial arts.

In front of a large gate outside the walls, a large number of uniformed men and women had gathered. These people were separated into three groups. The outermost group wore brown colored uniforms, the middle group wore blue colored uniforms, and the innermost group wore white colored uniforms.

Most of the warriors curiously looked around, while the rest kept to themselves. Only one among them had his eyes closed. Strangely, the man was snoring.

“Sheon…”

A man in a brown uniform elbowed the sleeping man.

“Kim Sheon, wake up!”

“Yes sir!”

I jolted awake. For a second, I thought it was the Squad Leader who called my name.

“Are you sleeping?”

Park Bohyun asked in a sly tone.

“If you knew, then you shouldn’t have woke me up.”

Recently, I was assigned to the most dreaded night shift.

“Aish shibal my head hurts.”

My head throbbed. The head aches happen randomly on a daily basis but when I'm working on night shifts, it gets worse.

“Sorry about that. Well, since you’re awake now, do you know anything about why we were called here?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care. Ask others. I’ll sleep again so don’t wake me up. Please.”

I closed my eyes. Sleeping while standing was a skill I had developed during my guard shifts. Aside from learning how to use ki, it was probably the only useful skill I have learned within the past seven years.

“Aren’t you curious?” Park Bohyun insisted to converse. “Night guards gossip the most so I thought you’d know something.”

“Hey, I don’t know anything about this. And let me tell you this, ordinary people like us shouldn’t know anything. The more we know, the more likely it is for trouble to come. Now would you please let me sleep-”

When I was about to close my eyes, a thunderous voice echoed across the assembly.

“Attention!”

Immediately, everyone straightened their backs, chests stuck out and eyes stared straight ahead. Nothing but silence filled the ocean of warriors.

A middle-aged man with a few strands of white hair stood on top of the wall. It was Chief Strategist Yoo Jaemyung, the second most important person inside the Celestial Dragon City. Behind him were men in red clothes, a uniform worn only by Peak Martial Warriors.

“Whatever happens, do not let yourselves get intimated by the bastards that are about to come. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

‘Why is he here?’

Third rate warriors seldom see the Chief Strategist. Normally, he would be cooped up inside the palace.

Yoo Jaemyung looked far away. From where he gazed, dust slowly began to rise. Soon, a hundred horses came into our sight. Hoisted behind them, was a flag of the Heavenly Demon Sect.

“Sheon, your nose is bleeding.” Park Bohyun whispered.

I casually wiped it off. Like how my head normally ached, this, too, was normal. After living with this sickness for seven years, it was nothing but a daily part of my life.

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“What are you all doing? Are you just going to stand there?”

As if rehearsed, we simultaneously released the energy we had been accumulating since we became warriors.

Hup!

My stomach, the dantian to be exact, heated up. Slowly, ki flowed out. Unlike the second and the first rate warriors, sweat formed on the third rate warrior's foreheads. For us third rate warriors, releasing ki was already a daunting task.

With great effort, I looked over towards the approaching people. No. Rather than that they should be called,

‘Monsters.’

That one word popped into my head. I’ve read lots of novels but experiencing things first hand was different. Despite all of them looking younger than me, each one of them could easily overwhelm me. Heck, maybe just one among them could easily overpower all third rate warriors combined.

Perhaps feeling my stare, one of them, particularly a man with a snake-like eyes, looked in my direction and smiled.

“Cute.”

At that instant, my arms, legs and neck were severed from my body.

Kuhak!

Blood shot out of my mouth as I went down grovelling on the floor, gasping for breath. What happened was just my imagination.

“Shin Myongah, stop fooling around.”

“Oops, sorry. It was just a joke haha.”

Shin Myongah laughed and nudged his horse forward as if nothing happened.

I didn’t get angry. Rather than that, I felt jealous. I envied him. I envied them. If only I was transmigrated to at least a healthy body, I could have trained to become better than them.

However.

‘Forget it.’

Over the past seven years, I had accepted my reality. I didn't have any of those transmigrator's privilege. System, treasure, extraordinary innate skill or a legendary master- I had none of that.

Except for my ridiculously weak awakened skill and my useless knowledge from earth (trust me, kingdom building novels dumb down the world's inhabitants way too much), I was just a talentless nobody, just like I was back on earth. For me, to dream big is nothing but a child's naivety.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Crown Prince.”

Yoo Jaemyung cupped his fists, likewise, the Crown Prince did the same.

“I have arranged for the best accommodation for you, please follow my disciple.”

“Thank you.”

After a few pleasantries, a man in red uniform led them away.

Several moments later, three more groups arrived- the Plum Blossom Sect, the Poison Tang Sect and the Awakeners Society. Needless to say, each one of them exhibited an intimidating presence. After that, we were dismissed.

“Something big is going to happen!”

Park Bohyun exclaimed. For some reason, his eyes burned with anticipation. He took a deep breath.

