The next day morning, closing his small shop in the city, Ben returned to his home village of Everwoods with his toolbox of carpentry tools. Everwoods was the rural village where Ben had grown up before mysteriously teleporting to Earth twenty years earlier. Even after returning to his original world of Nebula 9, this was his first time revisiting his remote village since his unexpected disappearance.

> ***Author's Note: From Ben's perspective, two decades have passed, but in this world, it's merely an instant. However, due to Ben's encounter with a time gap, he is immersed in a sense of nostalgia.

As Ben entered the outskirts of Everwoods, he noticed the village had not changed the last time he had seen it. The small collection of ramshackle log cabins amongst the dense forest looked just as impoverished and run-down as he remembered. Approaching the village center, Ben was spotted by a pair of men loitering nearby, whom he faintly recognized.

"Yo, Ben!" one of the men named Kevin jeered. "Ain't you supposed to be dead? I thought for sure your scrawny behind had kicked the bucket months ago!" Kevin had bullied Ben when they were young boys, and clearly still harbored bitterness toward him. The other man, whose name Ben couldn't recall, chimed in on Kevin's taunting.

"I'll be darned, he really ain't dead! What you got in that box there, Benny boy? You done sold off your fancy city shop to move your pathetic tail back to Everwoods?" The men cackled at their spiteful jokes, bringing back unpleasant memories for Ben of the ruthless ridicule he endured as an Everwoods misfit.

Ben remained silent, refusing to indulge in their juvenile antics, and briskly proceeded toward the village chief's quarters. As the men continued their loud mocking behind his back, Ben felt the same sense of shame and inadequacy that had plagued his early life in Everwoods. Though the mystical experiences he went through in recent years had granted him clarity and purpose, being back in this environment made his old wounds feel fresh.

Upon entering the village chief's quarters, Ben was met with an apathetic glare. "Well, well...the prodigal failure returns. To what do I owe this honor, Benjamin?" the chief growled sarcastically. Ben concealed his resentment toward the chief's lifelong disdain for him and politely conveyed his business.

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"Good day, chief. I have returned to Everwoods with the intention of building an expansion onto my late family's cabin. I humbly request your permission to cut timber from the western woods for my construction project. I seek only raw materials from the land and do not aim to request any funding or labor from the village resources."

Ben didn’t tell him the real reason of his visit. He is sure that this man will make trouble if he knows that.

The chief leaned back with an irritated look on his grisly face. "Cut whatever trees you want, boy. Just make sure you don't come crying to me when you realize you bit off more than your feeble hands can carve."

Ben nodded graciously. "You have my deepest thanks for your consent, sir." Harvesting wood from the protected village forests required explicit approval from the chief, which Ben was relieved to obtain relatively painlessly.

Though the chief's tone was predictably degrading, he was ultimately too apathetic about Ben and his family to refuse such a modest ask. After all, permitting Benjamin to pursue this foolish cabin extension endeavor ensured the nuisance would remain preoccupied in the woods and out of the chief's salt-and-pepper hair.

Ben took his leave, tools in hand, as an overwhelming wave of unpleasant Everwoods memories flooded his psyche. Kevin's pack of hoodlums had made Ben's childhood a living hell, tormenting him for his introverted nature and ambivalent work ethic. The isolation took its toll, leaving Ben feeling worthless and spurring him to pursue meaning beyond the narrow minds and possibilities of Everwoods. His accidental passage to Earth opened up a world of perspective and granted him clarity of self-identity.

For this reason, Ben did not aim to reintegrate into Everwoods society now, but rather to pursue his humble goal of utilizing his interdimensional experiences and newfound purpose to improve life.

Observing him depart once more, Kevin remarked sarcastically, "Did your attempt at begging for money fail, leading you to return to the city?"

The other men remarked sarcastically, "Don't make him cry." Following that, both of them burst into laughter once again.

This instance left Ben unable to stay silent...

Ben smirked, refusing to let their taunts get under his skin. "Well, well, if it ain't the dynamic duo of ignorance. Kevin, did you finally learn to count past ten without taking off your shoes? And you there, buddy, your memory as rusty as your brain? I left this town for a reason – couldn't stand the stench of mediocrity lingering around folks like you."

He gestured to the box he was carrying, a sly grin playing on his lips. "This box? Oh, just a collection of my accomplishments. You know, things you'd need a dictionary to understand. But don't worry, I'll make sure to leave some picture books behind for you two when I'm gone. Gotta keep it simple for the intellectually challenged."

As the men exchanged puzzled glances, Ben continued, "And as for selling my shop, let's just say the city needed a taste of class. They were tired of scraping the bottom of the barrel with guys like you representing Everwoods. But hey, I'm back now. Thought I'd grace you all with a reminder of what success looks like."

He strolled away, leaving the men fumbling for a response, their faces redder than a pair of embarrassed tomatoes. Sometimes, silence spoke louder than any retort ever could.