"If your life reached its end, what would you do in your final moment?"
If time were turned back three hundred years, Markwen probably would not have thought about such a distant question.
At the time, he was only fifty years old and had just reached adulthood. He married a girl he deeply loved and settled down in Ebony Forest.
They had two children. He named the first child Jierbo, his wife named him Nanfuduo, and Ronan named him Aston.
They had even come up with a shared nickname: "Tap Dance," because he was always kicking his mother's belly.
Every newborn gnome was given many names, all of which were their true names. When Markwen greeted others, he would introduce himself as [Flying Fish] Markwen Fox—but that only represented his nickname, given name, and surname.
His real name, written out in full, was probably more than ten times as long. It came from his parents, relatives, friends, and even the companions he met throughout his life.
Every gnome was like this, which was why their names were so cumbersome and lengthy—
They represented the good wishes of family and friends, and also meant that it was one's experiences with loved ones that shaped who one became.
His first child had likewise been conceived amid the hopes of family and friends.
Unfortunately, the child died in the womb before he could be born.
Back then, Ebony Forest still allowed grief.
It took him a long time to accept that reality, but his wife never did.
Sometimes, she would still lean close to his ear and softly tell him, "I think Nanfuduo is still kicking my belly."
He was someone who loved jokes and pranks. That was in a gnome's nature.
But at such a time, how could he joke with his