Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

With the appearance of the gryphon, the shopping streets around Yeouido become messies than ever. Even the trolls howled in fear as the mighty flying monster glided in the sky.

Of course, the humans were no different from the monster. gryphons were the apex predators of the ecosystem at this point. Therefore, humans had little to no way to kill him, except by pouring bullets or shooting rockets at it.

However, right now, there are two humans who are hunting it in a primitive way.

Seongho put his motorcycle in the dimensional warehouse and went up to the roof of the building with Mikyung. Looking down, the gryphon was trying to attack the monsters on the ground.

“Wow… they all run away…”

“If you get caught in its claw, your bones will break.”

“What will happen next?”

“You will be taken to its nest and eaten. It’ll eat your intestines first, so they will probably rip open your stomach first, right?”

As Seongho formed a beak hsing his hand and pecked on Mikyung’s stomach, her face became contemplative.

“There’s nothing to eat on me, though.”

It looked like that too in Seongho’s eyes.

He turned his head.

“I mean, that’s what’s going to happen if you don’t stay sharp.. From now on, we’re going to jump on that guy, okay?”

“The gryphon’s back?”

“I have to get a skill for Sooyeon, so I can’t help it.”

Sooyeon’s fighting ability was weaker than Yeowool. Of course, when she got a gun in her hands, her combat power would rise. However, firearms were ill suited for hunting gryphons. The reason was because a gryphon’s feathers provide some shock protection and its skin was quite thick.

Though, if you come close to it and make a very loud sound right beside its ears, it would instantly die. But such an opportunity was rare.

Seongho tapped Mikyung on the back.

“It only takes one blink. Once we get on that guy’s back, I’ll take care of the rest. Can you do it?”

“I-I can.” Mikyung stuttered.

“Alright. Once we are there…”

As Seongho told her the next step, she muttered, frowning.

“That is absolutely crazy.”

“We did that countless times back in the game. And I will do that now.”

Mikyung looked down at the gryphon flapping its wings with her teary eyes.

“Should we go now?”

“No, wait a minute.”

Seongho opened the Auction House and left a comment.

-Sooyeon, prepare yourself. Come out when I open the portal.

-Ah… did gryphons finally come out?

-We are looking straight at it right now. But, I don’t know if it will go well. So, I’ll call you later.

-Yes, I will prepare. Thank you.

When Seongho closed the Auction House, Mikyung leaned on Seongho’s back.

“What’s the matter?”

“I-I-I’m not confident … I think it’d be better to hang on your back, oppa…”

“But a gryphon’s feather sticks to its skin very strongly.”

“The feathers might accidentally get plucked.”

Seongho couldn’t understand it, but he still let her do what she wanted. After all, what’s important was not where she would hang on, but the usage of her blink ability.

Seongho pulled out a mithril sword and stabbed himself in the side. Mikyung who saw it instantly shut her mouth from uttering any words with her both hands.

“Doesn’t it hurt, oppa?”

“It hurts a little, but it’s still okay.” After all, the wound would heal rapidly with the power of the Super Regeneration skill.

Seongho pointed at his back and bowed down. Taking the cue, Mikyung climbed onto his back. Now that all preparations were complete, he only had one thing to do. It was aiming for the moment when the gryphon grabbed its prey with its claws.

Flap-!!

His Super Sense skill caught the sound of wings flapping. He immediately jumped off the railing without any hesitation. On his back, Mikyung really wanted to scream. But, she forced herself to stay composed. After all, if she failed to blink, she would surely have no courage to face Seongho ever again.

The moment she closed her eyes slightly and then opened them, the two of them had landed on the gryphon’s back. To be exact, right behind the nape of the gryphon.

“Well done!” Seongho said.

Before the gryphon could even turn around in surprise, Seongho stuck two long knives in its back. It’s the only way to penetrate its defense.

Roaaaar-!!

The gryphon felt intense pain on its flesh and hurriedly flew into the sky. Thanks to that, a scream that Mikyung had been holding back erupted.

“MOOOMYYY!!!!!”

“It’s okay! Just hold on!”

Seongho did what he had to do while Mikyung hung behind him. Putting on his gloves, Seongho shoved his fist into the griffon’s back. Unable to overcome the follow up pain, the gryphon twisted its body.

“I’m sorry, but we need you to give us some of your skills.”

Of course, the gryphon didn’t just nod its head and agreed to his demand.

