Desperate, cold and defeated.
Karr never felt this pitiful before.
There was no blizzard, the sun still shining though not too bright. But all of that didn't really help to warm his body. He could freeze to death like this. The bison skin he was wearing was still wet when he slipped and fell into the river a while ago.
The strong wind did not really help to dry his hair and body. It made it even worse because the cold breeze felt like ice daggers stabbing into his skin. He knew he had to find a cave soon, or a hollow in the trunk of a large old tree. Or any safe and warm place for him to shelter.
His feet were shaking. Even though he had lived like this for nearly two decades—it didn't necessarily make him immune to the cruelty of the wild. He had limitations. Because his race intelligence was not developed enough and his physique was also not perfect through the process of evolution.
Karr—his name—heaved a sigh of relief. White steam was created from his breath. It felt a little frozen and his legs were almost stiff. He might have to cut off some of his fingers from the frostbite if he didn't find a place to spend the night soon. But he was now about to creep into a hollow in a large sequoia tree—after making sure there were no ants or itching bugs there.
After he finished observing the hollow of the tree earlier, a formless voice echoed in his head.
General Skill [Observation] Level Up!
[Observation - Lvl. 35] -> [Observation - Lvl. 36]!
He lived life like games since he was a baby. Of course, that was really unlogical. He lived in the Pleistocene era as a caveman. The concept of the game was completely unknown at this time. Even today not many humans could make fire.
[You're Being Awarded!]
[Wild Honey Bee Hive] X1
Said the voice again. To the primitive humans of this era—the console game was unknown. But Karr was familiar with it. He was not a gamer. But in his past life in the 20th century—he had played a few of them.
When he died in a dramatic accident—he thought he was going to heaven. But the figure claiming to be a god said that he would be reincarnated. And here he is now. Live every single breath to survive. God made it a little more interesting by making his world like a game he had to play.
Karr crept into the hollow. It was quite dry there and protected from the wind. He was generous enough to share his place with a family of squirrels or other rodents. As long as it's not a snake. He may have been bitten by snakes several times during his life. But that didn't always make him invulnerable. Because there were thousands of species of snakes on this earth. So far Karr chose the snake that bit him carefully. He didn't want the snake to be too venomous. He did it on purpose to build antibodies. It was all necessary because he was a hunter who had to go in and out of the wilderness.
He lived in the late Pleistocene era (ice age) which was still frozen. All the animals here struggled to live. The carnivores would attack anyone who looks weak and edible. The story of snakes crawling into human caves and swallowing their babies whole was not a rare story. Not much choice of food for them. Especially for herbivores who have to keep moving to find plants.
Karr took off his bison skin cloth and exposed his pale, well-built body. He looked out of the hollow and looked around. He hadn't got his honey yet. In this game, even though the system gave him an item. It wasn't always right in front of him.
Karr had to find it himself. The honey must be around.
Karr heard a bee buzzing. He came out of his tree hole and saw a large beehive hanging in full bloom on one of the branches of a medium-sized sequoia tree. Honey was a very valuable item. Of course he couldn't sell it. But there were always those who were willing to barter for other items. In addition, honey can be stored for decades and cannot go stale.
The beehive will probably be his supplement intake for the next three months. He needs extra glucose because his daily diet was dominated by meat.
But Karr could not immediately climb the tree. He had to rest and recover his strength. He chose to curl up in the hollow of his tree and began to snore.
***
The young man was awakened by the sound of growl outside his tree. He was used to always being alert. He hardly ever sleeps well. But there was a sense of joy mixed with enthusiasm at this time. He who was tired and desperate, again received hope.
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A Smilodon Populator was now staring at him. He was a large cat the size of a tiger with sword-like fangs that could easily rip the skin of a mammoth. The difference was that he had been separated from the herd for almost three years and had been Karr's 'live blanket' during that time.
"Ornlu!" Karr exclaimed happily in his hoarse voice.
The tiger named Ornlu couldn't go into the hole. Its eyes lit up when he saw his master survived the accident on the cliff that separated them a few hours ago. But Karr could see the slight irritation from its behavior. It was restless. Something was threatening it. Its leg was limping due to a sprain. It also seemed to have run out and was still catching his breath.
"That's our prey!"
[Enemy Spotted!]
Another voice echoed in his head.
Karr saw two dark-skinned humanoid men in clothes similar to his.
Identification!
Karr said in his head.
Humanoid A
Species: [Homo Sapiens]
Class: [Hunter] - Lvl. 8
Humanoid B
Species: [Homo Sapiens]
Class: [Hunter] - Lvl. 6
He didn't have to run. They weren't strong enough to deal with him. Although their race evolved more completely, Karr had a bigger body and more near-death experience. He was probably still weak from the cold. But he was still strong enough to kill them.
"This is my territory, leave if you still want to live!" Karr shouted at them.
