Chapter 14 – 014 Flood – River
Why did I suddenly start seeing ghosts?
Did the deer and horse-like animals just happen to be there?
What is the identity of the warmth and coolness that slowly flows into the body?
What is the warmth and chill that travels through your body?
After thinking for a while, Hwanin came to a conclusion.
No matter how much you think about it, you cannot ignore the connection between the psychic powers of the green monster that appeared with the antler staff and what happened to you now.
So I made it a priority to figure out what I could do with hallucinatory vision and the ability to see ghosts.
First, animal ghosts.
The six-legged animal ghost that looked like a mixture of a deer and a horse probably didn’t just wander around and disappear.
As a test, Hwanin, who held the deer antlers staff with both hands, called out to the six-legged animal in his mind.
“…….”
Animal ghosts did not come.
I wondered if I should have a stronger wind, so I sang while concentrating like when I was meditating, but to no avail.
I didn’t feel a sudden coolness like when I first felt an animal ghost.
“Isn’t it like this?”
When I acted, I laughed. When I was on Earth, I didn’t believe in ghosts or ghosts a bit, dismissing them as superstitions.
After failing to call an animal ghost, he focused on the phenomenon that occurred inside his body.
Once the warmth and coolness flows into the body, the phenomenon does not stop even when the wand is released from the hand.
It seems that warmth and cold are flowing through the body, but the sensations are too weak to be sure, and neither of these two sensations are unpleasant or objectionable.
By concentrating on these two senses, I feel my mind and body become more stable.
‘Come to think of it, the coolness against my skin seems to be similar to the coolness I felt from animal ghosts…….’
It’s a bit frustrating because it’s a question that doesn’t have a clear answer to anything.
If I were given just one example, I think my brain would clear up.
While wrestling with the deer antlers staff and what happened to his body, food and clothes were all dry, so Hwanin began to organize what was left open.
Pack all the food, make it into a bag again, and wrap it with animal skin to make it like a pack.
The disassembled multi-tool is reassembled and packed, and the submerged smartphone is also retrieved.
After that, I tried replacing the window blades.
First, use the stone axe, black club, and multi-tool to disassemble the hilt and hilt of the short sword.
The tang of the disassembled short sword and the part where the hilt was assembled were elongated, not cylindrical.
After removing the rusty dagger that was attached to the end of the dark pole, Hwanin split the tip of the spear in half as long as the length of the tang of the shortsword, and then scraped the center of the cross section to the thickness of the tang.
It was a bit difficult to dig out the place for the tang to go in, but I was able to dig it out with a multi-tool’s knife to cut through and scrape it off with a flathead screwdriver.
It was honestly a tough job as the durability and strength of the dark wood was beyond my imagination.
If I didn’t have a multi-tool, I would have tied it roughly the way a dagger was tied.
After that, the back of the shortsword blade was inserted into the groove dug, assembled, and the long cut leather was wrapped around the hole that matched the nail hole, and the knot was tied so that it would never unravel.
After making it like this, it really looks like a spear type spear.
It was quite satisfying to wield and stab a spear with a blade four times longer than before.
Quack.
The string binding the emergency food was also a little loose, so I made a new string with a vine stem and replaced it, and about two hours had passed.
“…….”
Wearing a suit jacket and coat, Hwanin stared at the calm waters of the great lake for a while.
Why did that whale-like monster cause a tsunami?
There are many reasons why Earth’s whales jump. To communicate with distant relatives or to remove harmful organisms attached to the body, etc.
It would take an enormous amount of energy to jump hundreds of meters and fall.
He was a visionary who thought that the monstrous creature wouldn’t waste a lot of energy for that reason.
‘I wonder if he was fighting something.’
A valid hypothesis is also a fight. It wouldn’t be strange to say that the high jump was an attack to kill the enemy.
“One more thing to be careful of when looking for something to eat on the lakeside.”
Although I witnessed an existence beyond common sense, Hwanin was not frightened or afraid.
Although freshwater tidal waves are menacing, they can be avoided if you pay attention. The monster creature is only tens of meters tall, so it wouldn’t even approach the shore of a shallow lake.
It would be a waste to give up easily obtainable food because of the existence of the monstrous creature.
The analgesic effect of the golden bell flowers and leaves exceeded Hwanin’s expectations.
