Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

“Oh~ so this place is called the Velrond Forest?”

“What the? The elves used the name of the region of their dwelling on their name? So, in my case, it will be like Da-jeong Velrond?”

“What if they moved out? You don’t? You have to live in the forest where you were born until you die?”

The stagnant waters keep hurling what’s on their mind to the stag beetle while walking through the forest. But unlike their normal attitude, the stag beetle readily answered their questions, because they were in a good mood after meeting their kin. Well, everyone’s questions except for Seokhyun’s.

However, even the stag beetle didn’t know everything. Apparently, the elves were scattered across the continent and lived a secular life, so it was said that there was no communication between one group and another.

Geom-in’s voice, which had been vocal until now, changed to a tone of disappointment.

“They don’t leave their birthplace… Then that means there’s no mixed race between elves and humans…”

The stag beetle made an ‘of course’ gesture, but the scarab was different. The guy said that there were exceptions everywhere.

-It may have been like that 500 years ago, but elves aren’t like that these days. They don’t know how to keep tradition.

-You ground digger!!! Have you finished talking?

-Should I tell you the story of how the elves used fire and burned the forest?

-It’s not the elves of our tribe!

-Oh, of course! You only say it’s your tribe’s doing when it comes to good deeds, aren’t you?

The two started fighting on top of Geom-in’s head.

“We will side with the one who wins!” Da-jeong cheered. However, as soon as her words ended, Seokhyun stretched out his arms.

“Shh. There’s a monster nearby.”

“What monster?”

“A zizektree.”

Zizektree was a tree monster. Even though it looked like nothing but a normal tree at a glance, once they started using their roots, it’s an entirely different story. Its attack power was quite high and, above all, its defense was strong, making it a challenging foe to fight against.

However, to the stagnant waters, zizektrees were nothing but firewood. After all, once they throw a flame can at them, it won’t be able to do anything but scream and burn until it dies.

“There it is.” Only then did Da-jeong find out the location of zizektree. It was standing still between two normal trees.

“Aren’t weapons meaningless against those guys?”

As Geom-in said, cold weapons did not work well against a zizektree; Arrows and swords would only cause scratches to their bark.

“But we have earthwork. Go! Earthwork!” Da-jeong picked Seokhyun up and threw him.

The moment Zizektree opened its eyes and was about to pull its roots out of the ground, Seokhyun clenched his fists as he took a stance.

Bam-!!

When Seokhyun’s fist hit the zizektree’s bark, its body together with the roots were dug out and fell to the floor. Seokhyun ran to the guy and grabbed its head with his two arms.

“Taste this!! Earthquake Hug!”

After a little bit of effort from Seokhyun, the strong zizektree shattered and died.

“Isn’t your hug of love too strong?” Geom-in murmured.

At that moment, the bushes in the opposite direction of the group moved and elves of Velrond Forest appeared. They had gray skin, a balanced physique and long ears covered by their hair.

The person who stood in front of the group of elves was the same elf that was beaten by Seokhyun. However, unlike before, they had no malice painted on their faces. Rather, they wore a surprised expression on their face.

Was a zizektree a monster that could die that easily?

The answer is no; It was a formidable foe for everything inside the forest. The fact was especially true for the wood elves, who cannot use fire in the forest.

Yet, the man in front of them killed it by exploding its head with such ease…

“You… Just who are you?” The elf at the forefront asked.

“Me? I’m the one who had beaten you down earlier.”

“Are you saying that you’ll do it again here?”

“Of course.” Seokhyun smirked provocatively. In his mind, Seongho’s request had already disappeared without a trace.

“Really, humans are… you guys are the guests in this forest! Don’t you understand that guests must show courtesy to the host?” Gryondel Velrond, the patrol leader of the elves, criticized him.

“I don’t understand. So, you guys should make me understand.” There was an ominous sound from his fists as he said that, making the wood elves nervous. The elves felt even more nervous thinking that the human in front of them is not something they can do anything about after his fight against the zizektree.

“So it’s only a farce that you guys brought flags of peace and fruit baskets as gifts.”

As Gryondel grinded his teeth harder, Geom-in quickly spoke.

“It’s a misunderstanding. We didn’t come to fight.”

“You didn’t come here to fight? How can we believe your-”

“Take this.”

A fruit basket flew to Gryondel.

The elves around him cautiously opened the basket and were surprised with what’s inside.

“It’s a sun apple!”

“This is a winter strawberry… it’s hard to find!”

Gryondel pretended not to see the basket, but he couldn’t ignore the good scent. The moment his gaze landed on the basket, Da-jeong raised her hand.

“I want to say again that what that guy did earlier was just an accident. I don’t think we need to fight, right? But, if you still want to fight, then we’ll just do that.”

‘It’s strange…’ Gryondel could sense that the woman in front of him was not normal either.

After the destruction, no humans had ever appeared in this forest. The Ruat Kingdom, which had been in a nerve war with the elves of Velrond, disappeared, leaving only a few of their buildings behind.

So, what does it mean to have three of the disappeared humans suddenly appear?

