Author: Chu Tu
Volume: 1
Age Rating: Mature
Translator: Misty
Editor: My Nguyen

Synopsis

What does it mean to be human when bodies, species, memory, even time itself can be left behind?
Across oceans and stars, lives collide, separate, and find one another again in forms neither science nor language can fully contain. Here, love is not merely desire, but recognition: the moment one consciousness truly sees another. Against the vast indifference of the universe, mortality becomes not a weakness but a source of meaning.
We are brief, changing, fragile. Yet through memory, connection, and the act of witnessing, perhaps nothing we love is ever entirely lost.

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Preview

“Hello.”

Galvan’s eyes widened in shock as he lifted his gaze to look at the creature.

“Hello,” the creature repeated its greeting.

“This has been quite a pleasant exchange.”

Galvan lay on the ground, panting heavily, his hands digging into the soft ground as he tried to steady himself after the creature’s attack.

“What is your name, lowly organism?”

Galvan clenched his teeth, suppressing the sudden urge to rush over and tear this monster limb from limb. He did not have the ability to defeat it just yet, so he needed to find out its weaknesses first and wait for an opportunity to strike.

Fortunately, the creature seemed like it wanted to talk, rather than continue to attack him.

“Or should I say, despicable human?”

Every single sentence from the creature seemed like a provocation. Galvan finally managed to stand up and tried to counter the creature’s words without enraging his opponent.

“You seem more like the inferior being here, given your appearance.”

“My appearance?” The creature waved its tentacles around. In the next moment, the top part of its body began to twist and contort, and suddenly, a face materialized. Even though its skin remained the same turquoise color, it had a nose, a mouth, and two eyes on its face, as well as ears on either side. Upon closer inspection, this face looked surprisingly similar to Galvan’s.

“Are you referring to this? Do you take pride in this fragile, inferior, and short-lived body? I suppose it’s not your fault. After all, humans have occupied less than ten thousand years of Earth’s history, so it’s understandable that your aesthetic sense is ridiculous.”

“Your kind…” Galvan sized up the creature and remarked, “…may have had tens of thousands of years of history, but if you can’t tell the difference between beauty and ugliness, you’ll always remain a beast.”

“Tens of thousands of years of history?” The creature’s lips widened into a smile. “No one knows how long our kind has existed. But if we use Earth’s unit of time, I’ve lived for over a hundred million years. Over these years, I’ve only met seventeen of my kind, and the one who has lived the longest is more than seven hundred million years old.”

“Do you understand, lowly human? This is the fundamental difference between us. Comparing me to you is akin to comparing yourself to an ant.”

Galvan had no way to refute his words, but he retorted, “Humans would not talk to ants!”

The creature laughed and said, “There’s only you and me on this planet, aren’t we?? And it has been a long time since I’ve encountered such a lowly species, so I decided to communicate with you.”

Galvan shouted in agitation, “How dare you call that profane action toward me a type of ‘communication’! How the hell is that perverse type of behavior ‘communication’?!”

The creature replied rather nonchalantly, “Do you actually think that your way of communicating is noble and respectful to me? It’s already insulting that I’m lowering myself to communicate with you using such an inferior method. I did not expect that not only would you be unable to communicate with me using more advanced methods, but that your body would even react in such a primitive way. It’s natural for all species to take pride in their own kind, but it’s ridiculous for humans to think that they are above others. You are lowly, filthy, and debased. You use your excretory organs for the noble mission of proliferation and evolution, and remain driven by your body’s physiological reactions. How different are you from the mammals that you slaughter on your planet? Besides, you derive pleasure from the same excretory organs. You completely rejected any form of psychological exchange and could respond only to the most superficial stimuli, even transferring your genetic material to me. And it was only during that fleeting moment that I felt your brainwave of pleasure and gratitude.”

As the creature spoke, its appearance changed again. However, its face still resembled that of Galvan’s.

And almost immediately after, it changed to another face.

It was only then that Galvan understood that the creature had obtained his sperm and was randomly assembling facial features that made up different faces.

All the energy drained from his body. His face became as pale as a sheet of paper, and he could not speak for the life of him. He knew that the creature’s words were unreasonable, and yet, he was completely unable to counter them at this point.

With a feeble voice, he asked, “Why is it that you can speak our language?”

“It just so happens that I had mated with one of my kind in the past who had some basic knowledge about humans. After our initial contact, I was able to identify you as a human and chose to communicate with you using your method of communication.”

“Forget about it. I’m not talking to you anymore.” Galvan lay down slowly and curled up into a ball on the ground. “I’m tired, and you don’t know anything.”

Although the environment was damp and cold, Galvan was an experienced warrior. After having exhausted too much energy in that round of “communication,” he soon fell asleep and slipped into a semi-comatose state.

The creature was right. They were the only ones on this planet. The mist blocked their vision, and their surroundings were calm. He wondered about the outcome of the battle. He also wondered whether there would be anyone, regardless of whether they could be considered his comrade or his enemy, who would come to their aid. He needed to conserve his energy, wait, and observe before mapping out his next course of action.

