In Erindale Village, an old man held a wooden stick in his hand, searching for a water vein across the parched land all by himself.
For eighty-four whole days.
He had found nothing.
“How could anyone find a water vein with a useless stick like that?”
His friends had mocked him once.
Yet the old man had never given up.
Because his ancestors, and his ancestors' ancestors, had all found water veins using this exact method.
Erindale had been called the “Land of the Dead” for many years.
The old man's family had long since moved away; only he remained behind.
Every day, he would take a stick carved from a willow branch and search for that elusive water vein across the barren soil.
Just then, a pale-faced wanderer walked over.
“Need some help?”
The old man did not trust this young man, who carried the scent of ink and paper.
He didn't even bother to answer, merely continuing to wave his wooden stick on his own.
The wanderer didn't leave, however.
He followed behind the old man, snapped off a willow branch, and carved it into a Y-shape.
Exhausted, the old man sat down and watched his movements in silence.
To him, it looked far more like some strange dance than a search for water.
“Young man, give it up,” the old man said in a raspy voice.
He had thought the youth would soon get tired of the trouble and give up.
Unexpectedly, the youth actually persevered.
Stubborn, foolish.
Just like himself.
Holding the willow branch, the wanderer walked the area one last time.
Then, he stopped in his tracks.
This was a spot the old man had already checked dozens of times.
Yet the wanderer picked up a pickaxe and began to dig.
Clang!
Clang!
“Stop it,” the old man shook his head. “There can't possibly be a water vein there...”
The next moment—
Whoosh—!
Cool underground water gushed out violently from beneath the soil!
“Aaaahhhh!!!”
The old man wet himself on the spot.
...
“Our benefactor has descended upon our village!”
The village chief's face flushed red with excitement.
“Prepare a feast! We're slaughtering an ox!”
“Village Chief...” someone softly reminded him. “The ox was so starved it was nothing but bones. It's been dead for a week.”
“Then slaughter a pig!”
“A wolf carried the pig away a few days ago.”
“Then at least slaughter a chicken!”
“The chicken... was eaten by the children long ago.”
The village chief fell silent.
Then, he slowly turned his head toward Li An.
That familiar look of grim determination surfaced in his eyes once more.
“Hero!”
The village chief unsheathed a long sword.
“Please condescend to feast upon my humble flesh!”
Li An's eyelids twitched.
“Wait a second!”
The village chief had already raised the sword high into the air.
“Ancestors in the heavens, please watch over your descendant! Today, Galzon shall go to join you—!!”
What kind of tribe was this?
Amazonians? Cannibals?
Li An rushed forward hastily to stop him.
“Don't act recklessly! I still have plenty of food in my backpack. We can just eat that!”
“How could we possibly do that?” The village chief looked thoroughly shocked. “You found underground water for us and are even willing to share your food! Could you be the reincarnation of a saint?”
Without waiting for the chief to get any more emotional, Li An opened his backpack and pulled out dried beef, preserved rations, and bread.
Putting these ingredients into a pot, he added the freshly dug underground water and began to simmer them.
Before long, an enticing aroma drifted through the air.
“Ah...”
An old man gazed at the meat stew in the pot, his eyes brimming with tears.
“To think that a day would come when we could eat stewed meat instead of chewing on tree bark...”
The old men held their bowls and devoured the food voraciously.
Some even licked the bottom of their bowls completely clean after finishing.
The old man who had searched eighty-four days for a water vein patted his shriveled belly in satisfaction.
“Benefactor, I truly don't know how to repay you...”
“Then there's no need to repay me.”
Li An stood up.
It was time for him to leave.
...
It really turned out like this again.
Li An sighed internally.
He had swung that pickaxe with the mindset of “I must succeed this time.”
And in the end—
He really did succeed.
As long as he set his mind on failing, things would develop toward success.
And now, when he deliberately pursued success, the result was still success.
It seemed his psychological state had no effect on the outcome whatsoever.
No.
Thinking carefully about it...
