Stagnant Water of Apocalypse - Chapter 168

The apocalypse killed the city. The cars that filled the road during rush hours no longer existed. It was the hideous and vicious monsters that took its place instead. And only a handful of humans were struggling to survive by fighting them.

Vrroooom-!! Vrrrooooomm-!!

A muffled exhaust sound echoed through the road. Survivors who were preparing dinner in the nearby buildings were startled because of it and quickly opened the curtains to look out.

“What kind of motorcycle is that?”

“I think It’s a motorbike from the Korean Shelter.”

“I’m envious… That guy is carrying a woman behind him.”

“Look over there!”

Moon Dae-ho and Moon So-yun siblings clung to the window and watched the woman sitting in the passenger seat pull out a sword from its sheath and slash an orc’s neck as they passed by. Blood splattered in the air, and the orc, who had lost his head, crumbled into the ground.

“It doesn’t make any sense… right, oppa?”

“Ye-yeah…”

“But oppa, didn’t you think we have seen the driver somewhere before?”

“I’m not sure…”

The siblings sat back down and forced themselves to eat the tasteless shop bread and the jerky. In Seoul, survivors who were not part of a powerful clan or had a high personal combat power, were in a rather dire situation; Their food situation had become grave since the end of winter.

Since the beginning of the apocalypse, the monsters had eaten a lot of groceries in the mart. So, all that was left for the survivors were food stored in the residential area. However, that too had thinned out. After all, everyone was looking for food.

Amidst the dire situation, most survivors didn’t dare to approach the Time Shelter in Seoul. They believed that it was not something powerless survivors like them could touch. On top of it, the survivors also heard rumors that a few Time Shelters around the nation had been breached and looted. Therefore, they thought that if they carelessly touched the Time Shelter in Seoul, a lot of people who already had their eyes on it would come for them.

That’s the reason why the siblings and one other man were considering the option of joining the Korea Shelter.

At that moment, the other man who since earlier had been staring at his Auction House window, suddenly spoke. “It seems like that person is I Love Gimbap.”

“Sorry?”

“That I Love Gimbap is riding with a woman?”

“The woman riding behind him is probably Duck Butt.”

At Lee Sang-shin’s words, Moon Dae-Ho made a remark about the woman’s ass. When his sister heard about it, she rewarded him with a slap in the back.

“Looks like you have fun ogling that ass.”

“What can I do when my eyes are automatically attracted to it?” Moon Dae-Ho shrugged.

“I thought it was strange for a woman to have an ID like Duck Butt. But now that I already see her, it is a fitting ID.”

“But Sang-shin-ssi, don’t you know those people?”

He shook his head and sat down.

“I know them, but they don’t know me, maybe.”

“I doubt that… Didn’t you say you were viewer of I Love Gimbap’s live stream?”

“Among the viewers, PoorMan was the most famous. Compared to him, I was nothing.”

Lee Sang-shin, who said so, was a man in his 30s who has a telekinesis Unique Skill. Using it, he wielded a whopping five long knives to attack and defend. With proper support, he could even kill a werewolf. Although he’s quite strong compared to many survivors, he did not join any clan. The reason was for only himself to know.

So-yun asked while chewing the hard bread. “But Sang-shin oppa. You said that I Love Gimbap was someone with big build, right?”

“Yes, why?”

“I think he’s someone we know. We met someone like him in the Gangdong-gu dungeon before.”

“That’s right!” Kim Dae-ho snapped his fingers at his sister’s words. “That man we saw was clad in a stab-proof suit and had a backpack on his back. He was also huge. When So-yun attacked, he stopped it without breaking a sweat.”

Sang-shin let his mouth salivate by eating the salty jerky before using it to chew the shop bread and swallowing it. He felt it all over again, whoever made the bread being sold in the Item Shop deserves to go to hell.

“Hmm… if that man had been I Love Gimbap, you would have died on the spot. He’s not someone who let go of those who attacked him.”

“Ah, yeah… That’s the case, isn’t it? I guess we were mistaken.” So-yun nodded. In fact, there was a reason why Seongho didn’t kill her back then, but they didn’t know about it.

The three frowned and barely swallowed the store bread after chewing it through the entire conversation. Sang-shin muttered to himself as soon as the bread passed his throat.

