A young man ran desperately through the overgrown forest. Thick clouds in the sky blocked the light from space, preventing it from shining down on the earth. Dark, isolated, and hopeless. He couldn't stop his legs from propelling him forward even though his eyes reflected no images whatsoever.
As long as he could still feel the giant footsteps from the tremors chasing him like a vengeful spirit from behind, he couldn't imagine what state he would end up in. Everything around him was warped and distorted. The memory of his teammates being torn to shreds by that thing still lingered in his head. He was afraid he would be the next victim if he stopped running.
How did this happen? The young man's mind repeated the same question over and over. Fear of death pushed him to keep running even though it felt like his lungs would explode. The scenery around him gradually faded from his mind. The connection between his consciousness and body grew fainter by the moment.
His swinging foot stumbled over a large root. His body fell and crashed to the ground, but the armor absorbed all the damage. He wasn't hurt, but he had already lost the right to stand up again. The young man was covered by a shadow darker than the clouds. Loud breathing and hot wind like fire from a furnace. The stench of blood, both old and new, assaulted his nose.
The young man was afraid to look up. He commanded his body to move, but his hands and feet wouldn't obey. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead down to his neck. A threatening growl from deep in the throat. White vapor floating near his ear. Blood-red eyes staring at the terrified face of the human who was now regretting, now paying for his own foolishness.
"Mom... Dad, I'm sor—"
The sound of clapping from massive paws rang out before the young man could finish his sentence. His throat separated from his body before he could even register it. The enormous form used its thick paws to tear apart flesh and skin, extracting the human heart. It swallowed the blood and flesh of the intruder who had dared to trespass into its territory.
The red-furred bear reveled in the human blood and flesh to its satisfaction. Unfortunately, this was the last human it had found. Humans with armor and combat skills had more energy and nutrients than ordinary weak humans. They had auras of various colors. Some were intense, some were diluted.
Humans wanted something that was inside monsters. Monsters wanted something that was inside humans. It could feel that soon it would level itself up another step and become the lord of the forest mountains. Its instincts couldn't suppress its thirst. The blood in its body boiled, eager to evolve itself as quickly as possible. Not tomorrow or next week, but within tonight.
The red-furred bear crawled on all fours toward the area with artificial light. A rural village far from the city. A human dwelling with an alluring scent. Enough energy to make it evolve into something even more powerful. It moved its massive body toward a mountain—if it could cross this mountain, it would drink blood and flesh to celebrate the day of its bloodline transformation.
Its red eyes saw a shadow standing in its path. A young man in white clothes clearly visible even in this pitch-dark forest. An aura so devoid of power that it didn't even have one. No nutritional value or threat whatsoever to a creature that had already slain many strong humans.
The clouds covering the forest drifted past, allowing light from the sky to reveal a youthful face. Emerald green eyes stared at the enormous form of the beast too powerful for an ordinary person to handle. He had no gun or metal weapons. The only thing he held was an old, worn wooden sword at least a hundred years old in his right hand. In the blink of an eye when the moonlight revealed his form.
The red-furred bear wasn't sure if what stood before it was human. It didn't understand human beauty. But its heart pounded inexplicably hard. A sharp coldness flashed up along its spine. It couldn't find words to describe confronting this human man. Its nose, sensitive to scents, couldn't distinguish whether the human before it was human, animal, or plant. He wasn't something the red-furred bear had learned to identify clearly.
"Down this mountain, my precious princess and prince are sleeping. I can't let you pass through there," Jinyo said to the brown-furred bear with a tone and gaze devoid of fear. The wooden sword gripped firmly. Transforming the dull, edgeless sword into one sharp as a scalpel. The deep emerald green eyes looked so cold that even the one being stared at felt a chill.
"You'll go back into the forest and never show your face again, or I'll stop you here forever."
"ROAR!!" The reddish-brown bear roared thunderously. How dare this powerless little human threaten the mighty one of this forest! It charged at Jinyo, swinging its massive arms to strike with the same ferocity and speed it had used on other humans. The sweet scent of wildflowers drifted into its wide nostrils. It didn't realize at all that what it swung at had nothing there but empty space.
Peach blossom petals swirled through the air. Transforming the once dark forest into one filled with pink colors. The aura that had been so faint as to be almost imperceptible intensified until it was intoxicating. Peach blossoms burst forth, filling the air, irritating and stinging the eyes until it couldn't see.
