Chapter 10: A Wound 1  

A Wound 1

‘It’s here.’

He couldn’t see it with his own eyes but he could sense that it. It was dangerous...

This is the first time he worried about his life while hunting. He held his breath and watched the wild pig run around. His senses soon unluckily became blocked.

Swooswook...

He felt something big coming his way. He couldn’t see but he felt something gigantic about 3 meters away... The footsteps soon quieted down. There still was a little noise from the sound of leaves being stepped on. It’s getting deeper into the fall season on the mountain so there will be a lot of noise when someone walks along the leaves .

His heart was beating fast and he could barely move due to the leaves on the ground. The slightest of movements could risk catching its attention. The only thing that he could do is control his breathing and pray that it wouldn’t find him.

Totob!!

Something big suddenly came out of nowhere and dashed by the tree where Jaehwang is hiding. It sunk its teeth in the pig making it scream.

Kwiik!

It then disappeared leaving the pig struggling and writhing in pain as it tried to run away.

‘It’s strong enough to lift a 300 kilogram pig...’

It raised the pig up into the air like it was nothing. A wild animal doesn’t usually do something like that. Moving some of that size would surely end in a terrible result. And then... he started to hear a terrifying noise from deep within the mountains.

Hwahdeuk...

That couldn’t be a wild pig. His teeth chatter as it sent out a chill down his spine.

Jaehwang hid at the bottom of the tree and felt the hair on his arms stand up. He just witnessed a 300-kilogram pig getting eaten in one swallow. He could then hear the sound of something coming closer and closer.

The darkness of the night impaired his vision and all he could get was a glimpse of its dark and stature fur as it walked on its hands and feet. It had a shape like a bear but there was none of those on this mountain since there was not enough prey for it to survive on. He got a closer look at it later and realized that it was not what he thought it was. It seemed to have a head like a snake and a crocodile combined.

‘It’s a monster.’

He had studied about monsters before. It must have gotten caught in the dimension gate. All sorts of tiers must have come through there. They must have gotten through the tear of the simple organization system.

‘It looks like a third tier monster... The lowest tier.’

A third tier monster like this has never been on this mountain before. A group of level B hunters using the mana had tried to gather together and catch them before... They couldn’t have escaped through the neighborhood dimension gate.

The dimension gates in Korea are being watched by dozens of cameras. No one ever found anything. Hundreds of hunters would come and go everyday it should have been impossible to not have ever spotted a monster.

After taking a few bites, the monster placed the entire pig in its mouth like a snake swallowing a deer. It then went completely silent after it finished. Jaehwang whispered in his head in the silence.

‘Gosh...’

Jaehwang made a spot up in the tree because of how dangerous it is to stay on the ground...

If he knew that there would be a monster out here, he would have secured a spot hours ago or he wouldn’t have even come out to hunt in the first place.

Tatakk...

The moment he first felt it close by, he couldn’t even think straight. He was almost ready to just run away. And by looking at the result, that’s what he actually decided on.

Swooswook... Peopeok

He fell out of the tree and felt a shiver go down his spine as he looked back to where he was hiding. The giant monster was going to strike where he was sitting...

Hwadangtang! Deudeudeuk!!

“Keup...”

He held his mouth closed with his hand before he could make any noise and started running away leaving the monster In the distance. He tried to find the route he took while trying to take off the limit for the compound protection.

There was not a dent in the protection. Of course, even pulling the limit could only help with a 2nd tier monster. But his life is currently hanging by a thread and there was nothing else he could do.

The moment he instinctively lowered his head, the strong winds began disappeared.

Wild animals usually tend to make a call noise but the monster didn’t do anything like that.

He ran as far as he could until he was completely out of breath. The monster is big but it didn’t have any trouble getting around. The bottom of the monster’s foot was smooth and surrounded by fur so it didn’t leave any footprints or make any noise which made it harder to track and detect.

He ran to a place crowded with trees. The only advantage that he had against the monster was that he’s smaller so it was easier for him to hide. It was hard to see since it was so dark but he was still happy that it increased his chances of survival.

Kwagg!

The sound of a fallen giant needle-leaf tree echoed throughout the mountains. He looked back and saw half of the chewed up head of a wild pig rolling on top of the leaves. That surprised him making him misstep his foot into a crack. He has one blind eye and a terrible sense of space perception. He could roll himself but now he was just met with bad luck.

The smell of blood gets closer and he could feel the monster coming closer.

‘So this is how I’ll die.’

Now he can’t decide, he’s going by his hunter instincts. To trade places in this situation he would have to learn to not be an easy target.

And again the two wheels were rolling, Jaehwang pulled out his tradition arrow and loaded it once. He also put on the compound protection.

Eudeudeudeuk...

He removed the limit off of the protection and it then weighted about about 200 pounds. The arrow string was still so heavy and hard to pull but he clenched his teeth and pulled with all his strength. His back and arm muscles felt as if they could burst.

He kept pulling as hard as he could but the compound protection let off point reached its limit. He doesn’t even have any time to waste, the monster is getting closer by the second.

Paaang...

He aimed for the monster’s eye with the arrow but it flew through the wind and unfortunately missed its target. It stuck to the side of its neck for a moment but then fell to the ground as the shot was not strong enough.

His attack did not help at all.

Peoeok!

“Keueuag!”

The monster was getting close and he couldn’t even scream for help. He strained his shoulder and fractured his rib due to his attempt to attack and he could no longer run. He then heard a ringing noise accompanied by a strong blast of wind that suddenly demolishing all the leaves of three trees, leaving Jaehwang covered in them.

The sharp noise reached his ears and the leaves made him feel like he was a piece of wet paper while being stuck under them. The thought of just getting up and running away while screaming was constantly in the corner of his mind. But, he ignored it as there was nowhere to go and the best option he had was to hide where he currently was. If it weren’t for the pile of leaves on the ground, he would have blacked out.

‘I’m going to die.’

He started to feel hopeless, thinking he would die just like that. He still had to look after his parent’s grave and clean the mountain cabin. He wanted to live to see Sooji again and find out what happened between them. He wants to keep doing archery.

But... That’s not what he actually wanted....

He wanted to get revenge on everyone that betrayed him.

The feelings that he have been holding in... Those words....

The words he couldn’t say before... the things he didn’t say to keep a clean image. It was all a waste of time.

Death now seems ridiculous when he thought about it.

Rustle... Rustle...

The giant monster walked quietly across the leaves as it came closer. It was now less than 10 meters away from him and there was nothing that Jaehwang could do but to close his eyes and clench his teeth.

Keureuk...

The monster stopped to look all around and then started walking again. Jaehwang was not out of the leaves but, the monster has to be at least 5 meters away. It hasn’t found him and just wandered around for some time before it turned around to leave and then come back. He’s not sure how much time has passed by. The monster suddenly lifted its head and started to walk around again. Jaehwang then disappears from under the leaves like smoke just as he wished for.

A Wound 1, The end.