Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

As soon as the music stopped playing, Seokhyun put an end to his performance and pulled out the pole he used to do his pole dance from the ground. At around the same time, the people who were staring blankly at him jerked to their senses.

“Wh-what the hell?

“The heartbeats were so intense to the point I wanted to give myself in to the music.”

Everyone looked at Seokhyun, taken aback. In particular, Murayama’s shock was severe. When he was told that there’s a man wearing a rabbit headband among the group, he’s already feeling lost, but to think the very man was also doing something like this…

“Are you… a Monster?”

Yuzuka, who was standing next to Seongho, covered her mouth with her sleeve and suppressed a smirk. Meanwhile, Seongho laughed bitterly.

“If by Monster, you mean a murderer, then no.”

“Then, who are you?”

“Just… a Monster Hunter with a rabbit headband?”

“What a joke. I want to hear your name.” Murayama pulled out a long knife and held it forward.

Reciprocating, Seongho took out a mithril blade from his dimension slot.

“Isn’t that weapon the one which was sold in the shop for 8,000 points?” Murayama’s men broke into a whisper as soon as they saw the mithril blade.

“There’s really people who were able to afford it, huh?”

The mithril blade was definitely longer than the long knife. On top of it, it also looked a league fancier than the long knife. Even Murayama couldn’t hide his greed when he saw it.

“It doesn’t suit a guy like you.”

“Are you saying it suits you more? The Monster Murayama?”

Murayama took a step forward and opened his chest.

“If you just give it to me, I will answer in kind. I will accept you as one of us, even though you are Korean.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Please, just give up. Or else…”

“Do whatever you like.” Seongho shrugged his shoulders.

Actually, he was wondering how great these guys were. However, after seeing them in person, he realized that his curiosity was nothing but a waste of time.

As Seongho stood up, Seokhyun tightened his gloves.

“Should we start the seggs… No, the game now?”

Then from within the crowd, Sakaguchi came forward.

“Wait a minute, Murayama-kun, and you too, Korean. You, the girl back there… Are you perhaps a Shiraishi?”

“Indeed.”

“And your full name is?”

“It’s Shiraishi Yuzuka.”

“That’s good… That’s good….”

Sakaguchi put his hand on his sleeve, seemingly in a good mood.

Yuzuka shook her head violently. “Yuzuka is indeed a member of the Shiraishi family. But it means nothing now. Yuzuka is just someone who is struggling to live.”

Sakaguchi opened his eyes and took his hand out from his sleeve.

“It would be difficult to travel around with those Koreans. How about entrusting yourself to us? No, this is a must-do. We need you.”

“Yuzuka don’t need you.”

“Looks like you have been stained by them.”

When Sakaguchi was about to say something more, Seongho stepped up in front of Yuzuka.

“This is the end of your Q&A session.”

“Then what will start?”

“A skill demonstration event. This is the first and last warning I will give you. If you guys just go back, I won’t bother chasing you. Because it’s annoying.”

Murayama laughed.

“Haha, you’re talking as if you have a different purpose for coming here. I wonder what your great purpose is…”

Seongho didn’t want to tell him, but he decided to throw in the bait first.

“I came here for the gryphon. It’s a giant flying monster, have you ever seen it?”

At that moment, one of Sakaguchi’s subordinates whispered into Sakaguchi’s ears.

“He seems to be referring to the owner of the large nest in the Mori Tower.”

He said it in a very low volume, but Seongho, who has extra-sensory skills, heard it as if it was said in a conversational volume.

“Oh, there was a nest there? Thank you.”

The Japanese were stunned at that moment.

How the hell was he able to hear that?

Sakaguchi smiled faintly.

“Looks like you are quite capable. Let me make one last suggestion. Come under me.”

“I refuse.”

“Will you still refuse after seeing this I wonder…” Sakaguchi winked to his men after saying his bits. Taking it as a signal, all his men pulled out their guns.

Seongho almost laughed out loud at their actions. After all, the guns they pulled were laughably shabby.

“Isn’t that just an iron stick? Can it shoot something out?”

“It’s something that can be used to kill people.”

“I still refuse.”

“Looks like you want to die. Then, Murayama-kun, please.”