Kieeeeeek-!!

It twisted its body more, attempting to throw Seongho off its back. However, it’s simply impossible for it to do that. After all, Seongho was holding on to the mithril knives which were buried deep into the gryphon’s flesh.

The gryphon, who had been wounded in several places, began to fall helplessly.

“Of all places, why are you falling towards that place!”

Seongho tried to control the direction but to no avail.

Yeouido, the place where the Korean Shelter was located, was getting bigger and bigger with every second passed.

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.

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While Seongho was wrestling for a consent from the gryphon, an accident broke out in the Korean Shelter.

Murder.

It’s a common occurrence in the apocalypse, but it’s a different story when it happened inside a shelter. The perpetrator and victim of the murder were two people who fought in the shelter’s restaurant once Battle Royale event was over.

The two shouldn’t have met in the first place, but thanks to the incitement and nerves within the faction, both of them met in a dark alley. Long story short, a fight broke out and a winner was decided.

However, the loss of life wasn’t the end. The faction which the victim belonged to raised a fuss. They demanded an apology from the perpetrator’s faction and also demanded compensation from Jang Won-taek.

After hearing the request, Jang Won-taek called the leaders of the two factions and heard the story from both sides. In the end of the meeting, Jang Won-taes sensed something: An elaborated agenda.

The grudges and murders were nothing but excuses. What the two factions really wanted was the guns and motorcycles in the shelter’s warehouse. In other words, the two incited the perpetrator and the victim in order to gain more power and control.

Of course, Jang Won-taek rejected the demands of both leaders.

-I can’t accept your demand. Go back.

The two immediately reacted violently.

-Wait, so you call us all the way here for nothing? No solution whatsoever?

-It’s really ridiculous… Someone died, And what? Are you going to keep letting people kill others?

-Countermeasures are currently under review.

-Again, again! Politician habits are not going anywhere.

-Just keep doing that until there’s no one left alive!

The two went back, and Jang Won-taek sighed. He then said to Lee Beom-seok, who was staring at the door.

-I guess… my method was wrong.

-That’s not it. The method is not wrong. We are just lacking personnel.

-If only that person didn’t go like that…

If Major Kim was still walking among the living, things would not have gone this way. Since there’s no armed group that is on the shelter’s side, they keep being stepped on.

Jang Won-taek felt sorry for Seongho once again. He also felt powerless at himself for not having made a good line of personnel. He had tried so hard, but in the end, he was only an old man with no one left by his side.

Lee Beom-seok hinted that he had read his mind.

-I will contact Sangshin.

Even though Sangshin’s name was the only one which was said, Lee Beom-seok is actually referring to his whole group. The Moon siblings, Lee Sangshin, Hyung-jun, and even Ji-hye, had returned to the shelter after obtaining some information from The Great Labyrinth. However, since the power struggle between factions intensified, the group was currently hiding.

Lee Beom-seok and Jang Won-taek believed that anyone in the group wouldn’t be pushed around by the factions. Especially Lee Sangshin. At this point, it could be said that he was the strongest telekinesis-type unique ability wielder. After all, he’s a man who was even able to fight against werewolves alone.

After hearing Lee Beom-seok’s words, Jang Won-taek was skeptical.

-Will they come, though?

-We don’t have any more options, Mister President. As long as we convince Sangshin-ssi, the rest will follow him

-It will be hard to convince him, won’t it?

Lee Sangshin had a rather strange personality. After all, at first, Jan Won-taek thought that his only goal was to live moderately. However, when the talk about soup came out, he was ready to do anything.

However, it was difficult to make soup due to shelter circumstances. He could have done it if he set his mind to it, but he decided not to.

Jang Won-taek made a conclusion.

-Please ask him, then.

-I will bring you good news.

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After Lee Beom-seok gave them the invitation and left, Sangshin and the group had a talk. The reaction was mostly negative. After all, the atmosphere in the shelter was very bad. No one knows when the friction will turn into an explosion. It could be long in the future or even at any moment. So, if they attached themselves to Jang Won-taek, they would have to take the brunt of the explosion.

In particular, Soyeon was opposed to it.

“That guy is really funny. He wants you to stand against people who are out looking for blood.”

“You will have a big target on your back.” Her brother added.

“You have to reject it, Sangshin oppa. They are asking us to become a shield for them, right? I mean, how can we stand against those people!”

