Traces (3)
Human bones are pretty easy to distinguish compared to those of other animals. Even compared to similar apes, they're distinct. The back of the skull is round, and the jaw is square. This was definitely a human skull. I was certain.
Found human bones
YasaengGrill
(photo of a human skull)
Found this skull in what I think was the original owl bear cave. This is a human skull, right?
└Cheonma That does look like a human head. Any other bones?
└YasaengGrill There are too many bones around, so it's hard to pick them out.
└SwordTasteStar Looks like it to me?
└Yeah, definitely.
└If that's not a human bone, what is it?
└It's fully skeletonized, so it's been a long time.
└There were humans in the Four Seasons Forest??
└There probably were. They all ended up like that skeleton.
└No way that's Grills' future self?
└The odds are insanely high lol
└That's your senior survivor. Hurry up and pay respects!
└You psycho lolololol
└Shit, is that what you say to that guy? lololol
└Really kills the motivation lololol
└lololololol
└lololol
└StarlightPrincess You guys are awful. How can you say that as fellow humans?
└Be honest. You smirked too, right?
└StarlightPrincess My emotions are dried up; I didn't laugh.
└Heh. Just kidding, but you're taking it so seriously.
└For real, you live such a boring life.
I asked the Gallery just in case, and yeah, it's a human bone. One that's been around for ages. You can tell from how only the bare skeleton remains.
Not from a head injury.
The skull was in pretty good shape. No cracks or breaks; it was intact. I started looking for more bones, just in case. But I gave up quick. I'm no archaeologist—how am I supposed to sort through all these bones? Confirming a human was here was enough.
Did this person get dragged here by the owl bear?
I needed to scout the area more. I set the skull down and wandered the cave. It was huge, so plenty to check.
"Here..."
Then I spotted something I couldn't just pass by. A space right next to the nest. Two walls standing tall, with a wide area beyond. I peeked through.
"......"
Bones. A human skeleton leaning against the wall, lying quietly. Unlike the ones gnawed by the owl bear, this one was intact. I slipped into the space and looked around thoroughly.
"Oh......"
It was bigger than I thought. And cozy. Sure, cobwebs everywhere and dust from years gone by, but even accounting for that, it felt snug. Most striking were the furniture and tools scattered around. Mostly wood, rotted away, but some barely holding form.
Is this a stone axe?
A tool of wood and stone on the verge of crumbling. The stone sharpened to an edge, bound to a wooden handle with woven fibers. Traces of starting from absolute scratch, unlike me with the Gallery.
But these marks...
I traced the 'marks' carved into the floor. Familiar ones. Exactly like the tallies I carve on the wall every day. Survival days recorded. But usually, you'd do that on a wall, not the floor. Curious, I looked around.
That wall's full, and that one too...
The space was walled in on all sides, crammed with marks. No room left on the walls, so they went to the floor. A clue to how long this person survived.
"......"
A vague emotion crashed over me like a tidal wave. Even after surviving so long, they ended up a skeleton. And I have the Gallery... but could I last like this? They'd survived way longer than me, and seemed much stronger. Yet they died. Alone, unknown, leaving only survival tallies in lonely silence. This could be my future.
That thought hit me.
"Haa..."
Indescribable. Despair? Resignation? If I knew nothing, I'd cling to hope... but this made it feel hopeless. Could I really get out? Or even survive that long?
...Gotta try.
Survival marks on walls and floor. At least 2-3 years, easy. Don't know why they died. This forest made even clueless me stronger—someone who lasted years wouldn't die pointlessly. I searched for clues to their death.
"Hm?"
Scouring every corner, I found something. A box in the edge. Still holding shape after all this time. No dust disturbed, no bug tracks.
Better safe...
I prodded it gently with my sword tip. Just in case something jumped out. False alarm—it just rattled harmlessly.
Wonder what's inside? Maybe jars like mine?
With faint hope, I slowly opened it. Dust made me cough, but soon I saw the contents.
"......Books?"
