Orange sunlight clashed with the sound of flocks of birds flying over the forest. Behind the dense trees, a group of humans lived with nothing but pieces of cloth covering their bodies, the only thing distinguishing them from animals.
The breeze produced the rustling of leaves that naturally fell onto the ground where they slept. Meanwhile, the sound of people talking continued to be heard at the end of the day.
Between two trees standing side by side, a rope was tied with a piece of cloth hanging from it.
The cloth hung like a sausage waiting to be roasted.
But it did not remain still. It moved because someone was wrapped inside it.
The sound of snoring could be heard as the person inside kept shifting to find a comfortable position.
The snoring grew louder together with the voices of the people talking nearby.
Gradually, the snoring sounded deliberate as it continued matching the increasingly lively conversations around him.
"Has anyone seen Andis and Arsy?"
"Where did they go...? It’s almost night."
"Arsy said she just wanted to play this afternoon... then Andis went to bring her back, but neither of them has returned."
"What should we do...?"
A growl came from the cloth hanging like a sausage. The sound silenced everyone’s conversation.
From inside the cloth, a man emerged while roughly rubbing his face.
His brown hair swayed with every movement because of how smooth it was. The man revealed a face that was nowhere near as smooth as his hair.
A dark bruise decorated the area around one eye and his cheek. His blue eyes looked toward the people who had gathered.
"What happened now?"
The man jumped down and landed on the ground.
The cries of crows sounded as if welcoming him with every step he took while the sky gradually darkened.
Several people stood up and immediately followed him, while the man joined the group that had woken him up.
"Who’s missing?"
A gray-haired man swallowed.
He was the one who had started the conversation that disturbed the brown-haired man.
"Uh? Umm... Prince, Andis and Arsy haven’t come back... I’ve already searched all the way to the edge of the city."
Silence spread.
The crows ruled the surroundings for a moment before their cries were drowned out by hundreds of people standing up.
They gathered naturally.
Their clothes were tattered. Children, elderly people, and adults mixed together as one.
The prince gritted his teeth.
He repeatedly struck his own head.
The sound of the blows made the others wince.
Then he roared like a lion as night approached.
"Karlsen!! Get my bow and all of my equipment!! Damn those mute bastards!!"
The prince’s reaction worried the hundreds of people around him.
They all spoke at once, but with the same intention.
"Your Highness... please calm down."
"Where are you going again? It’s better if we search for them first..."
"That’s right, Your Highness!!"
The gray-haired man who had reported Andis and Arsy’s disappearance became even more worried.
"Your Highness... it’s better if we search for them first. I think Arsy and Andis are simply lost."
The prince ignored everyone’s words.
"Where’s my bow?! Hurry!!"
Even the men wearing matching uniforms continued trying to calm him down.
But the prince kept exploding with anger.
He shouted and eventually grabbed his own bow.
He also fastened his sword to his waist and tried to carry as many weapons as possible.
His thoughts were in complete chaos with his anger, made even worse by the fact that he had failed to get any proper sleep.
People continued trying to block and restrain him, but he kept struggling to break free.
The elders continued advising him.
The soldiers held onto his body.
The women remained silent.
The small children began to cry.
The forest, which should have been quiet and gloomy at night, instead became as noisy as a marketplace.
The commotion finally stopped when a cold wind swept over them.
A wind that did not feel like the usual one.
Unfortunately, because of all the commotion, none of them had thought about lighting a fire.
They all slowly looked toward the same direction.
Silence naturally settled over them as the cold wind continued caressing their skin.
The prince moved through the crowd together with the soldiers.
They now stood at the very front, facing the direction from which the wind was blowing.
Worry and mixed emotions were clearly written across their faces.
The prince frowned, his ears twitching as the sound of footsteps reached him.
He immediately nocked an arrow and drew his bow.
His shout made the civilians behind the line of soldiers step back instinctively.
"Raise your bows!!"
Dozens of soldiers aimed toward the darkness among the dense trees, while dozens of others prepared their shields and spears.
The prince swallowed.
He let out a slow breath.
The sound of footsteps grew faster.
From the darkness, two figures ran toward them, unaware of the situation.
The two figures were wearing red and sky-blue dresses.
One was a little girl, while the other was a teenage girl.
The prince’s fingers almost slipped and released the arrow, and so did the other soldiers’.
However, they regained their senses the moment they saw gray hair swaying with every hurried step.
The two girls, who had been smiling brightly, were now startled by the welcome they received.
