Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

While a genocide happened to the Chinese inside the Great Labyrinth, a smaller incident but with the same impact happened inside the Yeouido Shelter. A bloodshed happened in the restaurant inside the establishment.

The incident kicked off with a dispute related to the Battle Royale. The problem was that the one who started the quarrel did it while the other party was eating. A fierce reaction ensued immediately, and the two fought, overturning the restaurant into chaos. Fortunately, no one died. But it was still something that would bring down people’s mentality..

When Jang Won-taek heard the news, he stepped forward to mediate the situation. He sighed when the restaurant came to his view. The incident once again reminded him that the Battle Royale event had not ended yet. The fight in the restaurant was just one of the results of the conflicts brought by the evil and cruel event. Currently, inside the shelter, large and small fights continued to happen.

Even worse, factions began to form. Those who felt threatened because of the growing violence began to form a circle with others to fight against it. Little did they know, what they did would only make things worse.

Of course, Jang Won-taek did not stop their action. After all, he’s a believer of the saying ‘Human actions are inevitably political’. It rings even truer especially in extreme situations like this. On top of it, it was natural for factions to form in a place where many people gathered.

Jang Won-taek believed that a large group without factions was more dangerous than a large group with one. It means that a lot of people hold some power to steer him to the clear. However, it would be difficult to smoke out the grudge and anger with all the things that happened in the Shelter. The current Korean Shelter was no different than the old National Assembly, a place where fights happen every single day.

At the end of the day, Jang Won-taek decided to take a special measure.

-The restaurant will be closed starting from today.

-Then where will we eat?

-The ingredients will be distributed to all of you, so please eat at your own accommodation.

-What is this… This isn’t the medieval era, so why…

Although sarcasm continued to pour on the announcement, it was an unavoidable measure to curb the violence immediately.

As Jang Won-taek sat in his office while reading the comment, Lee Beom-seok approached him and brought up something surprising to him.

“The Chinese have disappeared from the Great Labyrinth. Many appear to be dead and a lot more appear to have run away.”

“Who… no, the answer to that question is very clear. What did Seongho do? He’s been hiding well these days.”

“I heard that Hyung-jun-ssi’s team met Seongho on the first floor of the labyrinth.”

“So, it’s really his doing. So, what’s the situation in the Great Labyrinth currently?”

“There are a lot of corpses in the bases which used to be occupied by the Chinese… Now, Hyung-jun-ssi’s team has joined the Hannam-dong Clan and is looking into it.”

“Is that so?”

Jang Won-taek buried himself in the chair. It’s unfortunate that people died, but in the current case, it was not necessarily true. After all, it was simply impossible to avoid a collision between the two sides. The Chinese immigrants who came to this land started from the west coast and had continued to spread their influence inland. Therefore, it was natural for Koreans to protest.

There was a fire at the Auction House, and they had reached the point of denigrating each other’s history. Anyone with a brain could easily predict that the hate and despise that people had kept inside their heart would burst in the Great Labyrinth. Though, he himself never thought that Seongho would join the fray.

“I remember what the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries reported to me during a typhoon in early summer last year. Do you remember it?”

“Yes, it was an incident where the Chinese came to an island to avoid a typhoon.”

“When the army said they were going to investigate them for illegal fishing, they threatened them… Now that I think about it, I don’t think the current situation was any different from back then.”

“To tell you my honest feelings, what Seongho did was refreshing.”

“People died, such a word was inappropriate.”

Jang Won-taek said so, but he also had a comfortable expression on his face. After all, what happened to the Chinese wasn’t a meaningless massacre.

Jang Won-taek leaned over and asked. “So, what is he doing right now? Is he done?”

“Seong-ho-ssi seems to have gone all the way to Bucheon after driving the Chinese out of the Great Labyrinth. I think their entrance was located there.”

Lee Beom-seok drew a few circles on a map of the Seoul area. “According to Seung-yeon’s reconnaissance, a battle between Seongho and the Chinese took place here a few hours ago.”

“Is he clearing the battlefield while doing it? The land we can set our feet on has increased again.”

“Currently, Seung-yeon is watching him with a paper airplane. Shall we contact him?”

Jang Won-taek shook his head.

“Do you think we should use him to solve the current situation?”

“Isn’t everyone afraid of Seongho?”

“That’s exactly the problem.”

Jang Won-taek stood up and Lee Beom-seok looked at his back. He was once called the greatest Korean political giant. But now his wide and dependable back seemed utterly shabby.

“Kang Seongho is a person with great abilities. Then he might be able to solve this situation. But if we rely on him alone, he’ll lose his coping ability. I don’t know about anyone else, but we shouldn’t do that.”

“Then why don’t we pretend not to know?”

