Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

In the end, Sangshin accepted my offer. However, he did not enter the shelter immediately and decided to stay with Hyung-jun hyung for the time being. After all, the only person he’s close with was Jiman, and even then, they had never actually met each other.

-If everyone gets along well inside, won’t it be hard for me, since I’m basically just a stranger who went in later than anyone else?

Well, that’s right.

After greeting people, I went out and suddenly saw my sister-in-law’s belly. It’s quite noticeable now… well, they would surely sort it out soon. It would be rude of me if I suddenly decided to just give them help without them asking for one.

When I went to the office, there was no other staff inside, but Lee Beom-seok was there; He was busy organizing documents. It seemed like it contained information that would be reported to me.

Since Jang Won-taek had entrusted me with everything about the Korean Shelter, I would have to take care of it. Looking at the amount of paperwork, I felt a bit of regret, as my hunch is saying that this might be a bad call. But let’s not worry too much. After all, most problems in the apocalypse could be solved with violence.

Isn’t there a saying that there will be no problem without people?

Lee Beom-seok glanced at me and handed me some sheets of paper.

“This is the list of shelter personnel. And this is the list of people who have applied for entry.”

I quickly tore up the list of entry applicants.

Lee Beom-seok’s bewildered eyes could be seen through the torn paper.

“Why all of a sudden…”

“For the time being, no one will be accepted into the shelter. It will resume only after the shelter has been thoroughly cleaned.”

“People are dying out there right now. Are you going to pretend you didn’t see them?”

“I don’t care.”

His bewildered eyes turned to anger.

“…The President seems to have made a mistake in delegating authority to you…”

“How much more should you suffer before you stop saying such things? Until those guys finally start a civil war?”

Considering we were talking about the bad guys, it’s a bit odd that I–who could be said as the worst of the worst–said something like this.

“Isn’t that and this a different matter?”

“Listen well.” I raised my voice. “The Battle Royale event has just ended. There are plenty of guys who are holding their grudge against another out there. Accepting them will only result in them fulfilling their grudges here. Why should we do that? We should just ask them to solve it outside.”

“Are you saying that we will only accept the surviving one?”

“I am not saying that I will not accept them. We will accept them once all is sorted out in a few months. Do we have to take risks when we can just wait?”

“…” Lee Beom-seok did not speak for a long time. It’s clear that he wanted to rebut my statement. However, he couldn’t seem to come up with any ideas.

I flipped the papers.

“Bring the list of bunkers that the military worked on. If you can, look for some anti-tank mines.”

This time, Lee Beom-seok’s eyes were stained with suspicion.

“Why are you asking for anti-tank mines suddenly…”

“It is necessary to break through the Great Labyrinth. The monsters inside were just too much.”

Seokhyun and Da-jeong were working hard to clear the floor, but since the doppelgangers had the same abilities as them, things didn’t progress as smoothly as I wanted. Da-jeong wants me to participate in the fight, but it’s dangerous. If it copies the portal ability, only God knows what will happen next.

At that moment, I heard the sound of paper being flipped. Moments later, a few were placed on the desk.

“Here it is.”

An anti-tank mine… it was in an American bunker. With this, we would be able to break through the doppelganger area and enter the 7th floor. At that floor, all abilities except one’s raw stats were blocked, but the rewards were very sweet. Minotaurs, which should be appearing there, would be a problem, but we could just turn it into a beehive with guns.

Lee Beom-seok asked as I was organizing the documents.

“Is there anything else I need to do?”

“Get me the name of the people who joined the Yeouido Coalition and the Han River Coalition.”

Lee Beom-seok’s surprise was palpable on his face as soon as he heard my words.

Was it because it was obvious what I was going to do with them?

But then, he quickly responded as if he had given up on everything.

“I’ll bring it soon.”

“And… Contact the Hannam-dong Clan. Asked them about the possibility of them joining our side.”

“Isn’t the possibility close to none??”

