Chapter 44: (The Oldest Known Era) 1,976,999 Years Befor Zero : this is the new me.

A hissing sound could be heard, followed by steam billowing high into the air as Van’s burning hair stretched dozens of meters across the ice.

Thousands of penguins gathered on both sides of Van’s hair, using it like a campfire in the middle of the dark ice storm on the outskirts of Antarctica.

"Hey... be careful, and watch your children, okay? I don’t feel like eating roasted birds right now..."

Van lay on the ice, letting his hair spread out around him. He was still wearing nothing but his burnt underwear. His gray eyes stared up at the dark sky as the ice storm battered the place where he stood.

Van then pinched the air with his right hand, the one bearing the sunset tattoo, and pulled out dozens of neatly wrapped fish.

He tossed them behind him, where the thousands of penguins were gathered.

"Here, I’m giving you some snacks so you won’t get cold. Don’t fight over them, okay?!"

Van laughed loudly as he listened to the penguins chattering about him.

He continued throwing fish while lying there, his hand moving almost automatically even though his mind was occupied with something completely different.

One of Van’s eyebrows rose when he heard one of the penguins ask a question while chewing on the fish he had thrown.

Van didn’t turn around. He remained lying on the ice.

"What? Stay with you forever? Good grief... sorry, guys, but it looks like I have to leave..."

Van raised both shoulders, his back pressed against the Antarctic land covered in eternal ice.

"I mean, you should just stick with your own kind... I think I should also stick with my own kind..."

Van chuckled. Then he lowered his voice into a whisper, making sure only the penguins closest to him could hear.

"This is a secret... actually, I’ve been alive for a very long time, you know... At least, according to me. I don’t even know how long."

Van clapped his hands once and shouted into the middle of the snowstorm that battered his body and the thousands of penguins around him.

"Alright, so as the oldest one here, I suggest you don’t go into the middle of Antarctica, okay? Of course, the terrain is difficult too... Even I had to climb ice hills, ice mountains, and basically deal with all kinds of obstacles!!"

The penguins’ voices could be heard answering Van, and only Van could understand what they were saying.

"Eh... you don’t believe me? Even my hair is on fire, you know."

Van finally sat up and looked at the penguins behind him.

"So... can you help me? If humans ever come here, block them, okay? I want to go out for a while... I’m bored."

The penguins looked at one another while Van chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe my fire will disappear soon. But I’ll give you plenty of fish for all of you!! Yeah, enough for about a year?"

The penguins chirped like birds in the morning, even though all around them was nothing but the darkness of the snowstorm.

They clearly didn’t believe Van’s claim that he could provide enough food for thousands of penguins for an entire year.

Van laughed loudly.

Then, in an instant, he brought out thousands of fish, pulling out every kind of fish available in his unlimited supermarket inside the sunset space.

Thousands of penguins were slowly surrounded by hills of fish of all kinds.

Van continued until he had also brought out several thousand cans of sardines.

He showed the penguins how to open the cans properly.

"Now, this is sardines!! This one has flavor, so you might get addicted..."

The thousands of penguins now found themselves surrounded by dozens of hills made entirely of fish and cans of sardines.

Those who had initially doubted Van finally agreed to his request in the middle of the dark snowstorm.

Van smiled widely.

He then created an ice clone behind himself. He also took out a pair of grass-cutting scissors and immediately handed them to the ice clone.

Van created an invisible bench, then sat on it as his ice clone slowly cut his burning hair with the grass-cutting scissors until it was only as short as his neck.

His golden hair, which had stretched dozens of meters across the ice, finally fell onto the frozen ground, immediately burning up and turning to ash.

Darkness finally surrounded them as the remaining uncut parts of Van’s hair returned to their normal state.

He sighed and stroked his hair.

"It feels so light..."

Van then handed various shaving tools to his ice clone and asked it to cut his golden hair short.

Without saying a word, the ice clone immediately covered Van’s naked body with a cloth like a skilled barber.

The sound of the hair clipper could be heard competing with the roar of the storm.

The ice clone didn’t need any lighting.

Van whistled while twisting his beard with his fingers, waiting for the haircut to finish.

Hundreds of thousands of strands of Van’s golden hair finally scattered across the ice field near the dozens of hills of fish, watched by thousands of penguins.

Van rubbed his head, which had now lost most of its hair.

He looked almost bald.

He nodded several times before pointing at his beard.

His ice clone then played with the scissors for a moment before cutting Van’s beard, which was longer than many people’s hair.

Van casually whistled.

"Hey... leave the mustache... I mean, don’t cut all of it."

Van’s ice clone looked at him for a moment before continuing its work.

In the end, Van was left with thin black eyebrows and short golden hair.

Van scratched his chin, which felt unfamiliar now that his beard was gone.

He even felt lighter as he began putting on a white shirt with a sunset picture on the back, along with black shorts and sandals.

