An Unknown Place (1)

A certain Joseon artist's painting depicted a tiger under a bamboo tree, whose trunks are painted in bold strokes that make it a superb representation of a pine tree.

It was regarded as the finest tiger paintings among those produced for appreciation during the Joseon period. The painting depicted the tiger coming down from the mountain, facing the front, a device that enhanced the majesty of the tiger, the king of beasts. Along with the tiger in the refined and vivid style of court artists, it presented the idea of the Joseon tiger painting.

"Song Yuna," she heard someone speak her name. "She will be saving our lives by unifying the messy three kingdoms, Baekje, Silla, and Goguryeo."

Many things came into Yuna's mind; she was worried about her debut that will happen one hundred days from now and the fact that the dream she has been running towards was finally going to happen. She was thankful that she received great love from her friends and family and was grateful towards God.

Suddenly, these thoughts disappeared and were only replaced by how elegant the white tiger looked for her. The white tiger under the pine tree dazzled so much that Yuna could not take her eyes off it.

A blinding white light was emitted from the painting. Closing her eyes, Yuna made sure she was not hallucinating in any way because of the sudden change of the environment and background. She blinked her eyes, again and again, to make sure, but it seemed like Yuna was already in a different place.

When Yuna turned around, she realized that she was not in the library anymore. It was as if she was on a deserted island and in a barren place. The unfamiliarity of the place made her feel strange. There was not a single animal, nor any plants or grasses from where she was. But when she spotted a tree just a few meters from her, she approached it and squatted down.

The pine tree was not even that tall enough, she was 168 cm in height, and as she observed, it seemed like the pine tree was only around 2 meters in height. She thought it was a miracle for a pine tree to be able to continue to live in a barren place.

It seemed like the drought has taken over the place.

Somehow, Yuna was reminded about how she and the pine tree was similar. The barren place seemed like Yuna's environment as a trainee, seemingly hard and hopeless at first. But the fire inside her kept her alive, and thus, she became the pine tree that would cheer for herself. Even though it's hard and hopeless, you are still going to flourish as long as you input effort and hard work.

Family, friends, and loved ones may betray, but hard work and effort will never do the same.

Yuna sweetly smiled as she stood up and felt her legs falling asleep, "Ouch."

While looking around, it suddenly dawned on her that she was in an unknown strange place. Her best friend, Harin, was nowhere to be found. The library that was filled with people reading books and magazines disappeared. One thing that came to her mind was to find someone else she could talk to. She must ask a citizen about where this was, or maybe this was a dream she was having.

"Where am I? Where is this place?" Yuna muttered to herself as she looked around. She walked and walked until the seemingly never-ending barren and mountainous land ended. In a far, she could see a small town, and when she saw the small town, something in her made her feel anxious. "Am I dreaming?"

Looking at the sky, Yuna noted how it was scorchingly hot, and the surrounding was too unfamiliar for her. It was nighttime when she visited the library, so why did it suddenly become morning? Was she transported to another place she did not know?

She looked back at the mountainous trail below before she could even see the small town. She tried to deny it the moment she witnessed it, but the houses seemed like she was in a historical setting.

The buildings were structured vertically and horizontally. The houses rose from a stone sub-foundation to a curved roof covered with tiles, held by a console structure and supported on posts; walls are made of earth and were sometimes totally composed of movable wooden doors. It was a little bit far from where she was, but she knew the place was not the modern times she came from.

Just when she was about to climb down the mountain, she stopped from her tracks when Yuna saw a white tiger in front of her. She blinked twice, not sure about the animal that was standing in front of her. The white tiger looked very rare, has creamy white fur, blue eyes, and gray or brownish stripes.

She heard about white tigers before, but she has not seen them in person. The white tiger seemed to be daunting at first; if it stands, it will look about two to three meters tall.

When the tiger finally met with Yuna's eyes, she froze. The pose and aura that it emitted was just something she could not comprehend. Her feet were locked on the ground, her arms could not move, and she held her breath. As if doing that would make the white tiger ignore her and go on its way. She instinctively grabbed her handphone from her baggy pants and unlocked it using her fingerprint.

She was about to research what she is supposed to do to escape white tigers; if this were a dream, surely it would work.

The question is, would it actually work?

Or was that just what she was hoping for?

What if it won't work? Will the white tiger eat her alive?

Song Yuna bent her legs, and she could feel them trembling in fear.

When the white tiger moved, she felt that she was about to pass out. Her eyes lost focus, and everything was blurry.

"Sister," A voice suddenly called her that made her come back to reality. "Are you okay?"