[To the Reader｜Story Background and Core]
Dear Reader, this story begins at the very moment Chapter 9 of the original work, Primal Tribute: Nightmare of the Original Dream, concludes. To better understand the unique tone of this adaptation, please be aware of these two most crucial backstory elements:
Regarding Gu Liang (a lucid trapped beast, not a broken puppet):
Throughout the first nine chapters of the original work, Gu Liang endured the humiliation of being forcibly possessed by A Lie and enslaved within the tribe. Yet he never truly broke. All his submission and endurance were a meticulously staged performance, all for the ultimate escape and revenge.When this story begins (at the end of Chapter 9 in the original work), he seizes the chaos of a ritual festival to escape into the perilous Black Forest. Yet Alei's pursuit follows like a shadow—before Gu Liang can catch his breath, the stone axe symbolizing possession and violence cleaves through the trees, driving him once more to the edge of ruin.
You will encounter not a soul needing awakening, but a desperate, vigilant, and utterly lucid strategist. Driven to the edge by the stone axe, he stands at the critical juncture where "endurance" gives way to "devastating retaliation"—the final crossroads of survival and annihilation, where he is about to stake everything on a single gamble.
Regarding Emma and the IF Path (Pioneer of the Third Way):
In this narrative, Emma is sent by the "Book Spirit/World Consciousness," motivated purely by compassion for Gu Liang's tragic fate and the injustice he faces. She arrives in the Black Forest equipped with modern survival gear.Her intervention ultimately serves one purpose: to force open a "third path" beyond "surrender" and "destruction"—a new future built on wisdom, respect, and equality, where they jointly construct a home and heal each other.
Thus, the core appeal of this IF storyline lies not merely in "redemption," but in how two intelligent souls, in the face of utter despair, gradually build unbreakable trust and alliance from extreme wariness and testing, ultimately crafting their own peace with their own hands.
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But to understand why she carried that equipment and why she could step so resolutely into the darkness, we must first return to the beginning—to the moment she was "seen," witnessing that silent, shared bond connecting two worlds.
Then, let us return to that dark forest, to the moment when the stone axe cleaved the air and the roar shook the heavens—to see how that light from another world cut through this standoff of despair.