Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

– Emergency! Emergency!

The appearance of one particular human being sent the insect tenants of the cave scrambling on their feet. The two races, which were usually always bickering back and forth, were currently staring at the human male who had entered the portal just now.

– From the way he dressed… He sure doesn’t look normal.

– The owner said he was a pervert. I think it’s true.

– Crazy human!

– How disgraceful for our noble race to have to live with such a disgusting human being!

Rabbit Pwincess, who their building owner, or partner, had told them to look out for, had finally entered their home through the portal.

The owner had once said in the past,

-In the near future, there will be other people entering and living here other than me. Everyone is a good person, so be friendly.

He also added:

-…and…uh…among those people, there will be a man wearing a rabbit ears headband on their head. You guys…be careful around him. I’m not saying that he’s a bad person, or that he will harm you guys… But…yeah…

The insects, which combat power obviously lacking compared to their crafting abilities, had their eyes stuck at every move of Rabbit Pwincess. His attire, or the lack of it, while wearing the rabbit ears headband, was something far from common sense of the world where the insects lived. They were sure there had never been a pervert with such attire on this continent.

The stag beetles joined the conversation between tenants.

-Why is your partner living with such a person?

-I thought I would be able to judge the situation calmly, but what the hell is that!!!

-He’s coming! Hide!

Everyone hid in their tree house at that moment.

Meanwhile, Seokhyun, who always tried to exchange greetings with the insects every time they met, was a little disappointed in their cold shoulder treatment. However, he was not fazed by it that much, as he was busy looking around.

“So you’ve gathered this much supplies huh…”

“Well…”

Even for Seokhyun, who had no concept of stockpiling materials, Seongho’s stockpiles were still surprising. Afterall, except for things which weren’t there, everything was available here. However, that’s it. His interest was more piqued by the world outside the cave.

When Seongho opened the door, the vast forest view greeted him.

“SEEEGGGSSS!!!”

The insects, which understood Earth’s language, were startled at his shout. They all unanimously fall to agreement that the man was really out of his mind.

-I did hear that he’s crazy… But I don’t think it would be this bad…

-I heard that we will live together from now on. We should be careful around him.

-Live together? That’s a disaster!

Oblivious to the insects’ cry, Seokhyun went out of the cave and took the fresh forest air into his lungs. Just then, Dingo and Dingsoon caught his attention. He then smiled mischievously and put his thumb up.

“Sex is a good thing.”

At that moment, Seongho quickly placed a scarab on his rabbit ears headband. And just as he expected, Seokhyun kicked the ground and jumped over the barbed wire before running deeper into the forest.

“Kiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Seokhyun cheered.

Seongho looked at his back for a moment and then closed his eyes. Afterall, it’s disgusting to keep looking at another man’s ass.

At that moment, Da-jeong came in and leaned against him.

“Is it okay to leave him alone like that?”

“It’s okay. I put one of the scarabs with him. Navigating through this forest is their speciality.”

“Ah yeah.” Da-jeong smiled. However, in the next instance, her smile faded and her ears perked up. “Wait, is he fighting right now?”

“Seems like he’s fighting against goblins. Maybe they rushed in at him because they thought they got free prey. But turns out… the real prey was them all along.”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA.” Da-jeong grabbed her stomach and laughed. Once she stopped, she rested her head on his shoulder.

“Ha… I’m going to sleep for a bit. Don’t wake me up.”

“It’s because of the ghouls, isn’t it?”

“Yeah… No matter how replaceable they are, they’re still guys who we’ve been traveling with for several months.”

Even though she didn’t say it, I know that the truth is, the loss of her faithful subordinates is definitely a huge blow to her. Seongho hugged her around the waist and escorted her to the cave before laying her on the mattress.

“At times like this, it’s great to be able to lie down next to your husband and hug him.”

“I want to do that too, but there’s Seokhyun. Let’s do it later.”

“Tsk. okay.”

