“Sigh… what a nice day.”
The snowy plains had once been a dreadful battlefield.
Millions of years ago, a terrible war had swept across the world, leaving no one alive.
Or so it seemed.
Only one human had survived.
A pale teenage boy with jet-black, curly hair walked through the endless snow.
He wore a fur-lined robe, leather boots, and leather gloves, all of them worn from years of surviving in the unforgiving wilderness.
He was nameless.
His parents had never had enough time to give him one before they were taken by death right before his eyes.
The boy walked along the side of a snowy mountain, his boots sinking slightly into the thick layer of snow beneath him.
“I hope I can get back to the cave before the next blizzard arrives.”
He sighed.
“Honestly, what worries me more are those weird-looking wood midgets I’ve been encountering these past few months.”
As he spoke, a strange sound suddenly echoed through the mountains.
CLICK.
CLACK.
CLICK.
CLACK.
The boy stopped in his tracks.
He slowly looked ahead.
“Man… speak of the devil.”
What stood before him was a sight that would have seemed impossible in any ordinary world.
Only twenty meters away stood several small humanoid creatures made entirely of wood.
Their torsos were round and thick, almost resembling enormous coconuts.
Their thin arms and legs protruded from hollow holes in their wooden bodies.
But their most disturbing feature was their eyes.
They were nothing but ancient, eerie darkness.
Every time the boy looked directly into them, an unbearable headache would creep through his skull.
“Haha… what did they do this time?”
The boy’s smile quickly faded.
Bloody spears and bodies littered the area.
A deer lay mangled and skinned across the snow.
Nearby, a strange minotaur-like creature lay in a pool of blood, both of its arms torn away and its eyes gouged out.
But what disturbed the boy most was what the wood creatures were doing.
They appeared to be performing some kind of ritual.
In front of them stood a crude wooden table.
The deer’s skin had been stretched neatly across its surface, while the creature’s severed arms and eyes had been carefully arranged around it.
The boy’s face twisted into an expression of disgust.
His stomach churned.
He felt like he was going to vomit.
His previous encounters with the wood creatures had never been this disturbing.
Usually, they would simply chase him, throw spears, or hurl sharp rocks at him.
Nothing like this.
Suddenly, one of the wood creatures shifted.
Its head slowly turned.
It seemed to sense something.
Then it spotted him.
Someone familiar.
The boy froze.
“Fuck.”
One of the creatures stepped forward.
It reached down and grabbed a blood-covered spear from the ground.
With inhuman strength, it hurled the weapon.
The spear tore through the air at an incredible speed, nearly breaking the sound barrier as it shot directly toward the boy.
Time seemed to slow.
The boy barely moved his head to the side.
The spear passed within inches of his face.
Then—
The wood creatures charged.
They sprinted toward him while throwing spears with impossible speed.
The boy laughed.
Deep down, however, he was terrified.
He knew exactly how strong these creatures were.
The boy had always been unnaturally strong for his age, but the wood creatures were simply on another level.
Fortunately, they had a weakness.
Despite possessing incredible strength and speed, their bodies were surprisingly fragile.
One-on-one, they weren’t too difficult to handle.
But when they fought in groups…
They became terrifying.
Spears flew past the boy as he dodged and leapt backward.
His cat-like reflexes allowed him to catch one of the spears just before it could pierce his head.
He immediately shifted his stance and hurled it back.
THUD!
The spear pierced straight through one of the wood creatures.
Its body suddenly ruptured, exploding into a cloud of strange, eerie darkness.
The darkness drifted through the air before flowing back into the mountain itself.
The boy tilted his head.
“Well… that’s new.”
He didn’t have time to think about it.
The remaining creatures were already closing the distance.
The boy lowered his stance, preparing himself for the fight.
Suddenly, another wood creature climbed up from his left and hopped onto the ledge.
The boy clenched his right fist.
BAM!
His punch sent the creature flying off the ledge and into the deep abyss below.
But barely a moment later, the other wood creatures had completely surrounded him.
One leapt into the air, attempting to strike him.
The boy smiled.
He grabbed the spear in the creature’s hands and tried to yank it away.
The creature refused to let go.
Its grip was monstrous—strong enough to rival that of a gorilla.
Another wood creature lunged toward the boy’s thigh.
The boy grinned.
He kicked.
BOOM!
The kick struck the creature with the force of a charging horse, sending it flying backward into another wood creature.
The two collided.
Their wooden bodies immediately exploded into clouds of darkness.
The boy turned his attention back to the creature still clinging to the spear.
He grabbed the opposite end.
Then, with terrifying strength, he charged toward the mountain wall.
CRASH!
He slammed the creature against the stone with such force that the entire mountainside trembled.
The creature’s body exploded into another cloud of darkness.
Once again, the darkness flowed back into the mountain.
The final two creatures suddenly rushed toward him.
They leapt into the air simultaneously, their movements filled with murderous intent.
The boy reacted instantly.
He grabbed both creatures.
Then he slammed them together.
BOOM!
Their bodies burst apart, transforming into two clouds of eerie darkness.
But this time, something different happened.
The two clouds merged together.
Then they flowed back into the mountain.
The boy stepped backward.
He breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath.
“For a second there, I was having a lot of fun.”
He laughed.
It was a genuine laugh.
For as long as he could remember, survival had consumed his entire existence.
Every day had been about finding food, avoiding storms, and surviving the ancient, frozen world around him.
But these strange wood creatures…
They had given him something he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
Entertainment.
Unfortunately, that feeling didn’t last.
The entire mountain began to shake.
Or perhaps…
The entire world was shaking.
The boy’s smile disappeared.
“Ugh… what now?”
He looked toward the mountain wall.
The cracks left behind from his earlier attack had begun spreading.
Faster.
And faster.
And faster.
The stone could no longer withstand the pressure.
CRACK.
The wall shattered.
Jagged pieces of rock exploded outward, flying in every direction.
One struck the boy across the face, leaving a small cut.
He barely noticed.
The minor injury meant nothing.
There was something far more terrifying happening in front of him.
The boy’s pupils shrank to pinpoints.
His expression changed completely.
His voice trembled.
“W-What…?”
The mountain was opening.
And something was emerging from within.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty.
A hundred.
A thousand.
Ten thousand.
No…
There had to be hundreds of thousands.
Wooden figures began pouring out of the mountain.
An endless army of those strange creatures emerged from the darkness below.
The boy stared at them in absolute disbelief.
For the first time in years…
He was truly afraid.