Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Merry Christmas YOHOOHOHOOHOOHOO~

The elves of Velrond Forest had a custom of providing simple refreshments to their guests. With it, refreshing herbal tea and a pie made from fruits gathered from the forest were also provided to the stagnant waters party.

However, unlike its appetizing appearances, the taste was sub-par. The herbal tea smelled like toothpaste, while the pie tasted bland. Nevertheless, Da-jeong and Geom-in still said that it was delicious out of consideration of Amelia as the houseowner.

But just like usual, the fool of the group had different opinions.

“It tastes awful.”

“It doesn’t taste good? It seems the taste is less stimulating for you.” Amelia looked at Seokhyun with her curious eyes. Even though the questioning time had passed, it was still a mystery why the person in front of her was dressed like that.

According to the report she received, the man had killed a zizektree by hugging it from behind. He was so powerful to the point it made her think that he was a lovechild of human and ogre, even though she knew that there’s no such thing as a mixed-blood ogre.

Her curiosity didn’t only stop at the strange man. She’s also curious about other people. From their physique, clothes, and weapons, she could tell that they were not citizens of the Ruat Kingdom. Amelia had lived a long time in the apocalyptic world, but she had never seen humans like them.

She put down her teacup and looked at the stag beetle and the scarab who was busy drinking the sap.

“I heard the story,” she said. “You guys are looking for a way to the capital of the Ruat Kingdom, correct?”

“We want to know the shortest way if possible.”

At Da-jeong’s words, Amelia shook her head.

“It’s impossible. Between Velrond Forest and the capital of Ruat Kingdom, there is a vast sea of trees. I know you guys have great skills, but…”

“It would be okay if you can just tell us the general direction of the capital. We can just fly there with our gryphon.”

Amelia’s eyes widened at the statement.

“Gryphon? You’re not saying that you’ve tamed one, aren’t you?”

“Well, you could say I’ve tamed it. I can prove it right now.”

When Da-jeong whistled, Amelia hurriedly shook her hand. If she called a monster here, there would be an uproar.

As the story progressed, Amelia sensed that they all had unusual powers.

‘Moreover, the Elderwood acted strangely…’

With no wind blowing, her branches had randomly shook. It was a phenomenon that hadn’t happened before. With all the evidence present to her, Amelia concluded that the party in front of her was far from normal people and decided to ask directly.

“You guys, you aren’t from this world, are you?”

“…”

Seokhyun quickly tried to say something, but Da-jeong beat him by pinching his thigh and gave him a deadly gaze.

“Uh, by ‘this world’, are you referring to Lotus?”

“Lotus… It’s a name given by humans. But since you all look human too, it doesn’t matter. Anyway, in my opinion, you are very different from the humans of Lotus.”

‘How should I take care of this…’ Da-jeong contemplated. She still hadn’t discussed with Seongho how far she should inform the indigenous people of Lotus. But, as long as there is no major problem caused, it should be okay to let them know in moderation, right?

At that time, Seokhyun beat her to the punch.

“We’re from Earth.”

“Earth?”

“It’s the name of the planet where we came from. It’s a world with several huge continents. There were over 200 countries in it. Though, there are none now.”

Amelia opened her eyes wide at that point.

“Even though I don’t know about it, it seemed to be located in a different dimension that I’ve only heard about…”

“You’ve heard of different dimensions?”

“A little bit. The humans mentioned it when they were fighting Giudecca. I don’t know if it was the effect of his curse magic or not.”

“Just what is Giudecca? Are you talking about the monster trapped in the Great Labyrinth?”

“Seeing that you don’t know who Giudecca is, I’m sure now. You are not from here.”

Da-jeong decided to reveal quite a bit of information at this point. The reason being she’s afraid that Amelia would not give them proper information if they kept hiding the information they have.

“As for what happened… the story will be a bit long, is that okay?” A smile crept across Amelia’s lips.

After a long time, she finally realized the full extent of the situation that happened. The two worlds, Lotus and Earth, were destroyed.

“It’s fair to say that the destruction process of the two worlds are almost the same. Though, the appearance of monsters in your world was replaced by the rampage of monsters in Lotus.”

“Did a meteorite fall before that happened? In our world, the zombie spores came from a meteorite that fell from the sky.”

“I don’t know that far. After all, we are a tribe of the forest.”

It can also be said that the world went dark. The war against Giudecca was led by humans, so it was reasonable to say that only they know the process and outcome. Because the war was so intense, there were many areas that could not be reached even after a long time had passed.

But if it’s them…

The stag beetle that was drinking the sap next to it raised its head. She was speaking with her eyes.

‘These people are trustworthy.’

Amelia made her decision.

“I think I should hold hands with you guys.”

How does it work?

It was good to know the way to Ruat, but the direction of the story was changing.

Seokhyun tried to raise his thumb, but Da-jeong stopped him.

“Wait a minute. What does ‘holding hands’ mean specifically?”

