‘Unng, where am I?’ Jihyo thought to herself as she clenches her throbbing head, feeling unwell due to the transportation spell cast by Aesin, the Supreme God. She pushed herself to sit up and wanted to explore the room but she heard the door knob turn.

“Hey, you are awake! Are you feeling better?” says the person who just entered the room.

“W-who are you?” Jihyo asks, staring at the long-pointed ears.

The person smiled, “My name is Tzuyu. I am a dark elf as you can see.”

‘A dark elf… I am really in another world.’

“Hello?” Jihyo snaps back to reality at the voice.

“Oh, sorry. My name is Jihyo. May I know where I am?” she was supposed to be in [Midgard], the kingdom of humans. What is a dark elf doing here?

“I found you in the forest near the [Cave of Ymir] while I was hunting nearby. You are currently in my hut within the forest.” The dark elf explained as she passes a glass of water to Jihyo.

“Thank you” Jihyo take small sips and smile gratefully.

“What were you doing here? You don’t look like an adventurer.”

“I-“

‘What should I say?’

“-I don’t know. I can’t remember anything.”

“…sigh” Tzuyu facepalmed.

“Well… okay, I am going to hunt for food, how about joining me in this hunt? You might remember something after taking a walk.”

“Sure.” Jihyo agreed, she wanted to explore her surroundings to grasp her location. After all, this world feels like the world of [Yggdrasil: The World Tree]. She needed confirmation.

 

---

 

A bow over her shoulder and arrows on her back, Tzuyu looks like an adept hunter. Scratch that, she is an expert. As soon as she spots a prey, she slides the bow off her shoulder and crept closer, silently, slowly. When the prey is within range, she pulls out an arrow, fixed it on the bow and pulled the string back. Wooosh the arrow is released, and the prey fell on its knees.

With a smirk, Tzuyu walk towards the fallen prey. “Do you want to try?” Jihyo nods earnestly, this is the first time she is handling a bow. She is really excited to see how well she will fare.

Jihyo took the bow and an arrow from Tzuyu and search for a prey. With one of her passives [Enhanced Sight] at max level, she could spot the prey from miles away. She ran towards it with Tzuyu close behind her. Although any normal human could have passed out running that distance, she was not exhausted since her [Stamina] was at max level.

Now closer to the prey, she fixed the arrow on the bow as instructed by Tzuyu and released the arrow at the prey. Alas! She missed. Well, that was expected. She did not choose [Bow Mastery] as one of her passives. Although expected, she was disappointed. Pouting at her failure, she turns around to Tzuyu snickering.

“Don’t worry about it. If you are interested in archery, I’ll teach you.” Tzuyu offered while patting Jihyo’s head as she tries to comfort her.

“Okay…” Jihyo looks down at her feet, thankful for the offer.

 

---

 

Soon, it was night. Hunting was time consuming.

 

“I will cook!” Jihyo voiced out with excitement when Tzuyu is done skinning and removing the inedible parts of the prey.

“Sure, I’ll be in the yard with the firewood. Shout if you need help.” Tzuyu hands the meat to Jihyo and took the inedible parts with the intention of using them as natural fertilizers for the forest.

 

---

 

“They look delicious!” Tzuyu’s eyes sparkled when she saw the feast on her dining table. She usually roasts the meat and eat them with some sprinkle of salt but Jihyo made them look as if they were made by a restaurant chef.

Jihyo blushes, honoured by the compliment. She was glad that she has chosen [Culinary]. She was able to be of use after the failure during the hunt.

After dinner, they are seated in the living room with some after-dinner tea for digestion.

“Have you remembered anything?”

‘Should I tell her about the seed?’

“I remembered that I have to find something. It is called the [Seed of Yggdrasil].”

Silence

“The [Seed of Yggdrasil], the seed of the world tree, the core of the world. Why are you searching for it?”

“I-I don’t know.” Jihyo stuttered, wondering if it was a taboo or a forbidden topic.

“Hey, it’s okay. The [Seed of Yggdrasil] is something that everyone is searching for. Some for good, some for evil. I trust that you are looking for it to do something good.” Tzuyu place her hand above Jihyo’s, thinking that she has frightened her.

Jihyo look at Tzuyu’s hands on hers and gulp. ‘She have warm hands, but the scars…’ she thought as she traces the scars with a finger.

Tzuyu pulled her hands away and continued “Since you are searching for the [Seed of Yggdrasil], I will assume that you were an adventurer. Shall we visit the nearest town with the adventurers’ guild?”

Jihyo frown at the lost of warm but nodded at Tzuyu’s suggestion.

“You must be tired, take the room from last night, I’ll sleep in the living room. Good night.” Tzuyu guide Jihyo to the bedroom and proceeded to the living room with a puffed-up mat she took from her bedroom as her bed.

 

---

 

“Good morning, Tzuyu!” Jihyo chimed as Tzuyu walked into the kitchen for her parched throat.

“Morning, why are you up so early?” Tzuyu rubbed her eyes, feeling her glass for water with her half-opened eyes.

“Here you go, I made breakfast.” Jihyo hands Tzuyu her glass of water and guide her to the dining table.

Tzuyu gasped at the sight on the dining table. There were two plates filled with food. Some leftover meat from last night’s dinner and vegetables from the forest that she foraged during yesterday’s hunt. “Thank you Jihyo” Tzuyu stood up and gave Jihyo a hug.

“Sure, dig in.” Jihyo gave Tzuyu a light pat on the back and pulled away from the hug. She took a seat at the dinning table, opposite Tzuyu and ate her food.

 

---

After Breakfast

 

“Jihyo, are you ready? We will have to leave now if we want to come back before dinner.”

“Yes, let’s go.” Jihyo hurried outside the hut to meet up with Tzuyu who was waiting for her.

 

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