Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Instinct Over Mercy
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"Hoo, haah. Hooo."
Fleeing with some unknown beast of indeterminate form hot on his heels was a grueling ordeal even for Hwan-in, whose emotions were anything but ordinary, layered as they were with the terror of the unknown weighing on a fugitive's heart.
But his options were severely limited.
Stay put and get caught and eaten, or run and get caught and eaten.
In a situation where he had to pick one or the other, Hwan-in simply chose the path with the higher odds of survival.
Suppressing the urge to glance back, he kept running relentlessly until his knees finally buckled, sending him tumbling across the ground several times before he could stop.
"Heok, heok. Heok."
His heart felt like it might explode, his lungs like they were being torn apart. Was he going to die like this?
It was the first time Hwan-in had ever thought he might keel over from a heart attack or lung damage, of all things.
After lying sprawled out and gasping for breath for a while, Hwan-in laboriously lifted an arm to check his watch.
"One... hour, haah."
There had been no sign of pursuit from the beast during that time, so maybe he was in the clear now.
Compared to a quadruped, a human's running speed was pathetic. If it had wanted to, it could've caught up in seconds.
Catching his breath for a moment, Hwan-in forced his unresponsive body upright and started walking again.
He'd just run a marathon. If he collapsed and stayed down because he was exhausted, cramps and muscle pain would surely follow. Better to push through the fatigue and walk a bit to recover.
He unwrapped his leaf bundle, popped a few Corona Berries into his mouth for hydration, then pulled out his smartphone and opened the smart running app.
It was an app that tracked direction and distance using the device's own sensors without needing GPS—essential for bushcraft enthusiasts.
Thanks to it, he could tell exactly how far he'd gone in which direction, even without GPS. He'd installed it last night and set it up in advance for just this reason.
It would help him escape this Flooded Area, even if it drained the battery.
He figured he'd check his escape route first...
"...17 km in one hour."
With no synced map, the blank white screen showed his path as a red line, along with the distance and time. Hwan-in narrowed his eyes.
The winding red line marking his route was due to dodging trees.
But 1 hour, 7 minutes, 35 seconds for a total of 17.32 km?
Suspecting a glitch, Hwan-in refreshed the app several times.
No errors.
'The world marathon record is around 2 hours and 1 minute.'
Marathoners run 42 km on asphalt in specialized gear and shoes engineered with science. That's where the world record comes from.
He glanced down at his own outfit.
A dull gray suit coat caked in dirt and grass clippings. A matching classic gray suit. Plain brown cowhide shoes.
On his left arm, a Wooden Shield. In his hands, a blackened club and Stone Axe. And he'd run through the worst terrain: leaf litter, humus, tangled roots and underbrush.
Factoring in all those variables, he'd matched a world-class marathoner.
Hwan-in knew his own fitness level from gym visits. He knew damn well he couldn't pull this off.
'I felt more agile than usual, but not this much.'
What could explain it? After a moment's thought, he recalled the Corona Berries he'd just eaten.
Sudden performance boost? Doping was the obvious suspect.
'Do these Corona Berries act like erythropoietin?'
It was well-known that EPO doping boosted marathon times by increasing red blood cells and oxygen delivery.
Of course, marathon associations banned it.
So, yeah—the Corona Berries probably had erythropoietic properties.
Even so, Hwan-in doubted it could enhance him this much.
In his last 10 km race, he'd clocked 48 minutes—a solid top 10% out of 600 runners.
That meant he'd just run 2 km farther in the same time, a 10% improvement without training.
Easy to say "2 km," but a 10% PR shave? Unthinkable.
"..."
This wasn't Earth. Something supernatural had probably happened.
No point dwelling on unanswerable questions. Shrugging it off, Hwan-in steadied his breathing and kept walking.
The mystery beast hadn't pursued immediately, so it was probably devouring the Green Monsters as planned. But it could catch up anytime, so he had to keep moving.
Glancing back while quick-stepping, he muttered inwardly.
'Might've picked the wrong direction from the start. Fleeing from the Green Monsters could've taken me deeper into the forest.'
Green Monsters were weak.
He'd gained the upper hand against four with his crude Wooden Shield and weapons. They were probably low on the forest food chain.
So, his first encounter might've been near the forest edge.
Just a hunch, though.
The beast that ambushed them might roam freely without territory. Or Green Monsters could have tribes divvying up the woods.
No room for rash guesses here.
He'd spotted two beasts and two tracks heading that way—a fact. Time to backtrack.
'Good thing it's not full-on jungle.'
Jungle evoked dense tropical rainforests blocking all sight, humid and stifling. This was milder.
Somewhere between Flooded Area and jungle. Big trees grew thick, but he could run through unimpeded.
