In a mountain cave deep inside the forest , a youth around the age of 18 was lying on the ground. He was wearing a black hoodie with a gray mask on his face, which covered his face below his eyes completely. There was also a one-foot-long statue of a blood-red-colored monkey sitting in a meditative pose beside the youth.
As the sunlight from outside shone on his face, the youth slowly opened his eyes and sat up. He habitually rubbed his eyes sleepily.
As his hands touched his face, the youth suddenly froze. He could feel the mask on his face. Looking at his hands, he was stunned again. Originally, he had a dark skin complexion due to living in a forest village in Asia, but now his skin was clearly white. On top of that, he was wearing some sort of dress that was clearly not his.
Just as he was in a daze, his head suddenly buzzed, and he fell back onto the floor unconscious.
.......
By the year 2100, Earth's climate had changed vastly over the years. The once-hot climate of Africa had transformed into freezing conditions similar to Antarctica, while Antarctica's climate had become as hot as Africa's was in the past. It was as though everything in the world had reversed from what it used to be.
Scientists speculated that these drastic changes were caused by atmospheric shifts brought about by years of unchecked pollution.
Global warming triggered environmental changes that caused frozen icebergs deep within Antarctica to start melting. Initially, this phenomenon gained national attention as rising ocean levels posed a significant threat. However, no one could have anticipated that the melting icebergs harbored harmful viruses capable of reshaping the world.
Strange diseases began spreading rapidly across the globe, claiming the lives of nearly three-fourths of the world's population in just a year's time. The devastation only halted after a vaccine for the disease was developed. Even so, the incident severely impacted human development. Governments worldwide implemented strict measures to reduce pollution and combat global warming by curbing industrial development and prioritizing forest conservation.
...........
Year 2121, In a secluded forest village of Asia,
"Hey, Alvin, are you coming to collect honey tonight? Mozi found a huge nest of wild bees at a cliff on Wolf Mountain. Tag along; it's going to be a good harvest. You can also make enough money for your college fees," a slightly dark-skinned man shouted at a young boy around the age of 18 who was sharpening his short knife on a stone near the riverside.
Alvin looked up at the man and smiled. "I was going to enter the deep mountain to hunt that brown bear with those foreigners. I'll pass this time, Uncle John."
John's expression changed when he heard this. "Are you out of your mind, Alvin? I know you're a master of monkey dance, and even if you face a ferocious animal like a bear, you won't die that easily, but you have to know that hunting animals is prohibited. On top of that, the bear you're going to hunt is already marked as a protected animal by the forest officers. It will only bring trouble to you."
Alvin sighed. "They guaranteed that they will take care of the officers. After all, money speaks, right?"
"Money speaks, my ass. Are you not even half as smart as me, even after studying in college?" John snorted. "If those foreigners could actually buy the forest officers with money, why don't they just bring a gun to hunt that animal? Why did those idiots approach you, who fight with cold weapons?"
Alvin was stunned after hearing this. He didn't think about all this after hearing the large amount of money those people offered him.
John shook his head upon seeing the blank look on Alvin's face. "Forget about fighting that bear. Although you're good at martial arts, there is still a chance of you dying out there if you face that thing. On top of that, even if you kill it, the first suspect the forest officers will point to will be you. After all, only you are capable of battling a bear without using a gun in the entire village."
Alvin thought about it and nodded. "You have a point there. Even if a small sparrow dies in the forest, those officers will come knocking on my door first. You can tell Uncle Mozi to count me in for the job as well. I'll be there at Aunt Rui's tea shop by the afternoon."
John smiled. "That's great. Don't worry about your college fees. This time, the harvest is going to be a big one. All of us will be able to secure a huge sum from this."
Alvin nodded. After John left, Alvin looked at the lake and sighed to himself before sitting down under the shade of an old tree.
Alvin was an orphan who was born in a secluded village in the great Himalayas. The people of the village were all poor, relying on collecting wild honey, fruits, other forest products, or farming to make a living.
Alvin's parents were kind people who cherished him very much and wanted to give him a better life in the city, away from this forest village. But unfortunately, when Alvin was 11 years old, his father and mother, who had gone to the mountain to collect medicinal herbs, never came back.
Although forest officers searched the forest, not even their bones were found. Alvin became a lonely soul from that day on. It was all thanks to his relatives, like Uncle John and others, that he was able to live until now.
In order to full fill his parents' wishes, Alvin had studied really hard and managed to enroll in a well-known university, even though his grades were not that great.
As for why his grades were not that good, the answer is simple. While other students studied under the light of bulbs and the comfort of their homes, Alvin would be doing part-time work outside to make ends meet.
One of Alvin's achievements in life was that he was extremely skilled in the traditional martial art of the village, known as the Monkey Dance. It was said to be a martial art passed down to the people of the village by their forest god, who took the avatar of a monkey to save his people when their village was under threat of annihilation by beasts during ancient times.
Because this skill was extremely hard to cultivate, and only those who were descendants of the village could learn it , only a few people in the village were proficient in this ancient art known as the Monkey Dance. Among these people, Alvin was the strongest, despite being only eighteen years old.
He had even entered the mountains alone several times to hunt animals and rare birds. Because of this, he was always on the forest officers' watch list. It was only due to a lack of concrete evidence that they had not managed to lock him up in jail yet.
During the evening, Alvin arrived at Aunt Rui's tea shop. John, Mozi, and three other people were already sitting there, chatting and laughing.
Alvin smiled at the people inside the shop and sat down on the chair opposite the table where Mozi was sitting.
"John told me you were planning to enter the forest to hunt a brown bear. Is it true?" Mozi asked unhappily. He was a middle-aged man, appearing to be around the same age as John, with slightly dark skin like everyone else in the tea shop.
Alvin smiled helplessly. "I gave up on that idea. Now forget about it already, Uncle."
Mozi slammed the table and pointed at Alvin angrily. "You ungrateful brat! Before you became the current unrivaled Monkey Dance master, it was me who took care of you. If you go and die under the claws of some wild beast, how am I supposed to answer to my big brother?"
Mozi was Alvin's father's younger brother, and he had taken care of Alvin after his parents passed away.
John patted Mozi's shoulder and said, "Now don't be petty over such a simple matter. He didn't go into the deep forest without telling us, like in the past, right?"
Mozi looked at John speechlessly. "Are you scolding him or praising him?"
"Now stop it. I'm not going anywhere. Let's discuss the place where you found the honey," Alvin said immediately, trying to diffuse the argument before it escalated further between John and Mozi.