Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Quite a lot of survivors gathered near downtown Houston. Of course, thanks to that, zombie raids kept happening, but they all didn’t seem to care. They said that surviving and thriving in such an extreme situation was the real ‘Texas way’.

Truly, these guys held too much pride about Texas…

In any case, the downtown was dominated by a clan called the Houston Braves. Judging from the conversation at the auction house, Houston Braves was the largest clan in Houston. Their combat power was rather high, and they also seemed quite relaxed amidst the situation they were in. Though, it was questionable whether they could keep their cool if the situation worsened to the extreme.

(P/n no longer capitalizing “auction house” since it kinda works as a feature within the system instead of the name of a place)

Me and Sangshin walked into the downtown back alley downtown to meet them. When we arrived, a muscular black man who appeared to be the leader came out, accompanied by two men.

“It’s me, Huxley.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Huxley was the embodiment of what black people would look like in my head. He was taller than me and his shiny muscles were intimidating. He reminded me of Hyung-jun hyung’s words that no matter how hard Asians work out, they would never be able to compare with the muscles of black people.

The two white people behind Huxley were the same as him. Even the woman looked like she had stronger muscles than Sangshin.

Were they like that originally, or was it because of the apocalypse?

The eyes of the three lingered on Sangshin for a moment before reaching towards me.

“You look a lot better than I thought. I think the name I Love Protein is more apt than I Love Gimbap.” Huxley smiled, showing his white teeth.

“Well… I never exercised when the world was still normal.”

Moving around in the forest and hunting monsters. That was how I lost my weight and built up my muscles.

Huxley’s colleague introduced themselves next. The young white guy introduced himself as Oliver while the woman introduced herself as Natalie.

“Our full name is a bit long, so as you know, quick communication is important in the apocalypse.”

So it’s kind of a codename…

In any case, the three of them showed great interest in me. Oliver held out his hand, then shyly retrieved it.

“Oh, I forgot that shaking hands is a thing of the past now. But can’t I even do that even though my unique ability was physical enhancement?”

Well, it should be fine since I was wearing a mental-resistance ring.

I held out my hand to Oliver and he grabbed it with a smile. Judging from how he secretly gave strength to it, it seemed that he wanted to find out about my strength.

But you picked the wrong opponent, my friend. After all, the ogre gloves were still wrapped around my hands.

Veins popped out on Oliver’s forearm, but I still didn’t feel much of his strength.

“Hm… With this much strength and the fact that your unique skill is physical enhancement, your strength stat should be quite high, right?”

Oliver finally started to sweat.

“It’s about 2…6…”

It’s a great stat that even beats my normal strength stats. However, when my bread and butter skills were activated, my strength would be far superior than his. Even without it, I’m still wearing the ogre gloves right now, so that was more than enough.

“Keuh… What kind of strength is this? Are you, are you a monster?” Oliver sighed.

“What I’m wearing on my hands right now is a set of ogre gloves. It lets me use an ogre’s strength. Even if I just lightly squeeze your hand, your bones will break.”

Huxley, who was watching with interest, shook his head.

“Of course, you wouldn’t go that far…”

“Correct. There is no reason to do it at all.” I loosened my hands. Oliver withdrew his hands and massaged it, face flushed.

“Wow! I thought my hand would be smashed!”

“Don’t you know already that he has the ogre gloves? Why did you challenge him?” Natalie sighed. She had dark-brown hair tied in a ponytail and had a well-sculpt chin.

Huxley looked at his colleague with bewildered eyes and said, “Are you guys done now? Has he proven himself?”

“I was an idiot. There was no need for a proof to begin with.”

“It’s really stupid to realize that just now. Do you think that a human who came all the way here from Korea would be weak?”

“I didn’t know he would have this much power.”

“You know that killing a single werewolf will give you a skill that raises the stats significantly. I bet Seongho has a lot of skills with the same effect.”

Sorry to break it to you, but I have no such things. Instead what I have was a skill called Primal Life. It was way better than any normal stats-increasing skill.

