"...Where am I? Ugh!!*
"This headache!"
He suddenly woke up on a chair in the middle of his library. Deus held his forehead trying to wait for the pain to go away.
When he recovered, he started looking around. The library was still quiet and clean. As the library was separated from the real dimension, no dust came in.
Leading to a constant state of cleanliness, unless he did so intentionally.
[You have won 10 levels]
Oh, great.
He distributes them in his statistics.
"...What? The Humans!"
He quickly remembered what had happened earlier, the elves invading his land, the humans defending themselves, and then… his final resistance.
He had been sleeping for 10 years.
He checked his body. No trace of damage could be seen. When the elves had hurt him, he could clearly see visible wounds. Most likely, they had been synchronized with his real-world body.
Did sleep have healing effects?
Deus shook his head.
That wasn't the current problem. He passed on his consciousness and saw a devastated landscape.
The land had been overturned. Only a few houses remained standing on a patch of spared ground. Open ruins stretched as far as the eye could see.
However, he couldn't sense any trace of animals nearby. Were there even any people still alive?
"Smoke?"
He looked at the column of ashen smoke rising into the air, forming gray clouds, signs of human activity.
There were survivors!
A few people were chopping wood to start a fire. Despite the clouds, the weather felt rather cold. It seemed as though winter was approaching.
But with no animals around, he was curious to know how these humans had managed to survive in such perilous lands.
He watched an average-looking man strike wood with his axe. Time passed quickly, and then the man headed into the forest.
Despite the forest's presence, not a single bird could be heard. Without insects, there were no small predators, and without them, no animals.
Later, the man returned carrying a paste that resembled mud. He went back into his home and began to eat the mud.
"Hmm, it's troublesome… but also clever."
The man suddenly froze.
Was there a problem? Was the mud actually edible? If not, it would be natural to assume he'd be constipated for a while.
"Demons?"
Huh.
Was he talking to me?
"Yes! You!"
Deus was deeply surprised.
How could the man hear him? The last time, he had remained silent for what felt like an eternity.
Ah… Could it be because he had reached 30/100 in Intelligence stats? That would certainly support the rhetoric and his surprise.
"What are you eating?"
"I won't answer a demon!"
"I'm not a demon."
"Then what are you? A god?"
Deus held his forehead. Was he a demon? Certainly not. Then a god? Unlike the Administrator, he was technically a human. But was he really a human? Not quite. Then he was a tree.
Upon hearing his answer, the human's eyes widened not just "widened", but nearly popped out of their sockets. The scene was amusing.
Like something out of a comedy film.
"Ah… Forgive me, divine tree!"
The average man had been a teenager back when the village first settled comfortably near the forest. He had also noticed the enormous tree at the center of the village. Its presence, its surroundings, and the aura it emitted were filled with kindness.
Sometimes, after arguing with his parents, he would even sleep near the tree at night.
But his parents had long since passed away.
Only survivors remained. Young children and the elderly. Most of the elderly had died, but the children proved to be a sustainable workforce.
They had tried many times to contact the divine tree, but received no answer.
Eventually, they gave up, rebuilt, and waited.
It was troubling.
Listening to the man's story, the situation was more critical than he had imagined.
Most of the survivors were people with disabilities. So, he was one of the only ones able to provide for the village, at least enough to keep it going.
Caring for others while already in a difficult position himself… a good man.
By the way, what exactly was that mud on his table made of?
"A mix of mud, monster droppings, and tree bark."
Monster droppings?
He had expected mud based on the texture, and the tree bark seemed normal, some types could even be edible, so that hadn't surprised him.
But droppings?
No animals, no birds, but monsters? The kind of hideous creatures that drop their waste on the ground, then casually wipe their behinds on a tree while strolling away?
"Ah. Stop eating that!"
Deus held his head in pain. The man kept eating the mud he had prepared. Eventually, Deus gave up, looking at the man's frail arms.
"Aren't there any side effects? Like constipation or diarrhea?" Deus asked.
"Constipation and diarrhea?" He replied, confused.
Ah, right.
Unlike Earth, this world still suffers from a lack of education, especially in remote places like this, devastated by war and racism.
"A stomachache."
"O-oh… No, no! It's… totally healthy, Mr. Tree!"
The man flailed his arms around.
Deus paused, deep in thought.
For a paste like that to actually provide enough nutrients to survive, it was almost a miracle.
He suspected the effect came from the monsters' droppings. The bark might have a bit of nutritional value, but not enough to sustain someone. The mud… maybe it was just there to fill the stomach.
Psychologically, a full belly could trick the mind, a kind of self-hypnosis that calmed the hunger.
Then, the real nutrients from the monster's droppings would kick in, and the man could continue to go back to work like normal.
A food that defied logic.
"What's your name?"
"Me? I'm Clever! Like, super clever!" he said proudly, puffing out his chest with a grin.
A truly childish name… but he liked it.
"Alright then, Clever. Can you gather everyone here before the end of the day?"
"A-ah, yes! Of course! Everyone will be so happy you woke up, Divine Tree! Even just to talk to you! They'll all be super surprised!"
Clever replied, proudly thumping his chest.
Due to his lack of proper nutrition, the gesture looked more like something out of a comedy, but Deus simply nodded.
Now that he had lived for around forty years in his own dimension, he found himself craving a bit of adventure.
And although the relationship had been brief, he had grown attached to the humans.
He had once been human in a former life.
Seeing his own kind discriminated against and killed without remorse… It made him feel sick.
Still, dreams and reality were two separate things.
First and foremost, to revive the economy and population, they needed to address the food supply, an incredibly scarce resource in this isolated place.
Normally, they would have traded local resources for food with neighboring villages.
But finding any standing village in this devastated landscape… that would be a real surprise.