The environment where humans lived in this world was incredibly harsh.
Inside the cavern, everything felt damp and cold.
The humans had carved out smaller chambers within the cave itself, installing simple wooden doors to serve as makeshift rooms.
Even food was scarce here.
Most of the able-bodied adults had become guards, dedicating their labor to protecting the human children.
Izumi and Mash Kyrielight also noticed something else—
There were almost no elderly people here.
The oldest person they had seen so far was probably the leader guiding them.
As Izumi and his companions were led deeper inside, the people in the cave watched them with wary eyes.
More precisely—
Their hostility was directed toward Jibril and Schwi.
The moment those two non-human beings entered, the humans' gazes became filled with suspicion and rejection.
For humans in this world, distrust toward other races came naturally.
Even the children looked at Jibril and Schwi with unfriendly expressions.
If this had happened in the past—
If humans dared to look at her like that—
Jibril probably would have killed them on the spot.
But now, although she felt slightly annoyed, she didn't say anything.
She simply followed behind Izumi silently, choosing to ignore the gazes directed at her.
Instead, she focused her attention entirely on the energy flowing within her body.
Right now, Jibril was completely fascinated by the power she had gained.
Compared to that, the opinions of these humans were utterly uninteresting.
Eventually, Izumi and the leader arrived at a somewhat spacious chamber and stopped.
At that moment, the leader introduced himself.
"I am the leader here. My name is Hews."
"May I ask your name, sir?"
Hearing this, many of the nearby humans turned to look at Izumi with curiosity.
They also wanted to know his name.
Izumi didn't hide anything and calmly introduced himself.
"My name is Izumi."
"And this is Mash."
Hews nodded upon hearing that.
Then he went straight to the point.
"Lord Izumi, may I ask why you sought us out?"
He didn't believe Izumi had come all this way just for fun.
Hearing the question, Izumi smiled gently and glanced toward the children gathered nearby.
Among them, he noticed a very distinctive boy.
White hair.
Red eyes.
Still young, only a few years old.
But his eyes were full of curiosity.
Riku.
Izumi recognized him immediately.
This boy was quite impressive.
If properly nurtured, with that brilliant mind of his—
He could undoubtedly become a top-tier strategist or scientist.
And Izumi actually had such thoughts in mind.
Once he merged this world into his own, the humans here would naturally become part of his domain.
Whether Sora and Shiro would still appear six thousand years later was another question entirely.
In that case—
Why not prepare now?
He could take over responsibility for the humans of this world ahead of time.
Izumi had always held a favorable view toward humanity.
And coming here today was simply to see this young genius in person.
After all, the Riku of the original story had been extraordinary.
Despite belonging to the weakest race—
He had used pure intelligence to defeat the strongest War God.
After thinking for a moment, Izumi finally spoke.
"I simply wanted to come and see my fellow humans in this world."
"That's all."
At this time, Riku hadn't yet sealed away his heart.
He still had room to grow.
And he definitely wasn't the lolicon he would later become.
When Hews heard that Izumi had only come to take a look, he was momentarily speechless.
The other humans nearby were equally stunned.
But just then—
Riku suddenly spoke.
He already knew Izumi was from another world, and there were questions he desperately wanted answered.
"May I ask… are there many humans in your world?"
"Are they like us?"
That was what he wanted to know most.
The other humans were equally curious.
At this point in time, humans here didn't yet possess the official race name Imanity.
Although they called themselves human—
Other races simply treated them as the lowest form of life.
Creatures that could be killed at will.
At this time, Tet had not yet appeared.
Humanity had not yet been granted a formal place among the races.
Hews also spoke at that moment.
"If possible… please tell us about the humans of your world."
Seeing Riku's eager gaze, Izumi couldn't help but smile.
"Of course. I'd be happy to."
"In our world, humans are the protagonists."
"Although we're still weak, we don't lose to anyone."
"Human potential is limitless. Every human carries a unique talent within them, just waiting to be awakened."
"In our world, humans can use special powers."
"And even those who cannot use such powers rely on their intelligence to create tools they can use."
"No matter what difficulties we face, we believe in ourselves and in our potential."
…
Izumi began talking at length.
One inspiring statement after another flowed from his mouth.
His motivational speech made the humans listening widen their eyes.
At the same time—
A spark of hope ignited within them.
So they weren't truly the weakest after all.
Even if they were weak—
They could still create their own miracles.
Izumi's words shocked everyone present.
Within their hearts, a flame had been lit.
A flame called hope for survival.
Izumi was right.
No matter how great the hardship—
If they united together, there was no challenge they couldn't overcome.
Because—
They were human.
Watching the expressions on their faces, Izumi's lips curved slightly upward.
Then he continued.
"You only need to remember one thing."
"In the endless worlds that exist…"
"Humans are still the protagonists."
"The population of humanity will always exceed that of other races."
"Even though you're currently living at the very bottom of this world…"
"I believe that one day, you will rise and become the masters."
"And that day isn't far away."
"So look forward to it."
The speech was pure motivational hype.
But hearing it stirred the hearts of these people.
They had already grown numb from despair.
Yet now—
They felt something again.
Hope.
Izumi didn't stay long after that.
After finishing his speech, he prepared to leave with Mash and the others.
But just as he was about to depart—
Riku suddenly spoke again.
"Are you going to challenge Artosh?"
Hearing the sudden question, Izumi raised an eyebrow.
"How did you know?"
That was indeed his plan.
Right now, the world was nothing but chaos.
There was nothing particularly worth exploring.
It would be easier to simply merge the world first.
Once the worlds were fused, he could explore everything afterward.
After confirming his guess, Riku's eyes began shining with excitement.
"I knew it."