Chapter 5

The Next Morning

I woke up.

Still alive.

Still in this world.

Still... a soldier.

I took a shower, got dressed, then sat for a moment on the rock-hard bed—more like a stone with a bedsheet, really. After mourning my life a bit, I walked to the scene where I first regained consciousness—the horse stable. The place where all this suffering began.

I had one goal: find my phone and wallet.

At the very least, if this was all a dream, maybe I could catch some signal to the real world? You never know.

I searched around, and finally... YES!

My wallet!

And... my phone!

But...

📱 My phone was broken.

The screen was shattered.

Pressed the button—nothing.

I pinched my cheek, hoping to wake up from this dream.

Ouch.

Yup, it's real.

Still, I was kinda grateful... at least my wallet was intact.

Though... the money was in a dollar and my electronic ID card definitely wouldn't be valid in this kingdom.

Nice.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching.

A guy walked into the stable.

"Hey, you're the one who got yelled at by the commander yesterday, right?" he said while laughing.

My reflex: I wanted to kick this guy.

Politely, of course. In my mind.

"That's right," I replied flatly. "So why are you here?"

"I came to get some horses. We've got horseback training today. Thought you were here for that too."

...

Wait.

Horseback training?

Me? On a horse?!

Sorry, the last vehicle I rode was a folding bike—and I fell off that.

A horse?

I don't even know the difference between a saddle and motorcycle handlebars.