Chapter 7

"!”

“He says it’s called ‘Nodubok (怒鬪福).’”

Since there was no appropriate Chinese character for the word ‘book,’ Lee Seong-gye replaced ‘notebook’ with ‘Nodubok.’

“An object that bestows blessings amidst a fight of anger. It truly has a fearsome name, doesn’t it, considering its appearance?”

“Well, if this object only emitted light and wrote in Chinese characters, that would be the case...”

Lee Seong-gye looked at the notebook’s keyboard and fell into thought. Kim Seung-ho had been tapping on the keyboard to communicate with him, and Lee Seong-gye began to think that the characters engraved on it might be converting what Kim Seung-ho was saying into text.

And that thought was correct.

While looking at the Korean alphabet, created by his descendant Sejong, engraved on the keyboard, and noticing a certain pattern every time Kim Seung-ho typed, Lee Seong-gye could feel the subtlety in the system of the characters.

“Truly a mysterious script. Although it’s hard to understand the words of this new person, each time he writes a word, the characters combine.

No matter how I look at it, it seems to contain the three principles of heaven, earth, and humanity...”

At the time, Goryeo also used Idu and Chinese characters, and due to the Yuan Dynasty’s malicious interference in internal affairs, the Oirat language was also used as a common language among the ruling class.

Lee Seong-gye, who knew Jurchen and Oirat languages due to the various languages used at home by his father, Yi Ja-chun, could immediately grasp the characteristics of the Korean alphabet on the keyboard, despite being a military man.

“Somehow, it seems to fit well with the Goryeo language...”

Even though Lee Seong-gye could not have known that the script was created by his own grandson, he felt a sense of familiarity when he saw the Korean script on the keyboard fitting well with the Goryeo language.

“Since this object can change the script, only the new person, the owner of Nodubok, would know what it can do. It’s frustrating that we can’t communicate.”

Finding the situation where Kim Seung-ho could only ask one-sided questions and could only answer with yes or no to be quite uncomfortable, Lee Seong-gye drank the wine in the cup in one gulp.

“Ugh... It would be so good if we could communicate... In the dream, the new person spoke our language well, but dreams are just dreams.”

The gap of over 600 years between Goryeo Korean and modern Korean made communication extremely difficult.

Even Kim Seung-ho, who was asking questions through Chinese characters, a logographic script, must have found it equally challenging.

However, after a moment of deep thought, Kim Seung-ho finally wrote what he wanted to say on the notebook.

“!?”

[至仁啓運應天肇統光勳永命 (Jiran Gyuyeon Eotgak Tonggwang Heun Yongmyeong)]

And Kim Seung-ho looked straight at Lee Seong-gye and said,

“Joseon’s founding king, Lee Seong-gye.”

“!!”

At those words, Lee Seong-gye, who was holding the cup, froze in place.

***

“How much battery is left on the notebook?”

Since it was night, I couldn’t charge the notebook. With about 70% battery left, it should be enough to show the necessary materials to this self-proclaimed Lee Seong-gye... or rather, the person who is almost 99% the real Lee Seong-gye.

“Let’s say this is the late Goryeo period, and the place I was in is the pagoda that appeared in Lee Seong-gye’s dream. Let’s also say that a viewer named ‘I am the moon’ who commented on a YouTube video sent me here.”

I finally decided to fully accept the reality and organized the current situation.

“It’s probably impossible to be in the late Goryeo period, but if it is, it’s a time when the Jurchen and Wokou were rampant. I might get killed at any moment, so... let’s think about it.”

Leaving the statue-like Lee Seong-gye who froze at the mention of ‘Joseon’s founding king’ aside, let’s think about it.

“The resources I have now are four lighters, a notebook, a solar charger, slippers, and sneakers... What else is in the backpack?”

I rummaged through the backpack hastily and found a few pens and a notebook given out by the company every New Year.

I checked if I had a phone, but there was none. In the wallet I had put in just in case, there were a driver’s license, a resident registration card, a few banknotes, and several 100 and 500 won coins.

Holding a lighter in my hand and sighing, I muttered to myself,

“Damn. What am I supposed to do with this! If they were going to send me here, they should have at least given me an AK47!”

If they were going to throw me into such a perilous world, they should have at least given me some self-defense weapon!

“Let’s think about it. According to the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, there was definitely a dream story when he was young. Here, they might think I’m a new person because of my strange attire. If he still finds that dream mysterious, perhaps... Lee Seong-gye might have been thinking about founding a new country from the beginning, rather than being a loyal general of Goryeo.”

If he was truly a loyal subject of Goryeo, considering the situation at the end of Goryeo, Lee Seong-gye wouldn’t have ascended to the throne himself.

Or, perhaps he had already harbored ambitions before the return from Wihwado.

“The problem is, Lee Seong-gye was also known as an invincible warrior and a master archer.”

Looking at the frozen Lee Seong-gye, his muscles were not ordinary.

They weren’t the angular muscles of a gym-goer, but rather the thick chest and arms that could kill a cow, clearly indicating that he had a knack for breaking heads.

“I need to stick with this guy. First, I need to protect myself.”

If this is the late Goryeo period, it’s impossible that a being capable of sending me back in time can’t send me back to the present.

Isn’t that how it goes in novels? The mountain spirit of Namhansan gave the protagonist a happy ending.

“I can go back. I will go back.”

While I was muttering to myself, the middle-aged man who had been standing next to Lee Seong-gye suddenly glared and grabbed my collar.

“Gasp!”

“@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$@#%$