Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Sponsored Chapter 5/11

The survivor who suddenly broke into his fight against Rabbit Princess was by no means an ordinary man. No one in the area were foolish enough to intervene his fight, who is already famous as the murderer of Changwon. Afterall, everyone who had the guts was already dead. The only survivors left were those who were living under his rule.

Then what about this guy?

Cheol-seong endured the pain in his hand and glared at his two enemies who were hiding in a certain building. Around them, zombies were surrounding them like a wall. As long as the deathmatch event was still active, it was almost impossible to run away from this area. But for some reason, Cheol-seong felt uncomfortable.

‘Is that guy really I Love Gimbap?’

The chance that Rapwi was bluffing is quite high. And in case the guy was really I Love Gimbap, the fight would become more dirty since he's the most annoying person to deal with amongst the four original stagnant waters. He was also the only one amongst the four who he had managed to drag into a deathmatch event back in the game. However, he managed to injure him in a cowardly way and escaped the deathmatch event using a bug.

‘There is no way such a person will reveal his identity.'

Isn't he the person who had the worst reputation at the Auction House? People always said that he was all alive but no one had actually seen him. However, judging by the fact that he used the nickname he was called at Auction House at his ranking, it was certain that he's alive.

‘Keuk.'

Cheol-seong grabbed his right shoulder blade. The wound he suffered from the earlier attack was quite grave to the point it was difficult for him to wield his fist right away. Thanks to the help of his recovery skills, the wound was already in the process of closing, but it took time before he could regain his top shape.

‘Should I say I am lucky or unlucky…’ If he just endured, he knew that he would surely win, but Cheol-seong wanted to see the end.

Cheol-seong spit to the ground as he moved his right arm. At that moment, excruciating pain washed over him. But it's become a lot better than before. As thing stands, It seemed like he had to use his left hand to deal with the two of them.

He pulled out his long knife and focused his gaze and the murderer's see-through gaze swept through the area. By now, both of them will hear a very loud heartbeat.

“Where are those rats hiding at…”

Cheol-seong walked slowly while trying to figure out the unique skill of the intruder. The penetrating power of the first arrow still made sense to him, but the ability to shoot a terrifying big bolt did not make any sense.

If the bolt is that thick, the crossbow must be quite large, but he saw nothing that looked like a crossbow when he was shot by the huge bolt. So, just how did he do it?

Did he perhaps hide his weapon in a subspace or something?

If that was really the case, it was highly likely that the man was not Gimbap.

‘There is no way that Gimbap had that kind of ability.’

It was said that he had over 5,500 hours of play time. So does it make sense for Gimbap to only have a mere subspace ability when the other stagnant water had unique skills such as zombie domination and immortality?

‘I have to forget that possibility.’ The more Cheol-seong thought about it, the less likely the man to be Gimbap. Therefore, he decided to assume that Rapwi was only bluffing.

Cheol-seong waved his long knife and walked forward. There was no need to be in a hurry as long as the deathmatch event was open, due to the fact that after some time, the zombies will take care of narrowing the area. But that's not the only reason why. In fact, he choose to walk due to the Death Gait skill common to murderers. It imparts greater pressure to the survivor side when walking rather than when running. Rapwi won't be affected much by it, but the guy who broke into the fight might be trembling by now.

After walking for some time, the figure of a man squatting behind the wall was visible to Cheol-seong's eyes. Judging by the man's size, it was clear that it was Rapwi.

By this time, a normal murderer would have already ridiculed him, thinking that he had already given up. But Cheol-seong didn't do that and kept his vigilance sky high. It was due to the fact that Rapwi had enough stats to inflict damage to him, even without wearing any items.

Cheol-seong stopped his trail and waved the long knife with his left hand.

"Where's the other guy…" He looked around, but there were so many obstacles strewn around. WIth those in the way, it wouldn't be easy to find him. Well, it doesn't matter. Afterall, time is on his side.

He started walking towards Rapwi again. Along with his steps, a thundering heartbeat accompanies.

The key to surviving the deathmatch event was cooperation of the survivors trapped inside. However, there were not many situations in which cooperation was possible because when people meet for the first time, it's not easy for them to match each other's tempo when fighting. If they work together clumsily, they were likely to be cut down by a murderer who boasts overwhelming specifications.

However, it was possible for a small number of users who had played the game for a long time. Just looking at the atmosphere and the situation alone, they would directly work like cog wheels inside a clock. The few users who could do this used to be called survival experts. And both Gimbap and Rapwi also belonged to it.

The combined play time of the two was over 10,000 hours. And since they had played together for a long time, they could immediately know what the other person wanted and what they planned to do. That strength would certainly shine in the deathmatch event against Cheol-seong.

When Cheol-seong tried to figure out the location of the intruder and waved the long knife in his left hand towards him, Rapwi rushed towards him.

“SEXXXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!”

“It seems like you find some leeway, huh?” Cheol-seong said as he looked at Rapwi who rushed at him while screaming.

