Chapter 21: Primitive Tribe

Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe – 21

EP.21 Primitive Tribe

The Elves, gathered around the seemingly smartest female Elf, quickly began to adapt to the forest.

Innately possessing a love for nature, none of them had any complaints about living in the forest.

In fact, they enjoyed it.

With their bipedal stance and dexterous hands, they began to learn how to use tools.

Time passed, and night fell.

On the first night, they realized that the temperature dropped significantly compared to the day.

Thanks to their eyes that could pierce through the darkness, maintaining visibility at night was easy, but the cold and the activity of nocturnal beasts posed a great threat.

In fact, an attack by a massive, 3-meter striped carnivorous beast resulted in the death of 10 Elves, and the cold night prevented them from recovering their strength, leaving them in poor condition the next morning.

Although their bodies were inherently strong and immune, preventing illness from just one sleepless night and a bit of cold, the difficulty of conserving and recovering energy in the wild was a significant issue.

"Uwaa! Uwo."

"Ugh?"

Then, in the morning, the female Elf noticed insects crawling out of the ground.

Seeing this, she seemed to have an idea and gestured vigorously to the others, pointing at the ground.

It seemed like she was suggesting they dig into the ground.

By digging and entering a pit, they could avoid the cold winds at night and respond more flexibly to animal attacks.

She reasoned that if they covered the top with leaves like the insect holes, it would block the wind and allow them to hide from predators.

The intelligent Elves quickly understood her intent and began digging.

Of course, digging a pit large enough for 990 Elves was no easy task.

They knew how to pick up and use things, but they didn't know about tools designed for efficiency.

So, they dug with their hands or with branches and stones they found along the way.

Naturally, progress was slow, and night began to fall.

Though there were scattered pits everywhere, they were far from sufficient for 990 Elves to live in.

Neither the depth nor the width was adequate.

Fortunately, the ground was soft near the river in the forest, allowing them to dig this much; otherwise, they wouldn't have accomplished even half of this.

Despite their superior physical abilities, without proper techniques or tools, this was their limit.

They would have to spend another night exposed.

Although they had the stamina and mental strength to endure without sleep for some time, the problem was…

"Ugh…"

The Elves began to feel fear.

They feared the return of the giant striped beast once the sun set.

The beast was large and much more agile than the predators they had previously driven away with stones.

It dodged several stones and killed the Elves one by one.

To deal with it, they needed stronger and faster weapons.

Or at least some means of protecting themselves…

"…Geuheuk?!"

Swoosh─!

At that moment, an Elf accidentally stepped into one of the hastily dug pits and fell.

The pit wasn't deep enough to cause injury, but the Elf was visibly startled and stumbled.

"Ah! Ah?"

"Ugh…"

With the help of others, the Elf stood up again.

Seeing this, the female leader Elf had a brilliant idea.

"…!!"

The idea was to lure the beasts into deep pits.

If the beasts fell into the pits, they would be disoriented and their movements restricted, making it impossible for them to dodge the stone throws!

This was it.

They would dig deep enough pits to make it difficult for the beasts to climb out, lure them in, and trap them.

Afterward, not only would they have a safer place to sleep, but they could also create a field of pits around them to block the beasts.

"Ugh… Ugh?"

But how could she explain this?

There were limits to body language.

Dig a pit, lure the beast, let it fall in, and then throw stones to kill it.

Realizing that she couldn't explain this with gestures alone, she hurriedly went to a nearby rock.

"..."

There were white marks on the rock from practicing stone-throwing in preparation for the beast's appearance.

Seeing this, she picked up a stone from somewhere and began to draw on the rock.

Scritch─

A white line appeared on the rock, just like the marks from stone-throwing.

"Ugh! Ugh!"

Confirming this, the female Elf began to gather the others.

Recognizing her as their leader, the Elves flocked to her.

Some were trembling with fear.

Some hoped she had found a solution.

Some were ready to fight the fearsome beast with desperate resolve.

In front of the many Elves, she became the first Elf to…

Scritch─ Scritch─

…create the beginnings of language through cave paintings.

#

A drawing of a person with pointed ears, and a large striped beast twice its size.

The tree-like drawings surrounding them represented the forest, and the circles drawn among the multiple Elf figures indicated pits.

Everyone understood that the circles represented pits.

