What a Crazy World
What a Crazy World
On a cliff battered by fierce winter winds.
A woman with red eyes and flowing black hair gently stroked the baby in her arms with trembling hands.
"Lukar... Your name is Lukar..."
So that's my name. But more than that, I was curious about this.
You just gave birth, how did you climb all the way up here?
No matter how much I search my memories, only thirty minutes have passed since I gave birth to a fresh newborn baby?
Giving birth alone, cutting the umbilical cord alone, and walking immediately without a single moan.
Plus, it's fucking cold. Why did we come up here? I can't even understand.
Then, letters only I could see appeared before my eyes.
[Do not worry. This is normal.]
System, you son of a bitch, is that what you call normal?
Even if I chose this myself, this isn't right!
[Do not worry. This is normal.]
My mother stroked me, then looked out at the forest beyond the cliff with a resolute face.
Why are you looking over there?
I'm so scared.
Then she lifted me with one hand and positioned herself like someone about to throw something.
Mother? Mother? What the fuck, Mother??
"Please... survive...!!"
What the fuck.
"Stop!!"
A rough voice suddenly rang out, stopping my mother's insane action.
"... Vargen."
Muttering that, my mother held me close again and turned around.
Fuck, I almost died. Whoever you are, thank you...!
"... Mirkai, wait, listen to me...! Trying to entrust a child to winter...!"
Mother, Mirkai turned to see an elderly man with a sturdy build approaching slowly, both hands extended.
"Give me the child. I can't let you go through with that ritual. I'll take the child...!"
"I cannot do that, Elder Vargen-nim."
My mother said firmly.
"... This child is a half-breed. You would not be able to handle it, Elder-nim."
"Are you saying you'd let the child die!? Stop being stubborn!"
Suddenly, I felt my body lift and saw the sky.
Rolling my eyes desperately, I saw my mother holding me out over the cliff.
The old man called Vargen froze.
"... You know this is the only way, don't you?"
"... Even so, this is insane...! He's just a newborn baby!!"
What the hell are you all talking about? Save me!
My mother laughed bitterly and said.
"Either way, after I'm banished, it'll be the child's turn. So, I have no choice but to entrust him to winter."
Suddenly, she pulled me to her chest and threw me into the forest.
"No!!"
The Elder's face, reaching out a futile hand toward me, twisted in shock.
With the sensation of floating in the air, my life flashed before my eyes.
The suddenly appearing message [You have awakened.] and the status window.
Me, laughing and agreeing to the system usage agreement without even reading it.
Who would have known I'd end up in this crazy world.
[Do not worry. You will not die.]
Those fucking letters floating toward me as I fell into the forest.
"Waaahhh!!"
Save me, fuck!!!
My cries split the air uselessly, and what met me at the end of my fall into the forest was a harsh impact.
Splash!
Cold water poured into my eyes, nose, and mouth.
"Grrrblll...!"
I flailed my arms, but it was meaningless.
I don't want to die like this.
Fuck, do you think I'll die like this...!
Swept by the current, I miraculously got out of the lake, my body shivering in the cold winter wind.
I can't die like this. I don't want to die like this. Why should I die like this?
Vague memories flickered through my instincts.
The times I fought like hell, mocked for being an orphan.
Why did I fight?
Thump
My heart pounded, the wind swirled around me, and something hot settled in the center of my heart.
Ssssss
Steam rose from my trembling body as my temperature climbed.
Right, I fought because life was fucking miserable. So I couldn't just die like this.
Strength filled my body, and with arms barely able to move, I reached my hand out from the swaddling clothes.
Dragging my body by grabbing onto weeds, I crawled into the forest.
I couldn't just die like this.
No way was I going to let this world fuck me over again.
The small body emitting steam gradually disappeared into the forest.
That night, I crawled on all fours through the forest, eating snakes and rabbits.
The crunching sound echoed through the nighttime forest.
.
.
.
Looking back now, I think it was truly insane.
Though I survived in the end.
[Didn't I tell you so?]
Letters appeared above the crackling campfire.
"You littol shitty baby, I told you not to talk."
Damn, if only my teeth hadn't fallen out the day before.
[Anyway, congratulations. You have survived for five years.]
Still, seeing those words made me emotional.
A newborn baby surviving alone in the forest for five years.
Thinking back, it was desperate.
I slowly sat up and looked at my reflection in a puddle on the cave floor.
A body so robust it was hard to believe I was five years old.
Black hair, black eyes. A face scarred in various places.
Am I too big for a five-year-old?
A muscle-filled body and a child's scarred face. Look at this crazy combination.
"Ha, really..."
A body so tough it made me think, is this even possible?
So this is what they mean by barbarians.
I guess only the weak survive in civilization.
Gulp
I scooped water from the puddle and drank, then began preparing for the day's hunt.
I grabbed a stone knife I'd made by breaking and grinding rocks, and a javelin perfect for throwing.
Living in the forest taught me that these two things were enough to survive.
As I opened the entrance covered with animal hides, the harsh winter wind rushed in.
"Ugh, cold."
I wrapped my rough leather robe more carefully and moved through the snow-covered forest.
My goal now was simple.
Survival.
Honestly, I've forgotten most of the original story now.
I only know vaguely why I entered this world.
I think... I was supposed to save someone...
"I don't remembuh..."
Thinking about it gets me nowhere. In times like this, moving my body and hunting is better for peace of mind.
Rustle
"Hup!"
The moment the sound touched my sensitive ears, I twisted my body and threw the javelin.
Sshhwaaek! Thud!
"Squeak!"
