Deus returned to his library and began searching through the books.
"I found it."
Analysis of Animal Habits. That was the name of a very useful book back on Earth, written by a survivalist known around the world.
It explains that every existence has a purpose and a cause. The presence of animals implies a food hierarchy. Predators and herbivores. A lion eats meat, and a sheep must eat grass.
The presence of plants usually indicates the potential for fruits or edible vegetation.
These are conclusions written by a man who died of old age after living and traveling across every continent. The father of survivalism.
Although he couldn't use knowledge from another world directly, he could visualize mental texts and ideas, then transcribe them into a book.
Once written in a book, he could shape the knowledge from another world as if it had always existed here.
He had once tried imagining a stainless steel spoon, but it only produced a cloud of mist. It was only after writing down the manufacturing method in a book that he managed to recreate a modern process for producing stainless steel spoons.
In conclusion, he had to record both the method of creation and the concept's very existence in this world before attempting anything.
He began by looking for a source of edible food. His thoughts first turned toward mud, specifically, monster excrement.
But upon deeper reflection, he realized that monsters were also living organisms with functioning bodies.
And living beings must eat to grow.
Since the area was devoid of animals, he quickly ruled out meat. Even after walking for miles, not a single trace of meat could be found.
That left only plants.
Clever often walked through the forest, which meant the plant had to grow there.
Just after sending him out, Deus asked him to inspect plants growing near the trees, and he found a stalk emerging from the ground.
At first, Clever warned him that it was toxic to humans though not to monsters, but Deus took a sample anyway.
Summoning the round, yellow plant into his dimensional space, he began searching for a method to remove the toxins.
Toxins are substances produced by living organisms. They are not recommended because they can disrupt the normal functioning of the body. It's the same principle as snake venom.
Therefore, he had to begin by eliminating the toxin. He gathered all the books on decontamination and tried each method individually. It's a long process that requires patience and determination.
But for Deus, who had spent his entire life locked in a mental pocket dimension without truly moving, it was a piece of cake.
In the first month, he tried a basic healing method that involved neutralizing the toxin with medicinal plants, but it failed.
In the second month, he searched for plants similar to those in his previous world that had the same effects and eventually found a few similarities.
However, in his world, it wasn't really a toxic vegetable. It was actually appreciated by the entire human population.
A yellow potato. The round shape, the color, and even the texture were similar. He hadn't made the connection at first, but the more he studied the potato, the more it made sense.
Why hadn't he thought of a potato right away?
As Deus drifted in his thoughts, a flash of insight struck him. If monsters ate it, then their bodies should have expelled the toxins. However, since they consumed it, their enzymes must have been unusual. Deus rubbed his head in frustration. It was the first time he faced a problem like this. Couldn't he simply produce a potato using his skills?
That would have been so easy, but a system like that only exists in novels.
Four months later, he had found the solution.
"Where's Grandpa Jo?"
"Dead."
One person was missing from the list, but Clever simply nodded. Death was a natural occurrence. Especially in their situation, at least two or three people die of hunger regularly.
The child who answered was Jo's grandson. His face was blank. As if he was used to it. Meanwhile, Clever continued checking the names of those absent, either due to work or some other reason.
Everyone waited silently in the courtyard. It looked like a scene out of a book. Even in North Korea, people could talk to each other.
Here, it was as if a silence spell had been cast.
But the reason behind it was sad.
They wanted to speak, but lacking motivation and strength, their mouths were too dry to waste saliva.
Even saliva was considered a rare resource here.
The atmosphere was tense.
"Hm. Hello."
"..."
The silence was a little painful.
"Anyway... I'm sure your current situation makes life hard. Hunger and fear for the future. I acknowledge your pain, but I have a simple solution to change that. A new food source."
He summoned a book, and Clever, who had been waiting, caught it mid-fall.
"Ah..."
The villagers squinted their eyes.
A vegetable appeared in front of them.
"As you might expect, this is a vegetable that is not edible in its raw form. Eating it uncooked causes nausea, poisoning, and eventually death. However, if we remove the toxic agents attached to its skin and cook it, we obtain an edible vegetable."
Clever gently presented the book.
It showed a potato with various details written on it, but the reaction he got was the opposite of what he had anticipated.
"What does it say?" someone asked.
"Jdkek?" replie perplexe.
Clever had been sure he had written it in the human language of this world. Then he felt a jolt of realization. By the Divine Tree, most of the villagers here were illiterate. Clever scratched his cheek.
Of course, it made sense.
In a world without compulsory education, most of the villagers were illiterate. In fact, it would have been surprising if everyone could read.
He realized he had been foolish to think that everyone was on the same level.
"Alright, anyway, this yellow ball is called a potato!"
A villager responded, "Potato?"
"Yes! Potatoes! It will be the main staple food of this village. We'll grow them in fields."
The solution was actually quite simple! He would eliminate the toxins not through external means, but by himself!
Watch this.
「Toxin Removal 」
He had acquired the skill after eating a raw potato in his internal world.
The amusing part was that he was practically immortal inside it, as long as his real body kept its roots anchored to the ground.
Ironically, it was almost like a skill, but instead of producing sweet potatoes, he could deactivate the toxins. Moreover, this technique was perfect because it gave him a monopoly over an ingredient that would surely become popular in this world.
He had even asked if other villages consumed it, and the answer was unanimous.
No one ate it because of the toxins.
With winter behind them, spring and then summer were on their way, creating a favorable environment for growing crops.
He immediately began ordering the villagers to split into several groups.
Some scraped the earth, others carried water from a river in the forest, and others planted the seeds.
According to his estimates, it would take only three to four months for the potatoes to grow. He also realized that they would need to rebuild all of the buildings, roads, and facilities.
He looked at the village coming back to life, but the apocalyptic atmosphere still hung in the air.
Destroying the ruins became a priority, since they only brought back bad memories and sapped the villagers's morale.
However, there was a major problem.
The number of villagers was low, and by the time the potatoes grew, most of the children might die, along with the elderly, who were already nearing the end of their lives.
Men like Clever were rare, most having either died or left. It was like starting a kingdom-building game with a terrible start and issues in every domain.
It was certainly challenging, but incredibly difficult to overcome. Fortunately, Deus could occasionally help Clever chop down trees. To clear ruins, all he had to do was throw magical orbs that would flatten the terrain, perfect for development.
"What's this?"
"It's a novel about a prince and a princess. Do you want to read it?"
"Yes!!"
In the evening, when he had time, he helped the children learn to read by showing them simple stories with minimal text.
Educating the children became a top priority. He saw them as the first generation of literate kids who would form the foundation of the village's future.