Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Lee Beom-seok walked towards the supplies and told me he would choose my share of supplies from the warehouse. When I heard it, I instantly replied that I would take care of it myself.

His expression soured at my words. But it’s not without reason, because the reason I want to take my own share was so that I would be able to pick up a little bit more than the promised amount. If Da-jeong was here, she would have patted my ass while whispering that I have no conscience.

Anyway, I put my promised amount in the dimensional warehouse. The original promise was 30% of the whole supplies, but it was simply impossible to get that exact percentage. For example, when there are five motorcycles, wouldn’t 30% land the number in the decimal? What should I do if that’s the case? Just take the wheels? So in the end, I only took two motorcycles.

In the midst of moving the supplies, Da-jeong’s head popped out of the opened portal. “Is Rapwi busy now? Let me borrow him for a bit.”

Well, I could lend him… But,

“What happened?”

“Poor Man is now herding fishes using dolphins! It’s really fascinating!” Da-jeong shouted.

I was wondering what the hell was going on so I entered the portal with Seokhyun. When I went in, I could see a truly fascinating sight on the sea: Schools of fishes swimming towards the shore because of the dolphins chasing after them.

“Wow! That’s amazing!”

“Jiman! More!! More!!”

Everyone was jumping on their feet as they shouted towards Jiman who was swimming together with the dolphins. Moments later, a shoal of fish that flocked to the beach to avoid the dolphins appeared on the surface. There seemed to be at least several hundred fishes there.

Da-jeong, who was excited, rolled up her sleeves and shouted. “Hey, bring the net!!!”

“Okay, Unnie!!” Mikyung ran and threw the net towards the water. At that moment, I squatted down and looked at the fish caught in the net.

“This is good…” I smiled, savoring the peaceful sight.

“Ahaha!” The excited Mikyung laughed as she danced on the shallow water. It was exactly the same dance I saw on the Pale_Skin_Dancer video from before. It was good. Not, that’s an understatement. The combination of the background, her dance, and her face was nothing but a masterpiece. It was something which would easily reach millions of views if MeTube still exists.

At least,

Until Seokhyun started imitating her dance.

“Seriously, man!” I sighed. A bald man wearing only panty moving his pelvis sensually was the last thing I ever wanted to see here.

I got up, dusted the sand off my ass, and went back to the government’s warehouse. Since I was the only one who can enter the dimensional warehouse, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem to move all my shares alone.

“First, let’s take most of the hard disk.” Jang Won-taek had decided to entrust the cultural heritage he had backed up on the hard disk to me. Later on, if he requested me to return it, I would bring it to them.

The dimensional warehouse freezed the object’s time at the point of its entry. Thanks to that, I wouldn’t have to worry about its safety because of the passage of time.

“Next is… food. Is this packed with mixed gas?”(혼합가스로) It was really surprising to see cheese powder, a food that contained a lot of fat, wasn’t spoiled yet after being packed. It was certainly different from what I had imagined. As expected from the power of the government.

“For food, I should focus on things I don’t have.” Since I have an overflowing amount of rice, there’s no reason to take more from the government. I walked around the warehouse and packed up supplies I didn’t have. I couldn’t be more proud of myself after seeing the goods piled up one after another in the empty dimensional warehouse.

“I must take some weapons too.” Beside normal guns, there are also heavy weapons stored here. It’s a gun that pours out 12.7mm armor-piercing ammunition–the exact same weapon that Hyun-woo was so proud of.

With this gun, I would be able to defeat not only the monsters that had appeared so far, but also the ogres without any problems. It was quite a heavy weapon, weight wise. However, it’s not something that my high stats couldn’t fix.

“It’s a pity that there aren’t that many bullets here…” But, it’s not a problem since I could just create more with the help of the scarabs.

“The weapons are a little lacking here.” Most of the materials stored in the warehouse were food and daily necessities. Well, I could just pick some up later in the Yongsan bunker.