“Leave it to me.”

The Monsters, including Murayama, smirked.

“Let me ask you one thing. My underlings who should be here. Where are they?” Murayama asked as he walked over.

Seokhyun turned his head towards the sea.

“You mean those things?”

When Murayama followed Seokhyun’s gaze, he could see something floating in the water off Odaiba Shore. It didn’t take him long to realize that it was floating dead bodies, scattered around the sea.

Quite instantly, blood seeped into the eyes of the Monsters, including Murayama.

“You fucker!!!”

“Come.”

When Seokhyun cracked his fist, Murayama, unable to bear it, rushed in. The Japanese who saw it were sure that the bald rabbit man would be pierced by the long knife wielded by Murayama, the strongest and most evil Monster.

But betraying their confidence, it was Murayama who spewed blood from his mouth as soon as the two clashed against each other.

“Keuk!”

One punch that Seokhyun roughly threw left Murayama out cold. Moreover, the long knife he swung was caught in Seokhyun’s hand without even leaving a scratch on it.

Sakaguchi couldn’t believe the scene in front of him.

How could a human being catch a long knife with their bare hand?

Oblivious to Sakaguchi’s thoughts, Seokhyun grabbed Murayama’s neck with one hand and lifted his body up.

“What should I do with him?”

“Kill him.”

“What about those guys?”

“I’ll take care of them.”

As soon as those words were finished, Seokhyun threw Murayama’s body at the other Monsters. The one-sided violence continued at that moment. They were quite strong Monsters, but they were far from being able to stand against Seokhyun’s onslaught. One blow from his fist broke the ribs and crushed the chest of a lot of Monsters. Meanwhile, some Monsters who were hit in the skull were killed instantly. Thanks to that, the amount of pounding heartbeat was reduced in real time.

At this point, Sakaguchi was terrified.

“Shoot, shoot!”

“U-Uh, I can’t see him! I can’t shoot!”

According to his subordinates, Seokhyun’s movements were so fast that it was impossible to take an aim at him.

“Shoot the other guy, then!”

But no one shot Seongho. After all, just before they squeezed the trigger, emeras throwing knives flew through the air.

“Ugh!”

“Kuaaak!”

When the throwing knives stabbed onto their arms, Sakaguchi’s subordinates dropped their guns at once.

Seongho rushed in at that moment, without missing a gap.

Puck-!! Puck-!! Puck-!!

The stats of Seongho and the Japanese, who were close to a normal human being due to the stalled growth, was incomparable. It only takes one of his light fists to leave their body in a tattered state.

Sakaguchi also counterattacked, but he had to witness his attack finding nothing but air.

‘How? How is he moving so fast?’

In his eyes, Seongho’s movements were only seen as afterimages. On top of it, his fists were also greatly enlarged. It was as if it was a giant boulder rolling at him after rolling through a long and very steep slope.

Crack!!

When Seongho’s fist landed on Sakaguchi’s body, he could hear an ominous sound of something breaking from his body. His waist bent strangely and foam spurted out of his mouth.

On the other hand, Yuzuka, who had completely become a spectator, was shocked.

‘Even though I know that they are strong, I never thought they would be this strong…’

According to the information from the Auction House, Murayama and Sakaguchi were the strongest in Tokyo. However, Seongho and Seokhyun crushed them in the blink of an eye. She couldn’t help but to compliment her old self who decided to cooperate with Seongho. She would also make sure that this cooperation continues for long. Although there’s not much that she could give to him, she was confident that she would be able to find something that she can do for him.

All the Monsters died at Seokhyun’s hand, while Sakaguchi and the several survivors were tied with ropes. The two began to drag the three tied up like that towards somewhere.

Yuzuka hurriedly followed them.

“Where are we going?”

“We are going to the ghoul flower. We have to deal with them.”

The reason there were no monsters in Odaiba was precisely because of the existence of a huge ghoul flower. It was smaller than the one in front of the museum, but it was still much bigger than normal. Seongho was going to feed the guys into it before killing it.

Seokhyun, who was pulling the rope, looked towards Yuzuka and asked.

“Are you feeling sorry for your dead countrymen?”

Yuzuka shook her head.

