Chapter 5 – 005 Flood Damage
“Whoops, whoops. Whoa.”
Running away from an unidentified and unknown predatory beast was a burden even for Hwanin, whose emotions were not ordinary, as the fear of the unknown was added to the fugitive’s heart.
However, the options are not wide.
Do you stay still and get caught and eaten, or run away and get caught and eaten?
In a situation where he has to choose between the two, Hwanin just picks the one with the greater chance of survival.
Hwanin, who kept running without stopping, suppressing the urge to look back, stopped running only after his knee gave way and he rolled several times on the ground.
“Huh, huh. Huh.”
My heart feels like it’s going to burst, and my lungs feel like they’re tearing. Maybe I’ll die like this
This was the first time Hwanin had ever thought of dying from a heart attack or lung damage, not for any other reason.
Hwanin, who had been gasping for a while while lying down, lifted his arm with difficulty and looked at the watch.
“One…… Time, whoops. “
In the meantime, there was no pursuit of wild beasts, so can we say that it is safe now?
Compared to quadrupeds, human running speed is insignificant. If he wanted to, he would have followed him in an instant.
After catching his breath for a while, Hwanin struggled to get his body up and started walking again.
Right after running like a marathon. If it spreads as it is, it can cause cramps and muscle pain. Even if it’s hard, it’s good to take a little walk to recover your energy.
After unpacking the leaves, eating some of his corona berries, and rehydrating, Hwanin took out his smartphone and turned on the smart running app.
It is an app that detects and records the direction and moving distance using the device’s own sensor without using GPS, and is a must-have for those who have a bushcraft hobby.
Because of this, even without GPS, you can know how far you have moved in any direction, east, west, south, north, and it reminds you that you have installed this app on your smartphone last night, so it was a pre-set Hwanin.
It was decided that this would be helpful in escaping this flood, even if it consumed power, since it would be easy to know even if it lost its direction.
I was thinking of checking the direction and distance to where I fled…….
“…… 17 km in 1 hour.”
There was no synchronized map, so Hwanin narrowed his eyes when he saw the route, distance, and time displayed as red lines on the pure white screen.
The reason why the red line, which is the route of returning to the course where you came from, is winding, is because you are running to avoid trees.
However, the total distance traveled in 1 hour 7 minutes 35 seconds is 17.32 km?
After checking the time and distance, Hwanin wondered if there was an error in the app, so he updated the app several times.
[The app is OK.]
[The app is OK.]
[The app is OK.]
There were no errors.
‘The world marathon record must have been around 2 hours and 1 minute.’
Marathon runners run 42km on asphalt wearing marathon clothes and special marathon shoes with science added. The world record was created under such circumstances.
He lowers his head and looks at his clothes.
A dark gray suit coat with bits of dirt and grass attached to it. Gray classic suit that goes well with the coat. The shoes are plain brown cowhide shoes.
On top of that, he was wearing a wooden shield on his left arm, holding a dark club and a stone ax in each hand, and ran in the worst environment with fallen leaves, humus, tree roots, and thickets.
Considering various irregularities, doesn’t that mean that he has achieved a record comparable to that of world marathon runners?
He is a Hwan-in who goes to the gym to know the level of his physical strength. He knew better than he could ever achieve a record like this.
‘I felt that my body moved better than usual, but I didn’t expect it to be this much.’
After thinking about the reason for a while, Hwanin remembered the corona berry he just ate.
If you doubt the sudden increase in physical ability, it is also doping.
‘Is this corona berry acting as a hematopoietic agent?’
It is well known that there is a hematopoietic agent in marathon drug doping. Hematopoietic agents increase red blood cells and improve the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood to enhance athletic performance.
Of course, it is an act that is prohibited by the Marathon Association.
In other words, it would be more credible to say that corona berries have hematopoietic components.
Even so, Hwanin wondered if his ability could be improved to this extent.
Hwanin recorded 48 minutes in the last 10km marathon event he participated in.