I spent several hours putting the things I needed, such as medical supplies, building materials, books, and electronic devices into the dimensional warehouse.

“This… is a gold bar, isn’t it?”

When I saw the 999.9, GOLD engraved on its body, I craved it for some reason. Even though I know it’s currently useless in the apocalypse, and looks like it will always be the case, I pretended to be dumb and took half of the gold bars stored. Who knows? Maybe it will be useful later on.

After putting the motorcycles and the spare parts to the dimensional warehouse. I left the government warehouse. When I came out of the hidden entrance, it was quite noisy outside. It seems that there’s a lot of new arrivals registering at the office.

I was trying to pass by without causing a ruckus, but suddenly 2 men and a woman walked up to me.

“By any chance, do you recognize us?” The woman asked.

“Uh… Who are you again?”

One of the men and the woman have similar faces, are they siblings?

The woman who stood in front of me asked with a complicated face. “Didn’t you fight us back then?”

“You were the only one who fought, not us. Moreover, that fight couldn’t even be called a fight, you know?” The man snorted.

Ah… I remembered the girl! She was the woman who argued with me for monopolizing the dungeon. At that time, I thought she was one of Hyun-woo’s party members, so I only hit her in moderation before leaving.

She bit her lip as she remembered what she had done back then, but she didn’t back out. Instead, she held out her hand.

“It could be said that our meeting was something planned by fate, so it’s nice to meet you. My name is Moon So-yoon. My unique skill is not brainwashing, so rest assured.”

“It’s an acceleration unique skill, isn’t it? My name is Kang Seongho.”

“My name is Moon Dae-ho. I’m her big brother.”

“Oh yes.”

After finally greeting each other, So-yoon stared at me.

“You know, at that time, I already thought that you are I Love Gimbap. Why don’t you tell us your identity? It could end badly for us.”

“If I reveal my identity carelessly, it would be troublesome for me.”

She looked at her brother and the two shrugged.

“Well, since the Auction House cursed you that much, I guess it’s only natural for you to do it. But since you have killed an ogre, you don’t have to do so anymore, right?”

“I was lucky.”

The more I talked with them, the more I realized they were not people I would have to be wary of. However, that sentiment had not reached the one other man yet. The guy had played Survival Life before. He looked like he was around my age, but he said nothing throughout the conversation.

He only introduced himself once we finished talking. “My name is Lee Sangshin, I played Survival Life for about a year. My unique skill is telekinesis.”

He looked at me and flinched, then slowly turned his head away. By the fact that his heart was beating rapidly, I think he had something to say. But why did he say nothing?

I got out of the office and opened a portal at the place I decided together with my team. It was to make it easier for them to come and go. However, there were not many people who used it because they had to spend 100 points every time they entered after exiting.

Then, I entered the portal.

.

.

.

“Hyung, I found this.” Jiman said as he showed me an unusual mushroom nestled in his hands.

“Where did you get this from?”

“You know the old leather bag you gave us? Yeowool looked around the area marked in the book inside the bag. It was a dangerous place, so she got help from Da-jeong noona.”

So they did things I’d been pushing back since I don’t have the time to do it.

I gently stroked the mushroom wrapped in the mud that Jimani had brought.

「Fire Mushroom」

「Effect: Increase all stats by 1 for 3 minutes」

Back in the game, this mushroom was the only item which could increase all stats at the same time. Although the duration was short and it only increased the stats by 1, it was still a precious item. However, this mushroom was difficult to cultivate and cumbersome to eat during battle.

“As far as I know, this only grows on the remnants of ghoul flowers, but… were there any flowers to burn there?”

“Yes. This is the picture Yeowool took by using a drone.”

Look at this guy, being so handy with everything…

Looking at the picture, I could see the burned remnants of a ghoul flower. So, it was safe to say that there were ghouls in the North Black Forest. However, since ghouls were something which used to be humans, does that mean that there used to be humans here?

