The Rabbit and Dorothy
When Juhwan lived on Earth, there was nothing he especially wanted to do.
Even the hope of having a family slowly faded, and he simply lived each day mechanically.
But now, as he held a bow and arrows, the feeling was different.
It wasn’t like when he had a job.
Maybe it was because he now had the family he once wished for.
Maybe that was why his mindset had changed.
“Someday… can I make bows and arrows like these too?”
When he thought that, something small stirred deep inside his heart.
While looking around, he noticed a few wooden tablets near the container of metal arrowheads.
“!”
These were different from the ones he had seen when he first arrived in this world.
They had larger numbers and more writing—probably something like order slips, listing items, quantities, and prices.
“If something like this exists here… then maybe…”
Juhwan quickly picked one up and rushed to Gus.
“This!”
Excited, he pointed at the letters on the wooden tablet.
“Gus, you know? This? I… want learn. Gus, teach. This, this.”
Gus blinked in surprise, looking between Juhwan and the tablet.
“You… want learn?”
“I want. Very, very want.”
Maybe this reaction was rare. Perhaps many commoners didn’t think learning letters was necessary.
Lizzy couldn’t even write numbers properly. But she didn’t seem to want to learn either.
Gus scratched his white hair, then nodded.
“Okay… fine.”
He motioned for Juhwan to wait and went to a corner, rummaging through boxes.
After a while, he found something.
“Here. Take. Use this.”
It was a bundle of small wooden pieces tied together with a string. The edges were worn smooth from use.
Each piece had a single character on it—letters similar to an alphabet. Some had dots like German letters, others looked unusual.
Juhwan stared at them closely, then pointed.
“Now… this… teach, please.”
Gus grinned as if thinking he was strange, but began reading the letters aloud.
Juhwan grabbed some charcoal and started writing the pronunciation on the back of each piece.
“I can’t remember everything at once… writing it down is best.”
When Gus saw him writing in Korean, his eyes widened. He looked curious but didn’t ask.
There were 29 characters in total.
The rest of the pieces seemed to contain simple words.
For now, meaning didn’t matter. If he knew the pronunciation, he could ask Lizzy later.
He quickly finished writing.
He wanted to learn more, but Gus stood up as if it was enough.
Gus called him over to the workbench.
He picked up a bow.
It was larger and thicker than the others, clean and newly made.
“This… your bow. Fits… your body.”
Juhwan understood.
“This bow is made for me.”
The bow he had before was large, but compared to this, it was nothing. Most bows here were shorter, likely made for Gus’s size.
Maybe Gus made custom bows for certain people.
Juhwan hesitated.
He had already received so much—from tools to knowledge. Even the letter tablets were probably not cheap.
Now this bow too…
Sensing his hesitation, Gus firmly placed the bow into his hands.
“This is your bow.”
The surface was smooth, carefully crafted. The grip was wrapped in leather to prevent slipping. The ends were reinforced, and the string was tightly fixed.
It was clearly made with great effort.
Juhwan held it upright and bowed his head.
“Thank you, Gus. Thank you.”
Gus smiled.
“You… become good hunter.”
“You will become a good hunter.”
Then Gus gave him three leather arrow bags.
One had simple bamboo arrows.
Another had metal-tipped arrows.
The third had stone-tipped arrows.
After explaining several times, Juhwan understood.
“For a few days… I have to hunt alone.”
He repeated the words back to confirm. Gus nodded and patted his shoulder.
After thanking him again, Juhwan left the storage.
The wooden tablets clinked softly in his hand.
“I want to learn quickly… and teach Lizzy and Dorothy too.”
If they knew how to read, it would open many possibilities—especially for Dorothy.
At his waist, the rabbit moved slightly inside the bag.
He imagined it having babies… and those babies having more.
His steps quickened.
Gus watched him go.
“What a strange man.”
Why would he want to learn letters so badly?
Gus smiled bitterly.
Those wooden tablets… he had once bought them himself when he was young, hoping to work under a noble.
He even hired a teacher in the city. It had cost a lot—time and money.
Learning letters had been difficult. He kept forgetting what he learned.
In the end, he only used it to read order slips.
“It was useless.”
Even without knowing how to read, there were people who could read for you—for a small fee.
Gus shook his head.
That was the past.
Now, he needed to search the mountains for goblins.
“I need to go deeper into the mountains.”
In spring, goblins became more active—especially in raiding for women.
“I must find them before it’s too late.”
If their group was still small, it could wait.
But if it had grown large, they had to act before it attacked the village.
With adventurers—and with Juhwan—they could deal with it.
Juhwan learned fast. His aim was still rough, but with the new bow, his strength would make up for it.
Gus packed his things and left.
Even an experienced hunter avoided the forest at night.
As he walked, his injured leg throbbed.
“Damn goblins…”
“I’ll kill them all.”
Snip, snip, snip.
The sound of scissors cutting cloth filled the room.
Dorothy swallowed.
Lizzy sat by the fire, cutting fabric to Dorothy’s size.
“Is this mine?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“When will it be done?”
“…”
Lizzy looked at her and smiled.
“Dorothy, do you know how many times you’ve asked that?”
“…No?”
“More than ten times.”
“…Really?”
Lizzy laughed and began sewing.
Dorothy sat close, watching carefully.
“This will be my clothes.”
It was a beautiful fabric she had never seen before.
“Is this mine?”
Lizzy giggled.
“Dorothy, this is really yours.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Dorothy felt happy.
Her current clothes were old, with holes and stains. They had once been too big—now they were tight.
Even after washing, they were still torn.
Lizzy always looked sad when she saw them.
“Mine? New clothes?”
“Yes.”
Hearing that made her happy every time.
Just as she was about to ask again—
The door opened.
Lizzy quickly stood up.
Dorothy ran faster.
The door opened, and Juhwan entered.
“Daddy!”
She ran with open arms.
Juhwan lifted her easily with one arm.
“Daddy! New clothes! Dorothy has new clothes!”
“Ohh.”
He smiled, though he didn’t fully understand.
Then Dorothy felt something moving at her feet.
“Huh? Huh??”
The bag was moving.
“Daddy… magic? Bag magic?”
Juhwan smiled and tried to untie the bag with one hand—but struggled.
Lizzy came over, laughing, helped him, and gave him a kiss.
Dorothy leaned forward too—
Then she saw it.
Something poked out.
“…Rabbit?”
Lizzy’s voice.
The rabbit’s ears twitched.
“Ah… it’s moving.”
Dorothy’s eyes widened.
“The rabbit… is moving.”
She had only seen dead rabbits before.
Why was this one alive?
Suddenly, drool slipped from her mouth.