He did all of this right in front of the penguins, who continued staring at him.

Van placed both hands on his waist.

His ice clone had already returned to the embrace of the eternal ice without receiving any payment for its services.

Van then showed off his new appearance, receiving praise from thousands of penguins like a model walking down a catwalk.

Van clapped several times.

He was now wearing an invisible raincoat to keep his clothes from getting wet, since the snowstorm was still raging around them in the darkness.

"Alright, guys!! Remember my message, okay? If humans come, or if someone asks about the Gate of Hell... Of course, maybe no one will ask about the Gate of Hell. Anyway! Just tell them not to pass through the outskirts of Antarctica, okay? Spread the rumor to everyone you meet too."

The penguins chirped and flapped their wings.

Meanwhile, Van began walking away into the darkness, waving his hand.

Van had returned to his solitude, but this time, things were different.

He had a new hairstyle and a thin mustache.

He even continued laughing to himself because every step he took in his sandals felt lighter.

After walking an unknown distance, Van slowly emerged from the embrace of the ice storm and darkness all by himself.

Van frowned and pointed toward the storm he had just passed through.

"Good grief... I think I’m the first person to walk out of a snowstorm."

Van chuckled and looked up at the sky as he walked across the ice field, which he could now see clearly.

Reflected in his gray eyes was a sea of stars, sparkling like Christmas tree decorations.

Van exclaimed in admiration.

He even took several selfies with the sea of stars as the background.

"Is it still the Ice Age out there? I wonder what’s out there... Has no one discovered Antarctica? Or am I just the one who doesn’t know?"

After several hours, which Van didn’t bother counting, he finally reached the edge of an ice cliff.

Van stuck his head over the edge and looked down at the waves continuously crashing against the ice wall beneath him.

"Oh shit..."

Van then looked out at the open sea before him, where only the light of the stars and moon illuminated the water.

Van thought for a while, stroking his thin mustache.

"Should I fly? Or swim...?"

Van frowned, narrowing his eyes.

"Or..."

"Can that work? I’ve never even ridden one before... Is the fuel unlimited too, or does it have to be refilled?"

Van finally floated down from the ice cliff, carrying his many questions with him as he descended toward the fierce Antarctic waters.

He then pinched the air with his right hand, the one bearing the sunset tattoo.

Slowly, a jet ski appeared.

Van immediately climbed onto it, his body swaying every time the waves hit him.

Van tried starting the jet ski.

The throttle felt cold beneath his hand, and he slowly gripped every part of the jet ski, which immediately became freezing cold despite having been in the Antarctic sea for only a few seconds.

The engine roared to life, its beam of light cutting through the darkness.

Van tried accelerating the jet ski several times to warm it up.

He smiled, but his stomach didn’t.

He felt nauseous every time the waves rocked the jet ski beneath him.

Van sighed.

Cold steam escaped from his mouth as he smiled faintly.

"Beluga."

Slowly, a mound of water appeared around Van, spinning in a circle.

The mound then broke apart, and Beluga emerged with the clinking of his jewelry, trying to compete with the sound of the waves crashing against the ice wall not far behind Van.

Van crossed his arms and closed his eyes, smiling faintly.

Beluga stared blankly at him.

He even repeatedly lowered his sunglasses to get a better look at Van.

His lips trembled.

"Who are you?! You’re not my summoner!!"

One of Van’s eyes opened, revealing his gray eye.

"Good grief... Did you forget me?"

Beluga blinked repeatedly.

He began circling Van, the sound of his jewelry growing clearer in Van’s ears.

Beluga then repeatedly slapped Van’s cheek with his jewelry-covered flipper.

"No way. Are you Van? You—you should’ve become a crazy human!! The last time you summoned me, you were talking to wooden statues!!"

Van clicked his tongue and pushed Beluga’s flipper away.

He chuckled.

"Yeah... that might be true. I don’t know for sure. Maybe I’ll remember if you tell me about those times... Yeah, and of course, tell me how long I’ve been alive there."

Van raised both shoulders while spreading his arms over the swaying jet ski.

"And yeah, this is the new me."

Beluga frowned with his round forehead.

He rubbed his chin and looked at Van’s hair, which was now very short, almost bald.

Then he looked at Van’s thin mustache.

"Hmm... you do look somewhat different."

Van chuckled.

He then patted the handlebars of the jet ski.

"Now... try making this jet ski capable of crossing the fierce ocean, then modify it with unlimited fuel, and yeah, make it extremely durable..."

Van smiled widely.

"And make me immune to seasickness, because I—"

Van’s words suddenly stopped when his stomach began expelling what little remained inside it.

He vomited liquid into the sea beside the Antarctic land, watched by millions of stars.

Beluga burst out laughing, pointing at Van repeatedly with his flipper.

"There he is. You really are this kind of person."

"Your requests are basically game cheats."

"Give me a ride! I want to ride the jet ski too."