--The heroine is from Flower-Country, a talented doctor who is twenty-four this year. She isn't a god, either, so I'll try not to make things too ridiculous. She has no romantic pairing in the main story, so ship her however you like. I won't break up the canon couples: Ruri and Chrome, Taiju and Yuzuriha, and those two Americans, Stanley and Xeno.--
--Of course, the characters might be a little OOC, but nothing too outrageous~--
--Leave your brains here for safekeeping--
Set your heart ablaze!
Waves crashed against the rocks, washing away patches of sand and gravel along the shore.
The sky was a brilliant blue, and birds spread their wings and soared.
With clear skies overhead, today was a day worth celebrating.
June 3, 2019.
An eerie green light swept across the globe.
Li Xiang had finished a day's work and taken off her work clothes. She was pulling out her phone to book a ride home when a strange light suddenly caught her eye.
She had just raised her hand and flagged down a taxi, but before she could get in, the light swept across the globe. Li Xiang noticed that everyone touched by the green light had turned into... stone?
Traffic instantly spiraled out of control. Cars hurtled onward with no way to stop, rear-ending one another in rapid succession. Li Xiang hurriedly dodged the cars careening toward her.
There was nowhere left to run. The light crept onto her fingertips, and Li Xiang watched helplessly as her fingers turned to stone.
Terror, panic, fear, unease.
What on earth was going on?
The world before her eyes went pitch-black. The slightest lapse nearly dragged her consciousness away. In those last moments of awareness, Li Xiang seemed to hear someone speaking.
Huh? How was that possible?
Everyone in the world had turned into fossils. She had to be dreaming.
It was so faint that even she couldn't tell whether it was a hallucination, that fragile voice.
"Heart..."
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Crack, crack.
The stone on her surface began to crack. Once consciousness returned to Li Xiang, it burst forth like a bamboo shoot breaking through the soil, unstoppable.
The cracking began around her eyes. Li Xiang could see now. There were no towering city buildings, only lush green trees shading her from the glaring light.
Aside from her sight, her hearing was the first to return. Birds, beasts, and cicadas called, while a gentle breeze rustled the leaves, the sounds reaching her ears. Li Xiang first tried moving her fingers. Stone still covered her body, and having only just awakened, she couldn't summon her full strength yet.
Li Xiang slowly raised her hand. Crack, crack. The sound of her petrified shell breaking reached her ears as she did her best to straighten her back and sit up.
She was completely naked, but she couldn't worry about that right now. The dazzling light stung her eyes, and it took quite a while before Li Xiang could make out what this world really looked like.
It wasn't a city. There were no skyscrapers. It looked exactly like a primeval forest!
Li Xiang looked up. The midday sun shone brightly overhead, and all her clothes had rotted away. This was not a good start.
Fortunately, there were leaves and vines nearby. She could at least make something simple to cover herself.
Li Xiang couldn't understand why everyone had been petrified in an instant. Had only Flower-Country been petrified, or was this some other country's plot?
As she pondered it, Li Xiang decided that filling her stomach had to come first. The forest was rich in resources, and she found a small stream. Worried about leeches, roundworms, and the like, she didn't dare enter the water rashly.
Whether she could catch any fish was another big question.
"Ah... if only I had a fishing rod right now..."
Wait... a fishing rod? Didn't she just need something that could catch a fish?
Okay, no time like the present!
Li Xiang searched the surrounding area and finally found a fairly straight stick. With a stick in hand, she could use it as a fishing rod. Next... all she needed was a line and bait.
Hmm... As she considered it, Li Xiang glanced to one side. That would do for the line!
The bark of a fresh branch was easy to separate from the wood. Without a knife, Li Xiang braced the branch against a relatively sharp rock.
After a few scrapes, a split opened between the bark and the wood. Li Xiang dug her fingernails into it and peeled the bark off in a couple of tugs, separating the two completely.
The freshly stripped branch was sticky, but Li Xiang only needed the bark for now. She put the branch down and worked the bark between her hands, tearing it apart bit by bit.
She tore the bark into narrow strips and twisted them between her fingers. The thin strips gradually formed strands. Once they had been twisted enough, Li Xiang kept working the pieces of bark together from a single point.