After a few minutes passed, Da-jeong’s breath became even, proof that she had fallen into deep sleep. Seongho left her and went to wash his body with water in the basin. At that moment, he realized that Mikyung was still outside.

He quickly finished his bathing and got some fresh water before leaving the shelter. Once he stepped out of the portal, Mikyung, who was sitting on the bed while sporting a gloomy expression on her face, brightened.

“Oppa!”

Her appearance was like a puppy welcoming its owner when they returned.

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I carried all the dishes and cookware from the shelter to reality. It was to have a meal with Mikyung. Afterall, I have to do what I promised.

While I boiled the hwajo, Mikyung was washing herself with the water I brought her. By the way, the smell of a few packs of remaining tteokbokki sets wasn’t bad. Thanks to the vacuum package, the tteok survived, but the fish cake didn’t look very good anymore.

“This is the last set.” When I shook the half-opened package to her, Mikyung’s face became sullen.

“It will be difficult to make tteokbokki from now on, right?”

“Yeah. Making the tteok without machines will be extremely tiring.” Though, it would be easy to make sujebi with the flour. However, it was questionable whether sujebi could be the replacement for the tteok. Fish cakes also have to pass the frying process to make, so making them would be difficult. In other words, the times we have enjoyed for granted so far should no longer be taken for granted anymore. Everyone had to adapt to this world, without exception.

The pot where the rice was steamed let out an angry hot steam at that moment. I turned off the burner to let it simmer. Mikyung touched the burner and was amazed.

“I thought I wouldn’t see this thing anymore. But to think I can hold it… This is amazing.”

“It’s okay to put it out on Earth for a while. You don’t have to be that shocked.”

“Then will we be able to use something like this from next month?”

“It depends on the old man. I can’t predict what kind of choices he will make.”

Mikyung smiled mischievously at my answer.

“Rumors say the President is trying to recruit you, oppa.”

“If he recruits me, we would only end up fighting about every single thing every day.”

Mikyung, who barely knew my history, flinched. In the government shelter, there will be quite a few people who hate me. Even if I was in a friendly relationship with the leaders of the government shelter such as Jang Won-taek, Lee Beom-seok, and Bae Gum-in, I cannot guarantee that the rest will also feel the same towards me.

Moreover, the corrosive disease will soon disappear. Thus, the guns will be freed. There is no guarantee that anyone will not use one to shoot me. In other words, when the corrosive disease subsides, I have to be more vigilant than ever.

Mikyung came close to me and started to bring a story about Geom-in out of nowhere. She probably does that because of the heavy atmosphere around us.

“Oppa, did you know that these days, Geom-in is approaching Sooyeon unnie? Although in my opinion, they don’t seem like a good fit…”

Huh? That idiot with Sooyeon?

I remembered the two soldiers under Hyunwoo who called Sooyeon as “Mercy”. As a gamer, he wouldn’t fail to notice it, so his love probably stemmed from the same source as those soldiers.

“Aren’t their age gaps a little too big?”

Mikyung jerked back at my question and stared into the void.

“Th-they are ten years apart…”

“That’s a number which was difficult to overcome with any shape of love.”

“I know that Unnie is very feminine and pretty, but what made him fall for her, I wonder?”

Indeed. She’s someone feminine and pretty, which is a big charm point. But in Geom-in’s case, I’m sure that’s not why he was attracted to her.

“It’s because Sooyeon resembles a certain game character very much. Remember when we were in Gimhae before? Back then, there’s two soldiers called Sooyeon ‘Mercy’.”

Mikyung’s jaw dropped at the revelation. “Ah… He likes Unnie because she resembles a certain game character?”

I put my finger on my lips.

“Don’t tell her okay? She won’t like it very much.”

What kind of woman would accept that people liked her just because she resembled a game character?

Mikyung nodded her head happily.

“I thought everyone would be depressed because this is the apocalypse.” Mikyung giggled. “You know, Oppa, I hear the manager is meeting someone these days.”