“Well, he had done good things. So, we have to give him some gifts we promised him. So try contacting him. However, do not disclose the situation inside the shelter.”

At that moment, some shouts could be heard through the window of the office.

“Hey, Jang Won-taek! Do you think you are something? You don’t even give us some alcohol, so we’ll have to make it and eat it!”

“Jang Won-taek! Lee Beom-seok! Kim Hyun-woo too! Come all out! Oh right, Kim Hyun-woo is dead.”

Jang Won-taek’s eyebrows twitched for a moment, but he closed his eyes without saying a word.

Lee Beom-seok closed the window and advised.

“Please rest a little. I will mediate the restaurant case.”

“Thank you.”

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The Chinese disappeared from the Great Labyrinth. Their corpses that were lined up were eaten by the monsters, and they became bone creepers or skeletons and walked through the dark hallways.

People cheered at the Auction House.

-You bastards deserved it!

-You threaten to kill us every day, look who’s laughing now!

-I’m in a good mood right now, so I’ll look after everyone today.

-But, what the hell are these bastards? There is nothing at their base.

-It’s just water and shop bread. How can they live with this shit?

-They must’ve been eating rats too.

-They should’ve hunted wild boar… Eating rats is a bit…

-Wouldn’t they die trying to catch a wild boar?

People’s subject of discussion shifted to I Love Gimbap, who killed the Chinese.

-But where did I Love Gimbap-nim go?

-Dunno. One of our guys who has stealth ability tried to find him, but he said he couldn’t see him.

-DId he die?

-Bro… Would an elephant die fighting a mouse?

-If I Love Gimbap-nim is an elephant, what are we?

-Rabbit?

-Rabbit is a little…

-Rabbit and hamster are perfect for us.

When such talk was happening at the Auction House, Seongho was fighting in the last Battle Royale battlefield in Bucheon. The battlefield would never end until the last player remains. Naturally, Seongho had no choice but to be ferocious. Even though countless lives were lost, his eyes didn’t waver in the slightest as he kept swinging his sword.

“If I kill them all, the problem should be gone.” It was the conclusion he had learned from meeting and killing various people so far. Conflicts that would normally end in a light quarrel were often amplified out of control in the apocalypse. It would then breed hatred and eventually lead to the death of someone. Seongho thought he was only taking a shortcut to nip the problem in the bud.

‘Since the Chinese came to this land, clashes were inevitable.’

In a certain street in Bucheon, a lot of screaming keeps happening. Seongho’s slaughter ended only when the sun perched in the middle of the sky. His backpack was now heavier than when he set out, as three resurrection scrolls, a skill expansion ticket, a weapon enhancement ticket, and a few other items were added.

“…”

The Battle Royale battlefield ended and his stats returned to its original state. Seongho looked back at the path he had walked. It was stained with blood and flesh.

‘I am the one who did it.’ He looked straight at the tragedy without turning his head. However, in the next moment, he already moved to hunt the monsters that had gathered.

No fear nor regrets bloomed in his heart. He just silently wielded his sword.

‘It’s what I need to do.’’

In order to live.

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I returned to our outpost on the second floor of the Great Labyrinth. In the dim light, Da-jeong was dazzling. I guess she was waiting.

“Are things going well?”

“It will be quiet for a while.”

“Ugh, well done. Come here. I’ll give you a hug.”

I rested in her arms. I thought that now I had done what I should do, I could take a short break. However, when I opened my eyes, I was already in my hut. It seemed like I slept like a baby.

I washed my face in cold water and went out to see people watching TV. A generator was placed in the center of the shelter and a large TV was connected to it. It doesn’t happen often, as we only use it when everyone has something to check.

“Oh, Oppa, you are here?”

“Yeah.”

Mikyung greeted me happily, and I answered roughly before sitting down next to Da-jeong. I wondered what they were watching, but it was none other than our raid video on the 5th floor of The Great Labyrinth.

In the video, Seokhyun, Da-jeong, and I were constantly talking while doing stuff which I swear I wouldn’t do in the real world. For example, grabbing a ghost, putting it on our head, and rushing to a monster in that state.

-BOOOOOO~ BOOOOO~

-I have become a Ghost!

The sight of the three of us running through the labyrinth wearing only white loin cloth was truly a spectacle. Everyone was speechless and looked at me.

Why are these guys looking at me? The person who thought of that crap was Seokhyun!

In particular, Yeowool’s eyes looked at me as if I were a weirdo.

“Ahjussi. Is that your way of having fun in the game?”

“Well, yeah….” I answered. The thing shown on the video was only possible because our mental tolerance was sky high. If it’s as high as normal people, they wouldn’t even be able to touch the ghost or even walk close to it.