“Sigh… I want to eat rice soup…”

“Why do you want to eat it? There are many other foods which are more delicious than rice soup.”

“What are you saying? Rice soup is the best food in the world.”

The siblings didn’t agree with him, but they decided to let the matter go.

(T/N I hope you guys remembered this guy!)

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Thanks to driving around Yongsan-gu and killing monsters, Da-jeong had finally reached level 30. Just like me, her Unique Skill changed. Her zombie domination skill changed into monster domination just like what we expected.

She was fine so far, but Da-jeong, who was reading the message, suddenly complained.

“WHAT IS THIS! WHY SHOULD I GIVE IT ETHERSTONES! HAVEN’T I ALREADY DONE SO BEFORE!?!?!?”

“Those etherstones from before were for my portal, weren’t they?”

“Sighhhhhhhhhhh.” Da-jeong exhaled a long breath before pointing her finger at me, “Give me etherstones! Now!”

I indeed had some etherstone in the shelter. However, it was impossible to give it to her as I needed it to keep the blast furnace going so it wouldn’t break. At that moment, a special portal opened. I put my hands on her shoulders and turned her body towards it.

“There’s your etherstones.”

“…” She seems to have nothing to say. I patted her shoulder before putting my palm on the portal. It felt nothing like my own portal; it felt like a normal wall.

I waved my hand to Da-jeong after that. “Get your backpack and go dig a lot of etherstone.”

When I opened the portal to the shelter, Da-jeong entered. Not long after that, she came back with her gear, ghouls, Dingo and a Scarab. She said nothing and acted nothing like her usual self. It seems like she had totally given up from kicking any ruckus.

After Da-jeong went on a quest, I looked at the area outside of where I was: a cafe inside the National Museum of Korea. The place was empty. It had no monsters nor people. The pond in the center of the room was half-melted and muddy.

“I think those people will come…” I murmured.

As I pulled the Auction House window up, I saw Yoohyeon poking his head out from the still opened portal.

“Hyung, what are you doing?”

“Da-jeong just reached level 30 and had to do the quest. So I’ll wait for her here.”

“Noona is already level 30? Wow… By the way, hyung. We’re all ready to move.”

“Wait a bit.”

The moving plan was simple. I would open the portal and move all the supplies to Earth. Then, I would move to the new site, open the portal again to move the supplies there. It’s like using Earth as a warehouse. However, I was wondering whether It would be better to move first or to secure the treasure first.

“I think moving comes first…” It was impossible to keep the treasure on the bare, damp floor. I had no choice but to hope that the rogues would not come here until the foundation to put the treasures was laid.

“Hmm… the Auction House.”

I browsed through the Auction House and looked at the auction items. The President only said that the rogues destroyed the museum’s treasures, but turns out, it wasn’t all. Those guys set a huge fire to the entire building. Thanks to that, the chaebols in Hannam-dong contacted me and there’s chaos amongst them.

“Let’s see… the cipher…”

When I entered the auction items of the chaebols of Hannam-dong, I saw Kim Ji-eun’s comment.

-The art gallery is on fire. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to have spread to nearby areas, but the artwork inside must have been burned.
-Have you confirmed who started the fire?
-Yes. The perpetrator was three people wearing weird masks. They set the fire with flame cans and gasoline.

They used a flame can? That’s a pretty hard thing to find. It’s an absurd notion to use those rare items to simply set a museum on fire.

When I looked at other auctions, I could see that people were angry.

-We should catch those bastards. Just why in the world do they set the national treasures on fire? Are they really that bored?
-What is the meaning of national treasures in our current world?
-There’s none. It doesn’t mean much. But they should have left it alone. Why are they touching something which sat quietly in the art gallery?
-There were more than 30 fucking national treasures in the museum’s collection. They are now all gone!
-Half of it was broken by the corrosive disease.
-I don’t care. Let’s get those three bastards together. Those people were walking around together, isn’t that an easy way to detect them?
-Isn’t it common for two or three people to go around together?
-I know, right. I wonder how we can find them…

I pretended I was not me and leaked information about three men wearing masks. Then the reaction came right away.

-Oh, I saw those people going to the Hannam-dong hospital.
-Let’s go!