“…Is that so?”

However, Hyung-jun’s opinion was a little different.

“Maybe this is the opportunity for us to become the center of the shelter. If you take advantage of this opportunity…”

“No, we can’t be the center. Not right now when the atmosphere was this bad.”

“Are you talking about the warehouse situation?”

“Yesterday, there was a lot of noise in front of the office. People said the government should open the warehouse and arm them.”

Hyung-jun said in disappointment.

“It’s not even Wild Wild West, why are people so hellbent on arming themselves…”

Sangshin made a sudden noise while crossing his arms.

“All I need is soup. I will stick to the forces that can provide me with some soup.”

“There are a lot of warthogs roaming outside, should we go and catch them?”

“It’s not over by just catching it. It needs to be butchered too. Who will do it?”

“The smell of blood would be no joke. A lot of monsters would come.”

“That’s the problem…”

Hyung-jun asked him.

“Can’t you just go to Seongho? He seems to be interested in recruiting you.”

“That is a little bit…”

“Why? Did something bad happen between you two?”

“No, there isn’t. I just feel burdensome.”

“Burdensome?”

“I mean, If I join him, I will have to move around constantly and participate in a lot of fights, right? I don’t want that.”

Only then did the group understand his words. Lee Sanghsin was lazy. He’s the type of person who lies under an apple tree and wants the apples to fall rather than climbing it. If the apples didn’t fall, he’d just starve. His high level was probably thanks to a lot of knowledge he had after watching I Love Gimbap’s live stream rather than his effort.

Sangshin plopped down to the floor and crossed his legs.

“No matter what the world becomes, I will stay like this until the day I die.”

“If you keep sitting down like that, you will become a sloth.”

Soyeon, who saw this side of Sangshin for the first time, said a word, but he only smiled.

“I would rather be sloth than to tryharding things.”

“I shouldn’t have wasted my breath.”

Even when he said that, he’s a person who will take action when necessary. It was him who slaughtered the monsters when the party was in danger in the Great Labyrinth. Each of the five long blades that he moved using his telekinetic power was nothing to scoff at.

Yoo Ji-hye, who had been quiet at that time, opened her mouth with difficulty.

“Th-there’s someone coming this way.”

“Who? Did they have ill intentions?”

“Yes, he’s angry and feels betrayed…”

“I know who it is.”

“Oh, those annoying people.”

Moon Daeho and Moon Soyeon’s siblings felt fed up after they heard the words. These days, they were faced with demands to join a certain faction. The person who made the request was a man named Shin Il-hwan, who was the leader of the victim faction of the murder case. The name of the faction was Yeouido Coalition.

Rumor said he’s a former gangster. He had a very rough personality to the point he could not speak without swearing. They have recently been gathering people indiscriminately to expand their influence in the Korean Shelter. Of course, threats and violence were also sometimes used in the process.

Sangshin’s party also received an offer mixed with intimidation, but they turned it down. Even then, they did not dare to do anything with Sangshin and had to retreat.

Anyway, it was not unusual for them to come. After all, it’s said that he was monitoring Lee Beom-seok’s movement.

Sangshin, while lying down, pointed his fingers and threw five long blades into the door. The members of the Yeouido Coalition, who had just climbed the stairs, flinched.

“H-Hyung nim. I don’t think we should’ve come here.”

“Lee Sang-shin… That guy… He won’t see me until the end.”

Shin Il-hwan, who had a large body, grinds his teeth. In all honesty, he wanted to just break through the door, but he couldn’t. After all, he knew it would be difficult to overcome his power even with the strength of several members of the organization.

But since he had come this far, he felt he couldn’t go back quietly. Shin Il-hwan looked at the door and blinked at his subordinates.

“Go in.”

“Sorry? Are you talking to us, Hyung-nim?”

“Who else is here besides you?”

As his men fumbled, someone looked out the window and let out an amazed voice.

“Woah, to think there’s a bird that big around!”

Shin Il-hwan, who was squinting, widened his eyes.

“Hey, isn’t that bird coming this way?”

“It looks like a bird, but isn’t it too big?”

“You bastard! Did that look like a bird to you?”

“Then…”

“That’s a gryphon!”

His men’s movements suddenly stopped. A gryphon the size of a house was rushing into the building carrying someone on its back.

In the end, a swear word erupted from Shin Il-hwan’s mouth.

“Damn it all!!!!”