“Such a thing as nationalism is meaningless in this situation. There are only allies, or enemies.”

“It’s a great mindset. I like it.” Seokhyun put her thumb up towards her and she smiled awkwardly.

As Sakaguchi was dragged behind the three, he began to tremble.

“I, I have the same blood as you! I am a Korean!”

But Seongho’s reaction was cold at best at the sudden revelation.

“So what?”

“I-if you spare me, I will give you the Sakaguchi Federation! Please!”

“We’ll take care of it even if you don’t give it to us.”

“You are wrong from the very first step you know. How can you step on the tail of the demon?”

“What are you talking about, you bunny monster?” Seongho chided.

As the two quarreled, Sakaguchi was flabbergasted.

“Are you ignoring the Sakaguchi Federation? Do you know how many guns my men had-”

However, when Seongho took out a heavy machine gun from the dimension slot, he could not continue to speak.

“Aside from this gun, I also have a heavy machine gun that fires hundreds of 12.7mm AP rounds per minute.”

“Th-that gun was for military use only… how can you have that?”

“You can think about it on the way to the afterlife.”

Seongho put the heavy machine gun back into the dimension slot and hastened his steps. Soon, he saw a ghoul flower in the half-collapsed building. Because there was nothing to eat around, the whips of this particular plant were extremely long.

Whack-!!

Sound of air being ripped could be heard at that moment. Right after that, a whip struck right in front of the group. The floor cracked and the concrete was scattered in all directions.

Sakaguchi was now paler than ever. He then screamed. “Please! Please! Spare my life!”

“I’m sorry, but I’ve never spared anyone in a situation like this. I like to keep things neat.”

Seongho said so and blinked at Seokhyun. The three tied to the ropes were torn apart by the power of the ghoul flower’s whip, and the ghoul flower pulled them.

“ACKKKKKKKKK!”

Sakaguchi’s screams rang out loudly, and the whip slashed through the three of them. With an ominous sound, Sakaguchi dropped to the ground. The whip took the three carefully and began to move them to its core.

After they disappeared, Seongho broke into the lobby with a flamethrower and burned the core.

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After wrapping the business in Odaiba, I went back to Roppongi using the motorbike. However, since a lot of Battle Royale battlefields were still active, the journey was harder than I’d like it to be. Of course, that alone couldn’t stop my plan to rob the Sakaguchi Federation.

There’s a good way to do this. I opened the Auction House. If I tell them the truth, a lot of people would be confused.

-Murayama and Sakaguchi died in Odaiba.

Unsurprisingly, a few people started to hurl colorful words at my statement. It seemed like there’s a lot of Auction House addicts too here as well.

-Who are you?
-I am a Korean who comes from the Great Labyrinth. I took Murayama and Sakaguchi into Odaiba and killed them.
-Wow, you’re so good at lying!
-Where’s the evidence? Of course you don’t have it!
-The others may not know, but the Sakaguchi Federation members will know. Listen carefully. I’ll be coming for you guys, so best prepare.
-Heyy, Korean. Let me ask you one thing. If you met Sakaguchi, you would know what his gun looks like, right?
-It looked like an iron stick. It didn’t look like a gun.
-You are telling the truth, huh?

The person who asked me was probably a member of the Sakaguchi Federation. When things got weird, the comments suddenly increased. Most of them were of course words written to provoke me. However, there were also a lot of comments that highly evaluated Murayama. After all, he’s someone who was famous for occupying Ikebukuro, the center of Tokyo.

-Murayama is the strongest and worst Monster… He’s probably over level 25 right now. You said you killed such a guy?
-What level are you?
-40.

When I revealed my level, the Auction House was instantly filled with mocking.

-What a funny comedian!
-Low intelligent joseon bastard. Even if it’s a lie, you should do it in moderation.
-Whether you believe it or not, my level will stay at 40. I also have one thing to tell you. See the big flowers all over the place? They’re called ghoul flowers. Sooner or later, it will explode and start overturning the ground. A new world will open up in front of your eyes.
-It’s only going to destroy the ground, so what’s the problem?
-The ghoul flower is spreading its roots underground even at this moment. If it flips over at once, it would be a mess. Wouldn’t it be more comfortable to walk and run on flat ground rather than walk and run in the mountains?