Just a few books. Surprisingly well-preserved. I picked one up carefully, lest the cover fall off. Faded writing on the worn cover.
No clue.
Don't know any languages here. Font looks vaguely European. Gallery time. I snapped pics of the whole space.
Found a survivor's hideout
YasaengGrill
(photo of space between walls)
(photo of skeleton leaning on wall)
(photos of survival day tallies everywhere)
(photos of stone and wood tools, presumed survivor gear)
(photo of book with writing)
(photo of box holding books)
Found a secluded spot next to the owl bear nest. Inside: a skeleton and survival tallies. Weirdest part: the books. What language is this?
└Cheonma Not from Jungwon.
└SwordTasteStar Not Messiah Empire script either. First time seeing it.
└ChangguPrincess Not ours either~
└SunForever Not Setan. Not Alvenheim either.
└Looks like ancient script?
└Not enough to tell. Post more.
Everyone's stumped. Few countries, so few languages—odd. Better follow the advice and post more. I flipped the pages. Musty book smell, but manageable.
Yellowed, but readable.
Now upload to Gallery. Hope someone knows.
More book pages
YasaengGrill
(photo of page densely packed with writing)
This enough?
└Cheonma Definitely not Jungwon.
└SwordTasteStar Not Messiah. Iris Kingdom maybe?
└Olfather Not Iris Kingdom script. But it looks familiar. Please wait a moment.
└StarlightPrincess Saint Country script?
└Don'tAbandonHero I've never learned writing like that!!
└SusanghalJeongdorok Not beastkin language either?
└If no one knows, maybe from an extinct ancient nation?
└Pretty likely? At least 50+ years old for sure. No countries fell in the last 50.
└Grills. You picked up something huge.
└YasaengGrill So what? Can't read it.
└This is important to me too.
└Why?
└YasaengGrill Yeah, it's a survival log. Could be huge help. Need it bad.
Books bridge past and present. If it collapses, records and knowledge vanish. No wonder tyrants burn books first.
Ancient script might be tougher.
Languages evolve over time, everywhere. Past and present differ a lot—who knows what history intervenes? Even Korea changed under Japanese rule, and compare King Sejong's Hangul to now.
Quite a few books here.
Flipping, I checked others. Well-preserved, full of unknown script. If I could decode them...
Just upload everything.
Translation only via Gallery anyway. Might as well dump it all. Carefully boxed them back, stored in subspace bag. Scoured for more—nothing useful.
Just the necklace on the skull?
A pendant on the skeleton's neck. Red gem, pricey-looking. No real use, so left it with the remains.
This person must've missed other humans.
I gazed at the lonely skeleton against the wall. Pitiful, beyond lonesome. They wanted out too, but never made it.
Prisoners get eyes gouged, but this one wrote.
Shipwrecked or some circumstance. I stared a bit, then bought a sack on Gallery and gathered the bones.
Hold tight till we move you.
Maybe from always honoring parents' death days. Or my nature. Leaving them felt disrespectful. Owl bear victims unavoidable, but this was preserved. Bagged the bones, exited.
Wonmo was playing with butterflies near the nest.
"Wonmo. Let's go."
"Kyuu!"
Exploration over for today. Back to cave, upload book pics first. Need that info ASAP.
And a proper burial too.
Dunno if they have ancestor rites here, but still. Could be my future—or as someone said, my senior. Their legacy is a goldmine for me.
Back at the cave, unpacked, scouted for a burial spot.
Over there.
Not burying yet—Gallery books first. Pulled the box, set aside.
Any leads on Gallery?
Some time since uploading pages. Maybe identified by now. Logged in, hopeful.
└Olfather Could you snap the next pages quick? This old man's excitement won't settle down below.
└Sir;;
└This guy's so vulgar whenever he sees something fun;;
└What the hell is it anyway?
└Guessed to be writing by the Immortal King's brother? Probably Vulcan Kingdom origin.
└Crazy, why there?
└Shit, if real, scholars worldwide would riot.
└Historians hyped, academy kids in tears lololol
Olfather cracked it.