As long as he still held the underlying desire to fail in his heart, was it impossible for him to truly fail no matter what?
The more Li An thought about it, the more wrong it felt.
Just then.
Someone gently patted his shoulder.
Looking back, it was a young girl holding a small flower that resembled a dandelion.
“Oh, it's Ashuna,” the village chief chuckled. “Do you want to give a gift to our benefactor?”
The girl lowered her head shyly and presented the flower in her hands.
Li An had grown up in a land of etiquette in his past life. When someone offered a heartfelt gift of gratitude, he naturally couldn't bring himself to reject it outright.
Thus, he reached out, preparing to accept it.
Yet in the next second, he suddenly froze.
“Wait.”
Li An looked suspiciously at the village chief.
“Do you guys... have a tradition here?”
“Where if you accept a flower, you must marry the person who gave it?”
“You figured it out?”
The village chief clicked his tongue, looking rather regretful.
“You really are quick-witted.”
“...”
Li An silently withdrew his hand.
“However, Benefactor, if things never seem to succeed for you, why not try a tradition of ours?”
“Of course, not marriage.”
“What tradition?”
“Sowing.”
“?”
...
Fortunately, what the village chief called “sowing” was a perfectly normal custom.
Every year, they would allow a flower called Kanshbilay to float away with the wind, scattering its seeds in all directions.
Standing on a hillside, the village chief slowly recounted an ancient legend passed down through their tribe.
“A story has long been passed down among our people.”
“A very long time ago, our tribe was on the verge of starvation, just like we are now.”
“Right around that time, a black-haired man arrived here.”
“After completing the sowing ritual of the Kanshbilay, fruit actually grew from the land where the Buni seeds fell.”
The village chief gazed into the distance.
“Those fruits restored the sick to health and made the elderly young again.”
“Once the entire village regained its health, that man left.”
“Ever since then, we have worshipped him as our tribe's guardian god—Mazar.”
“It's an ancient word meaning...”
“'Luck.'”
This was clearly a cliché old legend.
Yet the village chief's expression was incomparably solemn.
He slowly sank to his knees.
“Benefactor.”
“Because you found a water vein, we were able to survive.”
“We may never be able to restore our former prosperity, but at least... we can see hope.”
“Thank you.”
Li An hastily helped the village chief up.
“It was just luck.”
“Even if it wasn't me, someone else would have found the water vein.”
“Hahaha.”
The village chief burst into laughter instead.
“If that were true, how could Sibach have searched for eighty-four whole days?”
Saying this, he handed the Kanshbilay to Li An.
“Now, blow toward the west.”
“Once you've blown it, you may leave.”
“I will not force our benefactor to stay.”
“No matter what, you are the benefactor of us Lionkin.”
“That's right!”
“Benefactor!”
The other villagers rushed over as well.
Everyone stood on the hillside, watching Li An with anticipation.
Although the hillside wasn't particularly high, Li An's back and legs still ached from climbing up.
“Speaking of which...”
The village chief suddenly chuckled.
“You have black hair too.”
“Hahaha, could it be that you really are the Mazar of our Lionkin?”
“He's a god,” Li An said helplessly. “Don't joke around like that.”
Being stared at by so many people made Li An quite uncomfortable.
So, he decided to hurry up and finish the ceremony.
He turned around.
Facing west.
Then, he blew hard on the Kanshbilay in his hand.
Whoosh—
Countless seeds scattered with the wind.
Flying farther and farther away.
“They really flew far...”
Everyone looked up to watch.
Those seeds eventually landed on the distant soil.
...
Nothing changed.
“Phew...”
Li An secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness.
It really was just a legend.
He turned around, preparing to leave.
Just then—
“Look!”
“Over there!”
“Something is growing!!!”
“It's fruit!”
“It's fruit, aaaahhhh!!!”
Li An: “...”
It was over.
Without a word, he turned on his heel and bolted.
Was this even logical?!
Are you kidding me?!
What kind of absurd legend was this?!