“I smell an opportunity for a promotion.”

Ah. So that’s what he thought of. After accepting my reality as an ordinary man, the thing I feared the most was getting a promotion. A promotion meant more responsibility and in this world, it meant getting exposed to more danger.

“Don’t even think about promotions if you want to live longer. It’s better to just have a low paying safe job than to risk your life for a slightly higher pay.”

“My friend, it’s not about money. It’s about power. A man ought to have big dreams.”

I couldn’t agree with what he said but I was also not that much of a douche to pull him down, so I cheered for him instead.

“If it’s you then you can do it. Don’t forget about me when you’re on top.”

“Who do you think I am? I’ll never let you down.”

“Sure, sure. Let’s go home now, I feel like dying.”

***

Zzz…

I tossed to the right.

Zzz…

I tossed to the left.

Zzz…

An arm landed smack on my face and so my eyes shot wide open. We third rate warriors don't even have our own space.

‘Aish. These fucking bastards don't let me sleep.’

Unable to continue sleeping, I stood up, took a bath, wore my brown uniform and strolled away. On my way out, I passed by some guards who recently ended their shifts. These lucky bastards were assigned to the morning shift.

“Oi, Kim Sheon, are you going to the Inner City again?”

Perhaps because of lack of sleep, I wasn’t in the mood to politely answer. I lazily nodded, waved my hand and went away.

;‘Maybe I should try to get a promotion. I need my own house if I want some good sleep. Wait, no. I should stick with my plan to live a safe life. If I lessen my expenses, I’ll have enough savings by next year.’

As I walked closer to my destination, the surroundings slowly changed. The streets had less trash, the houses were grander and the people dressed in fancier clothes.

“Young lad, a great destiny awaits you.”

An old woman held her metal cup out. As usual, I dropped a copper coin. She was blind but somehow, she knew that it was me whenever I passed by since she always told me the same words.

Or not.

For the first time, I heard the same beggar speak to another person.

“Young woman, a great destiny awaits you.”

When I looked back, I saw stoic-looking woman in her early 20’s. She wore a white uniform, which meant that she was a first rate warrior. She dropped a silver coin and went on her way.

“Hohoho. Lucky, lucky.”

The old lady chuckled and hid the silver coin while she left the copper coin for display.

I soon arrived at my destination, a women's dormitory for warriors. I sat down on a bench, took out a book and read.

[The First Plum Blossom Saint]

I still had the same hobby as before, reading. At the very least, reading made me feel alive and powerful After finishing every few pages, I occasionally glanced up to check if the person I was waiting had arrived.

“You there!”

A woman in a blue colored uniform grabbed my shoulder and squeezed.

“W-wait stop. It hurts!”

“You’re suspicious. You’ve been sitting here for an hour. Are you a stalker?”

“No. I-I’m here to meet Dahyun.”

“First Rate Warrior Huening Dahyun?”

“Yes, yes.”

The woman looked at me from head to toe.

“A third rate warrior is looking for a first rate warrior? Stop lying. You're obviously here for something else.”

“It’s true. A-and can you remove your hand please.”

“Hmph. Tell me the truth first. For what reason will a first rate warrior meet someone like you?”

"S-She's my lover."

At this point, the woman tightened her grip

“You think that's funny? Leave if you want to return home with your left arm intact."

“Okay, okay!”

Knowing that the rude woman would never listen to me, I stood up and prepared to leave.

“Wait! He’s really here to see Dahyun.”

Just in time, a familiar guard appeared.

“Warrior Kim Sheon, I apologize. This guard is new. A pervert caused a fuss here and injured the previous guard. That’s also why she’s on edge.”

“It’s alright.” I massaged my aching shoulder. “Things like that can happen so it’s better to take some precautions haha.”

I laughed it off. There was no need to make things bigger. I could just tell my girlfriend to meet up at another location. It’s too scary here.

“Well then, we’ll be off now Warrior Sheon.”

The woman dragged her colleague back to the entrance of the dormitory. On their way, I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation.

“No way! She’s too pretty to go with someone like him. Did you see his clothes? He’s just a shabby third rate warrior.”

“Quiet he’ll hear you.”

Subtly, the rude woman glanced towards me.

“Well, he is a bit handsome but age can take that away. Compared to him, the elegant man bringing gifts to Dahyun is much better. I heard that he’s the son of an elder. A beautiful woman should live with a rich man to live a happy life.”

‘Gifts? She didn’t really tell me anything about that. Is she cheating... no. That’s not possible.’

At that moment, an angelic voice erased my worries. Love is truly bliss.

“Sheon!”

I turned around and looked at her. Her white clothes rippled against a light gust of wind, carrying a mild scent of lilac. Since I came into this world, she was the only person who stuck with me through the hard times.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I had a lot of work to do."

Everything was perfectly fine until she said something ominous.

“I… I have something to tell you.”