Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

ROAAAAAAAAAARRR-!!

The ogre’s roar traveled to every corner of the area. Unlike before which just made the survivors flinch, this roar made their legs shake and they suffered from stats reduction.

「Buff: Fear」

The debuff effect wouldn’t dissipate just because the ogre stopped roaring. Thanks to that, the task of killing the ogre had become monumentally harder.

Kim Hyun-woo, rose to feet, disregarding how wobbly they were. His men were still shooting the ogre albeit the palpable fear he could see on their face; buying him time.

‘I just need one hit.’ Kim Hyun-woo gritted his teeth. He glanced at Seongho from the corner of his eyes. He seemed to be preparing something, but he didn’t mind it at all. He must kill the ogre with a rocket before he could use whatever he’s preparing.

‘As long as we have a gun, monsters are nothing.’ Major Hyun-woo recalled how happy he was when the gun was excavated from the sealing room and he received it. He also felt something similar to ecstasy when reaping the lives of the monsters using the guns.

But..

‘That ogre bastard…’ Hyun-woo looked at the ogre with eyes full of hostility. It had killed two of his men. It was on the verge of disintegrating the assault team he had created and trained shortly after it made its debut!

If they couldn’t achieve any success here, what would the President think of them?

‘I will kill it.’ Only when this was achieved would he become the man who would lead the military to bring peace to the world. It was an important task that could not be entrusted to the Stagnant Waters who have a tendency to do whatever they like.

‘I have to end it with this rocket.’ It would have been nice if he could put a rocket warhead in the ogre mouth. But, he knew that he wasn’t someone who was strong enough to do that. After all, the ogre showed a ludicrous agility despite its size. It was way faster than him and his men.

BABABABABABAM-!!!

The assault team threw everything they had at the ogre. Everytime a grenade exploded, the earth trembled and dust blanketed the area. The amount of time his subordinates bought for him was like gold–incredibly precious.

Hyun-woo did not miss the opportunity and mounted another rocket launcher to his shoulder. Once he pulled the trigger, the warhead popped out and zoomed towards the ogre.

KUAAAAAAAAAKKKK-!!

Did we get it?

It was the thought that popped into everyone’s mind. Unfortunately for them, the ogre slowly rose from its crouched position. The warhead Hyun-woo just shot was held in its hand.

“Impossible!” Major Kim Hyun-woo and his assault team couldn’t believe what was happening in front of them. The ogre easily crumpled the warhead like it was nothing but made of tin.

KUOOOOH-!!

The ogre’s eyes turned red; it was activating some sort of skill. The strong monster was further strengthened.

Looking at the ogre, Seongho, who just finished preparing for an attack, fled without thinking twice; leaving only words of advice behind.

“If you want to live, run away!”

However, Major Kim Hyun-woo did not issue a retreat order.

Hundreds of concrete shards floated up as the ogre stomped the ground. When the ogre roared, the shards flew in all directions, reminding everyone present of what happened when a grenade exploded. When it hit the soldiers around the ogre, their bodies turned into honeycomb and their lives were reaped.

Thankfully, Major Kim Hyun-woo didn’t die thanks to him being a little bit farther than his subordinates. However, he didn’t escape unschatched either. Blood was pooling under him as he suffered fatal wounds.

“KUOOOOHH-!!!!”

At that time, Lee Beom-seok appeared beside Major Kim Hyun-woo and took him away.

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As I was watching the ogre butchering the soldiers, Mikyung showed up beside me with Sooyeon in tow.

“Sooyeon-ssi?”

She looked flustered at my question before looking at me and nodded.

“Mi-mikyung said she wanted to help, so…”

“Hehe.”

Hehe my ass… it’s not something to laugh about. There was no way she could do anything in this circumstance. In fact, it would be the same no matter who came.

I beckoned to the two of them to come closer to where I stood, the railing. At that moment, Yoohyeon came up to the roof. Looking at the three of them, I opened the portal. Seokhyun and Da-jeong opened their mouths when they saw the berserk ogre rampaging around.

“Is there any way to kill that?”

“Right now? None.” I shook my head. “We have to wait for its berserk to end before moving.”

Berserk is a skill that lowers the caster’s defense but greatly increases their attack power. It was a strong skill, but in my opinion, it did not work well with humans. After all, it would only make the already weak human weaker.

Beside the earlier effect, the berserk skill also affected the roar of the ogre. So it was almost impossible to resist the debuff the roar caused.

KUOOOOHHHHH-!!

The ogre swung its fist around, destroying the art gallery more and more. I could see the building tilting every time its fist slammed against the wall. Moreover, whenever its feet stomped the ground, webs of cracks spread on the asphalt.

Destroying the terrain was possible to some extent even for monsters that appeared after the mid-game. But there was no other guy who could do like the ogre. If it was given enough time, it would turn the area into flat ground.

“It’s really strong…”

“Is that monster the final boss?”

