Chapter 7 – 007 Flood Damage
Hwanin, who had been walking towards the direction where the emergency rations were looking, suddenly felt annoyed.
“What are you doing?”
Are you saying that there is something out there that is moving forward with meaning in the actions of a single bird? It would be more helpful to get some sleep after roasting and eating and then going back to the hideout.
All I ate was 4 corona berries for breakfast. And now it’s past 2pm.
I am hungry and my throat is still dry. Even a Hwanin with a calm personality, no matter how cold-hearted he may be, is bound to become sensitive.
Shoot ah-
At that time, a strong wind blew from the direction they were heading and passed by as if wrapping Hwanin’s head.
“…….”
The smell of water passing by my nose.
It’s not a fishy, disgusting smell that rots away. It was the smell of clear, moist water that moistened his nostrils.
Hwanin, who had been standing still, took a step in front of him without realizing it, and then started running at a brisk pace.
Quack. Cock.
As the distance he ran increased, the emergency rations also squealed and the frequency of crying increased. And after about 10 minutes of running, Hwan-in, who was blinded by the amount of light pouring in as he turned over the densely grown bushes…….
“…… Her.”
He let out a small exclamation as he lowered his hand that was blocking the sun from the scene unfolding before him.
The jade-colored horizon meets the sky with cumulus clouds floating around. And the waves rushing in and spraying light foam.
Hwanin looked up at the open blue sky and took a deep breath.
The air in the jungle felt heavy for some reason, but as I breathed in the air under such a vast sky, it felt like every brain cell that had died was awakened.
Hwanin, who was relaxed for a while, looked around him while listening to the sound of splashing and lapping waves.
The coast was made of low cliffs as if erosion had occurred, but at a height of about 6m, large and small pebbles were filled to form a coastline with a width of about 70m.
However, the appearance of the beach is strange.
If it is a typical coast, trees become sparse, followed by flat land, and then a white sandy beach or gravel field continues at a certain distance from there, and then it is a place that touches the sea. Or at all abutting against a cliff or precipice.
But here, the jungle suddenly ends and a cliff appears, and a pebble beach continues under it and touches the sea.
In fact, right next to where Hwanin is standing, a tree several tens of meters tall is growing.
“…… Isn’t that the sea?”
The salt carried by the sea breeze is not good for trees. It can grow, but its types are limited like coniferous trees, and they are usually yellow and dry.
However, the tree was growing well enough to fit the onomatopoeic word green, and the grass and bushes were also fresh.
Then he felt something move in his side and lowered his gaze. Emergency rations wrapped in vines are wriggling and touching Hwanin’s side. As if you want to get closer to the water’s edge.
After pondering for a while, Hwanin looked around him and found a cliff of suitable height. Grabbing the exposed tree roots, he carefully landed on the gravel field.
He found no threatening creatures. However, Hwanin, who arrived at the water’s edge without losing sight of his surroundings, washed his hands thoroughly, then scooped up the water from the crevices of pebbles with both hands and carefully sniffed it.
First of all, there is no such thing as a foreign substance in the eye…….
‘It doesn’t even smell unusual.’
The water quality looks clean enough to be able to do this.
When Hwanin, who confirmed that the smell was fine, tried to touch the water with his tongueheheard a clicking sound from the side.
When I turned my gaze to that direction, the emergency rations that had been placed on the gravel field due to the length of the string were drinking water, raising and lowering their heads like ducks.
“…….”
Something was unnerving, but she dipped the tip of her tongue in the water, relieving her tension.
Unknown germs and diseases were no longer of interest to Hwanin.
Of course, I will follow basic rules such as being careful about what I eat and staying away from dirty water.
Other than that, I mean, I was saying that I would stop worrying about this much and clean water or worrying about breathing.
If that happens, it means giving up survival in this world.
Anyway, the water was fresh water with no hint of salt.
“This is a lake.”
I don’t know the exact length, but the coastline that makes up the shape of the crescent moon seems to be several tens of kilometers long.
A lake like the sea so wide that you can’t see the land on the other side.
The distance to the horizon that the human eye can reach is about 5 km. This means that the diameter of this lake is at least 5 km.
“I can’t make a raft or canoe to cross it.”
Although I do not have the skills and knowledge to make it. After muttering, Hwanin scooped up some more lake water and quenched his thirst.
The cool water goes down the esophagus and gives a refreshing feeling that makes the chest throb.
It’s a pity that there is no soap, but I even washed my face.
No one will see I washed my hair in 5 days while being wary of my surroundings, and the impression that I was going to live came out of my mouth first.
“Whoa…….”
As he brushed his wet hair roughly to blow off the water and brushed it back, the excited cry of emergency food caught Hwanin’s attention.