The comments that made fun of me immediately stopped.

Then someone asked.

-Just who are you!
-You don’t need to know. After all, you all will be dead soon. I predict in a year or so, 90% of those giggling here will die since the environment will get worse and stronger monsters will start coming out.
– I know who you are. Are you the I Love Gimbap, who was famous there?

It seemed like not everyone here was oblivious to what’s happening in the other place.

-Hey… Then what should we do?
-This battlefield shackles or something is so annoying.
-It says that we need to kill people, but what the hell are we really supposed to do?
-You’ll have to find out what to do by yourself. Why asking me?

When I posted a comment like that, swear words came up one after another.

At that moment, I gave them an ultimatum.

-I will take good care of everyone who wants to meet me, so come to Roppongi. There is a tall building there, isn’t it? I’ll wait for you there.
-Wait there. I will kill you.
-Everyone, let’s go hunt that joseon bastard!

Come quickly!

I waited for them.

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There was a great commotion around Roppongi. The place was occupied by the Sakaguchi Federation, but a lot of survivors suddenly came. Since the more people, the more monsters was the setting of Survival Life, the noisy Roppongi area was now more chaotic than ever.

“Now I can move actively.”

Seongho took advantage of the confusion of the Sakaguchi Federation and stormed into their base. The Shackles of War debuff was still influencing him, but since he had a lot of guns, no one could stop him.

He killed the gang members and scoured the Mori Tower for supplies.

“These guys had collected quite a lot…” Medical supplies, groceries, and all of his favourite items were piled up. Meanwhile, heat surged from the crude blast furnace installed in the corner. It seemed like they made a gun using that thing.

Seongho opened the portal and took all the supplies. Then someone grabbed his hand and pulled him closer just before he walked out once again. When he was about to say something to whoever it was, he realized it was Da-jeong who pulled him.

“What the hell are you doing in Tokyo? I can’t go out.” She said angrily,

The Shackle of War also blocked all additional effects except for the very first one. Thanks to that, no one except Seongho could use the portal as of now.

“Hang in there. I’m working on it right now.”

“Hey, isn’t the gryphon more important than supplies?” She said as she kicked a cardboard box lying on the floor.

That’s not wrong…

But Seongho also had something to say.

“I’m in the middle of hunting it. My next stop is Roppongi Mori Tower. There’s a nest on top of it. I’m going to lure the guy to Odaiba. The battlefield there is already closed, so you would be able to go out.”

Odaiba was currently the only place in Tokyo where he could use his original abilities.

Da-jeong’s eyes became friendly when she knew Seongho’s plan.

“Okay then…”

“Wait just a little bit longer, I’ll let you fly on a gryphon soon.”

“If I dominate it here, how can I take it to Korea?”

“You can put it in my dimensional warehouse and take it out once we are back in Korea.”

Da-jeong, who understood, poured a deep kiss on Seongho at that moment.

“Well! Ummm, sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought you were having an affair with Yuzuka.”

“She’s in a good mood with Seokhyun, though?”

“Is that so?”

Of course not…. It was unlikely that there would be a person who could communicate with that person.

As Seongho moved to the Roppongi Mori Tower and explored the upper floors, he heard the sound of footsteps from the floor below.

“Above! The Joseon bastard is upstairs!”

“Kill him!!!”

Seongho deliberately made loud footsteps and started going up the stairs. After climbing another floor, a large nest nestled between two collapsed roofs greets Seongho.

“It really is a gryphon’s nest.”

Seongho hurriedly ran and tried to take the gryphon egg laying on the nest away. Unfortunately, he was lacking strength.

“Dammit. Why is it so heavy?”

It was only natural that he’s too weak to lift it, as a gryphon’s newborn cub was bigger than a human.

Seongho called the portal at that moment and started pushing the big egg towards it with his body. The wind blew as the eggs began to be pushed out of the nest little by little.

Seongho looked up at the sky and grinned. It was due to the fact that the parent of the egg he was about to steal was hovering there.

“Hello?”

The gryphon’s eyes widened as it found the egg thief.

KIAAAAAAAAK-!!