Tales of the Labyrinth

Chapter 13: Flood-Great Lake

Pooook-!

‘Ugh.’

The moment the first wave hit, without exaggeration, Hwanin felt as though he's in a hydraulic press from the sheer pressure and shock.

He took a deep breath beforehand, but he almost coughed up all the air in his lungs.

Kukung- Kukukung-...

The waves didn't stop with just one.

Two, three, four.

Gurrrrr—Each wave that slammed into him sounded like a tank rolling past. His back was battered, his insides churned, and the pressure made him want to vomit.

If he wasn’t careful, his strength would leave his limbs altogether.

To make matters worse, the relentless waves chipped away at the cliff, gradually exposing more of the tree root and causing his body to sway precariously.

If he let go of the root and got swept away by the waves, he might be dragged all the way to the center of the lake.

Hwanin gritted his teeth and held on, resisting the waves as they tried to pull him along.

Fortunately, the barrage didn’t last long.

With each impact, the waves grew weaker until, by the seventh wave, the water level had dropped below his feet. Around two more waves followed, but they retreated as quickly as they came.

Chwarrrrrr…….

“Hah, huff! Haaah!”

As the sound of the receding waves scraping the pebbles filled the air, Hwanin took a deep breath to shake off the aching sensation in his insides and to replenish his depleted oxygen.

Quack.

Looking down at his chest, he saw emergency ration, drenched and shaking its head vigorously to shake off the water.

He had wedged it between his body and the tree root, fearing the rope might snap in the waves, and it seemed to have been the right call.

If he had simply slung it over his shoulder, the rope made of plant fibers would have been broken by the violent waves.

Shaking off the water, he glanced at the retreating waves on the pebble beach, as if the tsunami had never happened. Then, he looked far into the lake.

The lake was now calm, with no signs of further tsunamis.

Without hesitation, Hwanin jumped down onto the pebble beach and quickly scaled a nearby cliff with a low slope, taking refuge at the highest point of the cliff.

“Huu.......”

He was exhausted.

Half-hidden in the undergrowth, Hwanin sat down, brushing his wet hair back and gazing out at the distant reaches of the great lake.

After encountering various monsters, he had given up on expecting any common sense in this world, but this was too much.

“A whale that can cause tsunamis.”

What on earth should he even call a phenomenon like this in a lake?

As he thoughtfully stroked his chin, Hwanin felt a rough beard growing.

The scaled horn whale...... It had been so far away that the scattering of light made it appear slightly blurry.

If it was as big as his fist from such a distance, its actual size had to be measured in meters.

Using the method of estimating an object's size taught in school, Hwanin made a rough calculation....... somewhere around 60~80 meters.

He didn't know how it had jumped hundreds of meters out of the water. But judging by the scale and power of the tsunami it caused when crashing back into the water, it had to be at least that large.

“Huu…….”

The fact that a colossal creature the size of a warship could leap hundreds of meters into the air was astonishing. That such a monster existed in the great lake was shocking. And the sheer unknown depth of the lake left him even more bewildered.

“…….”

Doubt and a sense of futility crept in as he wondered if survival was even possible in a world teeming with creatures that made humans seem like mere ants.

Excitement, the rush of new sensations and emotions, was enjoyable, sure. 

But wasn’t that only worthwhile against opponents one could reasonably fight?

When he had been massacring green monsters or beast-headed monsters, it hadn’t felt thrilling at all. If anything, it felt like monotonous, meaningless labor. It would probably be the same the other way around.

…... Could there also be giants in this world?

If a scaled horn whale tens of meters long could live in freshwater, Hwanin wouldn't be surprised if there were giants. 

His clothes, as expensive as they were, had held up well despite being repeatedly battered by the waves. They weren’t overly soaked because of the material, though his inner shirt and the water that had seeped inside left him feeling damp.

Under the rainbow-arched blue sky, he removed his dress coat and jacket, laying them out in the sun to dry. Then, he began checking his pockets.

Squelch.

“…….”

When he reached into his pants pocket, he frowned at the sensation of water. Then he pulled out the square, rectangular object inside.

