The Nebula's Civilization

Chapter 11: Golden Tablet

Sung-Woon didn’t expect much.

‘Discovering writing isn’t too big of a deal by itself. Ancient ruins are pretty much everywhere.’

Discovering writing and inventing writing were completely different things. In general, once writing became a thing in a large culture, it spread quickly.

‘Even when I played the game The Lost World, there weren't many cases where my tribe or civilization created their own written language.’?

That was especially true in situations like now, where it was only the beginning. The ‘Golden Tablet’ that Lakrak found was a very common relic. If one was lucky enough to chance upon an ancient ruin, they could find a library of calligraphic works that was full of written language from that era. The ancient people wrote about every little thing, so it would be considered great luck if the writings they found weren’t simply about building houses or other trivial matters.

‘But this is a decent find.’

Lakrak and the group didn’t know what it said on the Golden Tablet as they didn’t know what the characters meant, but to the player, all information was revealed.

[Golden Tablet: The Way to the Great Kalonbar Empire (2)

The inscription on the Golden Tablet is an introduction to the ancient civilization that was once called the ‘Kalonbar Empire.’ It largely consists of writings about the greatness of the Kalonbar Empire and its achievements, so there isn’t much important information to be gleaned. Nevertheless, aside from its value as a source of information about an ancient civilization, it gives a hint about other ancient remains of the Kalonbar Empire. (Read more)]

‘But civilization needs to be a lot more advanced to translate it.’

Because The Lost World was full of ancient civilizations, it wouldn’t be necessary to reach the level of development of modern civilization on Earth, where a framework to interpret Egyptian hieroglyphics could be established based on the famous Rosetta Stone. Nevertheless, a diverse society with archaeologists, linguists, universities, and sufficient knowledge of a variety of civilizations was needed.

‘So right now…the Tablet is no different from trash.’

Of course, the Golden Tablet itself was a piece of very shiny metal, so it attracted the attention of the Lizardmen. However, gold was a soft metal and would serve them no better than iron right now. It would be worth having the precious metal as decoration, but that type of art was unfamiliar to the Lizardman compared to other species.

‘Are they going to just leave it?’

But Lakrak did not do so. It seemed that Lakrak actually liked the Golden Tablet as he sniffed, tasted, and bit the corner of the Tablet that was already damaged, leaving a deep bite mark.

“It’s too soft.”

“I think it is gold.”

“Gold?”

“The iron craftsman once showed me several metal pieces that he had in his pocket. Gold was heavy and soft, so it was useless. If it is wiped well, though, it reflects the light and shines beautifully.”

“It’s still useless, isn’t it?”

“Oh, and I heard it doesn’t change color or rust, so the Minnows think it is somewhat valuable.”

“It doesn’t rust?”

Then Lakrak felt the engravings on the Golden Tablet with the tip of his fingers.

“Anyways, Zaol, I think this is an ancient object.”

“Yes. It must have been hand-made. I don’t think this monster just grew it out of its back”

“So you’re saying the ancient people made the altar and hid this object in there.” Zaol took a moment to think about what Lakrak had said and realized what he was getting at. “You mean this was valuable to the ancient people.”

“Yes. The ancient people probably used gold because, as you said, it doesn’t rust. So the important point is not what it's made out of, but why they engraved on it.”

At Lakrak’s words, Zaol also began to stare intently at the Golden Tablet.

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“There are rules to the engravings. Here, here, and there, the shapes are the same, and this here and that one there also have the same shape.”

“Right?”

“Do you think it’s similar to the hunting marks our warriors make?”

Lakrak nodded in agreement.

These Lizardmen were primitive beings; they found it easy to use symbols?rather than letters. For example, their ways of using symbols included weaving two tree trunks together to mark the direction, or piling up stones to mark their territories. In particular, in hunter-gatherer cultures, knowledge of the directions that animals moved in or which plants were edible developed over generations.

‘Of course the knowledge passed down isn’t complicated, since there’s no writing record, but…’

Sung-Woon saw a slight possibility.

‘With my support, Lakrak might be able to invent primitive letters.’

