Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Primordial Human
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In the beginning, humanity...
『Mr. Lee Seung-hoon, we've arrived.』
As Sarang-i spoke, a massive rock came into view in the distance.
"Uluru."
The navel of the Earth.
A single rock of the world's largest size, with a circumference of 9.4 km and a height of about 348 meters.
'The primordial being will descend here.'
Was it a being from legends tied to Uluru or Australia?
Or was the primordial being buried beneath Uluru?
Or perhaps Uluru was a special place where a unique ritual could be performed?
"Sarang-i, could you tell me about legends related to Uluru or Australia?"
『Yes. Uluru has stories like the legendary snake Kuniya battling Liru. There's also a lake where Kuniya merged with her nephew's spirit to become the water snake Wanampi. And traces remain of the blue-tongued lizard Lungkata, a master of greedy deceptions.』
"What about connections to the primordial being?"
『The most relevant is the Rainbow Serpent, treated as Australia's creator deity. The Rainbow Serpent isn't a single entity but a spirit of the rainbow, with multiple instances known to have created the world.』
The Rainbow Serpent seemed the most linked to the primordial being.
"Guess I won't know until I see it myself."
The vehicle stopped in front of Uluru.
The Frankenstein crew had fallen into a deep sleep in the back seat.
"Hmmnya, my pudding... Doctor... I hate you..."
Better leave them here and hurry back.
Taking only Sarang-i, he leaped up Uluru in one bound. Within seconds, at the center of the summit, he spotted Izabel—the saint of the Antichrist, false prophet, and cult leader—dancing an inexplicable dance.
'Ritual.'
Three altars shaped like totems.
Her dancing in the center evoked the image of a ritual.
'An unusual dance.'
Her dance was truly beautiful.
The seamless, infinitely flowing movements seemed to express fate through her body.
"You're too late. The Dance of the Rainbow Serpent has begun, and now even I can't stop."
He stepped forward.
But he didn't get closer.
"The Dance of the Rainbow Serpent is a dance to soothe death. Once, transcendent beings called the Rainbow Serpents existed on this land. They danced here so the death buried in this place wouldn't awaken. In response, the blessing of death flowed out, granting them immortality and allowing them to play the role of creators in this land."
Even at full power, it was the same.
The distance between her and him didn't shrink at all; it felt like he was walking in place.
"Anyway, I'm dancing that dance right now. More precisely, it's the preparatory rite performed before the dance. This wards off external interference."
She stopped dancing.
"Isn't it strange? The Rainbow Serpents became immortal, so why aren't they in this world anymore? The reason is they could no longer dance. The Dance of the Rainbow Serpent must be performed under the North Star, but long ago, the Earth's top and bottom flipped once. As a result, the hemispheres switched, and they could no longer see the North Star. They fell into fear."
"They feared death would be disappointed and withdraw its power."
"Exactly. In the end, the terrified Rainbow Serpents fled to another dimension before their immortality could be reclaimed."
Instead, he drew the Inverted Cross.
"I'm going to recreate that dance today."
"Was immortality your goal?"
Should he use a ticket?
He had three left.
One enhanced physical abilities, and the other two summoned entities.
'Physical enhancement is useless, and the other two might cause more harm than good.'
Better to wait until after the ritual, confirm the descending primordial being, and act then.
"From what I know, you're seeking a guardian to protect humanity from the entities in place of the Creator?"
She was the Antichrist, but her goal was to safeguard humanity.
"Right. Curious? About what I'm about to do?"
She raised the Inverted Cross high.
"The Inverted Cross can only invert information, not physical entities. But the longer you're with the target, the better you know them, the more information you can invert. And if you fully understand them..."
The constellations in the sky shifted.
Distinctly new ones filled Australia's night sky, ones that hadn't been there before.
"Then you can invert even their physical form."
A star shining brilliantly in the darkness.
The brightest in the night sky, the North Star that guided adventurers, now hung in the southern hemisphere sky.
"Now, I'll dance."
She danced as if weaving fates together, narrating destiny.
Her dancing form resembled a snake courting or a human shedding its skin to become a snake.
