2300 BCE, early spring.
I opened my eyes.
My entire body ached.
No, it was not simply pain.
Every joint throbbed, my muscles pulled as if they were about to tear, and a prickling pain kept sending signals from every patch of my skin.
"Ngh."
I let out a groan and tried to raise myself.
But my arms and legs would not listen.
When I tried to move my right arm, a sharp pain shot up from my shoulder, and my left leg had gone almost completely numb.
Through my blurred vision, I saw a roof woven from branches and earth.
Sunlight leaked in through gaps all over the ceiling, and dust drifted slowly within the shafts of light.
'Where am I?'
I had definitely been reviewing a paper in my laboratory.
Then my chest had suddenly hurt, and I had lost consciousness.
A heart attack.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, goosebumps rose all over my body.
'Am I dead?'
But if I were dead, I should not be able to feel anything.
Right now, I could clearly feel pain.
I was breathing, and my heart was beating.
When I placed a hand on my chest, the thudding heartbeat traveled through my palm.
"Chieftain! You have opened your eyes?!"
Someone rushed into the pit house. His footsteps were loud, and at the same time, dust rose from the dirt floor.
The man who entered was a giant wearing animal hides. On his face was a red tattoo shaped like lightning, and the same pattern was etched into his muscular forearm.
"Chieftain...?"
The voice was unfamiliar. It was not my voice. It was lower, rougher, and deeper.
"Thank the heavens! You did not wake for three whole days, so the entire village was worried!"
The man's voice trembled, and tears welled around his eyes.
"Chieftain, can you hear my voice?"
"Wait."
I raised a hand to stop him.
At that moment, I caught sight of my hand. It was a rugged hand covered in calluses and scars.
There were old scars on every finger, and the palm was as rough as tree bark.
My heart seemed to stop.
'This isn't my hand.'
All my life, I had only held pens and keyboards.
I had lived moving back and forth between laboratories and lecture halls. I had never had hands this rugged and rough.
My hand began to tremble.
Kim Do-hyun. A professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University, and an authority on ancient metallurgy.
That was me.
I had collapsed from a heart attack at forty-three, and I had definitely died.
'Then what the hell is this?'
I frantically felt over my body.
Solid muscle met my hand, there were wounds here and there, and I was wearing clothes made from animal hide.
All of it was unfamiliar.
"Chieftain, what is wrong? Does something else hurt?"
"No, I'm fine."
I was not fine. But first, I had to grasp the situation.
"Who are you?"
"Pardon? Me?"
The man's eyes widened.
"I am Solid Rock, Chieftain."
"Solid Rock? Are you my guard warrior?"
"Yes, that is correct. I grew up by your side from childhood."
"How long has it been?"
"Already more than ten years."
"Ten years... Right, I remember."
I forced myself to nod.
"Truly? What a relief."
Solid Rock pressed a hand to his chest in relief.
"Then why did you suddenly ask that? Did you perhaps fail to recognize me?"
"No, my head's just a little dizzy. Don't worry about it. By the way, where is this?"
"Pardon? Here?"
Solid Rock's eyes went round.
"This is the Peregrine Tribe village, Chieftain."
"The Peregrine Tribe...."
"Yes, the tribe founded by your father, Chieftain."
"I remember that too. I was just confused for a moment."
I answered calmly.
The Peregrine Tribe.
Instead of answering further, I looked around.
I saw tools made of stone, an earthen floor covered with animal hides, and sunlight coming in through the entrance of the pit house.
This was the primitive era. The very era I had spent my life researching.
'This is insane.'
At that moment, a translucent window appeared before my eyes.
Ding!
『Civilization Level-Up System Activated』
Host Information
→ Name: Black Panther (Chieftain of the Peregrine Tribe)
→ Era: 2300 BCE (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age Transitional Period)
→ Tribe Population: 47
Civilization Level: 1.0 (Primitive Tribe)
→ Tools: Chipped stone tools, basic polished stone tools
→ Housing: Pit houses
→ Food: Hunting and gathering
→ Organization: Kinship-centered tribe
Personal Stats
→ Combat Power: 12/20 (Injury -8)
→ Intelligence: 18 (Past-life knowledge reflected)
→ Technical Skill: 2
→ Leadership: 14
→ Survivability: 16
Special Abilities
→ [Reincarnator's Knowledge]: Possesses modern science and technology
→ [Civilization Evolution]: Personal stats +10% when Civilization Level rises
→ [Collective Growth]: Tribe members' Intelligence +5% when Civilization Level rises
(Current average Intelligence of tribe members: 5 → 5.25)
Current Status
→ Severe Injury (Wolf Attack)
→ Tribal Crisis (Food Shortage, External Threats)
Mission
→ Survive
→ Protect the Tribe
→ Develop Civilization
'What is this?'
I stared at the window floating before me.
It was translucent.
The letters were clear, and the numbers were blinking.
