Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

SInce Kig have something to do this month, aaghna will fill in for him. Do tell us if there’s anything wrong.

A large man in a stab-proof suit and a woman wielding a ghoul appeared out of nowhere. Unless they were an idiot, a survivor should know who the two were. After all, rumors about what they did in Gwangju and other places had shook the auction house several times.

The woman was Choi Da-jeong, a stagnant water who went by the ID Duck Buttock goes kwek kwek and was famous from the very first day the Auction House opened up.

The man was, naturally, the infamous one. The enemy of many. The betrayer of humanity. That Bastard. I Love Gimbap. The man who’s stock had been rising recently. However, amidst the newfound side of him, rumor has it that he was a dangerous person who would resort to violence without thinking twice. Of course, there were many people who felt it was something necessary in Apocalypse. Nevertheless, he was a whole different breed than those people as it was said that his expression didn’t even change when doing it and he was a fan of beating people. There were also rumors that he had committed several murders, and people believed it. After all, the stories about him spread by the people of Gwangju were filled with brutality.

-Guys don’t lose hope! If we fight together, we can win!

-This guy… There was a guy who acted like a dick against him in shelter in Chonnam University. The witness said he was beaten up easily like any normal human even though his unique skill is physical reinforcement. Are you saying we can win against someone like him?

-There were quite a few people who said that whoever has anger issues would be cured if they meet I Love Gimbap.

Strawberry Princess, Park Hyun-seung shook his head as he closed the Auction House. However, he wasn’t scared at all since he knew the two. Of course, it was a connection built inside the game, but in a situation like this, wouldn’t such a shallow relationship also help? If he just pretended to know them, it would help him cement his authority in the clan as well as increase the tax.

Park Hyun-seung thought up to this point, but he didn’t actually go ahead and greet them. He was shocked. The fighting power of the two was greater than he imagined. Duck Buttock’s ghouls were fighting well. They were well coordinated and resilient. But their skills were still not enough to steal the limelight from I Love Gimbap. Afterall, he was doing what Park Hyunseung thought was impossible; changing directions in the air.

“How is he doing that?”

“I-I’m not sure, hyung-nim.”

“It seems like he was stepping on some kind of footing…”

“Are you blind? There’s nothing there.”

The clan members watched him intently, but they could only barely follow his movements. One reason was because it was dark. And the other reason was because I Love Gimbap moved at a thunderous pace.

Groaaaaar-!!

After a few exchanges, the troll, whose arm was severed, howled loudly.

‘That easily?’ Park Hyeon-seung couldn’t even utter a single word after watching the fight in front of him. He realized that he had to correct the idea that it would be difficult to catch a troll even for Stagnant Waters.

Groaaaaaar-!!

On the other side, Duck Buttock’s ghoul skipped around all over the place wildly. It was difficult to catch a troll which was equipped with excellent regenerative ability with their attacks alone, so Duck Buttock was the one who landed the final blow.

Both of them had the newly updated Mithril Blade in their hands, which was a dead giveaway that both of them were overflowing with points. Even if he searched all over Daejeon, he was sure no one would have bought it till now.

“I envy them…” Park Hyun-seung murmured. He has boasted his career in Survival Life to his subordinates, but there was no meaning to do so in front of the two monsters in front of him.

At that moment, the room became darker. The two trolls had died, but now, the Tank had made its appearance. Meanwhile, Seong-ho and Da-jeong evaluated the guy in a calm manner.

“I think it’s a bit small for a Tank.”

“Ah… I had wished for a big guy to appear. What is this…”

“It’s not good if it’s too big. It won’t be able to go through the door.”

“I can just destroy the building altogether and enter. What are you worried about?”

“I mean the Portal.”

“Ah….”

Seong-ho stepped back and Da-jeong flicked her finger towards the Tank.

“Come on. It’s time to eat with mama.”

“You’re not the one who will feed me, right?”

“Even if I wanted to give it to you, the milk wouldn’t come out. You know that.”

“But I don’t know?”

“Wow, you’re pretending like you don’t know that.”

“Hey, he’s coming.”

Suddenly, the Tank started to scratch the ground with its fist. It was its preparatory action taken before rushing. Da-jeong and Seong-ho exchanged eye contact and then turned to the side and jumped away.

Kaaaaak-!!

The Tank charged like a mad bull and slammed into the entrance of the time shelter. The second seal completely shattered under the Tank’s furious punches. The guy then slammed into the last sealing door as hard as he could to get rid of it.

Thud-!!

The ground shook as the heavy door fell, causing the dust to blanket the area.

“His power is definitely great.” Seong-ho smirked. Back in the game, these kinds of details were just simply impossible to notice.

Da-jeong snapped her finger, and a swarm of grasshoppers rushed towards the Tank. However, with just a single thrashing, all the grasshoppers were thrown away. The difference in power between the two variety was stark in this kind of situation.

Da-jeong snapped her fingers once more, signalling her grasshoppers to gather. Then with the next snap of fingers, the grasshoppers once again launched a coordinated attack. However, unlike before, Dajeong also shouted.

