Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

When news regarding I Love Gimbap’s visit spread through the government shelter, some kind of tension enveloped all the survivors working there. Half of them were filled with curiosity, while the other half were filled with fear.

“Isn’t it his first time visiting this place?”

“That’s right… Even when Seokhyun stayed here, I Love Gimbap never come.”

“Do you know his real name?”

“It’s Kang… Something.”

Even though the people from Government Shelter knew that I Love Gimbap had some kind of relation with the new addition to the Shelter, The Dot Island Group, they couldn’t figure out the real identity of I Love Gimbap since the whole group kept their mouth sealed. The only thing that the people of Government Shelter knew about the man was that he was strong and had a big figure.

Naturally, not everyone welcomed the news. There were also some people who rushed to Jang Won-taek’s office and protested as soon as they heard the news. These very people were those who had some close ties with the three who had died in the labyrinth of Sindorim Station.

“Does it make sense to invite I Love Gimbap here? We are against it.”

“Why are you against it?”

“He killed our shelter personnel!!!”

One of the three people could not control his anger and half shouted when answering the question. Though, in Jang Won-taek’s eyes, his anger was nothing but acting.

“He’s the man who murder nearly 20 people in the labyrinth. If he comes here, surely all kinds of hell will break loose!” The other two nodded as their friend’s pitch came to an end. They all shared the same feeling that the shelter would be ruined if I Love Gimbap became a member.

It wasn’t quite a wrong statement considering what he had done so far. Jang Won-taek knows it too. I Love Gimbap had killed dozens of people so far and maybe will kill millions of people in the future. Considering his tendency to accept 1 damage as 10, it was difficult to expect his behavior to get better.

But still, he wanted to keep a good relationship with him. His great fighting abilities will one day be a boon for humanity overall. Of course, if he wants to be at least on the same side of him, he must pay a corresponding price.

So Jang Won-taek prepared his defense. “He indeed killed about 20 people in the labyrinth… But, do you know why that happened?”

“…” The three looked at each other’s faces. It was evident that they were determined not to be persuaded by any kind logic.

Jang Won-taek smiled inside and continued. “The labyrinth case can be said as a self-defense case. Afterall, twenty men rushed in to kill one.”

“How can you interpret self-defense that broad?”

“The Auction House just say they are going to kill I Love Gimbap, they are not really trying to do it.”

“I believe from the point of view of I Love Gimbap, it was a big threat to his survival. Normally, that reasoning alone would not be accepted as self-defense, but this is an apocalypse.” Jang Won-taek said. In the apocalypse, everything is fair. Even if it deviated from the conventional common sense and morals. It’s not like the three people in front of him didn’t know that either. They were just afraid that I Love Gimbap might harm them.

“Shall we think of Gwangju and Daejeon for a moment? He controlled people and distributed supplies at no cost. It is evidence that his attitude has changed considerably.”

“It’s probably the case, but…”

“It was definitely a surprise.”

The three did not know that Jang Won-taek promised him many things in exchange for those actions. They just know that he happened to pass by and decided to do such things.

Jang Won-taek pushed forward without letting go of the initiative.

“In a nutshell, I Love Gimbap is a very violent person, but he doesn’t touch anyone who doesn’t argue with him. That’s what we have determined from our analysis.”

“…”

With that assurance, the three realized they had no more ground to argue and decided to leave. In fact, they weren’t even close with the three dead men.

As their footsteps faded to silence, Lee Beom-seok came in and conveyed the atmosphere of the shelter towards Jang Won-taek.

“The response is not bad. People from the island were excited of course. For the rest, curiosity seems to outweigh their fear.”

“It’s because Seongho was not well known to people…”

I Love Gimbap’s notoriety was second to none; a hot topic everybody was interested in. But, only a handful of people had actually met him. Therefore, it couldn’t be helped that people expected his arrival. Of course, some people still had a bone to pick with him, but that was inevitable. It’s simply impossible to resolve all conflicts.

Jang Won-taek looked in the mirror and stroked his gray hair. “It’s only one person coming, but it’s strangely exhilarating. I don’t know if it’s because of the situation that he finally came here, or…”

“Are you going to leave it to him this time?”

“If you throw the bait, you need to immediately hook the fish when the water ripples.”

“Then, I will clean the area around the entrance as instructed.”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

The government shelter was ready to welcome the valuable guests. And just an hour later, following Lee Beom-seok’s guide, I Love Gimbap arrived at the shelter. When the heavy door opened, a man with a wide body entered the Government Shelter.

.

.

.

People paused for a moment as they saw the man. They knew I Love Gimbap was huge. They also had heard that his impression was sharp. But no one expected his overall atmosphere to be this overwhelming.

Even though the door had just been opened, a bloody atmosphere poured out towards them. They felt like if they moved without his permission, they would be cut in half by a sword.

Seongho looked around him and nodded at Jang Won-taek. They had known each other for a while now, but he felt that it would be better to pretend like this was the first time he met him.

“I’m Kang Seongho.”

“The famous I Love Gimbap. Isn’t this your first time in the Government Shelter? Welcome.”

