Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Since we didn’t know when the Battle Royale event would start, Da-jeong and I prolonged our stay in Ganghwa Island. The exact date was unknown, but after confirming the time through the video, it’s clear that the event began around this time.

I set three goals while staying on the island: The first one was to gather enough food. While moving here and there, the stockpiled food in my storage had decreased quite a bit. Though, if I add up all the food both in my storage and in the cave, I would be able to live comfortably for at least a few years. However, since I had something like an ‘obsessive-compulsive disorder’, or in short, OCD, I needed to fill in what was missing. It would only be when the shelter’s supplies were fully stocked that my heart could finally be at ease.

The second goal was expanding the shelter. With the gasoline I just got, it would be foolish if I decided to postpone the plan further. But, to be honest, the main reason why I wanted to do it now was due to the fact that it would be difficult to stock up more supplies inside the shelter, unless the shelter was expanded.

I did threw away some rice, but the empty spot it left was now filled with oil. If you go out of the cave and look at the vacant lot at this moment, there’s a lot of oil containers lining up here and there. It’s a nice sight to see indeed, but stacking them up to 3m in height was a bit…

The last goal, but not the least, was to explore the snow-covered mountains in the north. It was because of the map I obtained from the dungeon, as well as the ore veins which I discovered through the map I found in the stone monkey’s nest.

Meanwhile, Da-jeong didn’t stick to me and did her own thing. She and her ghoul horde swept all the marts in Ganghwa Island and looked especially for jellies in order to gain the trust of the scarabs.

When she heard that there was a lot of flat-headed gray mullet in the sea around the island, she went out to the sea to catch it. The method she used was amazing, to say the least. After checking where the mullets are, she sends her ghouls to the water to swim and spread a net.

With a smug expression painted on her face, she brought dozens of them and said:

“Did you say we had to secure food? I’ll do it for you, so just clean it up.”

“As expected, you are a wonderful woman.”

“Have you just realized that?”

I took all the fish into the cave, trimmed it, and packed it in a vacuum packaging machine. When I brought it out, Da-jeong was speechless.

“If it is stored this way, can it hold on for a long period of time?”

“If you bury it under the ground, it will last a few weeks. However, even if you can’t eat it all, you can just sell it to the Auction House.”

“You’re collecting points like that… You’re really….”

Well, point is synonymous to survival itself. So the more points, the better and easier my life would be. While Dajeong went back to farming, I plunged myself into expanding the shelter-the tedious task of cutting down trees with a chainsaw, digging the ground with a mini forklift, and moving the already-installed barbed wire fence.

Had I done this all by hand, I would have gone sick.

“It’s definitely good to have a lot of oil.”

The mini forklift roared through the forest all day long. Thanks to all the noises, more and more monsters came to my shelter.

Why are there so many monsters in this forest?

My conjecture was because the forest was bountiful, the monsters around the area filled it once there’s an empty spot.

And the reason for the empty spot? Of course, because I killed all the monsters I saw.

The scarabs were engrossed in bullet making, so me, Dingo, and Ding-soon were the only ones who went to defend our shelter. The two guys drew the attention of the monsters from the outside of the fence while I fired arrows at them using the ballista. Occasionally, when there was a gap, the two silver wolves would attack and rip the monster apart.

“Well done!” I said as we finished driving away the monsters who flocked towards the shelter. Then, I proceed to move the barbed wire into a new place.

By the way, it looked scarier than it used to be because it was discolored by the rust. Some monsters couldn’t even dream of approaching it, and even orcs will find it difficult to cross this fence.

“The problem is that those guys are pretty persistent, and they’re pretty smart as well…” Back then, an orc once tried to cross the fence by throwing some goblin corpses to it. Of course, the orc was clumsy and he fell over the barbed wire in the end, but it was a pretty worrying moment for me nevertheless. My shelter’s defense was completely dependent on the barbed wire fences, so if it broke, I wouldn’t be able to do anything else. In short, that orc’s action was pretty much a wake up call for me, who is too reliant on the barbed wire fence.

