Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Thank you to Teisen for the $25 donation and Chelle for the $18. Yes, i’ll make sure I’ll be returning to usual schedule.

The orderly supply distribution in Gwangju’s time shelter became hot news in the Auction House. After all, it was such an unprecedented event.

When everyone heard the news that Chonnam University’s time shelter had been breached, they assumed that there would be a lot of chaos and blood there. People would naturally rush into the time shelter as soon as the news spread, resulting in monsters and zombies following them. And inside, they would fight to secure supplies, and there might even be a lot of murderer events going on.

But the reality betrayed everyone’s expectations. Not a single zombie could be seen on the road in front of the building where the time shelter was located. On the contrary, the people who went in and came out holding one sackcloth with them had a bright expression on their face.

Everyone was curious about what had happened. When they knew that I Love Gimbap had stepped forward, they were all surprised.

-If I go there, can I meet I Love Gimbap?

-You can. Currently he’s inspecting people at the entrance to the time shelter.

-What?

-Seems like he’s doing it to prevent people who had already taken their share from coming back.

-I mean, if they just say it’s their first time coming there, how does he even know whether they’re lying or not…

-It seems like he was checking the names of people by asking people to leave a comment in the Auction House.

-I have a question, isn’t Auction House anonymous?

-I don’t think it’s the case for I Love Gimbap.

-Do you guys see the spam that is being auctioned? I think the people that had already gone inside the time shelter had to leave a comment there.

-Someone go and leave a comment.

-As soon as you leave a comment, you will be marked by I Love Gimbap.

-By the way these days, the words I Love Gimbap comes out naturally, doesn’t it? Wasn’t it universally decided that we will call him ‘That Bastard’?

-Where did you come from? Under the rock? Why don’t you know the trend?

-The reason why people now call him I Love Gimbap is because most of the people who called him ‘That Bastard’ have been killed.

-LMAOOOO

-Well, looking at it now, I don’t think he’s that bad. He voluntarily prevents confusion and distributes the supplies that he might even be able to use all for himself. Who can do that?

-It is said that there are more than 150 people gathering on the upper floors of the time shelter right now.

-WOAH! There’s no zombie raid happening?

-That’s what I find odd. There are some monsters around the area, but there are no zombies or ghouls.

-I am currently at Gwangju’s time shelter. Ask me anything you guys are curious about!

-Have you seen I Love Gimbap? Is he tall?

-He is tall and has a wide shoulder. His ‘chili’ looks great too.

-Really?

-Well, tall people usually have big ‘chili’.

-Anyway, at first, he gathered people in the area to talk about the distribution. At that time, the atmosphere was heavy. But, there’s this one bastard who challenged Gimbap to a fight.

-That bastard is crazy. Didn’t he know that I Love Gimbap has more than 10 confirmed kills all by himself inside a labyrinth?

-The labyrinth case is not so well known because all the parties involved were dead and the auction items filled with their convos were taken down.

-The man who challenged I Love Gimbap was someone who was quite strong among those who had Physical Strengthening unique skills in this area. However, he was beaten brutally by Gimbap. It wasn’t even a fight.

-*chills*

-Well, if it’s I Love Gimbap, wouldn’t he already have werewolf’s skill?

-He didn’t turn on the werewolf’s skill. His eyes didn’t turn red.

– What? He didn’t even activate the werewolf’s skill and can still beat people with Physical Strengthening unique skill?

-Just how high are his stats?

-I don’t know… But his one punch will probably kill a guy like me, right?

-Yeap

– Probably.

The supplies distribution event in Gwangju’s time shelter left a big impression on the Auction House. Afterall, hundreds of people had gathered just for one reason, supplies. But miraculously, not a single person died. An impossible achievement had been achieved.

Naturally, Jang Won-taek and Lee Beom-seok of the government shelter also paid attention to this.

“If I gave you about ten awakeners, can you do something like that?”

Lee Beom-seok shook his head at Jang Won-taek’s question.