“They will seriously consider it. After all, they were also in a pinch.”

They were also suffering the aftereffects of Battle Royale. It’s much milder compared to what happened here, but the important thing was that they don’t have the power to subdue it. If we reach our hand towards them right now, they would surely consider it even if they decide to not grab it in the end.

“Can we trust them?”

“I don’t trust anyone but a few people. However, we can hold hands with them.”

It was easy to tell by looking at what they had done so far. They’re a little clumsy and weak. But they aren’t people who have the tendency to betray others.

“We can use that large warehouse for supplies.”

“The business is over.”

Lee Beom-seok was about to leave the office when he stopped and looked at me.

“I don’t like you.”

I know.

To Lee Beom-seok, Jang Won-taek’s ardent followers, my very existence must have been a thorn in his eyes. However, right now, I was the one who was holding the key.

“I said that you have to like me. Just treat me like a business partner.”

There’s no need to be liked by everyone. No matter what I do, the person who hates me wouldn’t change their attitude. Rather, I wanted to give them more reasons to hate me.

I looked at him and said slowly.

“I just hope you won’t cross the line. That’s all I want.”

“…I understand.”

The bleak conversation was over and I was left alone in the office.

“I am sure he was hiding something…”

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I picked up a suitable building in the Korean Shelter and summoned a portal there. As a result, the Korean Shelter, my shelter, and the outpost are now connected.

Right after I opened it, Seokhyun and Da-jeong appeared as if they were waiting. The two of them looked exhausted, an evident that they failed to break through the doppelganger room yet again.

Seokhyun said to me.

“Gimbap, you must come with us.”

“I can’t. We can’t let them copy my portal.”

Da-jeong sat on the chair and crossed her legs.

“Haven’t I told you before? The doppelganger might open the portal and enter the shelter. It will be annihilation.”

“I found a good plan.”

Both eyes focused on me when I said so. Once I finished telling them about the plan, Da-jeong looked at me with disgusted expression.

“You’re going to blow it up with an anti-tank mine?”

“A good plan, right?”

“Wait a minute. Who will set it? since it’s an anti-tank mine, the explosion will be huge.”

“The Soup Addict will do it. His unique skill is telekinesis.”

“He agreed to join?”

“I tempted him using pork gukbap.”

“What an easy guy…”

Seokhyun opened his eyes and asked. “Is he strong?”

“Compared to us? No. But, his strength should be around Geom-in’s level.”

“He’s pretty strong, then.”

“Since he used to watch my livestream a lot, he must have remembered the monster’s weakness. He exploited it while wielding five flying long knives.”

“It’s basically just a flying sword technique.”

(P/n a famous martial art that focuses one’s qi to fly your sword, and it is possible to ride on it. A lot of cultivation-themed novels used them.)

“What the hell is that?”

Da-jeong doesn’t seem to know what a flying sword technique is. Probably because she hadn’t read martial arts novels before.

I explained my plans for the future to both of them.

“Since I have to stay here for a while, we will make this place our hideout for the time being. The President had given his control over the shelter to me.”

As soon as they heard it, their expressions changed drastically.

“What?”

“Simply put, I am currently the leader of the Korean Shelter. Jang Won-taek is tired. He’s resting right now.”

“Seongho, what the hell happened to you… Why does someone like you, who doesn’t like bothersome things, accept that role…”

“Well, I can get so many things by accepting the request. So I did. I looked at the list of supplies stored in the US bunkers, and it’s no joke.”

“So what should both of us do?”

“Just go around the shelter in moderation and set the mood. It doesn’t matter what Seokhyun will do, though. His existence itself is dangerous.”

Survivors knew that when a man wearing only panties and a bunny headband roamed around, things wouldn’t be as peaceful as before.

“Da-jeong, you should tame some gryphons. Another one of them will surely come out soon.”

Then Da-jeong stood up, came behind me and hugged my neck. It wasn’t as soft as usual.