“Jiman.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

“Tell Yeowool to scout the Black Forest in a more detailed fashion. Tell Yoohyeon to continue to draw maps too.”

“Okay, Hyung. But what should we do with this mushroom?”

“It’s a bit difficult to eat it as is… How did we grow this, I wonder…”

I brought my laptop and went through the list of my videos. As far as I could remember, there was only one broadcast related to fire mushroom; it was very brief to boot.

“Where is it…”

As I was struggling, Jiman pointed out one particular file with his finger.

“This file, Hyung.”

“How do you know?”

“I remember everything that Hyung broadcasted.”

“You remember that?” I curled my brows at him.

Looking at the video, there was a part that briefly explained the way to cultivate fire mushrooms.

「Where can this fire mushroom be grown? When you burn a ghoul flower, it leaves a plate-shaped remnant, right? You can grow it in liquid there. But it is difficult to raise because it dies easily. On top of it, there are times when a lot of monsters are coming after it.」

We listened carefully to the explanation, then looked at each other and grinned.

“If I bring you the remnant, can you help me grow it?”

“Leave it to me, Hyung.”

I nodded my head. Since he’s someone who befriends sharks and dolphins easily, growing mushrooms should be nothing to him. The quality would also greatly improve by Jiman’s ability, so it was worth looking forward to.

By the way, I have to go find the ghoul flower. An ogre corpse came to mind when I was looking for a place where the plant grows the strongest. I’m sure there’s a huge ghoul flower blooming there. After all, ghoul flowers suck up organic matter around them, and nothing is better as a nutrient for them than an ogre corpse.

However, the museum was quite far from the government shelter, so I would need Mikyung’s help to get there faster. These days she always wanted to help me, so she’s been hunting hard.

The higher the level, the more points people could accumulate. Which means, the burden of entering and exiting the portal would lessen for them. With the exception of the stagnant waters, other members were hesitating in coming out of the portal often, except for Mikyung.

“Mikyung, can you help me?”

“Oh, please wait a minute, oppa” Even though she said that, she came out of the stone wall in 10 seconds.

“Is it okay if you don’t guard the wall?”

“It’s okay. Goblins can’t even come because they’re afraid. Hehe.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

We crossed the portal and came out to the Korean shelter. As soon as we left, we could hear people shouting.

“It’s Violet’s Soye!!!!!!”

“Wow, Soye was alive!!!”

Violet?

Isn’t that the idol group famous for their sexy dances?

I could see Mikyung’s expression hardened with the tail of my eyes.

.

.

.

As expected, idols were different. Even from a distance, I could tell that Soye was skinny and had a really small face. She was tall and had makeup on, which made her even more stand out than normal survivors.

To think she wore makeup at this kind of time… She’s clearly full of leeway.

Unbeknownst to me, Mikyung got nervous and just grabbed my arm and matched my each and every step like a duckling while looking at the ground.

“Is there something on the ground? Why do you keep looking at it?”

“It’s nothing…”

“Did you feel jealous?”

“It’s not that…” Seeing Soye surrounded by people, she bowed her head again. “I feel like I’m a fake… the dance I used to dance…”

“Ah….”

It seemed like the dance that Mikyung performed in the Pale_Skin_Dancer video was originally Violet’s dance. I put my arm on Mikyung’s shoulder.

She sighed and looked up at my face.

“In my eyes, the dance you do was better, though? You are prettier too.”

(T/N SMOOOOOTHHHHH OPERATOOOORRRR.)

Mikyung’s big eyes fluttered at my words. Her expression seemed to loosen, but then, she lowered her head again.

“No, no, no.”

“You don’t believe me? You are prettier in my eyes.”

“Anyone could tell that she’s prettier than me. Look at how small her face is.”

To be honest, I also admired Soye’s appearance. But she was someone who had nothing to do with me.

