Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

In Survival Life, the event of the catastrophe dungeon breaking occurred more often than expected. The reason was simple. There were simply not enough players in the game. The few players who were still in the game, the four Stagnant Waters, didn’t care about the dungeon at all. After all, even if the monster were strengthened by it, they did not feel any difference in their strength. Even if a level 20 monster was strengthened to level 25, for a level 70 user, it doesn’t mean much.

But in reality, it was a big disaster. In a situation where most survivors were around level 20, the reinforcement of monsters became a great threat. Though, it could be said that this disaster was self-brought by humanity. After all, it all stems from humanity holding onto each other’s ankles to keep others from entering the dungeon.

As arrows poured down at the entrance of the dungeon, even the bravest survivors were reluctant to approach. Gunshots rang out intermittently, but there was no significant dent on the monster’s size. The fact that the type of dungeon was a catastrophe dungeon had become a big poison to everyone. The monsters that jumped out of the blue portal were definitely strengthened and even bigger. And there were also unfamiliar monsters on top of that.

The identity of the new monster was Owlbear. The survivors knew of its existence through the walkthrough, but it was the first time they had actually seen it.

Bang-!!

A gunshot rang out from a certain building. It wasn’t a particularly loud noise because the area was already too noisy. Oh Jung-min took his eyes off the scope of the Dragunov sniper rifle. The Owlbear was hit by the bullet and staggered for a moment, but soon continued to follow after someone.

“It didn’t die.”

“You should aim for the head.”

Kim Ji-eun, who was lying next to her, chided at the guy.

“I mean, that monster is fast, It’s hard to match its movement!”

The two were living in a bunker built in a luxury villa in the Hannam-dong area. Oh Jung-min was the heir of Mirae Group, and Kim Ji-eun was his secretary. But since they had become closer than merely the boss and secretary relationship, they started to live together.

The people at the Auction House called them Hannam-dong campers, and no one denied it. However, Oh Jung-min’s faction was different from the other faction in Hannam-dong which wanted to turnI Love Gimbap their puppet. He was reluctant to hold hands with people with brainwashing unique ability. Thanks to this, they escaped Seongho’s rage, but the two did not know it.

Oh Jung-min put his eyes on the scope and shot again. Right after he pulled the trigger he spat a lot of colorful words. Far from hurting the Owlbear, his shot only made it angrier than before.

“Damn! This weapon sucks!”

“A craftsman never blames his tools. Give the gun to me, I’ll do it.”

Kim Ji-eun took the Dragunov from her boyfriend and shot. However, just like her boyfriend she couldn’t shoot the OwlBear in its head. Moreover, this also made her catch some monsters’ attention.

“Oh, it seems like even our Kim Ji-eun can’t do it, huh?”

“Just forgot it. Let’s just run away quickly.”

While they were chatting leisurely, the situation around the museum turned worse. But neither of them was concerned about it. It was due to the fact that their escape route had already been secured and the firepower they had was sufficient.

The two packed their things and went up to the roof. Several goblins attacked and rushed to where they stood just now, but unfortunately for them, had already left.

“Let’s go.” Just when the two of them tried to move to the roof on the other side using a rope, Oh Jung-min saw several people running out of the alley. Normally they would have just ignored them, but this time he couldn’t take his eyes from them. After all, one of the men in the group wore a particularly unique attire.

Instead of hanging on the rope, he tapped Kim Ji-eun on the shoulder.

“What are you doing instead of going?”

“See that person over there?”

“That one with a bunny headband on his head? Huh? Do you think he’s Rabbit Pwincess?”

“I don’t know. This is my first time seeing him.”

Since his name was famous in the Auction House, everyone knew about what he wore. But, never did he imagine that he was even wearing it in a battle zone.

The two hid behind the railing and watched them. Oh Jung-min was startled as he saw a big ghoul running towards the group. However, it stopped just a few distance away from the group when the only woman in the group snapped her fingers.

“Is that perhaps the Ghoul Queen?”

“Not ‘that’ but ‘that person’.”

“No, that’s not the problem right now. If the two of them are together, then… Is that man I Love Gimbap?”

“Ey… I doubt it.”

Kim Ji-eun was in denial, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the group. When they encountered a ferocious group of goblins. The bunny headband wearing panties man who was running in the lead flew up and smashed the goblins. The two could barely grasp how the Rabbit Pwincess moved and was dumbfounded.

“Is that person even human?”

“It seems like he’s immune to paralysis poison… Is it an additional effect of his unique skill? Ah, I want to keep seeing them too, but I can’t see that guy anymore because of his panties.” Oh Jung-min was annoyed and looked away, and so did Kim Ji-eun.

