Stagnant Water of Apocalypse - Chapter 173

“Ackkkkkkkkkkkk!”

After the chorus-like screams broke out, Da-jeong hugged Mikyung from behind.

“Is it okay for us to just stay here?”

“He seemed to be doing just fine, why should we bother?”

Outside, gunshots and screams were heard. As Seongho jumped over the wall, human bodies flew like leaves in the middle of a storm.

“Wow…·”

“You know, you shouldn’t be worried about him. After all, once he fights, he’s as wild as a beast.”

“Then what should we do now?”

“You just have to wait patiently here.” Da-jeong gently placed her hand on Mikyung’s body. “As for me, I want to check how big our albino has grown.”

As usual, Mikyung was almost in a state of giving up.

“Hm? What is this, is it mulberry? Didn’t I tell you to grow it more?”

“Unnie, about that…”

While the two of them were having a girls talk, several people came up from the stairs. It was Oh Jung-min and Soye. The two were startled to see a few werewolves standing inside the office, but they didn’t scream. After all, both of them knew who the arrogant beauty in front of them was: A stagnant water who has the ability to control zombies, ghouls, and monsters. Choi Da-jeong.

“E-excuse me…”

When Oh Jung-min spoke, Da-jeong looked towards the two coldly.

“You guys need something?”

“W-we got permission from Mister Seongho. He said we could come here…”

“Aha! But, what should we do? I think it would be difficult for you two to even observe him.”

As Da-jeong stepped away from the window, they saw someone running wild in the street out of the building. Oh Jung-min and Soye moved towards the window and looked around.

“Oh my god… is that really a human?”

“From his build, I think he is really Seongho. But… But…”

“He looked like a werewolf, didn’t he? Well, relax, it was just because of skill.”

Da-jeong did not say what kind of skill it was, though. The skill Seongho used was the Primal Life skill that he obtained from killing the ogre. It was a hybrid skill, which contained the effect of Vigor skill, which gives the user an undying vitality, and Super Regeneration skill, which gives the user incredible regenerative power.

Both skills have good effects, but the real jackpot was the effect of Berserk skill. It was a skill that only a few monsters, including ogres, have. It greatly increases attack power at the cost of slightly lowering the user’s defense.

Thud~!!

Whenever Seongho moved, a loud noise traveled through the entire area and whenever he stepped on the ground, the area around it cracked.

Oh Jung-min and Soye leaned over the window frame to see more clearly. Behind a fence, Seongho was using someone’s body like a club to beat others who were swarming to him. His movement was like a beast; It was rapid to the point that, in the blink of an eye, people were thrown away to the ground and flew into the air.

Even the guns in their hands were meaningless in front of him. The two of the assailants cocked their guns and started firing at Seongho. To Oh jung-min’s and Soye’s eyes, the bullets had pierced through Seongho.

However, in the next instance, both of them realized that they were wrong. The two men had their arms broken and their body was tossed aside by Seongho.

‘If it’s like this, what use is an observation like this…’ Oh Jung-min smiled sadly and took his eyes off the window. He was originally going to make Seongho join him, but the option was now completely out of the equation. It occurred to him that the shelter that he’s going to build soon in Hannam-dong alone was far from enough to satisfy him. Authority means nothing to a beast that runs wild in a bloody prairie.

‘I should approach him from another angle.’

There was a need to change the goal to acquiring friendship rather than recruitment. But what would satisfy him?

Seongho liked weapons, but rather than giving him weapons, he wanted to put his hopes on Soye at the moment. Since she still had the halo of a former idol, combined with her appearances, it was clear that even the beast-like man would pay attention to her.

‘But the two of them are concerning…’ Oh Jung-min’s eyes drifted to the white-skinned woman with bob hair and Choi Da-jeong, a stagnant water. Suddenly, Choi Da-jeong obscured Soye’s view as she watched Seong-ho’s fight without hesitation.

“Ah…”

“What are you looking at with so much excitement?”