Quack. Cackle! Kww!
Well done well done
It was pecking at pebbles with its beak, so when I tried to do something, it was trying to catch and eat insects wandering around the pebbles.
However, since the body is restrained, it is difficult to catch it by moving only the head, so it misses the bug every time.
Quack.
Hwanin also noticed something moving at the edge of his field of vision.
When the rock with a diameter of about 50 cm is pushed away, a crustacean resembling a crab creeps in.
The body is a bright jade color. The tips of the legs are blue, resembling the sky.
Unlike crabs from Earth, it has only eight legs, including two claws, and lacks two joints, but it is overwhelming in size and thickness.
The carapace is also divided into two parts, left and right, like cockroach wings, and it is shiny, but it is not brown, but jade-colored, so it is less repulsive.
At first glance, the color seems poisonous…….
I rip off the shell of the struggling crab with a crackling sound, but the shell is softer than I thought.
It’s not as soft as a soft shell crab, but it’s easy enough to open without much effort.
When jade crabs, which separate their carapaces and produce bubbles, are placed in front of emergency food, they squawk as if their eyes were turned inside out and eat them.
Right! Tadak! Hard…… Pak.
“…….”
Finally, seeing the emergency rations beaking like a woodpecker and eating even the shell, Hwanin silently lifted a large rock and started searching for the jade crab.
Catching jade crabs was not difficult.
As if there were no natural enemies, even if the Hwanin approached, they moved leisurely and were helplessly captured.
I took one of my legs off to see if it was unhealthy, and it was flapping like it was having a seizure.
Hwanin, who let go of those that were too small and picked those that were bigger than his hands, and kept six of them, found something like a clam in the stagnant water in the crack of a large rock.
Although clams are similar to starfish, they are definitely shellfish.
“Hmm.”
I can’t eat this raw…….
Looking at 10 star clams and 6 jade crabs the size of fists, Hwanin recalled the memory of Bushcraft. He returned to the jungle with only a stone axe and gathered several long, broad leaves of houseplants, as well as dry grass and wood chips for firewood.
Starting a fire is easy with the Firesteel attached to the multitool.
Just cut a well-dried twig thin dozens of times to make it look like a feather, and flick sparks a few times with Firesteel.
After making a fire in the gravel field and supplementing firewood, he brought two watermelon-sized rocks near the campfire.
“Ugh… Ugh…….”
A cold sweat broke out on his forehead and back, perhaps on the verge of exhausting his physical strength.
Hwanin, who stole the sweat from his brow, pierced the jade crab’s chest with an awl of a multi-tool to kill it while the firewood was burning, then removed the pebbles from the beach and scrubbed the jade crab with a bit of coarse sand piled up below to wash it.
There was no moss or anything attached to the shell, but just in case.
The appearance of jade crabs was not much different from crabs from Earth, so the maintenance was straightforward.
Hwanin, who returned after grooming the six, saw that the charcoal was properly made in the campfire, and stirred the campfire with a branch to put out the fire.
Using two straight twigs as pincers, place a large, red-hot coal in the middle of two small rocks that have been moved near the fire.
The trimmed jade crabs were wrapped in leaves of houseplants in groups of three and tied with stems to form a bundle.
According to the standard, palm leaves should be rolled and baked.
Then, he placed the package on a twig straddling two rocks. If you leave it like this, the heat will steam the crabs in the package.
The clams were simply tossed onto the charcoal.
After about 10 minutes, the clam opened its mouth and began to spit out white steam, and after about 5 minutes, a fragrant and savory smell came from the bundle of houseplant leaves.
“…….”
Carefully holding the charred crab package close to the fire and tilting it around, something like water dripped down.
Chi Ik-
Hearing the sound of water dripping onto the charcoal and evaporating, Hwanin put the package down near the charcoal fire and stared at the boiling star clam the size of a fist with his mouth open.
To be honest, I’m still not sure if I can eat this.
But now the situation could be the worst.
Although he was extremely hungry, thanks to drinking water, first aid was given, but he used up all of his physical strength while moving rocks, obtaining firewood, and collecting food.
My legs are wobbly and I don’t even have the energy to raise my arms.
“Whoa.”
When were there many options?
To live or to die, it was just a choice. It’s the same now.
Quack. Quite a bit. Queek.
Staring at the emergency rations, which cackled nonstop at the smell of cooking clams and crabs, Hwanin carefully picked up one of the grilled clams that was wide open and cut out only the flesh with a multi-tool knife.
Let’s take it with a knife and bring it near the beak of emergency rations.
‘At least it’s not poisonous to emergency food.’