“You have to give me at least 30 people…”

Back in the normal world, something like ‘orderly distribution’ was something which could be easily achieved even with a small number of watchful eyes. However, that’s simply because the law is still active. The current age was an apocalyptic one; a world where strength is everything. In these kinds of times, even simple things could easily agitate people. On top of that, if there’s someone who had killed other people twice, murderer event will occur immediately. If such an event occurred in a narrow time shelter, the mess it would cause was easy to tell.

“By the way, it’s surprising that there are no zombies at all there. Did Seongho bring the totem with him?” Jang Won-taek said as he looked at the report with an unsure expression on his face.

“Its scope of application is a bit odd. From what we know, the totem only covers the size of a house, isn’t it?”

“Our Geom-in must have improved it.”

“Well, the last time I saw it, it wasn’t this different. It was just left unattended.”

“That’s a bit odd.” Jang Won-taek straightened his posture. So, was Kang Seongho the one responsible for the improvements? But, didn’t Geom-in boasted that amongst the stagnant waters, he’s the only one who knows about the totem?

“I’m now certain that Seongho was assisted by someone…”

“Or maybe his abilities are just that good.”

“It could be.”

Jang Won-taek fiddled with the report in frustration. If there was one person like Kang Seongho helping him, things would be really easy. Afterall, he solved all difficult tasks easily. Of course, all of his achievements could be said as a result of his unique skill. However, that is definitely not all of it. Jang Won-taek believed so.

After a while, Lee Beom-seok reported.

“It looks like the distribution is over. The last person who received the ration had come out and informed the Auction House of the progress.”

“What about the leftovers?”

“It’s… it’s almost non-existent.”

Jang Won-taek’s eyebrows twitched. “Strange… From what I recall, the supplies stored there were something that would not run out just because a hundred or dozen people took it.”

The time shelter project was a matter that he had directly planned and ordered to be. Therefore, he knew that there was enough food for at least 500 people stocked in there. So, he couldn’t be anymore confused to hear that it had all disappeared.

“People who come in the middle of the event said all in all there are close to 200 people taking the supplies.”

Jang Won-taek, who went directly to the Auction House and checked the comments, burst out laughing.

“That guy really… He took all the leftovers.”

“It seems like he took the supplies in the middle of the distribution so that people wouldn’t be suspicious.”

“Not a lot of people know that he is someone who had space ability. If he wants to keep it under wraps, he has no choice but to be careful.”

Jang Won-taek shook his head. He should let it pass and think of it as a fee for delivering the food safely. Though, the fee was a bit high for his liking.

Lee Beom-seok presented a new report at that moment. “Seongho left a comment. He’s asking for what you promised.”

“Of course we have to give it, but… ask him if he’s willing to take on another shelter first.”

Not only in Gwangju, survivors in other cities were also trying to open the time shelter in their areas. They were inspired by the Cheonnam National University’s time shelter. Of course, they were all having a hard time because the triple sealing doors of the time shelter were incredibly strong. They don’t know that the opening of Cheonnam National University’s time shelter was the result of dozens of days of power struggle. The number of Chinese who died at the entrance alone would be more than a dozen.

As there were so many requests from people, it was worth considering opening a time shelter early. If Kang Seongho could lead the process…

However, his reaction wasn’t something Jang Won-taek hoped for.

-Didn’t you say that your side will do the rest?

-I proposed again because I’m feeling greedy after looking at your results. No one died. How did you do it?

-No one died? There’s few people who died, though…

-There is? I haven’t seen such a report…

-Ah… It seems like no one had found their body yet. Some people were attacked by monsters while trying to steal rations from people who came from the time shelter.

‘Will something like this happen again?’ Jang Won-taek lay down on his chair in despair. It seems that the people who died have come to the conclusion that they do not want to stand in line to receive rations and resorted to stealing it from other people. The problem was that Kang Seongho had calculated up to that point. Although it was not revealed to the public, it was likely that Choi Da-jeong was moving in his shadow.

This is really…

The government shelter had made several efforts to preserve the population. But in the end, there’s still several deaths. Now, should he think that it’s fortunate that the majority of survivors got their share of supplies without any major problems? Or should he dwell on the fact that it didn’t proceed as peacefully as he wanted?

When Jang Won-taek lost in his thoughts, Seongho urged.

-So where’s the location?

Jang Won-taek had promised him, so he couldn’t help it. He looked around him and entered the comment.