The tension among the people was relieved at this exchange of these few words. After all, it turns out, I Love Gimbap was also a Korean with a name like the rest of them. Behind him stood a familiar face to them; the Zombie Queen herself. Though, the gigantic ghoul standing behind her wasn’t something they were familiar with.

“I think our greetings can wait. Let’s talk about something important first. Come this way…” Jang Won-taek guided Seongho and Da-jeong.

Everyone present were in darkness about the important thing Jang Won-taek was talking about. But they decided to just leave it be. After all, seeing a figure as legendary as I Love Gimbap and knowing his real name, was enough for them.

“Wow, his aura is seriously no joke.”

“It is said that his fighting power is also great…”

“If such a person rushes to kill me in a labyrinth, I am confident I will surrender in a second flat.”

On the other hand, there were those who complained that he should be arrested for the act of murder. Naturally, those who belonged to this group were those who hated him because he betrayed humanity.

But whatever their reaction was, Seongho didn’t care at all. After making eye contact with the members of Dot Island, he called upon Seokhyun.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

“Okay.”

People knew that calling Seokhyun to a discussion meant that he was really needed. However, another fact dawned upon them at that moment. It was what it would be like to have three stagnant waters in the same room as them. Curious, they asked Geom-in about it.

If it was the old him, he would have bluffed to escalate his own image in this type of question. But now, he was aware of his position and decided to act honestly.

“I don’t know either.”

“If Mr. Geom-in doesn’t know, who knows?”

“Aren’t you a stagnant water like them?”

“I mean, I don’t know what I don’t know.”

The reason why his heart was not grieving at the eyes of disappointed people was probably because he had matured. He thought to himself.

Why should I mind how people look at me? I should be honest with myself.

Before Seongho disappeared, he had made eye contact with him and nodded his head briefly. It means that he will tell him later.

Meanwhile, Seongho, Da-jeong, and Seokhyun were escorted to the conference room. When the door of the room opened, they could see Major Kim Hyun-woo inside, waiting for them.

When he saw Seongho, he stood up in surprise.

“Huh? Seongho, what are you doing here?”

The two had not met officially since they broke up in Gimhae. Seongho reached out his hand to him and was surprised when he saw the insignia of the major rank on his clothes. Wasn’t he originally a lieutenant or a captain?

“I was promoted.” Kim Hyun-woo proudly stroked the insignia.

“Oh…”

Jang Won-taek sat down on a chair and explained.

“Major Kim Hyun-woo has done a lot for the government, so the rank of lieutenant colonel is not enough. But living in Korea, the second-class special is unprecedented.”

There was such an unprecedented case before, but it was decades ago, so it was difficult to apply it now.

“President, this insignia is enough for me.” Hyun-woo said calmly. But it was clear that he was deeply touched by the president’s words.

Seongho didn’t think he had such a great unique skill to be promoted that high, but he bit his mouth, preventing the words from coming out. No matter the time, it was not good to undermine the worth ​​of others.

Hyun-woo, who had a proud expression on his face, then remembered the identity of the person who came here and his face instantly hardened. “I never thought that you would be I Love Gimbap.”

“Sorry. Back then, the situation was not good, so I couldn’t tell you.”

“No, you don’t have to apologize. I am just… a little surprised.”

The two had decided to stop using formal language with each other because they were the same age, but they weren’t that close, so they were quite awkward with each other. The time they spent together in Gimhae was barely a few days, and after that, they were apart for several months.

Hyun-woo shut his mouth and Seongho sat down on a chair beside Da-jeong. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Da-jeong stroking Seokhyun’s hand.

“Promise me you’ll be quiet. okay?”

“You don’t need to tell me..”

As the atmosphere became softer, Jang Won-taek opened his mouth, his hands interlocking a few centimeters under his chin.

“Everyone here is a busy person, so let’s get right to the point. You probably know that there are people with guns at the Bucheon Stadium Station on Line 7. Their goal is to capture the reserve shelter. It seems to have failed for now, but the reason is because of this.”

Lee Beom-seok held out two sheets of paper. It was a piece of drawing based on the information provided by Seongho.

“According to Seongho-ssi, this one is called Slingshot Sniffles and this one Shield Sniffles. The naming is a little childish… but it captured the characteristics accurately. Is it called Slingshot because it flies like a slingshot?”

“You’re right. Meanwhile Shield Sniffles inflated its stomach to block the attack. It looked like a shield, hence the name.” At first, it was just a guess, but after attacking it using Da-jeong’s ghoul, he found out their characteristics.

Jang Won-taek turned his gaze away from him and extended his hand towards Lee Beom-seok.

“Give me the list.”

“Yes.”

Soon spread over the table was a list of some people’s names and their pictures. They were all wearing a white robes.

“They look like doctors…” Seongho tilted his head at the picture.

“They are the doctors who dissected goblin corpses before the apocalypse. They are the authorities in the field of anatomy.”

“Ah….”

Seongho remembered watching a doctor who was being interviewed by a reporter with a mosaiced goblin body behind him. He was an old man with gray hair. And his name was Lee Hyung-sik. Seongho didn’t remember the name, he just knew it from the list.

