The Story of Becoming a Married Man in Another World

007 In the Mountain Cabin

The middle-aged woman fussily said something while pointing to the bundle of luggage set aside and opened the entrance to show the inside.

Inside the cloth bag made of old fabric were several items, including flour and miscellaneous goods.

The middle-aged woman mimicked carrying the luggage on her back and then pointed to the woman and the child again.

Judging by the repeated hand gestures, it seemed she wanted him to take the luggage and the women with him.

It seemed they didn’t live here; their home was elsewhere. Perhaps this was just a matchmaking place. After all, this place didn’t look livable.

“….”

Marry the woman, learn to hunt, and receive the necessary items for living. It seemed to mean he should bury his bones in this village.

The young woman tightly held the child’s hand and hesitantly took a step closer to Kim Joo-hwan.

Her frightened eyes glanced up at him slightly and then hid back under her eyelids. Her long eyelashes cast small shadows on her white skin.

‘This woman is my bride.’

The moment he thought that, his heart, which had been fine until a moment ago, suddenly started pounding. Thump, thump, it felt like his heart was broken.

“Wow.”

He muttered unconsciously and covered his face with his palm. His face and entire body felt hot. Even without looking in the mirror, he knew he was as red as heated iron.

He had a family now.

—

—

Until a moment ago, it didn’t feel real, but now it has come to me with substance.

It’s not that I’ve never been in love. I’ve fallen in love, and I’ve had deep relationships with women.

But every time, the women would say, [It seems like you want a family more than you love me], and they would drift away.

Their words might be true. I wanted a family to be by my side. That’s why my wish was for a rabbit-like bride and a mongoose-like daughter. But everyone said it was wrong, that loving someone because you want a family is strange.

‘But here, it’s not strange.’

Before love, before knowing the other person, we became a family. And that’s okay. Here, it’s not unusual. No one says it’s wrong, that such a family is unacceptable. Just like when we were born, it’s okay to become a family first.

‘I have a wife and a daughter now. I have a family.’

From middle school until I turned thirty, I was always alone. But now, I have someone who is allowed to be with me, who can stay by my side. I will have a daily life where there is someone next to me when I open my eyes at night.

They say the human heart is like a reed, and it really seems so. The desire to kill Santa disappeared in an instant.

There is nothing precious on Earth anyway. I’ve lived as one person all along. Maybe it’s fortunate that I came here. Maybe I should be grateful.

“….”

Santa, I want to kill you, but thank you.

*

After that, things progressed quickly.

Kim Joo-hwan tied the entrance of the bundle with a long rope and slung it over his shoulder.

It was quite heavy, but it wasn’t too difficult for Kim Joo-hwan. His body, trained from manual labor since middle and high school, had the knack for it. It was easier than eating.

It was amusing to see the men’s eyes widen as Kim Joo-hwan easily carried the bundle.

The guide was an old hunter, accompanied by two village men. The two men were probably there to keep an eye on him.

The men led the way, followed by Kim Joo-hwan.

The woman and child were at the back. The woman hurriedly followed, holding the child’s hand.

Both were too small and thin. They looked like faces and limbs attached to dry branches.

“….”

I need to get used to this world quickly. I want to learn hunting and farming fast so I can feed these two skinny people well. I am now the head of a household.

Thinking that, I unconsciously quickened my pace. The woman and child following behind fell a bit behind. Kim Joo-hwan stopped for a moment to wait for them.

The woman walked slowly, probably because she was short. The difference in leg length must be significant. Naturally, the child was even slower.

Even though they walked diligently without rest, Kim Joo-hwan had to stop several times. Even though he walked slowly.

He wanted to lift them up, but they seemed too scared, so he couldn’t. Even getting a little closer made their movements stiff like robots.

When the men ahead said something to the woman and child, their faces turned pale. The men’s tone was quiet, but the content must have been unpleasant. The woman panted and pulled the child’s hand, almost running.

I really need to get used to this world quickly. Not knowing the language, I can’t protect or reassure the woman and child. This must be what it feels like to be an incompetent human.

Their destination seemed to be the mountain visible from the village.

—

—

Coming out of the village’s outer wall, walking for a long time on a path cluttered with grass and stones, the forest continued.

Passing through the forest path filled with trees soaring high into the sky. Before long, the ground had slightly elevated.

It still seemed like flat ground, but looking back, the village was slightly below.

It seemed difficult even in the forest, but as they entered the mountain, the woman and child slowed down even more.

The men’s steps were too fast. If Kim Joo-hwan hadn’t walked slowly, they wouldn’t have slowed down at all.

The faces of the woman and child, panting as they walked, were flushed red as if they were about to explode.

‘This won’t do.’

Kim Joo-hwan stopped walking and waited for the woman and child.

As the distance closed, the child’s face twisted as if about to cry. He seemed scared. Did he think he would shout at him? The eyes, nose, and mouth gathered in the middle like a mongoose were crumpled.

‘Cute.’

Isn’t it strange? Children are cute whether they are pretty or ugly. Even a child with an ugly face, about to cry like that, is cute.

Knowing it wouldn’t work, Kim Joo-hwan lowered his body and looked at their faces.

“I’ll hold you for a moment. Don’t be scared.”

“###.”

The woman nodded her head with a pale face and said something. It seemed to mean sorry, or that she had done something wrong.