It was clear from her tone that she was annoyed. But Soye was not reckless enough to the point she would try to just fight her.

“Well, I’m just watching.”

“Did you fall for him? Let me tell you, if that’s the case, you shouldn’t.”

“Why? Is there any reason why I shouldn’t fall for Seongho?” Soye raised his chin and curled her brows. In the past, there would have been no reason for her to pay attention to Seongho. In a peaceful world, a man’s worth was determined by his looks, intelligence, assets, his charm, including his speech, and so on.

However, as the times shifted into a turbulent era called apocalypse, combat power and supplies took precedence over other factors. In that respect, the human named Seongho was overwhelmingly superior to all other men. It’s not to the point where she couldn’t even look at his face, it’s just that his muscular body excited her.

“Because I am Seongho’s wife, lover, sex partner, and friend!” Da-jeong smirked; Her momentum was like an active volcano. “If you wag your tail in front of my husband without my permission, I’ll cut your tail off and feed it to my monsters. You understand?”

Soye couldn’t utter any more words in front of Da-jeong and just puckered her lips out. Meanwhile, Oh Jung-min smiled bitterly and turned his head. His plan of using Soye was now rendered meaningless.

Around the same time, they all sensed the commotion at the museum site. When they looked there, they saw monsters coming in droves.

Da-jeong glared at Soye, then snapped her finger.

“Mikyung, let’s go.”

“To where?”

“To Seongho. You don’t have to fight, so just hang on to the wolf’s back.”

Mikyung screamed as one of the werewolves raised him to the back of the other werewolf before jumping away.

“Mommy!!!”

As they traversed through the air, the tanks and grasshoppers waiting below quickly followed them.

Oh Jung-min let out a long sigh at that moment.

“They are not people we can help out.”

“I think so too” Soye nodded her head eagerly, but she was still looking at Seongho’s back. He retrieved the firearms around him, put them somewhere, and took out an expensive mithril blade.

Why did you take it out?

Just as she was questioning his action inside her head, a thick vine whip appeared.

SWOOOOOSH~!!

A silver flash cut through the air, and the thick vine whip was cut powerlessly and wobbled on the floor.

Soye was mesmerized by the sight.

.
.
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The Itaewon Clan, which imposed control to all areas in the vicinity of the museum, was quite large; They had 35 people in their ranks. Working with a chaebol from Hannam-dong was nothing but their bluff. In fact, he actually teamed up with several clans to rob a spare shelter.

The control was considered to be successful, thanks to the variety of firearms which they got from the spare shelter. They could earn huge points by monopolizing the high-quality Ecstasy from the ogre’s ghoul flower.

At least, everyone thought so.

Everything became a mess by the sudden intrusion of I Love Gimbap. He issued a warning through the Auction House and immediately started beating the clan members. Most of the clan members, or to be exact, thirteen people from the clan are protecting the area while being armed with guns, so who would be brave, no, stupid enough to even try fighting all of them?

But I Love Gimbap was a madman. He beat up those clan members bare handed.

“Ackkkkk!”

“The bullet came out from that bastard!!!!”

“I saw it! I saw bullets coming out!”

Testimonies pouring out along with the scream of the clan members. Some clan members were shaking and urinating when they heard of it. Some of them even suddenly disappeared after crashing into a portal which suddenly appeared.

Seong Sang-geun, who joined the commotion the latest, went crazy.

“Where did Eunjae and Mingu go?”

“I don’t know! I think they went missing because they went inside the wall that suddenly showed up in front of them!”

“Ten people went out and everyone was knocked out? Does it make sense?”

Seong Sang-geun thought that I Love Gimbap’s plan was to kill them all, then killing himself to get rid of the murderer penalty. But turns out, that wasn’t the case. After all, he couldn’t hear any heartbeat at all.

Seong Sang-geun ripped his hair out. Because of one person, the foundation of his clan was destroyed.

