Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Seokhyun and I finally found Exhibition Hall 1 where the owlbears had run away to. Once we entered, Mikyung and Yoohyeon were already waiting for us there.

“Oppa!”

“Hyung!”

When I saw the two of them run out from their hiding place, I realized that there were only two of them in this place. Da-jeong grabbed Mikyung, who moved towards us with her Blink, and pinched her cheeks.

“This girl, you don’t even care about me, do you?”

“S-sorry, unnie…”

I grabbed Yoohyeon by the shoulder and asked. “Why did you guys come all the way here? You guys should’ve stayed in the shelter.”

“She told me we should help, so here I am.”

When my gaze fell at Mikyung, the girl quickly avoided my eyes. There’s only one dungeon, there’s no need for them to help at all. On top of it, there are a lot of monsters around the area, so it’s quite dangerous. However, when the nagging words threatened to leave my mouth, I bit my lips. Both of them were adults. They were also quite strong. It’s a bit awkward to meddle in their decision.

I turned my back and said.

“Yoohyeon, you should scout the area. You too, Mikyung.”

“Okay!”

Several paper planes flew over the area in an instant. Meanwhile, I was amazed when I looked around the exhibits. It’s the same place I saw in the textbook when I was still a kid.

On my side, Seokhyun stroked a wooden statue–one of the very few pieces of art which hadn’t crumbled yet.

“This is the Gilt-bronze Maitreya in Meditation. It is a national treasure.”

“Huh? Why is the Gilt-bronze Maitreya in Meditation so small?” Da-jeong raised a question.

“The statue of Gilt-bronze Maitreya in Meditation that we saw in textbooks is in the National Museum of Korea.” Seokhyun explained.

Despite this surprising fact, I was more taken aback by the fact that Seokhyun went to school and even knew about the statue.

How did he live through it with his antics that is unacceptable in Korean society?

We forgot to track the owlbears for a moment and fell in love with antique art. Metal relics had been destroyed for a long time, but old books, white porcelain, and paintings were still intact.

“This is so pretty…” Da-jeong pulled out the white porcelain from between the glasses.

I wanted to take it too, but our shelter was in a deficit of spaces. It was difficult enough to make room to stock survival items, so there was naturally no place to store these things.

When we went up to the second floor, there were relics that caught my eye everywhere.

“Isn’t that Kim Hong-do’s painting?”

“It’s bigger than I thought.”

“Hey! Don’t touch it!”

I pushed my awe away and expanded my senses to search for traces of the owlbear. From the above, I could hear a distinctive cry.

“Let’s go kill the owlbear.” Seokhyun said as he took the lead.

Da-jeong and her ghouls were still in trance because of the white porcelain. so we decided to leave her alone. After all, it’s not like we were hunting strong monsters. When we reached the 4th floor, the owlbear was walking aimlessly in the circular room.

At that moment, two survivors with guns appeared from our opposite sides. I quickly dragged Seokhyun and hid behind the pillar. The owlbear sniffed us and roared, and the two survivors shouted.

“Are you I Love Gimbap-nim? Let’s talk for a second!”

What are these guys doing in front of owlbear?

“We will wait for you on the 3rd floor.” A calm female voice rang out.

The girl made more sense than the guy before.

The owlbear ran towards us at that moment, probably excited to see humans suddenly appearing.

KYUUOOOHHHH~!!

Seokhyun clenched his fist and ran towards it. After acquiring the skill of Shield Sniffles, his defense had increased tremendously. However, the claws of his opponent–the owlbear–weren’t something to be scoffed at, either. Even without any processing, the claws could be used as a weapon whose performance dwarfed many store-bought items.

Seokhyun jumped as if he was ready to be embraced by the owlbear. But, before he hit it, he changed direction, avoiding the monster. The large owl monster pounded its head against a pillar, and the surroundings shook.

Seokhyun wrapped the rest of his panties around the owlbear’s neck, trying to strangle it. However, he was met by a violent resistance, The two rolled around destroying the surrounding art before eventually dropping down to the floor.

“Eugh!” Just then, a groan erupted from Seokhyun’s mouth. He’s going to be in a lot of pain because he was squashed by a monster who weighs 400 kilos. But, since he is a very strong human being, I didn’t have to worry about it.

“Seokhyun-ah, you should start finishing it off…”

He listened to me and quickly rolled away from owlbear. When I saw him slowly scratching his panties, I realized something was wrong with him.

“I tried to do it in a hand-to-hand battle, but it didn’t work. Its neck is too thick.”

“You need a blade to pierce those feathers and skin.” Or a gun. In fact, the last monster in which hand-to-hand combat was still effective was werewolf. The monsters appearing after them were all big and strong, their fist and feet alone wasn’t enough to kill them. Back in the game we did it because there was really nothing else to do. But here, where one mistake would make us lose our life, there’s no reason to do so.

“Take this.”

When I pulled the mithril blade from the slot and flung it to him, Seokhyun tilted his head.

“Is it okay for you to not kill it?”

