Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Blood on the Wind
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The riverbank was incomparably narrower than the river connected to the Great Lake. Barely about 3 meters across?
The deepest part only reached thigh height, and compared to the river linked to the Great Lake, the water's clarity and color were a bit murkier. Still, it was on the level of pristine first-grade water.
With the dawn's bluish haze not yet fully dissipated, he scrutinized the tributary as far as his eyesight allowed.
"......"
There were no monsters like Frogmen or Lizardmen, nor any carnivorous animals.
A few animals were drinking from the riverbank in the distance, but their deer-like forms unmistakably had the build of herbivores, no matter how he looked at them.
Compared to the initial jungle where he'd fallen, this was a scene of such natural peace that he took a moment to drink it in with his eyes. Then, the deer-like creature startled at the sight of Hwan-in and bolted away.
The moment he thought about how to catch one to eat, it sensed him like a ghost and fled. Hwan-in clicked his tongue softly and approached the river.
No strange smells came from the water. From afar, it had looked slightly greenish, but up close, it was as clear and transparent as the Great Lake.
As he examined the river, Emergency Ration hopped off his shoulder and plunged into the water.
Hwan-in watched enviously for a moment as the creature flapped its wings in the shallows, splashing water on itself, shaking its head furiously to wash away the clinging dirt.
Back on Earth, he almost never used soap, but now, seeing the grime spread when he dipped his hands in, even a dried-up scrap of soap felt desperately needed.
Avoiding Emergency Ration, who was scooping water to drink, Hwan-in moved a bit downstream and began washing his hands and face.
The feeling of cold water cleanly rinsing away the dirt was great, but the sticky oiliness left on his skin afterward was utterly revolting.
He roughly wiped his palms on his pant legs, finished tidying up, and set off upstream along the river with Emergency Ration, whose green feathers now gleamed even more vividly.
He didn't know where the downstream led, but following the current's direction, it pointed toward the jungle with the Blue Flame Tiger.
There was no reason to head back to where he'd emerged, so upstream was his only choice.
As the sun rose, nocturnal beasts vanished, and diurnal ones began appear.
'Is that thing a beast too?'
The problem was that creatures indistinguishable from monsters also showed up.
He'd seen a wolf-sized dog with three eyes and a pink housepig-like beast with a spike club for a tail. There was even an alligator covered in fur instead of scales.
The common trait? They all charged at him excitedly the moment they spotted him.
After stabbing what amounted to a motorcycle-sized mole covered in patchy scales until it was practically shredded, Hwan-in wiped the sweat trickling down his temple with his sleeve and muttered.
"Unbelievable."
It had taken eight stabs to the chest to kill the damn thing with its tenacious life force, and without eyes, it sensed vibrations through the whiskers on its snout, swinging its sharp-clawed forepaws wildly toward him...
If his combat skills hadn't improved fighting dog packs, if he hadn't crushed its nose with a thrown stone axe, it would've been a tough win.
It wasn't just the scale mole.
The three-eyed dog—which Hwan-in dubbed the Tri-Eyed Hound—was as fast as a cheetah with great dynamic vision, dodging his attacks as if it saw them all coming.
The Spike-Tail Pig had insane attack power and stamina.
Every time its spike-club tail slammed the ground, craters formed, and it kept that up relentlessly for dozens of strikes.
In terms of raw strength, any one could easily handle four to six Green Monsters or Beast-Head Monsters at once.
Hwan-in suspected they might have come from the mountain with the poison snake fruits, but there was no proof.
"Hm."
As he pondered and waited, the soul emerged from the corpse, retaining its original form.
Another low-grade soul.
"Might pick up some digging skills from this one."
On the way along the river, when he'd first encountered the Tri-Eyed Hound, Hwan-in had used Spirit Possession on the blue leopard's soul under the pressure of its three eyes and killed it.
That revealed the blue leopard's possession effect: enhanced leg strength and stealth movement.
The Frogman's was swimming skill. The twin-tailed monkey's was tree-climbing, and the blue leopard's stealth movement.
All skills tied to the creature's traits. So he could roughly guess the giant scale mole's.