Da-jeong, who heard Sooyeon’s question, pointed at me. “According to him, it is not. Stronger monsters will appear later.”

“Sigh…” The three paled and let out a sighs of resignation at the information. Well, it’s only natural for them to behave like that. For them, even werewolves and trolls should be difficult monsters to deal with. So, fighting ogre might feel like an impossible thing to do. And yet, the monster was not even the final boss.

Contrary to the dejected three, Seokhyun was restless. His whole body twitched as one of his feet tapped the ground in fast tempo. It’s easy to see what he was thinking: he wanted to fight the ogre. But he also understood that he was not strong enough to do it. In fact, it’s a tough opponent even if they all rush together.

At that time, Lee Beom-seok appeared with Jang Won-taek. The two looked at us and were even more surprised when they looked down at the ogre.

“A monster that I only hear about. Modern weapons don’t work against it. What a humbling experience…'”

“That’s not entirely correct. Right now, It has been strengthened by the influence of the Catastrophe Dungeon. On top of it, it also has been strengthened again because of its berserk skill. Without those two things, it wouldn’t be that strong.”

As I corrected him, Jang Won-taek massaged his tired eyes with his fingers. “All the soldiers are dead. Major Kim also withdrew. What should we do?”

Now that all of his subordinates were dead, Hyun-woo wouldn’t be able to stand the shame. It was something I wanted to prevent by telling him to run away. But he ignored it.

“It is best to run away.”

“Sigh…”

It’s almost impossible to fight an ogre with our current strength. But it was not that there was no way at all. I looked at the face of the former President. His unique skill was still unknown to me until now. It’s definitely not just telepathy.

“I don’t know anything about your unique skill, Mister President. Care to tell us about it?”

Jang Won-taek sighed and opened his mouth. “My unique skill is called Conductor. Those who believe in me can get an exclusive buff. Of course I can give it to anyone too.”

“Aha.” I nodded.

Lee Beom-seok got a little excited and intervened. “The President’s unique skill is no joke. It increases people’s stats by almost 1.5 times.”

Huh?

Increasing stats by 1.5?

My eyes drifted towards Sooyeon at that moment. She seemed like she was at a loss of words and only smiled at me. A good idea came to mind just before Da-jeong kicked my ass.

How strong will my Lethal Strike be once Sooyeon’s and Jan Won-taek’s buffs were added on top of my Fighting Instinct?

Even if the effect of Catastrophe Dungeon will still continue for a little bit longer, the berserk skill will end soon. Once it comes to that point, the ogre will be in an exhausted state…

If we strike at that window…

“Everyone, please hear me out.”

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It was surprisingly quiet around the museum. It was not an exaggeration to say that peace was reached except for the ogre tantrums. The survivors had long hid because of the ogre’s power; the monsters that came from the portal were also crushed by the ogre; and the zombie raid that happened also stopped as most of the zombies and ghouls were killed by the ogre.

The monster in question was currently sprawling on the floor huffing because of the aftereffect of berserk skill. But suddenly, a small paper airplane flew and exploded, breaking the peace.

The ogre was still strong enough even in its current state. Therefore, the explosion didn’t leave any wound on it. But it seemed to bother him, so he took a deep breath and jumped up.

GROAAAAAAR-!!

As it pounded on the floor, debris exploded into the surroundings. Paper planes fell down like rain, and the ogre was satisfied.

But an enemy suddenly appeared before its eyes. It was Seokhyun.

“Hey! Ogre! Let me show you the spiciness of a little pepper!”

The ogre roared and rushed towards Seokhyun. Its movement was fast compared to its size. But Seokhyun, who activated all his skills and got buff from the moon tangerine, was faster than him. He rolls sideways and uses the recoil to jump at the ogre.

“I rolled for momentum!”

Puck!

Seokhyun’s fist connected with the ogre’s head, but the monster didn’t take much damage. The power behind it could only make its head slightly tilt to the side.

The ogre tried to swat Seokhyun away, but something invisible was blocking it.

Using that split second, Seokhyun stepped back and shook his hand.

“Ouch… Even with the glove, I can’t damage it.”

He was wearing the gloves that Seongho had lent him. Even though Seongho and Da-jeong had told him that he shouldn’t fight any monster with his bare hand anymore, he was still doing it. In the first place, his way of life was accepting any advice but only doing it if he wanted to.

Because of the fact that his punch didn’t do any damage, Seokhyun’s fighting spirit was ignited. He didn’t have any tier 3 skills or tier 3 gear right now, but he enjoyed fighting. Even if he died, he could just come back to life after all.

Meanwhile, an arrow flew towards the ogre. It did no harm to the ogre, but the guys still waved its stretched arms in annoyance. Seokhyun ran again, but with a swat he was sent to the building behind him. At that time, Da-jeong appeared with the ghouls. The Grasshopper’s quick movements obstructed the ogre’s sight, and the tank blocked the guy from the front.