Fortunately, there was a normal person among them. The large man they presumed to be I Love Gimbap. The two looked at him and were startled. After all, the man was looking at them too.

“…” They quickly hid behind the railing, but his gaze did not disappear. It was like a warning to them not to do anything silly. The sense of incongruity disappeared only after the group disappeared toward the museum.

Oh Jung-min wiped the sweat from his forehead and grinned as his hunter’s senses stopped warning him of danger.

“Let’s go after them.”

“You have finally gone crazy.”

“You know why we come here in the first place, right? It’s to work with people like that.”

“You must have already forgotten what happened in the labyrinth. Judging from those eyes, We will die before we can even get close to him. ”

“No, the bastards who went into the labyrinth just ran to kill them, didn’t they? If we approach him calmly, he won’t be so cruel. I’m sure of it.”

“You are optimistic.”

At the secretary’s sarcasm, he grabbed a sniper rifle.

“Because we are in this situation, I should live more happily. Let’s go.”

But the situation was getting worse as they ran after the group. It’s because there were too many monsters pouring out of the museum dungeon. All of them were also considerably strengthened, so there were many cases where even the weakest monsters among them could not be killed with any attack.

Eventually, the survivors began to run away. It was at that time that the agents of the government shelter in Yeouido arrived. Jang Won-taek could not hide his surprise when he grasped the situation through a drone.

“When did they get here?” He was sure that the three Stagnant Waters were going to the bunker of Lee Hyunjin. So how… Or did he already come to a conclusion?

Major Kim jumped up and reported. “Some monsters have invaded the museum.”

“It’s an art gallery. There must be many national treasures inside.” Jang Won-taek groaned. The quality and quantity of art inside were no joke as they were collected by a large corporation who operates the museum. He grimaced at the thought of it being trampled by monsters who did not know the value of art.

Major Kim asked carefully.

“Shall we secure it?”

“No.” Jang Won-taek shook his head. Most of the works of art are bulky, so it was impossible to secure them. “Art has no value in a world that has collapsed. People come first. Please put the safety of the survivors first.”

“I will go immediately.” Hyun-woo answered with vigor drippin on his voice. Finally, the time has come for the assault team he had trained to prove themselves. The Stagnant Waters had surprised the public by having a huge bloody battle at the sports complex. There’s no way they couldn’t do that either.

Hyun-woo passed his colleagues as he inserted a magazine into his gun.

“Let’s go.”

The soldiers, including Commander-in-charge Jo and Second Lieutenant Lim, followed in his footsteps.

.

.

.

The dungeon calls for people.

People hunted monsters.

Monsters kill people.

That simple formula was never wrong. That’s why the situation changes every five minutes in Hannam-dong. People who would normally have been scattered, afraid they would lose their lives, were still lurking in the surrounding buildings, looking for an opportunity. They were expecting that the situation would improve as it would make it possible for them to enter the dungeon.

No one except the Stagnant Waters knew what kind of dungeon it was, but everyone believed that there was something good inside it anyway.

“Run faster!”

Some survivors started running while the dungeon entrance was quiet. They ignored the toad monster which was the same size as a man’s torso popping out from the dungeon entrance.

Croak-!! Croak-!!

The guy stretched its lower jaw big and ran at a speed unseen by the survivors’ eyes. A man running in the lead was hit by a head-butt by the toad and lost consciousness.

“This fucking toad!”

“Kick it!!”

When someone tried to kick the toad, the crying toad felt threatened and clung onto the man’s leg. Its whole body swelled as the man tried to tear it from his legs. But then, the toad exploded.

Toxic substances contained inside the body of the toad scattered. Thus the three who were surrounded by the toad were covered in toxic substances.

“AHHHHHH!”

Every single one of them twisted and turned. However, they didn’t know what to do with the searing pain they felt. In particular, the man who had the toad hanging on his leg had his clothes and flesh burned to the point his bones could be seen.

“Argh!”

While enduring the pain, the three managed to escape. Though, not with increased vigilance. It was due to how fast and strong the toad is.

But in the alley not far from where the group stood, a loud noise was heard. A goblin croaked and flew out of the narrow street. Not long after that, a perverted man wearing only panties came out.

Once the man saw the horde of toads coming out from the dungeon entrance, his eyes opened wide.

“Is that a Crying Toad?”

“Hey, use this!!”

Seongho threw a long mace from behind. It was a magic metal reinforced long mace which boasted tremendous strength. There was nothing better to kill a crying toad than the mace.

Seokhyun took the mace and hit the toad running towards him. Crying Toad is a monster that concentrates a certain substance on its forehead and hardens it once it collides with an enemy. That was why Seongho gave him the weapon.

Crack-!!