Anyway, absorbing the scale mole's soul brought his low-grade souls to three: the Tri-Eyed Hound, Spike-Tail Pig, and scale mole.
'I'd like to test the soul explosion power of a low-grade soul bead too.'
But the possession effects were too valuable to waste. Possessing a low-grade soul granted more physical enhancement than a lowest-grade soul bead.
Possession didn't just blanket-boost the body. The boosted areas and intensity varied, as did the gains between lowest and low-grade.
For instance, Beast-Head Monsters or Green Monsters lacked specialties, so possession evenly boosted strength, stamina, endurance, etc.
For Frogmen or blue leopards with strong legs, limb power and muscles rose more, with stamina and endurance relatively less.
Through repeated possessions, he'd pinned down the numbers: lowest-grade even boosts yielded 5-10% enhancement.
Low-grade: up to 10-15%.
20% came from low-grade souls strong in specific body parts.
Either way, it massively boosted combat ability, making fights easier, so wasting them on soul explosions felt regrettable.
"Still, I need to check, so no choice."
If he had to use one, it'd be the scale mole's soul bead, where he could guess the skill gained.
Hwan-in glanced at the scale mole's corpse, left it, and moved on.
He'd secured hind leg and ribs from the Spike-Tail Pig caught hours ago.
No point carrying more than he could process. Leaving it would let other beasts devour it.
About thirty steps later, the hyena possession's enhancement wore off, bringing fatigue.
"Hoo..."
Three fights in five hours left him drained. Hwan-in sighed.
Even spaced out, the aftereffects stacked. Continuous fighting might've been better than these sporadic bouts, which only amplified exhaustion.
'To avoid stacking aftereffects, better skip continuous possessions.'
Beyond that, he wondered if following the river was smart.
The landscape resembled a desert steppe: short grass blanketing the ground with scattered low trees.
Not bad for a village site—open sightlines for spotting enemies, plus a water source.
But right next door loomed the monster-infested jungle and forest, possibly giant gulls' range, and the carnivorous plant mountain.
No sane person would settle here.
As he walked, Hwan-in spotted a low hill by the river and climbed it.
"......"
From the hilltop, the view stretched similarly to the horizon.
'Hill's about 12m high. Horizon distance roughly 12.4km.'
Noon now. If a village existed, human traces like cooking smoke would show—but a full scan revealed none.
Smoke rises high, visible farther than the horizon.
Finding human presence here seemed hopeless.
'Might need to change plans.'
Goal post-Flooded Area escape: find people. But now, pivot to long-distance travel prep by securing preserved smoked meat.
Plenty of beasts around for meat.
'River's cold even midday, good for short-term storage. Decent firewood trees too. Find a temporary shelter spot, and I could start right away.'
Smoking knowledge was basic from following his bushcraft-hobby dad.
No big worry—the method was simple.
A few tries to get the feel.
Searching for shelter while following the river, but steppe-like terrain made it tough.
'Sun'll set soon.'
Eight hours walking, three since plan change.
Gentle upstream incline plus two more fights left his limbs heavy.
Good news: no poison snake fruit mountain. Bad: farther from the target 100m peaks.
"......"
Thought of camping here crossed his mind, but he decided to check the next hill ahead and mechanically trudged on.
Reaching it, Hwan-in felt his chest open wide.
Ahead, low mountains formed ridges; behind, hills rolled to the horizon.
A cool breeze swept in, refreshing away his pent-up irritation.
After brief thought, confirming no alternatives, he gripped his spear shaft tight and entered the mountains along the river.
Maybe because a river flowed through, valleys formed where mountains met.
Entering the valley shade brought cool relief like a sigh, but Hwan-in stayed alert, sending Emergency Ration to scout.
"Emergency Ration. Scout ahead."
Squawk!
He scanned for beast or monster traces.
If anything too tough, he'd turn back immediately.
'The scenery here's killer.'
River now 10m wide—double outside—but same depth.
Left and right: 20m gravel beds ending in 20m stone cliffs like folding screens.
'Camp here tonight?'
Outside hit 30°C, but here, cold river breeze made it cool and pleasant.
Tempting for a base, but setting up in such open space invited beasts.
Squawk!