His smartphone dripped with water. 

The waterproofing had only worked so far; if it hadn’t been repeatedly pummeled by the waves, it might have survived…….

He considered just throwing away the broken smartphone, but quickly dismissed the idea.

This was another world. If civilization existed, there would be a way to sell the smartphone as over-technology or an out-of-place artifact. It could even be used as a gift.

At least the watch was still intact. 

After placing the smartphone on a shaded rock, he pulled out a multitool from another pocket, disassembled it, wiped it dry, and set it next to the phone.

The gold coin, the culprit of this situation, was also fine.

After briefly fiddling with the coin that shone brightly in the sunlight, he slipped it back into his pocket. Then, he checked the pouch tied around his waist where he kept the paralysis beads.

“…… Hoo.”

He sighed in disbelief and frustration.

The pouch was gone. The string must have been too flimsy—it probably broke when he got chucked into the wall by the waves. 

He regretted not using all the beads back when he had faced the eight green monsters.

There was no point dwelling on what was lost. He moved on and spread out the damp animal hide, and began checking his food stash.

“Hmm.”

Everything was soaked. Never did he imagine a tsunami would happen so he only did a simple tie, which allowed the water to seep in.

Since it was freshwater, they should be fine once dried, but the common sense of this world was subtly different from Earth. 

With a hint of caution, he used his hallucinatory vision to inspect the food one by one. 

“That’s good.”

After unwrapping and checking all the food, he found no color change in the color system.

His only regret was that the coral mushrooms, which had almost finished drying, were now wet.

The last bundle he opened contained the collected golden bell flowers and leaves.

They were damp but not soaked, since the bundle was in the innermost layer. Their colors were also still milky white, so he spread them out to dry in the sun.

The one patched on his thigh wound, however, started turning yellow.

“…….”

Hwanin still didn't know how the color system works.

If it wasn't near chartreuse to blue-green, it was harmful to the body. But the crushed golden bell he had applied to his wound was turning yellow..... 

Come to think of it, there were similar phenomena with food back on Earth.

Things that were medicinal in small amounts but toxic if consumed in excess. 

Things that were harmless when ingested but became poisonous if they touch the blood vessels under the subcutaneous fat.

What was the hallucinatory color of those things?

As he pondered his hallucinatory vision, questions about this strange phenomenon arose once more.

Since gaining this ability, Hwanin had come up with several hypotheses to explain its origin. 

The dream where he saw the river of light—it could have influenced his real-world self.

The possibility that it was caused by the toxicity of the things he had eaten from the jungle.

The mutation of a bodily organ caused by an unknown virus or bacteria.

Among these, Hwanin objectively leaned toward the third hypothesis—a mutation caused by an unknown microorganism. But given that there were superpowers in this world, the possibility that this was an effect from the river of light dream could not be entirely ruled out.

Quack. Quaack.

Under the warm sunlight, emergency ration was busy ogling the nearby coral mushroom. When Hwanin heard its cry and turned to look, he happened to see his reflection on the smartphone screen.

“…….”

He stared at his face reflected on the screen, then briefly closed his eyes before opening them again. Then he picked up the smartphone and looked into the screen.

…… It was unmistakable.

The sparse stubble on his jawline, the hollowed cheeks and prominent cheekbones, the sunken eyes from fatigue and malnutrition.

And dimly glowing pupils.

“What is this?”

He held the smartphone closer, then tilting it this way and that while touching the area around his eyes.

It was certain—his pupils were faintly glowing, just like the green monster with the staff and its subordinates.

Recalling something, Hwanin deactivated his hallucinatory vision. As soon as he did, the glow in his pupils vanished. 

“……….”

Hwanin stroked his rough stubble, his gaze fixed on the staff standing in the shade of a tree.

Collapsing from a headache as soon as he touched the staff was a coincidence.

He could also dismiss seeing the river of light as a strange dream. After all, coincidences could happen once or twice. 

But when you add to that the fact that he could see other colors of things and his eyes were glowing like those green monsters, that's no longer mere coincidence.

What if he could use superpowers like those green monsters?