“Well, let’s just say that’s the case.” I said to the three “By the way, which area does the drake visit often? I want to go hunt the guy right away.”

“Wait just a minute. I want to know the abilities of that skinny guy who comes with you first.”

Sangshin was standing blankly behind me. To the three in front of me, it might seem that he looked too weak.

“His ability is telekinesis. Even if the three of you attack him at the same time, it won’t work. So don’t even try.”

Huxley’s eyes widened.

“I have experienced telekinesis before, but is it really that strong? I can’t believe it.”

“Even though he looks like that, he’s over level 30.”

“That ‘Even though he looks like that’ is unnecessary…” Sangshin finally joined the conversation.

When his level was revealed, Natalie took an interest in him.

“Hey. What additional effect telekinesis gets when you are that high leveled? Is it possible to make people float like a magic carpet?”

“Ah… Don’t pay attention to me… It’s annoying…” And he left the conversation soon after joining. He’s originally such a person.

I urged Huxley to lighten the mood. “I’m here to kill the drake. If you keep wasting our time like this, I have no choice but to go alone.”

Huxley raised both hands.

“I’m sorry. I will guide you immediately.”

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.

.

We were directed to the Eastex Freeway. It was a road which used to be the main road of the city. However, it now had nothing traversing through it as it had collapsed in the aftermath of the ghoul flower invasion. Huxley said that the drake often visits this wide road.

“That monster catches other monsters, plays with them, and eats them. Watching it from here is absolutely awesome.”

“Monsters are tough, so it probably don’t like them.”

“That’s why the guy often catches wild boars instead. I don’t know if it will be enticed by cows, though.”

“I’m sure it will like it very much.”

Sangshin, Huxley, and I were hiding on a pillar under the overpass. On the road above, a cow that I took from the shelter cried. Now, what I needed to do was tie it down with the elderwood rope and attack it when it found the cow and came down.

“It’s a pity there’s no cover around.”

“Even without it, you can still stand against its breath, can you?”

I should be able to do that. The elemental resistance skill will reduce the breath’s damage, and the elderwood sap will relieve me of the pain that went through. If my skin was burnt because of it, Super Regeneration would quickly restore it.

However, even if my body could endure with the skills I have, the hair on my whole body will definitely die.

“If it burns my hair, it will take a long time to grow a new one.”

“Ah… that’s a bit…”

Sangshin kept his mouth shut at that revelation. Meanwhile, I informed the shelter members that I was currently hunting a drake through the auction house. Comments asking me to be careful were the majority. The only differing comment was Da-jeong’s.

-Drake!!!!! I want a pet drake!!!!

-This one will be mine.

It would be even sweeter if the Blue Scale skill came out. It can be said that Blue Scale skill was the source of the drake’s defensive power. But it’s still inferior to the ogre’s Stone Skin skill. After all, Stone Skin was a great skill that reduces all damage taken by 50%.

Still, Blue Scale skill was definitely better than the Hard Skin skill, even though I already got Hard Skin to level 2.

Da-jeong continued to grumble, saying that I better join them soon. On top of that, she also showed her inner fangirl towards drakes.

-Drakes are really cool. It can use Breath and its scale is really hard. Gryphon is a complete chicken compared to it.

-Chicky will cry if he hears you.

Chicky was the name Da-jeong gave to her griffon. The reason for that name was as simple as it could be. It was because gryphon meat tasted like chicken meat. If she ever got her hands on a drake, Chicky would probably be forgotten.

-I’ll catch one for you later, so just drive safely for now.

-Do you know how many times you said ‘I would do it later’ to me until now?

To be honest, I don’t remember. When I failed to answer her question, Da-jeong left an outraged comment. However, soon enough the topic went back to the drake. A drake was usually called a mini-dragon, but to be fair, there’s no dragon at all in the game.

-Well… I didn’t see it in the settings.

-Still, wouldn’t a dragon really exist since it’s a fantasy world?