The child’s mouth began to emit a small crying sound. He really needed to learn to speak quickly.

Since they couldn’t communicate, there was no other way. Kim Joo-hwan slowly extended his arms to hold them both, so they wouldn’t be too scared.

As his arms touched their hips, he gently pulled them. The woman and child, losing their balance a bit, leaned towards Kim Joo-hwan.

To avoid falling backward, they had no choice but to hold onto Kim Joo-hwan’s neck. In an awkward motion, they clung to his neck. Balancing so they wouldn’t fall, Kim Joo-hwan stood up with a jerk.

“##!”

The child, startled, let out a small scream. He seemed surprised by the sudden elevation. The woman was frozen, unable to even scream.

“Hold on tight.”

After saying that, Kim Joo-hwan walked briskly. Even if he spoke, they wouldn’t understand. Still, he said it several times out of anxiety.

Perhaps understanding from his tone that he wasn’t angry, the child’s crying gradually subsided.

The woman and child were sitting on his thick arms, but he barely felt their weight. He really needed to learn to hunt quickly. He had to feed them lots of meat.

The old hunter and the men looked at him with curious eyes, whispering among themselves. It seemed strange to carry people on the street like on Earth.

But it didn’t matter. This wasn’t Earth. There was no need to care about others’ eyes. He wasn’t from here. Even if he couldn’t do it in Korea, it felt like a newlywed couple unhesitant about physical contact on a trip.

“….”

Hmm, maybe not. Should he not live with such a sense? He had now become a person belonging to this world.

Thinking that, Kim Joo-hwan realized he was quite excited. He wasn’t his usual self. It felt like when he received delicious candy from his mother as a child.

—

—

The scent of the woman and child felt like sunlight. It smelled like happiness.

Looking at the woman and child dressed in clothes as worn as his own, Kim Joo-hwan made a resolution once again.

Let’s hunt and farm quickly to make money.

Maybe there’s some manual labor here that could earn money.

Let’s feed them delicious food, dress them in pretty clothes, and shower them with love.

As he walked with these thoughts, they had already entered deep into the mountains.

The old hunter, walking along a narrow forest path, stopped and turned around.

“## ####.”

The old man said something and pointed ahead with his finger. Following his gaze, a wooden house was partially visible through the leaves.

‘Is that the house I’ll live in?’

There was a wooden house on a small flat area, with a small shed attached to the right. The house wasn’t very big, but it wasn’t too small either. It seemed suitable for the three of them to live in.

The shed was designed to be locked from the outside with a piece of wood. It seemed to be a space for storing food or necessary items.

Next to the shed was a place with only a roof, no building. Judging by the slightly scattered branches, it seemed to be a place for storing firewood.

But there was no firewood. Only an empty space stood there ominously.

In this cold weather, without firewood, they would just freeze to death. He could somehow endure it, but the woman and child would struggle.

‘I need to find firewood immediately.’

There seemed to be more than a few things to do. To find firewood and prepare something to eat before nightfall, he had to hurry from now.

As they approached, the house was in worse condition than he had thought.

It seemed it hadn’t been properly maintained for a long time, with small holes here and there, and one window was missing, covered with old leather.

The house itself seemed old. There were rotten parts here and there.

After putting down the woman and child, he opened the door of the hut, and an unpleasant sound echoed like a ghost’s wail. The door seemed to be a problem too.

‘Is there any part that’s intact?’

Inside was even more miserable. There were traces of rats gnawing in every corner, and part of the floor had collapsed. It seemed the wood had rotted and the floor had sunk.

Even if he ignored what looked like rat droppings here and there, the presence of rat carcasses was too much.

In one corner, there was some straw laid out as if it was used for sleeping, but it was so little that it would touch the floor if sat on, and most of it was broken.

No, before that, can one sleep on just straw? At least a piece of cloth should be laid down.

That wasn’t the only problem. In the space that seemed to be the kitchen, there was a small table, but that was it. There were no chairs. No dishes, no food. It was completely empty to an impressive degree.

If the middle-aged woman hadn’t packed some food, they would have had to starve from today.

While Kim Joo-hwan was looking around the house, the men who had been watching him for a moment signaled that they were leaving.

The old hunter made a round shape above his head, then mimicked a person walking with his fingers. And he pointed to this hut. It seemed to mean he would come back when the sun rose tomorrow.

—

—

“Understood, thank you,” he said in Korean, bowing his head to show his gratitude. The men smiled and left.

Once the men were gone, the woman and the child began to wander around the house.

They went towards the kitchen and ran to where the straw was.

The woman put her hand under the straw, fumbling and checking for something.

Then she wandered around the corners, spinning in circles, and finally began to shed tears.

“….”

Even without words, even without understanding the language, it was clear.

The child, confused, looked back and forth between the table and the empty space, while the woman looked at the empty wall, then at the split wood on the floor, and tears began to fall. Kim Joo-hwan could understand.

‘This house wasn’t always this empty.’

Someone had taken everything that originally belonged to this house, even splitting the wooden furniture to take as firewood.

The woman, crying, ran outside towards the shed next to the house.

Kim Joo-hwan quietly followed her.

When the woman lifted the wooden latch on the shed door and opened it wide, an empty space came into view.

“#### ##.”

The woman collapsed to the floor and began to wail.

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