The next morning,
As the first rays of sunlight quietly poured through the window and the sky outside slowly brightened, everything seemed to be waking up in this peaceful moment.
Missy slowly woke from her sleep, her vision still blurry.
She gently lifted the blanket off herself, planning to get out of bed and look for the owner of the place, hoping to borrow a phone to let her worried parents know she was safe.
But as she pulled off the blanket, Missy almost screamed in shock. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands.
She stared blankly at her short, thin legs. Was this her body?
She reached out her hand in confusion. It was also small. Her whole body had become tiny and delicate.
Looking down, she noticed she was still wearing the same clothes she had on when she was drifting, but they now looked oversized on her new frame.
The clothes were hers, but the body wasn't.
What was happening?
Did she die?
Was she in another world?
Or was this just a strange dream?
If it was a dream, it felt way too real.
And everything was too hard to understand.
In today's world, everyone had read at least a few stories about time travel.
The idea of "traveling to another world" wasn't new to Missy.
But still, that was just fiction. Not real.
She always treated those stories as fun distractions, nothing more.
As someone who believed in science, Missy couldn't accept this as reality.
Panicking, she got out of bed, desperate to confirm something—though she wasn't even sure what she was trying to confirm.
Her mind was a mess.
Just then, the door creaked open.
A man in his twenties stepped inside.
He looked gentle and clean-cut. Though not strikingly handsome, he gave off a calm and pleasant vibe.
He looked just like a scholar from a historical drama.
But why was he wearing traditional clothes?
Missy felt more and more confused and frightened.
She stepped back in fear, staring at the man, hoping he might give her some answers.
Bryson had stayed up all night and was finally seeing the break of dawn.
He tried to stay calm, washed up, and changed into a sky-blue robe with loose sleeves.
He tied a matching belt at his waist, and there was a light-colored, elegant ornament at the hem of his robe.
Then he went to the kitchen to make some porridge, planning to share breakfast with the girl later.
He had meant to check on her and see if she was awake, but to his surprise, she was already out of bed and was staring at him with wide, shocked eyes.
The moment he looked into her eyes, Bryson was captivated.
Her eyes were a rare, soft shade of light brown, as clear and sparkling as morning dew.
Her almond-shaped eyes made her look gentle and delicate. Her whole appearance was fresh and graceful.
Her beauty touched something in his heart.
While making porridge, Bryson had been thinking about his next steps.
He needed to understand her better so he could take good care of her.
But right now, she seemed distant, and that made him uneasy.
Still, he believed that with time and sincerity, that distance would fade.
"You're finally awake, little miss. Are you feeling hungry?"
Bryson spoke in the local dialect. But Missy didn't understand a word.
She didn't dare speak either. Since she didn't understand or know how to speak this language, she was afraid Bryson might see her as something strange.
She began to feel scared again.
Was she really dead and reborn into another world?
Bryson noticed she didn't understand him, so he switched to the common language and said,
"Miss, are you feeling hungry now? I've made some breakfast for you."
This time, Missy understood him. But she nervously clenched her hands.
Because now, another question came to her mind.
He called her "miss."
What did that mean?
Could it be that the body she now had belonged to his younger sister?
If he found out she wasn't really his sister, what would she do?
That thought made Missy even more scared to speak.
Missy followed the man nervously while they washed up in the morning.
They sat together in silence in the main room and ate a plain breakfast.
Missy looked down and kept thinking. When they washed up earlier, she saw her face in the water. It looked exactly like how she looked when she was twelve years old.
Back then, she hadn't started developing. She was short and small. She remembered this clearly.
She had only started developing when she turned thirteen, and then she grew very quickly.
Even her mom, who always worried about her height, was surprised.
Missy, who had always been the shortest, became the tallest in her class at thirteen.
Taller than the boys too.
She quietly looked around. Everything felt strange and unfamiliar.
That made her even more careful. She didn't want to do anything wrong or give herself away.
Her heart was full of confusion and fear.
She tried to think of a way to ask the man questions without making him suspicious.
Bryson also noticed that the girl was quiet and nervous.
After they finished eating, he finally spoke.
He asked in a gentle voice, "Miss, where are you from?"
Missy tried her best to stay calm.
His question helped her realize something. They didn't know each other at all. They weren't related.
That made her feel a little more relaxed.
She gave a small smile and carefully asked, "Big brother, where is this place?"
Bryson wasn't upset that she didn't answer his question.
He just replied honestly.
"Miss, this is Dagang Village."
Hearing that made Missy feel even more nervous.
She tightly held on to her clothes.
She quickly asked again, "No, I mean… is this Huaxia…"
Then she stopped.
She realized she couldn't ask that way. It would make her sound strange.
She made herself calm down and asked again, "Big brother, what country is this?"
Bryson answered patiently.
"Miss, this is Qiguo."
Missy became more afraid after hearing that answer.
Qiguo?
Where was that?
Missy had never traveled alone. If she went somewhere, her mom was always with her.
Even that time she went rafting in the canyon, she had begged her mom for a long time. Finally, her mom let her go with her roommates.
Now, she was in a completely unfamiliar place.
She couldn't stay calm anymore. Her hands grabbed each other tightly. Her body was shaking.
Tears started running down her face.
She spoke in a soft, shaking voice, "Qiguo, Dagang Village… am I really not in my world anymore?"
She had somehow come to a place she didn't know.
Mom.
What was she supposed to do?
She couldn't hold it in anymore.
She suddenly jumped up from the bench. Her heart was full of fear and confusion.
She needed to run outside and see everything for herself.
She didn't want to believe this was real.
She would rather think someone was playing a joke on her.
Or that she was just having a terrible dream.
If she could just wake up, everything would be normal again.
She didn't want to believe that she had left her parents
and was now alone in a strange place.
Just as she reached the door…