It is a respectable record that corresponds to the top 10% of 600 people, and if you calculate it, it turns out that you ran 2 km more in the same time.
It’s 2km because it’s easy to say, but no matter how much you think about it, it doesn’t make sense that you shortened your own record by 10% without doing anything.
“…….”
Since this isn’t Earth, something mysterious must have happened.
Hwanin, who thought lightly that it was impossible to find out anyway, calmed down and continued to walk.
Seeing that the unidentified beast is not immediately chasing it, it seems that it is attacking and eating the green monster as intended, but you do not know when it will chase you, so you must keep moving.
Hwanin, who was moving quickly, glanced behind him and muttered to himself.
‘I may have taken the wrong direction in the first place. Going the other way, avoiding the green monster, could have been going deeper into the forest.’
Green monsters are weak.
With a crudely made wooden shield and weapon, it was enough to gain an advantage in a fight with the four, so the green monster must be at the bottom of the food chain in the forest.
If so, it is possible that the first encounter with the green monster was in the outskirts of the forest.
Of course, this is just a guess.
The predatory beast that attacked the green monsters could be the type that roamed the forest without any specific territory, and the green monster could also share the forest with several tribes.
In a situation like this, it is forbidden to make hasty assumptions.
It is a fact that we found two beasts and two traces while moving there, so let’s go back here.
‘I’m glad it’s not a wild jungle.’
When it comes to jungle, it’s easy to think of the dense, humid forests that completely block the view of a tropical rain forest, but this isn’t quite the case here.
It’s about half way between flood and jungle. Although the tall trees are growing densely, it is possible to run without difficulty.
It would have been appropriate to call it a forest if the trees were only half the height, but with so many trees growing to the level of high-rise apartments, it was a fantasy that could only be thought of as a jungle.
After walking for about two hours, Hwanin stopped walking with a small moan.
His rough breathing became calmer, and his beating heart became calmer. However, subtle discomfort in the thighs, calves, and limbs does not go away.
Experience was talking. They said that if I worked more than this, serious muscle pain would come tomorrow.
It happened that the surroundings were a little overgrown with vines and bushes. In addition, there was a place where large tree roots rose to the ground and became entangled, creating what looked like a small hole.
There were still a couple of hours left before sunset, but Hwanin decided to rest here and sat down on the roots of a moderately large tree nearby.
As soon as you sit down, your legs begin to tremble.
This is not a good thing. If you sleep like this, rats will come and give you excruciating pain in the middle of the night.
Hwanin silently massaged his trembling legs and began to loosen his stiff muscles.
If you listen closely, you can hear the chirping of birds and the chirping of insects.
At this rate, it can be said that the unknown beast is not chasing.
Even if he is chasing him, Hwanin now has only one option to choose from.
Fighting back and getting eaten.
Hwanin, recalling the cries of the green monster and beast that had been screaming for a while, inspected the wooden shield with a nonchalant face.
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After tightening the slightly loose string, Hwanin put down his shield and picked up a black club.
A pouch and a dingy club stolen from a green monster that looked like the leader.
However, the material of the club is strangely familiar.
“…….”
He raised his stone axe and compared the hilt to the club, then nodded. It is the same material.
After thinking for a while, Hwanin cut off the tip of the club handle with a stone ax…… I tried to look at it, but it didn’t work, so I took out the knife from the multi-tool and sharpened it a little.
‘Amazing. It’s so hard to cut even with a knife.’
I didn’t even want to process it. I was just thinking of peeling it off as if it were thinly sliced, but it feels like cutting iron.
Hwanin, who was fiddling with the cut pieces, realized a surprising fact.
‘It doesn’t look like it’s been processed…….’
The first basic work that is done to make things out of wood, which is so natural that some people do not count as work, is to blow away the moisture of the tree.
Distortion is prevented just by blowing away moisture, and the tree itself becomes stronger. Depending on how well the wood is dried, the value of the same wood can vary greatly.
After that, there are cases where the strength and hardness are increased by pickling in chemicals or applying a special solution, but the handles of these clubs and stone axes were made of raw wood without any treatment.