“My skill slot is full.” I shrugged. Though, if I took off my shoes, the Light Gait skill would disappear from the skills slot, allowing me to acquire one more skill. But compared to the skills owlbear could give, Light Gait was still a league better. It’s not like he could get rid of Fighting Instincts, too.

Seokhyun nodded and jumped right into the owlbear.

“KYUOOOOOHHH!!!!”

Crunch-!!

The hunt was soon over. All its claws were cut off, and shortly thereafter its head was separated from its body. I looked over the fallen monster and found several wounds on its body.

Just who shot it with a gun, I wonder?

Then the pair who had gone down to the third floor approached us. As I jerked my head towards their direction, the man stopped and raised his hand. And then, the woman equipped with body armor who stood beside him took a step forward.

“We have no intention of attacking you. We just want to talk. This man is Oh Jung-min, and I am Kim Ji-eun.”

The man’s face was quite handsome. Meanwhile, the women had a face which I felt I had seen somewhere before.

“By any chance, do you know President Kim?”

They both nodded at my question.

“We know a little bit about him. But we don’t work together.”

Seokhyun released his strength from his fists at their answer. If the relationship between them and President Kim was deep, the two would be lying on the floor by now.

I proposed to both. “I’m busy right now, so let’s talk later. If you tell me the location of your hideout, I will find you.”

If they showed any negative feedback at my suggestion, I’ll wrap this matter here. Fortunately, the answer they gave me was positive. The man said that they live in Mo Villa in Hannam-dong.

“Isn’t that a very expensive villa?”

“It’s not… ah! Yes, it is a bit pricey. I think I bought it for 10 billion won?”

Considering the fact that he doesn’t feel that 10 billion won was a big deal, that guy must be a chaebol. Although I have little knowledge about chaebols, I know a little bit of the Oh family.

“By any chance, are you from Mirae Group?”

Oh Jung-min’s face brightened a little as if he was happy that I knew him.

“You’re right. I was the finance director of Mirae Group.”

He looks about the same age as me, but sigh… Though, it’s natural since he’s born with a diamond spoon on his mouth.

Seokhyun, who had caught Kim Ji-eun’s attention by cutting the owlbear’s claws, stood up. “But you guys, do you know that President Kim and a few others are dead?”

The two seemed to be surprised by Seokhyun who nonchalantly spoke with them informally. But they quickly realized that it was one of Seokhyun’s habit and responded accordingly.

“If President Kim is dead, what about Director Lee?”

I nodded at their question. “They tried to brainwash me by dragging me into their bunker. Killed them both and some other people behind them.”

“Probably Yun Dong-hoon, Kim Seung-guk, Jin Yu-seong…”

I think those names were names I’d heard a lot somewhere, but oh well. Oh Jung-min couldn’t hide his tension, but Kim Ji-eun was still calm.

“That’s good. We didn’t even think about cooperating with them anyway. We are always I Love Gimba’s… Uh… Sorry, but can I ask for your name?”

“It’s Kang Seongho. That guy is Hwang Seokhyun.”

“I heard a lot about the two of you. We hope to build a cooperative relationship with you… As long as you allow it.”

“It depends on what you can give us.”

“You won’t be disappointed. Isn’t that right, boss?”

“Uh, uh, Yes!”

The hierarchy between them should be the boss and subordinates. But it was clear that the woman was the one who took the lead.

At that moment, I heard a loud voice coming from below.

Is Da-jeong angry? But why?

“I’m a little busy right now, so let’s talk later.”

“We’ll be waiting for you, we’d like to hear from you.”

The two disappeared, and Seokhyun tilted his head.

“How do you feel about them?”

“They don’t look like they have any ulterior motives.”

“That’s something we’ll find out later.”

I nodded at Seokhyun’s words. After all, there’s no guarantee that the villa wouldn’t explode as soon as we entered. Seokhyun and I left the room and walked to the third floor. As I went down the stairs, an ominous noise could be heard.

“What the…”

Thud-!!

The windows shook as the sound was heard. Curious, we looked out the window at the same time. What welcomed us was a monster that we haven’t seen in a long time. A gray muscular monster with a bloated body that towers at the height of over 4 meters.

It was an Ogre..

Seokhyun was startled and jumped out of the window before I could even stop him.

Th-th-that crazy guy!!!!!

The footsteps from the stairs was the one that distract me from cursing more at my friend’s recklessness. It was Yoohyeon and Mikyung.

“Op-oppa! A new monster has appeared!”

“It’s an Ogre.”

“Yes?”

As their eyes widened, someone slammed into the window and the concrete above us.

“Kyaaa!”

“Ugh!”

The children were terrified and rolled away. When that ‘something’ limped as he tried to jump towards the Ogre again, I sighed as that ‘something’ was nothing but my crazy friend.

“That guy… Strong.”

“It’s not something you fight with your body alone.”

It looked like he had suffered a huge blow as his side was dark and bruised. I pulled Seokhyun’s body out and supported him.

