The Birth of a Village

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Chapter 1: The Newly Minted Village Chief

With a look of joy on his face, David Clark lowered his left hand holding the hunting bow, then, moving nimbly, darted through the forest and in the blink of an eye arrived beside his prey: a deer lying on the ground, pierced by several arrows.

He squatted down, set the hunting bow aside, drew his dagger, and delivered a fatal blow to the still-living prey. Then, he hoisted the still-warm venison onto a very roughly made backpack frame—all in one smooth, practiced motion.

"Hey!"

Taking a deep breath, David Clark struggled to stand up with the backpack frame secured, finding the weight on his back heavier than he had expected.

"My strength has dropped quite a bit. Hope I can recover soon."

Having gotten dozens of pounds of venison not long after entering the forest, David Clark was very satisfied with today’s haul. If his luck keeps up, he should be able to return to normal soon.

Carrying his hunting bow and a quiver full of arrows, David Clark headed out of the forest toward ‘home’...

David Clark was originally an ordinary office worker on Earth, who died young and somehow ended up in this world.

From his observations, this is a fantasy world similar to medieval Europe.

The strictly divided class system made him quite uncomfortable, since he had only ever been a commoner in his life!

Raised by an old hunter, Alice Carter, until the age of sixteen, the unwilling David Clark became a pioneer—Tilan Kingdom, in order to expand its territory, encouraged commoners to become pioneers and develop lands where no humans lived or resided.

Pioneers who successfully developed and occupied new lands could shed their commoner status and become knights or even noble lords.

However, pioneering new territory was no easy task. The pioneering team David Clark was part of, after months of trekking to choose a settlement site and more than a year and a half of hard labor, still failed to cultivate any arable farmland.

Coupled with harsh climate, wild beast attacks, lack of food and medicine, and the lack of reward for their hard work, people gradually died or gave up. By the time the second winter had passed, only David Clark was left.

He naturally took over the pioneer certificate and became the village chief of this newly built village.

But after barely surviving the second winter, David Clark also began to consider leaving.

"This deer should be enough to help me recover, and I can make some jerky... If I could find some wild vegetables, that would be even better."

Carrying what would be his main food for the coming days, David Clark slowly walked back to the temporary settlement, which had only four large wooden houses.

Of the four wooden houses, one served as a warehouse, a blacksmith’s workshop, and the team’s kitchen. After carrying the venison inside, David Clark placed it on a very simple-looking table and began processing it: skinning, gutting, cutting up the meat, washing it. Once he finished all this, he made himself some meat soup—he wasn’t short on seasonings, as the pioneering team had brought plenty of salt, sugar, and spices when they set out, and there was still a lot left.

Sitting on a simple wooden stool outside the cabin, holding a wooden bowl of meat soup, David Clark gazed at the wide river to the west, pondering his future: Should he go to another pioneer settlement? Or just return to Iron Tree Fort?

Go back to Iron Tree Fort and be an ordinary hunter? He still felt a bit unwilling. As he was thinking about these things, a figure appeared in the distance ahead.

The figure was vague and indistinct, almost illusory. Even though it was broad daylight, David Clark couldn’t make out the person’s features.

"What’s going on? Am I seeing a ghost?"

The semi-transparent figure reminded David Clark of ghosts, undead, or characters like Nie Xiaoqian. Just as he set down his wooden bowl and reached for his bow and arrows to steady his nerves, the figure gradually became clearer, revealing its ‘true form.’

"That look..."

Dirty tank top, work pants and leather boots, ponytail, a high level of beauty that even the mud and grime couldn’t hide, plus the way she staggered while clutching her waist...

With this look, if you added a stormy night, bone-chilling wind, and rainwater pouring down a cliff, David Clark would have suspected he’d transmigrated again—because the person before him was clearly the famous Laura Smith.

Laura Smith Croft, the absolute protagonist of the Tomb Raider series. Though a fictional character, she’s world-renowned.

According to the setting, Laura Smith comes from a well-off family, graduated from university, and became an archaeologist. However, none of the ruins she excavated remained intact, so she’s also known as the Tomb Destroyer, the one who brings collapse wherever she goes, the goddess of demolition, and so on.

Laura Smith has several different appearances, from games 1 through 8, the new trilogy starting from game 9, two old movie versions, and the new movie version.