Lakrak’s Willpower was high, so he was likely to continue paying attention to something that he was interested in. Zaol, who was next to Lakrak, had high Intuition, so she might be able to catch information that Lakrak overlooked.

‘Then it’s worth a try.’

A god giving direct knowledge to their tribe would consume a great amount of Faith points, but giving hints was no different from a normal Miracle.

‘It might be a waste of points as they might not even recognize the hints, but all investments come with risks.’

Sung-Woon began thinking of how he should let Lakrak know about the concept of writing and its value.

***

Lakrak gave the land back to the Orcs, and the Orc leader bowed several times.

“Thank you. Thank you very much.”

“It was an obstacle we had to defeat ourselves, and we couldn’t be delayed any longer. You also mentioned this was your land to begin with.”

“Are you planning to go deeper into the mountains?”

“Yes.”

The Orc leader slowly nodded.

“We are a small group, so it was hard to survive deeper in the mountains. There live many large beasts and tribes, ones that are much bigger than ours. But you and your clan are strong enough, so it should be fine.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“I owe you and your clan a great favor, and I would like to repay it. We’ve lived here for a long time, so we know a path through the mountains that is wider and isn’t as rugged. Would it be okay for my son to show you the way?”

Lakrak gladly nodded at the generous gesture.

“Send some porters. If we hunt or find food, we’ll send some back with your son and the porters.”

The Orc leader smiled brightly.

“We are parting ways now, but I will never forget your grace, Lakrak.”

Lakrak and his clan went on their way in a hurry. Fortunately, Zaol’s ‘cooking’ made a portion of the Ancient Coleoptera edible. The body and intestines, which were the largest part, weren't edible, but the large legs lost their pungency after getting covered in spices and cooked on top of charcoal. It was still bland, but it was better than before.

“Cooking seems good to know. I should learn how to cook. Would you teach me?”

“Of course.”

However, charcoal was a limited resource, and because the Ancient Coleoptera began to rot faster than expected, they couldn’t just keep using it to sustain themselves.

Lakrak thus urged them to quicken their pace, unable to make enough meals to feed the over three hundred beings.

The journey through the gorge covered in short shrubs and sparsely grown trees wasn’t easy, but they made it deeper into the mountains without much hassle thanks to the Orc guide. After a few days, the landscape became smoother, and the trees began to rise higher. The warriors didn’t know what to do as the water buffaloes kept stopping at the sight of grass to graze. The herd of buffaloes was barely moving now.

For the first time in his life, Lakrak saw a fur beast with a long neck and antlers on its head prancing around. This furry beast seemed to be alert after seeing a Lizardman for the first time. Lakrak went up to the furry beast to keep a cautious eye on it and noticed there was a small group of the same animals behind it.

“It’s a deer,” said the one-armed star catcher.

“Do they taste good?”

“I’ve only tried it once, but I still remember how it tasted. The flesh is sweet.”

Lakrak ordered the clan to rest and went to hunt the deer with his warriors. He placed the first hunted deer on a black rock and offered it to God. The second deer hunted was given to the Orcs in gratitude for leading the way, and the rest of the deers filled the stomachs of the Lizardmen.

For the first time in a while, Lakrak enjoyed his meal and sat in front of the temporary altar. He brought the Golden Tablet out and watched the sacrificed deer rot. Lakrak suddenly became lost in his thoughts.

‘This doesn’t rot, but that does.’

If Zaol was right, the Golden Tablet would never rot, and from what Lakrak had seen until now, dead things rotted and disappeared.

‘Now that I think of it, lots of things in the world are divided in two. Day and night. Light and shadow. The ground and the sky. Chasers and those being chased. Eaters and those being eaten. The living and the dead… Men and women.’

Lakrak shook his head.

‘Zaol will be waiting for my answer… My answer.’

Lakrak quietly looked up at the head of the dead deer. The deer’s body was bleeding, already covered in flies and infested with bugs.

‘What is dead can also abound with life, but that, too, is fleeting.’

Then right at that moment, Lakrak saw something strange. It seemed that the bugs were moving according to certain patterns, as if there was an invisible hand guiding them. Then, as Lakrak blinked a few times, everything went back to its original disorderly state.

