As I was walking back towards my new home and figuring out how to find other earthlings here, I see one just walking towards me! Now you must be like, how do I know that she is an earthling?
Well, that girl is wearing a T-shirt with Aespa written on it along with Aespa's logo. She is definitely from the earth! Those of you who don't know who Aespa are, don't worry, I will save you the trouble of googling them. They are a girl k-pop group of four members from South Korea and I love their songs. The fact that this girl is wearing their T-shirt means two things, she is from Earth and second, she is also a MY(Aespa's fandom name) like me.
However, I don't think she knows that I am from Earth too. I mean how would she? The KWANGYA people look just like us! I think of how to approach her without startling her. I walk towards her, cautiously.
"Hey, I am K.." then I whisper "from Earth." Her eyes widen, her jaw drops and then suddenly she smiles and says
"Oh gosh SERIOUSLY? F*uck I am so glad. You aren't kidding, right? YOU ARE FROM EARTH!"She says that last part a bit loud and I chuckle then quieten her down.
"Yeah, I am. Let's go to a quieter place and talk, yeah?"
"Yes and also I am Autmn"
"Pretty name."
"So your name.. Is K short for something?"
"Nah, it is just K"
"oh... Nice ig"
"Lol! Anyways where are you staying?"
"I don't know. I just arrived here, jumped through that glass portal thing and when I open my eyes, I find myself lying under a tree. I don't freaking know where I am and to be honest, I am kinda scared. But I also feel glad and lucky that I found another person from Earth pretty quickly. kinda relieving you know."
"Ya, I can understand. I woke up in some sort of abandoned house, it is right down the street and conveniently it was empty. We can go there and talk, you can also stay there with me."
"That's awesome! Thanks a lot! Btw how did you know that I am from earth?"
"Oh, from your T-shirt. I knew you were an earthling when I saw Aespa there. I am MY too. Who is your bias"?
"Damn, seriously? Girl, I love you. Like I found someone from Earth and they are also into my fav. K-pop group! How cool is that? My bias is Giselle btw. What about you? Also earthling?" She says the last part with a little laugh.
"Yup saves the time from saying 'people from Earth', LOL!"
"I guess so."
"And my bias is Ningning. Her voice is angelic! I love her! Also, Giselle is my bias wrecker."
"I love Ningning too. Her vocals! I don't think I have a bias wrecker though! I love all of them."
"Me too. I love them all."
We keep on walking until we reach my house. Autumn seems like a jolly person as of now. I seriously hope it stays the same way. I don't know how long before would I be able to find another earthling. Moreover, we share similar interests and she is a good company. I like her.
We enter the house and go into the room I first woke up in.
"So, we have shelter, now we need to arrange food. How? I don't know." I say.
"Have you checked the house? Maybe there is something in here." Autumn says.
" Idk. I haven't checked but considering it is an abandoned house, chances are less. Anyways let us look." We go around the house and that is when I also check the layout of the house. The house is pretty small. My room is on the first floor and beside my room is a bathroom. Downstairs there is another bathroom, a small kitchen, a living room and 2 rooms. Yep, that is pretty much it. At the rear of the house, there is a storage room which has some cleaning supplies. Great! If I am to live here now then this house needs great cleaning! Unfortunately, no food is found here. I and autumn reunite in my room and sit down exhausted!
"Damn this house doesn't even have a crumble of food."
"I know.." I casually open the drawer of my bedside table and find a pretty silver crystal.
"Wow, look at this!" I show it to Autumn.
"It is so pretty. Is it plastic, fake?" She asks.
"Not sure. Must be fake since why would anybody leave this precious material here? However.." I tap the crystal and it makes a 'clink' sound. "It doesn't feel like plastic."
"Do you think we can exchange this for food? Like you know use it as a currency? Do people here have a currency?" Autumn questions.
"Idk. I guess cause earlier I did see people bargaining prices soo... We can try what you said tho. We are near the marketplace anyways." I suggest.
We both move out and start walking toward the marketplace. I observe the people around me. They were buying and exchanging goods for cash. At least they looked like paper bills to me. Geez, this alternate world feels so similar to Earth. Yuck! Like,what was the point of even escaping then if here again, I have to think of earning money? As you know if I have to survive and live a good lifestyle, I gotta earn money and for that, I would have to get a job and to increase my prospects of getting a job, I have to build an awesome CV. Pressure building continues. Wait, do they have CVs here, oh please say no! I am disappointed. Can I go back to Earth?
Autumn pulls on my T-shirt and grabs my attention!
"Hey, look there, those fruits look so juicy! Also fresh! And there seems some other good stuff too. Let's grab 'em!
"Alright," I say. I was a little nervous. What if this crystal is just a nuisance and these people think we are dupes? I saunter up to the shop and call out to the lady. Here goes nothing!
"Hey,um.. how much do you think you could give us of those apples in exchange for.." I show her the crystal. "This?"
She looks at the crystal and her eyes widen! Her face awed and she delicately takes the crystal. Did she seem enchanted? Idk what 'spell' she was under. Lol but I knew that this crystal is valuable, it is my chance to strike a big deal!
"We are willing to exchange this crystal for all those apples, oranges, watermelons, fish, meat and that other stuff." Her head jerks and she looks at me. I could not decipher the look in her eyes and doubted whether I made an unreal deal! She shakes her head and says
"Of course, you can have all of it, even more!" Autumn and I were shocked. We look at each other. I mean the crystal sure was pretty but to exchange this much stuff for it? I was not sure.
"What is so special about that crystal?" Autumn asks the lady.
She looks as if she just realised that we were here."I don't know. It is just so pretty. I just want it!"
"Is she hypnotised?" Autumn asks me.
"Idk but it works in our favour. Let's... grab all this stuff." I say sceptically. It was.. weird so to say.
We grabbed all the stuff which was quite heavy btw and started walking back. Had enough food to survive a few days at least. See, this is what I meant with KWANGYA being weird. It is so similar to Earth, but the experience just now, what was so fascinating about that crystal? KWANGYA is familiar but at the same time unfamiliar. There is something or a lot of things that I don't know about this place! I have to figure those things out soon! I smile. Maybe this world is different and mysterious after all. My isekai fantasy! Yayyy! LMAO.
We reach back home and sit down to eat. I tell Autumn all that I understood about KWANGYA and she listened carefully. We both agreed on how we have to start looking out.
"First of all, we need to know this world's history. Like where did the people living here come from? Why are they so similar to us? " I say.
"I agree. Like I thought I would land in a world with different creatures, you know like the supernatural. Gnomes, witches, vampires, devils. But it feels natural here."
"Agreed."
"Hey, what if we go look around a museum nearby? Like museums contain a place's history right? We might find something valuable."She says.
I ponder upon the idea.
"Yeah, I guess."