“Should we build a wall…”

I had a lot of cement and bricks in stock, so there was no problem in making a wall using them. It would be perfect if the wall was built about 3m behind the fences. The problem was, by doing so, my field of view would be greatly limited.

Even if I put holes on it, it would still be very difficult to respond to the monsters’ movement. And if I did that, I won’t be able to see the beautiful scenery of the forest.

This place was not a country house, but seeing the scenery that always changes in the morning and evening kind of heals my weary mind.

“Let’s just not do it.” Afterall, a wise man once said, it’s best not to do it when you’re not sure whether to do it or not.

I continued to expand the shelter over the course of two days. Thanks to that, the space of the shelter went up from 200 pyeong to 300 pyeong.

“It’s good to have a lot of space, but it’s definitely going to attract even more monsters.” But since the scarabs were now able to make bullets, defending would be slightly easier, as I can just shoot them with guns.

Dingo and Ding-soon were running around. Just looking at them, I realized that it was a good idea to expand the shelter. I went into the cave and checked the work of the scarabs.

“…” They were only one or two steps away from completion. The scarab leader was assembling the detonator and the bullethead into the casing. What was more surprising is that they even made a dedicated clamp for assembling purposes. With that device, there was no need to hold it. The bullet was attached to the clamp and they just had to do some click-by-click to adjust the position and assemble it.

“It’s really great.”

The scarab leader put the bullets in a straight line with great care. Then, he put the bullethead into a wooden case and pounded it with a small hammer, so it was firmly attached to the casing. When I checked the wooden case lying nearby, I saw a groove longer than the length of the bullethead itself.

“They did this so the tip of the bullethead wouldn’t get crushed.” Surely, these guys were artisans. As soon as they understood the structure of the bullet, they identified its characteristics and used it immediately.

By the way, the bullets, which were about to be completed, were bullets for the revolver. Afterall, there’s only one Togarev and one K2, but I had two revolvers. I could at least spare one of it for experiment purposes. My stomach will still churn if it is broken, though.

A few minutes later, the scarab leader brought the finished bullet to me.

“I believe it will work well because you made it.” The guys scratched their heads simultaneously at my words. I put the scarabs on my shoulders and went out of the cave.

“This round thing will spin after we shoot…” This was my first time using a revolver, because until now, I had only used both K2 and Togarev. Fortunately, the bullet fits right into the chamber. It was as if it wore clothes that fit its body precisely as it is, without it being too baggy or too tight.

“Great.” I aimed the revolver against the tree in the distance. I could see the scarabs on my shoulders covering their head at the same time.

Are you covering your ears?

Well, if you can understand what I’m saying, you should have ears.

Then,

I pulled the trigger.

Bang-!!

With a roaring sound, the tree was smashed and shards were blown away to all directions. It was a success. The cylinder then opened and a mini hot cartridge case was spit out onto the floor through the front axle.

Hey hey!

The scarabs danced on my shoulders.

“Wow, you guys are really great.” I was looking forward to it, but I’m still surprised. Afterall, even though they had the blueprint, that doesn’t mean that they would be able to make it perfectly, and even more, on the first try. They must have gone through a lot of trial and error to make this.

“You guys did a really good job. Thank you for your hard work.” I gave the scarabs a lot of food for doing this wonderful job. The guys were so excited to the point they did a butt dance.

This gave me a supply of something I desperately need in this world: bullets. As it was handmade by the scarabs, the supply was not large, but the fact that I have it is still the most important of all.

I asked indifferently. “How much will you be able to produce in a day?”

The scarab leader pondered for a moment, then stretched out three of his claws towards me. It’s small at first glance, but I’m quite satisfied with that, since I won’t always need to use these bullets, so I can just pile them up.

“After ten days, I will have 30 shots.” Then the scarab leader carefully drew a picture on the ground. When I looked at it, the picture depicted something about rescuing scarabs which were trapped in a place like iron bars.

“You’re saying there are more scarabs like you guys out there? And you want me to rescue them?”

nod nod.

