Chapter 24 – 024 Flood – Outskirts
The width of the river was incomparably narrower than that of the river that connects the Great Lakes. At least about 3m?
The depth of the water was about a thigh at the deepest point, and the transparency and color of the water was a little muddy compared to the river that connects the Great Lake. Even so, it was clean level 1 level.
Take a close look at the tributary stream, where the bluish energy of dawn has not completely gone, within the limits of your eyesight.
“…….”
There were no carnivores, let alone monsters like the Frog Man or the Lizard Man.
A few animals are drinking water by the river in the distance, but the deer-like appearance is, no matter how you look at it, the skeleton of a herbivore.
Comparing to the jungle where they first fell, the natural and peaceful scenery caught their eye for a moment, and an animal resembling a deer startled and looked at Hwanin and immediately ran away.
The moment he thought there was no way to catch and eat it, he noticed it like a ghost and ran away, so Hwanin licked his lips and approached the river.
The water doesn’t smell strange. When viewed from a distance, the color is a bit blue, but when viewed up close, it is as clear and transparent as the Great Lake.
As I was looking at the river, the emergency food sitting on my shoulder jumped into the water.
Hwanin looked at him envying him for a moment as he squawked, flapped his wings, splashed water on his body, and shook his head to wash away the dust that clung to his body.
When I was on Earth, I didn’t use soap enough to say that I never used it, but watching the foul water spread the moment I dipped my hand in the water, I was desperate for even the dried pieces of soap.
Hwanin, who seemed to have finished washing, went down a bit to avoid the drinking guy by scooping up water and started washing his hands and face.
It was as good as the feeling of dirt being washed off with cold water, but after washing it all, the oily, slippery feel of the face and hands was truly terrible.
Roughly rubbing his palms on the crotch of his trousers, Hwanin finished his dressing up and walked upstream along the river with emergency rations whose green feathers became more vivid in color.
I don’t know where the downstream is heading, but if you look in the direction it’s flowing now, it’s toward the jungle where the blue flame tiger is.
There is no reason to head back to the place you came out of, so the only option is upstream.
As the sun began to rise, the nocturnal beasts disappeared and diurnal beasts began to appear.
‘Is that a beast too?’
The problem is that there are also things that you can’t tell whether they are beasts or monsters.
I’ve seen dogs the size of three-eyed wolves, and I’ve seen animals that look like pink domestic pigs with what looks like spiked clubs on their tails. There were also crocodiles with fur instead of scales.
What they have in common is that as soon as they saw Hwanin, they rushed excitedly.
Hwanin, who hacked to death a mole the size of a motorcycle that covered his body with sparse scales, muttered as he wiped the sweat from the side of his head with his sleeve.
“It’s amazing.”
It’s like a tough lifeline that doesn’t die even after being stabbed 8 times in the chest, and instead of having no eyes, it senses vibrations with the beard on the tip of its nose, and it swings its front paws with sharp claws in the direction of Hwanin…….
If he hadn’t improved his fighting ability while dealing with a pack of dogs, if he hadn’t thrown a stone ax and crushed his nose, he would have been difficult to beat.
It wasn’t just the scaly mole.
The three-eyed dog, which Hwanin named the three-eyed dog, was as fast as a cheetah and had good eyesight, so it felt like it could see all its attacks and avoid them.
Spike Tail Pig had tremendous attack power and stamina.
Every time his spike club-like tail struck the ground, the ground dug a hole, and he continued to attack dozens of times without stopping.
All of them are strong enough to lightly deal with five or six green monsters or beast-headed monsters at the same time.
Hwanin suspected that they might have flowed from the mountain like poisonous apples, but there is no proof.
“Well.”
After thinking about it for a while, the soul that maintained its original form came out of the body.
It is also a low-level soul.
“I think there will be a skill of digging.”
When he first encountered the three-eyed dog while moving along the river, Hwanin killed the three-eyed dog by forcing the blue leopard’s soul into the pressure of the three eyes.
The effect of the blue leopard’s command that I learned at that time was the strengthening of leg strength and the skill of covert action.