-There it is. You’ll instantly recognize it when you arrive there. But, Seongho. Are you really unwilling to take on another shelter?

-I’m tired of dealing with people. And no matter how free we are, we can’t cover all the shelters.

‘Well, that’s indeed correct…’ Therefore, he had no choice but to cooperate with the clans in each region to bring an orderly distribution. Though, he doubts they will follow his will.

The conversation was over and Lee Beom-seok organized the report. “The whale got involved in the shrimp fight and ate the things they were fighting for.”

“Isn’t that what whales do? We can only hope they are not present on the next big thing that will happen in the future.”

Though, it was unknown whether the whale would move according to the will of this side or not. After all, the whale was ginormous and violent.

Jang Won-taek smiled bitterly and closed his eyes.

.

.

.

Our next destination was the shipyard in Gunsan. There, I was hoping to secure as much iron powder as possible before going to the military base. Of course, I’m the only one who moved. Da-jeong was locked inside the portal to secure the area around the shelter area. That wasn’t the only reason, though. If Da-jeong also moved, the ghouls were bound to follow her. It was too eye-catching for his liking.

“Right? Dingo.”

King-!!

The guy barked and walked next to me. He now boasts a size comparable to Dingsoon. His cute appearance of a baby wolf was almost gone. Now it was clear that he’s going to be a great wolf.

He eats a lot and poops a lot, but I’m glad he came out of the shelter to do it. By the way, these days, the two wolves were said to be quite unusual… According to Dajeong, they often went out together. On top of it, their expression of affection, such as rubbing the body, has increased a lot. Maybe we’ll see a few babies soon.

“Dingo, I wish you could eat as much as you want and have as many babies as you want.”

Kieng?

It sounded to me that he’s saying ‘That’s a no-brainer!’

I headed north along the national road with him. On the way, I stopped for a second and took out a shelf from the portal. After several minutes, it was still intact. Smiling as I thought the corrosive disease had subsided, I applied some strength to it. Unfortunately, it broke down under my power. Looks like I need to wait for at least one more month.

In the evening, just before the sun set, I opened the portal on a quiet roadside and entered the shelter. Inside the shelter, I saw Da-jeong watching a drama show while lying on the mattress in her underwear. From what I know, that drama is boring… Why the hell is she watching it?

“How’s work going?” I asked while taking off my clothes.

“It’s all over. We can start building the hut tomorrow.”

Oh! it’s already over!

When I went outside the cave, I saw that the vacant lot had been greatly expanded. The moats and barriers were no longer there, replaced by ghouls on guard.

After I finished checking, I washed up and laid down on the mattress. At that moment, Da-jeong put her feet on my belly.

“I’m hungry.”

“Let’s roast some spam.”

Originally, there were quite a lot of stockpiles in the shelter, but now, it grows even more after we hit a jackpot on the time shelter. The amount of spam alone will be enough to fill a small bathroom to the brim.

“NOOO! I ate too much spam lately. I want to eat something different.” Da-jeong whined.

To think there will be someone refusing to eat spam in an apocalypse because they were bored…

Well, to be honest, I was also tired of roasting spam and eating it with rice. So, maybe I had to catch some crabs in the sea and make them into soup?

But Da-jeong turns out to have another idea.

“I want to eat bread! breeeeaaaaad!!”

“Bread? How do I make that?”

The necessary ingredients to make it were available in the shelter there, but to make bread, too many things needed to be done. In other words, it was a pain in the ass. On top of that, I’d never done real baking before.

As I reacted, she rolled over my body.

“I did all the work you told me to do!! Bread!!!! I want bread!!!!”

“I have to make a fire pit to make bread. It’s too much work…”

“I saw a rice cooker in the warehouse. We can just use that.”

“We can’t use it because it consumes so much power.”

Even if all electronics in the shelter were turned off, the available power was only enough to run one computer. So, it was far from enough to power the power-hungry rice cooker.

“I will make the dough. Can we do it together?” Da-jeong suggested in a pleading tone.

If you did that, my stance would naturally shift. Because in all honesty, I also want to eat proper bread. There’s a lot of jam stockpiled, but eating it with only biscuits every time was boring and bland.