"Ugh! Ugh!"

The female Elf continued drawing and explaining.

A pit drawn in front of the large striped beast.

Behind it, a series of Elf figures.

In the subsequent drawings, the striped beast was shown half-submerged in the pit.

Elves surrounded it, appearing to throw stones.

"..."

"..."

The reaction of the Elves to the first cave painting was…

"Uwaa! Uwaa!"

"Oooo!"

They immediately understood its meaning and cheered with hopeful faces.

They began preparing deep pits to trap the striped beast.

However, to trap the beast and prevent it from escaping, they needed to dig pits three times their height.

Even with their superior physical abilities, making it difficult for an Elf to jump out if they fell in.

The female leader Elf had thought of a solution for this too.

She had seen a spider climbing a tree using its silk and brought long vines from the forest.

By holding onto these vines, their comrades could pull them up.

The plan was perfect.

"Grrr…"

After finishing their preparations, the awaited night arrived. As expected, the striped beast appeared again tonight.

One beast.

A majestic monster that roamed alone.

Yet, its overwhelming power was enough even by itself.

But tonight would be different.

"Uwaa!"

"Aaah!"

"Roar!"

As an Elf drew its attention, the striped beast charged swiftly towards them.

And at that moment…

Crack!!

"Grr?!"

Suddenly, the leaves under its feet gave way, and the striped beast fell straight down.

Thud!

It was caught perfectly.

"Woohoo!"

"Uwaa!"

The Elves rejoiced at the success of their trap and quickly approached the pit with stones in hand.

"Roar!"

The striped beast struggled to climb out of the pit, but it was deep and narrow, making it difficult for it to move.

It also seemed unable to adapt quickly to the sudden situation.

In that state, the Elves began to throw stones relentlessly.

If they hit, despite the beast's attempts to dodge…

Crunch! Crack! Thud!

"Yelp! Screech! Roar!"

The Elves' powerful bodies hurled stones like cannonballs, and no matter how tough the striped beast's hide and sturdy its body, it couldn't withstand the barrage.

If it were just one or two stones, it might have been different, but with dozens of stones flying at it simultaneously, there was no way it could survive.

Crunch! Crack!

The pit filled with dozens of stones, and then it went silent.

"Huff, huff…"

"Phew…"

The Elves panted heavily as they cautiously peered inside.

Was it over?

The striped beast, buried under the stones, didn't move at all.

It was completely dead.

"Woohoo!"

"Yay!"

The Elves cheered, overjoyed that they had managed to capture the fearsome striped beast with their own hands, without a single sacrifice.

They jumped around in admiration of the female leader Elf who had devised and led the entire operation.

Unable to express their emotions through words or gestures, they showed it with their whole bodies.

Having captured the seemingly invincible monster, the Elves continued to diligently establish their home under the leadership of the female Elf.

#

Wow… This is impressive.

The Elves had settled well in their respective areas and begun to survive.

It had been about a month since they were released, and the survival rate was around 70%.

Out of 30 million, about 9 million had died, leaving 21 million.

Some groups had lost more than half, dropping to as few as 400 members.

Given the circumstances, this was a good outcome.

Honestly, I had expected the overall survival rate to be less than half.

In some areas, there was an exceptionally intelligent Elf who boasted a survival rate of over 90%. These groups had already built decent shelters and laid the foundations of civilization.

As they lived as individual tribes and expanded their territories, they would eventually encounter each other.

War or harmony… When creating them, I made it easier for them to unite by strengthening their bonds as kin, but how it would actually turn out was uncertain.

Perhaps I should have given them a language.

Seeing such beautiful and handsome beings grunting like primitives was a bit unsettling.

Well, they are primitives, but still.

Considering they managed to communicate through cave paintings within just two days, establishing a language system shouldn't take long.

Ah… But it's unfortunate for the group that dwindled to 400 members. The environment was similar, but the timing wasn't favorable.

The surrounding ecosystem was a bit tricky.

I thought it was a good spot, but it turned out to be quite challenging.

Honestly, it breaks my heart a little.

Both the thriving and struggling ones are like my own creations.

Seeing them die off so easily isn't comforting.

It feels like they might all die out before achieving anything.

…Maybe I should help them a bit.

Just a little.

The others who are doing well wouldn't mind a bit of help.

Yes, that's it!