A voice finally broke the silence.
It belonged to a gray-haired man standing behind the soldiers.
"Andis? Arsy?!"
Andis frowned, while Arsy clung to Andis’ leg.
"Father? What’s going on? Why is everyone so tense?"
The prince let out a sigh.
"This is all because of you—"
His words stopped when his ears caught the sound of footsteps once again.
He did not have time to draw his bow again.
Neither did anyone else.
From the darkness of the forest, the sound of whistling echoed together with steady footsteps.
His waist-length golden hair swayed with every step, along with his silver jacket that stood out in the darkness.
The man’s footsteps stopped, together with his whistling.
He lowered the sunglasses he was wearing in the darkness of the night, and his gray eyes looked at every tense face.
One of his eyebrows rose.
"Good grief... there are quite a lot of—"
His words were cut off as an arrow shot past Andis and Arsy, heading straight for his head.
Unfortunately, the arrow bounced away and never pierced his head because of something invisible.
The golden-haired man sighed.
"Why are you attacking?! Good grief..."
The prince ignored him.
He drew another arrow while shouting,
"Fire!!"
Andis and Arsy, standing between both sides, immediately spread their arms.
"Don’t, Your Highness!! He’s a god!!"
Andis’ words echoed through the dark forest.
Hundreds of people froze as they stared at her, including Arsy, who raised her head.
"So Sister believes that Mister Van is a god?"
Van crossed his arms and shouted,
"Tetot!! I’m not a god!!"
The footsteps of hundreds of people sounded behind Van together with the noise of shopping cart wheels.
Hundreds of his ice clones pushed shopping carts filled with food and supplies through the darkness.
People began noticing the growing number of ice clones.
They emerged from every direction until they surrounded the prince and everyone else.
The prince could only stand there in silence while looking around.
Van spoke again.
"Yeah... I’m not a god. But I’ll help all of you."
The ice clones began handing out warm clothes with their cold hands.
At first, people hesitated and were confused, but Andis and Arsy convinced them to accept them.
Eventually, hundreds of people received new, warmer clothes at the beginning of the night.
They also received all kinds of food, whose packaging only confused them even more.
Meanwhile, several dozen ice clones switched on large flashlights and aimed them toward the night sky two million years before they were invented.
Cries of amazement continued to echo every time the ice clones did something new.
Van, who had previously stood apart, gradually blended into the crowd as though no one noticed.
He clapped once while raising a can of cold beer.
"Now watch... open the lid like this, then just drink it all in one go! This is for adults, alright!! The children’s drinks are over there with Arsy and Andis!!"
Van pointed toward Andis and Arsy, who were surrounded by children and teenagers.
They were opening various snacks and juice boxes.
"This is food from Mister Van, who’s a god..."
"This is so delicious. Why does it look like this even though it tastes like fruit?"
"Woah..."
The prince, who was still frozen in place, tried to process everything that was happening.
But when he saw his people gradually being swept along by the atmosphere and everything becoming lighter, he too was carried along with it.
The place that had been dark and cold was now bright and warm.
The sizzling sound of meat grilled by the ice clones became one of the many sounds filling the forest, which now felt like a festival.
If Van had not restrained himself, he probably would have already set off hundreds of fireworks.
But tonight, it was enough for him to provide countless daily necessities for hundreds of people, along with several cans of cold beer to complete the atmosphere.
Van smiled faintly in the middle of the crowd.
’Good grief... humans from two million years ago are just like modern humans...’
Van swallowed.
’So... did those meteors really wipe out this civilization? Like Atlantis sinking... and many others...’
Van’s gray eyes widened.
He took another gulp of his cold beer.
’Wait... don’t tell me Atlantis was real too?
Van shook his head.’
He looked around through the lively crowd.
The people were no longer paying attention to the person who had brought so many miracles into their lives.
His gaze finally settled on a man whose face was covered in bruises.
The man was sitting alone, watching everyone else while chuckling and drinking the cold beer he had just tasted for the first time.
Van walked over to him and stopped in front of the man.
"Are you the prince who got beaten up?"
Van shrugged and pointed toward Andis and Arsy, who were still surrounded by everyone.
"I don’t mean to insult you... but that’s what Andis and Arsy told me—"
Van’s words were interrupted as the prince suddenly knelt and bowed at his feet, startling him.
"The god has walked among us once again!!"
The prince’s shout echoed through the forest.
Everyone stopped enjoying themselves and turned to look at him.