"To get to the point, as I mentioned, death is buried here. One of the seven deaths that come after life, permitted to humans. The most horrific death, the tormented and wicked one, was also the hatred and jealousy the Creator inflicted on humanity as punishment."
"Is that what's sealed?"
"No, it's dead. Death itself is dead."
"How is that possible?"
"That's exactly it. Have you never thought about it? That the horrific calamities you know must have existed in the past too?"
He had thought about it.
Just never deeply.
He'd assumed some setting he didn't know existed.
"Modern humanity is protected from them by the Foundation. But what about before the Foundation? Or even further back? In a world full of countless deaths, calamities, and monsters, how did humanity, weaker than beasts, survive?"
The Foundation had kept humanity from extinction so far.
But the Foundation hadn't existed from the beginning.
So, in those vast gaps, who protected humanity?
"It was thanks to the one slumbering here."
As Izabel stopped dancing, black energy flowed from Uluru.
A special energy visible only in his right eye.
"The guardian who repelled all the world's calamities and, as a result, kept them from touching humanity even after death."
As if anticipating it, she pulled a ritual chalice from her bosom.
The blasphemous chalice absorbed the black energy.
"The one I'm reviving is that very guardian. Fallen Holy Grail, anoint the flesh slumbering in this land with the energy of immortality."
Soon, black blood boiled over from the chalice.
The moment it touched Uluru, the world fell silent.
"It's amusing when you think about it. The one person uniquely without a navel slumbers in what they call the world's navel."
As if overcome with emotion at something awaited a lifetime.
The entire world received it with reverence and awe.
"Ah, at last!"
A mound of earth surged from Uluru.
The two-meter mound took human shape, soon becoming a real human.
"New Creator!"
All previous notions of perfection were blasphemous.
True perfection was this man's.
From delicate muscle fibers to beautiful hair and face, even the fragrance from his body—it was perfection incarnate.
"The 'Primordial Human'!"
Now he understood who it was.
Uluru was a tomb.
"Please, protect humanity!"
The first human God created.
The origin of humanity, expelled from Eden.
"We beg you!"
Adam.
He had descended upon the world.
Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26-27
Everything held its breath.
The wind, starlight, earth, water, lakes, rivers, seas, humanity, beasts—all of it.
Not just Australia, but everything in the world paused for that instant, overwhelmed with emotion, shedding tears.
"Huat! Wh-what!?"
"Huh? Why are tears suddenly..."
Humans didn't understand.
It was merely instinct from the deepest genes, so they neither knew nor could know the reason.
But everything else did.
Those that knew turned toward Australia, then bowed their heads in respect.
"Mom! Look at that! The panda is suddenly bowing!"
"The elephant is kneeling?"
"The dolphins are dipping their heads in greeting!"
All animals did so.
"Whoa! Sudden wind!"
"Ah, hot! Why is the fire flaring up!?"
"The river's swelling massively?"
All nature did so.
"The constellations just shifted?"
"Are you drunk? How can constellations suddenly change?"
"No! Look at this! It's real!"
All the stars gathered to see him.
"Ah, this is the one..."
And atop Uluru, Izabel, having achieved her goal, gazed up at him with eyes full of rapture.
"The father of all humanity."
The first human born across all dimensions.
Only with his birth could the concept of humanity enter the world's natural order.
"Primordial Human, Adam!"
The perfect flesh sculpted by God opened its eyes.
Amber eyes imbued with the universe immediately looked up at the sky.
As Adam spoke, a fierce wind blew.
Miraculously, the gust didn't stir dust or flap clothing.
It merely circled Uluru, playing beautiful music.
'The wind celebrates his return!'
Not just the wind gathered around Uluru.
Countless Australian beasts and insects assembled, bowing or lowering heads to their king in reverence.
Soon, starlight poured down, wrapping his body in beautiful celestial robes.
For a moment, eyes widened in shock at the mythic sight.
Then, as the Primordial Human approached her, Izabel prostrated flat.
"It's an honor to meet the new god!"
Long ago, as the Primordial Human, Adam had protected humanity until his dying breath.
Countless entities hadn't believed his death and feared his power, leaving humanity untouched for ages.
All knowledge from the Devil's Grimoire.
Thus, reviving Adam would mean...
He would protect humanity in place of the silent Creator.