-Since you guys are in Lotus, check it out. Don’t you have that thing? Whispering jewel or something?

-Hmm… I can just ask her later. By the way, you’re not just trying to give me more work to distract me, are you?

She’s uselessly fast when it comes to me…

To be honest, while she was walking around Lotos, I felt quite liberated. After all, Da-jeong tried to stick around me at any time, so it’s quite burdensome.

She had a pretty face, a great body, and an even more outstanding ability. She’s really nice so far, but her personality was a bit fiery and obsessive. It’s not that it’s bad, but sometimes it’s necessary to stay apart like this.

Whoosh-!!

I heard a sound and swiped the auction house window away. The sound I just heard is the sound that the wind makes as the drake’s wings flap. When the guy appeared, the cow made a more pitiful noise.

After asking Huxley and Sangshin for their understanding, I moved to another pillar and opened the portal.

-Mi-kyung. Can you help me for a second?

I put the note inside the portal and she came out in less than five seconds.

“Why did you come out so quickly?”

“Hehe, I knew you would call me. So I was waiting.”

“I’m glad. There are no shackles here. When the drake attacks the cow, send me up, okay?”

“What should I do after that?”

“Just get me to the drake’s head and I’ll take care of the rest. I’ll leave this dimensional door open, so go in after that, okay?”

Then the cow suddenly roared. A nervous Huxley looked in my direction, and after a while, the cow started mooing madly.

At that moment, my extrasensory skill alerted me of the drake’s location.

“Mi-kyung.” The moment I said that, I landed on the overpass. Mi-kyung put me on top with just two blinks. I looked at the other end of the road and saw the drake crushing the cow’s back with his claws.

“Wh-why is it so big?”

“Of course it is. It is the largest among flying monsters.”

“It would be fun to fly around on that…”

We can’t because Da-jeong is currently wandering around Lotus…

After hesitating for a moment, the drake landed on the ground.

Thud-!!

Debris and dust rose from the road as the drake’s massive body landed. When the guy bit the cow’s neck and threw it to the ground, the cow died instantly. I was told that it usually played with its prey, but I guess it was currently hungry.

I tapped Mi-kyung on the shoulder.

“Get me to its head and get out right away, okay?”

“Okay.”

Mi-kyung took my hand and moved with her blink. As the afterimage of her disappeared, the drake’s nose appeared in front of me.

The guy was puzzled by my sudden appearance.

Where are you from? It might have had this question in its head.

“Hi.” I hit the drake on the bridge of the nose with my fist.

Kiaaaaak-!!

His scaly head fell to the floor.

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.

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When the drake appeared over the overpass, Houston Braves clan members were hiding in the building across the street, watching. Some bluffed that they had to witness the greatest show on Earth from a close distance and stood outside, but when the drake appeared, they quickly entered the building.

“Damn, why is it so big?”

“Aren’t you lot saying you want to watch it closer, earlier?”

“Well, it’s not the greatest show on earth, but it’s definitely a show worth watching. The highlight would be the Korean catching the drake.”

“Well… I bet he can’t catch it.”

The clan members made a bet on whether Seongho could catch the drake. On the other hand, Oliver, who had experienced his power firsthand, was cautious.

“He might be able to hunt it.”

“Oliver, aren’t you too depressed about losing a hand power struggle?”

“Your true value shows in a real fight. He will be surprised when you fight him!”

“That definitely wouldn’t be the case.” Oliver shook his head. In fact, he, along with Huxley and Natalie, tried to help him. But only Huxley was allowed to help. Afterall, Seongho judged that the other two were not very helpful.

He said:

-Physical stats don’t matter. Whether you can help me or not depends on your unique skill.

Oliver muttered inwardly ‘how great he is, for him to be saying such a thing’ at that time, but now, he was feeling relieved, by a lot.

How the hell are you going to catch that monster?

“You’ll know if you keep watching.”

Natalie muttered and everyone watched the drake descend.