Although he was walking while using a deer antler cane to distribute the load so as not to strain his thighs, it was as comfortable as if the wound was almost healing.
In addition, it seems to be gaining strength, perhaps because it is filled with steamed jade, and the weight of the luggage, which is well over 10kg, does not feel burdensome.
It’s been four hours since we’ve been advancing east along the edge of the cliff.
Normally, it would be time to encounter the monster at least once, but only a peaceful time continued with the sound of small birds and grass insects.
Maybe the monsters know of the monster living in the lake and don’t come near it because they’re afraid of it.
If that’s the case, I think this would be a safe place in its own way.
However, it is regrettable that the monster does not appear this time.
‘I want to see if the monster I killed will appear as a ghost or not.’
I caught and killed a few insects that caught my eye, but the spirits did not appear.
Considering the difference in pain he felt in the River of Light, it would be assumed that the presence of spirits would be different, but he was a Hwanin who wanted to kill a monster to confirm.
One thing I’m worried about is when I set foot in the river of light again.
If the kill count accumulates, you will really die in the next river of light.
‘But I don’t think I’ll ever see that river of light again…’ ….’
There is no basis, but for some reason, the thought that it will be so continues to be held at the level of belief.
Of course, even if that’s not the case, you can’t stop killing monsters.
It is a jungle inhabited by monsters everywhere. Hwanin is not natural enough to think that he can escape the forest without killing himself.
Hwanin, who continued to walk through the forest without stopping, saw that the stream started from the lake and turned into a river at around 3:00 PM.
“Is this a place with high ground?”
The width of the river is about 60 meters in snow. The deepest water is 4m, and the river is so clear that you can see a fish the size of your arm swimming in the riverbed.
A gravel field of about 10m was formed along the riverside, and like the lakeside, low cliffs were formed on the left and right sides of the river like a cliff valley.
The height of the cliff was approximately 4 stories, and this side was a little higher than the lakeside, and unlike the lakeside, which was a mud wall, this side was a stone wall.
The current is not very fast, but it seems difficult to swim over the deep water by leaping over the height.
It’s not that I can’t swim, but I’m not good enough to carry a load that weighs more than 10kg.
However, the width of the river is not narrow enough to throw it across the river.
‘There is also a way to get over it by using a log as a tube……. There might be a place where the river narrows, so I’ll have to go south along the river.’
Hwanin, who was walking down the river from the top of the cliff, looked at the strangely clear river and thought of the tsunami he had experienced earlier.
A wave of that size would have had an aftereffect on this river, but only the gravel field is wet and the water is clear enough.
‘It should be normal if it becomes muddy water. Is it because of the pebbles and rocks on the floor?’
Although it is a river, it is not a river that is moderately composed of the majority of mud and water plants like other rivers. The soil is completely invisible and consists only of pebbles and rocks. There are many rocks the size of an adult, and occasionally rocks the size of a house.
According to my knowledge, it is normal for pebbles to be small as they collide with each other due to the current of water, break into small pieces, and wear out…… Hwanin, who was heading south with his head tilted, was only able to see the beast-headed monster as the sun slowly set.
A gently sloping area appeared as if one corner of Hwanin’s side had collapsed on both sides of the cliffs that continued endlessly, and nine beast-headed monsters were approaching the river through it, presumably to drink water.
As the length of the blade was increased to increase the attack power and hit range, he was a Hwanin confident that he could deal with even nine of them, but after lying flat in a thick bush and hiding, he slightly tilted the bush to watch the beast-headed monster’s action.
It was because he wasn’t going to drink water normally, but he was wary of something.
Eventually, the beast-headed monsters arrive at the riverside, and three of them drink first, and the other six take turns drinking water in such a way that they are wary of their surroundings.
After quenching their thirst, three went into a state of alert, and the other six began searching the surrounding gravel for food.
Kreureung.
Kang!
Rumble.
Hwanin’s eyes reflect the sight of them making a fuss while searching for light crabs and star shells.
If you’re on the lookout for enemies, it’d be better to quietly find what you’re looking for and leave. Isn’t that an act of calling an enemy?
‘Because the intelligence of the beast-headed monster did not seem high…….’
And sure enough, the water surface of the river close to the beast-headed monster began to stir unnaturally.
The ripples are so subtle that they cannot be seen unless viewed from above.
‘Fish?’
