Yong Hwa POV

A terribly painful headache was the first thing I felt as I woke up from my deep sleep. "What happened to me?" I said as I scratched the back of my head, still unaware of my surroundings. As I was scratching my head, I felt a big bump. I don't remember how it got there, I must've been hit by something. All I could remember was that the night before, I was walking beside the Han river for fresh air. As I became more aware, I was left speechless by what I saw. It was then that I came to realize, I wasn't anywhere near the Han river, or Seoul for that matter.

I was surrounded by tall trees, small flowing rivers, and strange creatures. dragon-like creatures with a giant eye on their chests soaring through the skies, reddish green six-legged buffalo-like creatures with spikes covering their entire bodies roaming the fields. As I was still admiring the majestic flora and fauna, I didn't realize the ground behind me was shifting and turning. Suddenly, a big shadow was covering me. When I turned to see what was behind me, I was facing a giant golem. I couldn't move, I was too scared. The golem lifted it's arm, ready to strike. "This is how I die." I said to myself. As it was about to strike at me, I felt something had caught on to my shirt and pulled me to a safer distance from the golem.

I was still screaming from the top of my lungs and only stopped when I heard a girl's voice saying "Geez, what a this guy is.". I opened my eyes and was greeted with the most beautiful sight. Long, silky hair flowing in the breeze, perfect body figure, and such a beautiful face, "I arrived just in time, didn't I?" and her voice, it was like music to my ears. Finally, another person! An actual person! For a minute there I thought I was high. I was too busy admiring her that I almost forgot to answer her question earlier, "Yeah, you did. Thanks for saving me back there. I owe you one." I told her. "No problem, that sepulchral golem was too slow anyway." she said calmly. "A sepy... What?" I asked in confusion. What she said next was enough to make me soil myself. She said "Let's just say there are more powerful creatures out there compared to that one." She pointed at the golem that almost killed me.

It looked at our direction and roared at us, "Groooaaaar!!" I jumped a little as I heard that terrifying sound. She laughed at me for it, I tried to cover my embarassment by saying "By the way, we haven't properly introduced ourselves, have we?" "Smooth move cool guy, real smooth. I almost forgot that girly scream from before. I'm Seo Joo Hyun, Seo Hyun for short, age 24, of the Dimir clan. And you are?" well at least I tried. "Yong Hwa, Jung Yong Hwa, age 26, of Korea." I answered her. She looked confused at first, but then acknowledged me with a nod. She then looked at the orange evening sky, and said "It's getting dark, we should go look for shelter. The nights here are dangerous. Let's go." She ordered to follow her. After hearing the 'the nights here are dangerous' part, I would be a nitwit if I didn't follow the girl with a sword.

After walking through thick forest for who knows how long, Seo Hyun and I found a cave. She checked the cave for any signs of animals, after a short while she shouted , "The cave is empty, it's safe to come in!" I entered without hesitation. It was cold, so I made a fire with whatever small sticks and dried leaves I could find for the two of us to keep warm through the night. "Very convenient, where'd you learn to build a fire like that?" she asked with full of interest.

"I learnt to make fire when I was still in the military." I answered her. Her eye widened when she heard me say 'military'. She quickly took out her sword, swung it to my throat and accused me of being the enemy "Which clan do you come from?! Answer me or I'll slice your throat!" I backed away with both my hands up trying to clam her down. "Woah! Easy now Seo Hyun. I told you before. I'm from Korea. I don't even remember how I got here! I just did! Now put that sword down before you take someone's head off." She hesitated at first, but eventually put her sword back in it's sheath. "Alright, but I'm keeping a close eye on you." An awkward silence covered the air after that. Seo Hyun kept poking at the fire with a stick, while I just sat there staring at the very same fire I made. "So, Yong Hwa, You're not from Argonica are you?" oh, NOW she speaks! "I said it before, and I'll say it again, I am from Korea! I don't know how I got to Argonica! I've never even heard of a country with that name!" I shouted in frustration.

She took a deep breath and calmly said "So the arcane legend was true after all." that caught my attention, "Legend? what legend?" she looked at me and took another deep breath before explaining to me "Okay, I'll tell you the story, but it's a long one, so listen close, I don't want to repeat it again. Okay, long ago in Argonica, There were five neighbouring clans that once lived in peace. The intelligent Izzet clan, The systemic Azorius clan, The greedy Orzhov clan, the ruthless Boros clan, and the secretive Dimir clan. These clans were all ruled under one emperor by the name of Park Jin Young, he was loved by all! All except for his right hand man, Yang Hyun Suk. Emperor Park Jin Young was very kind and well mannered. Yang Hyun Suk on the other hand was the very opposite of Park Jin Young, he was cruel, brazen, and had a brusque manner. Everyone, including the emperor could clearly see the hatred he had on the emperor.