“Gimbap! Help!”

“Okay.”

Seong-ho blitzed past her. Among the skills he had gained, there was skill called Fatal Blow. As its name implied, it was a skill that sent an enormous amount of damage. But since his current enemy was Tank, it wouldn’t do much. But it might be useful to freeze it in place for a moment.

Seong-ho and Da-jeong were aiming for that.

Kuaaaaaa-!!

The Tank which was covered with grasshoppers ghoul all over its body twisted and stepped forward. One of the grasshoppers was caught in the guy’s hand and thrown into the building. It wasn’t dead, but it was clear that it wouldn’t be useful anymore in this fight.

Meanwhile, Da-jeong watched Seong-ho running towards the Tank with a worried heart. She was in a hurry and had asked for help, but now she could spare some second to think, worry crept in.

He can’t get hurt…

Regardless of her worries, Seong-ho jumped towards the Tank without any care. He then clung onto the Tank’s body without any fear once he landed.

“Gimbap!”

Suddenly, the figure of Seong-ho disappeared. Tank swung its fist at the locusts and looked around, puzzled.

However, without giving it any thinking time to think, the grasshoppers completely covered its face and scratched it with their claws. It was at that time that Seong-ho appeared once again. He jumped up like a frog and punched the Tank in the belly.

Groaaaaaaaar-!!

The enormous Tank’s body shook at the impact, it stayed rooted at the same spot. Da-jeong did not miss the opportunity and ran towards it and placed her hand on the monster’s arm. A subtle light shone where she touched the monster’s arm. Seconds later, the Tank’s shoulders drooped.

“Good boy.. Good boy…” Dajeong stroked the Tank’s arm as if it was a mere harmless child. The grasshoppers retreated, and the Tank became completely docile and bowed its head to Da-jeong. It was a sign that the domination had succeed.

At Da-jeong’s side, Seong-ho murmured while shaking his fist.

“Starting from now, it will be impossible to use only our fists anymore.” As time passed, it became difficult to endure with one’s body. In Survival Life, the Stagnant Waters danced among the strengthened ghouls and beat up ogres with their fists. But it was a kind of entertainment that was possible because it was inside a game. Not reality.

Da-jeong climbed to the top of the Tank and then smiled with satisfaction.

“It’s much stronger than 10 ghouls.”

“Your subordinates will be pissed if they understand your words. By the way, let’s get out of here.”

“Why?”

“The Time Shelter is over there.”

She craned her neck and looked at the entrance to the Time Shelter which Seong-ho’s finger pointed to.

Oops.

The door was open. The two of them were not interested in Time Shelter, but the survivors of Daejeon would be different. In the first place, it was the only reason why people risked having zombie raid by crowding around.

“You want to get out of here? If we go, there will be chaos.”

“There is no reason to be here.” Seong-ho shrugged. The shelter was overflowing with sufficient supplies. It would be meaningless to collect more because the expiration date would be similar.

But Da-jeong wanted to approach it from a different perspective.

“Let’s take this opportunity to change your image.”

“What is my image?”

“Human butcher, anger issue therapist, a pig that eats everything alone…”

These were words spoken mainly at the auction house. Seong-ho didn’t care much about it as it was far better than back when everyone still cursed at him.

However, Da-jeong spoke once again.

“Of course, getting out of here is now is the most efficient course of action. I do not deny that.”

“But?”

“With just offering a little help, your image will improve. I’m sure it would profit you more later on. Do you see people waiting there just staring at you?”

Seong-ho nodded. He could see that people were salivating at the sight of the broken entrance. The reason why they hadn’t rushed yet was clear: They were afraid.

After all, who will be dumb enough to fight against two people who were able to kill two trolls in an instant as well as subdue a Tank and add it into their group?

Da-jeong stood in front of Seong-ho and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m not asking you to do something great. Just sit down here and I’m sure they will sort it by themselves. Everyone here must have heard about what happen in Gwangju.”

“…Okay.” Seong-ho answered and took a seat near the entrance. He then put his mithril blade on the floor. Meanwhile, Da-jeong and her ghoul procession moved to kill any monsters which came close enough to the entrance.

People swallowed their saliva. They were all wondering whether it was okay for them to take the supply.

Meanwhile, Park Hyun-seung gathered his clan members and reminded them.

“Never touch two of them or the ghouls, you hear me? We go in quietly and come out quietly, okay?”

“If we try enter, won’t he stab us with that knife?”

“It’s scary that he’s not saying anything…”

In fact, Park Hyun-seung was also worried about that. But the courageous one gets the supplies. He then remembered what happened in Gwangju. Deciding to believe the story, he started moving. He bet his odds on the fact that I Love Gimbap was an asshole but not a pyscho.

“Let’s go. Again, don’t touch them.”

As the clan members left the building and walked closer towards him, Seong-ho looked at them. Their tension was palpable on their face.

“Why are they so afraid of me…” He wouldn’t even eat them, they just have to come and take the supplies.

Somehow, the clan’s leaders, including Park Hyun-seung, seemed to have gained courage by his silence.