While Galvan was snoring away, the creature remained beside him in the same motionless state.

Shortly after, Galvan woke up due to the cold. He sat up and observed his surroundings. The mist had largely dissipated, but the sky was dark and gloomy, and the cold seemed much harsher than before.

The creature moved a little before saying, “Very soon, this planet will rotate to face away from the primary star of the system. The nights will last for two to three Earth days. When that happens, the water vapor will condense, and the temperature will drop to minus 100 degrees Celsius.”

Humans would not be able to survive in such temperatures, not to mention that Galvan’s clothes had already been shredded by the monster. Every single moment his naked body was exposed to the elements chilled him to his core. That was when he decided to stand up slowly and move toward his fighter jet.

The creature did not bother to block his path, choosing instead to silently follow behind him.

Galvan slid into the cockpit and organized the supplies that he still possessed. There was still plenty of fuel, which could be used to start a fire. There was also a first-aid kit with some basic emergency supplies. Since he was barely injured, only the alcohol was of use to him now. The cockpit was narrow and riddled with holes. Furthermore, he had also sent the hatch flying when he kicked it open, so there was no way he could stay here for three days.

He wondered if he should find a small cave. Or perhaps…he could stay in the monster’s fighter jet. It looked slightly larger and did not seem to have suffered too much damage during its descent here.

The planet would be falling into darkness any moment now, so Galvan had to make the most of every second. After leaving the cockpit, he hunched his shoulders against the cold. Fortunately, he found some beef jerky, some chewing gum, and half a bar of chocolate that he had casually stashed in the storage cabinet. He packed them all into the first-aid kit and slung it over his shoulder.

Galvan sprinted all the way to the creature’s fighter plane. However, when he opened the hatch and saw the interior layout, it left him shocked and disappointed all at once. There was no space within the cockpit to accommodate him. There were only countless deep and shallow grooves—only the creature could spread its tentacles and enter this space. Also, as it turned out, this was not an aircraft that he could pilot.

Was that the reason why the creature did not stop him from entering?

Galvan climbed to the top of the cockpit for a wider line of sight and surveyed the area. He spotted an area with uneven terrain, which meant that there might be caves of some sort.

He jumped down from the cockpit and ran in that direction.

As the creature watched how Galvan busied himself with his survival plans, it seemed entertained and continued to follow him.

Galvan ran for over an hour before reaching the area, but was greatly disappointed when he arrived. The uneven terrain he saw was just a series of massive ice pillars and deep crevices.

Was there truly nowhere to hide from the extreme cold?

His body felt even colder after that intensive workout. He hugged his shoulders tightly, trying to gather some warmth in this manner. If it were not for this monster, he would not have had to run naked in the biting cold weather on this unfriendly planet and unfamiliar terrain.

Was he going to die?

It was cold. Extremely cold.

The breath Galvan exhaled quickly sank, and the water vapor in the air disappeared. As darkness fell, half of the planet froze.

Was he going to die?

Galvan lifted his head and looked at the night sky. It was extremely clear. The fiery signs of warfare no longer existed in the starry sky. All that remained was scattered debris floating around; some near, some far away, some large, and some small.

He was going to die.

All of a sudden, a warm and soft sensation enveloped him from behind, and before he could resist, the creature had wrapped him completely inside its body.

The creature did not crush him. Instead, it had carved out a space for him within its body to accommodate him. Galvan’s feet were off the ground as he stood within the walls that the creature had created for him, and tapped the wall gently. He found the creature’s skin soft and elastic. At this temperature, its texture was no longer slimy.

Very quickly, the temperature inside the creature’s body rose even more, giving Galvan a warm and cozy feeling, as though spring had arrived. However, the walls around him began to feel slippery, so he lost his balance and fell directly on his buttocks.

The air he exhaled was absorbed and replaced with fresh oxygen as air bubbles flowed inside the creature’s translucent body. This monster had created a cozy, small environment for him to survive in.

“Hey…” Galvan tapped the monster again.

“Mm.” The spot that Galvan tapped suddenly transformed into a face, startling him.

He asked the creature, “Why are you saving me?”

The creature replied, “I saw from my companion’s memory that humans have a hobby. They would place mice in a small cage and raise them.”

“What?!” Galvan threw a punch at that face as anger rippled throughout his body.

But before Galvan’s fist could make contact with the face, it transformed and sank inward, wrapping his fist within and binding it tightly as it contracted and sucked his fist.

Galvan hastily withdrew his fist and used his other hand to rub off the sticky liquid on his hand.

One of his teammates had raised a gigantic bear that was docile and loved to put people’s hands into its mouth and suck on them like it was honey. Galvan felt as though he was being licked by the bear, yet he also felt as though he had been taken advantage of.

This was not right. They were different species. And on top of that, they were enemies. So why did he associate such behavior with being preyed upon?

This creature was not human. It could not possibly have such complex thoughts and emotions.

However, he needed the creature right now. Only with its help could he survive on this planet.

He would call a truce, just for now.

…

_{Proofreader: Miracle, Paula Dip}

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