Chapter 13
Chapter 13
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: When Trust Breaks
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pfooosh!
'Urk.'
The moment the first wave hit, an exaggerated pressure and shock slammed into him—like being crushed in a compactor.
He had taken a huge breath beforehand, but nearly let it all out right then.
Rumble... Roooar...
The waves didn't stop at one.
Two, three, four times.
Each crashing wave brought a sound like a tank rumbling past, battering his back and shaking his guts while dry heaves rose from the pressure.
Any moment now, his limbs might give out.
To make matters worse, the waves were chipping away at the cliff bit by bit, exposing more of the tree roots and shaking his body along with it.
If he let go here and got swept away, he might get dragged all the way to the center of the Great Lake.
As the waves tried to pull him along, Hwan-in gritted his teeth and held on.
Thankfully, the onslaught didn't last long.
The waves' height dwindled with each hit until, after the seventh, the water level dropped below his feet. The last couple retreated just as swiftly as they'd come.
Shhhh...
"Huff... haa! Hoo!"
As the waves receded, rattling the gravel bed, Hwan-in exhaled deeply to shake off the queasy sensation in his gut and replenish his oxygen.
Squawk.
Looking down at his chest, he saw Emergency Ration shivering, utterly soaked.
He'd wedged it between the tree roots and his body in case the cord snapped—good call, it seemed.
Had it just been slung over his shoulder, the cord he'd made from vines would've snapped in those brutal waves.
Hwan-in shook his head to flick off the water and gazed at the gravel bed where the water was rapidly draining away, as if the tsunami had never happened. He peered toward the distant Great Lake.
No more tidal waves—the surface rippled calmly now.
Not wasting a second, Hwan-in leaped down to the gravel and scrambled up the nearest low-sloping cliff, fleeing to the tallest spot nearby.
"Hoo..."
He was drained.
Half-buried in the underbrush, Hwan-in swept back his sopping wet hair and stared out at the distant Great Lake.
He'd given up expecting common sense from this world after encountering all those monsters, but this was a bit much.
"A whale that can cause tsunamis."
What do you even call a tsunami from a lake?
Stroking his chin, he felt faint stubble rasping under his fingers. Hwan-in pondered as he rubbed his jaw.
Horned Scale Whale... The bizarre creature was so far away that light scattering made it look hazy.
Even from that distance, it was fist-sized, so its actual length had to be measured in meters.
Recalling the size-estimation method from school and doing some rough math... 60 to 80 meters, maybe.
No idea how it leaped hundreds of meters out of the water, but considering the scale and power of the tsunami from its fall, it had to be at least that big.
"Hoo..."
A battleship-sized behemoth leaping hundreds of meters was shocking enough. That such a thing lived in the Great Lake was another shock. And not knowing the lake's depth was yet another.
"..."
In a world teeming with creatures that made humans look smaller than ants, could he really survive? Doubt and despair crept in.
Excitement was fine, feeling new emotions and sensations was great.
But it had to be against something he could actually fight.
Slaughtering Green Monsters or Beast-Head Monsters one-sidedly hadn't thrilled him—it felt like pointless drudgery. The reverse would be the same.
...What if giants existed here too?
With freshwater beasts like the dozens-of-meters-long Horned Scale Whale...
Hwan-in muttered that even encountering a giant wouldn't surprise him now.
His pricey clothes had taken multiple wave hits but weren't too badly soaked. Still, his inner shirt and water that had seeped inside left him damp.
Under the rainbow-streaked blue sky, Hwan-in stripped off his suit coat and jacket, spreading them in the sunlight, then checked his pockets.
Splash.
"..."
Putting his hand in his pants pocket, Hwan-in frowned at the feel of water. He pinched a rectangular shape between thumb and forefinger and pulled it out.
His smartphone, dripping water.
Who knew waterproofing failed like this? A few less waves and it might've survived...
He considered ditching the ruined phone but dismissed it quickly.
This was another world. If there was civilization, he could pass it off as overtechnology or an out-of-place artifact and sell it. Or use it as a gift.
At least his watch was fine.
Setting the phone on a shaded rock, Hwan-in pulled the Multi-Tool from another pocket, disassembled it, wiped it dry, and placed it beside the phone.
The Gold Coin, culprit of this mess, was intact too.
Hwan-in toyed with the gleaming coin in the sunlight before pocketing it again and reaching for the pouch of Paralysis Beads at his waist.
"...Hoo."
A sigh escaped from sheer exasperation.
The cord must've been shoddy—the pouch itself was gone. Probably snapped and lost when the waves battered him against the wall.
If he'd known, he'd have used them all on those eight Green Monsters.
No helping it now. Shaking off regrets, Hwan-in unfolded his soaked beast hide and checked his food bundle.
"Mm."
All soaked. He hadn't expected full submersion, so he'd tied it loosely, and water had seeped in through the gaps.
Freshwater soak shouldn't ruin it once dried, but this world had subtly different common sense from Earth.
Just in case, he activated Soul Vision and checked each item one by one.
"That's a relief, at least."
Unfurling the bundle and inspecting everything, no color changes appeared.
The only pity was the coral mushroom, nearly dry before getting wet.
The last bundle held Golden Bell Flowers and leaves.
