Surviving as Guan Yu in the Three Kingdoms

I woke up to the sound of someone shouting.

“Drop your weapons and surrender!”

I had just fallen asleep after staying up all night playing Three Kingdoms: Total War in my room. Why am I hearing such sounds?

No, is this even my room to begin with?

If this were my room, there should be a monitor and computer in front of me, and a soft bed beneath my back.

But no matter how hard I looked around, I couldn’t see what should be there.

Instead, what I saw was a dirt floor with patches of weeds and a blue sky.

And at my head was a large crescent blade that looked like something Guan Yu would use in the Three Kingdoms.

“Am I dreaming this because I fell asleep while playing a Three Kingdoms game?”

For a dream, the surroundings seem too vivid.

The cool air I smell, the fresh scent from trees and grass, even the stiffness in my muscles from sleeping outdoors – all of it feels too real.

I never thought I’d have such a lifelike dream in my entire life…

As I was bewildered by this unprecedented situation, I heard another voice from the direction of the previous shout.

“How dare you loot government officials and think you’ll get away with it?! Get lost!”

Though it’s hard to make sense of things in this dream, what’s clear is that I should probably go help those being harassed over there.

Isn’t that how dreams usually go?

Although in reality, I, Kim Woo-jun, am just a lowly employee who has to bow down to department heads and managers, in dreams at least I can be a righteous hero who saves the weak in danger.

Now that I’ve grasped how this dream story should flow, I need to move.

“To think the day would come when I’d hold a crescent blade like Guan Yu’s, even if it’s just a dream.”

As I gripped the crescent blade, I felt its unique heavy weight throughout my body.

To be able to lift this heavy crescent blade with one hand, dreams are indeed wonderful.

Holding the crescent blade, I ran towards the direction of the voices.

“To be able to play the role of a Three Kingdoms hero, even if just in a dream. Today’s my lucky day.”

Humming a tune, I ran towards the source of the sound. There, just like in Three Kingdoms games, several corpses were already sprawled on the ground.

The dead were bleeding from their necks, torsos, and various other places, giving off a strong smell of blood mixed with rusty iron.

I heard that dreams can’t recreate things you’ve never seen or experienced, but could it be…?

There was no time to dwell on such idle thoughts.

“Don’t kill those two women, capture them! They’re too good to kill!”

The men who looked like Yellow Turbans, wearing yellow cloths, were pressuring those within their encirclement.

At this rate, the women being threatened inside would be captured.

Even if it’s a dream, the thought of leaving women in danger would only make me feel worse after waking up.

“Ah, this is crazy. What kind of dream is this?”

As I gripped the crescent blade with both hands to fight the Yellow Turbans over there, suddenly various memories flowed into my mind.

How to handle the crescent blade, who I am, and why I ended up in a place like this.

If I had the leisure, I could organize and ponder over these memories one by one…

I tightly gripped the crescent blade with both hands and slashed at a nearby Yellow Turban who hadn’t noticed me, distracted by the women.

Just like slashing enemies when playing as Guan Yu in the game.

However, the impact I felt in my hands was completely different from the sensation of pressing keyboard keys while gaming, it felt absolutely raw.

The heaviness of cutting through thick raw meat, the sensation of cleanly slicing something hard with a well-sharpened blade.

The warm red blood splattering in all directions.

Until now, I wasn’t sure if this was a dream or reality, but the vivid sensation told me:

‘This is not a dream.’

I heard that someone like me, Kim Woo-jun, who has never experienced killing anyone in his entire life, shouldn’t be able to slice through a person’s waist in one stroke like in a game.

Let alone killing someone, I’ve never even broken someone’s arm or leg in my life.

Is it because the original owner of this body I’ve occupied was an exceptionally skilled person?

Despite killing someone, far from being shocked, I felt my mind becoming clearer and more composed.

The Yellow Turbans instantly turned their attention towards me.

“That long-bearded bastard killed Captain Zhang!”
“Avenge Captain Zhang! Kill that son of a bitch first!”
“Trash not even fit to be dog food!”

More than 8 men brandished their weapons and charged at me at once.

When I lived in Korea, I had never even used a spear, let alone learned kendo, but their movements were clearly visible to my eyes.

Every time I swung my blade according to the memories ingrained in this body, one of the men charging at me fell to the ground, meeting their death.

Even though I fought alone against 8 enemies, not for a moment did I feel endangered.

The way I’ve changed as a person and the feeling too real to be a dream.

“To think I’ve become Guan Yu.”