The necromancy effect of the Frog Man was his swimming skill. The two-tailed monkey’s necromantic effect was tree climbing, and the blue leopard’s necromantic effect was stealth.
All of these are skills that characterize living things. So I guess I can guess what the giant scaly mole’s skills are.
In any case, by capturing the soul of the scaly mole, Hwanin secured three lower souls.
It is the spirit of the three-eyed dog, the spike-tailed pig, and the scaly mole.
‘I want to check the soul explosion power of the lower soul orbs.’
The decree effect is not worth it for that. If you do a low-class soul orb, the body strengthens more than it did with the lowest-class soul orb.
The program was not about reinforcing one’s body. The strengthening parts and the strengthening power were different, and the lowest level and the lowest level of increase were also different.
For example, beast-headed monsters and green monsters have no characteristics, so when you spread the code, your strength, stamina, and endurance rise evenly.
In the case of souls with strong leg strength, such as Frog Man or Blue Leopard, the strength of their limbs and muscle strength rise a little higher, and other endurance and physical strength rise relatively low.
In the meantime, I learned more accurate numbers while continuing to train, but in the case of the lowest level, if the reinforcement is equal, the body is strengthened by 5% to 10%.
For lower grades, between 10% and 15%.
Strengthening by 20% is in the case of a lower class and a strong soul in a specific body part.
In any case, since it boosts your fighting ability, it’s really helpful when a fight breaks out, so it’s a waste to consume marbles with Soul Explosion.
“Still, I have to check, so I can’t help it.”
It must be the soul orb of the scaly mole, which gives you an idea of what skills you can get if you use it.
Hwanin, who looked at the scaly mole’s corpse for a while, left it as it was and began to walk.
The meat was obtained from the hind legs and ribs of a spiked tail pig caught a few hours earlier.
I can’t handle it even if I take more than this, so I just throw it away. If you leave it out, other animals will eat it up.
And when he moved about 30 steps, the reinforcing effect of the hyena that he had been commanding ended and a sense of exhaustion came.
“Whoa…….”
After fighting three times in five hours, Hwanin sighed as he felt exhausted.
I wrote a code with a term, but the aftereffects pile up one by one. It’s better to fight continuously. Fighting sparsely like this is not reducing the fatigue, it feels like it is aggravating.
‘I think I’ll have to avoid the continuation of the code if I don’t want the aftereffects to overlap.’
Rather, it is unknown whether moving along the river is a good move.
The surrounding landscape is like a desert steppe climate, with short grass covering the ground and sparsely tall trees standing.
In terms of a place to build a village, this place isn’t bad either. Thanks to the wide field of vision, it will be easy to spot an enemy attack or approach, and there is also a river as the source.
However, there are jungles and forests full of monsters right next to it, and it seems like the range of activities of giant seagulls, and there are also mountains that look like nests of carnivorous plants.
If you’re sane, there’s no way you’ll find a place like this.
While walking, Hwanin finds a low hill next to the river and goes up there.
“…….”
Looking around from the top of the hill, the scenery is the same as far as the eye can see.
‘The height of the hill is about 12m. Then, the distance to the horizon that the line of sight can reach is approximately 12.4 km.’
The current time is noon. If there is a village, the traces made by people…… For example, you could see white smoke from cooking or cooking, but I looked around, but there was no trace of it.
Due to the nature of smoke, it rises high into the sky, so you can see it even if it is farther than the distance to the horizon.
It seems like a long way to find someone around here.
‘I might have to change my course of action.’
Now that they have escaped flood damage, the goal was to find traces of people, but if the situation is like this, it would be better to change it to securing smoked meat for preservation with long-distance travel in mind.
Coincidentally, there are many animals around here, so you shouldn’t have to worry about getting meat.
‘The water temperature in the river is extremely cold even in broad daylight, so it seems easy to store in the short term……. There are quite a few trees to use for firewood, so if you find a place to make a temporary shelter, you can try it right away.’
Smoking is the only basic knowledge he gained from following his father, a bushcraft hobby.
But I wasn’t too worried. Because the smoking method itself was simple.
You can try it a few times and get a feel for it.
