Stagnant Water of Apocalypse - Chapter 204

Anti-tank mines were not the only things I took from the bunker prepared by the American Military. I also brought a few military drones from there. As it was specialized for military purposes, its size and performance were way above normal drones. Moreover, the drone was ready-made to carry several different weapons and tools.

One of the things that it can carry was bombs. If a target was specified, the drone would automatically lock it in and drop a bomb on it. In other words, it was a mini smart missile.

However, as it, in the end, was nothing but a drone, the power it carried was pretty weak. But it should be enough to knock Ahn Geun-seok back. Of course, the best case scenario would be him dying to it, but I doubt it would happen.

The problem is, the drone was quite noisy. Although it had a noise reduction module installed in it, the sound it made was only small for its size. I have no doubt that Ahn Geun-seok would notice right away when it flew closer to them.

“I need a distraction.”

I called Sooyeon and Yeowool.

“Yeowool, you will be responding to Ahn Geun-seok. See that portal over there? When you hear a voice, you can write it in a paper and send it to me.”

After hearing my words, Yeowool ran right to the portal and listened.

“There’s no sound right now, right?”

“There’s none. By the way, you need to be careful, there are strong monsters outside the portal, so never put your hands out. Just fold the note and throw it.”

“I’ll have to look at your writing, ahjussi.”

She opened the note I was about to throw.

“It’s normal writing huh? But I don’t know much about information like that.”

“For that, Sooyeon, please help her. Buy me some time. If you don’t know, just ignore it. And please record Ahn Geun-seok’s words.”

“Okay.”

While Ahn Geun-seok was dealing with Sooyeon and Yeowool, I planned to drop the bombs. To do that, it was also necessary to mask the roar of the drone.

I pulled out some grenades from my bag and put them in Sooyeon’s hand.

“When you see my signal at the Auction House, throw them one at a time with delay in between. We are trying to mask the sound of the drone, so you should never use them all at once.”

“Okay. I’ve been throwing a lot of these things lately, so don’t worry.” Sooyeon nodded. Although her fighting ability was a little inferior to the other members, she was always calm and decisive. That was the reason she was trusted by me and the others.

“I’ll leave it to you.”

Around the same time, the shelter members gathered in front of the portal and began to look around. They were nothing but shocked at the spectacle. After all, humans and monsters were peacefully waiting together with the portal in between.

“Jiman, don’t let Dingo’s cubs and the hornbills near the portal.” With two hornbills and the sixtuplets, the shelter reminded me of some kind of animal farm. When the gryphon cub finally hatches, I bet it would get even more noisy.

I went to the Korean Shelter with Mi-kyung to prepare for the raid. Then, when we arrived, I said to her, “Mi-kyung, let’s go there.”

As I pointed to a point on the map, Mi-kyung took me there by blinking several times.

“Stay low.” I whispered as we arrived. As we were trying to hide ourselves on the railing, I saw Ahn Geun-seok, crossing his legs and yawning in front of the portal. It seemed like the thought that I had left the shelter never crossed his mind.

“But Oppa, if you kill him, wouldn’t you become a murderer?” Mi-kyung asked as she clenched my arms tight.

“I already reset my kill count. One kill is fine. And as far as I know, he is no longer a human.”

“He isn’t human?”

“He’s closer to a ghoul. Just consider him as a ghoul that has the form of a human.”

“…”

In all honesty, I was not so sure. But based on the cases I’d been through so far, the probability that he’s a human was low. It’s not a big deal if my guess was wrong though, as my kill count is zero right now.

I said softly into Mi-kyung’s ear.

“After the bombing, there’s a chance that he might survive. No, he’ll definitely survive. So, keep an eye on him.”

“Okay.”

In this battle, the cooperation between each other was very important, so everyone must keep an eye on the Auction House.

I contacted Yoohyeon.

-Yoohyeon, fly the drone. Raise the altitude so you won’t be noticed. And everyone, please pay attention. You shouldn’t write anything with plain words just because it is urgent.

We can’t have them figure out our plan.

After a while, a drone and a paper plane flew at the same time from the Korean Shelter.

-Sooyeon, prepare the hand grenade. How are you doing, Yeowool?
-This guy is so pushy. He says he can give anything to you, Ahjussi.
-Say that I want his life.

Anyway, the preparations for the raid proceeded without any setbacks. At my signal, a large drone flew over the redneck’s residence. A grenade popped out of the portal and exploded, but the Sniffles that had the form of a shield absorbed most of it. Ahn Geun-seok and the designer can be seen laughing next to each other.

-Sooyeon, one more thing before the explosions subside, please.

Another grenade popped out, and this time Ahn Geun-seok kicked it.

Bang!

The grenade soared into the sky and exploded, scattering fragments to all directions.

I immediately gave the signal.

-Yoohyeon, now!