Why did you tell me now…

No wait…

He might have thought that he should tell me after I give them my full trust. Now that they have an important role that I needed, they must have assumed that I would grant the request. I would have listened to it if they just asked, so why?

“Good. Let’s go rescue them together… But not now. I still have work to do.” After the Battle Royale event is over, I will go to Seoul. It was due to the fact that Da-jeong insisted that I have to raise my level.

The scarabs rushed to show their gratitude as if they were satisfied with my words alone.

They also did the ass dance.

Stop now…

Please.

(E/n MORE SCARABS YEAAA)

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Many people reached level 15 and entered the Auction House while Seongho was busy. Naturally, just like the internet back in the old days, the atmosphere of the Auction House was chaotic. If someone watches the Auction House all day, they will see that it was littered with all kinds of bullshit, abusive language, and gossip.

Well, it was only a matter of course, since being anonymous, as well as having to pay absolutely nothing to write a comment, will result in that kind of thing.

But even in this gutter, some credible piece of information could also be found.

It was about the Battle Royale event.

Rumors about an amazing event were creeping up.

Someone mentions it too.

Huh? I’ve heard about that too.

So on so forth. The rumor spread wider and wider with every second passed. And in the end, someone compiled the info of the Battle Royale event under one auction item. And people naturally start to talk about it in that item.

-No one knows the date the Battle Royale event will be held, but it is clear that it will be in the near future.

-You need to enter a portal to participate in the Battle Royale event.

-Like other dungeons, you can only enter it once. But, once the event started, you wouldn’t be able to come out.

-If you enter, your abilities, including items, will be limited by the system. Items do not pass through the portal and fall off, so be sure to store them in advance.

-Battle Royale’s battlefield is not limited to one, and the map and item respawn locations are fixed.

-Until there’s only one person left, the battlefield will keep narrowing and the monsters will also grow stronger.

-If you did not manage to become the final winner in the Battle Royale event, your character will be deleted.

For the people, everything was fine except for the last sentence. Because in reality, character deletion meant death. Which means, in the Battle Royale event, If 100 people participate, 99 people will die.

Comments from people who were angry about the rule poured out.

-Are they fu**ing crazy? Just who will do an event where 99 people die?

-That’s why even back in the game, there weren’t many people who participated. They had raised their character and poured so much resource on it, so it’s annoying if it gets deleted.

-But there was a guy who tried it continuously.

-Is he that bastard?

-Yep

When this comment was posted, the comment section was filled with resignation and more anger.

-Ah…

-Sh*t.

-This time, that bastard will win again it seems.

-Wait, you b*st*rds! Think well! This time, his stats will be the same as us. It will be an opportunity for us.

-Yeah! The stats, skill and item were all limited. So there’s nothing he could do.

-What about unique skills? It wasn’t there in Seola.

-IMO, it will also be limited.

-Are you saying that if we participated, we would be able to see I Love Gimbap?

-You will risk your life to see I Love Gimbap’s face? You are crazy.

-I bet he will cover his face with a mask.

-But, didn’t items can’t pass through the portal? So should he enter in naked state?

-Yeah.

-So who will participate?

Comments came up one after another, but no one really believed the words ‘I am participating’. Afterall, as always, the Auction House was the home of the shi*tiest bull*hit. On top of it, there’s no one in the Auction House who didn’t put their lives above all. As dangerous as it is, the rewards are huge, but since no one has ever won first place, no one even dares to dream to get it.

Only three people knew about the inside of the Battle Royale.

“…one of them is folding. I won the first Battle Royale event back in the game.”

“Ah… that’s right…”

The man and woman looked at Geom-in with respectful eyes. They both weren’t high level, so they didn’t know what was going on in the world. In the other words, they are extremely gullible. Because even after the end, they lived mainly for survival without any special hunting.

When they met Geom-in in Incheon, they had a bit of a misunderstanding, but fortunately it was resolved without a bloodshed between them. According to him, he was the one who told the government the early information, and he’s now in the government shelter.

The woman asked towards Geom-in. “Uh… can we enter the government shelter too?”