When the cow cried loudly, a groan broke out.

“Why of all things, he gave the cow to a monster.”

“It means that to catch a drake, a good bait is necessary.”

“By the way, does anyone know where we can get a cow?”

Texas has a lot of cattle, but driving them downtown is another matter.

“Anyway, he’s a strange man.”

Oliver asked at Natalie’s words.

“Are you interested in him?”

“I am very interested. I’m wondering if I’ll become stronger if I follow that man.”

“You’re a member of the Houston Braves.”

She opened her eyes wide and looked at him.

“I’m the decision maker of my own fate. No one can stop me.”

“I’m not saying I’m going to stop you…” Oliver took a step back.

When it comes to the Houston Braves, Huxley was the leader, while others perceive him as the number two. However, he knows that the true number two within the clan was Natalie. Her unique skill was acceleration, which made her boast tremendous speed. If she made her mind up and moved properly, it was not easy to even capture her movements with naked eyes.

“I am just saying just in case. After all, he needs to satisfy the power level I want him to be.”

“What if he meets your expectations?”

“…That’s not going to happen, but in case it happens, I would have to ask him to accept me as a disciple.”

“Oh. That’s a bad idea.”

“That’s my decision.”

“Okay, Okay…” Oliver raised his hand and backed away. At that moment, the drake finally pounced on the cow.

The clan members sat close to the window and watched.

“That’s it!!!!”

“Kill that cow at once!!!”

When the drake bit the cow’s neck and threw it away, cheers erupted. But that’s only for a while.

The Korean in question, dressed in black, suddenly appeared in front of the drake’s head, accompanied by a small woman next to him.

The clan members narrowed their eyes at the sight.

“What the fuck.”

“Is that a blink ability? Wait, where did that woman come from to begin with?”

Then Seongho hit the drake on the head with his fist. The road vibrated as the head fell to the floor with a thud.

Oliver involuntarily raised his arms.

“What the fuck is that..!”

“Did you see it? My panties are wet!!!!”

“I’m proud of you, you asshole.”

“Don’t underestimate Texas!”

It was unknown what Seongho’s punches have to do with Texas, but his fists sent excitement to all spectators regardless.

The drake lost its senses, and a rope crept up from under the overpass. The clan members groaned at the sight.

“Is he trying to tie it up with that?”

“It comes up like a snake.”

Seongho climbed towards the drake’s neck and tied it up around it.

Everyone laughed at his actions.

“He’s indeed brave. But if he thinks that a drake will be tied up with just that, he’s very mistaken.”

“It’ll cut it off in one blow.”

But even after some time passed, the scene that they predicted didn’t happen. The drake, barely awake, felt a foreign thing on its body and moved his neck, but at some point, it was pulled tight.

Then, the rope was tied to a pole on the overpass.

Kuaaaak-!!

As the drake exerted its strength, the overpass swayed slightly, but did not collapse. The clan members now pulled out their hair in amazement. The sight in front of them was shocking no matter how they looked at it.

“What the hell is that rope made of?”

“It’s like a dog on a leash!”

“Hey-hey, the guy opened its mouth!”

At long last, the drake opened its mouth at Seongho. The clan members closed their eyes, assuming that Seongho’s body would be consumed by the flames.

But Natalie was different. Her eyes were looking straight at Sungho.

Hwaaak-

When the drake released its breath, Seongho’s body was completely engulfed in flames.

However,

The flame was split into two as if it had collided with something. And something came out through the flames.

bang!

With a heavy sound, the drake raised its head to the sky and let out a cry. It was not a howl of pride that the clan members usually heard, but more like a scream of pain. When it opened its mouth again, there was something akin to a pole stuck inside it.

Natalie clenched her fists as she watched Seongho take out a knife and lunged at the drake.

“Now that’s a real battle, isn’t it!?”

The viewers realized that what they’d been doing up until now wasn’t even child’s play.

The clan members, including Oliver, stood in a daze and nodded.

They couldn’t think of anything to refute.