With the sound of something breaking, the Crying Toad flew away. Da-jeong, who ran from behind, raised her arms.

“Home run! Home Run!”

“You do it too!”

Da-jeong grabbed the mace Rapwi tossed to her and struck a toad that started jumping at her. Thanks to the two, the toads which were gathered at the entrance of the dungeon were quickly cleaned. They died before they could even explode, so they couldn’t even release the toxic substances.

When the three Stagnant Water swept through the entrance to the dungeon, people’s attention was focused on them.

“Isn’t that person Rapwi?”

“He really only wears panties…”

“Where did he get that bunny headband from?”

“And people said that is what he wears normally?”

Seokhyun’s one and only attire definitely drew people’s curiosity. Some women poked themselves out of the window and shouted at him.

“I love you, Rabbit Pwincess! Please have sex with me!”

At the offer, Seokhyun looked at the woman and then pointed his thumb down. His antics made laughter erupted everywhere even though they were currently in a perilous situation.

“HAHAHAHAHA!”

“Rabbit Pwincess has eyes too!”

Meanwhile, Da-jeong sent in a ghoul to understand the situation inside the dungeon.

“It’s a swamp inside. Also, the monsters are still coming.”

“So, it’s not over yet.”

“Shall we stop them with the ghoul?”

“People might attack your ghoul. Just leave it alone.” Seongho answered. The portal was now meaningless. A catastrophe dungeon would only close after it finished pouring all the monsters living inside.

Then a paper airplane flew towards them. Seongho jumped and snatched it in the air, realizing that it belonged to Yoohyeon.

“Seokhyun-ah, let’s go to the art gallery. The Owlbear is there.”

“Okay.”

Seongho and Seokhyun started running, leaving Da-jeong behind. She cupped her mouth and shouted loudly.

“If you approach the portal, you will die! Do not come!”

People shouted back at her warning.

“Why will we die?”

“Tell us the reason!”

“This is no ordinary dungeon! It’s a catastrophe dungeon! All the monsters that pop out are reinforced ones! If you are strong enough you will not die, though!”

“Damn it! You should have told us that beforehand!” Someone shouted loudly. Hearing pain mixed in his words, Da-jeong instantly knew that the man was the member of the group which was attacked by Crying Toad a few minutes ago.

“How can we know this dungeon is a catastrophe dungeon? We also came to know about it just now!” Da-jeong rolled her eyes as she looked at the direction where the voice was coming from.

“Even so! You still have to tell us!”

“Didn’t I say we also came to know about it just now, you bastard? And why are you blaming us when you are the one who wanted to eat this dungeon? You are the stupid one for rushing without even knowing anything!”

The man did not answer any more. The people who heard the conversation between the two couldn’t even breathe properly because of the tension which could explode at any moment.

Da-jeong seemed annoyed and went somewhere with the ghouls in front. Meanwhile, the portal flickered and monsters poured out again.

The assault team, who arrived late, quickly engaged in a fight with the monsters.

Bababababang-!!

As the bullets poured out, blood painted the gray asphalt below. Even though they were strengthened, it was still impossible for them to withstand the kinetic energy of the bullet.

“Focus on shooting!”

At Major Hyun-woo’s instructions, the team focused their shots towards the entrance. Thus, as soon as the monsters came out, they collapsed and people cheered.

The dungeon, which had been pouring out monsters over and over again, was finally quiet after a few minutes passed. The assault team which was gathered at the entrance in a shooting stance finally relaxed.

“Whew…”

“It’s finally over.”

“But, this gun is done for… I will have to replace it later.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Major Hyunwoo said as he turned the safety of the gun back on. The corner of his mouth was slightly raised. He was happy and once again reassured his belief that monsters cannot compete with modern weapons. The team couldn’t kill the Owlbear, but the monsters below its level were no enemy for them. If they keep hunting like this, they will be able to achieve great results soon.

But then.

The blue portal fluttered once again and a huge hand popped out of it. The hand grabbed the waist of Major Hyun-woo’s teammate who was drinking water right next to him and pulled him towards the portal.

“KUAAAAAKKKK!”

“Huh?”

“Wha-what!”

Color faded from all the soldiers that witnessed the sight. On top of it, the hand was a really big hand.

Hyun-woo’s heart beat like a drum, he was forced to take a step back. “RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!”

Everyone gulped their nonexistent salva and pointed their guns at the entrance of the dungeon. Then a mangled corpse popped flew from the portal. Its lower body was gone while the upper body seemed to have been crushed by a pressing machine. Thanks to that, everyone was frightened even more.

Hyun-woo wracked his brain to identify what kind of monster had such a good hand. As far as he knows, there was only one monster with such large hands.

It was an Ogre.