The Cycle of Extinction and Renewal

"Quinn is a soil man! Hahaha!"

"Yeah! You're right, and soil men live underground."

The roar of laughter sounded from the closed, darkened room. Three rogue boys inside were celebrating their success to the fullest. It seemed that they were going to get a new life the way they wanted.

Various wine bottles around them openly displayed their spoiled personalities. However, the excitement in their evil words revealed the truth that they had committed a dreadful crime.

Unlike other criminals who instantly escape after the crime, they were too satisfied in one position. Not a single word or expression showed that they were afraid of the police.

On the other side of the city, surrounded by a terrible forest, a groaning sound could be heard from underground—at least 10 meters below.

"Someone here, please save me. Save my life."

Unfortunately, nobody was there to help him, as humans avoided that place except to hunt the wild organisms that thirsted for human blood.

That was Quinn, who was on his deathbed. His body distinctly showed that he had endured severe cruelty. No one could even recognize that he was human. From head to toe, he was bathed in wet soil.

Underground insects and animals treated him like garbage and were constantly damaging his body. Fortunately, his eyes were not injured. He could see everything around him but could not perceive anything because of the utter darkness.

Suddenly, his hands felt a soft touch. He wished that touch belonged to a dangerous organism so he would die and be rid of the continuous pain. His wish was fulfilled; it was a snake, thirsty for his sweet blood.

"Please harm me. I'll be extremely thankful to you," Quinn cried in pain.

He was already in the last stage of suffering, so he didn't get irritated when the snake bit him. Instead, he began counting his final minutes with a bit of satisfaction that he was going to a place where no one could harm him.

He thought that life after death, no matter what it would be like, could not be crueler than the life he currently had. Then, just after 15 minutes, the situation became unbearable.

The vomit made his soil-masked body smell worse and dirtier. Blood from the wound rapidly mixed with the vomit.

There was only a one-minute distance between his life and death when a tragedy occurred.

An unknown flying machine suddenly appeared in the sky. Red-colored rays fell straight down onto his body without deviating. He became unconscious just after that. The ground cracked, and he was pushed upward to the surface.

Fortunately, no wild organism touched his body for 24 hours. He opened his eyes, terrified that he would have to face that situation again.

"I wish I had died. Why am I awake again?"

"Even I can't commit suicide here."

Quinn pulled his knees to his chest while crying.

The terrible flashbacks disturbed his mind. First, he remembered the time when he was buried. He didn't know who had done that or why, but he was determined to take revenge on his culprits at any cost.

The last scene he remembered before being trapped underground was when he was trying to sleep in his room. He thought it was a horrible dream, but just after that, he felt that he was lying on rough ground instead of his bed.

He tried to touch the ground but was shocked when he unintentionally glanced at his left hand. It had turned so tiny and smooth, like a baby's hand.

"Oh! What happened? I can't believe I have turned into a baby." Quinn became expressionless, wondering what kind of game fortune was playing with him.

However, what happened next compelled him to be shocked. His right hand was as muscular and thick as before.

He had already endured a difficult situation. His mental condition had deteriorated significantly. He was not strong enough to judge what exactly was happening.

"I shouldn't disturb my mind. Why go in-depth when my life is just about to end?"

Quinn tried to accept the reality. Seriously, it was nearly impossible for any human to stay alive in that condition at that place for more than 3 to 4 hours.

Intending to save himself, he tried to walk. But instead of walking, he couldn't even crawl because he had turned into a newborn baby.

"My life has been devastated. I'll be a joke to the whole world. Already, the whole world is facing crises from aliens. Nobody will accept a newborn baby with one larger hand. Maybe I'll be killed in front of the whole world to threaten the aliens' community."

At that time, the world's condition was dire due to aliens trying to attack. All countries were trying to strengthen their armies to protect their people.

Fortunately, the aliens had not attacked yet. They were just sending signals to threaten humans. With every ray coming from Mars, humans became more and more active.

They believed they couldn't attack Mars due to being weaker than the aliens. So all world scientists were doing their best to develop any modern weapon with which they could triumph over the aliens.

Quinn's condition could make scientists think it was part of the aliens' conspiracies. A baby with one larger hand would definitely be unacceptable to the whole world.

"What if I am sent to Mars?" Quinn regretted his new life instead of feeling fortunate that his 18 years of life had returned to him.

"I'll behave in a way that they will accept that I'm human." He was trying to recover from his grief.

He was lucky that no organism approached him for two hours while lying on the ground. However, his condition was constantly worsening due to fear and depression.

It was March 3rd, the day for wildlife recognition. Some members of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) visited that forest.

As soon as Quinn saw they were advancing toward him, he tried his best to hide. He covered himself with leaves and soil.

As the team got closer, his heartbeat raced faster and faster. He didn't want to face any humans in that condition.

That would be extremely embarrassing for him. He thought people would laugh at his condition, and memers would make memes about his large hand.

The team analyzed the area and intended to return due to not seeing any wandering organisms. But, unfortunately, one person stepped on Quinn's soft, tiny hand with his shoe while moving backward.

"Ah!" The person was shocked.

"Sir, I think there's a snake under these leaves. Thank God he didn't bite me," he added, catching his breath.

"Are you sure that was a snake?" The team leader seemed curious about the matter.

That question froze Quinn's tiny body.

"Not sure 100%," the person answered.

The team leader asked them to look under the leaves for confirmation. Finally, Quinn's body was exposed. He closed his eyes, too weak to face humans.

Finally, Quinn was exposed.

"Oh! Here's a baby."

"Luckily, we didn't ignore this matter."

"He'll be a dangerous criminal who threw this baby here."

"Bearing the weight of a fully grown man on his body was definitely cruel for a newborn baby."

"His tiny, innocent finger has been injured."

The matter astonished all the members who had not even seen the larger hand yet.

They captured snapshots of Quinn and his surroundings. It was necessary to observe the situation in its initial condition to find the culprit.

The leader bent down to hold Quinn with great love and sympathy. When he raised Quinn's back, the large hand hidden under the leaves was exposed.

"Ah!" the leader cried in shock and fear.

Seeing a large hand made him think it belonged to Quinn. Obviously, he instantly considered it a detached hand of an adult.

With a fast-paced heartbeat and trembling hands, he pulled the hand. His eyes couldn't believe the scene when he realized the hand belonged to the baby's body.

Finding a newborn baby in a lonely place was already unacceptable for the team. So, the other matter forcefully jolted their minds.

Quinn, who was already embarrassed by his unusual body, wondered about the people's behavior. He felt like a witch who scared mature people. He wished he would instantly die so he wouldn't have to face the world.

"Sir, I think we should bury this baby in the ground right now."

"Of course, he's not human."

"Sir, it'll be risky to take him in our car."

Team members were striving to save their lives, considering Quinn dangerous to themselves. However, before the leader made another decision, one member deviated from his fellows' viewpoints.

"It would be a waste of a great blessing if we killed this child. Of course, we can become very rich with him."