Tales of the Labyrinth

Translated by: il0vecats

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Chapter 5: Deep Forest

“Whew, huff, whew…”

Running away from a mysterious predator unseen was enough to add to the fear experienced by Hwanin, who generally remained detached emotionally. However, his choices were limited: stand still and be caught, or try to escape, risking capture either way. In such a scenario, Hwanin opted for the option with a higher chance of survival.

Suppressing the urge to look back, Hwanin ran until his knees gave way, causing him to tumble and roll several times before finally stopping.

“Huff, huff, huff.”

His heart felt as if it would explode, and his lungs seemed on the verge of tearing apart. For the first time ever, Hwanin pondered whether he might die from heart failure or lung damage rather than any external danger.

Lying on the ground, gasping for breath, he painfully raised his arm and checked his watch.

“One… hour, huff.”

No trace of pursuit thus far, possibly an indication of safety. Compared to four-legged creatures, humans’ running speed was insignificant. If the predator had intended to chase, it would have caught him quickly.

Catching his breath, Hwanin forced his uncooperative body upright and resumed walking. Like after a marathon, he had to keep moving to avoid cramps and muscle pain. Even in pain, walking would help him recover better.

After unwrapping some leaves to grab a few corona berries and hydrate himself, Hwanin took out his smartphone and opened a smart running app. The app, popular among bushcraft hobbyists, used the device’s sensors to track direction and distance without needing GPS.

Thanks to pre-setting this app, he could figure out where he had fled. Checking direction and distance might help him eventually escape the jungle, even if it used up some battery power.

Hwanin intended to confirm his direction and distance from his initial location. He looked at the app:

“… Seventeen kilometers in one hour.”

Displayed on the blank screen were the wandering red lines indicating his path, distance, and time. Squinting, Hwanin thought his circuitous path resulted from running around obstacles like trees.

The app showed a time of 1 hour, 7 minutes, and 35 seconds for a total distance covered of 17.32 kilometers.

Updating the app several times hoping for errors, Hwanin saw consistent readings.

[The app is functioning correctly.]

[The app is functioning correctly.]

[The app is functioning correctly.]

No errors.

‘The world marathon record is around 2 hours and 1 minute, isn’t it?’

Marathon runners, equipped with advanced running gear, run 42 km on asphalt tracks. The fastest records are set under these conditions.

He glanced at his own attire.

A dusty gray trench coat, gray suit, and well-worn brown leather shoes. On the left arm, a wooden shield, and in each hand, the heavy club and stone axe. He sprinted through dense underbrush, amidst fallen leaves and roots, in this chaotic environment.

Considering these challenging conditions, Hwanin had accomplished marathon-level speed.

Hwanin knew his fitness level well from regular gym visits. Achieving such a record was unheard of for him.

‘It felt like my body moved unusually well, but this much?’

Contemplating, he recalled the corona berries he consumed.

‘Could these corona berries function similarly to a blood-boosting drug?’

Blood-enhancing drugs are renowned in marathon circles, increasing red blood cells to enhance oxygen transport, boosting performance. Such substances are banned in competitions.

The corona berries might have analogous effects. Assuming they contained blood-boosting properties, the significant improvement made more sense.

Nevertheless, doubts remained about achieving such drastic gains.

In his last 10 km marathon, Hwanin clocked in at 48 minutes, an impressive top 10% within 600 participants. Hypothetically, within the same timeframe, he had run 2 km further.

Reducing his time by 10% win due to no special training sounded inconceivable.

“……”

Given the unearthly setting, he resigned to accepting these odd occurrences without much understanding. Continuing to ponder would be futile.

Hwanin exhaled deeply, calming his breath, and resumed his journey.

The fact that the mysterious predator hadn’t followed him suggested it possibly feasted on the green monsters as intended. Nonetheless, he had to keep moving to ensure safety.

Periodically glancing back, a worrisome thought crossed Hwanin’s mind.

‘Perhaps I took the wrong direction initially. Escaping from the green monsters might have led me deeper into the forest.’

The green monsters were weak. If he could overpower four with makeshift wooden shields and weapons, they were probably at the lower end of the food chain here.

His initial encounter could have been near the forest’s edge. This was speculative.

The predator attacking them might roam the forest without distinct territories, and the green monsters might have multiple tribes sharing the forest. Assuming things rashly in his current position was ill-advised.

He confirmed having run the same path when encountering two different predators.

‘Fortuitously, this isn’t a dense jungle.’

Jungles usually conjure images of impenetrable, humid forests. This was somewhat more manageable—a cross between a dense forest and jungle. Tall, densely packed trees allowed enough space for running.

Had the trees not been skyscraper-tall, one might call this a forest, but such towering trees only reinforced the jungle notion.

After walking for another two hours, Hwanin stopped with a low groan.

His breath and racing heart had stabilized, but his legs and arms still felt unpleasant discomfort.

Experience told him continuing would result in severe muscle pain tomorrow.

The site around him, a somewhat overgrown area, had large tree roots creating small hollow spaces in the ground.

