Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

July. It was the month that marked the beginning of summer. But for the survivors, it held more meaning than that. After all, the end began in July of last year.

On the 20th of July last year, President Jang Won-taek declared the end was coming and announced the existence of Time Shelter. He also announced that those time shelters would be available to be opened on July 1st.

Time shelters in several places were already opened at this point due to frequent fights and arson, but most of them were still firmly locked. Thus, they draw the greedy eyes of the survivors thanks to the vast amount of food and supplies stored inside. Those survivors had been looking at the entrance of the time shelter since the night before the first of July struck the calendar.

When the entrance was finally opened, the survivors realized that accessing it was not a walk in the park. After all, the time shelter was installed in the city center, which meant that there were many survivors and monsters surrounding it.

So even though it was open, only a handful of people could get their hands on what’s inside. Everyone else just stared at them with envy and swallowed their saliva.

At that time, several clans came forward. Even though it was not Seoul, a lot of regions had large clans governing them, and the power landscape was solid. Taking Daejeon as an example, the clan where Strawberry Princess Park Hyun Seung was the leader is the core force of Daejeon, while the rest of survivors live without any organization.

Each clan sent their elite to subdue the monsters roaming around the entrance. Some damage was done to their ranks, but the survivors never backed down because their lives were at stake.

As for Seoul, the stagnant waters directly interfere by sending themselves to the time shelter to clean the area around the entrance. Although Geom-in was somewhat lacking compared to his three friends, he received the support of the other members and carried out the mission perfectly.

Thus, all shelters across the country were opened.

“Finally…”

“Wow! Water! Clean fucking water!”

People who had been tormented by the drought until now secured drinking water and cheered. They couldn’t even use 2 liters of water a day until now. It was so severe to the point that they willingly drew water from the Han River, which had become wasted water, and used it. In any case, it was true that the opening of the Time Shelter gave the survivors a spare space to breathe.

However, a commotion arose in the distribution of materials. It was impossible in the first place to secure enough supplies to satisfy all personnel. Therefore, small and large complaints start to surface. The clan leadership tried to bury it, and a conflict ensued.

A similar thing happened at Time Shelter in the Seoul area. However, what made it different from other places was even though complaints popped out, there was no commotion. That was because Kang Seongho himself visited several Time shelters.

Most people couldn’t help but get nervous when a muscular 190cm tall man appeared. Even more so after it was known that the man was stronger than Rapwi who had killed an Ogre.

Survivors in the Seoul area who were waiting for supplies to be distributed looked at Seongho who was sitting in a chair and talked among themselves.

“Rapwi had killed an ogre. Then how strong is that man who is stronger than Togong…”

“But, is that true that he’s stronger than Rapwi?”

“Someone asked Rapwi whether he’s the strongest in Korea at Shinbanghwa Station a few days ago. He said that Gimbap is stronger than him.”

“Will he survive even if we shot him with guns?”

“One or two bullets wouldn’t even scratch him I bet.”

“Is he a monster or a human…”

Seongho listened to the conversation and ignored it. After all, it just didn’t matter. These days, there were a lot of people who compared him with Seokhyun at the auction house, but none of them was close to the truth.

In a situation where he has everything, of course he would win against Seokhyun, but in a sudden battle, Seokhyun was strong. Extremely speaking, if something happened while they were sleeping, Rapwi could demonstrate 90% of his combat power as soon as he woke up. On the other hand, Seongho needed to prepare himself first by receiving buffs and wearing items before he’s ready to jump into the fight.

‘In the first place, there’s no reason for us to fight.’

We’re friends, what’s there to fight about?

Seokhyun had no intention of leaving Seongho, and Seongho would not let him go easily either.

While Seongho was overseeing the time shelters, Geom-in was investigating the appearance of ogres in each region. It was to allow the shelter members to gain experience evenly. Unlike other monsters, ogres had high level and experience, as well as many special skills.

Seongho ate three skills from Giudecca’s children and no longer needed the ogre. Seokhyun had also got the Stone Skin skill, so this time it was Da-jeong’s turn to fight the Ogre. Once she acquired an ogre as a pet and acquired a skill, it will be Sangshin’s turn.

However…

-There are no ogres. I think Seokhyun killed the first and the last ogre to appear.
-Are they perhaps hiding it?

The clans in each region have grown to quite large sizes. The level of their clan leader was also high, so it was natural that they would be greedy for ogres. But that’s not the case.