“We can’t continue like this…” He regretted to the death that he clashed with I Love Gimbap in the Auction House, but he couldn’t back down now.

What should I do now?

At that moment, Seong Sang-geun remembered the time when he lost his clan member to the ghoul flower. The ghoul flower’s vine whip was incredibly strong, but it couldn’t find an invisible opponent. With his stealth characteristic, he could aim for I Love Gimbab without being threatened by the vine whip.

‘He doesn’t know that my unique skill is stealth…’

Even if he had acquired the ogre’s skill, it was unlikely that his senses would be extremely good.

‘I can shoot him with a grenade from a distance…’

Although the flight trajectory was slightly visible, it shouldn’t be slow enough to the point it could be avoided. Even if he reacts, it should be difficult for him to get out of the explosion radius.

‘Okay…’

If his subordinates got rid of the monster and zombies around the area, he thought there would be no problem in getting into the ambush position.

He must act quickly before he arrives.

Seong Sang-geun told his men.

“Open the way to the main body. I will go in.”

“Clan Leader. you can’t deal with him alone…”

“I won’t be the one dealing with him; it would be the ghoul flower. If I hide and fire a grenade, he’d have to dodge it as well as the vine whip.”

“Huh? That’s a good idea?” His subordinates also thought that the plan was a good one. So, the Itaewon Clan members decided to get together and attempt to drive out I Love Gimbap again.

A few of Seong Sang-geun’s subordinates drew a fuss, gathered monsters, and fired their guns.

Tatatatata-!!

Even the reinforced monster or zombies were powerless against the firepower of guns.

Seong Sang-geun took advantage of that opportunity to activate his stealth and waited to ambush I Love Gimbap at the front of the museum. It was a place where the whip of the vines could not reach.

‘I should leave no trace. There is no sound and he can’t see me.’

Seong Sang-geun had used this stealth ability to steal materials from other clans and steal information. Even I Love Gimbap wouldn’t be able to see him… He had no doubt about it.

‘There he is…’ He heard the noise and quickly inserted a grenade into the grenade launcher, but no sound was produced by it. His stealth unique skill was just that kind of skill.

Then, all of a sudden, ghouls came. After them, a few werewolves joined in and ripped the monsters apart.

Seong Sang-geun opened his eyes.

‘He’s bringing women to a fight?’ His eyes opened as she saw a woman hanging on the back of one of the werewolves.

Is that the ghoul queen?

Without paying any attention to him, the werewolves attacked the monsters with great power. In particular, the one werewolf which the short-haired woman was riding was very eye-catching. After all, it was blinking all over the place rather than moving with its feet.

‘What the hell…’ The woman and the werewolf worked so well together to the point he suspected that she’s stronger than I Love Gimbap.

Seong Sang-geun showed superhuman patience and waited. After all, his goal was to ambush I Love Gimbap, not the women.

However, I Love Gimbap still did not show up.

Where the hell are you?

The moment Seong Sang-geun, who was nervous, raised his head, he was shocked. He could see a person floating in the air.

‘Was his unique skill levitation?’

The large man in a black body armor was looking at him. To be precise, he must be looking at the ghoul flower that is surrounding the art museum.

‘It’s an opportunity.’ Seong Sang-geun was about to fire a grenade, but at the last moment, he stopped. Since he had killed once before, If he killed him while he’s in the air, he would become a murderer.

‘You bastard, come down!’

He bit his lip to keep his urge at bay. Fortunately, I Love Gimbap didn’t seem to know where he was.

‘Should I break his concentration first by shooting him?’

A lot of unique skills would lose their effectiveness when the user’s concentration was broken. His stealth was similar.

Seong Sang-geun was satisfied with his own thoughts and aimed the gun at I Love Gimbap’s feet.

‘You wouldn’t see it coming…’

Since the guy has ogre’s skill on his arsenal, his attack wouldn’t do much damage to him. However, it was enough to break his concentration. Unconsciously pulling the trigger, the bullet left the muzzle at high speed.

