Archaeologist Eulia received an unusual job offer: to take part in an archaeological excavation in the uninhabited Xifu Snowfield.
"Comrade, you are the only person who can see time," the commission email said.
See time? Eulia could certainly read a clock.
What else... could that sentence mean?
The Xifu Snowfield lay at the far northern end of the continent, frozen year-round. The histories of every nation made no mention of a civilization ever existing there.
And yet the invitation came through official channels, and everyone on the commission list was an old acquaintance.
There was no harm in taking a look, she thought.
So Eulia packed her bags and flew to Xifu. After a long journey across the snowfield, she was left stunned by the sight before her.
Beneath the ice, every street and building remained frozen in the bustle of its final moments.
The merchants' smiles, children caught mid-chase, palaces, homes, marketplaces...
An entire civilization had been preserved in the most dazzling and cruel way imaginable.
-
The president of the Continental Civilization Preservation Association personally led the team and appointed Eulia to oversee the excavation.
But as the work progressed, Eulia gradually realized it was not quite what she had expected.
She wasn't tracing the past. She was searching toward the future.
What they were excavating was not a civilization that had vanished, but one from the future.
She had uncovered the beginning of a civilization.
Reader's guide:
A matriarchal society where women give birth. Equality in form, female dominance in practice.
Polar expedition, road trip, and civilization exploration, with no magic or fantasy elements.
The blurb could use some work, but the central premise won't change.
20250906
Theme: Protect civilization