“A whole black tree.”
Black trees also exist on Earth. The ebony tree is that, and the ebony tree is also black at the core, but the outside is plain brown.
Hwanin placed a nearby tree branch on the root of a tree and struck it down with a black club.
Shred!
Literally shattered tree branches.
Hwanin, who saw that even the roots of the tree had hollowed out, clicked his tongue slightly in regret. If it had been properly dried and crafted, a far superior weapon would have been made.
Even so, this is enough for now.
Moreover, the weight balance of the 70cm black club is incomparable to that of a stone axe, so there is no burden on the arm even when wielding it.
Thinking of using the black club as his main weapon in the future, Hwanin, who had prepared a stone ax and a black club, suddenly realized that he had thrown away the ragskin.
A fight broke out and I threw it into the bush at the bottom of the hill, but it was different from the escape direction, so I couldn’t retrieve it.
No, I didn’t even think of retrieving it.
‘It had leather, so it at least blocked the cold air coming up from the ground.’
Realizing that he had suddenly felt a bit of regret, Hwanin hesitated, then smiled at the strange sensation. Andhehesitated again at the fact that he was laughing from the bottom of his heart, not a fake one.
…… If my mother had seen me now, she would have cried, saying that her son had changed.
Hwanin, who had been immersed in thoughts for a moment while caressing his lips at unfamiliar emotions, brushed off his thoughts and took out his last booty from his coat.
A leather pouch stolen by a green monster.
The pouch itself was made of animal hide and was plain and passable.
When I open the pouch, I see six lumpy reddish-brown marbles the size of a little finger.
Since I put my hand in my pocket while looking at this side, it must be consumables to attack the enemy. Is the usage method throwing?
Thinking so, Hwanin took out a bead and played with it. With a popping sound, Hwanin witnessed a green one-horned bird sitting on the trunk of a tree in front of him.
A one-horned bird that seemed to be aiming for a corona berry, and headed towards the thicket with quick steps.
Action was immediate.
Pak!
The bead thrown by Hwanin hit the root right next to the one-horned bird, and with the sound of a small balloon bursting, the bead turned into dark red powder and spread quickly.
Queet-!
Startled, the one-horned bird immediately spread its wings and flew up, but before it could take off, it fluttered and then fell to the ground and started shaking.
I picked up a twig, approached it closely, and pricked it. It only made a small shudder, but there was no movement to resist or run away.
I don’t feel like dying…….
“Paralysis poison. There is immediate effect.”
Even though it is a bit smaller than a chicken, to paralyze it so quickly, the effect is amazing. If this is enough, when inhaled properly, people will be paralyzed in an instant.
Only then did Hwanin understand the actions of the four green monsters who tried to surround him.
‘I wonder if the reason they spread that distance was to avoid touching the powder.’
Come to think of it, hadn’t my leg just loosened up and I rolled on the ground a few times? Hwanin, who thought it was fortunate that the numbing bead in his pocket was safe, coveted the recipe for the numbing bead, but gave up due to a practical problem.
Even if it wasn’t an unidentified beast, it would have been difficult to capture the green monster with a pouch. No, he must have been hit by a paralyzing orb and put his life in danger.
No matter how he figured out how to make it with gestures, it wouldn’t be easy to make it.
If it were easy, most of the 10 green monsters I’ve encountered so far would have carried it.
Continuing his thoughts, Hwanin collects a thin stem from a bush and brings it, tying the beak of the one-horn bird, as well as tying its legs and wings. Then he took out his watch and started counting the time.
“…… The duration is also respected.”
Duration is 10 minutes.
Depending on the size, the duration may vary, but it takes 1 minute to take one life, but 10 minutes.
The one-horned bird, which blinked and staggered to see if the paralysis had lifted, immediately fluttered with puffy, phihik-breathing sounds.
Regardless, Hwanin threw the one-horned bird into a hole and started to secure leaves and bushes to make a bed for.
