NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6.1
I opened my eyes.
Gentle sunlight filtering in through the velvet curtains on the window beside the bed softly illuminates the room.
The quiet chirping of the morning birds raised my consciousness from its state of deep slumber.
“Haam.”
I let out a drawn-out yawn and looked at the ‘clock’ on the table.
Shaped like a globe, it announced the current time via the afterglow of blue magical energy.
‘There’s still a little bit of time left until breakfast... I want to sleep a little longer.’
A thick, fluffy blanket was draped all the way over my neck and covered me in its embrace.
I really liked this quilt.
If one enjoyed the warm and soft sensation that touched their skin like me, one would fall into a comfortable and deep sleep without even realising it.
As far as the quality of my sleep is concerned, this other world holds a landslide victory, while Earth is completely beat.
The warmth makes it hard to get out of from under the blanket warmly wrapped around my body.
Compared to the chilly weather that is visible outside the window, the room I was lying in was extremely comfortable.
After staying in such limbo for a while, I managed to become free of the feeling that I would have no regrets even if I were to die right there and then.
Because if I fell asleep now, I was destined to miss breakfast time.
If I wake up late though, the maid would bring my meal to my bedroom, but I would feel sorry for the cooks who would have to recook the rice just to cater for me.
I pulled off the blanket and got out of bed.
My skin complained that the air was chilly, but I resolutely ignored the thought.
I went into the bathroom attached to my room and washed up my entire body.
Originally, I would have spent over 20 minutes in the shower, but now I finished up in 10 minutes.
I wiped myself with a thick towel, brushed my hair, and opened up the closet.
Inside, there were several neatly folded clothes prepared by the maids who worked in this building.
I wore a white shirt and black pants and then draped a thin beige cardigan over the top.
‘Today’s isn’t so bad either.’
I don’t have any sense for choosing clothes or a fashion sense, so I wear the clothes combo set by the maids each day.
Jihye, as well as I, agreed that it looked much better that way.
My Jihye knows me as well as I know her.
I opened the magic storage that acts as a refrigerator beside the closet and took out a drink.
I sat in a chair under the frosted window panes and looked at the scenery beyond the glass while pondering.
‘This world is nice.’
It must have snowed all night since the streets and flower beds were covered in a layer of pure white.
A golden palace could be seen across the road where knights and maids roamed about hastily to carry out their duties.
That huge palace that did not even fit in my wide field of view was just one of the 12 palaces in the imperial palace.
If one were to see such exotic scenery every day, you might get used to it, but the palace would still thrill you every time you gazed upon it.
Still, I, Jeong Ji-hoo, smiled bitterly as I saw myself slowly starting to adapt to life in another world.
Indeed, it is true that humans are animals of adaptation.
Today is December 18th.
It’s been a month since we came to the imperial palace.
I took my eyes off of the palace and moved my pupils to fulfil my objective of having sat beside the window.
In fact, I have one more reason to get out of bed on time now.
That’s right-
‘Found her.’
There was a nearby, sparsely-populated park that could be seen through the window.
And in that park, there is a mysterious woman who concentrates on jogging.
With silky fine black hair tied together and a long ponytail fluttering behind her, she proudly runs through the trees as if she couldn’t care less about the existence of those around her.
The black gym shorts show off her beautiful legs, and her voluptuous breasts bounce from side to side with every step she takes.
That is most definitely a God-given body.
It was by sheer chance that I first discovered her jogging.
One day I was looking out the window and saw her coincidentally.
It was not easy to avert my gaze from such a sight.
During the month spent in the imperial palace, I prided myself on having been able to get closer to her than anyone else in my class, but I had never heard of her doing this.
And since I didn’t know about it, I doubted anyone in my class would know of this too.
This was a sight that only belonged to me.
A desire for exclusivity wriggled within the depths of my heart.
** *
The Kairos Empire.
This country unified and now dominates the western half of the vast human continent.
In the past, five countries were competing for supremacy in the western part of the continent- denoted by the ‘Grand Wall’ that crosses right through the continent.
Griff of the North.
Bondrania of the East.
Senius of the South.
Lawpens of the West.
And Henriart centrally.
These countries fought each other for hundreds of years and tried to take control over the western hemisphere.
Because of that, wars big and small, did not cease on the continent.
However, 600 years ago, a woman appeared in the Henriart Kingdom.
The gods, to be exact, ‘gifted’ her to humanity.
It was a new inflexion point in the once-boring history of the continent.
She took control of the kingdom of Henriart in just three years, with all the other kings kissing her instep less than ten years after she was summoned.
The war was finally over and peace had come to the western continent.
It was a country on a level beyond that of a kingdom.
Therefore, it was an empire.
She reigned as the first Empress of the Kairos Empire and ruled her domain for decades until her death.
This is what I learned in the history class that started last week.
“Jihoo, what are you thinking about?”
“This morning’s menu. I ate too little for dinner last night, so I’m hungry...”
“They won’t give you a lot for breakfast... so you’ll have to ask for a lot.”
“By the way, I want to eat some food now!! Am I the only one?!”
“Bread, soup, meat... Bread, soup, meat... This is just torture.”
“Same! I feel like I’m developing a gluten allergy from only eating bread all day.”
“Wake up from your dreams. There is no way rice exists in this Western worldview from the Middle Ages, right?”
“This should also be a light ...”
“No, but Hyunwoo, you’re the one who eats the most among us, no?”
“Shut up. You should exercise too.”
All of us Class 1, Year 3 Senior high schoolers are currently waiting for breakfast at the cafeteria.
There is no one but us in the large room.
Our class has 27 people in total.
However, there are only 22 people sitting on the chairs right now.
5 people including me were summoned and dropped off in the forest of the academy.
The 7 people who were taking selfies in the classroom including Park Min-ho and Seong Ah-young were summoned on top of the summoning circle in the sanctuary.
And the final 10 people were found summoned in various places in the imperial palace.
It is said that all of them were arrested almost immediately after being summoned, except for Jeon Ji-hye, Lee Hyun-woo, Baek Nam-gyu, and I who fell into the forest.
Needless to say, the seven people who found themselves in the top-notch secret summoning room in the middle of the night with the surroundings brightly lit, were instantly caught.
And it would have been even more strange if the guards roaming the palace hadn’t noticed the 10 summoned to the palace.
Unfortunately, the other five who are not here have not been found until now- more than a month since being summoned.
Since all of us were found within a certain radius around the summoning circle, we can only assume that the remaining five are at least somewhere within the Ecliptic [T/N: Human Zone/Dome].
With our common sense from the previous world thrown out of the window just from the displays of strength of this world, we could not help but be captured by the imperial guards despite our best efforts.
“As expected, there are Gym Rats even in another world... Even after being summoned to another world, this iron work ethic… it’s crazy.”
“Well, would being summoned to this world suddenly prevent our muscle loss? And you never know. Maybe we should improve our fighting skills...”
Anyway, as you could see from the above conversation, everyone has adapted to this kind of life to some extent now.
Until I took the CSAT, I was so busy studying that I didn’t even talk to many people in the class except for my close friends.
But in this world, the only people I can now rely on are my classmates.
And since I don’t have a cell phone or anything to play with, I spend some of my free time talking to them.
Also, since we are only allowed to move around within certain areas, including the main building, which is the building we are currently living in, we naturally run into each other often.
As a result, the class atmosphere seems to have improved a lot.
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