Hoodwinked

The hollow Jinwoon was hiding in was big enough for him to stand and lie in. When he looked up he could still see the sky. The tree was completely hollow but still alive. Since the opening was covered with shrubs, there was little wind coming in and the place felt nice and warm.

There was also no sigh of it was occupied by any animals. He could hide he for a while, he just need to think of a plan on how he could get food. Lee Jinwoon had died of poisonous berries. And Jinwoon was not from this planet. But that was his last worry.

There were small holes in the bark and the exposed sapwood making it able for him to see the back of the cottage. He saw at least 10 men running towards the cottage. He saw 3 enter before walking out again. "He's not here! Little Hae, you said that he was here!"

"I swear Boss, he was here when I left to get you guys. I even checked, he was asleep. I'm sure of it." "Well he is not here anymore." "You two go back to town to see if he has managed to go back. The rest spread out and find him! We need to find him."

Jinwoon swallowed hard. He leaned at the back of the tree worried that they might find him. He let out a deep breath when he saw one of the men pass the tree without any suspicion.

"Boss. How long do you think we have to wait?" " Don't worry. He couldn't have gone far. He's too stupid to survive out in the wild." "Can't we just tell Lord Seo that he's dead?" "If we could do that, I wouldn't go out of my way to come here. Lord Seo wants his head."

Jinwoon slowly touched his neck. He hadn't been on this planet for an hour and already somebody wanted him dead. "Why?" "Don't be stupid. If you had had a stepchild like Lee Jinwoon wouldn't you wish him dead?" Jinwoon heard the two men laugh.

Jinwoon noticed something weird about the body he was in. His hearing was crazy good. He was inside a tree nearly 20 meters away but he could hear them, like they were standing next to him. 'Had Tae Jinwoon given him superpowers?' "In your dreams."

He turned around in shock. Tae Jinwoon was standing behind him with a big smile on his face. "I thought you left..." Tae Jinwoon had a frustrated look on his face. "I've forgotten that I had given you two worlds to choose from." Tae Jinwoon took out what looked like a tablet and started to tick off things while talking.

"As compensation I gave you some good ears. Also you can..." Tae Jinwoon stopped talking, he looked in space with a smirk on his face. "I also what?" Jinwoon looked at Tae Jinwoon suspiciously.

"You... you can't tell anybody that you're transmigrated." Jinwoon rolled his eyes. "Like anybody would believe me." Tae Jinwoon gave him a patronising smile. "Trust me, others have done that. Let's just say they didn't end well."

Jinwoon didn't care. He wasn't planning on telling anybody about him being from another planet. He had seen too many movies. He didn't want to end up on a chopping board. "That was it? What about my sight? Don't I get super hearing and sight" Jinwoon looked at Tae Jinwoon wondering if that was the only reason for coming back.

"No. It's one or the other. You can't have both. You're not going to be a warrior or were you planning to become one." Jinwoon shook his head. "I hate fighting." Tae Jinwoon scoffed. "Well that was it." Jinwoon shook his head. "Just having good hearing is a small compensation. Help me out."

Tae Jinwoon glared at him. "This is your life now. You have to fix your own problems." Jinwoon crossed his arms. "This is not my life. This Lee Jinwoon is not me. I have nothing and now I'm stuck inside a tree with nowhere to go." He sat down.

"Then I'll stay here until I starve to death." Tae Jinwoon's face turned dark. Jinwoon was scared but he was used to being threatened and abused. "Do you worst!" Tae Jinwoon took two menacing steps towards him before stopping. He stared into space again before glaring at Jinwoon again. "You're in luck. I'll help you out." He didn't look happy.

He snapped his fingers and there was a flash. Jinwoon looked around and saw that they were standing in a very different forest. The trees were just as tall but they were all green, like back on Earth. "If you go that way you will be in the capital after a week, maybe less."

"A week! Why?" Tae Jinwoon looked like he was ready to punch him for real. "You don't even know how far you've traveled. Also it would be weird if we just suddenly appear. What if there are people around?!" Jinwoon made an O-face. "You're right. Sorry. Thank you." "Whatever. I'm leaving. Here."

Tae Jinwoon threw him a small pouch. Jinwoon caught the pouch and heard the jingling of coins. "Th..." He looked up but saw that Tae Jinwoon was gone. He looked at the coins and from Lee Jinwoon's memorie discovered that he could live well for at least one month, 3 if he was frugal.

"I need to find the thigh within 3 month or I'll be poor again." He let out a deep sigh before starting to walk. After just 2 hours he noticed that he was dead tired and his legs were shaking. He needed to sit down before he collapsed. "This body is really useless. Just getting tired from walking!" Jinwoon was shocked.

He looked left and right. He had noticed that he hadn't seen a soul. 'If this was the road to the capital, shouldn't it be full of people?' He had to rest for 3 hours before he could move again. "This is going to take longer than a week. "I couldn't call myself a sporty guy but this boy is really a wimp."

After every 2 hours he had to rest for 3 hours. He was ready to cry because he wasn't making any progress. "Curse you Tae Jinwoon! If that is even your name!" He was angry, thirsty and tired. He couldn't see any villages or inns around. All he could do was walk, rest and walk again.

After a while it started to become dark and he finally heard of water. He stumbled towards it. He was relieved that it was close to the road and that it was a flowing stream. He nearly crawled over and began to drink. The water was cold and refreshing.

He let out a deep sigh after drinking his fill. He was still starving but this helped a little. He drank a little more before looking around. It was getting too dark to walk any further. He was contemplating if he should go back when he spotted a structure. He didn't know what it was but he might be able to stay there.

It took him half an hour to reach it. Luckily it was still near the road. It was a shrine on stilts. From memorie he knew that the shrine was to the traveling god, called Maljea. He didn't believe it but Lee Jinwoon and the rest of the population believed it.

'When in Rome.' He put his hand together before bowing. "I hope you don't mind sharing your shrine for a few hours." He waited a few seconds before crawling up the stairs and laying in the corner. He was out the second he closed his eyes.

The next day he woke up with pain. It felt like I had been running two marathons. He wanted to lie back down but he needed to get to the capital. It was too weird that there was nobody on the road. He didn't know what he would encounter.

He went back to the stream and drank until his stomach was full. He first walked back to the road before walking towards the capital. This time he managed 2 and a half hours. He was really proud that he managed a little longer. He still had to rest for 3 hours.

When he got thirsty or hungry, he would walk towards the stream before going back walking. It was a slow progress but when it became dark, he felt like he had managed more mileage. This time he couldn't find any shrines. So he slept in a bush he found near the road.

It took him a week before he reached the outskirts of the forest. He could now last 8 hours before he needed to rest for 2 hours. It was a great improvement. He also finally saw signs of activities. He could see smoke far away. He hoped that it was just smoke from someone's house and not from something dangerous.