“Ni-Nice to meet you.”

“Who are you?”

“I- I am Strawberry Princess. We played together before…” Park Hyunseung said. Deep down, he wanted I Love Gimbap to remember him. If he pretended not to know him, his prestige would crumble after all.

Fortunately, I Love Gimbap knew him.

“Ah! Rapwi’s twin.”

The moment the word ‘twin’ came out of his mouth, Hyun-seung sighed in relief. The clan members would see him in bright light again. But pretending to be more friendly here would only make the atmosphere awkward, and he would look like a sycophant so he didn’t say anything anymore. Hyun-seung was a person capable to have that kind of insight.

He nodded and led his clan members inside. As a few people entered without being harmed, the people who saw it quickly sent the information to the auction house, throwing it into a mess.

-Let’s all go in!

-It’s now or never!

-Wait, don’t make a fuss! Let’s go in quietly!

More and more people left their hideout because of the info. However, unlike the other times when they were always fighting whenever they met someone from another clan, they were quiet right now. It was clear that they were walking on eggshells in fear of disrupting I Love Gimbap and the Ghoul Queen’s good intention.

Seong-ho looked at the people as more and more people left the Time Shelter with items in their hands. No matter how much they carried, Seong-ho didn’t stop them.

Thanks to that, among the survivors of Daejeon, the image of I Love Gimbap Joa had improved significantly.

“Th-thank you…”

“Thanks to you, we will be able to have an easier life.”

“…”

Meanwhile, Da-jeong was busy blocking zombie raids on the outskirts. But he didn’t feel like he wanted to help her at all.

.

.

.

We left Daejeon and headed for Incheon. I received a lot of requests from the auction house, people asking me to take care of the distribution of supplies from the Time Shelter in their area, but I ignored all of them.

The reason was not because I found it a pain in the ass, not at all. It was because of the rumors that sniffles had appeared in a spare shelter at a subway station in Incheon. Sniffles was a monster that never appeared in Survival Life so there was no information regarding it anywhere. However, because it was a strong monster, the people naturally became aware of it regardless of its inexistence in the game.

The government shelter, who heard the news, said that the reserve shelter had became noisy, and they were sending some personnel there. Meanwhile, the looters who had lived around the area since the beggining of the apocalypse were now even starting to attack other survivors. It was unavoidable because every movement outside would feel as if it was a threat to them.

At the first day of February, we finally arrived in Bucheon and settled down. As I entered the portal, the scarabs poked my leg.

“Soil? Do you need special soil?”

Nod nod.

According to their explanation, they need special soil to make a blast furnace. It seems like they couldn’t just extract metal with their mouth anymore for the project.

“The quality should be good when you make metal with a proper blast furnace…” Since I ordered it, I have no choice but to comply with their requests. Before leaving for Daejeon, I had asked them to make various tools as the corrosive disease had begun to subside. The ware shouldn’t be filled with weapons but with things like knife, shovel, and pickaxe; things that people use on a daily basis.

There were plenty of those things in the shelter, but I still wanted to borrow the power of the scarabs. After all, they shouldn’t just play around while I was working hard. Well, to be fair, they didn’t just play around, they also work as hard as me, producing more than 100 rounds of live ammunition everyday. But I still wanted more.

“Okay. Ghoul Queen! I choose you!”

“HUH?”

Da-jeong who had her eyes glued to the drama playing on the PC whipped her head towards me as she heard my words.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. Go get some soil for the scarabs. The journey will only takes two days.”

“Noooooo~ I don’t want to.”

“You prefer making the hut then?”

“…” Da-jeong was clearly torn at my question. In fact, while I was moving towards Bucheon, she didn’t do any work and just played around. Therefore, I had to force her to make a choice.

“Decide quickly. The corrosive disease is slowly subsiding, so we have to finish the preparations too.”

Once the corrosive disease was gone, we would be able to sell the metal tools we produce. The reason for trying to collect points in this way was because of the tier 4 shop. Back in the game, such a store didn’t exist. But we couldn’t be sure it was still that way since the Unknown Monsters expansion was released.

“Come on, can’t we go together?”

“It’s scary, but be patient. There is no one who will dare to touch you.”

I let her know that she has a lot of work to do. It was because we need to build a hut quickly and secure a good ecosystem so that we can live comfortably. We also had to take into account other people who would come in in the future.

At my repeated prompting, she got up while throwing a tantrum.

“Just wait until I return! I’m going to have a lot of fun.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to play. We need to attack the reserve shelter.” I smiled. Just imagining the amount of guns I would get from there was enough to make me smile.

“My luxurious country life…” Da-jung packed her luggage while sobbing in an exaggerated manner.

“When you come back, the watermelon should have ripened to perfection. We’ll throw it into the valley, and eat it.”

“Beer too.”

“Of course.”

The stag beetles who worked hard to grow crops from another world will be angry, but it can’t be helped. We have to eat to survive.

After seeing Da-jeong off, I took off my clothes and threw a log over my shoulder. The forest, which was experiencing summer, was hot as hell.