The hovering drone dropped the smart bomb at that moment. The drop point was exactly where Ahn Geun-seok was.

His head turned to the sky, seemingly noticed something was falling, but the bomb had already reached his head.

Ahn Geun-seok’s mouth widened at that moment.

BOOOM-!!!

The surroundings shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
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Ahn Geun-seok was satisfied. It was because Seongho’s nervousness was palpable in the note he wrote. His prediction that blocking the portal would prevent him from leaving was correct since messages asking them to go away keep coming out.

“The monsters will not disappear unless you declare surrender.” Ahn Geun-seok said in a relaxed manner.

-Then, I will not leave either.

“How long are you planning on staying there? Of course, you can do your own activities inside, but you won’t be able to do the things you need to do here.”

-So what do you want?

“I think I’ve been telling you a few times already… I need your body. Cooperation is no longer required. I will make you mine.”

-It feels disgusting to hear a man say that to me.

The note that Yeowool wrote was almost the same as that of Seongho. Ahn Geun-seok did not notice at all and only smiled happily.

“Haha… Becoming a ghoul will make you feel better. Your skin will be tightened, and your body’s durability will be greatly improved. You’ll lose a little bit of agility, but you’ll be able to overcome it. Come on, come out quickly.”

-I will not.

“Let’s see how long you can continue like this.”

Ahn Geun-seok glanced at designer Song Hyun-soo. Then, a few trolls came out together with some Sniffles. They wrapped tightly around the portal. Now, if Seongho was to appear, he would have to kill 20 monsters at once which was almost impossible in his opinion.

Then something rolled out of the portal.

It’s a grenade.

Ahn Geun-seok grinned, and a shield Sniffle stepped up between him and the grenade to cover for him.

Loud noises and vibrations reverberated all around.

As the vibrations escalated, another grenade rolled out. Ahn Geun-seok kicked it, and the grenade floated into the air and exploded.

“Pointless things…”

But something was strange.

Why does Seongho waste his grenades on useless things?

After all, grenades were one of many weapons which couldn’t be manufactured anymore.

At that time, Ahn Geun-seok heard a strange sound from the sky. It was the same sound which was created by tens of thousands of bees flying around. At the same time, he could also hear something falling.

He looked up at the sky and saw that something was actually falling. On top of it, it was falling straight to his head.

“What the…”

The moment his mouth opened, a smart bomb which was now only 2m from the ground exploded.

Boom-!!!!

Ahn Geun-seok and Song Hyun-soo’s bodies were swept away by the explosion. The shockwave blew away the monsters and dust at the same time. Louder noises and vibrations reverberated all around.

The site was a mess when the dust settled. Song Hyun-soo lost his head and died instantly, but moments later, light shone around his body as it disappeared alongside the shining light. The same thing also happened with Ahn Geun-seok.

The difference between them was that he got up in front of a nearby building.

“THAT BASTARD DARE!!!!”

He never thought that a bomb would suddenly fall from the sky. He also never thought that Seongho had more than one dimension gate.

He sharply sharpened his teeth.

“You dared to play a prank on me… I won’t kill you… I’ll tear you apart again and again!”

When he got angry, vertigo came. That was the aftermath of the resurrection scroll, so he couldn’t do anything about it. As he leaned against the wall for a moment, he heard an ominous sound from his back.

Ahn Geun-seok tried to run into the Great Labyrinth, but the speed of the flying object was too fast.

“Damn it!”

Bang-!!

The anti-tank missile swept the wall and Ahn Geun-seok at the same time. His body became ragged to the point of being almost unrecognizable. The light disappeared from his only remaining eyeball.

Then…

“Bye…”

When Seongho pulled the trigger of the sniper rifle, a hole was punched into Ahn Geun-seok’s head and his surroundings began to change.

“O-Oppa, what is that?”

“…I don’t know either.”

The ground around Ahn Geun-seok’s changed. Then suddenly several tentacles sprang up. The tentacles wrapped around Ahn Geun-seok’s body, which had become a mop, and pulled him into the ground.

Bang! Bang!

Seongho, who was not able to see his body, fired a shot, but it didn’t seem to cause much damage. Finally, Ahn Geun-seok’s body disappeared.

“…”

Seongho stared at the collapsed wall for a moment.

“I definitely killed him.”

As Ahn Geun-Seok was treated as a ghoul by the system, killing him netted Seongho a significant amount of points and experience. It was enough to make his level rise tol 41.

Above all else, the skills he possessed also came.

「Ability Analysis」
「Checking your opponent’s abilities. Also applicable to monsters. Consumes 100 points.」

There was nothing like this in Survival Life. The monster’s level, stats, and skills can only be guessed by a player’s experience, so users couldn’t see their status window.

If it was as explained, it means that Ahn Geun-seok had looked into Seongho’s status window.

