Tales of the Labyrinth

Chapter 15: Flood-River Stream

Hwanin felt more puzzled than surprised as ghosts began to emerge from the dead.

After all, he had already seen an animal ghost that looked like a mix of horse and deer. It would be strange to act shocked now. 

What puzzled him was that the ghosts of the beast-headed monsters were so faint that it was difficult to make out their forms.

There were seven of them, smudged like pencil sketches hastily erased—flickering like small campfires as they drifted over the river.

Meanwhile, the lizardmen remained underwater, showing no signs of movement.

After pondering for a moment, Hwanin decided to call out to the ghosts while keeping his hallucinatory vision active. 

“…….” 

No response. 

The hazy, smoke-like ghosts simply floated around aimlessly—some rising into the sky, others drifting lazily across the river.

He thought he had unconsciously summoned the horse-deer ghost nearby, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

Muttering to himself, Hwanin glanced at the antler staff.

Just in case, he gripped the staff and tried calling the ghosts again.

Still no response.

‘Maybe it's too far away.’

Whether it was telepathy or empathy, such things always worked better at close range.

The ghosts of the beast-headed monsters were about 30 to 50 meters away—the closest one being roughly 30 meters.

After a moment’s deliberation, Hwanin used his hallucinatory vision to pinpoint the lizardmen’s locations. Then, he hid his supplies and emergency ration in the underbrush.

With only his spear, antler staff, and the stone axe strapped to his waist, he descended the slope where the beast-headed monsters had gone down to the riverbank.

“…….” 

Perhaps because they had just finished a hunt and were full, the lizardmen showed no signs of approaching. Instead, they clung to boulders their own size or wedged themselves into crevices.

Thanks to his hallucinatory vision, Hwanin could see even the camouflaged ones, allowing him to move boldly. 

When he reached about 4 meters from the river, he focused intently on a ghost floating 10 meters away and mentally commanded.

‘Come.’

───…….

Half-expecting failure, he froze as the ghost actually drifted toward him. A tingling chill shot down his spine. 

Up this moment, it had shown no reaction—But now it was really coming.

Could he summon ghosts now?

Staring at the beast-headed monster's ghost that had come right up to him, Hwanin suddenly felt it.

This feeling… Sorrow? Pain?

The emotions were faint, almost imperceptible. But Hwanin had a strange feeling that if he spoke, the ghost might respond.

Just as he was about to say something, he noticed a camouflaged lizardman approaching from the right bank of the river. Hwanin shut his mouth.

This wasn’t one of the seven he’d tracked earlier but a new one from afar

More importantly, at this closer distance, Hwanin could see their camouflage ripple like a high-tech cloak.  

Was this their natural speed, or was it moving cautiously to hunt?

Seeing the creature eyeing him like a prey, Hwanin secured an escape route and picked up a fist-sized rock. Without hesitation, he hurled it at the lizardman.

Whoosh—thud!

The rock flew in a clean arc and hit the lizardman's head. Then, there was a slight impact, as if air was escaping from a balloon.

Like a snake shedding its skin, its camouflage peeled away, exposing its form.

The bipedal lizardman dropped down on all fours and flicked its tongue a couple of times, seemingly irritated by the rock.

It advanced towards him with long strides, but it was honestly just like a turtle trying to sprint—making it far from a real threat.

Hwanin's mind told him there was no reason to fight, but his heart pounded as if urging him on. A little confused by his own reaction, he let out a smirk and tightened his grip on the spear shaft.

He'll follow his heart rather than reason!

Having made up his mind to fight, Hwanin quickly scanned his surroundings.

The seven lizardmen submerged in the river remained motionless. There was only one approaching him.

As Hwanin readied his spear for a thrust, the monster suddenly halted 5 meters away. 

‘A jump attack.’

Reading its movement, Hwanin bent his knees slightly.

Whoosh—

As the lizardman leaped, its jaws parted slightly. Catching that subtle movement, Hwanin lunged diagonally forward, anticipating the trajectory of the tongue attack, and swung his spear upward.

Swoosh!

A silver flash traced an arc through the air, and a fist-sized chunk of flesh was severed cleanly—spinning away like a snapped string while spraying blood. The lizardman landed on the ground, squirming with tightly shut eyes. 

Judging from the blood dripping and splattering everywhere from its maw, it seemed that there was a lot of blood flowing in its tongue.

Seeing the lizardman disoriented by pain, Hwanin saw his chance. He planted his right foot firmly on the ground and thrust his spear forward.