“It means cooperating. We can provide you with the information you need. And vice versa.”

Geom-in hit his palm lightly with his fist.

“So the elven warchief is giving out quests?”

Amelia smiled lightly.

“I’m not the warchief, and I’m not the kind of person to give someone a quest. It’s all about helping people who are going through hard times.”

“I agree.” Seokhyun expressed his intention first, and Da-jeong nodded. She got the feeling that they would be able to achieve a lot by working together. Even if Seongho was here, he wouldn’t have objected; Da-jeong was sure about that.

Throughout the talk, Geom-in seemed to be completely absorbed in Amelia. It’s all apparent by how wide his mouth was open.

“What do you think?”

“Yes? You need my opinion for this?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The three of us should come to a conclusion first before answering anything. If even one of us objects, we will refuse.”

Geom-in thought for a second or two before also expressing his intention to consent. However, to Da-jeong, she felt like he was so engrossed in Amelia that he couldn’t keep his mind straight.

“Calm down a little, wouldn’t you? She might be 200 years old.”

“Who is 200 years old?”

“No, nothing. Anyway, um… What do you guys do when an agreement is reached? We used to hold hands and shake hands, but we don’t do that anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s a possibility that the other party has the ability to brainwash others. If you hold hands with them, you become their puppet right away, so the custom of shaking hands has disappeared.”

The smile disappeared from Amelia’s lips.

“That’s really similar to black magic. However, all of the curse magic users met a miserable end.”

“There’s people who use that kind of power here too?”

“Not in the current times. However, before the end came, there were a lot of them.”

“Huuuaaaamm.” Perhaps bored, Seokhyun yawned.

Amelia looked around the three of them slowly.

“There are many things I want to say and many things I want to hear, but you guys must be busy too. We will tell you the way to the Ruat Kingdom. The distance is over a month if you walk, but with a gryphon…”

Da-jeong received an old map from Amelia. It was a gift from a merchant who visited Velrond Forest in the past. Then, the chief said an unexpected word.

“I’m just asking this just in case, but… Do you have any relationship with the Elderwood?”

Da-jeong and Geom-in looked at Seokhyun in an instant. If they told her what the madman did before, they were sure that the gentle Amelia would be angry.

So, when Da-jeong told her the story minus all the crazy things he did, Amelia let out a gasp.

“You got the feeling that she needs help?”

“I don’t know why, but it seemed like she was hurt.”

“Uh…”

No matter how ignorant Seokhyun was, she couldn’t let it go. Amelia looked serious and she let out a small whistle. A blue parrot appeared from the window and sat on her shoulder. Amelia then whispered to it in a volume which the three could hardly hear.

“Yeah… that’s right. okay. Go back now.”

After the parrot flew away, Amelia took something out from behind her.

“It’s a rope made from the stems of elderwood. It will never break.”

“You say it would never break? I will be the judge of that.”

“Hey, don’t I tell you to do it in moderation?”

While Seokhyun and Da-jeong quarreled, Amelia handed over the rope to them.

“Please confirm it. It will never break.”

「Elderwood Rope: Indestructible」

It’s real…

However, this option only aroused Seokhyun’s desire for a challenge.

A human-like monster with the power of an ogre grabbed the rope and used all his power to pull it.

“Whoaa…”

“It’s really strong.”

Once he was done, the rope did not suffer any damage whatsoever. Amelia, watching the sight nervously, let out a sigh of relief at that moment.

Da-jeong was happy and took the rope.

“Let’s give this to Seongho.”

“Who is Seongho?”

“He’s, umm…my husband. He’s seriously strong. Now that we’ve mentioned him, I advise you to tell… Who is that elf we met for the first time?”

“Gryondel. He’s the patrol captain of this tribe.”

“I don’t know if they’ll ever meet, but tell that guy that if he ever meets a tall and big man with black hair, he must do his best not to aggravate him. This is pure advice. Even for us, it’s hard to stop him.”

Judging from the fact that Seokhyun nodded without saying a word, Amelia was convinced that the guy was truly strong. Well, in the first place, there’s no need for them to collide for nothing, so she needs to tell all the elves.

After sorting her thoughts. Amelia opened her mouth. “Since you told me that the Elderwood was hurt, I can’t stand still. With this rope, you will be able to enter the forest where Elderwood’s main body is located.”

“Where is it located?”

“It’s in the forest north of Ruat Kingdom… It’s a large forest where humans and even us are not allowed to enter. Please go there and examine the main body of the Elderwood.”

“How can we contact you to report the situation?”

It’s apparent from the Elderwood’s ropes case, the elves didn’t seem to be able to use the system. In other words, communication through the Auction House was impossible.

“You can do that with this…” Amelia pulled something else out of her box. They were two aether stones of the same size. “It’s called the whisper jewels, and as you can see, it’s made of aether stone. Merchants who visited this forest said that the only place that could process these stones was the Ezekium Empire.”

“It’s a walkie-talkie.”