‘What was that?’

These hallucinations appeared and disappeared several times before Lakrak’s eyes. He thought the wriggling motion seemed familiar, and his realization wasn’t far off.

‘The movement of these bugs is similar to the engravings that the ancient people made on the Golden Tablet.’

It then dawned on Lakrak that not everything was divided into two. Between day and night, there was dusk and dawn, and if one looked closely, there was an unclear boundary between lights and shadows. The ground rose high as mountains, and it was hard to define exactly where the sky started. Chasers also would have been chased, and eaters would also be eaten.

‘And men and women…’

Lakrak thought of a few things and drew on the ground with a stick. At first, he copied the characters on the Golden Tablet. Then, he doodled things that weren’t letters or symbols, and soon after, he erased the lines that he had left on the ground with his hands, lost in his thoughts.

‘After all, it might not be the gold that won’t rot with this Golden Tablet. What really might not rot is…’

Lakrak made a fire near the altar and spent the night writing on the ground with the stick.

Early the next morning, Zaol opened her eyes and saw Lakrak in front of her.

“Chief, what is it?”

“I have something to show you.”

“Something to show me?”

Zaol was worried about what was going on, but Lakrak seemed somewhat excited. She decided to follow him.

Lakrak said to Zaol, “I got lost in my thoughts while looking at the Golden Tablet and the rotting deer, and it seems God has given me grace. The thought suddenly came into my head—it’s not the gold that doesn’t rot. What really doesn’t rot is…”

“I don’t get what you mean.”

Lakrak stopped talking, kneeled on the ground, and picked up the stick.

“Look at this carefully.”

Lakrak first drew a triangle and two perpendicular lines with the stick.

△

┴

“This is me.”

“This is Lakrak?”

“Oh, no…”

“But didn’t you say this was you, chief?”

“I mean this is… It’s a male Lizardman.”

“Hm. Keep going.”

Then Lakrak drew an inverted triangle and two lines.

▽

┴

“This is you.”

“You mean a female Lizardman.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“To be exact, there’s the female part and the Lizardman part, right?”

“Yes.”

Lakrak then proceeded to draw two lines between the two drawings.

△─▽

┴─┴

Lakrak fell silent after drawing these two lines, so Zaol had no choice but to ask first.

“And what is this?”

“This means…they will become each other’s companion,” Lakrak said. “This is my answer.”

Zaol looked down at the characters that Lakrak had drawn without much reaction. Then, she took the stick from Lakrak and drew a circle.

○

Zaol asked, “Lakrak, do you get what this means?”

“Yes, I do.”

***

[Lakrak’s Clan has invented ‘Writing’!]

Sung-Woon cheered in joy on the inside as there was no one to even watch him if he expressed it.

‘However, it’ll still take lots of generations to develop more.’

Nevertheless, it was still the beginning stage of the game.

Lakrak was a leader of a fairly strong group and would be motivated to use these characters. And just as Sung-Woon had wished, the Lizardman quickly became motivated and energized in their search for food once they got to a humid, grass-filled land on a mountain that wasn’t too rugged. The water buffaloes weren't used to the environment, but once their stomachs were full, it was a lot easier for the warriors to handle them.

Lakrak and Zaol decided to be each other’s companion, and the clan celebrated this matter with a festival. A kind of hunting contest was held as a primitive proposal, and Lakrak once again proved his eligibility as a companion by offering the largest deer to his bride.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly. However, Sung-Woon knew this game wasn’t that easy.

‘The reason why there were so many random encounters and negative events in The Lost World is probably because it is based on a real world… And I can already foresee what the next event will be.’

After the wedding, Lakrak sent warriors to check for any danger around the forest. There were sightings of a giant beast, but it wasn’t an urgent threat. It was the other tribes that Lakrak was worried about.

Within the next few days, Lakrak learned of another tribe not too far away that was also constantly scouting for danger around them. Lakrak didn’t recognize the footprints, but the star catcher did.

“It’s a frog footprint.”

1. The term ‘rot’ here is used for the Korean term ‘??’, which can mean both ‘rot’ and ‘rust’.