The bark became a rather thick cord, but under such primitive conditions, having any line at all was good enough.
Next came the bait.
Li Xiang walked barefoot along the bank. The soil was fairly damp, so there ought to be earthworms. She grabbed a nearby branch and started digging.
Once she pulled aside the shallow layer of turf, damp earth lay exposed beneath it. As she dug, Li Xiang's gaze sharpened. She soon spotted something wriggling.
"Great! What luck, finding one right away." Li Xiang bent down and scooped up the dirt. An earthworm was hiding inside. She pulled it out and tied the bait onto her braided cord.
Obtained [Simple Fishing Rod]
There was no time to waste. Unable to bear her hunger any longer, Li Xiang immediately got down to fishing. She walked to a cool spot and cast the bait as far as she could.
The clear river water reflected her current appearance. Li Xiang had black hair and black eyes, with elongated outer corners-a classic pair of peach-blossom eyes. She was neither handsome nor ugly, and certainly no stunning beauty.
Her somewhat androgynous appearance had already cut down on the attention she received. Combined with her unsmiling manner at work, it left this lady with precious few romantic prospects.
At work, Li Xiang always wore a cold expression, as though everyone owed her a fortune. She couldn't be bothered to explain herself.
It saved her plenty of trouble, anyway.
Li Xiang didn't mind. All she needed was to live her own life well.
Suddenly, the line tugged. Had a fish taken the bait already? Li Xiang was amazed. Those middle-aged guys fishing online never seemed to have it this easy. Was she naturally gifted, or was there some kind of beginner's protection period?
Li Xiang gave a hard yank. The fish flew out of the water and landed on the bank, its tail flapping wildly.
The fish was quite large, more than enough for a hearty meal. Li Xiang threaded the line through its lower lip and secured it firmly.
On her way here, Li Xiang had spotted a perfect tree stump with a flat cut surface. She didn't know why it was so smooth. A wild animal probably couldn't have done that.
Forget it, forget it. Eating came first.
But Li Xiang faced a very serious problem... she had no knife and no fire.
Li Xiang stared dead-eyed at the flopping fish. Killing it would be easy, but without a knife, things would be tricky. If all else failed, should she copy the folks next door and eat sashimi?
On second thought, no. Li Xiang really didn't want parasites taking up residence inside her. There was no deworming medication or anything like it in this era. If she got infected and died, that would be the end of her.
Kill the fish first... Out of the water, the fish kept flopping around. Li Xiang decided to go straight for a rock. She picked up one that fit her hand and brought it down hard on its head.
One blow: life still burned bright.
Two blows: I could still be saved.
Three blows: I think my head's gone.
May there be no Li Xiang in heaven.
A violent, bloody scene unfolded. Li Xiang gave the fish flesh a quick rinse. Afterward, she kept searching for suitable rocks and smashing them apart, over and over.
Broken stone littered the ground. At last! Through Li Xiang's tireless efforts, a relatively sharp stone shard came into existence. She picked it up and used it to cut up the fish.
The fish's head was definitely beyond saving; she had smashed it to a pulp. She scraped off the scales, removed the innards, and rinsed the fish in the river.
Obtained [Fish Meat]
"Hahaha! I knew this couldn't stump me!"
The sun sank westward, taking its light with it. But Li Xiang still didn't have a flame, so she couldn't roast her fish.
"What should I do... do I really have to eat it raw?"
"No, no, no. That's absolutely out of the question." She immediately dismissed the thought and decided to try starting a fire with a bowless hand drill.
Li Xiang found an open patch of ground and brought over a dry block of wood. Using the branch she had stripped that morning as a spindle, she pressed her palms together around it. Even with every ounce of strength she had, not a single flame appeared.
"Damn it! My fate is in my hands, not heaven's! Give me a fire, aaaaah!" Li Xiang never stopped working the stick, spinning it over and over to generate friction. Through sheer brute force, she actually managed to produce smoke.
Seeing a chance, Li Xiang didn't dare stop moving her hands. She kept spinning.
"Cough, cough, cough." Only when thick gray smoke rose did Li Xiang finally stop her cramping hands. Sweat covered her forehead.
Staring at that little fire, Li Xiang finally felt alive.
Obtained [Fire Seed] [Ding! Congratulations, host!]
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