Jinyo spun in a somersault, moving his body to a blind spot. Seeing its fat neck as thick as a child's waist clearly. The wooden sword carved a powerful arc. Severing the nerves connecting the spinal cord and brain. For the red-furred bear, it must have been like a computer suddenly having its power cord yanked out. It didn't even realize it was dead.
Jinyo's feet touched the ground again. Watching the red-furred bear fall backward with a thunderous crash before his eyes. In the end, it never got an answer as to why a weak human with barely any aura could fell it with a single move. It was flipped over onto its back. A metal knife was drawn from its sheath and thrust into the center of its heart to ensure it would never wake up to harm anyone again.
The instant its breath ceased completely, a golden screen appeared in Jinyo's consciousness.
[You have eliminated the intruder, Red-Furred Bear Level 10. Received 20-hour Plant Cultivation Ticket. Please select the plot of land you wish to accelerate growth.]
"Tomorrow's menu will be bear meat soup then," Jinyo looked into the deep forest. A place where many dangerous monsters roamed. Novice hunters often chose this as their training ground to gain experience before venturing to truly hunt treasures inside dungeons. Everyone looked down on natural monsters that weren't in dungeons. Thinking they were soft prey, easy to chew, and ended up being the ones chewed instead.
As for him, he was an ordinary weak person without power whom everyone looked down on as having no future.
But he was a powerless person who had grown up in a forest where others would die, ever since he was small.
Before this, he was no different from trash discarded by the world. But his life had changed.
Ever since the day he met his princess.
September 24, 2088
One month ago, the teacher who had been so kind to Jinyo died from cardiac ischemia. He was a gentle, compassionate old man who had hired Jinyo to work as a tutor at the tutoring center. The person who took over was a son from the big city. Wearing a brown suit with slicked-back hair, perfectly neat from head to toe. A pompous young master who wouldn't allow a single stain.
The first thing he did on his first day of taking over was to fire employees.
"You're a botanist—how can you teach mathematics? My father was really careless. I'm sorry to say this, but our institute won't continue to employ you. You can stay on as a teaching assistant if you want. But I recommend you go home and sell vegetables instead." That bastard gave him that ultimatum. Even though it was only a short time, just one year, Jinyo loved this tutoring center like a second home. The old teacher had been kind to him. But if he continued as an employee in the position of teaching assistant, Jinyo saw no bright future at all. That jerk was right. Going home to grow vegetables had more of a future than a tutoring center without the old teacher.
He walked into town to the employment office. Sadly, Richchester had no jobs suitable for his education level. The title [Doctor] and his doctoral degree didn't help Jinyo find work more easily. It was like a ceremonial cup kept on a shrine shelf while the worshiper withered away to skin and bones. He wanted to work in education or in the field he had studied. But this town was too small. If he didn't become a farmer, he would just be a teaching assistant earning minimum wage. Worse than that was being a teaching assistant paid at half the minimum wage.
The employment office couldn't help Jinyo. Their system didn't accommodate Jinyo staying in a small town. The country believed that people should work in positions appropriate to the education they had fought to obtain. If you have a doctorate, you should work in a job befitting a doctorate. They recommended Jinyo work in the capital or a major city. But Jinyo wanted to stay in Richchester that he loved.
He loved this town and wanted to stay here forever. Unless he truly had no other option, only then would he consider moving to the capital or a major city. Even though his academic work wasn't outstanding, finding work in education shouldn't be too difficult for him.
Jinyo hadn't given up hope. He walked all over town looking for job postings. But Richchester wasn't an economically prosperous town. Finding stores with job applications was as hard as winning the lottery.
"Sigh," Jinyo sat dejectedly at a roadside coffee shop, letting out a huge sigh, floating like a melting marshmallow. Walking around for half the day hadn't helped him find a new job. They rejected Jinyo with the reason that they had no suitable positions. Even though truly, whatever job it was, Jinyo was ready to do it. As long as the wages were reasonable. As for places that would hire him, they pressed the wages down so brutally it lost all humanity.
Jinyo watched a butterfly fly by and land on a flower in a decorative pot at the shop. Sometimes he envied it for being able to live by sucking nectar from flowers. Flying wherever it wanted to go and having its moment to shine. He pulled out his poetry collection notebook from his bag while savoring his honey-flavored americano. But the voice of a lady calling out demanded his attention.
