Chapter 5

Chapter 004: Kim Seungho in a Strange Land (3)

After roughly greeting the monk, I decided to go down the mountain.

"…They’re riding horses. And there are hundreds of them."

"??"

It was inevitable that we couldn’t understand each other properly, but the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye, who claimed to be a noble, didn’t respond to my mutterings and just stared at me intently.

He was following me.

And he was leading a group of people who exuded a terrifying aura.

It seemed they were looking at the backpack on my back rather than at me, but even if this place was somewhere in Yanbian, it wasn’t as if they had never seen an Apple laptop.

I shook my head at the sight of the boy following me with a curious expression and continued walking.

"…Damn."

It was nowhere to be found.

No matter where I looked, it was nowhere to be found.

Because Koreans enjoy hiking so much, signposts are usually a must on most hiking trails in South Korea.

Isn’t the population that enjoys mountain trekking relatively small worldwide? At least, for a mountain with such a scenic view, they should have tidied up the path and welcomed hikers, but there wasn’t even a single signpost in sight.

To make matters worse, the people around the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye were brimming with an aura that clearly said, “I’m a scary person.”

"I see a queue."

Seeing a few people who had shaved their heads but left a small braid, my certainty that this place was not modern grew stronger.

"Damn. Who the hell did this to me!"

…Still, I didn’t dare to raise my voice in fear. If this place was really medieval Korea, it was an era of savagery, and I couldn’t afford to anger the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye and his entourage.

After walking down for a while, I saw a small hut. And around that hut, there were many people.

"It’s not a folk village. It’s not even the Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture."

Looking around, everyone was wearing hanbok.

Thinking about the costumes I learned while researching for my video on the Hanbok Project, they were mostly from the early Joseon period.

And… it was nowhere to be found.

Even in a folk village, there would be some modern electrical facilities, and there would be utility poles and power lines, but… they were nowhere to be found.

"#$#$ Who the hell are you, [email protected]?"

To make matters worse, the people looked at me with very curious eyes, then saw the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye and his entourage behind me, and started to cheer loudly.

"Uwoh!!"

"Shin Gong #[email protected]#!"

I could hear a few words among the incomprehensible cheers, but one thing was clear. They were all cheering for the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye, who was following me.

"…Is it really Yi Seong-gye?"

I’m going to lose it.

The incomprehensible cheers grew louder.

"#$#!"

"Oohh!!"

To make matters worse, when the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye raised his hand high and shouted, everyone cheered, and some even shed tears and clasped their hands in prayer.

"Damn… Damn it!"

I looked at the mountain where the temple I had come down from was. The mountain with two huge rocks jutting out… I knew it.

"Is that Maesan?"

It’s Maesan. Anyone can see that it’s Maesan. As far as I know, there were no such authentic huts, people, or costumes around Maesan, not even in a folk village.

At that moment, I realized I was completely screwed.

"Damn it!"

***

"This is a strange person. He doesn’t seem to have trained in martial arts, so how can he move so unprotected in the mountains?"

Yi Jiran, who had visited the temple, asked Yi Seong-gye, who suddenly suggested following a strangely dressed young man.

"He hasn’t trained in martial arts. But… he is a strange person."

"…Is his costume similar to the one you saw in your dream?"

Yi Jiran’s question made Yi Seong-gye nod.

"The costume of the god in my dream was exactly like that. I’ve never seen such a costume before, so it’s still vivid in my memory."

"…The costume of the god who gave you the golden ruler… It’s understandable that it would leave a strong impression."

It was a costume he had never seen even in the newly established Ming Dynasty, which had driven out the Yuan Dynasty.

"Even though he doesn’t tie his hair in a topknot, his hair is quite neatly arranged."

At this time, only monks and nomadic people kept their hair short. However, the young man, who couldn’t even properly tie his hair, had clearly but neatly arranged it, as if he had been groomed by someone who specialized in hair.

And without saying anything, thinking of the book with the glowing apple drawn on it, Yi Seong-gye couldn’t help but rationally suspect that this young man was the god he had seen in his childhood dream.

‘When he asked for a golden ruler, he gave me some strange object. Seeing him give it to Shinmi as a gift, I thought it was just a toy for a young child, but seeing it explode, it was clearly not an ordinary object.’

Yi Seong-gye momentarily regretted breaking the object, but if he was a god, he must have something else.

Just then, the young man entered a small town near Maesan and was greatly surprised when he saw an inn.

"Why is he so surprised?"

Yi Jiran’s question left Yi Seong-gye speechless. Since he couldn’t communicate with the young man, he couldn’t understand why he was surprised.

However, someone seemed to recognize Yi Seong-gye, who was moving with Gabecho, and the people started to murmur.

"Is this the General Yi Seong-gye who has been defeating the Japanese pirates recently?"

"It seems so. They say the Jurchen-born Tungdu, who accompanies him, is very handsome… His tall and good-looking appearance must be General Yi Seong-gye."

Since the Japanese pirates began to rise during King Chungjeong’s reign, Yi Seong-gye, who had gradually gained fame by successfully leading the Dongningbu expedition in the north, had come to the Three Souths region on the orders of Choe Yeong to deal with the pirates, bringing his Gabecho.

In the midst of this, he had visited the temple, which he had seen in his childhood dream, a few times and met the young man who introduced himself as Kim Seungho, and was following him, suspecting he might be the god from his dream.

"It’s him! It’s him! The young general Yi Seong-gye, famous for his archery!"

"Oh… Ohh!! They say the court sent a general to defeat the Japanese pirates, and it’s General Yi Seong-gye!"