-Mikyung went to Gyeonggi-do and Daejeon, and they said they haven’t seen a single ogre there.

Well, Ogre was a rare monster.

Since that was the case, Seongho decided to go on an expedition to another country. After all, it was a monster with so many things to give, so there was a need to secure it first.

-Geomin-ah, can you assemble a team for me? I think you will have to go to another country.

-Isn’t it Da-jeong’s turn to eat? But didn’t you tell her to build the shelter?

-I’ll take care of that. The important thing now is to kill some ogres.

-Then, can I bring Seokhyun?

-Of course. Will it be okay for you guys to go to China?

-Uh… I think it’s not good because the place I entered is in a rural area. It was a place called Hefei…

-Isn’t that a place from the Three Kingdoms? You say that’s a rural area?

-Did I get it wrong? Well, in Seoul, some buildings are fine. It’s all broken down there.

-It’s due to poor construction.

-I also went to Shanghai because there were too few people in Hefei. There were really a lot of people there.

-Isn’t Hefei far from Shanghai?

-I tame a Gryphon. Even if it’s impossible for me to rule it like Da-jeong, it’s still strong enough to ride for a while.

-Geom-in, you’ve grown a lot.

– Well, it’s nothing.

After much discussion, the two decided on Tokyo as their destination. Texas was also one of the candidates. Since all they needed was an ogre, Seongho planned to go to other countries as well as Japan and the United States.

The starting point of all of that Geom-in. It was a waste to do a full-blown expedition, so an advance party was needed.

Seongho felt sorry for him.

-I keep asking you to go to another country. Sorry.

-It’s fine. After wandering around alone, I learned a little bit about how to fight… I also used copied traits here and there.

-After this work, let’s rest for a while.

-Until the Brutra came out, right?

-Yeah.

When the unknown monsters patch materialized on Earth, they won’t be able to afford to rest anymore. After all, the difficulty level jumps up. Brutra was a monster that made ogres look nothing but a harmless puppy.

While Seongho was talking with Geom-in, the distribution of goods at the Time Shelter came to an end.

Since it was already summer, it was extremely hot inside the shelter, making both Sooyeon and Yoohyeon sweat profusely. After all the people had left, Seongho opened the dimensional door to the lakeside for the two of them. The lakeside area had a relatively warm climate despite the fact that it was winter.

The three cool off by sitting on the ground that Da-jeong made by mobilizing her monsters. Seongho took out some drinks and beer from the dimensional warehouse and put them on their cheeks.

“C-cold!”

“Ah…”

Unlike Yoohyeon, who was surprised, Sooyeon rubbed a beer can on his neck as if in a good mood.

Yoohyeon asked while opening the second can.

“Hyung, will we really build a shelter here?”

“Did you hear from Da-jeong?”

“Yeah. Even when it’s winter, the water is quite high here. I think there will be no problem with the pump.”

“That’s right. By the way, Da-jeong will go on an expedition to another country, and I will be in charge here.”

“Ah… Noona needs to eat some ogres, doesn’t she?” Yoohyeon questioned.

“Yeah. Those guys are not guys who come out easily.”

Yoohyeon was curious, but noticed that Sooyeon was currently leaning her head on Seongho’s shoulder.

He said as if he had just remembered.

“Oh, I had something to do.”

“What to do?”

“Something. I’ll go first.”

After Yoohyeon disappeared, Sooyeon rested her head on Seongho’s shoulder for a while. She pretended to be asleep, but Seongho heard her breathing and noticed that she was awake. Still, he couldn’t move. The two of them faced the cold wind until evening came.

.
.
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An accident happened. The Ogre Expedition that entered Tokyo was kicked out from Japan. The cause was the shooting that started as soon as they crossed the entrance. No one was directly hit, as if the shot was nothing but a warning, but it was enough to shut all of their conversations. After all, among the members, Seokhyun was the only one who would be unharmed even if he was shot.

Once the expedition returned through the Great Labyrinth, the paper airplane replaced them. However, even the paper airplane was shot down.

“These guys… Are they picking a fight?”

I thought to just fight them outright, but I held back. After all, a group of people were witnessed in the Great Labyrinth. They were dressed too much like soldiers to be mere survivors. A black tactical vest, a helm, and even a rifle. However, unlike a normal rifle, something unusual was hanging from the rifle’s muzzle.

Geom-in who witnessed them in the Great Labyrinth firsthand said with a sigh.

“They are the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. That thing on the end of the gun is a rifle grenade.”