Thud—

More than half of the 40cm blade pierced into the lizardman’s chest.

Its scales offered far less resistance than expected. From the impact, Hwanin estimated the thickness of its scales and the underlying flesh.

Just as he was about to swing the spear again.....

‘The joint is weak. It’ll break.’

Sensing the strain on the joint between the blade and the shaft, he hastily retracted the spear.

Even if he hadn't, the groaning lizardman, with the blade embedded near its human equivalent of the solar plexus, tried to grab the shaft.

This was the same creature that had effortlessly dragged a 30kg beast-headed monster into the river. Engaging in a contest of strength was foolish.

As Hwanin took a large step back, the lizardman advanced steadily, far from being incapacitated.

Shoo-shoo!

Judging from the short bursts of breath flaring from its nostrils, it seemed angry.

Hwanin kept his distance, carefully watching the monster’s lower body movements…

Krshhk.

The moment the lizardman stomped its left foot, Hwanin closed the gap in an instant and thrust his spear into its chest once more.

Thwack!

Shiiik—!

This time, the spear pierced clean through. But the lizardman simply ignored it, its reptilian eyes wide open as it spread its arms and jaws—lunging at Hwanin.

“......!”

Eight sharp claws swooped in from both sides, and a mouth full of jagged teeth approached.

But rather than retreating or letting go of his spear, Hwanin instead drove the weapon in deeper....

“Hup!!”

Then, he swung the spear like a baseball bat, hurling the lizardman away.

Shriiik!

Since the spear was straight, the lizardman was flung into the gravel by the centrifugal force. However, it swiftly regained its footing using its tail.

‘Stabbing isn’t enough to stop it.’

Even after being pierced twice, the lizardman barely seemed fazed. It flicked its severed tongue a few times and then flattened itself on the ground, charging towards Hwanin.

Shiiik!!

Hwanin locked eyes on the incoming lizardman, then rammed his spear down its throat as it snapped at him. 

“Hup!”

The spear blade scraped against something hard, and Hwanin could feel it through the shaft. At the same time, he braced himself—planting his feet firmly and tightening his core to avoid being knocked over.

With over a meter spear skewering it like a kebab, the lizardman let out guttural, choked gasps as its entire body twisted and thrashed.

Feeling the spear bend as if it were about to snap where it was embedded, Hwanin quickly retreated along with the spear.

Kuwok, kakak! Kwishishik…!

The lizardman flipped onto its back while flailing its limbs wildly.

Blood gushed out of its mouth, and it flopped around like a fish pulled out of the water.

Sweat trickled down Hwanin’s forehead as he observed the tenacious monster and looked around.

No others were approaching—perhaps they weren't a pack.

Without hesitation, he pulled out the stone axe from his waist and brought it down on the lizardman’s neck.

Kwajak!

‘Is it only weak against piercing attacks?’

Even with all his strength behind the swing, the axe merely cracked a few scales.

Tightening his grip, Hwanin struck the same spot repeatedly.

Fragments of shattered and split scales flew up, flesh tore apart and blood splattered everywhere.

Only after repeatedly striking down did Hwanin finally sever the lizardman’s spine. Wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, he let out a quiet breath. Huu....

Perhaps because of the intensity, his heart was pounding and he was drenched in sweat.

Looking at the lizardman's corpse with its half-severed neck dangling limply, Hwanin caught his breath and began to cut open its belly with the stone axe.

‘I need to figure out where its organs are.’

Slashing wasn’t an option due to the spear’s durability. Moreover, the lizardman’s scales were highly resistant to blunt force.

That meant stabbing was the only way to kill them. But with a blade only about 7cm wide, he had to aim for vital organs or weak points.

The problem was, Hwanin didn’t have much knowledge about lizard anatomy.

Spreading open the abdominal cavity, he carefully examined the monster’s internal structure.

And then…….

“…… Huu.”

The heart was centered between its arms.

In other words, if his first stab was just 10cm higher, the lizardman would have died instantly.

The liver and lungs were partially overlapping with the heart, sandwiched between the ribs. However, unlike humans, whose organs were protected by a ribcage and costal cartilage, the lizardman lacked a sternum.

This meant that if he aimed carefully, he could kill a lizardman in one blow.

The rest of the internal organs were gathered in the lower abdomen, encased in a peritoneum-like membrane similar to that of humans. Whether this was the same as the lizards on Earth, Hwanin had no knowledge to confirm, so he chose not to dwell on it.

