Becoming the Land (2)

'Alright, just a little more... done.'

With a proud heart, I looked at the completed model I had made.

It was a dirt doll with two legs that hadn't fused with the ground, a humanoid figure with perfectly intact limbs.

'How much I suffered to make this.'

It was truly a series of failures. I had tried piling up dirt and then gradually removing it, I had tried making small clumps of dirt solid and then stacking them, and I wondered if making it standing up was the problem, so I tried making it lying down.

'It ended up a failure because it needed to stand to move, but.'

What I want to make is a walking human, not some unidentified something crawling around.

Fortunately, the more I tried, the easier it became to move the dirt, and now, a month later, I could finally create a shape similar to a human.

'Should I try moving it? No, if it collapses, I'll have to make it again. Should I practice with something else first?'

Seeing the carefully made model collapse without even moving once would probably make my heart collapse too, so I should practice with something else first.

'Since I can move twigs to some extent now... hmm, are living things possible too?'

Thanks to my past practice, I could now move not only dirt but also twigs to some extent.

I also learned one new fact: the range I could perceive did not include my main body, that is, the entire land. I only perceived the area where my consciousness was focused and its surroundings.

'Every time I tried to perceive the whole thing, at some point, my consciousness would just cut off.'

It was clearly morning when I resolved to perceive it, but when I came to my senses, night had already fallen without me noticing.

'It seems perceiving the world requires some kind of power too.'

That power I needed to move the dirt seemed to be used for perception as well. If I entered a sleep state automatically because I lacked the power when trying to perceive the entire land, then it all made sense.

Right after realizing that, I reduced my perception range to conserve power and invested more in moving the dirt. The result was my successful creation of the dirt model.

Anyway, continuing to move dirt like this might be helpful, but I feel like trying new things might build up proficiency more.

'Starting with a big one from the beginning would obviously fail, so should I start with an ant first?'

After finding an ant crawling on the ground like that, I tried to give it power like I did when trying to move dirt.

'...Huh?'

I didn't feel the power going in. When I gave power to dirt, I could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠move that dirt freely, but I felt nothing like that from the ant.

Thinking maybe I was tired and power wasn't going in, I waited a day and tried again, but the result was the same.

'Is it because it's a living thing?'

It didn't seem like it was simply because it was an object I was manipulating for the first time, like the difference between dirt and a twig. It was a bit difficult, but I succeeded in manipulating it.

But the ant was completely different. Should I say it felt completely blocked? My power didn't work on it at all.

'Is it the difference between living and non-living things?'

Then, can I only manipulate non-living things?

With that question in mind, I decided to try moving a pebble this time.

'...Got it.'

I succeeded without using much power, even though it was my first time moving it.

'It seems I can only manipulate non-living things.'

What a shame. If I could move living things at will, I could have experimented with quite a few things.

'For example, having various animals and putting on a circus.'

I could have seen the amusing spectacle of stacking ants into a tower, then having an ant I controlled climb to the top and fall straight down into a prepared hole, but unfortunately, it seems impossible.

'Hmmm... It's a shame, but I should be satisfied with being able to move non-living things. This is plenty fun too.'

I only messed with dirt for a month, but well, it was fine. It's much better than just sitting and thinking, right?

And there were more things I could do with dirt than I thought. For example, creating a path with dirt to lure an ant looking for food towards the food, or digging open a mole's tunnel that got blocked while it was digging, and such acts.

It felt like I was solving the troubles of living creatures, which made me happy.

'It feels even more enjoyable because there's a sense of doing something I shouldn't be able to do.'

How should I put it? It feels like I'm going against the natural order? It's a feeling like a superhero helping others with supernatural powers.

'Well, if moving non-living things isn't a supernatural power, then what is?'

I'm someone who can even write letters on the ground with dirt now. Anyone would see it as a supernatural phenomenon, wouldn't they?

'Come to think of it, do people not live around here? I haven't seen any humans.'

Suddenly, I became curious. Where exactly is the place I'm at now?

It's definitely the earth's land. The memories from my past life and this familiar energy I feel from the trees and soil prove that.

'But I really don't know where it is.'

It seems I wasn't very close to trees in my past life, probably. There were many types of trees, but they were all ones I was seeing for the first time.

'Hmm, this looks like a pine tree. Is this an azalea flower? No, a cherry blossom? I'm confused.'

