Prologue: The Obsidian Spark
—Screech!Screech!Screech!
Unfamiliar monkey cries echoed through the air. The humidity and heat were already stifling enough in this alien place, but now these strange shrieks were grating on my ears, setting my nerves on edge.
"Professor… are you really sure this is the right way?"
"Oh, yeah! I swear! I heard it straight from the locals!"
"Professor Park, the people in these tribes don't even speak proper languages!"
"There's nuance to it, nuance! They said there are primitive hominid fossils this way!"
"I'm the idiot for doing my grad work under this guy…."
As I opened my mouth to gripe again, my junior assistant who'd come along with us, Han Si-ha, calmed me down.
"Senior, relax. You know Professor Park's like this all the time."
"Yeah, but we've never wandered this deep into the African jungle before…."
We were deep in the Tanzania Jungle right now.
A place where a beast could leap out at any moment. And our only weapon? That unreliable double-barrel shotgun clutched by none other than Professor Park.
After trudging for hours, we finally reached the spot the natives had described.
"Right here! This is where the ancient hominid fossils are!! I'm gonna discover the second Lucy!!"
"Here? No, this is just a cave?!"
"That's where ancient hominid fossils are always found!"
With that, Professor Park whipped out his flashlight and plunged straight into the Fossil Cave. Sighing at his utter disregard for safety protocols, Si-ha and I followed him in.
"Si-ha, hang back a bit and report our position on the satellite phone. If Professor Park hadn't rushed ahead, the other teams would be here by now too."
"What about you, senior?"
"I've gotta help that guy out, or he'll trip and face-plant in here."
Right on cue—as if he had a sixth sense, or maybe it was just the tiger coming when mentioned—Professor Park's bellow echoed from inside the cave.
"What're you waiting for?! Get in here!!"
"Coming!! Ugh, if it weren't for my thesis…."
I fumbled for my flashlight and hurried in. Thankfully, the cave wasn't too deep, and there was Professor Park, half-reclined on the floor like he'd collapsed in excitement.
"Find anything?"
In response, he practically squealed with glee.
"Look at this!! Right here!!"
I shone my light where he was pointing, and something utterly unexpected lay on the ground.
Half-buried in guano, but unmistakable: massive fangs, the sleek skeleton typical of felids, and razor-sharp claws. No doubt about it—this was the fossil of a mighty predator that once ruled this jungle.
One odd detail stood out: a huge hole in the Megantereon's skull.
"Megantereon…?"
"No, look—the fangs are too short. And it didn't even live in this region. This is definitely a Megantereon fossil. And such a perfect skeleton!!"
As Professor Park snapped photos in a frenzy, unable to contain his excitement, a voice called from behind.
"Professor! Senior! The team's almost here!"
"Tell 'em to hurry! We've got something amazing!!"
Si-ha grumbled in response to his urging.
"The call ended ages ago. We can't afford to burn through satellite phone minutes on our budget."
"Aw…. Anyway, photos first. Got those lanterns? Set 'em up to light the bones as best you can."
"Sure~."
Si-ha rummaged in her bag and pulled out two small lanterns. With practiced ease, she hung them in crevices on the cave walls.
The yellow glow spread, illuminating the scene that had been shrouded in darkness moments before more clearly.
And in that instant.
"…Huh?"
Behind the Megantereon fossil, something black and half-crushed came into view.
"This is…."
I pulled a brush from my pouch and swept away the covering guano. Soon, the clear shape of a hominid skull emerged.
Definitely not modern human.
Thick brow ridges, protruding jaw, yet surprisingly orderly teeth. It resembled Australopithecus in some ways, but shadows of early Homo genus lurked too.
"Professor! Check this out!"
He shoved his camera at Si-ha, grabbed another, and rushed over.
"What?! What is it?!"
"Skull right here."
Professor Park dropped to the floor, practically prostrating himself, and let out a bizarre wail.
"Wooooaaahhh!!!"
…It's all guano in here, and he just lies down in it.
Guano's bat shit. No way I'd stomach that. Even if I did, I'd at least lay down a tarp.
Professor Park was flat on his belly now, trembling hands firing off the shutter like mad.
Click!Click!Click!
"This… this is it…!"
"Professor, calm down. We don't even know what it is yet."
"It's definite! I tell you! I've studied bones for decades! This is no ordinary specimen!"
With that, he yanked a small brush and scalpel from his pouch, practically breathing on the skull as he cleared the surrounding guano.
I muttered in disbelief.
"He never shows this much passion during peer reviews…."
"Senior, look at Professor Park's eyes."
Turning, I saw his eyes gleaming like a madman's.
…Well, he was always a bit crazy, but today was next level.
I sighed, gazing at the two fossils.
