Chapter 3: Unexpected in the Central City
A few meters ahead, a city unlike any Ri-hyun had ever encountered unfolded before him, rising from the horizon like a mirage carved in gemstone. Towering walls of polished stone shimmered in the sunlight, each block etched with intricate carvings—runes, histories, and perhaps prayers of an age long past. The architecture was a harmony of elegance and function: slender spires pierced the sky like needles threading the clouds, while buildings beneath them boasted curving roofs reminiscent of rising waves frozen mid-crest.
As Ri-hyun approached, the air itself felt different—imbued with a subtle vibration, a musical hum that danced just beneath perception. It was serene, a sharp contrast to the silence that cloaked his homeland like fog. The scent of perfume and spices filled the air, mingling with the sound of laughter, hoofbeats, and the gentle clatter of wheels on cobbled stone.
People passed him, radiant in garments of flowing silk, brocade, and linen dyed in hues so vibrant they seemed to ripple with life. Ornate carriages drawn by elegant, well-groomed steeds drifted past like regal boats in a stream. The vehicles were marvels of craftsmanship—wood polished to a shine, metal inlays glinting with subtle enchantments.
"Everything feels... similar, yet wholly new," Ri-hyun murmured, watching the city live and breathe around him. His bare feet padded along the stone, drawing glances he quickly began to notice. A change in the rhythm. A shift in the wind.
The stares.
He looked down at himself—his once-white hanbok was now tattered and stained with dried, flaking blood, brown with age and violence. It hung from his frame like the skin of an old war story. To the citizens of this gleaming city, he was nothing more than a beggar—perhaps worse, an outsider.
Still, he paid it no mind. He had seen more judgmental eyes in the courts of emperors and the chambers of demons.
That was when a small figure—swift and silent—grabbed him by the sleeve and yanked him into a narrow alley.
"What do you think you're doing!?" a sharp voice snapped.
Startled, Ri-hyun looked into the eyes of a teenage girl, barely past her fourteenth year, wearing a ragged hood and clothes two sizes too large. She stood with a fire in her eyes disproportionate to her tiny frame.
"What?" he asked, genuinely confused. Her words were strange, unintelligible.