Of course, even the Tank was not enough to stop the ogre. Every time it fell back because of punches, Sooyeon’s healing wave healed it. The doctor had a surprised expression on her face the first time it happened. She clearly didn’t know she could heal the ghouls.

The cycle kept repeating just like a cog. Thanks to that, the ogre was constantly attacked and beaten. Although the damage was not great, it was accumulating.

Grr-!!!!

The ogre’s eyes reddened again. Using berserk skill in succession would only make the aftereffect worse. But the ogre didn’t care. It roared again, blowing away everything around him without exception. As the surroundings became quiet, the ogre flopped down, as if satisfied with it.

It was at that time that Seongho, who was hiding inside his portal, fired an M72 rocket.

BOOM-!!

A deafening explosion erupted from the ogre’s abdomen as the warhead hit it. A shock wave swept and forced it to fall on its back.

Mikyung took Seongho and moved to the air right above the ogre’s head. Once they were there, her feet lightly stepped on the dimension wall and disappeared once again. All that was left was Seongho, who was falling with an adamant spear loaded with grenades.

Crunch-!!

The adamant spear pierced the ogre’s mouth. The ogre swung its arms with all its might, and Seongho unfolded the dimensional wall again to block it.

Unfortunately for him, something which hadn’t happened until now happened. There was a sound of glass breaking as the fist pushed his dimensional wall.

Seongho’s eyes opened wide. Never did he think that his dimensional wall would break. Even the Sniffles and the mad doctor weren’t able to do it! The ogre’s arm broke through the dimensional wall and flew towards him. He managed to raise his arm to defend his head, but the shock was unavoidable.

As he flew like a broken kite, an explosion erupted in the ogre’s mouth.

Bang-!!

Bits and pieces of flesh scattered to the ground as the four grenades exploded. The monster couldn’t stand the pain and rolled over on the floor.

Seongho didn’t fare better either. His body only stopped flying when it hit a tree. His hand was aching, his head was ringing and he couldn’t come to his senses.

“Uhhhh!” His stamina regeneration skill was activated, but the damage was so great that it hardly helped. At that moment, a gentle warm aura wrapped around his body. Only after some of his pain was washed did he know what it was: Sooyeon’s healing wave.

“Ah…” His stamina recovered quickly, and his shaky vision finally settled. Even with all the buffs he received and the condition the ogre was at, it was still difficult to receive the ogre’s blow head on

“Why was I the only one to be seriously punched…” As Seongho stood to his feet while grumbling, the ogre stared at him. Bubbles of blood poured out from its mouth, and its red eyes became even more redder.

Whooosh-!!

The asphalt floor turned over as if it was being plowed when the ogre kicked the ground. However, when the ghouls continued to attack it, the ogre fell to the ground. But it still continued swinging its hand towards its assailant.

“You are tired too.” Seongho murmured. The guy had been hit by hundreds of bullets, a few grenades and a few rockets. It would be weirder if it was still fine. Now he must deliver the final blow. To achieve that, someone needed to stop it from moving for a while.

“Seokhyun-ah.” Seongho said as he saw the glint in the eyes of his nude friend who landed beside him.

“Me and the Tank will block it for a while, so put a rocket in its mouth.”

The anti-tank rocket was the only one that can provide effective firepower to the ogres, so this was an unavoidable choice.

“Are you sure?” Seongho asked.

“Even if I die, I’ll just respawn. Moreover, as you already gave me and Duck the Sniffle’s skill, it’s your time to eat. The skill that guy dropped should be tier 3 skill.”

“We can just retreat and attack again later.”

“When the effect of Catastrophe Dungeon disappears, that guy would be weakened. Better kill him now before someone else does it.” Seokhyun shook his head and fingers at the same time.

Then, Da-jeong screamed. “What the hell are you two men whispering about!! Help meee!!”

She was mobilizing all her ghouls to stop the ogre. However, it’s her who actually could stop the ogre.

“I’ll go first.”

“Okay.”

Seokhyun jumped at the ogre after saying so. The ogre had dozens of arrows lodged in its body and was struggling to fend off the attack of ghouls clawing at it.

“Rapwiiii!!!!”

It was at that time that Seokhyun stuck to the ogre’s back. He thrust two long knives into the ogre’s temple. As the ogre was about to pull the knives away, the tank and the other ghouls grabbed its arm.

KUOOOOO-!!

Its mouth was wide open. Seongho, who hid in the portal, quietly pulled the trigger. The rocket slithered through the air and was lodged in the ogre’s mouth.

BOOM-!!

The ogre’s head and a few grasshoppers exploded. Green blood spurted out like a fountain, while Seokhyun was thrown because of the shock wave.

After the explosion, all that was left was a huge body twitching; Its head was nonexistent and a few ghouls.

A message appeared in Seongho’s vision.

「Level Has Risen to 33」

「You Have Earned 500 points」

「You Have Acquired Primal Life Skill」