Rapwi's high kick barely passed Cheol-seong's head. Cheol-seong reflexively tried to move his right shoulder, but he felt an excruciating pain wash over him.

“Keuuukkkk!”

Habits were scary. Even though he was holding a long knife in his left hand, out of reflex, he still tried to swing his right hand instead.

When Cheol-seong paused for a moment because of the pain, Rapwi turned around in the air and kicked him with his opposite foot. Cheol-seong managed to block it with his arm. However, the power behind the kick was enough to push him back.

It was then, the intruder appeared.

"Hap!!!"

Seongho appeared from the right rear window and kicked Cheol-seong's head. Normally, he would have avoided it, but since he had been pushed back just a few moments ago, he couldn't afford to do so.

"EUUUUUKGHHH!" Cheol-seong took a heavy blow and flew back.

Whoosh-!!

When he was thrown back, the long knife rotated in the air. Without giving him the time to take his long knife, Rapwi immediately leapt up and attacked Cheol-seong. It all happened in less than a second.

If it was in his normal condition, Cheol-seong would have grasped the situation and counterattacked. But now, he was only rolling the floor miserably.

“Damn it!” Cheol-seong spit out swear words and stood up. After being beaten by two, his vision became clear and he could finally see the shape of the two men clearly.

Seokhyun grabbed the long knife on the ground, threw it upwards, then ran towards him.

‘Are you going to have another hand-to-hand battle after being badly defeated before?' Cheol-seong snorted.

However, Seokhyun's purpose was not hand-to-hand combat. His right hand grabbed the window frame and his momentum stopped. Then, Seokhyun kicked the hilt of his long knife.

“Dammit!” As Seokhyun's long knife flies right in front of Cheol-seong's nose, there's no escape for him. Cheol-seong barely covered his face with his right arm, thus his arm was pierced by the long knife. The pain spread, but it was still in the realm of tolerable for him.

But that wasn't the end.

Wooosh-!!

Something flew past the left and right side of Seokhyun.

Cheol-seong, whose arm had just been pierced, could not avoid the attack and had to bear the strike of Emeras throwing knife with his bare body.

“AGGGGHHHHHHHH!”

Cheol-seong fell to his knees.

How do these guys fight so well together!!!

With a spear in his hand, Rapwi ran towards him.

You fucking survivors!

Cheol-seong, whose anger had reached the limit, stood up and blocked the spear brandished by Rapwi with his hand. Resulting in his hand being pierced once again.

“Keeeeuk!” A great torment struck his body, but on the contrary, he was able to stop Rapwi's chance.

Rapwi looked back the moment his attack was blocked. He seemed to be giving a signal. However, Cheol-seong knew what was coming to him: a thick bolt which had made a hole in his shoulder earlier. Thinking he was one step ahead in terms of psychological warfare, Cheol-seong flew to the side and smiled.

But moments later, what he saw in his sight wasn't Rapwi's startled face, but his feet.

“It’s a fake, you idiot!”

Bam-!!

Cheol-seong slammed to the ground as Rapwi's soccer kick landed directly on his nose. Then, out of nowhere, a huge crossbow bolt suddenly appeared in the air.

Tuck-!!

When it pierced his side, Cheol-seong let out a pained moan. An excruciating pain that made him feel as if his soul would be ejected enveloped him. Cheol-seong crawled on the floor and clenched his teeth. If he decided to endure more, he was sure that he wouldn't be able to live. The instinct to run away once again filled his mind.

At that moment, Rapwi rushed again, but Cheol-seong pulled out his weapon with difficulty and started running. And suddenly, the zombie wall was closing in.

“We have to kill him here.” Seongho, who just came out of the portal, shouted. However, they also couldn't let him kill himself at any cost. Afterall, if it's not this moment, the Friendliness skill would be too difficult to acquire, since it was skill which only murderer that has killed a lot of people could get.

Seokhyun agreed with Seongho's words and nodded his head. He wanted to greet his friend so much, but for now, he had to chase that guy first. However, before they could do so, Cheol-seong quickly disappeared among the zombies even though he was badly injured.

When a murderer disappeared, the deathmatch event instantly ended. Then, the horde of zombies, which formed the zombie wall, attacked the two of them. If it was the usual Seongho, he would have immediately escaped into the portal. But since he was with his friend now, he didn't feel like doing that.

The two turned their backs and stared at the zombies.

“Rabbit Princess, they are staring at you.”

“It’s Seokhyun. Hwang Seokhyun.”

Seongho hesitated for a moment at the unexpected common name, and then he revealed his name.

“My name is Kang Seongho. Isn't this our first time meeting on Earth?”

“There is one thing we need to do.”

"Right? Let's finish it first."

Breaking through hundreds of zombies…

It was a statement which would be dismissed as nonsense if anyone heard it. But the two were stagnant water who had played the game for thousands of hours. Even though they just met for the first time on Earth, they worked together and pushed a murderer which had much superior stats than them. It will be difficult to find a combination more perfect than the two of them throughout Survival Life.