The position—half-buried under the Megantereon—made it seem like they'd died here together on the same day.
A few hours later, the team from another country arrived a step behind. They immediately secured the site and began excavation.
Chopping wood for shelters, pitching tents for sleeping and work, helicoptering in generators and fuel to light the cave like midday.
From there, things progressed smoothly.
We all sprawled in the guano, digging out bones with tiny trowels and brushes, wrapping them in plaster to prevent damage.
After days of work, the Megantereon fossil was perfectly extracted.
Then came the main event: the ancient hominid fossil.
"You think this really is the missing link between Australopithecus and early Homo?"
Professor Park nodded vigorously, face alight with excitement.
"Absolutely! No one's ever seen an ancient hominid fossil like this! The other professors agree!"
"But why's the skull so black?"
"Probably soot from fire. The Megantereon fossil has scorch marks too, so maybe a huge blaze when they died."
"Inside the cave?"
I asked skeptically, and he scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"Lightning could have sparked a fire outside, smoke blowing in… or volcanic ash or something. We'll know after analysis."
"Gonna hold out with 'nuance' till the results come in?"
"Academia runs on a bit of intuition and nuance!"
"This guy's lived his whole life on gut feelings…."
Si-ha stifled a giggle at my mutter.
The hominid fossil wasn't just a skull. Carefully clearing more around it revealed vertebrae, ribs, pelvis, arm bones—nearly intact.
The mood among the on-site researchers shifted the moment they appeared.
"Arms are shorter than expected. Ribs half-smashed. The breaks happened before death."
A middle-aged researcher from the German team murmured. The French team's female researcher nodded, speaking in English.
"Pelvis too. It's midway between arboreal ape skeleton and Homo genus."
Professor Park jumped in, thrilled.
"See?! What'd I tell you! This ain't no ordinary specimen!"
"Professor Park, no victory laps before the paper's even out."
"If not now, when?!"
The researchers gathered, crouching low. At first, excitement over a potential new missing link. But as more bones emerged, it morphed into a different tension.
"Hold on."
The German researcher raised a hand.
"Something under the ribs here."
All eyes turned. Bringing light closer and brushing more revealed something hard beneath the blackened soil and guano.
At first, just a rock chunk.
But digging further clarified the shape.
Glossy like glass, elongated oval. One end smoothly shaped for gripping, the other sharply fractured.
"…Stone tool?"
Too refined for crude Oldowan Tools, yet not quite a classic handaxe.
The issue: humans coexisting with Megantereon didn't make tools this precise.
Professor Park carefully extracted it, holding it to the light.
"Stone tool for sure. See this face? Impact marks from striking with another rock—intentional shaping. And wear from heavy use. Look here, resharpened edge."
"So…."
"Could be a new lineage! If this individual's truly transitional, we might rewrite tool-making timelines! And this… obsidian? Any sources nearby?"
He handed it to me.
"Hey! Handle this carefully! One paper on this, and your PhD's a breeze!!"
I nodded awkwardly, taking it.
Cold. Smooth.
The touch of a stone that endured millennia.
But the instant my fingers met it—
Zzt.
A faint electric tingle raced up my palm.
My hand froze.
"…What the—?"
I muttered reflexively—and then.
My mind went white.
Heart pounding wildly, Si-ha's voice fading from behind.
Vision inverted. Cave vanished. People gone. Light, sound, smell—all erased.
Instead, forest.
Endless primeval woods untouched by man.
I gazed up at it—and down—from within.
A river slicing through trees.
The river reaching sea.
Sea to continent.
Continent to cloud-shrouded blue planet.
And I realized.
Earth.
From impossible heights, I overlooked the entire globe.
Then—
I plummeted endlessly.
Through sky, continent, forest—to a primitive hominid wailing its first cry, purple eyes gleaming.
"Kee-eek!"
Thus, I was reborn.
Si-ha took the stone tool, wrapped it in padding, and sealed it in a ziplock. A man's voice called from behind.
"Professor Park! Time for chow!"
Professor Park groaned, hauling himself up.
The man who'd come to fetch them tilted his head.
"Huh? Wasn't the Korean team three people?"
Professor Park shot back.
"What're you talking about? Just the two of us."
"Oh, right? Hmm, weird… must've been my mistake."
"Whatever. What's on the menu?"
"Chicken curry. Turned out great."
"Good, let's eat quick and get back to it. Si-ha! Pack up and grub! Digging's digging, but food's food!"
"Gotta eat big to keep that figure, Professor Park."
And so, Professor Park and his assistant left the cave. Completely forgetting the other assistant who'd come with them.
Obsidian. A glassy rock with razor-sharp edges, a key resource in the Stone Age.