Atop a cliff battered by fierce winter winds.
A woman with red eyes and billowing black hair gently stroked the baby in her arms with trembling hands.
“Rukareu… your name is Rukareu…”
So that’s my name. No, more than that, I was curious about something else.
You just gave birth; how did you get all the way up here?
No matter how much I searched my memories, it hadn’t even been thirty minutes since she popped out a fresh baby.
She gave birth alone, cut the umbilical cord alone, and could walk immediately without a single groan.
Plus, it’s fucking freezing. Why did she come up here? I can’t understand it at all.
Just then, words only I could see appeared before my eyes.
[Do not worry. This is normal.]
System, you son of a bitch, you call that words?
No matter how much this was my choice, this isn’t what I signed up for!
[Do not worry. This is normal.]
My mother stroked me like that, 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 in one hand and took a stance like someone about to throw something.
Mother? Mother? What the fuck, Mother??
“Please… survive…!!”
Oh, fuck.
“Stop!!”
At the rough voice that suddenly rang out, my mother’s insane act halted.
“…Bareugen.”
My mother muttered that, held me in her arms again, and turned around.
I almost fucking died. I don’t know who you are, but thank you…!
“…Mireukai, wait, listen to me…! To think you would try to leave the child to the winter…!”
Where my mother—Mireukai—turned, a robust old man was approaching slowly with both hands outstretched.
“Hand over the child. I cannot let you perform such a ritual. I will take the child…!”
“I cannot do that, Elder Bareugen.”
Mother spoke resolutely.
“…This child is a mixed-blood. You cannot handle it, Elder.”
“And so you intend to let the child die?! Stop being so stubborn!”
In an instant, I felt my body float upward, and I saw the sky.
Desperately rolling my eyes to look, Mother was holding me out beyond the cliff.
The old man called Bareugen stiffened.
“…You know there is no other way.”
“…Even so, this is madness…! He is a newborn baby!!”
What the hell are they talking about. Save me!
Mother laughed as if mocking herself.
“Anyway, after I am driven out, it will be the child’s turn. So, I have no choice but to leave him to the winter.”
In that moment, she pulled me back to her chest, then hurled me toward the forest.
“No!!”
The elder’s face, reaching out a futile hand toward me, was dyed in shock.
Together with the sensation of floating in midair, a fleeting montage suddenly flashed by.
The phrase [You have awakened.] that had appeared suddenly, and the status window.
Me, laughing as I agreed to the system’s terms of service without reading a word of it.
Who knew I’d end up entering such a crazy world.
[Do not worry. You will not die.]
Those bullshit words floated up toward me as I plummeted toward the forest.
“WaaaAAAAA!!”
Save me, fuck!!!
My cry split the air in vain, and what greeted me at the end of my fall into the forest was a brutal impact.
Splash!
Cold water poured into my eyes, nose, and mouth.
“Gurrrgle…!”
I flailed my arms, but it was meaningless.
I don’t want to die like this.
Fuck, did I come here just to die like this…!
Tangled in the current, I somehow made it out of the lake, and my body trembled violently in the freezing winter wind.
I can’t die like this. I don’t want to die like this. Why the hell do I have to die like this?
A faint memory flickered through my instincts.
The days when I fought to the death, mocked for being an orphan.
Why did I fight?
Thump.
My heart pounded, the wind whipped around me, and something hot settled in the center of my chest.
Sssss.
Steam rose from my trembling body as my body temperature rose.
Yeah, I fought because this world was fucked. Then I can’t just roll over and die like this.
Strength flooded my body, and with arms that could finally move, I reached out of the swaddling clothes.
Grabbing weeds, I dragged my body into the forest.
I couldn’t just roll over and die like this.
Like I’d let the world fuck me over like this again.
The small body wreathed in steam gradually disappeared into the forest.
That night, I crawled on all fours in the forest, catching snakes and rabbits to eat.
The sound of crunching echoed through the night forest.
.
.
.
Thinking back on it now, it was truly an insane act.
I survived in the end, though.
[Did I not tell you so.]
Letters appeared above the flames of the campfire.
“You son of a bitch, I told you not to.”
Ah, if only my tooth hadn’t fallen out yesterday.
[In any case, congratulations. You have survived for five years.]
Still, seeing those words filled me with new emotions.
A newborn baby surviving alone in the forest for five years.
Thinking back on it now, it was desperate.
I slowly got up from where I lay and looked into a puddle of water pooled on the cave floor.
A sturdy physique unbelievable for a five-year-old.
Black hair and black eyes. A face scarred here and there.
Isn’t he too big for a five-year-old?
A body full of muscles and a child’s face covered in scars. Look at this crazy combination.
“Ha, really…”
A body so tough it’s a wonder this even works.
Maybe this is what it means to be a barbarian.
Since I’d thought only the weak survived in civilization.
Gulp.
I roughly scooped water from the puddle to drink, then began preparing to go hunting for the day.
I gathered a stone knife made by breaking and grinding rocks myself, and a wooden spear perfect for throwing.
One thing I’d realized while living in the forest: with these two, it was enough to survive.
When I opened the entrance covered in animal hides, a bitter winter wind rushed in.
“Brr, cold.”
Wrapping the rough hide robe tighter, I headed into the snow-covered forest.
My goal right now was simple.
Survive.
To be honest, I’d forgotten most of the original story by now.
I only somewhat knew why I had entered this work.
I’m sure… it was something about having to save someone…
“Who was it again…”
No conclusion came no matter how much I thought. At times like this, moving my body and hunting was more comfortable.
Rustle.
“Hup!”
The moment the sound brushed my sensitive ears, I twisted my whole body and threw the wooden spear.
Shhack! Crunch!
“Squeak!”