But, betraying his conviction, Seongho was not hurt at all. The bullet hit the dimension wall in front of him. Since he also kept his Super Sense skill active, he already knew that someone was nearby.

Seongho hurriedly jumped down, and a whip of vines greeted him.

Swwwwoooosh-!!

The mithril blade in his hand split the whip into two, and the sap was scattered in the air.

Seong Sang-geun smiled and pointed his grenade launcher at Seongho’s feet.

“Even if you don’t die, you’ll be close to death.” At that time, the ghouls flower would take care of the rest.

With a plopping sound, a grenade shot out of the muzzle. It flew towards Seongho at a speed which was difficult for a human to react to. But in that brief moment, Seongho found the location of the man.

He couldn’t hear the grenade being pushed out of the muzzle, but he felt the trajectory with his supersensory sense.

‘There he is…’ He flew away, but it was already too late. The grenade hit the floor, activating the shock fuse. Seongho could miraculously see underneath him before the explosion occurred. The dimensional wall turned on again, but it was impossible to completely cancel the shock. The lower part of his calf was tattered. Enduring the pain, Seongho threw some Emeras throwing knives towards the man’s location.

The throwing knives flew and struck Seong Sang-geun who was smiling on his knee. Level 2 body armor was insufficient to block weapons made of sharp materials like Emeras.

Therefore,

“UAAAAAGGHHH!” Seong Sang-geun’s stealth came undone and his body was now visible to anything present. Since he had a stealth unique skill, he had never experienced such suffering. Therefore, unlike Seongho, he couldn’t bear the pain and rolled over the floor.

As he was tormented by the pain and couldn’t think of anything, a vine whip came towards him. Seong Sang-geun was beaten by a whip and his mind became a blank sheet. And when it wrapped around his body, the greatest fear he ever felt washed over him.

“N-n-nooooo…”

Shh!

The landscape in his eyes changed in an instant as his body was thrown into the big plant sitting on the road. Before long, Dong Sang-geun experienced something which even Seongho felt he would rather die than to experience–being eaten alive by a ghoul flower.

The venom that filled the body of the plant slowly began to melt his skin.

“KUAAAAAAAAHHHHH.’ He roared. Seong Sang-geun scratched the wall of the lump, but his body did not have any strength to do more than that. He passed out from the excruciating pain. Meanwhile, the clan members were terrified when they saw their clan leader enter the main body of the plant.

In all of their minds, they had the same thought.

‘There’s no reason for me to stay in this place any longer.’

“Come on, let’s run away…”

“Run!”

Unfortunately for them, they were greeted by a large number of monster zombies and vine whips. The ghoul flower, which had tasted organic matter, blocked their way out and ended them all.

“AHHHHH!!!” A scream was heard from all over the place.

Mikyung quickly grabbed Seongho and ran to a nearby building. When they came inside, Da-jeong, who was waiting there, quickly ran and took care of his feet, which got caught in the explosion.

“This!!! Just what…”

“It’s okay. It’s healed already. Everything was fine.”

“What? Already?”

Seongho jumped up and turned his ankles, loosening his muscles.

“Uh-huh, It’s a lot better now. I didn’t get caught up in the explosion head-on. That’s why my feet didn’t break.”

“I think you are taking it too easily, Oppa…”

“I know right?” Da-jeong nodded her head at Mikyung’s words.

Anyway, the Itaewon Clan was almost wiped out, and now all that was left were the ghoul flower and the monsters.

Seongho was in a state of exhaustion, so it was difficult for him to go out right away.

“Is Seokhyun not here yet?”

Seokhyun appeared as if he had been waiting for the portal to open… With a large bruise on his face.

Da-jeong asked.

“What’s going on with your face?”

He grinned as he rubbed the bruise while eating a Hwajo meat.

“It was a gift from the Elderwood.”

“Elderwood? What the fuck happened?”