In To the Great (Un)Known

Jinwoon froze. He was shocked by his own words. Those were not the words he wanted to say. He was actually planning on telling the man to untie him. He felt like Tae Jinwoon had taken over just now but that couldn't be right. As far as he knew Tae Jinwoon had died and already left this world. At least that is how transmigration works in the books he had read. 'Or am I wrong? Is he still inside my mind?' He had no idea how he could assess if Tae Jinwoon was still a part of him. He was wondering if he could get in contact with Tae Jinwoon. 'Tae Jinwoon? Are you here?' He felt silly thinking this but he had no other idea.

What he didn't know was the two men were looking at each other to see what to do. They had never expected him to say something like that. The man closest to him had turned red from the shock. "Just pull his pants down!" The other man whispered. "You do it! Didn't you hear what he just said! He might even jump me if I do that." They started to argue with each other. "Do you have a better idea?" "It's two against one. If he does anything stupid we can always overpower him." The men nodded at each other and walked over towards Jinwoon.

"We are going to untie you but do anything stupid or we'll kill you." Jinwoon didn't say anything. He was still waiting for Tae Jinwoon to give him an answer. The one with a knife stood in front of him while the other walked behind him to untie him. Jinwoon became alert again. 'I'll try later.' "Can I pee over there?" Jinwoon pointed to the window. The men gave each other a look. "Just hurry!" Jinwoon slowly walked towards the window. The men were just two steps behind him. 'I will be stabbed before I jump out.' Jinwoon clenched his fist. He was really out of ideas.

BANG.

Shocked, the three of them turned around. The corner where Jinwoon was standing was completely gone. In its place was a large boulder. They could see outside and it was mayhem. The sky was filled with stones. "What is going on!" They could hear people screaming and the sound of running feet. The two men looked at each other and back at Jinwoon. Jinwoon shrugged. "I don't...!" Before he could finish those words a memory pop-up.

It was of Tae Jinwoon standing just outside of a tavern, listening to the gossip inside. He and the others would do that. That way they would know if there were any new travelers in town who they could rob. "I heard that there is going to be war." "That is nonsense, the king and his soldier are on his way to the border. It will never happen. We've got more manpower than those nomads." "I've heard something different. I heard that the king was going to send his daughter to please them."

Jinwoon moaned. "I think they were not pleased." The men looked at Jinwoon with a confused look. "I think a war has just started." "..." Jinwoon shrugged. "That's what I heard a few weeks ago. If I were you guys I would get my friends and get out of here. Is your life more important than money?" The two men were contemplating when they saw a second boulder coming their way. "I'm leaving!" Jinwoon had seen it too. He didn't wait and jumped out of the window. He started when his feet hit the ground. 'Thank god. The build up." Jinwoon used Tae Jinwoon's memories to find the hideout.

When he arrived, the hideout was still intact but empty. Inside he found a note with weird signs but he could read it. It was a special language he and the others had made to communicate without being caught. 'War has really broken out. We're going to the mountains. We've left some money for you. We'll see you Eagle planes.' From Tae Jinwoon's memories, Jinwoon discovered that Eagle planes were actually a mountain range 3 days walk from where he was. The mountains were densely populated with trees but there were also many caves. In the winter Tae Jinwoon and the others would stay in such a cave. He checked the loose floorboard and found a small woven bag with some coins. The others had taken the rest.

He walked over to another floorboard and found a bigger bag. He looked inside and found some clothes. After searching Tae Jinwoon's memories he set off towards the mountains. Outside boulders were still falling from the sky. Many houses were already destroyed and everywhere he looked he saw people fleeing for their lives. 'Where are all the guards?' He didn't follow the others who were going to the Western gate but ran towards the Eastern gate. It was nearly an hour long because he had to dodge many falling boulders. When he reached the gate he noticed that it was open and there were no guards. 'This doesn't make any sense!' But he didn't wait and ran out. He just had to reach the forest and he would be safe. But he wouldn't be Jinwoon if his luck didn't run out.

He hadden even taken two steps when 30 warriors came out of the forest. His eyes nearly fell out of his head. 'You must be joking.' Without thinking he turned and ran back inside. He looked around and ran into an ally. Seconds later he heard the warriors rush behind him. He waited for 5 minutes before peeking around the corner. It seemed safe to move. He slowly moved towards the gate before slipping out. As fast as he could he ran toward the forest. He couldn't use the normal road because he wasn't sure if there were any more warriors. He ran until he couldn't anymore. He then started to walk until it was dark before he finally sat down. While he was sitting down he just remembered that the warriors might have been friends instead of foes.

It didn't really matter because if he had asked for help, there was a high chance he had to fight alongside them. Tae Jinwoon might be a fighter but Jinwoon only knew how to pull a trigger. He looked around to see if he could find a safer place to sleep. He was dog tired but he was still too near the town. He walked around until he found a dense bush. He crawled in and laid down. Before he knew it he was out cold.

"You survived!" Jinwoon's eyes snapped open. He was in a white room and across from him sat a boy who looked like him when he was 17. "Tae... Jin... Woon?" The other nodded with a big smile. "You... Where am I?" Jinwoon looked around and saw just white. "Tae Jinwoon looked around too. "Should I say afterlife... No, that's not correct. You're not really dead and me... Well let's just say I was never real to begin with." Jinwoon frowned, wondering what was going on. Tae Jinwoon smiled. "What you just experienced was a test?" Tae Jinwoon crooked his head. "Yes, let's call it a test. I'm not really great with human speech." Jinwoon looked at him like he was talking to a crazy person. "What are you talking about!"

"Calm your ears. I'm trying to explain!" 'Calm your ears? I really need to wake up. Maybe this is just a bad dream!' Tae Jinwoon shook his head. "Sorry not really. I'll show you." He made a wiping motion. An image appeared. "And tonight we bring you the news of the collapse of the head office of LB Corp." Jinwoon saw a picture of himself. One of his eyes was closed and his arm seemed to be going up. This picture was taken by one of his friends years ago. "Couldn't they get a better picture!" Even after death he seemed like a loser. "At midnight the elevators at the head office of LB Corp suffered a malfunction causing all the elevators to drop to the ground floor. At that moment the employee called Sung Jinwoon was inside one of the 6 elevators. Sadly Mr. Sung didn't survive. The build had to be closed for safety. Mr Sung will be cremated at Hongik University Hospital on the 18th. On to other news..."

Jinwoon looked at Tae Jinwoon. "You really didn't have to show me that. I already knew I was dead on Earth. I'm talking about where I was just now." Tae Jinwoon looked impressed. "Most humans will be shocked and in denial." Jinwoon shrugged. "I've read too many books and seen too many sci-fi movies. Also my life on Earth was the worst. I was hoping to get a better life here. Tae Jinwoon smiled. "What if I told you you could." Jinwoon sat up full focus. "How?" Tae Jinwoon gave him a big smile.