Firm in this belief, she felt the warmth of his hand stroking her head as she rushed to him.
'Ah.'
A strange power infiltrated her mind.
The warm, never unpleasant force scanned her knowledge and vanished.
"You revived me."
Modern language came from Adam's lips.
Even his voice was perfectly divine, calming the heart just by hearing it.
"Father went too far. Not content with death and aging, now even languages are divided. At least the original sin was handled by the second son."
"The second son..."
"I'm the first, so that child is second. The one in your memories, nailed to the cross, embracing all sins and vanishing."
Adam continued stroking Izabel.
"You've worked hard. It must have been tough."
"Ah, aah..."
"Now, you can rest."
Profound ecstasy struck Izabel's mind.
Like a child hearing praise from parents for the first time, so was Izabel.
"The serpent deceived you and will try to possess you. But worry not. I won't allow it. You're like Eve—foolish and dull—but still my family."
Amid ecstasy, Izabel turned to salt.
The white salt pillar crumbled, light from the heavens descended, taking her soul away.
"Father still denies us Eden. So become a star. Atone as a star, guide all humanity. That's the only salvation I can give."
Izabel's soul became a star in the night sky.
She would shine upon the world as a guide for billions of years.
"More importantly, hmm, these clothes are uncomfortable. A gift from the stars, so I can't remove them."
"Remarkable. The Adam I know realized shame after the fruit of knowledge and good and evil, covering himself."
A man who had been watching stepped forward.
The barrier blocking him was gone.
"No shame?"
"The fruit of knowledge and good and evil couldn't distinguish good and evil for me. I'm like a clone Father made."
"Then why leave Eden?"
He was like a scholar.
Even before transcendent phenomena, probing his knowledge seemed paramount—endlessly questioning, pondering, examining.
"Eve was pitiable. I was fine, but she wasn't. So I defied Father's command and came to the world with her."
"No regrets?"
"None. That was my free will. More importantly, who are you?"
At Adam's question, he bowed in greeting.
"Ah, forgot my manners. Hello?"
Adam wrinkled his nose.
"I'm Lee Seung-hoon."
He smelled an unpleasant stench.
Fainter on Izabel, but stronger here.
"You're the serpent."
"What do you mean by..."
Before he could finish, Adam's fist struck him.
Traveling faster than time was useful, Lee Seung-hoon couldn't react at all.
"I only caught a faint trace on the child Izabel. But you reek of it, so you're either the serpent or its companion."
As Adam revived, grass sprouted in Australia's wilderness.
Countless flowers bloomed vibrantly, trees bore fruit in celebration.
Lee Seung-hoon flew somewhere, crashing into the ground with a boom, knocked out.
"No time to deal with you now. Stay buried and sleep."
More important than the serpent or its ally approached.
"The real serpent and unknowns are coming here."
Far off, the sky split open.
From within, a massive ship stretched from horizon to horizon.
"What is that? Too much scent of descendants for the serpent's creation."
Below, the earth cracked, spewing burning sulfur flames and multitudes.
Suits, horns on heads, vertically slit snake eyes on human forms—they filled Australia's newborn fields.
"Yes, that's the serpent."
Elsewhere, space expanded, spawning identical non-humans en masse.
"So Adam, the Primordial Human, is buried at Uluru! Thanks to him and the sealed most horrific death, all dimensions stayed safe. His birth created the human concept, allowing us to be born!"
"That's the one the doctor tried stealing a corpse from before, right? Wanted to dissect the Primordial Human?"
"Ahem, well, still true now... Gasp! That's! No way, Adam!? Adam revived! A live specimen!?"
"Sigh, focus and find Frankenstein! Huh? Tons of weird things? This might be dangerous?"
Same as humans, yet not.
Adam gazed at the bizarre horde, shaking his head with a smile.
"Izabel, I can't grant your wish. I have work to do."
Drawing forth the power that once saved humanity from countless calamities.
"Still, I must resolve this."
As the first creation in the Creator's image.
As the first replica in the Creator's image.
As the Creator's firstborn.
As the creature first loved by the Creator.
Creation's power and destruction's power.
Adam, bearing part of both, spread his hands.
"Easier than creating heaven and earth."