He didn’t expect shapeless explosions, but if he could move as fast as the green monster with glowing eyes…….

Hwanin grabbed the staff. It looked like an ordinary brown wooden stick, but the texture was too good to be just wood.

It wasn't as soft as velvet, but the faintly smooth sensation made it easier to grip. 

Hwanin studied the deer skull(a bit small) that adorned the end of the twisted stick, then began imitating the actions of the green monster. 

Did it swing it..... Like this?

He mimicked the movements it had made right before the transparent explosion attack, but nothing happened.

He swung the staff in different directions, changed his grip, and adjusted its position, but all he heard was the sound of wood whirring through the air. 

“…….”

Wait. What if he used the hallucinatory vision while holding the staff?

As soon as he did, a sensation reminiscent of a blend of a warm smoke and chill, seeped from the staff like static electricity. Going past his solar plexus, and extending to his limbs.

Hwanin was startled but didn't loosen his grip.

The sensation climbed up his throat, split at his jaw to flow behind both ears, and then converged at the nape of his neck. It shot through his eyes, spread inside his nose, and finally gathered at a point slightly above his brow.

The icy, tingling warmth was so vivid it felt as if someone had opened his skull and sprayed menthol on it.

For a moment, his mind went blank. This was like when he got mildly electrocuted after poking a power outlet with a chopstick as a child.

When he let go of the staff, the sensation that had taken over his body gradually disappeared.

“What...... is this sensation?”

Hwanin rubbed his arms, more confused than surprised, when he suddenly noticed an unusual warmth and chill brushing against his exposed skin—on his hands and face.

It’s completely different from the warmth of the sun or the coolness of the wind.

It was a sensation he had never felt on Earth, so it couldn't be compared or described.

If he had to describe it, it was like a combination of radiating heat and penetrating cold.

“……!”

Then, Hwanin suddenly felt an abrupt chill behind him. Whipping around in alarm, he took a few steps back. 

What he saw was neither exactly a horse or deer, but a mix of both, but it had 6 legs and horns that looked like a crown.

If it had just been an animal, he wouldn't have been this surprised. What caught him so off guard was its translucent light gray color. 

────…….

“…….”

The ghostly animal let out a long, drawn-out cry before beginning to pace at a distance from Hwanin.

He had definitely heard the sound… but at the same time, he hadn’t. The bizarre sensation sent his heart pounding in his chest.

Quack?

Hwanin quickly regained his composure at the sight of emergency ration looking at him confused, as if it couldn’t see the ghost horse-deer.

Was it just another hallucination?

No. The ghost horse-deer's presence was vivid—though it was strange to say that a ghost had a presence, Hwanin clearly felt it. 

Likewise, the sensation he experienced when using hallucinatory vision while holding the staff was no hallucination.

The warm smoky ki and cold ki he felt was gone, but the path that that mix of static carved within his body remained.

And the warmth and chill brushing against his skin now… he instinctively knew that they were just another form of those two ki.

He didn’t know why. He just knew it, like a baby naturally sucking its mother’s breast.

“Ah.”

Was it because he had been distracted by his thoughts? The ghost horse-deer with the antler crown hopped away from him before dissipating like smoke.

“…….”

Swallowing dryly, Hwanin clenched and unclenched his fists a couple of times as he analyzed the current situation.

All these strange things happened after he picked up the deer antler staff and activated hallucinatory vision. 

Seeing ghosts in the river of light, being able to see ghosts, and seemingly gaining superpowers related to ghosts—Hwanin was now 80% certain. 

Then, the ghost animal just now…… Did he summon it? Or was it the staff?

It was lingering nearby as if waiting for him to give out orders, before eventually vanishing into the jungle.

Taking a deep breath, Hwanin cautiously grabbed the deer antler staff once more and opened his hallucinatory vision.

However, that mix of three sensations he had been bracing for did not assault his body.

Instead, he felt a faint, almost imperceptible warmth and coolness begin to flow into him through the staff. 

Hwanin was a little surprised but did not resist or reject the energy.

Why did he feel like this phenomenon wasn't harmful to him? And what could he do with it?

Hwanin got lost in thought as he held the staff.