It was a Hwanin who moved along the river and looked for a place to live in, but it was difficult to find such a place in a meadow.
‘The sun will set in a little while.’
It’s already been 8 hours since I started walking, and it’s been 3 hours since I changed my plan.
It’s upstream, and the weak uphill road continues, and in the meantime, I’ve fought two more times, so my limbs are extremely heavy.
In the midst of this, the good news is that the poisonous apple-like mountain is no longer visible, and the bad news is that the mountain that is about 100m high is also far away.
“…….”
Today, the thought of just camping here raised his head, but Hwanin decided to go only to the hill in front of him and mechanically moved his steps.
And when I climbed the hill I was aiming for.
Hwanin felt his heart burst open.
The low mountains formed the mountain range in front of them, and the hills stretched out to the far horizon behind them.
A cool breeze blowing just in time fills you with a sense of refreshment as if all irritation in your chest has been blown away.
After pondering for a moment, Hwanin confirmed that there was no other option and entered the mountain area along the river, giving strength to the spearhead in his hand.
A small but flowing river probably formed a valley at the point where mountains meet.
Stepping into the shade of the valley, I felt the coolness enough to let out a small sigh, but Hwanin did not relax and sent emergency food and asked me to search.
“Emergency food. Request.”
Kww!
And he himself scanned his surroundings, looking carefully for signs of beasts or monsters.
If he found a sign of a monster that seemed difficult to handle, he planned to turn away immediately.
‘The scenery is amazing.’
The width of the river was about 10m, about twice as wide as outside, but the water depth remained the same.
There is a gravel field of about 20m on both sides of the river, and at the end of the gravel field, stone cliffs each about 20m in height stand like a folding screen.
‘Shall we rest here today?’
Outside the valley, the temperature reached 30 degrees, and it was very cool and pleasant thanks to the wind blowing with the energy of the cold river.
It’s tempting to set up a temporary shelter here, but making a temporary shelter in such a large place is tantamount to welcoming the beasts with open arms.
Quack!
Hwanin, who was saddened and tried to call for emergency food, narrowed his eyes at the action of the emergency food.
Cackle!
Emergency rations that flutter on the side of the cliff where you are.
I looked upstream to see if the enemy had seen it, but there was no sign of anything else on the other side, which was made up of flat land and looked like it was going into a forest.
Even if you open your spirit vision, you can’t see only the color of the forest.
When I looked up to see what I saw, Hwanin tightened his forehead.
Emergency food is gone.
‘I didn’t hear anything?’
Did something like an eagle snatch emergency food? It was when I tried to call out emergency food out loud, feeling my heart grow cold.
Quack!
I was surprised to see emergency food suddenly popping out of the cliff with hanging vines.
“Could it be, a cave?”
Cackle!
He cried twice as if ordering emergency food to come up quickly, then disappeared into the vine again.
Hwanin also climbed up the cliff to the side where the emergency rations disappeared. And let out a small exclamation.
The grass stalks, vines, and tree roots draped like a curtain hid a deep cave leading inward.
“Good job.”
Quite good!
When he stroked the head of the emergency rations waiting at the entrance, the emergency rations happily rubbed their heads against Hwanin’s palm.
The height of the cave found by emergency food is about 5m from the ground.
The two-tailed macaque’s tree-climbing skills made these rugged cliffs a bit steep, so it wasn’t a problem for Hwanin.
Rather, it will be a safety device in many situations.
From the point of view of animals crawling on the ground, 5m height would be a wailing wall that could never be climbed.
Watching the entrance of the cave carefully to see if it might be the nest of another creature, Hwanin stepped inside, pulling back the grass stalks blocking the entrance like a screen.
The entrance was narrow enough for an adult to pass by bending over, but the inside was wider than expected.
The rocky cave was curved like an earthworm crawling, about 3m high and 2m wide, and there was a space wide enough for a bear to stay inside.
“It’s cool inside too…….”
The outside temperature feels like going back and forth between 26 and 30 degrees, but it’s cool around 23 degrees inside.
Looking at the shape, it is a completely artificial cave. However, there were no such artificial traces at all.