“Hyung-nim? With who?”

“I heard that she’s someone in the upper brass of the shelter, but I don’t know the details…”

Well, it seems that Hyung-jun Hyung was lonely… I am not in any position to say anything because of Da-jeong.

Mikyung buried her face between her knees as if she had suddenly become depressed. What a moody girl…

“Everyone has a lover except me…”

As it turned out, Yoohyeon was also married to Yeowool. It seems that the pessimistic phase in the beginning of the apocalypse had passed and spring had come for them.

Though, sooner or later, it will also be shattered.

“You should get one too, Mikyung.”

“Seems like nobody likes me because I’m ugly…”

“You’re still pretty enough, Even more so than when you still have long hair.”

She slowly lifted her head as I was about to put the condiments in the soup.

“How did you know I have long hair before?”

Shit… Unconsciously, I told her about what I saw on the fancam. I was about to brush the subject off, but Mikyung pushed forwards as she clung to my side.

“Tell me quickly! Where did you see it? After working in the hair salon, I never have long hair.”

SIgh… Seems like I have no other option.

“I saw it in a fancam video…”

Her face turned beet red at my answer.

“Is that… a video where I was dancing?”

Yeah… Her pelvic dance was so artistic… Though, I couldn’t bear to say. I pretended not to know and stirred the boiled hwajo stock. This pounding heartbeat is not mine, I swear.

I tried to control my mind. And when I recalled Sniffles’s ugly as hell face and Seokhyun’s naked body, my heartbeat naturally chilled.

“…”

Mikyung hesitated while still digging my body with her eyes. The atmosphere turned creepy. I poured the rice cakes into the pot before spreading rice on top of a piece of dried laver and rolled it into a gimbap. The only ingredients I used for the filling was washed pickles, smoked pork, and tuna, but the taste should still be there.

Mikyung, who looked at me with her cheeks puffed, was about to return to normal as I sliced the gimbap. Then Da-jeong appeared. Mikyung’s body jolted as if she had committed a crime and scurred away from my side.

“Huaaam~ You guys are playing house? I thought you were playing a push and pull game.”

What nonsense is she spouting…

Da-jeong shook his head, pushed Mikyung to her butt and sat down next to me. Her eyes widened as she checked the menu.

“Tteokbokki! Gimbab! Everything I like!”

“You never tell me you like junk food, though.”

“There is no woman in this world who hates junk food! We just don’t eat it because it makes us fat.”

“Right.”

Can you really say that even there’s only two of you here?

Anyway, the mood has changed for the better. We ate the tteokbokki and gimbap. Mikyung split the hwajo eggs with a spoon and beamed.

“I really like this… It would be perfect if we had cheese.”

“If we catch something like a goat, you can make cheese, right? Seongho?”

“Even if we have goats, it would take a lot of effort to raise them and milk them.” It was also questionable whether it was possible for us, who are only beginners, to create a good cheese.

Though, there’s a perfect guy for the job in our midst. If it’s with Jiman’s unique skill, it might be possible. However, It’s only the case if he ever enters the portal.

Anyway, the two of them finished the tteokbokki and kimbap neatly. And the moment before they start sprawling on the floor, Seokhyun appeared from the portal.

And in his dick…

“I caught a fish.”

Whenever I see him, his smile is so unpretentious and pure. Mikyung was startled and covered her eyes, and Da-jeong grabbed her chopsticks and threw them at him.

“Hey you crazy Rapwi! You’re making the food taste distasteful!”

“Are you eating? Let’s roast this.”

“I don’t want to?”

“I don’t want to!”

Seokhyun looked at me without saying a word.

I’m sorry but I don’t like it either.

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The four of us devoted ourselves to farming. Da-jeong and I went downstairs to move weapons, and after that we took the supplies from the bunker. Meanwhile, Seokhyun and Mikyung toured Gyeryongdae in search of more supplies. It was fortunate that there were not many monsters because Sniffles was so territorial.