Seokhyun looked at me and smiled. “Should we do that again once we go down to the fifth floor? It looks fun!”

“Let’s not… Currently we don’t have a lot of mental resistance items.”

“I think the Nightberry and the ring would suffice, though?”

“What about the doppelgangers? With those items alone, it would be a pain in the ass.”

“If we die, we’ll just have to do it again! Ah, right… You guys can’t do that.”

“Well, I did collect a lot of Resurrection Scrolls.”

When I took out the scrolls and items from my backpack, everyone’s attention was focused.

“Look at all those Resurrection Scrolls…”

“You have collected three more.”

“Where did you get this?”

“In Bucheon, where Chinese people gather.”

At that moment, the atmosphere became heavy. Everyone knew what I meant. After all, Resurrection Scrolls only appeared in Battle Royale events.

“Seokhyun, use this.” I handed the Skill Expansion Scroll to Seokhyun to relieve the atmosphere.

“I have one empty slot left, though?”

“Hey, just use it when he gives it to you. Once he changed his mind, you won’t be able to get it anymore even if you begged.” Da-jeong said so and shoved the item into Seokhyun’s hand.

Since we don’t have to use the Crime Pardon Scroll as well as the Weapon Enchantment Scroll, we decided to keep it in the common warehouse. I also put several Resurrection Scrolls at the same place. With the newly acquired Resurrection Scroll, we have a total of 7 Resurrection Scrolls that we can use.

“Da-jeong, have you broken through the 5th floor yet?”

“Yep, you just need to enter. By the way, he also has reached level 30.” She shrugged her shoulders and pointed towards Geom-in.

“If it’s level 30, wouldn’t you get a great additional effect?”

The swordsman who caught my gaze answered.

“It’s not that great, I can now copy the minor version of your skill. In Seokhyun’s case, the skill that comes is something called Death Queller, while in Da-jeong’s, it’s monster training. And as for your unique skill… Look at this backpack.”

Geom-in did something and a portal appeared in my backpack. I should call that a dimensional backpack from now on.

“What is that… Seongho’s one is huge.” Da-jeong said, seemingly disappointed with the size of his backpack.

“It’s a minor version, so there’s nothing I can do about it. Still, I’m satisfied because I got all three skills at once.”

Of course, they were all minor versions. Compared to Seokhyun’s original Unique Skill which enabled him to resurrect infinitely as long as he has points, Death Queller was a skill that can only be used once a day. While in Da-jeong’s case, Geom-in could only train one monster. And for my skill’s minor version it’s that small inventory.

Even so, seeing Geom-in smiling made me feel better too.

“So, can you fight alone now?”

“Uh… In my opinion, wouldn’t it be better for me to stay in the shelter? After all, defense is also important.”

Look at this shelter maniac… Well, there were three people who were anxious because we can’t fight, so it’s better for Geom-in to stay in the shelter.

“Do whatever is comfortable for you.”

As the day was getting dark, we got together for dinner. It was good up to that point, but it was a little bit uncomfortable for me as everyone was watching the video I was broadcasting.

Everyone was curious about what would come next, and Yoohyeon operated the remote control. As always, Poor Man came to the comment, and the Soup Maniac began to convert all the values into soup.

-Isn’t it a waste to throw away the bones of the griffon? If you boil it and turn it into soup, it will be magnificent.

“That soup lover guy is in the Great Labyrinth right now. He’s a man, his name is Lee Sangshin.” I said as I looked at the TV screen.

“Why didn’t you bring him in?”

“He had a party. Also, that idol… Soye from the Hannam-dong Clan…”

“Look at you! You even remember her name. What did she say?”

It might not be my imagination that Da-jeong’s voice was full of malice.

I kept my composure as much as possible under her pressure. “I had some trouble with her. She said she wanted to take the bus.”

“Then?”

“I told her to go away. You alone are enough for me.”

“Really?”

“Do you think I will lie about something like that?”

“Hmm…” Da-jeong made a cat-like sound, then turned her head to kiss me. The people around us stood up in embarrassment, and in the end, it was just the two of us present.

As the night progressed, I could hear her whisper clearly.

“I’m not telling you to look only at me. But no outside b*tches allowed, okay?”

What the hell is she talking about?

As I was about to ask her, Da-jeong rose to her feet and brushed her ass.

“Do you know that Sooyeon unnie’s glasses are broken? When the griffon comes out, you need to give her some of its skills.”

“Doesn’t she have several glasses?”

“It’s all broken. If she got the Griffon’s Eye skill, she can see far away.” I don’t know if that skill can even replace glasses. Anyway, the next monster to appear were the flying type monsters, including the griffon, so I have no choice but to get her the skill.

We stayed overnight and rushed to get ready to enter the 5th floor.