'Civilization Level-Up System?'
It was the kind of thing I had only seen in web novels. There was no way something like this could exist in reality.
But now it was floating right before my eyes.
'Black Panther... Is that this body's name?'
I analyzed the information in the system window one line at a time.
2300 BCE. The transitional period from the late Neolithic to the early Bronze Age.
It was the era I had spent my life researching.
'With a tribe population of forty-seven, there should be roughly twelve warriors.'
And when the Civilization Level rose, the intelligence of the tribe members would rise along with it.
It was an extremely useful ability. With this ability, teaching them technology would become much easier.
"Chieftain?"
Solid Rock asked cautiously.
"Why are you looking into empty air like that?"
"It's nothing. More importantly, explain how I ended up like this."
"Do you truly not remember?"
"Yeah. My head's all jumbled."
Solid Rock looked worried.
"Three days ago, a pack of wolves attacked the village."
"Wolves? How many were there?"
"More than seventy."
"Seventy?"
My eyes widened.
"Yes, it was a large pack. They were bastards that had starved all winter and gone mad."
"How did we stop them?"
"You personally commanded the front line, Chieftain. You dug traps at the village entrance and used fire to drive the bastards into them."
"And then?"
"About half the wolves died in the traps and the fire. Our warriors dealt with the rest directly."
Solid Rock's voice trembled.
"You took down fifteen of them by yourself, Chieftain. The lead wolf was among them."
"The lead wolf?"
"Yes. It was twice as large as the others. It was as big as a calf."
"That bastard got me?"
"Yes. You did cut through its neck, Chieftain, but... it had already bitten you badly by then."
Solid Rock lowered his head.
"I should have helped you sooner. I am sorry."
"Enough. It wasn't your fault. If we defended the village against seventy wolves, that's enough. How bad were the losses?"
"Three warriors died, and three were injured. Six villagers were wounded as well."
"Who is severely injured?"
"You are in the worst condition, Chieftain, and Hard Fist is next."
"Did Hard Fist survive?"
"Yes. The old healer woman took good care of him."
"That's a relief."
I nodded.
So the original owner of this body had died while fighting wolves.
And I had entered the empty place he left behind.
'Why me, of all people?'
There was no point in being dissatisfied.
I did not know the reason, but what had happened had happened.
'First, accept reality. Understanding the situation comes first.'
"Solid Rock, explain our tribe's situation."
"What do you wish to know?"
"Fighting strength, the surrounding situation, threat factors. All of it."
Solid Rock looked surprised.
"Chieftain, do you truly not remember?"
"Yeah. So explain from the beginning."
"Understood."
Solid Rock knelt in front of me.
He placed both hands on his knees and bowed respectfully.
"The Peregrine Tribe was founded by your father, Sky-Splitting Spear. Forty-seven people live here now."
"How many warriors?"
"We originally had fifteen, but we lost three in this wolf attack. There are twelve now."
"How many can fight?"
"Nine. The other three are injured."
"Nine... That's few."
"Yes."
Solid Rock's face darkened, and his fists clenched by themselves.
"The Tiger Tribe to the east is the biggest problem."
"The Tiger Tribe? What is their strength?"
"They have more than thirty warriors. Their weapons are better, and their territory is three times wider than ours."
"Their leader?"
"A man called Blood-Soaked Claw."
"What kind of bastard is he?"
"He is known for his cruelty. They say he throws captives into the fire alive and shows no forgiveness even if they surrender."
Solid Rock swallowed.
"Last year, the Waterbird Tribe to the west surrendered, but Blood-Soaked Claw killed all the men and made the women slaves."
"How are things between us?"
"Bad. Last year, the Tiger Tribe invaded to seize our hunting grounds."
"What was the result?"
"We barely held them off, but we lost four warriors."
"What are the odds they invade again?"
"High. Our scouts often find traces of the Tiger Tribe near our territory."
A chill ran down my spine. If they invaded now, we would have to face more than thirty enemies with nine warriors. A head-on confrontation was impossible.
'We need to make up the difference with technology.'
I was a professor of materials engineering.
Handling metals was my specialty.
If this was the transition from the late Neolithic to the early Bronze Age, proper bronze technology likely did not exist yet.
'To think I'd fall directly into the very era I had only ever researched in books.'
It was ironic. But thanks to that, I knew more than anyone in this era.
"Solid Rock, what are our tribe's tools made from?"
"Mostly stone."
"Other than stone?"
"Sometimes we have things made by hammering red stone."
"Red stone?"
My heart began to pound.
Red stone. Native copper.
Among copper ores, it referred to lumps of pure copper.
It was the first metal Neolithic people discovered. That was because it could be worked by hammering even without smelting technology.
But they did not even know it was metal.
They simply thought of it as a "hard red stone."
I knew.
How to work copper. How to smelt it. How to make bronze.
"How many things made from that red stone do we have?"