Year 761 of the Age.
On a deep-blue planet in the boundless, vast universe.
This was Earth, in the Solar System of the North Galaxy in Universe 7, and the place where the Dragon Ball story began...
A young man of about eighteen had appeared in a wilderness for some unknown reason and was struggling to survive.
He had discovered that the place was crawling with monsters: insects several meters tall, and dinosaurs—long extinct, and possibly even larger than before!
There were also many creatures he couldn't even recognize, some of them looking like they'd been pieced together. Without exception, they were all far beyond anything he could handle.
Thinking this, the young man edged farther into the cave. He had been eking out a living here for seven days.
When thirsty, he drank dew; when hungry, he chewed leaves. He didn't dare try to eat meat, or even go near the riverbank to catch fish.
After taking a sip of dew, He Lingxuan's pallid face looked a little better. He gathered the dew near the cave at around three in the morning, when most animals were asleep or hadn't woken yet.
"Damn it, I just fell asleep watching videos, and when I woke up, I was in this godforsaken place. If you were going to kidnap me, you didn't have to dump me here! I haven't made enemies with anyone! You damn heavens, are you messing with me?!"
He Lingxuan was irritated, grumbling and cursing. His frail body had gone without food for a long time, yet for some reason, a force kept him alive.
"I really don't get it. I'm an orphan. I've got no money, no power—just a decent face. If you're going to kidnap me, at least take me somewhere with people! You could lock me up, for all I care. This place is so damn weird. There are actual dinosaurs here! Weren't dinosaurs supposed to be extinct?!"
He kept muttering, but his mind was racing. He hadn't eaten for seven days, and had made it this far on nothing but a little dew. If he didn't eat soon, he might lose the strength to move, pass out from hunger, and get eaten by some other animal.
At that thought, He Lingxuan suddenly found a little resolve. He still looked utterly haggard, but a fierce determination shone in his dull eyes.
"Damn it, I'm going for it. Tonight, I'm going out to find food. If I don't get something to fill my stomach, I'll starve to death sooner or later. I, He Lingxuan, refuse to die like a coward! Better to take a chance than get eaten after I'm dead!"
It wasn't that there were no fruits or anything like that. When He Lingxuan had first woken up here, he'd been confused, but he'd still been cautious. He had no idea what was going on—one moment he'd been asleep, and the next he was in a strange place.
Seven days earlier
At first, he'd woken at noon, roused by the scorching sun. Still dazed, he'd started walking around, but before long he'd realized something was wrong. There wasn't a single person in sight, and he couldn't see any animals, either.
After walking for about an hour, he reached a hillside and stopped. Sitting on a giant boulder, he relaxed his calves and wondered how he'd ended up there. Then a shadow silently fell over He Lingxuan!
As he rubbed his aching calves, He Lingxuan sensed something was off. It seemed to have suddenly gotten dark.
Plop!
A drop of "water" landed on He Lingxuan's head, soaking his hair and shirt. A thick, rancid stench rushed into his nose, nearly making him throw up.
Even an idiot would have realized that something was terribly wrong. He Lingxuan stiffly turned his head and caught sight of a Giant Tiger at least three meters tall and five meters long!
Its jaws were wide open, its teeth bared, and its saliva was dripping onto him.
Facing a life-or-death crisis, He Lingxuan took off running. In an instant, it was as if he'd unleashed an incredible burst of strength—he'd covered dozens of meters in less than a second!
Even the Giant Tiger froze for a moment, not expecting such a small creature to run so fast. Once it came to its senses, it opened its jaws and roared.
ROAR!!!
Its body surged forward, and it began to sprint like the wind. Yet for some reason, it couldn't catch up with the tiny human in its eyes.
He Lingxuan had no idea he could run so fast. In the face of a life-or-death crisis, he hadn't noticed a thing. All he knew was to run! Run fast!
As he fled, thoughts about tigers' characteristics surfaced in his mind.
But he quickly dismissed them. No ordinary tiger was anywhere near this big, so what he knew about ordinary tigers didn't apply to the Giant Tiger chasing him.
He frantically searched for a way to escape. Climb a tree? No good! Tigers could climb. Jump into the water? No good, either. Tigers could swim, and they were much faster than people!
One idea after another flashed through his mind and was discarded. Then inspiration struck. He could find a cave! There had to be plenty of caves in terrain like this.
But even that wasn't easy. If the cave wasn't deep enough, the tiger could hook him out with one swipe of its paw!
He had no choice but to hope for the best. He Lingxuan looked ahead and scanned the area. There was a cave not far away, and it was just the size he needed.
He could have kept running, but first, he didn't know when the tiger would catch up. Second, for some reason, he'd started feeling ravenous after running only a short distance. He still had enough strength to run, but he felt that if he kept this up, he might collapse from hunger right where he stood.
So this was his last chance!
He planted one foot hard against the ground, burst into a sprint, and put every last ounce of strength into it. In a flash, he shot inside!
The instant He Lingxuan entered, the Giant Tiger's enormous paw came crashing after him. BANG!!!
CRASH—!!!
The tiger's paw viciously raked at the cave entrance, making a tremendous impact as rocks tumbled down.
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!!!!!
The tiger roared, seemingly furious that it had failed to catch the human and let its meal escape!
Deep inside the cave, He Lingxuan lay spread-eagled, gasping for air.
Hearing the commotion at the entrance, He Lingxuan knew that stupid tiger had chased him here.
"Whew, I got really lucky this time. The cave's deep enough, and the entrance is narrow. That stupid tiger can only get one paw inside at most."
"I should be safe for now, but that huge beast is still blocking the entrance. It probably won't stay there for long, right? It can't go without food and water forever!"
Feeling that he'd recovered a little, He Lingxuan muttered to himself, grateful to have escaped with his life. But now he was trapped...
After hiding in the cave for several hours, He Lingxuan finally dared to get up and look toward the entrance. The opening in the rock, about half a meter long, had already been shredded by the tiger's claws. Part of it even looked like it might collapse.
He walked a few steps closer and looked outside. The grass was covered in broken rocks, clearly dislodged from the hillside by the Giant Tiger's attack. Looking at the scene, He Linxuan let out a deep sigh.
He wasn't stupid. Even if the Giant Tiger had left, it might come back for several more visits after eating its fill. More likely, it hadn't left at all.
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