2. In the foreign land.

Everything hurts.

The water is freezing.

Staying any longer will kill me. But I am too weak to move an inch. My body had gone completely numb from the cold. As I slowly sunk to the bottom of the sea. Something tugged my body, lifting me from the water.

Dragged out of the water, I lay flat on the ground, vomiting while not being able to exert a single ounce of strength into any of my body.

That was when I heard the Waegues speaking.

"Kore de wa dame da. Kare wa shini kakete iru."

One of the men who inspected me said to his commanding officers.

The commanding officer squatted down and grabbed the back of my head, pulling my face closer to his as he stared straight into my eyes.

With no energy, all I could do was stare back at him as I continued gasping for air.

"Iya. Koitsu wa mada ikite iru. Hoka no monotachi to issho ni modose."

With that one phrase, the rest of the soldiers replied in unison, "Hai." before I was dragged to the basement of the enemy ship.

Standing before me were fellow Korean soldiers and our allies from the Ming forces (The Chinese). The men proceeded to drop me into a cage with them with my hands all tied up. I lay on the ground, still bleeding from the wounds I received, as I stared at the ceiling, still trying to catch my breath. In a few minutes, everything went black again.

Then, I opened my eyes. The first thing I see is that damn ceiling again. I tried moving my body. This time, it wasn't as bad as before. Looking down, my entire body was practically wrapped in bandages.

The bleeding seemed to have stopped, and the blood in the bandages turned reddish-black like it dried up a while ago.

"How are you feeling?"

A voice, rough and raspy as though two gravel were being ground together, spoke from the corner of the room. I tried getting up to reply, but with my body still in bad condition, I continued lying down there helplessly.

"You should continue resting, with an injury that severe. It's a miracle that you survived."

"Were you the one who helped me?"

"Partially. The Waegues were the ones who provided the bandage and medicine. But we were the ones who patched you up."

The man said as he stood up from where he was sitting, walked over to where I was, and sat with his leg crossed while crossing his arm.

"I am Kim Seong-Min, Jeolla Right Naval Commander."

"I am...? Hol...hold on. Who am I?" I replied, my head still drawing a blank whenever I tried to recall anything.

It appears that I have lost my memories. My heart started racing rapidly as the thought of losing my identity frightened me immensely. My body began fidgeting in a panic as I started hyperventilating at the mere thought of it.

Until Commander Kim smacked my forehead.

"F*ck. What was that for?!" I yelled in rage as the guards who were guarding our cell kicked our cage, ordering us to be silent.

Both of us kept our mouths shut until the guard walked off.

"Are you calm now?" Commander Kim asked, as I nodded my head silently, surprised that all it took to keep my cool was a smack in the head.

"An amnesiac? That's rather peculiar," he replied with a sense of security.

"Huh? Why would you say that?"

"When we surrendered. At one point, every eye was on one ship. The admiral's ship. Because of a single soldier, the Waegues were not able to fulfil their mission."

"Yeah. A mad man swinging his sword wildly to the point where the Waegues were afraid of advancing." Another voice emerged from my back as a man with a huge physique stood up and stared directly at my face from above.

He smiled and said," Thus they named you, the cornered beast."

"... Cornered beast? It's making me sound like a dog." I sighed, complaining.

Leaning back, Commander Kim let out a hearty chuckle, his eye crinkled with excitement as he tried consoling me.

"You know what they say. Even the weakest dog fights back when they are cornered."

With humongous height where my head reaches up to where his chest was, the man who joined in our conversation, introduced himself as Park Su-Jung as he explained to me how they were captured.

The enemy ships were able to ambush theirs by hiding in one of the mountain's crevices when Commander Kim and his men were giving chase of the ships that were retreating.

It was also during their capture that they saw me fending off the army of Waegues alone.

Thanks.

Park Su-Jung stood up from where he was sitting to look through the tiny peephole through the cracks of the wall.

"We are approaching land."

---

From our cell, all of us were cuffed from head to toe. The rest of the Joseon and Ming soldiers were then dragged by one of the soldiers with a rope as the soldiers led the group of men off the ship, forcing them to kneel before the enemy commander. I was no exception. Dragged across the sands, I was placed in a kneeling position alongside the rest of them.

Walking in front of us was the enemy commander who captured us, as he stood still in silence at the entrance of the dock, waiting for someone. In a few minutes, sounds of horses galloping can be heard from a distance, as the riders dismount their horse and made their way towards us. A row of soldiers, all lined up neatly as their armour gleamed under the sunlight, stood at attention with their faces impassive.

There stood at the end of the line, a man clad in rich, embroidered robes bearing his clan's emblem which consisted of 4 squares. The man exuded an aura of authority and dignity. His eyes, sharp and calculating, scanned us with a mixture of scrutiny and curiosity. He must be someone of high importance, from the way he was dressed.

Behind him was another man, who I assumed was the attendant, as he walked forward with care.

The attendant was a translator.

Certainly! Here's how an attendant might introduce the son of a daimyo to a prisoner of war formally and respectfully:

Attendant: "Bow deeply to the ground, prisoner, and listen carefully. Before you stand His Young Lordship, Sō Yoshitoshi, the esteemed son of Sō Yoshishige-dono, Daimyo of the Sō clan. His Young Lordship has graciously chosen to visit you today. You will show the utmost respect and attentiveness."

The attendant then turns to Sō Yoshitoshi: "Young Lord, the prisoner is ready to receive you."

Looking around, the lord took his time inspecting the Joseon and Ming forces, with him particularly interested in Commander Kim. Then he turned to me.

Looking at me with great interest, the man called out to his attendant and spoke to him with a calm and commanding voice.

The attendant upon receiving his message, turns to me:

"Rise and speak your name, prisoner. Know that you stand in the presence of the Sō lineage."

"I can't remember my name."

"Don't be a fool. Your bravado is useless here. Say your name and let us be done with it."

"I really don't know what my name is, Jackass."

"You fool. You are under the grace of the young lord. Sniffling out your lives would have been as easy as snapping his finger. Tell me your name, NOW!"

The attendant spoke with great anger in his voice, as if not having my name would mean the death of him.

"It's true. He can't remember his name, he's an amnesiac." Commander Kim spoke from where he was kneeling.

Upon hearing the new information, the attendant turns back to the young lord and bowed, before relaying his message.

The young lord, picked up a sword that belonged to Park Su-Jung and threw it to me while he ordered one of his men to step forward. It was a Hwando. The sword of a Joseon soldier.

From there, he spoke one word, where the attendant relayed his message for me.

"Fight for your life, Amnesiac. If not, everyone here dies along with you."

The message was clear and simple. They wanted to see how useful we are as bargaining chip.

I picked up the Hwando, and slowly made my way to the where the young lord's men was.

My body still in deep pain as the cut wounds reopen. I could barely balanced myself, let alone fight.

With no hesitation, my opponent rushed to finish me off, seeing that I was an easy opponent. Throwing a vertical swing, his blade landed on diagonally on my shoulder. But that was intentional. I baited him so that I could get a clean hit myself. With his blade stuck to my flesh, I took my sword and stabbed him.

I chose to stab his non-vital spot, preventing the man from dying as I stood over my opponent who was in fetal position trying to stop the bleeding.

"I won."

I said in silence as I stared at the young lord.

The man stared back at me, satisfied with the result as he lets out a hearty laugh.

He spoke to the translator before turning his back on us and leaving.

The translator looked at us and relays the young lord's message.

"The young lord, wecomes you to Tsushima Island."