“Mazar is running away!!!”
“Quick, catch him!!!”
Thwip!
Right then, a sharp pain shot up Li An's leg.
A tranquilizer dart had struck his leg with pinpoint accuracy.
“...”
Li An looked down at it.
Only one thought remained in his mind.
What kind of tribe uses a tranquilizer dart to catch their guardian god?!
His consciousness rapidly faded into darkness.
...
An unknown amount of time passed.
In his daze, Li An hazily heard a familiar voice.
“Today's lucky horoscope—Leo...”
“Lucky direction—West...”
“Erindale Village in the west...”
“Habitation of the Lionkin...”
“...”
...
When Li An regained consciousness, he found himself sitting upright.
In front of him.
All the elders of the Lionkin were kneeling in neat, orderly rows.
“...”
Li An fell silent.
Fortunately, the tranquilizer dart didn't seem to leave any lingering side effects.
On the contrary, he felt remarkably energetic right now.
“Mazar!”
The village chief knelt at the very front, his face filled with terror.
“Please forgive our impudence!”
“If you want our lives, take them as you wish!”
“Everyone, get up.” Li An rubbed his forehead. “I'm really not Mazar.”
“Mazar is angry!!!”
“A sacrifice!!!”
“Ancestors!”
“Please watch over me—!!”
The village chief was preparing to sacrifice himself again.
Li An quickly pinned him down.
“Enough!”
“Even if I am Mazar...”
“What exactly do I need to do?”
The crowd instantly quieted down.
The village chief cautiously raised his head.
“Please grant us permission to eat the Iril fruit.”
“Iril fruit?”
Li An froze for a moment.
He assumed it referred to the fruits spawned by the Kanshbilay seeds.
“Fine.”
“Ooooohhhh—!”
“Mazar has bestowed a divine miracle upon the Lionkin!!!”
The village chief roared toward the sky.
Tears rolled down his withered cheeks.
“Everyone!”
“Eat the Iril fruit!”
The old men cupped the fruits in their hands.
And bit into them simultaneously.
Chewing.
Swallowing.
Immediately after, the village chief sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.
Then...
A transformation occurred.
His sparse white hair began to fall out.
His muscles twisted violently.
White steam billowed from his body's surface.
Dark, murky liquid slowly seeped out from his pores.
An indescribable stench instantly rushed into the air.
“Gag...”
Li An covered his nose.
Yet when he opened his eyes again, he froze completely.
The group that had been skin-and-bones old men moments ago...
Had all turned into burly, muscular behemoths!
“Hahaha!”
The village chief clenched his fists and laughed heartily.
“Is this youth?!”
“Whether it's wolves or lions!”
“Bring them on, and we'll bite them to death!”
“...”
Li An silently watched the scene before him.
This change was way too absurd.
The old men who had been at death's door moments ago were now all rippling with muscles, bursting with energy like newborn youths.
They even turned the inside of the tent suffocatingly warm with their body heat.
The village chief suddenly whipped around, casting his gaze toward the west.
“Guardian God Mazar!”
“We shall march west!”
“This is our tribe's oath passed down for a thousand years!”
“We shall conquer Elber, the land of monsters in the west!”
“Give us one year!”
“Please accept our token!”
“In one year, once our conquest is complete...”
“We shall become Mazar's most loyal guardian legion!”
“Alright!”
A muscular giant waved a massive hand.
“Kids, follow me!”
“I'll teach you how to hunt!”
With that, the group of newly rejuvenated “elders” led the children in a grand procession toward the west.
Leaving Li An standing alone in place.
He looked down at the lion-tooth necklace the village chief had given him.
After a long while.
He let out a deep sigh.
“I'm never trying to 'succeed' ever again.”
“Great.”
“I've literally been turned into a god.”
Li An looked down at the lion-tooth necklace in his hand.
Suddenly.
A very practical question popped into his mind.
Wait...
How was he supposed to get back to the Imperial Capital?
Rate on N.U.