In the end, all he needed to do was target the center between the shoulders.

“Huu…..”

Hwanin wiped the sweat from his face and got up.

Dissecting a creature the size of an adult man, excluding the tail, was far more exhausting than he had anticipated.

As he looked around, he noticed the ghost that had approached him earlier still floating nearby. Every other ghost had disappeared.

Why was that one lingering alone?

While thinking for a moment, something pale and hazy came out the dissected lizardman’s corpse. Seeing this, Hwanin frowned.

It had a completely different form from the beast-headed monster.

It retained a size similar to when it was alive, and its shape was still distinct enough to know it was a lizardman.

Its transparency was also much higher, as he could clearly see through it to the other side.

‘Why is there such a difference in their forms?’

The seven beast-headed monster ghosts were all the same shape.

The horse-deer animal ghost was so vivid that, except for the color and transparency, it was no different from a living creature.

While the lizardman ghost was also distinct, compared to the animal ghost, it was like the difference between a 2160p and a 144p resolution.

Did that mean there was a difference between species?

As his curiosity grew, Hwanin carefully approached the beast-headed monster ghost and extended the head of the deer antler staff.

…….

The mist-like ghost remained unresponsive to his actions.

After thinking for a moment about what to do, Hwanin remembered how it had responded to his call and commanded in his mind—Come here.

────…….

At that moment, the beast-headed monster ghost briefly wavered before transforming into a small, faint bead and attaching itself to the deer antler staff.

“……!”

'Does a command without a specific target affect a wide area?ʼ

Seeing the lizardman ghost approaching as well, Hwanin told it to stop, and it immediately stopped moving.

His heart started pounding.

‘Is this the preparation stage for the colorless explosion that the green monster shot?’

He could give orders to the ghost. And the ghost attaches itself to the staff in the form of a bead.

Based on these two facts, Hwanin deduced one thing—if that's the case, it would be perfect. He then ordered the lizardman ghost to follow him.

He needed to learn more about ghosts.

Returning to the cliff where he had hidden emergency ration and his belongings, Hwanin began preparing to camp near the river for the night.

The spot was less than 100m from the riverbank, where dense vegetation, about 1~1.5m tall, grew like an oversized garden that's perfect for hiding.

Taking out his rusty dagger, he cleared a three-pyeong-wide area of brush, then gathered the cut foliage and spread animal hide over it.

Quack.

After tossing emergency ration on the makeshift bed, Hwanin focused on exploring the ghosts and his own abilities.

‘Now…….’

Currently, he could use hallucinatory vision to see the color system of living beings, and absorb warmth or coolness into his body, converting them into warm smoky ki and cold ki.

Now, he gained the ability to command ghosts with his staff.

There wasn’t much more to examine regarding hallucinatory vision.

As for the warm and cold ki, he guessed they circulated through his body like blood—but he had no way to confirm it yet.

“…….”

Hwanin flexed his fist, then began testing commands on the lizardman ghost.

The commands were very basic.

Come. Go. Stop. Follow me.

Any other commands were ignored, as if the ghost couldn’t understand.

When he ordered it to “come” while holding out the staff, the ghost turned into a faint bead of light and stuck to the staff’s antler. He figured others wouldn’t be able to see this light.

Because despite emitting its own glow, it didn’t cast any light on the ground, grass, or leather when placed near them.

Quack. Kkuuk.

After finishing his tests, Hwanin stared at emergency ration pecking at the coral mushroom scraps he’d tossed, his gaze sharp. One final check remained.

“…….”

From what Hwanin knew, there were three things he could do with ghosts.

Summoning, possession, and necromancy.

Necromancy seemed unrelated to his abilities, so he ruled it out.

Summoning and possession were similar in that they involve attaching a ghost to a target, but their mechanisms were completely different.

Summoning leaned more on borrowing the ghost’s power, while possession gave the ghost control over the target’s body.

‘The 8 green monsters.’

Hwanin was certain their swift movements were the result of summoning.

He turned his gaze to the lizardman ghost floating above the bushes.

Could he summon that ghost? And if so, what effect would it have?

Although he was certain about summoning, his confidence was based on a vague feeling rather than concrete evidence.

Testing it on himself was out of the question. And trying it on a monster would only strengthen the enemy.

Quack?

Emergency ration quacked at Hwanin when the hand feeding it suddenly stopped.

Watching it, Hwanin made his decision.