After removing the clam meat from the emergency rations, he cut out the remaining thumb-thick scallop with a knife and put it in his mouth. And after a few bites…….
“Mmm.”
The rich flavor of fish and shellfish spread in my mouth, and a train horn exploded from the boat.
Even though it is fresh water, it has a salty and savory taste and a chewy texture that is incomprehensible. It was the most delicious clam I have ever eaten in my 26 years of living without adding or subtracting anything.
Without a word, Hwanin began to peel and eat the shells one after another.
Of course, I didn’t eat all of it, and I removed what looked like organs and threw it away.
It is said that the true taste of fish and shellfish comes from the intestines, but eating the intestines would be a shortcut to death even though I have not been able to clear it and do not know what the staple food is.
Pretty much! Queueek!!
“…… Will you eat?”
Quack!!
I don’t know if he’s angry because he ate alone or because he threw away his internal organs, but seeing the emergency rations crying out angrily at him, Hwanin smiled and collected only the internal organs boiled in star clam shells and gave them to the emergency rations.
Satisfied, Hwanin watched the emergency rations pecking at the intestines, savoring the taste of star clams and chewing them thoroughly.
Hwanin, who ate 9 clams in an instant, felt full and full at the same time…….
“…….”
My stomach, to be precise, the lower part of the stomach hurts a little.
Abdominal pain is not abdominal pain that causes diarrhea, but it is more like the bitterness and throbbing sensation you can feel when you overeat tteokbokki made with Cheongyang pepper extract.
Even when I ate a hamburger with spicy sauce at Mcmac, a world-class hamburger brand, I often felt this kind of bitterness in my stomach.
As I focus on the pain, the pain gradually disappears.
I don’t know if the pain has disappeared or if I’ve gotten used to it, but maybe because I ate meat, my energy returned to my body, so I stood up and moved my body around.
“I feel fine right now, but…….”
Fortunately, after about an hour, the heartburn was completely gone.
Even when I look at my face on the screen of my smartphone, there is no problem on my skin, and my limbs and body are fine.
…… Hwanin muttered, “I don’t know,” And unwrapped the package.
“Well.”
The bright jade color and blue at the end of the legs disappeared, and three crabs cooked in bright red in the heat of the charcoal fire came into view.
It’s been an hour, but maybe it’s because I left it next to a campfire, so I can feel the lukewarm heat because it hasn’t completely cooled down.
The smell is the mouth-watering smell of boiled fish and shellfish, as if it were ripening.
When I grabbed one of the tongs and applied some force, it broke as easily as canned millet with a click.
Shrimp or crab sauce is the side that is eaten with the skin on. I want to eat this with the skin on, but I pick up a pebble the size of a fist and break the shell to eat only the flesh.
“Well…… !”
Even though I filled my stomach with 9 clams, this taste stimulated my appetite.
Overall, it is light, but it has a savory taste at the end, and a slightly greasy yet nutty taste that stimulates the appetite.
In particular, the legs, which are only as thick as a thumb, are full of flesh, and the shells are brittle like sorghum cans, so you can easily get the firm flesh like crab meat.
Hwanin, who ate 8 legs including the claws in an instant, could not hide his anticipation and separated the shell, and was disappointed.
This is because the crab intestines were mixed with the flesh and were colored light green.
Eat your head like this. The taste of the crab was conveyed to the tongue and strongly urged, but Hwanin exercised self-control and put his body down in the light.
Quite good. Cackle.
“Okay. You eat.”
Pretty much!
If it wasn’t for emergency food, I don’t know when I would have come here.
Hwanin, who gave the bodies of five jade crabs to the emergency rations as a reward, ate only the legs, but all of them were thick, so when he ate 40 legs, he felt full.
It was like coming into this world and having a proper meal for the first time.
Even after eating the steamed jade crab, my stomach felt a bit sore, but after about 30 minutes, I felt fine, just like star clams.
However, it was hard to think that there was no effect on the body at all. It feels like we are mortgaging our future in order to survive.
Quack. Pretty good-
Hwanin got up from the rock he had been sitting on as a substitute for a chair as if shaking off it, and gathered his equipment while listening to the cries of the emergency rations humming as if it were because he had eaten for the first time in a long time.
I cleaned the multi-tool that was stained with various things, put on a coat, and equipped myself with a wooden shield, a stone axe, and a black club.
The sun will set in a few hours. Thinking of the way back, we must start now.
“Shall we look around here tomorrow?”
As you move along the coastline, you may find traces of people. Even if it’s not, you can take advantage of the ease of supplying food and drinking water.
Conversely, you may encounter monsters that have come to secure drinking water, but there is no such thing as a safe path in the jungle.
Having made a decision, Hwanin stepped into the jungle.