It’s certainly bewildering to suddenly start living a new life…

Though to be honest, there wasn’t much good about living as Kim Woo-jun in 21st century Korea, so I don’t have any lingering attachments to that life.

‘This is truly absurd.’

A gray life where both parents passed away long ago leaving nothing behind, and I never even had the chance to date anyone.

My life consisted of nothing but going to work every day, sucking up to superiors like the department head, and getting by day by day while being careful not to offend anyone.

For someone who has lived like that, getting the chance to live as Guan Yu in the Three Kingdoms era that I’ve always loved actually seems fortunate.

When I gripped the crescent blade again and looked over to slash the remaining Yellow Turban stragglers, they had already been slaughtered by the two women who were being threatened earlier.

Even though the Yellow Turbans are known to be weak, there were still 4 of them left.

Moreover, there were only women on that side, yet 4 grown men had been taken down by those women.

“Is this for real?”

As I muttered that, the two women who had dealt with the stragglers approached me and greeted me.

“If it weren’t for you, we would have died here. Thank you so much for saving us.”
“I only did what was right. But where is this place?”

One of the two women, with long blonde hair and blue eyes, answered me.

“This is Zhuo County in You Province.”

I am Guan Yu, and this era is the late Eastern Han dynasty when Yellow Turbans are rampant.

And if we’re in Zhuo County of You Province, that means Liu Bei should be nearby, right?

“Then how did the two of you end up in such a distant place? This area is too dangerous for two delicate women to travel alone.”

As often depicted in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, You Province at this time is a desolate rural area where barbarians frequently appear.

The Han Dynasty, which should be responsible for public security, has long been corrupt, and Yellow Turban groups who repeat rape, murder, and looting whenever they get the chance are swarming everywhere.

It’s too reckless for just two women to pass through such a place.

At those words, the woman in front of me held her stomach and laughed.

“Zilian, did you hear that? He called me delicate… It’s something I haven’t heard once since being appointed as the Governor of Northern Luoyang. To think I’d hear those words again.”

Zilian, Zilian… In the Three Kingdoms, the one with the character ‘Zi’ known for being the most petty and rich was Cao Hong, who grows through frustration…

Could that woman be Cao Hong?

No, no way.

Even though I’ve experienced the abnormal situation of being reincarnated as Guan Yu, there’s no way people like Cao Hong have become women.

It’s probably just someone with a similar courtesy name.

The woman in front of me laughed a bit more and answered.

“I’m sorry, my lord. My name is Cao Cao, courtesy name Mengde, and I’m currently on my way to urgently take up the post of magistrate of a county in Zhuo Commandery.”

Could it be that the ones in front of me are really Cao Cao and Cao Hong?

Even though I’ve suddenly fallen into the world of the Three Kingdoms, even Cao Cao and Cao Hong are women instead of men?

‘Especially that woman who says she’s Cao Cao, her career is identical to that of the Cao Cao from the Three Kingdoms…’

Still, just in case, let me dig a little deeper.

“Are you perhaps the granddaughter of the eunuch Cao Teng?”

At those words, Cao Cao sighed.

“In these chaotic times, I killed that rotten Jian Shuo, my uncle, with one blow to gain honor and renown, yet am I still only evaluated as my grandfather’s granddaughter?”

At this point, I have no choice but to accept that the Cao Cao I know is a woman in this world.

The Northern Army Protector of Luoyang, the crazy woman who beat her uncle Jian Shuo to death, the grandfather Cao Teng who was a eunuch like a father to the Ten Attendants.

It all matches the characteristics of Cao Cao from the Three Kingdoms.

Moreover, other generals from the Three Kingdoms might also be women like Cao Cao…

After briefly complaining, Cao Cao looked into my eyes again and asked.

“What is your name, my lord?”
“My name is Guan Yu, courtesy name Yunchang.”

Cao Cao’s eyes lit up upon hearing my name.

“Lord Guan, how did you end up coming all the way here?”
“I killed a corrupt official in Yingchuan and ended up here while fleeing.”

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Fei is often portrayed as a man with a fiery and generous personality, while Guan Yu is depicted as a cold and rational man…

But in reality, Guan Yu was just as impatient and easily swayed by emotions as Zhang Fei.

That’s why, even in a situation where he should have allied with Sun Quan, he said things like “Would you marry a tiger’s daughter to a dog’s son?”, providing the catalyst for the alliance between Shu and Wu to break down.

“Then you have nowhere to go now, correct?”

Cao Cao looked me over once with her eyes.

Then, with eyes full of determination to have me, she asked while licking her lips.

“If you have nowhere to go, would you follow me, Cao Mengde? I will treat you with the utmost respect.”