Even when examining the floor, interior spaces, and walls, there is no trace left by someone passing by.
If the animal had lived, there would have been smells, excrement, leftover bones, etc., But there was nothing like that, just a little dust, it was just clean.
Quack!
Quack-… Pretty much-…… Pretty much-…….
Hwanin, who looked inside the cave while listening to the echo of the cry of emergency food, gave a small smile in his satisfaction.
It doesn’t get any sunlight, but it doesn’t matter at all because it has spirit vision.
Even if there is no soul vision, is sunlight a problem? In a place like this, I could safely spend months and years, not days.
Returning to the entrance, Hwanin naturally repaired the natural screen, went inside, put down his food bag and weapon on one side of the 5-pyeong space, and lay down as if he were collapsing.
Wooddeuk.
Even the pain, as if the vertebrae that had been overworked without rest, was screaming.
“Whoa…….”
Queek.
Hugging the emergency food sticking to his side, Hwanin fell into a deep sleep with the momentum to make up for the lack of sleep.
Tick tock tock…….
“…….”
Hwanin, awakened by the sound of the clock hands moving, felt refreshed first.
It’s been a while since I’ve had such a refreshing mood.
Hwanin, who enjoyed a unique feeling when he woke up from a sound sleep without dreaming…….
“…… !”
His heart skipped a beat and he jumped up and looked at the buck antlers hurriedly.
And let out a small sigh of relief.
Five soul orbs sprinkle a soft light on the horn of the staff. In terms of experience, it felt like I slept straight for 12 hours, but the soul orb was still maintained.
I checked my watch and the hands were pointing to 8:10 P.M.
I fell asleep around 6, so I slept for about 2 hours.
Hwanin, who woke up, admired his body condition while doing a moderate stretch.
I can’t believe that I only slept for 2 hours, so I’m in the best condition.
Even when he was on Earth, he could count on one hand the number of people he had had such a good night’s sleep in a place like this. Hwanin laughed to himself and looked around the cave and realized that he couldn’t see what he should have been.
Where did the emergency food go? Did he even go out while he was sleeping?
Hwanin was not worried. He is smart enough to protect himself even when he fights monsters and beasts.
He must have noticed that this was a new home and went out to look around.
Hwanin, who took a blue carrot-like vegetable from his food bag, came out to the entrance of the cave with his spear and staff and sat down. And he listens to the sounds outside.
The faint chirping of insects and the chirping of birds that seem to come from far away. And the sound of running water.
After biting off a crunchy, onion-like blue carrot, Hwanin slightly tilted the grass stem that completely covered his entrance and looked outside.
Although the altitude is less than 100m, it is a valley in the mountains. Since it flows all the way to the stream, there must be beasts and monsters included in the ecosystem.
When I finished eating all the sour grape-flavored green carrots while keeping a close eye on the outside, the emergency rations flew silently into the cave.
“Were you able to fly silently?”
Quack.
Hwanin, who was patting the back of the emergency rations that had returned without incident as if from a walk, suddenly noticed that the emergency rations were holding something tightly in its feet.
When he holds out his hand, he puts down what his emergency rations were holding.
“It’s animal hair. This color…… A blue leopard?”
Let’s say it while looking up at the moonlight that seeps through the grass stems.
And it gave me the one I was holding on the other foot, which was the first hair I had ever seen. Its brown hair was stiff and thick enough to be called needles with a little exaggeration.
‘I think I heard that boar fur is similar to this…….’
This is not Earth, so it could be the hair of a completely different creature.
Hwanin, guessing that he was big just by looking at his thick and long hair, smiled lightly and stroked the emergency rations head.
“You’ve been doing reconnaissance, good job.”
Quack!
Of course, the blue leopard I encountered once during the day must be diurnal, and is the owner of the fur like Gangchim diurnal or nocturnal?
If it’s a boar-like habit, there’s a chance it’ll roam around at night…….
I spend time thinking about things.
In the meantime, no beasts or monsters appeared along the river, and nothing foreign was mixed with the sounds of the scenery.
The peaceful night time passes.