Regretfully calling Emergency Ration back, Hwan-in narrowed his eyes at its behavior.
Squawk squawk!
Hovering by his cliff side, squawking.
Enemy spotted? He checked upstream—flat, leading to forest, no presences.
Soul Vision showed only forest hues.
What'd it see? Looking up, Hwan-in furrowed his brow.
Emergency Ration vanished.
'No sound at all?'
Eagle snatched it? Chest chilled, he opened his mouth to call loudly—
Squawk!
Emergency Ration burst from vine-draped cliff, startling him.
"A cave?"
Squawk squawk!
It cried twice like "hurry up," then vanished into the vines.
Intrigued, Hwan-in climbed the cliff toward where it disappeared and let out a soft exclamation.
Vine curtains, grass stems, and tree roots hid a deep cave leading inward.
"Good job."
Quaak!
Petting Emergency Ration's head at the entrance, it nuzzled his palm happily.
Cave entrance 5m up.
Twin-tailed monkey's tree-climbing made this jagged cliff a mere steep slope—no issue.
It'd serve as a safety measure in various situations.
From ground-crawlers' view, 5m was an insurmountable wall.
Checking for other occupants, Hwan-in parted the natural curtain and entered.
Entrance narrow—adult had to hunch—but inside surprisingly spacious.
Worm-like winding rock tunnel: 3m high, 2m wide, widening inside to bear-sized chamber.
"Cool inside too..."
Outside 26-30°C, here a refreshing 23°C.
Perfectly artificial shape, yet no manmade traces.
No passage marks on floor, walls, chamber.
No beast stench, scat, bones—just dust. Pristine.
Squawk!
Squawk... quaak...... quaak......
Emergency Ration's cries echoed as Hwan-in inspected, smiling satisfied.
No sunlight, but Soul Vision handled it fine.
Even without, sunlight no issue. Such a spot safe for months, years.
Back at entrance, he adjusted the natural curtain naturally, entered, set food bundle and weapons in one corner of the 5-pyong space, and collapsed.
Crack.
His overworked spine screamed sweetly.
"Hooo..."
Quaak.
Hugging Emergency Ration clinging to his side, Hwan-in plunged into deep sleep to catch up on lost rest.
Tick-tock-tick-tock...
"......"
Waking to clock hands, Hwan-in first felt refreshed.
How long since such invigorating morning?
Savoring dreamless deep sleep's unique feel, Hwan-in...
"...!"
Heart dropped—he bolted up, eyes on Deer-Antler Staff.
Relief sigh.
Five soul beads glowed faintly on the antlers. Felt like 12 straight hours, but they held.
Clock: 8:10 PM.
Slept around 6, so two hours.
Stretching, he marveled at his peak condition after just two.
Even on Earth, such pure sleep rare; here, in this place—chuckling inwardly, he scanned the cave and noticed something missing.
Where's Emergency Ration? Out while he slept?
No worry—smart enough to protect itself during his fights.
Sensing new nest, probably scouting.
Grabbing blue carrot-like veggie from bundle, spear and staff in hand, he sat at entrance, listening.
Faint chirps, distant birdsong, babbling water.
Crunch—onion-textured blue carrot. Parting grass curtain slightly, he peered out.
Under 100m elevation, but mountain valley with stream—beasts and monsters surely lurked.
Vigilant, he finished the grape-flavored carrot as Emergency Ration silently flew in.
"Silent flight too, huh."
Squawk.
Petting its back like post-stroll, he spotted something clutched in its talons.
Extended hand—Emergency Ration dropped it.
"Beast fur. This color... blue leopard?"
Moonlight through grass confirmed; it squawked affirmatively.
Other talon: new fur. Exaggeratedly needle-stiff, thick brown.
'Heard wild boar fur's similar...'
Not Earth—could be different creature.
Thick long fur suggested big body. Hwan-in chuckled softly, petting its head.
"Scouting too? Good job."
Squawk!
Blue leopard diurnal, obviously. Thick-furred owner diurnal or nocturnal?
Boar-like, possibly nocturnal...
Lost in thoughts, time passed.
No beasts or monsters at river, no discordant sounds in scenery.
Peaceful night flowed on.