Da-jeong was not very interested, so she just crossed her legs and rested her chin on her hand.

“So, why are you showing this list to me?”

“Before that, let me tell you what happened before the end at our side.”

Da-jeong yawned and gently pulled Seokhyun’s panties.

“Did you wash this often?”

“No.”

“Seems like I had too high of an expectation for you.”

Seongho nodded. If he just washed his hair and let it grow, he would look good. But it seems like he didn’t care at all about all that.

Jang Won-taek coughed at that moment, restoring the three focus’ on him and brought out the important topic.

“I didn’t get any detailed reports about it, but I heard that these people… said something crazy.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“They said that it was better to just kill everyone and become one kind. At that time, the dissection of the goblin corpse was over and there were many other incidents, so I was not in a good mood to think about them… but when I heard about your conclusion regarding Sniffles, those people came to mind. Don’t you think they somehow have something to do with it?”

“Did all of them say the same stuff?”

“Yes.”

“Certainly there is something suspicious about them.”

Seongho firmly believed that Sniffles were the result of artificially synthesizing humans and monsters. And after hearing what Jang won-taek just said, he became intrigued. He picked up a picture of Doctor Lee Hyung-sik, an elder with gray hair.

“Unique skills tend to manifest in the line of people’s skill before the apocalypse.”

“It is, except for three or four of you.”

“Sooyeon became a healer because she worked in the emergency room… if his field of expertise was anatomy, wouldn’t he know anything about the human body?”

Jang Won-taek smiled brightly.

“I can tell you that he’s knowledgeable in that area.”

“Then it wouldn’t be strange if Unique Skill to synthesizing humans and monsters manifested in him.”

“The question is where did he conduct such a forbidden experiment… We are judging he was doing it in… Major Kim Hyun-woo starts the briefing.”

“Sir!”

Major Kim Hyun-woo, who was silent throughout the conversation, finally opened his mouth. He filled them with information regarding Incheon’s Bupyeong-gu Office Station.

“We found a number of cleanly mutilated monster corpses. Our estimation is that it was cut by a long knife, etc. However, if it’s a monster who got hunted, the disappearance of their internal organs cannot be explained.”

“From my conjecture, the experiment should be done with a corpse.”

“No human body was found at the same place as the mutilated monsters. But, I think it was hidden. Probably deep in the subway station.”

“Hmmmm…”

When Seongho crossed his arms, Jang won-taek put away the picture and said. “How is it? I tried to entrust the task to Major Kim Hyun-woo, but he had other missions to do. If Seongho takes care of it, we will provide a suitable solution.”

“You mean the body armor?”

“In addition to that, we will also provide proper anti-tank guns. Not a clunky thing like the M72, mind you.”

Seongho pondered. Jang won-taek was not talking about giving him a bunker. But, If it was a bunker in Seoul, not anywhere else, he would have known that he would have taken it by himself, so it would be a waste to give it away. How should he approach this…

Seongho looked at Seokhyun. He was scratching his panties and slapped Da-jeong in the back. Seems like he doesn’t have any thoughts on this matter. But Seongho had an obligation to take responsibility for him. He wanted to make not only Seokhyun, but also for people stronger, to survive in the unknown monsters expansion pack that would appear one day.

For that purpose…

He organized his thoughts. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was too much information hidden in government shelters. He had no idea how much effort it would take to peek from the outside. Seems like at this moment too, he should make a head-on breakthrough.

He opened his mouth.

“All right. However, there are conditions.”

“What conditions?”

“You know that the Corrosive Disease will subside completely soon, don’t you?”

Jang Won-taek nodded his head. It was clear to him that the Corrosive Disease was disappearing from the looters who could use the gun at the subway station.

“When you take out your guns from wherever you put it, give me as many supplies as the number of my people.”

In an instant, absurd expressions flashed across the faces of Lee Beom-seok and Kim Hyun-woo.

Just how much is that?

Jang Won-taek buried himself in the chair at Seongho’s counter offer.

“I don’t think you can call them your people. Even though Seongho introduced them to us, they are clearly members of the government shelter.”

“Shall we ask them?”

“…”

Jang Won-taek closed his eyes at Seongho’s words. He never thought he would reveal himself blatantly like this. Even though he knew the Dot Island people were sent by Seongho from the start, he still accepted them because he thought he could melt them into the Government Shelter’s personnel over time. However, as of now, even if they were hunting together with personnel from Government Shelter, there was still a wall between them and the other personnel.

Lee Beom-seok, who had been quiet until now, interrupted. He who was always calm, had a tint of anger on his words. “Isn’t that too much of a request?”

“Just think of it as a reward for introducing D-Day. Moreover…”

“Moreover?”

Jang Won-taek made eye contact with Seongho. An old lion and a young lion were fighting for the prey. Usually, in a fight like this, the old lion would retreat, but Jang Won-taek couldn’t do that. After all, if he accepts his request, he needs to hand him 30% of the total stockpiles! But as soon as he heard Seongho’s words, his eyes trembled violently.

“I will be joining the Government Shelter.”