I tapped Mikyung’s shoulder. “Don’t you have really nice skin? You also have a high level and are good at hunting. Is it not?”

“Well, I admit I do have nice skin.”

Her skin was white enough to the point Da-jeong just called her Albino rather than her name. Seeing that she still retained her white porcelain skin even in the sunlight of another world, she must have been born with it rather than getting it artificially. Well, the Elderwood’s sap must have helped her too.

Mikyung grinned as she hesitantly showed how confident she was.

How can someone change their mind so easily?

We continued walking after that. Our plan was to go to the dorm and eat something there, but Jang Won-taek found us first.

We chatted in front of his office.

“Seongho, would you like to have dinner together with me?”

I raised my brows at his question. This guy was not someone who asked other people to do something as mundane as this for nothing. There must be a reason why he suddenly asked me to eat with him.

“What are you going to ask me this time…”

He waved her hand at my accusation.

“It’s not because of that. I asked you because there’s someone who wants to meet you.”

“Hmm… If I have to guess by your action, it’s someone that just came here isn’t it? Is it Violet’s Soye? I wonder why she wanted to see me when we don’t even know each other.”

“You don’t know each other? I heard that you met her CEO at their villa in Hannam-dong before.”

I did. It seems he went back to his bunker and told his celebrities about me. This bothers me. I was planning to find the ghoul flower that ate the ogre corpse, but it seemed like I would end up wasting my time.

No wait, she lives near the art gallery, so maybe I can ask her?

It’s a little too much to ask Yoohyeon and Yeowool for something like short reconnaissance… So yeah, let’s do it.

“Let’s do it, then.”

After a while, I was invited to a restaurant with Mikyung. What came out as food was far better than the poor meal the government shelter used to serve.

After waiting for a while, Soye and a woman who I saw for the first time came along with Jang Won-taek.

“This is Kang Seongho, the strongest psyker at the moment.” Jang Won-taek said.

When I asked what kind of grandiose word it was, he replied that it meant psychic.

Soye ruffled her long hair behind her back as she greeted me.

“Hello, Mister Seongho. I’ve heard many things about you.”

“I see. I guess you heard from CEO Lee of Hannam-dong.”

“Yes, that’s right. Wow… you really look like this.”

“Sorry?”

Soye covered her mouth. She was and was about the same eye level as mine.

“I saw the museum a few days ago. The monster called ogre is really huge. They say it smashed the art gallery.”

“It’s not a big deal because we caught it together.”

I honestly thought so, but it seems to have been taken differently by her.

“How can you be humble? My heart is trembling to meet you like this. You are the best psyker.”

I have a strangely suffocating feeling from this girl’s words…

If Da-jeong had been there, she might have grabbed her by the neck while warning her for wagging her tail. I glanced to my side and saw that Mikyung was depressed once again.

Jang Won-taek looked at me and suggested that we sit down.

“The food will be cold, so let’s start the dinner first. I don’t have anything special set up, but please, eat to your heart’s desire.”

I asked after we were around halfway into our dinner.

“You said you went to the art museum a few days ago, right? How is the place these days?”

“Uh… I heard that a big flower has bloomed there. What kind of flower was it again…”

The woman sitting next to her chimed in at that moment.

“It’s a ghoul flower.”

“Is it big?”

“People said that it can’t be compared to other ghoul flowers. But why are you asking that…”

I lowered my voice and told them my plan to get rid of the ghoul flower. Jang Won-taek, who heard the story, could not continue to speak as if he was moved.

“Hu… To think you will do such things because of those drugs…”

“…Yes?” He seemed to have misunderstood something.

“Drugs from ghoul flowers are ruining a lot of people. There are even heinous cases where they use people as bait to gather them… It’s great that Seongho is going to take care of those huge ghoul flowers.”

…I was just trying to get rid of the flowers to grow the fire mushrooms, though?

The two women from Hannam-dong did not even speak, but it’s clear that they were moved.

Things had gotten weird…