Nobody really knew why Yang Hyun Suk despised the emperor so much, people just wrote it off as jealousy. Although they were working together, Park Jin Young was from the Izzet clan. Whereas Yang Hyun Suk was from the Boros clan. Now remember when I said the five clans lived together in peace? That ended when the Boros army, lead by Yang Hyun Suk, stormed the emperor's palace in the city of Izzetnia. The emperor's guards were no match for the Boros' brutal killing tactics. Yang Hyun Suk's men reached the emperor's chamber in a matter of minutes. The Boros soldiers immediately grabbed emperor Park Jin Young by the arms and brought him to Yang Hyun Suk. Without saying a word, He drew his sword and sliced the emperor's head off.

That was the start of the great clan war. When news of the Boros clan invading the emperor's palace in Izzetnia reached tthe leaders of the other remaining clans, they all took cautious action. The Azorius clan chose to remain neutral in the war, two others chose to join forces with Boros in fear for the safety of their clans. But only one clan chose to fight along side the Izzet clan to avenge the late emperor, and that clan is my clan, the Dimir clan. In all honesty, nobody expected this to happen. The war took it's toll on all the clans, even the neutral Azorius. The Boros clan, lead by the new emperor, Yang Hyun Suk were swift in taking over the other clans that joined forces with them. We of the Dimir clan detest the Boros clan for doing what they did.

After successfully invading a clan, they would coerce the people to give up all their belongings to the invading Boros army, the soldiers would even hit the villagers without any reason, it was a nightmare for everyone. Yang Hyun Suk was a merciless emperor, he ruled Argonica with an iron fist, he was a tyrant. It seemed that the future of Argonica was a dark one, until one day, as Yang Hyun Suk was sitting on his throne in his palace in the heart of the city of Borosia, the great elders of the five clans stormed into his chamber, The emperor summoned his gurads but they were instantly turned to ashes by the Izzetian elder's lightning magic. The evil emperor was shocked.

The elders surrounded him, with the emperor too scared to move,they could've easily killed him, but they didn't. Instead, they gave him a warning. The eldest of the elders, The Azorian elder stepped up in front of Yang Hyun Suk and told him "Your time on the throne will end. A hero with great powers and strength will arrive from another world and put an end to your evil ways! Every plan you try to connive will be thwarted , and you will be reduced into a mere speck of dust." With that said, the elders turned their backs towards the clearly shaken emperor. Word of the incident spread throughout Argonica like a wild fire.

The people of Argonica were once again in high spirits because of this news. They were ready to fight for their freedom! Until......" Seo Hyun trails off. "Until what?" I asked her. She looked at me with a sad expression, and continued with her story, "Until Yang Hyun Suk ordered his head mage to cast a spell on the whole of Argonica. The people of Argonica all fell ill to a mysterious plague. It didn't matter what clan you were in, everyone suffered, even the people of the Boros themselves.

Everyone lost the little hope of freedom they had gained. except the elders and a handful of people. They still believed that the hero of legend will come and put an end to the people of Argonica's suffering." She stared at me. I felt uncomfortable, "Seo Hyun, why are you looking at me like that?" She continued to stare at me until I remembered what she said earlier in the arcane legend. I looked at her, I guess she knew what I just realized. "Woah. Hold on for a second, you think I'm the hero in the legend?" I asked her in disbelief. She looked at me staright in the eye and said "Yes." She then stood up and said "Yong Hwa, there is no other explanation why you suddenly woke up in the middle of nowhere in an unknown world. whether you like it or not and despite having the scream of a girl, you are the hero in the legend."

As much as I would like to believe it myself, I know I'm not a hero. I'm anything but a hero! "You got the wrong guy...." I told her. I stood up and walked to the cave entrance. I lokked up towards the moon, ".... I'm a coward. I was a coward when I deserted my platoon in the middle of a battle, I was a coward when I left my best friend to the mercy of his bullies and I'm a coward now!" I then sensed she was standing beside me, I turned to her and she gave me a reassuring look. She then flashed me the most sincere smile saying "we're only human, Yong Hwa. We all make mistakes. You don't have to be hard on yourself for it."

She gave me that reassuring look again, those eyes of hers can make anyone feel reassured. I smile knowing someone actually understands in this strange new world I'm in. Seo Hyun headed back to the fire and told me to go to sleep because we had a lot of walking to do the next day to reach the city of Orzhovina to catch a ride to the city of Dimirius.