The two turned their heads to look at each other's faces. Meanwhile, two ghouls jumped up and attacked them. But in an instant, they were beaten and fell to the ground.

Then, they both shouted at the same time.

“SEEEEEXXXXXX!!!”

"Fyuuhh~ I brought all of them.” I said as I spilled the weapons and clothes I recovered from the road. Meanwhile, Seokhyun only looked curiously at the clothes scattered on the floor.

“Put this on quickly.”

"Me?"

"Yeah. If you keep being naked, I'm the one who will be embarrassed.”

“But I have a very great body.”

“Of course, you are. But try to be in my position. If people see someone walking together with a huge, naked guy, which is definitely Rabbit Princess, who do you think people would think I was?”

Seokhyun tilted his head at the topic and immediately gave the correct answer.

“Probably I Love Gimbap?"

“That's right, so get dressed quickly.”

“But you are strong. Even more than me."

It seems like he thinks that there's no need for me to hide my identity because I'm strong. But my thoughts were a little different from his.

“It's not like that. And even if it’s true, I would like if there's less people who knew who I am.”

“Hmm.”

“Please put on some clothes for me, please.”

When I said earnestly, Seokhyun nodded his head and put on his panties and jeans. And then he also put on a T-shirt, transforming his overall impression from a pervert battle-maniac to a handsome man.

“Woah… What a surprise.”

He would be even more handsome once his bald head and messy beard was cleaned up. However, contrary to my good thoughts, Seokhyun's face was dark.

“Now I have three things to take off…”

“No, why are you trying to take it off? It's not even exhibitionism.”

“When I take it off, I feel liberated. You will know when you take it off.”

"….”

I facepalmed at him and sat down next to Seokhyun. By the way, from the looks of things, it seems like he was in his 30s… He's older than me, but it was very awkward for me to use formal speech to him. So, I decided to just continue to use informal speech as I also talked like that with Da-jeong.

“You don’t know who Duck is, aren't you?”

"Yeah."

“His name is Choi Da-jeong. You know, she's a woman."

“Where is she now?”

“Something happened so she's currently away. Anyway, Seokhyun… I want to hear from you first. Why did you suddenly decide to come here after roaming mindlessly?"

Like Da-jeong, I couldn't understand him. No matter how confident you are in your abilities, moving between cities was by no means easy in the apocalypse. Hiding and settling in the place where you were born and raised were much more comfortable.

Seokhyun said with a large grin on his face.

“Because my friend is here.”

Friend, huh? I didn't know there were people who thought of a guy like me this way.

We looked at the southern sky at sunset without saying a word for a moment. But suddenly, Seokhyun's stomach rumbled. It seems like I would have to feed him something first.

“Are you hungry? Let’s eat first.”

“There are a lot of them. I'll catch them." He said as he pointed to the distance. What Seokhyun was pointing at was a goblin.

When I saw them, I shuddered.

“Have you ever eaten that? They are poisonous.”

“It’s okay because the poison disappears when you roast it. I've tried it before.”

You've eaten it before?

However, his argument was simple.

“They eat us humans, so it’s only fair for us to eat them too.”

“Seokhyun-ah, let’s not give up on our humanity.” I desperately wrestled Seokhyun who was about to leap towards the goblin. He looked at me and said he didn't understand. Seems like I would have to move quickly before he really put goblin meat in my mouth.

I opened the portal and came out with the gryphon meat from before. It was still in good condition because it was buried in the cold ground of the forest. Even though I appeared and disappeared from thin air, Seokhyun did not show any reaction. He didn't even ask what my unique skill was. Guess he wants to wait for me to tell him someday. Just like Da-jeong.

“It's gryphon meat. It’s delicious, so eat it.”

Having said that, I immediately regretted it. Afterall. Seokhyun's eyes lit up and he began to eat the meat raw.

“No, wait! I'm not telling you to eat it like that!"

I told you to eat it because I'll cook it for you!

After eating the raw meat, Seokhyun said it was okay to eat like this… What a troublesome guy.

That evening. After we finished eating, we shared some glasses of alcohol as well as some snacks.

“Isn’t he an endangered species? To think he was still alive…”

“He’s an obsessive guy, so he won’t give up on us.”

“Are you saying that he will come to us again?”

I checked the Auction House just in case, but I couldn't find any comment which seemed like it was written by him. It's not that he's hiding his identity, so it seems like he was trying to keep us for himself.

Is this good or bad I wonder?

After talking for long, we set a goal for ourself. It was to someday get together and hunt a brutra. While deciding that, Seokhyun hoped to subtract 1 survivor from it.

When I asked why, he said:

"… he's a bad guy."

That's a very subjective opinion. I answered by saying let's just watch him for now. I've sent Da-jeong to the government shelter, so she'll judge him for me.

“But Seokhyun-ah…” Oh man, he's already sleeping. He must have been very tired from coming here.

I took some blankets and pillows from the shelter, laid them on the floor, and rolled him to it.

Get a good night's sleep, and see you tomorrow, my friend.