Seongho grabbed Mi-kyung’s shoulder and looked straight at her. The girl pouted her lips in embarrassment.

“I’m not ready yet… but if it’s you, Oppa…”

However, contrary to her wishes, Seongho is only reading her status window.

“Where did you spend all your points?”

Mi-kyung was startled.

“How did you know about that, oppa?”

“I’m looking at your status window with a skill I just got.”

“My… status window?”

“It’s odd isn’t it? I also didn’t even know there was such a thing.”

Mi-kyung pouted her lips.

“I can’t help it because Oppa called me out every day!”

That’s right. A fee was required for other people to enter the portal. That meant that every time Seongho called out, Mi-kyung had to spend 100 points.

“Ask Jiman for points later.” The guy was a millionaire at this point, so he could freely give it to others.

When Seongho frowned, Mi-kyung smiled and took his arm.

“It’s okay though. I wish I could help you more.”

Unlike Mi-kyung, who was all smiles, Seongho couldn’t do that. Ahn Geun-seok’s ending was very bland.

And what are those mysterious tentacles?

‘I saw something similar on the 7th floor of the Great Labyrinth.’

Perhaps it was the monster in the deepest part of the Great Labyrinth that dragged Ahn Geun-seok.

‘In order to project power on the ground, he must meet certain conditions …’

Perhaps the totem he found fulfilled that role. There’s no rule that a totem can only have one function, after all.

Seongho grabbed his item and stood up. Ahn Geun-seok was dead, but it’s not over. There were still a lot of things to do, as the designer that escaped previously is still alive, and that he has to keep track of the totem.

More than anything else, he had to deal with the monsters summoned by him. Currently, the brainwashed rednecks are running away from the monsters. A lot of monsters were summoned in a very narrow place, so there was a lot of damage.

Seongho opened the first dimension door.

The members came out one after another with their weapons.

“I’ll explain later, so let’s clean it up first.”

Everyone nodded with determination.

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The rednecks’ residence had been cleaned up.

Seongho led his members to hunt and fed them with experience and skills. Everyone was full of will to fight and moved quickly, probably because they had been fighting monsters in the forest. Their change even made Seongho wonder whether they were really those clumsy bunch in the past.

Finally, the cleaning was finished, but there was no trace of the designer. Meanwhile, the rednecks were in chaos. They formed a separate faction and escaped, and Seongho met James and his daughter at the Korean Shelter.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

A large white man hugged Seongho and expressed his gratitude.

Seongho removed him and asked. “The three leaders are dead. What do you plan to do now?”

“I don’t know… I got permission from President Jang to stay here for the time being. I can’t come back to Texas now.”

Paige’s eyes widened at his words.

“I am not going. There are only horses and cows there.”

Where people were present, monsters were also present. That also means that if there were no people, there were no monsters.

In a normal apocalypse, people could consume the stockpiled supplies and get along just fine. However, in the current situation, if they spend such a daily life, they are likely to be eliminated. The thing they needed was fighting skills that are necessary to level up so they can secure more skills and items.

Jang Won-taek said.

“I heard you were planning to go to Texas to get some cattles…”

“I plan to bring them all. If there are other animals, we should also take them.”

Paige drew a large circle with her arms.

“There were so many animals on our ranch! But they must all have run away by now.”

“We just have to find it.”

In response to Seongho’s words, James asked curiously.

“Do you have a Border Collie? When a herd of cattle goes out, it is difficult to gather them unless you have those guys.”
(P/n A Border Collie is a dog breed from Britain that is often used to herd cattles in farms. They’re also considered as one of the smartest dog breeds in the world.)

“Uh… I don’t have a shepherd dog, but I have a guy who’s even better.”

When it comes to the combination of Jiman and Dingo, driving a herd of cows would be a piece of cake.

Page’s eyes twinkled.

“Can you show the wolf again to me?”

Somehow, she still looked young and innocent.

Seongho told her.

“He’s taking a break today. By the way, I’m leaving for Texas tomorrow.”

“I see.”

When Seongho returned to the Great Labyrinth, the stagnant waters, including Da-jeong, flew a long way and finally arrived at the Ruat Kingdom. The ruins revealed in the middle of the dense jungle were very eerie.

However, Seokhyun got off the gryphon without any hesitation and stretched his muscles out. It was at that time that he felt a gaze staring at him in the jungle.

It wasn’t just one or two pairs of eyes either.

He confidently stretched his chest and lowered his panties.

It seems to be a threat to pull them out of their hiding spots.

Sasasak-

The suspicious glances disappeared right away.

Seokhyun rubbed the tip of his nose with his finger as she felt it.

“I think they are shy.”

“How did you even get to that conclusion? Did you ever think that it might just be your fault that they ran away?”

Da-jeong pulled the half-stunned Geom-in from the gryphon. The stag beetle rushed through the grass and painted on the floor.

There are their kin here.