He was furious, of course. Maybe the humanoids weren't related to the group of homo Sapiens who had just caused trouble in his village. But he couldn't shake off his hatred.
Karr knew they might not speak the same language. Karr was gifted with linguistic abilities from the god who trapped him in this second life. He can understand any human language. As complex or as simple as it sounds.
Unfortunately he couldn't speak their language.
The two Homo Sapiens looked at each other. It was clear they didn't understand what Karr meant. Or they could be understood but felt confident enough to fight him.
After all, Karr was now just a hypothermia, shirtless man hiding behind a hollow tree. He didn't look threatening.
When Karr saw one of them wielding a sharpened stone dagger—he immediately jumped out. They were primitive humans who were not yet fluently speaking. They didn't give any warning before killing.
All they knew was that Karr could steal their prey. The injured fanged tiger was theirs.
Adrenaline was rushing through Karr veins. Made him forget the cold that pierced the skin. The half-naked Karr dodged from the impact of their stone axes. He jumped up and gave one of them a hard smack on the back of the neck. He fell down after previously coughing and vomiting blood.
Karr had been doing this almost his whole life. Stabbed the stegodon, cracked the mammoth skull and tore the jaws of the crocodile. But he always felt his heart beat faster when dealing with humans. Because in this Pleistocene era—fighting usually ends in death. No police or judge will catch the culprits. Only the desire for revenge from the victim's relatives haunts them. Humans have emotions, Karr was not a sociopath so sometimes guilt disturbs his conscience.
He managed to kill another by crushing his skull with a stone the size of a coconut he found.
[SKILL LEVEL UP!]
[BARE HANDED FIGHTING - Lvl. 26] -> [BARE HANDED FIGHTING - lvl.27]
Karr was still breathing fast. Emotions still take over. He threw the bloodied stone on the ground and then Ornlu—his pet tiger—came and rubbed his tree-solid thighs like a spoiled cat.
[You're Being Awarded!]
[Bull Skin Cloth] x 1
[Obsidian stone] x 2
Status!
Karr thought.
NAME: KARR
SPECIES: [HOMO NEANDERTHAL]
CLASS: [HUNTER] - Lvl. 37
HP : 45%
[NEW OBJECTIVE!]
[Creating a settlement]
[1. Find Jida and Gnab]
[2. Choose settlement area]
Preventing the extinction of the Neanderthals was the goal of the god who brought him into this Pleistocene era. Karr was asked to gather information and teach other Neanderthals. But it was not easy. Neanderthals were not very intelligent and they lived in a harsh ice age.
Jida and Gnab? Are they still alive?
Karr thought to himself, he was glad they were safe. But he also thought that his life would be easier if he wasn't tied to other Neanderthals. Unfortunately Karr couldn't do it. Because the system required him to complete all missions. Build a settlement? Again? The Neanderthals even had a hard time defending against the attacks of the Homo sapiens the other day. Which destroyed the birth village and made the Neanderthals separated and slaughtered to death.
Karr shivered again. The day was getting late and cold. He may have to curl up again in the hollow of his sequoia tree. But before that he went over to the corpses of the Homo Sapiens and took their leather cloth. At least the fur attached to the skin was still dry.
Then he looked at Ornlu—his pet sabertooth tiger.
Identification!
NAME: ORNLU
SPECIES: [SMILODON POPULATOR]
STATUS: [TAMED]
AFFECTION: 67%
ABILITY: [HUNT], [KILL]
HP: 55%
Level: 17
He'll be fine, he just needs to eat and sleep all night.
Karr returned to his sequoia tree and reached into a shabby bag made from the hull of a yak. He pulled out some fat salmon that he had caught earlier when he fell in the river. Ornlu ate it voraciously and he growled as if he was afraid of his food being snatched away.
His leg was still limping and will not recover soon. Karr might slow down a bit but he couldn't leave Ornlu. Moreover, taming a sabertooth tiger was a near-impossible thing. Karr was lucky because he found the baby saber-toothed tiger when he was only five months old and has been taking care of it ever since.
It was starting to get cloudy on the ground he was currently on—the sun only shines nine hours a day. Karr came out of the hollow of the sequoia tree he had struggled to find earlier, while wearing back his half-dry clothes. He also brought all his meager baggage.
Karr covered his face and exposed body parts with thick mud. He climbed the tree in front of him with agile movements. His fingers were used to being able to grip the tree bark firmly. He didn't hesitate when he hit his fist on a honeycomb that was still inhabited by thousands of bees.
He cannot fail. Doubt will kill him in this ice age era. His sabertooth Tiger who was relaxing under the tree jumped away when a large chunk of beehive fell nearby. Karr followed it down and wrapped it in a rope he had made from animal skin joints.
He had to find another cave or tree hollow to spend the night. Because the corpses of the Homo Sapiens will spread the fishy smell of blood and invite the wolves to feast. Karr dragged the beehive followed by Ornlu who walked slightly limply behind him.