"Oh no! Dangerous!" Jinyo looked up to the top floor. This roadside coffee shop had three floors. The top open-air deck only had an old fence that had been painted to look new. The small, compact figure of a little girl backlit by the sun created a shadow that made it impossible for people below to see clearly. She was doing something amazing—using her small feet to stand on the railing, balancing there. The clamor of adults trying to stop her didn't make her scared in the slightest.
By some miraculous force, Jinyo moved, getting up from his chair and running straight to the door. The small railing that should have easily supported an adult's weight broke loose and gave way. The little girl lost her balance and fell before everyone's eyes. A woman's scream rang out from upstairs and no one could move in time.
Except for one man.
Jinyo jumped with arms outstretched, catching and cradling the little girl's body in his embrace. In that split second when they made contact, a strange feeling overflowed and flooded his heart. His heart pounded as if coming back to life again. He didn't know if it was from relief at saving a life or if his brain was releasing adrenaline in that critical moment, pumping his blood.
The faint floral scent soothed the little girl in his arms, calming her down. She didn't cry or panic. Perhaps she was still in shock, or the aura of the strange man soothed her, making her feel as safe as when she was with her mother.
"Hey you! Are you okay? Is the child hurt?"
"Ambulance! Call an ambulance!"
"You idiot! Whose parents are you? Show yourself right now!" Someone shouted up to the third floor. Everyone at the viewing corner turned to look at each other. Looking for who the child's parents were.
"I'm fine. I'm safe. The child is safe," Jinyo turned to speak to the concerned citizens who ran over to check on them. The little girl in his arms was released. She seemed confused and very guilty. She stared at the face of the man who saved her life without blinking.
"It's okay now, sweetie. You're not hurt anywhere, right?"
"No."
"It's dangerous. Don't do it again, okay? Your mom and dad will worry."
"I wanted to find Mama. I couldn't find Mama."
"Where is your Mama?"
"I don't know. Mama left me. Mama doesn't love me anymore." The little girl's tears fell in drops. Jinyo heard from the coffee shop staff that this child wasn't a customer's child. But a lost child who came to rest in the coffee shop waiting for a guardian to pick her up. She seemed to have gotten separated from her guardian, and the guardian was busy and not ready to pick her up yet. During this time of day, the shop was especially crowded, so the staff wasn't available to look after her.
"What's your name, sweetie?"
"Hazel."
"Hazel is a very beautiful name. Hazel has to be a good girl and wait for Mama, okay? Don't go near fences or balconies without an adult. Do you understand?" Jinyo reached out to stroke the little girl's shiny black hair. He slowly stood up, dusting off the dirt on his pants. He thought he had been at this coffee shop too long already. Everyone was treating Jinyo like a hero, which made him uncomfortable receiving special treatment. Just as he was about to walk out, the little girl's hand reached out to grab his dusty pants.
"Is something wrong?"
"..." The little girl didn't answer.
"She's probably scared and wants to stay with you," one of the female customers in the coffee shop spoke up. Jinyo scratched his head, not knowing what to do. He needed to continue walking around looking for job applications, but leaving this pitiful little girl made him feel awful. The look in this child's eyes reminded him of himself as a child.
Jinyo himself also had a time when he said his mother had abandoned him. It was lonely and desolate. For this child to reach out and pull at a stranger she just met—how much did she need someone to rely on? His heart understood completely.
"Can I get the guardian's number, please?"
"Hello, my name is Jinyo. Your child is very startled and wants to stay with me for a while. But I can't stay at the coffee shop. Can I take her somewhere else? When you come to pick her up, I'll bring her back." Good Lord, what was he doing? A stranger calling you and saying you can trust me, I'll take your child out and bring her back when you come to pick her up. Even if a demon twisted his neck, if Jinyo were a parent, he would never allow this suspicious person under any circumstances. He didn't know what possessed him to make such a foolish decision.
"Yes. Let's meet at the fountain square at 6 PM."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yes. See you then." The guardian hung up.
Only the flat beep of an empty line sounded in Jinyo's ear.
God help me, what a terrible mother. Jinyo didn't want to meet the face of this irresponsible mother at all. Even though her voice was very pleasant.
But the voice sounds strangely familiar. Do I know her? Jinyo shook his head dismissively. He extended his pinky finger for the little girl to reach out and hold hands.
"Your mom will come pick you up at six o'clock. Until then, stay with big brother, okay? My name is Jinyo. You can call me Brother Yo." Jinyo introduced himself. He himself had a younger sister who often called him Brother Yo. It was more convenient for him to be called that.