“I know that Sooyeon unnie took her glasses off. When I asked how she got the skill, she said she was spoon-fed.”

“Until now, she’d been wearing broken glasses, how uncomfortable it must be. I just want her to be comfortable.”

“Yeah, but I should have the first, shouldn’t I? Who am I to you?”

“My wife?”

“Left that question mark at the back! Anyway, next time the gryphon comes out, I’ll eat it.” Da-jeong’s voice became softer.

Seokhyun, who was staring at me, said.

“Now we also need mobility. Tame a few more gryphons, please.”

“You said it like that because you want to play around with it.”

Seokhyun smiled brightly.

“You know me too well…”

“But gryphons are hard to find.”

Most flying monsters were like that.

Seokhyun then snapped his fingers.

“We can just go to another country. After all, the Great Labyrinth is connected to all parts of the world.”

Da-jeong smiled and added. “Oh, that’s right. I heard that some Japanese also entered the Great Labyrinth.”

“Are you talking about Kenji and Yuzuka?”

“No, not them. I heard that the Japanese who were in Japan entered the Great Labyrinth too. The Hannam-dong Clan said so. Though, I’m not really sure what else they know.”

If it’s true, then it would not be strange to hear that someone meet some Russians soon.

The first floor of the Great Labyrinth was vast and connected all over the world. If there were about five entrances in Korea alone, other countries should have as many as Korea, or maybe even more.

Everyone was still in a state of confusion right now, but I bet they would figure it out soon enough. When they become aware that the situation in Korea was relatively good, they would surely want to come.

It’s like having multiple families living under one roof…

For now, let’s think only about the gryphons. Even if we only have two, our range of activities would expand tremendously. It seemed like I would have to make an announcement on the bulletin board regarding the entrance to Japan later.

Da-jeong sat back down on the chair and opened her mouth.

“So, we are really going to stay here for a while?”

“Yeah. We have a lot of things to do. We have to cook some soup, we have to kick out bad guys, and we have to negotiate.”

“Rapwi.” Da-jeong called Seokhyun, and the two exchanged glances.

Just before I could stop them, the two of them jumped out the window. Leaving only their words behind.

“Off we gooooooooo~!”

“You figure it out yourself~!!”

Sorry to say this, but we have to share the work equally.

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Since there’s a saying that says even ghosts that die after eating have a good color, human beings naturally must eat to live.

Seongho built a few braziers on the road in the shopping district inside the shelter and hung a few large pots on top of each one of them. He stored it in case something like this would happen, and the time for it to shine finally arrived.

“Geom-in! Bring the butchered meat here.”

“O-okay!!”

The shelter members carried the ingredients to make the soup from the building the portal was located at. The wild boar’s meat and bones were boiled to make a broth. Chicken stock and seasonings were also generously poured into the mixture to enhance the deep taste.

Seongho also made kkakdugi with radish grown in the vegetable garden. Of course he shredded some leek–which was also grown in the vegetable garden–to complete it.

Suyeon nodded her head after tasting a little of the broth. “It’s good. It’s not gamey at all.”

Wild boar meat would give off a bad smell if treated incorrectly.

Seongho was not satisfied with her evaluation and called Sangshin. Since the two were about the same age, they decided to stop talking formally.

“You are from Seoul, right? How’s the broth?”

He put his face close to the pot and sniffed it.

“Hmmmm… This is it.”

“You haven’t even tasted it, though?”

“I am someone who know the taste just by looking at the colour.” Sangshin said proudly.

Just how often did he eat pork gukbap to have such ability?

If you analyze the composition of a human named Lee Sangshin, maybe 20% of his body contained pork gukbap.

The smell of the bubbling broth spread from the pot, and people naturally flocked to it as if they were bewitched.

“What did they cook, I wonder?”

“I think it’s pork broth.”

“Just where did they find a pig… ah, they caught a wild boar!”

“They actually do what we can only imagine.”