Then a bird flew and sat on Gryondel’s shoulder. It was a very pretty parrot with blue feathers. It whispered something in his ear, and Gryondel’s taut muscle loosened.

“Lower your bows.”

“Did you get a call from the Tree?” asked an elf.

“That’s right. You guys, follow me. I will guide you to the Tree.”

“That change of attitude… Did your superior ask you to bring us?”

‘She’s a quick-witted woman.’ Gryondel thought before nodding his head. “The Chieftain wants to see you. So, do not do anything useless.”

The party promptly followed the elves. Griyondel only walked silently, and two of his men occasionally looked back and giggled. It was only then that the tension was relieved and he could see Seokhyun’s attire.

“Hey, why are you dressed like that?”

“This is convenient.”

“There are no humans of Ruat who dress like that. Where do you guys come from?”

“Korea.”

“Where is that?”

“It’s on Earth.”

Da-jeong covered Seokhyun’s mouth, preventing him from divulging their secret even more.

“If you talk more, I’ll hit you on the ass.”

“I would love that.”

“I would not use my fist through. Instead, it would be one of my lovely tank’s fists.”

“You are too much, Duck.”

“Shut up, then.”

A cold sweat ran down Gryondel’s forehead. It should be a mistake to take these goddamn humans to the Tree. However, he knew that he must follow the instructions of his Chieftain: Amelia.

After a while, the forest landscape opened up and a large tree appeared. Instead of a single pillar, it was divided into several branches to form a house.

Elderwood.

The party, who had only seen Elderwood roots until now, was busy looking around with admiration. Seeing that, Gryondel felt a subtle pride bubbled in his heart.

“Elderwood is the mother of us elves. We would be born, grow, and die in her bosom.”

“But it looks like it’s hurting.”

When Seokhyun spoke, his eyes widened.

“I’ve never heard of a human communicating with an Elderwood.”

“I only sympathized. It was obvious it felt hurt.”

“I’m tired of listening to your bullshit. Amelia is over there. Be polite.”

The party received the fervent gaze of the elves. There were different reactions from people who looked at them. While some have curious eyes, some of the elves whispered and laughed while pointing at Seokhyun. Meanwhile, at the terrace of the largest wooden pillar, an elf was waiting for the party.

“Welcome to Velrond. My name is Amelia Velrond, the first keeper of this forest.”

“Don’t say anything strange.” Da-jeong gave a firm warning towards Seokhyun and then put the stag beetle on her hand and handed it to her.

Amelia’s expression hardened a little when she saw the stag beetle. “She was influenced by dark magic,” she said. “I think it’s a curse… But now that I think about it, I feel a familiar ether from it…”

“The guy said she was an elf. And that she was cursed.”

When Da-jeong spoke, Amelia seemed to be in great shock. Then, she quickly regained her composure before opening her mouth. “…it doesn’t seem like it’s a conversation we can have here. Please come inside.”

The party entered the Elderwood under her guidance. Gryondel furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at their backs and suddenly felt something.

“What the…”

Surprisingly, several branches of the Elderwood moved as the group of humans entered. Gryondel, who had a good sense, clearly felt it. But he denied it.

“There is no reason for Elderwood to keep an eye on humans.”

But he couldn’t help but feel anxious. Gryondel quietly looked at the Elderwood. There was no wind, but the branches were swaying. As if she was welcoming someone.

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We drove the cattle to James’ ranch. The country houses lying on the grassland were neglected for a long time, and it looked ugly. Of course, there were no monsters around. However, since we’re here now, surely quite a lot of monsters would soon spawn.

James gently stroked the exterior wall of the house and opened his mouth.

“Ah… this place makes me comfortable.”

“Well, home is just that kind of place. It’s a place we’ll have to go back to someday…”

I also had a house like that once. It was in Busan. Since I had work and couldn’t go because of the radiation threat, it was still a place I had to go back to someday.

James looked at me and smiled.

“It makes me want to live here again. But it will be difficult to survive here, isn’t it?”

“Yes. After all, your level would definitely stagnate. If you do not clear the Battle Royale battlefield, it is difficult to grow.”

“As expected, it would be difficult to stay here. If it’s possible, my heart wants to go to Korea. Paige, Paige!”

She was playing with the wolf with Jiman. She said she liked Sangshin once, but now she seemed to be curious about Jiman. Indeed, she’s a girl who falls in love too easily…

“What?”

“There should be a duck cage nearby. Go and take a look!”

“Okay… Let’s go together.” Jiman was dragged by Paige right away.

Meanwhile, Sangshin yawned as he laid himself down on a pile of straw.

“It’s a really cool place. There are no monsters, so peaceful.”

“You want to live here?”

He covered his face with a straw hat lying on the floor and answered. “Well… it’s a boring place to stay. First of all, there is no soup.”

As expected…

I ignored him and followed James. It was to learn how to butcher a game. Catching a weeping, struggling cow has never been easier with him beside me.

James said as he looked at my hands separating the leather from the meat.

“Have you done anything similar before?”

“I’ve done it with some pigs, not cows. Do you know about wild boars?”

“Ah… that’s a pretty big game too. Anyway, I see many aspects of Mr. Kang now. I thought you were only good at fighting.”