Although two hours remained until sunset, Hwanin decided to rest there, sitting on a thick root.

Immediately, his legs started trembling.

Bad sign. If left untreated, cramps could wake him at night, bringing severe pain.

He silently massaged his trembling legs to loosen the muscles.

As he listened closely, the chirping of birds and insects reassured him. It signaled that the mysterious predator had not followed him.

Even if it did, he now had only one choice left—being caught and eaten while fighting back.

Reflecting on the cries of the green monsters and that mysterious predator, Hwanin examined his makeshift wooden shield. He remembered hearing something crack when he forcefully struck one of the green monsters. Since the shield was assembled with vines instead of nails, he worried about its durability. Fortunately, upon inspection, it seemed intact.

Retightening the slightly loose bindings, he set the shield aside and picked up the dark club he had taken from the green monster who seemed like their leader. Something about the club’s material felt familiar.

“……”

He compared the haft of his stone axe to the dark club, nodding as he realized they were made of the same material. Out of curiosity, he tried to cut a small piece off the club’s handle with his stone axe, but it was tough. He switched to a knife from his multitool, managing to shave off a thin sliver.

‘Remarkable. Even the knife struggles…’

Not intending to craft but merely to inspect the material, Hwanin found it felt nearly as hard as carving metal.

The surprising fact dawned on him as he examined the shard.

‘It appears to be untreated…’

The basic step in woodworking, which some consider so elementary it’s not counted as a step, is drying the wood. Drying prevents warping and strengthens the wood. The quality of the dried wood varies significantly, affecting its overall value. Subsequent treatments might involve soaking it in chemicals or applying special solutions to increase strength and hardness. But the club and the handle of the stone axe had neither been treated nor dried—they were made from fresh timber.

“A pure black tree, huh…”

Even on Earth, black wood exists, like ebony. True ebony is black in its core but appears brown on the outside. Hwanin placed a nearby branch on a root and struck it with the dark club.

Thwack!

The branch shattered, and the tree root showed a deep dent. Clicking his tongue in slight regret, he murmured that it could have made an excellent weapon if properly dried and treated. Yet, he couldn’t complain; even as is, it was a valuable tool.

Moreover, the 70 cm dark club’s weight balance was far superior to his stone axe, reducing strain on his arms when swung.

Thinking to make the dark club his primary weapon, he stored both the stone axe and the dark club. Suddenly, he remembered he had left the ragged hide behind. He had thrown it into the brush on the hillside during the fight, forgetting to retrieve it when fleeing.

‘The hides kept the cold from the ground away at least…’

A twinge of regret crossed Hwanin’s mind, causing him to pause. He realized with a slight smile that it was the first genuine emotion he had felt from within in quite a while.

If his mother were to see him now, she would likely have been moved to tears, thinking her son had changed.

Musing over this unfamiliar emotion, Hwanin touched his lips before shaking off the thought, retrieving the final item from inside his coat— the leather pouch taken from the green monster.

The pouch, made of animal skin, was unexceptional. Curious, he opened it to find six irregular, dark red spheres about the size of his pinky knuckle.

Judging by the monster’s actions when reaching for it, it must be some form of attack consumable. Possibly poison. Weighing a sphere in his hand, Hwanin noticed a green one-horned bird perched on a nearby tree stump, seemingly eyeing the corona berries in the brush.

Without a second thought, Hwanin flung the sphere towards the bird. The sphere shattered upon impact with the tree, releasing a crimson dust cloud.

Kueet—!

The bird, startled, tried to take off but immediately began to wobble, crashing to the ground and trembling violently. Prodding it with a stick, Hwanin noticed it was immobilized but still alive.

“Instant paralysis, and fast-acting, at that…”

Even a bird slightly larger than a chicken was paralyzed instantly. If inhaled, this could likely take out a human just as quickly.

Realization dawned on him regarding the behavior of the four green monsters that had tried to surround him.

‘They maintained that distance to avoid being affected by the powder…’

Reflecting on how fortunate he was that he hadn’t crushed the spheres when rolling on the ground earlier, Hwanin speculated about the spheres’ potential as potent paralytics. He figured the recipe was beyond his current grasp; even knowing the process would require impractical measures under his circumstances.

Even if the mysterious predator was disregarded, capturing the green monster with the pouch alive was improbable. There was a significant risk he’d have been paralyzed and endangered by the spheres.

Since most of the ten green monsters he’d encountered didn’t possess these spheres, it implied rarity and complexity in their manufacture.

Contemplating the surroundings while gathering slender vines for securing the bird, Hwanin tied its beak, legs, and wings. He set his watch timer to monitor.

“About ten minutes…”

The effects lasted for ten minutes. Depending on the size of the creature, the duration would vary, but ten minutes was a long time to incapacitate any being.

The one-horned bird blinked and began to fidget as the paralysis wore off, eventually making faint, strained sounds and fluttering its wings.

Ignoring it, Hwanin turned his attention to crafting a makeshift bed in the tree root hollow, gathering leaves and brush for bedding.