"Ohhh!!"

As the people recognized Yi Seong-gye and started to cheer, Yi Seong-gye raised his hand to respond to their cheers.

Seeing Kim Seungho’s greatly surprised expression, Yi Seong-gye watched him for a moment.

"#$#@ Maesan @#?"

He couldn’t understand the other words, but looking at Kim Seungho, who seemed to have realized something while looking at Maesan, Yi Seong-gye was convinced that he knew where Maesan was.

"Spending the night drinking with this person won’t be bad."

"Then let’s settle in at that inn."

Yi Jiran’s suggestion made Yi Seong-gye nod in agreement.

"Let’s do that."

Although Yi Jiran was a bit older, he had become a subordinate and sworn brother to Yi Seong-gye, who he admired for his character and martial prowess.

Despite treating Yi Jiran informally, Yi Seong-gye answered with sufficient respect.

"Would you like to join us?"

"Haha… Sure."

The Jurchen never missed a drinking opportunity.

‘Is he really a god? What was the reason for giving me the golden ruler in my dream and telling me to measure the land of the Three Hans?’

As night fell and the moon began to rise in the sky.

***

"Ugh… the smell…"

I’ve been feeling it for a few days, but the stench in this area is really giving me a headache.

I thought my nose had adapted quickly to the smell, which was more pungent than the odor from spreading manure in the countryside, but when the self-proclaimed Uncle Yi Seong-gye made a gesture of eating and I joined him, I couldn’t help but wrinkle my nose at the strange smell and the unknown soup served in a pottery bowl.

"What is this?"

"Dog stew."

Such a straightforward word is definitely understood.

"Dog stew? Woof woof?"

I heard that dog stew in the old days was actually made from dog meat, and sure enough, the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye nodded at my question.

"I don’t eat dog meat."

It’s not that I don’t eat dog meat out of concern for animal rights. I’ve just never tried it. And the smell is so terrible that even the tasteless temple food I ate at the temple seemed more fragrant.

At my words, the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye tilted his head for a moment, then chuckled and moved the dog stew closer to himself.

"…Why is there so much rice?"

The rice bowl was enormous. It didn’t look like white rice but rather a mix of grains, similar to the mixed rice I sometimes made for health reasons.

"If this person is really Yi Seong-gye… Given his age, it’s probably around the mid-14th century, and he hasn’t founded Joseon yet."

No matter how I looked at it, the rock mountain I saw earlier was Maesan.

In the materials I organized for my history YouTube channel, there was a photo of Maesan, the place where King Taejo Yi Seong-gye had a dream in his childhood, and the mountain with two peaks made of rock is only Maesan in my memory.

"If this is Yi Seong-gye from that period, he must be a loyal general in Goryeo, or at least pretending to be one…"

The problem is me. I’m just a part-time history YouTuber who uploads various videos, not a particularly significant person.

"Why did I end up time-traveling? To the late Goryeo and early Joseon period… Is this even possible?"

After shaking my head, I started to eat the mountain of rice with a spoon.

"Koreans have a strong stomach. First… let’s eat. I haven’t eaten since leaving the temple, so I need to eat something… Ugh!"

The texture in my mouth was incredibly rough and coarse. It was definitely not white rice.

‘But I don’t really want to eat the dog stew…’

I picked out some mountain vegetables and kimchi from the side dishes, and they were sour and refreshing.

"Jiran! #[email protected]#$"

"Yes!"

The self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye called out to someone, and a handsome man entered the room with a bottle in his hand.

"#[email protected]#"

"Rice bowl @#[email protected]"

The two had a conversation I couldn’t understand, then the handsome man sighed and sat down, handing a cup to the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye and me.

"?"

He started to pour a clear liquid from the bottle with a gurgling sound.

"…It’s alcohol."

The sharp smell of alcohol quickly filled the room, and I realized they were inviting me to drink.

"Ugh… I’m not much of a drinker…"

I have no information about this place. If I get drunk and something happens, it could be a big problem.

As the clear alcohol was poured into the cup given to me with a gurgling sound, they lifted their cups and started to drink straight from them.

"Ah~!"

After taking a large spoonful of dog stew, the two men who had refreshed their palates were staring at me, who wasn’t drinking.

"…Sigh. It won’t kill me, right."

For some reason, the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye seemed very friendly towards me, so I didn’t think anything bad would happen.

I lifted the cup to my mouth, took a sip, and immediately spat it out.

"Phew! What is this, so strong!"

Unfortunately, I ended up spitting the alcohol on the face of the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye, who was sitting in front of me. Shocked, the middle-aged man with a stern face quickly stood up, grabbed my collar, and pulled me up!

"Ah! I didn’t mean to!"

Just as I was about to be hit by a slap.

"Yi Jiran!"

"Have the nerve!!! Impolite #[email protected]#forgive#$!"

I was saved from a potentially disastrous situation by the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye, who gently wiped his face.

‘…What the hell! I need to understand what they’re saying!’

After a brief exchange of words, the middle-aged man released my collar and sat back down. Stunned, I looked at him, and the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye spoke.

"God. Object. Interpreter."

"…Ah!"

That’s right, I have an Apple laptop! I took it out of my backpack and checked the battery, which showed about 80% remaining. I immediately opened a word processor and started writing a simple message.

Seeing the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye tilt his head at the Korean text, I used the Chinese translation function and showed it to him again.

Yi Jiran’s eyes widened, and the self-proclaimed Yi Seong-gye smiled brightly, nodded, and replied.

"Alright."