“If you want to survive, you have to know how to do a lot of things, even if you don’t like it.”

“That’s a very good mindset. I wish Paige could learn that…”

She’s only at the young age of twenty. But in order to live in the apocalypse, age is not a reason not to try.

After a while, Jiman and Paige ran into the backyard with a bunch of ducks.

“They were alive! The number has not decreased much either!”

“Looks like there was plenty of food around. Mr. Kang, you can take the ducks as well.”

Thank you so much. The hwajo meat was delicious, but it has a far too big body, making the flesh a little bit tough for my liking. The duck’s meat was softer by a mile compared to it, to the point it was enough to be labeled as delicacy.

“Jiman! Help me a bit!”

“Okay!”

We pushed the cows into the portal. As soon as we crossed over, the members waiting in front of it were visibly surprised.

“Oppa! Where did you get these cows?”

“Didn’t I tell you I was going to Texas? I caught them there.”

Moooooo-!!

As the cows continued to enter the shelter, everyone flinched and backed away.

Yeowool looked at me and said. “You didn’t say there were so many…”

“40% of them will go to the Korean Shelter, so don’t expect us to get so much.”

“How do we butcher them, though? I don’t know how to…”

Sooyeon learned how to butcher the hwajo from me. She’s still unable to butcher a wild boar, but since she’s a good cook, it’s fine.

“Don’t worry, I will do the slaughter. Normally, this kind of difficult work is done by men.”

Instead, the women should do their share too.

Anyway, the shelter members didn’t seem to have any major complaints about the roles they were given. Soon after, Jiman also drove in the ducks and provided plenty of food to them.

When we finally finished, I felt that the spacious shelter was full. It seemed that it was true that the heart would feel abundant only when your treasurel is abundant.

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I got unexpected news from the Auction House in America. Flying monsters that they had never seen before appeared in several large cities. I thought it would be either a gryphon or wyvern, but I was wrong. It was a dragon-like monster with blue scales.

Sangshin and I gathered more information and discussed it.

“It’s definitely a drake.”

“A drake is the strongest amongst flying-type monsters, isn’t it?”

“If it’s not a tier 3 weapon, you won’t be able to leave even a scratch on its scale.”

Although it’s not comparable to an ogre, a drake was still a terrifying monster since it boasts a bigger size than a gryphon, and its scales had great defense. To be honest, I was skeptical whether machine gun bullets would work against it. With its different habits from other flying monsters, it was difficult to respond against it. While gryphons and wyverns love attacking by diving from the air, this one fights very well on land as well.

Sangshin turned the video back and found the point where a drake was emitting flames.

“This… I had watched this live stream before.”

“Is that so?”

I scratched my head and watched the drake shoot the breath over and over again. It’s not an overpowered attack, but very few people could stand it at this point. After all, elemental resistance skills were still quite rare.

Seokhyun had it as an additional effect, and I got it through hunting wyverns.

Other than us, no one else had it.

Even if there’s elemental resistance, it would be foolish to just believe in it to endure against that. After all, who was crazy enough to stand in front of an incoming attack when you can simply avoid it?

Anyway, the big cities of America were overflowing with brave men trying to catch these drakes. Some people said it was suicidal of them, but no one believed it.

-You’d better not try to hunt those things. You will all die.

-It certainly feels different from the monsters that had appeared up until now. Look at the dark blue scales…

-That’s why we need to hunt it! If we kill it, we will be the king of the world!

Confidence was surely the thickest thing in the blood of Americans.

Sangshin and I spent a while at the Auction House, collecting information. There was also quite surprising information. The most shocking of all of them was the fact that the supply of food in America was good.

“Some people here have the quality to be a farmer.”

“Since the land is large and there are many people… There must be some people who collect points just by farming.” (T/n literal farming… This is my nightmare… When Farming (Game terms) are also used in this story…)

In any case, the two of them had no choice but to acknowledge the power of the United States.

I scoured Houston’s comments section to get information about the Drake that had appeared. Some clans tried to hunt it, but there were reviews saying that they failed miserably.

-That bastard is a monster, both literally and figuratively. No weapons can scratch it.

-Trolls are much easier to kill than this bastard! How many people do we need to kill it?

-Don’t try it because it doesn’t matter how many people there are.

I politely gave advice, but they didn’t heed it at all.

It can’t end here.

-Don’t aggro the drake and just stay still. ‘Cause I’ll kill it.

-What? Killing the drake? Are you kidding me?

-The Houston Braves didn’t even bother to try hunting it, but you want to kill it?

-I’ve killed it a few times before, so don’t worry.

The comment section quickly became noisy.

However, someone’s comment stood out.

-Are you perhaps a Survival Life player?

-I am.

-It wasn’t even available in the US, what a bullshit.

-Since I left a comment here, you guys are probably mistaken that I’m American.

-What are you talking about? So are you Korean? What is your identity?

-Will you know even if I tell you, though?

But surprisingly there was someone who knew me.

-I know who you are. You are probably one of the three. I Love Gimbap, Rabbit Pwincess, or Duck Butt Goes Quack Quack.

But it seems that this guy forgot about Geom-in…