A brief death cry, then the bushes fell silent.
Slowly approaching and pulling the javelin half-buried in the bushes, a rabbit came with it, skewered.
Thank you, nature, for providing today's daily bread.
I naturally put my hands together in a rough Buddhist prayer and was about to return to the cave when a faint sound brushed past from behind.
Thump
Electricity ran through my entire body, and something in my heart reacted. My senses sharpened, and sounds became distinguishable.
... What is that? Snow crunching sound. ... Heavy footfall. The approaching sound is singular.
I quickly hid in the nearby bushes, raised my javelin, and held my breath.
The sound grew closer, and soon the figure visible through the bushes... had a strangely familiar face.
But right now, we were strangers meeting in the wild.
Caution comes first.
Then his voice came through.
"... I smell blood."
Damn. I was holding the rabbit.
Ah, shit. He's already figured it out.
"Come out. I know you're here."
I slowly emerged from the bushes, holding my javelin cautiously.
When I appeared, the sturdy old man with white hair let out a groan.
"Uuuum... To think you're really alive..."
This voice, and that face... I think I remember.
He was definitely some kind of Elder or whatever.
"... That rabbit, did you just catch it?"
His gaze was on my spear. I silently nodded, watching him.
"... Hah, a five-year-old can do this...?"
He muttered quietly, looked around, then met my eyes directly.
"My name is Vargen. I came to take you... to take you, Lukar, with me."
"... Wheah?"
Ah, seriously, this is a serious moment but my lisp from missing teeth is ruining it.
"To your homeland... Herkan. The place where you belong."
Fortunately, Vargen didn't laugh but seriously extended his hand.
"Will you come, or will you stay here? Choose. You have more than enough right to."
I thought for a moment, but it's probably better to go.
I need information, and it's more advantageous for survival.
I also need to ask about this thing settled in my heart.
I slowly lowered my javelin, approached, and took his hand. He grasped my hand and nodded.
"Do you have anything to pack?"
I thought for a moment, then shook my head. He began leading me somewhere.
Rustle
The familiar forest gradually grew distant.
In five years, I'd never left the forest. The reason being, familiar places are easier to survive in.
Still, I have a guardian now, so it should be fine, right?
Crunch, crunch
Sounds I'd normally be on guard against didn't bother me as I kept walking.
"It'll take about a day or two."
With his voice, we turned onto an unfamiliar forest path.
Unfamiliar sounds filled my ears, and my muscles contracted tightly, ready to bolt at any moment.
Since something appeared in my heart, this sense had developed more.
"... A second heart has formed. Well, I suppose it's only natural."
I turned my head at his voice. How did he know?
"... How do you know?"
"Of course. People in the outside world... especially those in the Empire, call it a Core."
He narrowed his eyes and muttered.
"Our tribe calls it the second heart. It's a special power that only warriors possess."
Core. So this is why I survived.
Well, it was strange that I could move my body when I was a newborn baby.
"... More than that, aren't you curious about your mother?"
"... I don't know."
It was hard to talk.
Honestly, it's more because everything is so incomprehensible.
Why a mother would abandon her newborn baby in the forest... and why I had to survive alone here.
"... It's complicated. Even if I told you now, you probably wouldn't understand."
He stopped his heavy footsteps and turned his head toward me.
"But remember just one thing. Your mother seized a possibility for your future."
I stared blankly at his face.
Does throwing a baby off a cliff for their future make any sense to you, old man?
He faced forward again and resumed walking.
"You'll find out later."
We kept walking without stopping.
The unfamiliar forest path.
The cries of unidentified beasts in the forest.
The presence of Vargen beside me.
My body kept increasing its temperature, as if constantly sending out alert signals.
But both he and I stayed quiet as we moved.
Me because of my missing teeth.
Him because he knew I wouldn't understand even if he explained now.
How long had we walked, chewing on the jerky he'd given me?
After spending a night in the forest and leaving it behind, a new path appeared.
An artificially maintained road. And wheel tracks.
Traces of civilization.
"... If we follow this road, we'll reach your homeland, Herkan."
Following him up a hill, I could see what looked like a village in the distance.
"That's Barhan. It's where you'll be living."
I had an ominous feeling.
The air carried the smell of oil and blood.
As I followed him down the road, people gradually began to appear.
Their eyes glanced once at Vargen walking ahead of me, then at me, then at my hands.
"... Could it really be that woman's child?"
"That insane thing was actually possible..."
"The one embraced by winter..."
Their murmuring reached me.
Their gazes were somehow unpleasant.
Looks like I'm not welcome here... What the hell is going on?
Then, Vargen, who was walking ahead, turned to me and said.
"Under normal circumstances, you wouldn't be allowed to set foot here. But your mother made it possible."
The place he guided me to was a tent.
"This is where you'll stay."
Inside, there was a swaddled baby and a letter.
The baby was sleeping soundly. But who is this?
"... That child is your younger sister, 'Serkai.' Your mother wrote that she entrusts her to you."
He followed me in and read the letter on my behalf.
"... Haah..."
A sigh escaped me naturally.
I have to take care of a little sister too? This is insane.
I stared blankly at the baby and sighed when a jingling sound came from behind.
Turning around, Vargen was holding out a leather pouch.
"Take this. It's money your mother saved."
I took the pouch and opened it to find shiny coins. From my experience reading web novels, they looked like silver and copper coins.
"... Well, if you have questions, come ask me anything. I'll be in the largest tent here."
He parted the cloth and went outside, leaving the empty tent with only the baby's breathing and me.
"... Fuck."
This is so fucking overwhelming.