If the trees were half this height, it'd feel like a proper forest. But with high-rise-level trunks everywhere, jungle was the word that came to mind.
After about two more hours of walking, Hwan-in let out a small groan and halted.
His ragged breathing had evened out, his pounding heart calmed. But a nagging discomfort lingered in his thighs, calves, and limbs.
Experience told him: push further, and tomorrow's muscle pain would be brutal.
Conveniently, the area had thicker vines and undergrowth. Massive tree roots protruded from the ground, twisting into small hollows.
Sunset was still a couple hours off, but Hwan-in decided to rest here. He perched on a nearby substantial root.
His legs immediately began quiver.
Bad sign. Sleeping like this would bring cramps in the night, agonizing ones.
Silently, Hwan-in massaged his trembling legs, loosening the rigid muscles.
Listening closely, he heard chirping birds and rustling insects.
Sounds meant the mystery beast probably wasn't pursuing.
Even if it was, Hwan-in had only one choice left.
Fight and get eaten.
Recalling the Green Monsters' roars and the beast's cries, Hwan-in calmly inspected his Wooden Shield.
When he'd smashed a Green Monster's face, something had cracked. Wary of its makeshift construction without nails, he checked: still solid.
He tightened the slightly loosened straps, set it aside, and picked up the blackened club.
The pouch and club taken from the leader-like Green Monster.
The club's material felt oddly familiar.
"..."
Comparing it to the Stone Axe haft, he nodded. Same stuff.
After a moment's thought, he tried slicing the club's end with the Stone Axe... but failed. He switched to the Multi-Tool knife and shaved a bit.
'Impressive. Even a knife struggles.'
He wasn't trying to shape it—just peel a thin layer. Felt like cutting steel.
Fiddling with the shaving, Hwan-in realized something astonishing.
'No processing done...'
First step in woodworking: dry the wood. Essential to prevent warping and boost durability. Drying quality could make or break a piece's value.
Followed by chemical treatments for strength and hardness. But this club and axe haft? Raw greenwood, untreated.
"Solid black wood."
Earth had black woods like ebony, but only the heartwood was black—the bark was brown.
Hwan-in placed a nearby twig on a root and smashed it with the Black Club.
Crack!
The twig shattered to splinters. Even the root was dented. He clicked his tongue in pity. Properly dried and crafted, it'd be legendary.
Even so, this was treasure enough.
At 70 cm, the Black Club's balance outshone the Stone Axe—no arm strain on swings.
Planning to make it his main weapon, Hwan-in stowed both carefully. Then he remembered ditching the rag leather.
He'd tossed it into underbrush downhill during the fight, opposite his escape route. No chance to retrieve it.
Hadn't even crossed his mind.
'It blocked some ground chill at least.'
Realizing he felt a twinge of regret, Hwan-in paused, then chuckled wryly at the unfamiliar sensation. Paused again, surprised it was genuine mirth from within.
...Mom would cry seeing her changed son.
Stroking his lips amid the strange emotion, lost in thought briefly, Hwan-in shook it off and pulled the final trophy from his coat.
The leather pouch from the Green Monster.
Plain animal hide, nothing special.
Inside: six lumpy, reddish-brown beads the size of a finger joint.
They'd reached for the pouch when he approached—attack consumables, no doubt. Thrown, probably.
Musing as much, Hwan-in took one out and toyed with it when—
Flutter!
A green one-horned bird landed on a stump ahead, eyeing the Corona Berries and toddling toward the bushes.
Instinct kicked in.
Thwack!
The bead hit the root beside it perfectly. It burst like a balloon, spreading dark red powder in an instant.
Squawk!
The startled bird flapped up but wobbled midair, crashing down and convulsing.
Poking it with a stick: faint tremors, no resistance or flight attempt.
Not dying...
"Paralysis poison. And fast-acting."
Even for something chicken-sized, instant paralysis? Potent. A human inhaling fully might drop immediately.
Now he understood the four Green Monsters encircling him.
'They kept distance to avoid the powder.'
Come to think of it, hadn't his legs given out earlier, tumbling him? Lucky the pouch survived. Tempted by the recipe, but practicality won out.
Even without the beast, capturing that Green Monster for the pouch would've been tough. He'd have eaten a bead instead, life in peril.
Even if gestures revealed the recipe, making them wouldn't be easy.
If simple, most of the ten he'd met would've carried them.
Continuing his thoughts, Hwan-in gathered thin vines from the bushes, bound the bird's beak, legs, and wings, then timed it with his watch.
"...Duration's solid too."
Ten minutes.
Varies by size, but to neutralize a life in under a minute, yet last ten? Incredible.
As paralysis faded, the bird blinked, wriggled, then—flap, cheep!—thrashed wildly.
Ignoring it, Hwan-in tossed it into a hollow and set about gathering leaves and brush for bedding.