“Let’s go downstairs.” As I took the lead, Yoohyeon and Mikyung followed. Then a scream was heard from outside. The Ogres began to destroy the pavilion.

.

.

.

What makes Ogres different from other monsters was their incredible physical abilities. In particular, it has great stamina and defense. Its regenerative ability was also excellent, so to kill an ogre, several people had to engage in hit and run warfare.

Such a monster appeared in the museum.

How?

“As the dungeon exploded, the Ogres also popped out, no doubt.”

“We can’t afford to kill that!!” Da-jeong shouted as she looked at the monster. Everyone turned their heads to it. The Ogre was flaunting its arms, ransacking the ground floor of the art gallery as if it had sinned against it. Buildings built by large corporations with huge sums of money were of no use in the face of its power. With a cracking and thudding sound, the building began to fall.

“Mikyung, you take Yoohyeon and ran away. If you aggroed it for nothing, you will die.”

“Okay Oppa!”

“And you two go inside the portal and find the rocket.”

“Are we going to fight it?”

“We have to kill that thing.”

To be honest, I’m not confident we would win. That guy was not an ordinary Ogre. It’s an Ogre who was strengthened by the Catastrophe Dungeon. I couldn’t even guess what additional skills it had.

At that time, Oh Jung-min and Kim Ji-eun, who had gone down to the first floor, appeared. The two found the Ogre and completely froze.

“Run quickly!” I screamed.

The woman grabbed the man’s arm and started running. The Ogre chased after them while shaking the area with every step it took. It then uprooted a tree and threw it towards the running pair.

KUUUAAAAGGGHH-!!

It’s chaos. Fortunately, the two were able to escape to Exhibition Hall 2. The sole reason they were able to keep their lives was because the Ogre was so large that it was blocked by the structure.

KUUUUAAAAGGGGH-!!

Out of anger, the guy began to destroy the structure itself. That behaviour was what makes the Ogres dangerous. Concealment and cover did not impede them at all. In a world where Corrosive Disease had spread, few things could withstand his strength.

“Oppa, we’ll go first!”

“Be careful.”

Mikyung and Yoohyeon disappeared at that moment. When I opened the portal, I heard gunshots from somewhere. I wondered what was going on, and several fully armed soldiers opened fire on the Ogre.

Kuugghh-!!

The Ogre shrugged his body and rushed forward. It catapulted itself at an unimaginable speed for its size.

“Avoid it!” The soldiers rolled over in fright, but unfortunately one of them was rammed by it. Blood was scattered on its clenched fist, the street and the wall.

“It’s really strong.”

Was the effect of Catastrophe Dungeon this good?

As I carefully moved to another side of the building, I saw Hyun-woo’s face.

“Combined the grenade launcher! Team 1! Shoot!”

Meanwhile, several grenades flew at the feet of the Ogre.

BOOM-!!

The earth trembled and dust rose. The Ogre screamed, but all in all it was fine. Fragments of the grenade which was stuck in its leg were pushed out as the wound closed.

Why is its defense so high?

Seems like 100 shots wouldn’t be enough to fell it. At least a thousand shots were needed.

When I went out to the garden, I saw Jang Won-taek and Lee Beom-seok were standing there. They both found me and asked.

“Seongho! Do you know what happened?”

“It was a Catastrophe Dungeon, so an Ogre came out. The entrance was torn.”

“Is that so…”

“Anyway, our Major Kim is doing well.”

In Jang Won-taek’s eyes, it would appear that the Ogre could not keep up with the soldiers’ fire. It was actually hit by a grenade and was also hit by bullets, so it appeared to be nothing but a sitting duck.

But my thoughts were different.

“It would be better to order them to retreat.”

“Yes? But…”

BANG-!!

Hyun-woo stepped back, ducked into one of his knees, and pulled the trigger of the anti-tank rocket. The warhead flew in an arc. But to our surprise, it was caught by the Ogre.

At that moment, the fuse was activated and a spectacular explosion occurred.

KUOOOOOHHH-!!

The Ogre got caught up in the explosion, screaming and stomping backwards.

He caught that?

Jang Won-taek and Lee Beom-seok were at a loss for words and opened their mouths.

“Everyone will die. Hurry up.”

“President.”

“Major Kim! Major Kim!”

Hyun-woo looked this way, but he had no intention of backing down.

“I think we just need to attack a little more!”

“Stop attacking and retreat immediately!”

“We can’t! Please, just a little bit more!”

Was Hyun-woo always this stubborn? He seemed to be faithful to his orders.

I took the Ogre’s hesitation and moved to the corner. As I opened the portal, a tree filled my field of vision.

Dammit!!

I barely spread the dimension wall and blocked the tree. With a squeak, the tree broke and the branches brushed past my face.

I heard the Ogre roar.

KUOOOOHHHH-!!

Its roar was qualitatively different from other monsters. Its deafening roar literally shook the air.

I shouted at Hyun-woo, who was loading rockets. “You idiot! Run away!”

“…”

He glanced at me and clenched his teeth.

What a stubborn guy.