The Auction House had always been a place full of chaos and all kinds of hate. But based on the fact that they all raged because of the national treasures, it seemed like the people there still have their pride as Koreans.

I sipped the hot coffee I held and kept in touch with Kim Ji-eun. She reported the situation at the hospital which she observed using the drone.

-Right now, people are gathering near the hospital. It looks like there are at least five people… I’m afraid a zombie raid will happen…
-They must have gotten used to it. No response from inside the hospital?
-Not yet… Ah, the two of them went inside just now.

They went inside without knowing what was inside? I applaud their bravery.

I waited for a while, but there was no more information coming in. When I asked, Kim Ji-eun only answered that there’s practically no movement in the hospital.

-The hospital is quiet even when it’s a little noisy outside.

It was frustrating to just wait for the information to come. Da-jeong would need more time before returning, so it seemed like I should go there first.

When the portal was opened, this time Mikyung’s head came out. I smiled at her and said, “Mikyung-ah, can you go with me?”

“Of course I can! Where are we going, oppa?”

“To a hospital near here.”

“Da-jeong Unnie went on a quest, right?” Mikyung giggled after saying that.

Once I put the motorcycle inside the portal, Mikyung came out together with me while laughing. Then, she folded her arms around my arm and said, “Put your seat belt tight.”

We don’t even drive a car, so what seatbelt?

The scenery around me spun. Once it stopped, we already reached the roof of a church where we could see the hospital building.

“The hospital is smaller than I expected.”

“Hm… Is it because the land price around here is expensive?”

I ignored Mikyung’s comment and gave strength to my eyes. Instantly, the inside of the hospital annex was revealed to me.

Probably wondering what I was doing, Mikyung looked into my face. But before long, she hurriedly removed her head from my view. “Oh, I’m sorry. You were doing something important.”

“It’s not that important. I only looked at the hospital with my skill.”

“Whoa… I want that skill too~”

“I’ll help you get one when the time arrives.”

“That means I should always stick close to you, right?”

Mikyung held my arms as she said that. It didn’t feel bad at all, but if Da-jeong saw her like this, it would probably cause a lot of commotion.

At that moment, a scream was heard. I quickly noticed that two men who went inside were being chased by a woman in a nurse’s outfit. I thought the concept was weird, but it turns out I couldn’t be wrong anymore.

The woman’s hand reached out and grabbed the man’s neck.

“AAGHHHHH!” I could hear how much it hurts even from so far away. As the man trembled, the nurse pulled him in.

Using tentacles sprouting from her arm…

By the looks of it, the woman was not normal. She must be cut from the same cloth as the doctor at the subway station who used the corpse of monsters as a weapon. I think I should start to think that those people who were still hiding their identities must all be like them.

“It’s dangerous, so go inside.” I tapped Mikyung’s shoulder as I opened the portal for her.

“I’m pretty strong too.”

“Just go. Your power isn’t strong enough yet.”

“Okay…” Mikyung answered weakly and entered. Moment later, Seokhyun came out. His face lit up as soon as he heard the situation.

“It’s a nurse after a doctor, huh?”

“Yeah. But her ability didn’t look as powerful as the doctor’s. Now that I think about it, she’s doing something like brainwashing… Look there, the man who was running away suddenly became quiet in front of her.”

“Isn’t brainwashing supposed to be activated through direct contact?”

“I guess there’s a different way to use it. We just don’t know about it yet.”

Seokhyun scratched his bald head and said. “One thing I know for sure is that she is our enemy.”

Not only her, anything or anyone who threatened our survival was our enemy.

As I was holding my breath and waiting, the nurse suddenly disappeared.

Don’t tell me, Blink?

Just how many unique skills did she have?

“I can’t stand it. I have to show her!” Seokhyun stood up and tried to take off his panties. Thankfully, I caught him just before his panty was ripped.

“Please don’t, Seokhyun-ah.” It’s not nice to see another man’s ass right in front of my nose. “Let’s go inside and check what’s going on first. It seems like the monsters haven’t gathered yet.”

“Okay.”

We packed our weapons and carefully entered the hospital. Since the sun was already gone from the sky, it was hard for us to even see an inch ahead in the dark hallway of the hospital.