While I was searching for a video about making bread on my laptop, Da-jeong was stuck on my back.

“It is said that there is a bread which will make you full for 10 months if you eat it in this world.” Da-jeong said. This is another of her brainwashing attempts. However, I ignored her.

We stayed silent as we studied baking. It was fortunate that I had stockpiled a lot of yeast. Otherwise, we would only be able to eat hard bread.

I got up and shook Da-jeong off my back.

“Let’s do this. You have to make the dough, though.”

“I can use Hwajo eggs to substitute the regular eggs… is there no butter here?”

“There’s none. It all rotted.” The margarine had also become moldy and could not be eaten.

Da-jeong pointed to the sterilized milk she had kept on her side.

“Let’s make butter with that.”

“If you make butter with that, you wouldn’t be able to move tomorrow.”

“R-really?”

“It’s really hard work to make butter. I won’t stop you if you want to try. Just don’t whine afterwards.”

I could say so because I had watched someone make butter in the medieval way on MeTube. Frightened, Da-jeong gave up on making butter and proceeded to make the dough.

“Why, is, this, so, hard, AHHHHHHHHH!” screams of frustration echoed in the cave after a few minutes passed since Dajeong started to knead the dough.

Well, it was not the end yet. She has to knead for at least 30 minutes. I smiled and went into preparation. What I had to do wasn’t easy either. I had to do a cumbersome task of stacking bricks and coating them with mortar to prevent the heat from leaking out. Still, I was able to make quite a bit of progress by working while referring to the video.

As I glanced around the cave, all kinds of swear words came out. It’s really a talent to fight such a battle against a dough. Anyway, Da-jeong finished making the dough. The only thing left was to let the dough rest to ferment.

When the day was getting darker, the dough was finally fermented. Therefore, we continue the next step. Meanwhile, the scarabs and the stag beetles watched our work from the sidelines.

“Isn’t this much work crazy just to make a single bread?”

Nod nod.

It’s hard to eat a piece of bread in the apocalypse. The brightside was that the fermentation time was short because the day was hot. I pressed the dough with a rolling pin, shaped it and put it into a mold. Now, we only need to put it in an oven to bake.

Heat rose in the oven, and Da-jeong and I watched from a distance. Next to us were Dingo, Dingsoon, the scarabs, and the stag beetles. Seems like they were all curious to see what kind of food will come out.

So do I, to be honest.

Da-jeong rested her head on my shoulder. “Thanks to my husband, I will be able to eat bread in the apocalypse.”

“I’m your husband?”

“You are not?”

I glanced at her face. Well, after living together like this, It’s hard to deny it now.

After some time passed, the time had finally come. When I put the fire off and pulled out the mold, the lusciously swollen bread was revealed.

Dajeong’s mouth opened wide at that moment.

“Wow… the smell is no joke.”

It was the first time I realized that freshly made bread had such a savory smell. The reason the bakery doesn’t smell like this was probably because there were so many kinds of bread cluttered there.

The bread in front of us was by no means luxurious, but it was enough to impress us. I brought several kinds of jam and set it right beside the bread. Dingo and Dingsoon have always wanted to eat the same food as us, but they shouldn’t eat this.

“It’s bread~ It’s bread~ It’s good for the body and tastes good~”

Da-jeong cuts the bread and spreads a lot of jam while she hums. When she put it on her mouth and chewed it, the smile that bloomed on her face made my heart feel reassured.

Before I took my pieces, I brought meat, jellies, and fruit for the other.

When I finally put the piece of bread in my mouth, the others also start to eat. Even when our food was different, the feeling of happiness we all felt seems to be the same.

The day passed like that, and I continued to head north to reach Gunsan. I went to the shipyard, packed a lot of iron powder, and headed to the military base.

“It’s very big…” I mused as I arrived at the military base. Well, it’s only natural because it was a unified headquarters of the three military forces.

When I opened the portal, Da-jeong came out with the ghouls.

“We have arrived. Where’s the bunker?”

“Wait a minute…·”

When I was about to look at the map, a roar suddenly rang out. It was a roar I had never heard before.

What a grand welcome we got…