“A rifle grenade? Why don’t they use normal grenades?”

“I don’t know. Probably the result of some company lobbying.”

Seokhyun patted his fist.

“I could have killed them all by myself.”

“I wanted to do that too, but I think I have to tell Seongho first. So I retreated.”

Seok-hyeon was silent because Da-jeong was pissed off. She told me,

“They are now in the Great Labyrinth, what are we going to do?”

“I need to hear what their purpose is first.”

“After that?”

“We have to fight them. We can’t let the guys who shot us go unscatched.”

Seokhyun raised his thumb.

“As expected from you Gimbap! We are connected.”

“This is driving me crazy. Why are those guys coming all of a sudden?” Da-jeong kicked an innocent pebble in front of her feet as if she didn’t like them.

I actually don’t like it either. Even though it was said that they were the JSDF, their purpose was visible. They probably came to pick Yuzuka uo.

Everyone was dumbfounded when I told them what I had guessed.

“They want to make Yuzuka the new emperor? Are they crazy?”

“Does a female emperor make sense? They’ve all been men so far.”

“There was such a case before. I think it was because there are not enough men or something.”

After a while, Yuzuka and Kenji were called to their place. When the two heard the circumstances, their faces looked like the sky was collapsing.

“How did that happen…”

“Yuzuka is ashamed to have caused trouble.”

I calmed Yuzuka down and opened my mouth.

“Actually, they are not a big threat for us. Even if we send Seokhyun alone, they will all be killed. But here’s the thing, Kenji said he wants to live here, but what about you, Yuzuka?”

She raised her head and said straight up.

“I have no intention of entrusting myself to scoundrels who shoot anyone. And Yuzuka, no, my family went through a divine descent a long time ago. It has nothing to do with the imperial family anymore.”

“It’s decided then. Kenji and Yuzuka, go out a bit, we will try to figure it out.”

“Oh, then, can I already call you In-law?” Da-jeong giggled.

“In-law? who?”

“Don’t tell me…”

Da-jeong’s words threw people into confusion, and Yuzuka covered her mouth with her hand and ran away.

“Why did you say such things!”

“I mean, I thought everyone knew that Yuzuka had feelings for Jiman.”

How can you spill the tea just like that!

At that moment, a paper airplane flew through the window. When I opened it, there was a surprising message written on it.

-Ahjussi! There’s some trouble! There was an uproar at the auction house, and they say that knights riding hornbills appeared from Ilsan. A lot of people had already been captured by them!

What the hell is happening now?

So, Ezekium finally succeeded in opening the gate?

“This is too fast.”

“What the fuck… Did those bastards come out?” Da-jeong spat, and the others also hardened their faces as if they had guessed the situation.

I had heard rumors that Ezekium’s main force was preparing to attack this side, but I didn’t know that they would actually come.

I opened the auction house and skimmed the relevant comment section.

-What are those bastards doing?
-I don’t know. They are calling us heretics. They also arrest people and kill them.
-Those bastards said it was for Giudecca, wasn’t that the demon?
-They must be crazy… Where did these guys come from?
-Their clothes are also strange, and it seems that they are not people from here?
-Are they the people from the world inside the dungeon?
-I thought it was destroyed.

I pressed my temples and stood up.

“Da-jeong…”

“Where should I go?”

“First of all, take Mikyung and Yoo-hyeon and scout them. How many of them have come, and what is the power level.”

“We can’t fight them, right?”

“Yeah, don’t.”

They used items which were strong enough to subdue ogres, so we had to be careful.

She disappeared and I told Seokhyun.

“Seokhyun, prepare to invade Tokyo with Geom-in.”

“Okay.”

“Huh? Wouldn’t it be enough to just take care of the self-defense fighters who came here?”

Geom-in’s words were not wrong. However, it was just not the correct solution for our current situation. Kicking them out of the Great Labyrinth was nowhere near enough.

“They have to pay for it. Their lives are not enough.”

“Well, okay.”

“Prepare now. And prepare for battle while waiting for the rest. You should be able to leave at any time.”

People looked at me and nodded. I like peace. However, it was human nature to defeat someone who was arguing with them. Especially if they were Giudecca’s fanatics and mentally ill people who want to make Yuzuka the emperor.

Together with Seokhyeon and Geomin, I rode a hornbill and headed for the Great Labyrinth. Several monsters rushed at us, but the Hornbill succeeded in avoiding them as if they were accustomed to it.

While we blitzed past the labyrinth, a gunshot rang from somewhere.