It was a fish-shaped monster, but it wasn’t. Transparent waves were spreading to the left and right like the traces of a passing ship.
However, even if you wash your eyes around the place where the ripples occur, there are no assailants.
You can even see the bottom of the deepest river, but you can’t see the assailant.
“…….”
Hwanin was able to see the form of the assailant only after opening his hallucinatory vision.
‘Is it camouflage?’
In the clear and transparent water, a being with a light blue color system was slowly approaching the beast-headed monster, waving its tail as long as its body.
Head shape elongated like a lizard. A monster with human-like limbs and a long tail that started around the buttocks.
‘The hallucinatory field of view also functions similar to an infrared thermal imaging camera.’
Hwanin, who scanned the entire visible river with his hallucinatory vision open, felt chills and chills.
Aren’t there blue shadows everywhere on the riverside and in the river on the road he passed?
There are only six visible numbers.
‘Is the entire river their habitat?’
Some of them were walking slowly, like chameleons, towards the beast-headed monster.
Like bipedal walking on two legs, or prone to quadrupeding.
If I had moved to the riverside, I would have been attacked by them.
The assailant was about the size of an adult male. Since the tail moves so well, it should be possible to swing it like a whip, and the length of the tail is about 2m as a rule of thumb, so if you fight, it’s not easy…….
While thinking, the assailant in the river reached the riverside, poked out his head, and fired his tongue at the unwary beast-headed monsters.
‘Fast.’
Before I knew it, something like a frog’s tongue had stretched nearly 3m and was wrapping around the ankle of one of the beast-headed monsters.
I could see the snout opening, but I couldn’t see the tongue flying out.
Wake up-!!
Maybe it was because of the attack, but my stomach was loose…… The lizard man retrieves his tongue and pulls the beast-headed monster into the water.
The beast-headed monster pulls out its claws to resist being dragged away, but it only scratches the gravel.
‘The power of the tongue is amazing.’
The weight of the beast-headed monster is well close to 30kg. How can you pull something like that so easily?
The lizard man, whose whole body was covered with white scales, grabbed the two arms of the struggling beast-headed monster and threw it into the water, and as soon as the meal began, the other lizardmen who had disappeared also attacked the beast-headed monster who was running away in fright.
“…….”
The distinction between predator and prey was clear.
It easily subdues the beast-headed monster that resists with a can-can bark and drags it into the water.
The beast-headed monsters run amok to escape, and one by one they are caught by the lizard people and dragged into the water.
Hwanin carefully observed the lizard man’s fighting style.
Being hidden in camouflage color means that the movement is also slow.
As if to prove it, the lizard man’s movement speed was slow like a lazy cat. At least, it was faster to move by jumping like bouncing.
That was not to belittle it. There were two main types of attack, but both were difficult to detect with Hwanin’s body vision.
One is to shoot and hit the tongue.
The tongue had a blunt piece of flesh attached to the end like a frog, and the animal-headed monster that was hit by it instantly suffered a concussion and was incapacitated.
In terms of power, it is about the punch of a professional boxer without boxing gloves.
The other was a tail about 2 meters long with a thin tip.
Seeing that the animal-headed monster flew several meters after being struck by the tail that was swung to the point of making a ping-sound, it was powerful enough to know that if any part of the body was hit, it would be a minimal fracture.
‘Fortunately, the action right before the attack is large and conspicuous.’
Judging from how to use tools, lizard people’s intelligence would not be very high.
Break it up! Wake up!!
A tongue-tied beast-headed monster is dragged into the river, clawing at the lizard-man with its claws, only scratching the scales a little.
The beast-headed monster that was dragged into the water struggled for a while, then spewed bubbles as if it had suffocated, and the lizard man began to eat the monster slowly in the water.
Blood oozes out like paint everywhere in the river.
Hwanin, who watched it quietly, furrowed his eyebrows slightly.
‘Even though the color systems of lizard humans and beast-headed monsters are completely different, they eat like they’re used to it. Is it okay?’
Although there are organisms that eat poison and accumulate poison in the body…….
‘…… I can’t guarantee safety, so I’ll have to eat only light green creatures.’
The hunt ended only after each of the seven lizard men captured one beast-headed monster.
Only two beast-headed monsters escaped alive.
And after a while, the phenomenon that Hwanin expected began to happen.