When I observed the surrounding trees and flowers, mobilizing my shallow knowledge, I could draw a conclusion.

'It seems like it's Korea.'

Actually, I just guessed. My past life was Korean.

'I don't know if I was really Korean, though.'

Since my memory is scattered here and there, I can't be sure it was my past life. However, since the most vivid memory I have is of an adult man getting hit by a truck, I can only guess that was the case.

'Anyway, it feels like I'm just circling around the same place even if I go quite far.'

After reducing my perception range, I felt the need to settle in one place, so I chose a location and only acted around it.

It was an action to establish a center amidst entirely similar scenery, and fortunately, I found one peculiar place and made it my dwelling.

'It was a burnt tree, like it had been struck by lightning.'

With that Burnt Tree as the center, I moved my perception range in all directions to check where this place was, but there was no significant result. At most, I just got the simple feeling that I seemed to be circling around the same place.

If this place really is Korea, then even moving a little should make buildings or something appear nearby.

'If I really am circling around, could I be trapped?'

For example, in a barrier. Since there are intelligent beings and a clump of land that controls dirt, it didn't seem like barriers couldn't exist.

The problem is the reason for trapping me...

'Hmm, since I don't have memories, I don't know the reason. Even the ones I have aren't connected to each other.'

There are considerable problems with my memory. Earlier, I said the last thing I remembered was the life of a human male, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠actually, the oldest memory was of living as the land.

Lived as the land, then reincarnated as a human? But then why am I the land again now? Why do the memories continue? I couldn't figure out any of it.

'This is giving me a headache. Let's just mess with dirt.'

Whether my sense of time became weird after becoming the land or not, it seemed like I pondered for a while, but several days had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠passed.

Whether I'm really trapped or not is impossible to verify right now. Pondering more is meaningless, so I should just mess with dirt as usual.

Then, on a certain day while spending time messing with dirt as usual.

I noticed the atmosphere of the forest had changed somehow.

'It feels a bit more ominous somehow.'

Leaving the rabbit-shaped dirt I was making, I began to move my perception range.

At a glance, it looked no different than usual, but the vitality of the living creatures seemed to have weakened slightly.

They were shrinking back as if wary of something, or as if afraid.

While moving my perception range like that, I found a place where the creatures' reactions were strangely absent, so I focused my consciousness there.

Then, there was a puppy with its entire body painted black, limping along with difficulty.

'...It doesn't seem like an ordinary puppy.'

That thing was strange to be called a puppy. Calling a creature from which black filth dripped drop by drop and whose mouth was stained with bright red liquid a puppy was no different from insulting all the puppies in the world.

'What the hell is that thing?'

I don't know what its identity is. I haven't seen a creature that looked like that in the past several months. No, is it even a living creature?

'...Looking closely, it's swaying bit by bit, isn't it?'

It seems that thing isn't a living creature. Its form wasn't fixed and was changing slightly.

While pondering what its identity was, something suddenly came to mind.

'...Is it a Lingering Thought? A grudge? It must be a ghost-like thing.'

That thing isn't a living creature. It's a kind of residue left after a living thing dies.

I don't know why this information came to my memory. But one thing is certain: I shouldn't leave that thing as it is.

'...But, what can I do?'

The problem is, I don't know what I can even do to that thing.

'Should I throw dirt at it?'

That's practically the only thing I can do.

Having made my decision, I gathered dirt and immediately scattered it over the creature.

Kae-aeng-!Keurureureung!!

'It reacted?'

I thought physical matter would pass through since it was a Lingering Thought-like creature, but unexpectedly, the dirt covered its body.

The creature, suddenly having dirt scattered over it, let out a loud cry and threatened its surroundings.

Of course, even if it threatened, that didn't work on me. What's threatening a clump of land going to do? A useless act.

I continued to scatter dirt over the creature's body. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It would be nice if I could move a lot of dirt at once and pour it over the creature, but I couldn't exert that much power yet, so I repeatedly scooped and scattered dirt bit by bit.

The creature kept howling towards its surroundings, but it seemed flustered because it couldn't see the main culprit scattering the dirt.

If it ran away, that would be another matter, but seeing it limp, that also seemed impossible.

Ggae-aeng... ggaeng...

'...I feel like I've committed a bad deed.'

Eventually, the creature became buried in dirt with only its face sticking out. It looked quite pitiful.

'So, I caught it, but...'

Now what should I do with this thing?