The bushes went silent along with a final cry.
Slowly approaching, I pulled the wooden spear half-buried in the bushes, and a rabbit came up skewered on it.
Thank you, Nature, for providing today’s sustenance.
Naturally putting my palms together in a rough Buddhist greeting, the moment I tried to return to the cave, a faint sound grazed from behind.
Thump.
Electricity flowed through my entire body, and something in my heart reacted. My senses heightened, and sounds became distinct.
…What is it? The sound of snow being stepped on. …The weight is heavy. The approaching sound is singular.
Hurriedly hiding in nearby bushes, I held my wooden spear and held my breath.
The sound drew closer, and soon what was visible between the bushes… was somehow a familiar face.
But for now, we were two beings who had met in the wild.
Caution came first.
Then his voice was heard.
“…I smell blood.”
Ah. I was holding the rabbit.
Ah, damn. I’ve already been found out.
“Come out. I know you are there.”
I slowly came out of the bushes, holding my wooden spear warily.
When I appeared, a robust old man with white hair let out a groan.
“Mmm… to think you were truly alive…”
This voice, and that face… I felt like I might remember.
He was definitely an Elder, or something like that.
“…That rabbit, did you catch it just now?”
His gaze turned to my spear. I silently nodded while watching him.
“…Heh, so a five-year-old can be like this…?”
He quietly muttered, looked around, then faced me directly.
“My name is Bareugen. …I came… to take you, Rukareu.”
“…Where to?”
Ah, really, the mood was serious, but it’s all ruined by my toothless voice.
“Your hometown… Hereukan. It is where you must return.”
Fortunately, Bareugen didn’t laugh and seriously extended his hand.
“Will you go, or will you remain here? Choose. You are more than qualified.”
I thought for a moment, but going seemed better.
I needed information, and it was more advantageous for survival.
I also had to ask about whatever this thing lodged in my heart was.
I slowly lowered my wooden spear, approached, and took his hand. He nodded as he grasped mine.
“Are there things you need to pack?”
I thought briefly, then shook my head. Then he began leading me somewhere.
Rustle.
I gradually moved away from the familiar forest.
I had never left the forest in five years. The reason being, well, familiar places were good for survival.
Still, now that I had a guardian, it would be fine, right?
Rustle, rustle.
I walked on without minding sounds I would normally have been wary of.
“It will take about a day or two.”
Together with his voice, I turned onto an unknown forest path.
Unfamiliar sounds filled my ears, and my muscles tensed up, ready to spring out at any moment.
After something formed inside my heart, these senses had developed even further.
“…A second heart has formed. Well, of course.”
I turned my head at his voice. How did he know?
“…Do you know what it is?”
“Of course. People of the outside world… especially Imperials, call it a Core.”
He furrowed his brows and muttered.
“In our tribe, it is called a second heart. A special power that only warriors possess.”
Core. So it was thanks to this that I survived.
Well, it was strange that I could move my body even as a newborn.
“…More importantly, aren’t you curious about your mother?”
“…Dunno.”
It was hard to speak.
To be honest, it was even more so because everything was incomprehensible.
Why the woman called Mother had abandoned a newborn in the forest… and why I had to survive alone here.
“…It is a complicated situation. Even if I told you now, you wouldn’t understand.”
He stopped his heavy steps and turned his head toward me.
“But remember this one thing. Your mother grasped at possibility for your future.”
I stared blankly at his face.
Throwing a baby off a cliff for their future—does that make sense, old man?
He faced forward again and moved his steps.
“You will come to know later.”
We didn’t stop and kept walking.
An unfamiliar forest path.
The sounds of unidentified beasts in the forest.
And Bareugen’s presence beside me.
My body constantly raised its temperature as if sending warning signals.
But both he and I spared words as we moved.
Because I was missing a tooth.
Because he knew that even if he spoke to me now, I wouldn’t understand.
How long had we walked, tearing into the jerky he handed me?
After spending a night in the forest and leaving it, a new road was visible.
A path artificially maintained. And wheel tracks.
They were traces of civilization.
“…If you follow this road, your hometown, Hereukan, will appear.”
Following him up the hill, a village-like place was visible in the distance.
“That is Bareuhan. It is also where you will live.”
For some reason, a foreboding feeling came over me.
Carried by the air, the smell of oil and blood wafted abundantly.
As I walked the road following him, people gradually began to appear.
Their eyes looked at Bareugen walking ahead of me, then at me, then at my hand.
“…No way, is that really that woman’s child?”
“That crazy act was actually possible…”
“The child embraced by winter…”
Their muttering reached my ears.
Their gazes were somehow unpleasant.
This doesn’t seem like a very welcoming reception… what the hell is going on?
Then, Bareugen, who had been walking ahead, turned to me and spoke.
“Originally, you could not set foot in this place. But your mother made it possible.”
The place he guided me to was a certain tent.
“This is where you will stay.”
Upon entering, a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and a letter were placed there.
The baby was sleeping soundly. But who is this?
“…That child is your younger sister, ‘Sereukai.’ Your mother wrote that she requested this of you.”
He followed me in and read the letter in my stead.
“…Haah…”
A sigh escaped me.
I have to take care of my sister too? I’m going crazy, seriously.
As I blankly stared at the baby and sighed, a clinking sound was heard from behind.
Turning around, Bareugen was holding out a leather pouch.
“Take it. It is the money your mother kept.”
Opening the pouch I received, sparkling coins were visible. Based on my experience reading many web novels, they were roughly silver and copper coins.
“…Then, if you have questions, come ask me anything. I will be in the largest tent here.”
As he lifted the cloth and went outside, only the baby’s breathing and I remained in the empty tent.
“…Fuck.”
This is so fucking hopeless.