I stopped Seokhyun and handed him a Shadow Grape. A moment after we finished it, loud footsteps could be heard from the ceiling right above us. Seokhyun tilted his head and jumped straight into the ceiling.

“Hey, hey, wait a minute.”

However, I was late. Seokhyun already reached the ceiling and punched a hole in it. Sighing, I jumped and reached the second floor through the hole. Once I landed, I saw three people with strange masks covering their face standing still while facing us. Judging from where we were, it seems like the three were just about to go down using the stairs.

From the way they dressed, I was sure that the three people were the perpetrators behind the destruction of the museum.

I approached them.

“You guys…”

“What do you want?”

“Are you the one who set the museum on fire?”

“So what?”

“You should just leave it alone. Those things are precious treasures.”

“Haha… A precious treasure…” The masked man at the forefront chuckled. “It may be a precious treasure to you, but not to us.”

Another masked man came out. “Did you come here just because of that? I never though that the infamous I Love Gimbap, who had committed numerous murders, would have such sense of justice.”

They know about me…

Seokhyun picked his nose and asked me. “You have such a thing?”

“Nope.” I shrugged before walking towards the three masked men. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have any sense of justice.”

“Then why are you here?”

“To kill you.”

The masked men laughed almost at the same time.

“Can you really? You will just waste your resurrection scroll.”

“You are no ordinary bastard, huh?”

“Of course not.”

At that moment, I felt a creepy sensation creeping behind me. I quickly pulled Seokhyun and ran to the hallway on our right side. What appeared in the place where I just stood a second ago was a woman in a nurse’s uniform soaked in blood.

“I’ve always wanted to meet you…” The nurse said.

At that moment, Seokhyun rushed to her with his fist clenched. She shook her head as if disappointed and to our surprise, struck Seokhyun with her tentacles and sent him flying back.

“GO AWAY! I don’t want you!”

“Then who do you want?”

“It’s you.” The nurse’s tentacles pointed at me. Even when I moved away, the tentacles followed my chest.

Seokhyun wiped his lips and stood next to me. “You are very popular, Seongho.”

“What’s the use of being popular with things like her?”

“Hahaha…” The nurse shrugged her shoulders and laughed. “It’s been so long… I really wanted to meet you, I Love Gimbap. Please don’t say you don’t know me.”

Good, she wanted to converse. To be honest, I also wanted to know their identities and purpose.

“Who are you?”

“Gimbap Eater.”

Huh?

She didn’t mean that she literally wants to eat gimbap, right?

Seokhyun put his shoulder on my shoulder and said in a serious tone.

“She’s that guy. Your stalker.”

“…” It seemed to be the case. Back in the game, there was a stalker who only followed me and disturbed me. Her level wasn’t that high, but her success rate was pretty high because my character died several times thanks to her.

I exhaled slowly and looked at her.

“Why are you doing this? I hope you haven’t been like that since you awakened.”

“Like that? How can you say such things to this wonderful figure?” The nurse let the button on her blouse loose, revealing a sensual body inside. What she had there was bigger than Da-jeong’s. But, it’s not enticing at all. After all, it was not a human body but that of a monster.

“You are making my eyes rot. Cover it again, please.”

Before the nurse could do anything, a werewolf appeared and broke the window beside us. Da-jeong, who was hanging on its back, rolled on the floor just before the werewolf crashed to the ground and only stopped when she hit the wall.

As soon as she came to her senses, she stood up and shouted. “Hey bitch! Who are you wagging your tail at? That’s my man.”

“I am Gimbap Eater… You don’t know me?”

“Oh, you are her, huh? The stalker who followed Gimbap everywhere he went. Never thought you were a nurse.”

“Fufufu…”

The nurse walked towards us sensuously; Her tentacles wiggled in the air.

“If it’s me, I can satisfy you for hours. I Love Gimbap… How about it? You just need to come with me if you want it.”

Upon hearing that, Da-jeong snorted at her. “He can do it all day long. Just get lost!”

The nurse was startled at Da-jeong’s words.

“A-all day?”

Hmmmm… I’m not proud of it, but it’s the truth.

The nurse trembled and stretched out her tentacles. Seokhyun moved to my front and blocked it from reaching me.