After spending three days together and stockpiling supplies, Gyeryongdae was finally empty. On the other hand, my shelter was almost full of supplies.

Da-jeong said with a smug smile on his face. “Now I’m going to build a hut here.”

It’s a good idea, but the timing wasn’t right. Only when Seokhyun and Da-jeong left should we start construction in earnest.

“Can I build a hut too?” Seokhyun asked me.

“Sure. People who come in here can build their own houses.”

WIth more people around, we would be able to make a fortress. It was difficult for me to handle the construction alone, but it would be possible with a group of people working together.

Each one of them should build a hut, build a barrier for themselves, and end up in building a fort. It was a necessity to build it as the number of monsters attacking the shelter would not decrease.

They attack the shelter either when I was present and when I was not. Thanks to that, the barbed wire fence was soaked in blood and started to rust. The moat was not what it used to be either. In times like these, it would be great to have people I can trust in the shelter so I would be able to do other things without any worry.

Anyway, Seokhyun and Mikyung finally went to Seoul after resting for three days. Meanwhile, Da-jeong and I were preparing to leave for Daejeon. The goal was to increase the odds of capturing ghouls as Daejeon was bigger than Gyeryongdae.

As I was packing my bags, I got a message from the government shelter. Da-jeong sighed as she saw her few remaining ghouls.

-Seongho, are you there?

It’s Jang Won-taek ahjussi.

-What’s going on?

-Oh, it’s nothing… I was only wondering if I could hear the progress of your hunt.

Should I tell him or not?

Well, Da-jeong said I should tell everything about this matter for free, so…

-Sniffles is dead, thanks to the M72 in the bunker.

-I’m glad… But, is there any reason why you chose to use that old-fashioned thing instead of the other, more modern weapons? It was imported from Turkey, so the defect rate is quite high.

Seems like my luck is quite good…

-The soldiers didn’t do their job properly, so there were hardly any heavy weapons inside. The M72 was the only thing good enough to be used.

-That can’t be happening…

-I went in and got the weapon myself. The only thing stocked there were rifle bullets and grenades.

Jang Won-taek was silent for a moment. Seems like it’s true that even though he gave the order, he didn’t check it properly. In fact, I know it’s difficult to take care of all of those things amidst the confusion.

I gave more detail to him.

-If you shoot it with the M72, it will die. But if the people are not strong enough, that easy thing will be something hard to do.

-What do you mean by other people?

-This bunker is not the only U3 bunker Korea has. I think there are other Sniffles in the other bunkers too.

-It can’t be…

-Have you checked?

It’s strange that monsters like Sniffles were guarding it in the first place. I was sure the occurrence was someone’s trick.

Jang Won-taek’s comment was rushed to see if my emphasis worked.

-Thanks for the advice. We’ll check it out soon.

-I’m telling you this now, but it would be better for the survivors to not try to fight it if they are not strong enough. The three of us couldn’t even fight it directly.

In fact, the three of us never fight it together. However, I still thought it was close to impossible to kill Sniffles with our firepower.

-Haha…If it’s impossible for even the three of you, it should be impossible for anyone to do it. I’ll just do the checking then. By the way…

What else is this gentleman trying to ask from me?

-Are you in Daejeon right now? We’ve heard some good things from you, so we’ll give you one too. Reinforced ghouls had appeared around the City Hall. However, those guys were different from the other reinforced ghoul. Their arms were abnormally long and thick…

It’s them. The tanks!

Unlike other reinforced ghouls, tanks’ physical characteristics stand out amongst the ghouls. They were at the top of the list in terms of strength among ghouls, and above all else, they had excellent defense. It’s not called a tank for nothing.

Da-jeong will definitely like it.

When I sent the Auction House window away, I saw Da-jeong was busy picking clothes for her ghoul. It’ll all be torn anyway, so why did she do that?

“Da-jeong.”

“Yees?”

“The tanks had appeared.”

Her eyes widened.