“Yeah…”

“The way to use it is passing the other stone to the other person. Then, you can just hold the jewel and think.”

Geom-in took the Whispers Jewels and Amelia cupped her hands against her chest.

“You must have a reason for coming here and there must be a reason for our meeting. I want to expect little things from meeting you. That will change us.”

Even though both parties didn’t know exactly what the change was, it was clear that each of them had what the other needed.

The group refused Amelia’s request to take a rest for a day or so. Only Geom-in seemed to agree.

“We have a long way to go, you know?”

“Well, that’s right…”

“I think we’ll get along with the elves here, so you can just flirt with Amelia later.”

“I-it’s not like that.”

“You know, your eyes were dripping with honey.”

Da-jeong laughed and called her Gryphon. After a while, the branches of the Elderwood parted and the gryphon descended.

The party left the forest with the elves seeing them off.

.

.

.

“Looks like the talk went well.” I said as I bought the Elderwood rope the three put from the Auction House.

As I read Geom-in’s report, I couldn’t help but sigh when I read that they told the elves that they come from a different world.

“Did they really need to say that…”

Well, I guess it was the conclusion they reached. I don’t know about others, but I can trust Geom-in if he was together with Da-jeong and Seokhyun.

“Investigating the main body of Elderwood, huh?”

Da-jeong said that Geom-in was excited by the quest. From his point of view, who enjoys playing games, it would be like becoming a hero and receiving a quest from the chief of an elf tribe in another world.

Anyway, the three were currently heading to the capital of Ruat Kingdom. There, they would have to find an item to block the mental attack of the guy named Giudecca.

Investigating the Elderwood was nothing but a side job.

“Well, it’s fine because I was worried anyway…”

It’s not bad to do both at once.

I fiddled with the Elderwood rope. It is said that even with Seokhyun’s ignorant power, it didn’t snap, so it must be useful.

“Where should I use this…” Suddenly, something came to mind. The habits of a drake. It has a habit of actively coming down to the ground and hunting. A cow would suffice to lure it.

“If I take advantage of that gap and put this rope on it, I can stop it from moving once…”

It was terrifying to see something as large as a drake moving wildly on the ground. In addition, it was very agile, so it was difficult to dodge its attacks. However, It would be easy to deal with it if I tie it with this rope.

“If I tie it up and set a bomb on the bolt and shoot it…”

Even with ballista bolts, a drake’s scales would be hard to pierce. But detonating a bomb will make things better. Anti-tank rockets were limited in quantity, so I wanted to save them as much as possible. Overly relying on such weapons can be dangerous.

I continued the simulation in my head while watching the video of me hunting the drake. Fortunately, the Battle Royale battlefield no longer exists in areas where the drake often appears.

When I looked at the Auction House before, there was no such information regarding the end of the battle royale. But someone had sorted it out. He was the head of the Houston Braves clan.

“Didn’t he say he respects me…” It should be nothing but a lip service, but it was clear that he had seen a video from Survival Life. He added that he regretted that it didn’t launch in the US.

“They really love things like survival, hunting, and exploring.”

In any case, the image of Korea, who led public opinion at the Auction House, was not bad at all. There is only a lot of swearing at the federal government for not responding properly.

-They definitely heard the Korean government’s warning. It’s just that the stupid president and federal officials ignored it!

-So, when will our Korean friends come? Is he really trying to hunt the drake?

-I honestly can’t believe he’s a game changer. Doing something alone that 10 people can’t do? Ridiculous!

-He will have a friend who helps him.

-I really want to see them… It must be fantastic…

-Hey, guys…it’s Huxley, what if we fully cooperate? Whatever the outcome, it won’t be bad for us.

-If our Korean friend catches it, we will become a witness to an amazing sight, and even if he fails, we will gain a know-how.

-That’s right. The Houston Braves will help him. Anybody interested?

-Me! Shall we go sight-seeing?

-Shouldn’t he prove it before he comes? It’s more dangerous if he just makes the drake angry instead.

-Right. You have to catch at least one troll to be worthy!

-I’m against him coming. It’s not good for others to intervene when we have good enough skills.

The resident of Houston started fighting at that moment.

It seemed like it’s time for me to intervene.

-Is catching an ogre enough for a proof?

As soon as I wrote that comment, dozens of comments went up.

-Surely people like you should have killed an ogre back in the game!

-You don’t mean in real life, fo you?

-No, I actually caught it.

-In Korea?

-Yeah.

-Do not joke around about that.

I’m sorry, but it’s real.

Although heavy weapons were mobilized and there were many casualties, it was an unshakable truth that I had killed an ogre.

When they heard that I had even obtained the ogre gloves, some of them suddenly got excited.

-Hey, buddy, show it to me quickly.

-If you come downtown, you can meet the Houston Braves!

-Is there anyone against it? No, right? Friend, come downtown. let’s meet there.

Just like that, it was decided.

I rode my motorcycle through the middle of Houston with Sangshin.