"No. Not Mama."
"Not your mother?"
"Mmm, both yes and no. My Mama left me. Not coming back. Everyone says that. I wanted to find Mama and ask if Mama really left me. If I went up high, I could see clearly. But then boom—very scary."
"Going up like that isn't good. You might never see Mama again. But if you're still alive, someday Hazel will definitely meet Mama again."
"Really? Really? You said it, okay?"
"Really. If you're still alive, you'll definitely meet her."
Jinyo took Hazel walking all over town. His original purpose was to apply for jobs at stores with postings. In the end, it became taking a strange little girl sightseeing around town without realizing it. Jinyo wasn't one to interact much with strangers. He would run out of energy like a dying battery. But he took Hazel walking through shopping centers to markets. Taking the little girl to search for her Mama from afternoon until evening without getting tired at all.
Jinyo didn't know who Hazel's Mama was. Why did she say Mama had abandoned her? This world had selfish mothers. But Jinyo believed that mothers who loved and cherished the children they gave birth to far outnumbered terrible mothers. He didn't judge that Hazel's mother had such a terrible nature as to abandon her own child as the little girl claimed. It might be a misunderstanding or the distorted perspective of a seven-year-old.
Jinyo scraped together the little money in his wallet to buy Hazel ice cream. When it was close to the appointed time of six o'clock, they went to stand and play in front of the statue at the fountain square.
"Brother Yo, why are you so kind?"
"Am I kind?"
"You helped me. Took me to find Mama. Brought me here. So kind. I wish everyone in the world was like Brother Yo."
"I'm sorry, because there's no one like me." After Jinyo finished speaking, he was silent for a while. Looking at the adorable, chubby face of this child clearly. Memorizing this moment because he probably would never cross paths with this little girl again. She was a cute and innocent child like a little princess. It was then that he realized why Jinyo felt that spending time with Hazel made him happy.
"I have a daughter your age. But we don't live together."
"Brother Yo has a daughter too?"
"Yes. Seven years old, just like Hazel. Her name is Ryse. But since she was born, I've never met my daughter even once. So I'm glad to take care of Hazel. Because if I got to be with my daughter, I wonder how I would take care of her. I think that way."
"..." The little girl buried her face in Jinyo's hand. He could feel the moisture on his thin shirt. Her chest and shoulders trembled as if suppressing something from pouring out.
"Name... me too."
"What?" The little girl's voice was muffled, and he couldn't hear.
"Will I get to see Brother Yo again?"
We won't see each other again.
But he couldn't say that. To a child who felt abandoned by the world, Jinyo couldn't speak such cruel words.
"Of course. If you miss me, you can call, okay?" Jinyo waited until the appointed time. He observed the figure of a young woman in a black coat. Long hair flowing to her hips. Skin as white as snow. Sharp ruby-red eyes radiating deadly intensity in every step. What contrasted with the fierce lioness image was the little lion cub. A boy she was holding hands with.
The moment Jinyo saw her approaching, his eyes widened as his heart froze. Memories stretching back to childhood were excavated from the depths of his hippocampus. He recognized the source of the familiarity from hearing that cold voice like a bullet when talking on the phone. Something in his heart was burning hot yet so chillingly cold he wanted to avoid her gaze.
"Rina," Jinyo stared at her stunningly beautiful face that any man would have to turn and look at, with a face as white as paper. Paper that had been stapled.
"Mama Rina," Hazel called the name of the woman before them. Jinyo turned to look at the little girl, then alternated looking at the young woman he knew well, and the boy who looked at him with curious eyes wondering who he was. But it seemed Jinyo knew well who this boy was. Including the identity of the little girl he was currently holding hands with.
"Seven years have passed and you're still the same, unchanged. You heard my voice and still didn't know it was me. Unbelievable, really." Rina looked at Jinyo while using piercing words. The young man was deeply wounded.
He had never felt it before.
In truth, the little girl he had coincidentally saved wasn't named Hazel.
Her name was Ryse Palmer.
She was truly his daughter.
[You have connected with your daughter, Ryse Palmer]
[The hidden system has been activated]
[Your true bloodline [Ancient Flora] is being awakened]
[A god from another universe has extended a special offer to you. The path you are moving forward on is to end your life as a human or face all of heaven as an enemy]
[Choose your future yourself]