They were damp too, but being innermost, not too badly. Color still milky white, so he spread them to dry in the sun.
The pulp on his thigh wound was gradually turning yellowish.
"..."
Hwan-in still couldn't grasp the mechanism behind these color shifts.
Anything not pale green-cyan was supposedly harmful, yet the crushed Golden Bell pulp on his wound was shifting to yellow...
Come to think of it, Earth foods had similar traits.
Medicinal in small doses, poison in large.
Harmless eaten, but toxic touching blood vessels under fat.
What color would those show in Soul Vision?
Pondering the ability sparked fresh doubts about this suspicious phenomenon.
Since gaining it, Hwan-in had theorized why.
The dream of the river of light influencing reality.
Toxicity from jungle foods.
Mutation from unknown pathogens.
Objectively, he leaned toward the third—bodily mutation from microbes. But in a world with superpowers, the dream's influence wasn't impossible.
Squawk. Squeak.
Under the warm sun drying its feathers, Emergency Ration fixated on nearby coral mushrooms. Hearing the cry, Hwan-in glanced over—only to catch his reflection on the phone screen.
"..."
Staring at his face in the screen, he blinked shut, then open. Picking up the phone, he peered closer.
...Same as ever.
Sparse stubble on his chin. Sunken, protruding cheeks and cheekbones. Hollow eye sockets from fatigue and malnutrition.
And faintly glowing irises.
"What the hell."
He held the phone, tilting it to check his eyes from angles, touching the area.
No doubt. Just like that staff-wielding Green Monster and its minions, his eyes were faintly glowing.
Remembering something, Hwan-in deactivated Soul Vision. The glow vanished.
"........."
Rubbing his prickly stubble, he stared at the Deer-Antler Staff propped in the tree shade.
Collapsing from headache the moment he gripped it couldn't be coincidence.
The river of light dream could be dismissed as weird, once or twice pure chance.
But add seeing creatures' extra colors and his eyes glowing like the Green Monsters'—no longer coincidence.
What if he could use powers like that Green Monster?
Not hoping for invisible explosions. Just moving fast like that glowing-eyed shaman...
He gripped the staff. Brown like ordinary wood, but the texture was incredibly smooth—hard to believe it was just a stick.
Not velvet-soft, but a subtle smoothness that made gripping effortless.
Examining the small deer skull ornament at the twisted end, Hwan-in mimicked the Green Monster's actions.
Like... this? Shaking it?
Recalling the pose before the transparent blast, he tried imitating—but nothing happened.
Swishing it around, changing grips and positions—only whooshes of wood slicing air.
"..."
Wait. Not just swinging—what if with Soul Vision active?
Holding the staff, he opened Soul Vision, which he'd kept blocked.
Sensations like Warm Ki??, Cold Ki??, and static mingled, flowing from the staff through his solar plexus into his limbs.
Startled, Hwan-in didn't let go.
The feeling climbed his throat, splitting at the jaw to his ears, meeting at the nape. It circled his eyes, spread inside his nose, gathering slightly above the bridge.
Like cracking the skull and spritzing menthol—stinging, tingling, hot.
Like lightly shocking a socket with chopsticks as a kid—mind blank, no thoughts.
Thud. Releasing the staff, the sensations faded.
"Th... what was that feeling?"
Beyond surprise, in confusion, Hwan-in rubbed his arms—then noticed faint warm and cool touches brushing his exposed skin, face, hands.
Not sunlight's warmth or breeze's chill.
A sensation never felt on Earth, beyond simile.
Forced to name it: fiery Warm Ki, icy Cold Ki.
"...!"
Suddenly, chill from behind—Hwan-in whipped around, staggering back three or four steps.
Not a horse or deer, but a six-legged beast with crown-like antlers.
An animal wouldn't have shocked him that much. It was translucent smoky gray.
────...
"..."
The animal ghost let out a long cry, then paced at a distance.
He heard it clearly... but didn't. The eerie disconnect made his heart pound.
Squawk?
Emergency Ration stared oddly, as if seeing nothing. Hwan-in quickly regained composure.
Hallucinating? No.
That vivid presence—odd for a ghost, but it felt real.
The sensations from gripping the staff with Soul Vision weren't illusion.
Warm Ki??, Cold Ki??, static??—gone, but their paths lingered in his body.
The warmth and chill on his skin now were their other forms. He knew instinctively.
No reason why. Like a baby nursing—innate knowledge.
"Ah."
Lost in thought? The crown-antlered deer-pony ghost hopped away, dissolving into smoke toward the jungle.
"..."
Swallowing dryly, Hwan-in clenched and unclenched his fists twice, analyzing.
Dropping then gripping the Deer-Antler Staff with Soul Vision triggered these odd events.
Ghosts aplenty in the light river dream, now seeing them—80% chance he gained ghost-related powers.
That animal ghost... Did I summon it? Or the staff?
It paced like awaiting orders, then vanished into the jungle.
Deep breath. Hwan-in gripped the Deer-Antler Staff again, cautiously opening Soul Vision.
No invading trio of sensations.
Instead, faint warmth and coolness trickled in from the staff—subtle, barely there.
A bit surprised, Hwan-in didn't resist.
Why trust it wasn't harmful? What could he do with this?
Thus, staff in hand, he drifted into thought.