Jihoon looked around. His stance was ready for any attack. His eyes scanned the area, thinking he got hit by a mental attack. Time went by, but nothing happened.
Are they that cautious?
His frown deepened. He lowered his guard. Slightly. Trying to bait the attacker in but nothing happened. He continued this process a couple of times but still. Nothing happened.
Jihoon then decided to skin the tiger with his guard up. However even after 15 minutes of skinning nothing happened so he relaxed. His mind was getting exhausted.
What was that? Did I interpret it wrong?
He wondered. Jihoon had never felt something like that nor did he have much knowledge about mental attacks.
He promised himself to learn more about them once he got home and got access to the internet again. After all, even if it was not one he could at least exclude mental attacks and focus his mind on other things.
Jihoon continued skinning the tiger but his mind kept wandering, wondering what that feeling was.
Then it hit him!
I felt something like that already!
His eyes shone with realization as his body automatically stopped skinning.
The first time he felt something like this was when he killed the bandits. He remembered that sharp tug in his mind. In that moment he ignored it. Thinking it was simply his head hurting from guilt and grief.
However there were other times when he felt the same tug at his mind!
It was every time he fell asleep and entered his dream. In the beginning, he did not associate these three events with one another since entering the dream felt a lot more gentle. But he realized that they all felt really similar.
Jihoon was still confused. After all, he thought the dream was just a manifestation of his subconscious rather than a space he could enter. His face hardened at the realization that the space might be real.
Could I have died there?
He thought worrisome. It was one thing risking one's life with them knowing what they were doing. But to only realize it later? That's a completely different ballpark.
Suddenly the face of his sister reappeared in his mind.
Right! How did I not think about this?? If this place is real, and she could talk to me...does that mean she is alive? Or is it just her conscience, or maybe it was my subconscious trying to guide me on the right path???
Arghhh... so many fucking questions!
Jihoon wanted to scream, at first he was just wondering what it was. Now he wanted answers. Fast! Nevertheless he took a deep breath to calm himself down.
He knew he needed to be calm.
Angry is for the weak...right sister?
He smiled. Remembering the words his sister said to him after teasing him. Whatever it was he would figure it out. He was sure of that.
Maybe I will enter my Dreamspace again today once I fall asleep. Or can I enter it consciously?
His eyes shone with excitement, maybe he would meet his sister. His family again? However, even if that was not the case. He knew that he would use it to grow. For whatever purpose he has that ability he would use it.
Does it want to destroy me mentally? Good! I will use it to test myself. Does it want to help me? Great! I will use it to its full ability.
His eyes shone with determination as he made up his mind. Jihoon decided to name his dream, Dreamspace. It was a dream, a space he could enter. Dreamspace. Pretty simple. Right?
Later he would try to enter the space consciously but only after he got a place to stay in the village. A couple of minutes later finished skinning the animal and took both of its front paws to eat later.
He quickly left the rest of the corpse and looked around. Wondering why no animal came to bother him after smelling the blood. However, in the distance, he could see a big group of wolves staring at him cautiously. Some of their wounds looked fresh.
Looks like they hold off any other animal that could come close. They are smart. They knew I would not take everything nor would fighting me do them any good so they just waited.
This was also advantageous for Jihoon since he did not know if he could defeat all 50 wolves. Especially in combination with the largest one that looked like it could fight the tiger alone.
Since he could go peacefully and he already had everything he needed he quickly left the area.
Animals this smart… I do not even want to know how an awakened beast would act, or well a Qi beast.
Jihoon looked back and wondered cautiosly however, while his mind was slightly afraid his body was told a different story. An excited grin formed on his face.
On his way back towards where the road was, Jihoon gathered enough firewood and small stones to help with digging a hole. After seeing the road again he stopped a couple hundred meters away. This was the place where he would cook his meat.
Since there was a road there it meant that animals should not be a big problem as they either were afraid of humans or just did not see them as prey.
However, he did not sit completely by the side of the road since he did not know how often humans would cross it nor did he want a run down with bandits again.