“It will be difficult. Because you have to be introduced by someone who is already inside to get in. It’s the government shelter, so there are a lot of secrets, you know?”

As Geom-in lowered his voice, the man and woman looked at each other and then nodded their heads. In fact, they have had a pretty good life so far. But they were still wasn’t sure they would be able to survive further. Afterall, all kinds of even-more-powerful monsters will appear. Can they really live while avoiding them like what they are doing now?

While they were thinking about it, they met Geom-in. Then, he tells them about the government shelter; A safe place where all VIPs, including the president, are staying.

Every survivor wanted to enter it.

“Wh…what should we do to get in? If Mr. Geom-in introduces us…”

“Before I introduce you guys, wouldn’t we need some trust between us? Even if it’s not trusting our lives to each other, we can just trust each other, right?”

It wasn’t difficult. The three went hunting with the swordsman and ate together. However, throughout the course, both of them were surprised by the fact that Geom-in was stronger than they thought. However, they were surprised once again when he told them that the power he currently uses was only 30% of his overall ability.

“To survive in this world, you have to hide about 70% of your skills.”

He spoke out words that would have been ridiculed if Seongho had heard it. After all, he’s just a copier. In any case, the men and women admired his knowledge rather than his skills and sincerely wanted to survive together.

Then at one point, marksmanship and restrain-type unique skills appeared in Geom-in’s status window. If he had obtained the Griffon’s Eye skill back in the farming dungeon, the unique skill he just got will shine even more brightly. But it was a pity.

‘It’s done.’ Geom-in used his blink ability to disappear from the sight of the two people. The two of them, who were abandoned in an instant, were a little concerned, but they had no choice but to accept it.

Afterall, isn’t it already a relief that he didn’t kill them in this apocalyptic world?

‘It’s not like they’re going to government shelters anyway.’

Moving between cities requires considerable skill and luck. However, that alone was impossible for both of them in the first place. Geom-in, who instigated the plan, was also responsible for it, but to be deceived in the apocalypse was a sin itself.

He shook off his uneasiness and checked the map of Incheon.

‘I have to enter the battlefield in the area which is close to the Chinese settlement.’ The reason was because they don’t know anything about the Battle Royale event. Heck, a lot of them still don’t know about monster’s characteristics and other events. Therefore, it wouldn’t be difficult to be the winner among them.

The problem is other Koreans…

‘Rapwi wouldn’t be a problem since he went somewhere else… But Da-jeong…’

Geom-in couldn’t figure out where she went. He was upset with Jang Won-taek, who didn’t tell him about such an important issue.

Has he ever met Gimbap?

That’s the worst thing possible…

Geom-in crumpled the map as he thought so. Even if the two met, the probability of them remaining in Incheon was not high.

‘They probably went to Seoul.’

The fact that reports of sightings did not appear on the Auction House was probably because they’re on the move. If it was Gimbap, he would have prepared for the Battle Royale event by himself,, but…

‘No, he definitely won’t.’

Even so, he shouldn’t have been around here. Geom-in unfolded and traced it with his finger. After a while, he thought that it would be better to go to Yeongjong Island.

‘Afterall, it was the place where a lot of those stipid Chinese people reside…’ If there’s a pretty girl amongst them, he could take her with him. Once he decides, he uses his blink again while using several islands in-between as a foothold.

At the same time, Seongho and Da-jeong found a portal just outside the area where the oil storage was located. Since Da-jeong had no intention of participating, she decided to enter the portal to just look at the terrain before coming back out.

After checking the inside, she crossed to Earth again and walked to Seongho. When he heard the words fly out from Da-jeong’s mouth, his expression changed.

“Is there perhaps snow on the top of the mountain? And is there a lake?”

“Oh, that’s right. Do you know that place?

“Yeah, I know. It’s near my shelter.”

“REALLLLYYY?” Da-jeong tried to enter the portal again, but was pushed away by it. Fuming, she kicked the portal violently.

“Hurry up! Open up!”

Of course, the portal didn’t even answer.