Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

Everything else would have to wait until morning.

The next day, Kim Haru woke up quite early.

When he pushed open the door to step outside, the village chief and the village elders—anyone with a say in matters—were all waiting right outside his room.

As soon as Kim Haru appeared, everyone looked at him with excitement written all over their faces.

They wanted to say something to him, but at the same time, they were afraid of disturbing him, so they hesitated and paced back and forth in place.

Kim Haru turned to the village chief. "Where are the captives from yesterday? I have something to ask them."

He thought to himself, If my guess is correct, those 'people' are the seeds of this so-called 'big fruit.'

...

At the upper reaches of the river in the cliff, right in front of the white mist, the area was already crowded with people.

All the villagers, young and old—about a hundred of them—stood there, each carrying their most precious belongings wrapped in animal hides or packed in woven grass baskets.

Along the way, their faces had been filled with excitement, but now that they had truly reached the mist, a solemn tension took over.

No one even dared to breathe too loudly, afraid that their breath might somehow disrupt the esteemed guest's plan.

Besides the villagers, every single captive from the neighboring village was also brought along.

Additionally, behind the giant owl, a massive, strange beast was being dragged—it was the multi-legged horse monster that Kim Haru had captured in the grasslands on his first afternoon here.

The creature wasn't entirely tied up.

A rope was looped around its neck, and its many legs were left unbound.

However, with the owl standing on the other end of the rope, it didn't dare to make a single move to escape.

"Sir, everyone is ready," the village chief said, standing behind Kim Haru, his expression a mixture of nervousness and excitement.

That morning, the honored guest had questioned the captives alone.

No one knew what exactly he had asked, but less than two hours later, Kim Haru had walked out and declared that he had found a way to leave.

He instructed everyone to prepare for departure.

The village chief had been utterly stunned at the time, nearly convinced that he was still dreaming.

However, after triple-checking, he wasted no time in spreading the news to everyone.

The moment they heard it, villagers who had been preparing to hunt or cook immediately dropped everything and rushed to inform the others.

Then came a chaotic rush to pack up.

In truth, there wasn't much to pack.

Everyone understood that this was not the time to carry large bundles.

They only took the most important belongings they could carry on their person.

While most people were gathering their things, the village chief had followed Kim Haru's instructions—ordering his people to bring along the captives and locate the clay used for making the mud rings.

They worked quickly, crafting enough mud rings for everyone to wear.

With the owl standing guard, even if the captives from the opposing village were furious about their clay being taken, they had no means to resist.

Kim Haru checked over everyone's preparations and nodded. "Let's begin."

Immediately, the villagers in charge of the captives started pushing them toward the white mist.

Long ropes were tied around the captives so that they could be yanked back if anything seemed wrong.

Once.

Twice.

The second time they pulled someone back from the mist and found that they were perfectly unharmed, the villagers erupted into uncontrollable cheers!

It actually worked!

In the past, anyone sent into the mist would face danger by the second attempt.

But now, no matter how carefully they checked, the captives remained completely fine, even after multiple entries.

To be absolutely certain, different villagers took turns inspecting the captives over and over again.

Kim Haru, watching the results, quietly let out a breath of relief.

That morning, when he had first seen the captives, Fuzzball had communicated with him through gestures, telling him that these "people," despite their human appearance, were not truly human—at least, not internally or in spirit.

That confirmed Kim Haru's suspicion.

Ever since learning that this space was actually the fruit of a giant plant, he had been thinking about one key question: For a fruit, what fundamental components would it typically have?

An outer shell, flesh, seeds, and the pathways that transport nutrients to it.

Based on what he had observed in this space, the invisible barrier he had passed through acted as the fruit's shell, while the land and vegetation inside could be considered the flesh of the fruit.

Then what about the seeds?

Compared to the villagers Kim Haru had encountered, the neighboring village—filled with aggressive, brawling individuals incapable of cooperation—seemed even more out of place.

After Fuzzball confirmed it, Kim Haru labeled these "people" as seeds.

As for why these seeds had taken on a human form, it was likely a self-preservation mechanism.

Perhaps, at the moment when the real humans fell into this space, the seeds instinctively disguised themselves for some unknown purpose.

Kim Haru had no idea why these seeds, supposedly protected by the entire fruit, were able to stand on equal footing with the actual humans.

And honestly, he didn't care to find out.

The most urgent priority now was finding an exit and leaving this space.

If the fruit had an outer shell, flesh, and seeds, then the only thing left was the nutrient transport channel.

In simpler terms, this channel was the fruit's stem—the part connecting it to the main plant.

If there was no way to break out from inside the fruit, then the next best option was to locate the stem, follow it along the plant's structure, and eventually find a way out.

Through interrogating the "seeds," Kim Haru learned that anything on their bodies could be replaced or removed without consequence—except for the mud rings on their heads.