Jihoon took everything from his bag and dug two holes using the stone—one for the fire, the other for air—connecting them with a narrow tunnel to hide the flame and smoke.
He put the wood inside the hole including a little tree bark he shaved off with his sword. He quickly used his flint and steel to create a fire.
He sliced the meat into tinier pieces and set it to cook there
Jihoon then pissed around the area to deter small predators while the meat cooked and then continued training his breathing technique finally mastering it after an hour and a half.
He quickly ate both legs before making his way towards the road again.
A couple of minutes later he reached the dirt road and looked around confused.
He looked left, then right, and realized that he did not know which way the village was!
Unfortunately, he also could not see the village from where he was. He stood there a couple of minutes trying to remember if the bandits gave him any information, however they did not.
Still, he looked towards the left way which went up slowly for at least a couple if not tens of kilometers.
I will just run towards the left. Once I am at the top I should be able to see the village, if not I went the wrong way.
Without hesitation, he launched himself towards the top and began running. He first began in a half sprint thinking he should preserve his stamina however he noticed that it was practically too easy.
In fact ever since he awakened in his apartment he only trained his Mana Techqnuie and swordsmanship before directly going into the F-Rank Goblin Dungeon.
He did not test his full speed nor his full strength without a sword.
So Jihoon immediately broke out in a full sprint and ten minutes later he reached the top. In just ten minutes, he ran a distance that would normally take him walking at least an hour or two.
His face broke out into a big smile, his fist clenched as he tried to keep him from yelling in excitement.
This was monumental for him, he finally realized how far he had come. He still remembered the times where even after training relentlessly his body could not keep up with his peers.
His swordsmanship was at the top of the school, yet his ranking was barely above average. His body just could not keep up with the others.
In fact, his swordsmanship was the only reason why he got a scholarship for the school.
At the same time the students that were at the top of the school would come and ask him for advice in sword fighting. Thinking he stood a chance against them he challenged them every time they came and every time he was defeated in less than five moves.
This was the difference between people with talent and resources versus somebody who only worked hard. The same way he was light-years ahead of them in swordsmanship, they were leagues beyond him in physique.
The difference started to become even starker as everybody around him began awakening while was still stuck with his body. At this point, it has already been months since the first person awakened with the top already thinking about their breakthrough to E-Rank.
Yet only he, his good friend Amy, and a couple of others have been stuck in their weak bodies unable to awaken.
He and Amy worked the hardest, they were the most talented in their respected field yet that meant nothing.
In fact, if he had not awakened a couple of days ago he would have gone out and tried to awaken by killing a monster.
This was also why he wanted to solo the dungeon. Not only have the others done so before but he also wanted to catch up as fast as possible. And he knew that Amy would be the same. After all, while they had different circumstances they both had their reasons.
So now seeing the progress he made in only a couple of days he was proud. He not only defeated his mental demons which would pay dividends across his whole journey he also grew stronger in a more tangible way.
After being lost in his thoughts and accomplishments he quickly looked down upon the village in the distance where the forest stopped.
It stood there surrounded by grassland, with a river flowing by its side. In the distance he could see the road continuing, and a lot of forests surrounding the grassland.
Jihoon then again broke out into a full sprint but after half an hour he noticed that he started to get really tired so he slowed down a little.
He then left the forest he was in and it was at that moment he realized truly how large the mountain range was.
It spans across his whole field of vision with different sections spanning across it. He was lucky that he got teleported inside a peaceful forest and not to the tip of a freezing mountain or a rocky region without any roads.
Was that a coincidence?
He wondered but decided not to dwell on it. The deed is done.
A couple of hours later he was only a couple of kilometers away from the village. He noticed how big the village actually was. From the amount of houses he saw in the distance, there were at least a couple of villagers.
What surprised him was that the houses did not look that much different from the way he learned in the history books. The architecture was the same.
A couple of minutes later he was almost inside the village before a rough and wary voice echoed through his ears.
"Halt!"