Everyone envied Seongho and his group, saying that they never thought someone would be able to make pork gukbap in this apocalypse. Some people even subtly interfered with the people preparing the food. They said that the kkakdugi was a little undercooked.

Seongho watched all of them.

The number of survivors who flocked to the location keep increasing as time passed. They all hoped that the group would share the gukbap with them. Unfortunately for them, Seongho had no intention of doing so.

“Can the members of the Yeouido Coalition and the Han River Coalition step to the front? By the way, don’t even think to lie, I know very well who’s in which faction.” The Eye of Truth skill had long since disappeared, but people still misunderstood that Seongho knew their name because of his unique skill.

The members of the organization, including Shin Il-hwan, who had suffered in the past, glanced around worriedly.

Can we get out of this predicament unscatched?

At that time, Seokhyun, who had been sitting in the back, raised his fist.

“If you don’t move right now, I’ll shave your hair to make it look like mine.”

“Ugh.”

No one could stand the threat.

When fifteen men finished walking towards the front of the masses, Seongho opened his mouth.

“I know some of you were forced to join the organization. So I’ll give you one last chance. Those who want to live a quiet life may return to the back.”

At the same time, Seokhyun counted backwards from 10.

“Ten, eight, six . . .”

A few people looked around for a few seconds. But when the number which Seokhyun said was getting closer to zero, they quickly jumped out from among the gang members.

At that moment, the leaders of the two organizations were raging. And one of them opened their mouths.

“Hey, what are you doing? Do you have the right to do this?”

Seongho looked straight at the man. He’s none other than Kim Young-soo, the leader of the Han River Coalition. He had a skinny build and a dreadful look which was hard to forget.

He and Shin Il-hwan have similar tendencies. They were people who were greedy to secure the firearms of the Korean Shelter to exert more influence.

Seongho scooped out some oil from the broth and flicked it to the ground.

“Of course I have. Jang Won-taek has given me the power to do whatever I want in this shelter.”

“Hah! That old man has the guts to say that this shelter is being run democratically… Look at this! Isn’t this dictatorship?”

“Democratic in the apocalypse? Did you believe such a thing was possible?”

Kim Young-soo clenched his teeth at Seongho’s words. At that moment, Shin Il-hwan stepped forward. There was a time when he was hit hard until he fainted by the man in front of him, so he couldn’t look straight at the man. The reason he still walked forwards was because he wanted to keep his pride at the very least.

“Wh-what do you want?”

“I want you all to leave. Leave and don’t ever come back. Do so, and I will provide you with adequate supplies.”

“Was that a joke? Can the shelter’s policies change so quickly like that?”

Instead of answering, Seongho took out a mithril blade from the dimension slot and put it on the floor. As his long sword pierced the sidewalk block, the two men flinched and backpedalled.

“I have nothing more to say. This is my shelter, and I don’t feel like leaving guys like you alone. Leave now.”

“What if we don’t want to?”

“Then, everyone will die.”

“What have we done wrong?”

“The very same people who made this shelter into such a mess dared to ask such things?”

“As someone who has caused the most trouble to everyone, you don’t deserve to say such a thing!”

Kim Young-soo exploded.

“He can.” Before Seongho could utter any words. Seokhyun beat him to it. Then, he rushed forward and began to beat Kim Young-soo up.

Bam-!!

Bam-!!

Bam-!!

Each blow was a fatal blow. Kim Young-soo, who was just now acting like a bigshot, was now trembling on the ground like a frog that had been burned by electricity.

Seokhyun raised his head and looked at the other group members, eyes dyed red.

“Anyone want to get hit too?”

No one answered.

When Seongho pointed out, they left one by one and walked outside. They couldn’t even hide, as Da-jeong’s monsters were escorting them.

Now, the infertile seeds from Korean Shelter were wiped out.

Seongho then erased the harsh expression on his face and told the people.

“Let’s eat.”