Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Currently finishinf protagonist are murdered by me which onlyhave like a few chapter untranslated. By monday I’ll be focused solely on this novel, so… Wait for it.

A labyrinth opened up at the subway station. But since it was basically different from normal dungeons, I didn’t enter right away. There’s not only one entrance to the labyrinth, and without any preparation, it would be very easy for someone to get lost inside. Thankfully, there’s no entry limit to a labyrinth, so users could always go in and out while attempting to clear the labyrinth.

“Though, it’s uselessly wide and deep…” There were several types of labyrinths. but none of them were small. At the very least, users had to spend half a day before they reached the deepest part, and in some cases, they even had to wander for days.

The terrain, traps, and types of monsters that appeared also differed depending on the type of labyrinth, and they all had extreme difficulty levels, so it was easy to get killed if you didn’t prepare thoroughly.

“It would be difficult to monopolize the labyrinth…” Even the smallest labyrinth boasts a space that can accommodate dozens of people. It was no exaggeration to say that hundreds of people can wander around the Great Labyrinth at once without even meeting each other. But, since Survival Life didn’t have that many players, there’s only 4 people who entered regularly.

“The important thing now is to check what kind of labyrinth it is…”

It would be nice to go in on my own, but there’s a more effective way to do it: gathering information from those who have entered the labyrinth and posted some comments about it in the Auction House. Of course, there’s tons of bullsh*t and rumors going around there, but all I needed to do was cross-checking the information posted there with the information I had.

I moved to the spacious bathroom on the second floor of the station. It takes time to get to the hideout, so it’s better to stay here in order to be able to deal with unexpected situations.

“I should check the Auction House and also tell Da-jeong to come here.” She would probably grumble about moving hideout again, but to me, wherever the hideout was, it doesn’t mean much. The real shelter was the one inside my portal. It’s a bit odd to think like this in the bathroom, but there was no suitable place nearby.

At that moment, footsteps followed by something sliding through the floor could be heard. When I looked outside at the familiar sound, a group of lizardmen passed by in front of the bathroom. The guys roamed around the station with their signature trident and nets in hands.

“It’s going to be messy around here…” When the monsters inside the labyrinth went out, it was a sign that the labyrinth was not a peaceful one. It would also make it difficult to enter, so the difficulty would be on the high end of the axis. Moreover, considering that lizardmen were roaming around, there’s a chance that the labyrinth is a wetlands-type.

“It didn’t feel good…” If it was a game, I would have just passed this labyrinth. But in reality, I couldn’t do so. After all, even a small den must be thoroughly searched to obtain items.

When I opened the Auction House, as expected, a few people had posted some information.

-Anyone near Sindorim Station? Did you hear the monster’s cry?

-I heard it. What kind of monster is it?

-Probably the labyrinth boss… Though, no one knows what monster it is.

-The stagnant waters probably know. After all, they were the only people who played in the labyrinth every day.

-Doesn’t that mean that a labyrinth opened near Sindorim Station?

-You have to get in quickly before that b*st*rd come and take everything.

-Please calm down for a moment. A labyrinth is different from a dungeon. There’s multiple entrances.

-That’s right. It was also wide, so it’s impossible for Gimbap to monopolize it thoroughly.

-Then can I meet I Love Gimbap if I go there?

-Hey, stop making a fuss about it and gather around. Let’s form a party.

-I am level 17 with levitation skill, can I join?

-Tell me where in the labyrinth can your skill be useful.

-You guys are too much!

“if it is levitation… it’ll be useful when crossing swamps.” It was an ability which shone the most in scouting. However, the downside was that it was not very useful in battle. And when several people form a party and attack the labyrinth, even a small mistake could become a big one.

“The moment people say, ‘I did my part well but you didn’t do yours well’ the party will break up.” If that sort of problem happened when the party was still around the entrance, they could just leave and make another one. But, if it happened deep inside the labyrinth, there would be no answer for it.

I searched the videos on my laptop and found a labyrinth type in which lizardmen often spawn.

“There are many underwater labyrinths.” It’s the most annoying type of all. First of all, the water topography itself was not compatible with humans, which were terrestrial animals by nature. Of course, lizardmen and higher-ranking monsters drop underwater breathing skills, but it was still frustrating.

“Moreover, it’s annoying that I will always be wet all the time.” It smelled a lot and it was a pain in the ass.

I kept replaying the video, while trying to remember the attack strategy of this particular labyrinth type. The terrain of the labyrinth itself was quite harsh, but the monsters were not very dangerous. At most, there’s only lizardmen, lizardmen who have evolved, and the lizardmen boss.

“Clear time average is 10 hours…” That’s on the short side. However, there were probably only a handful of people who could actually do that in 10 hours, as the wetness will be very disturbing, moreover when you have to stay in that state for 10 hours.

“There would be a lot of trolls.” They were going to make a mess around the entrance and obstruct other people to attack the labyrinth.

I mentally reviewed the topography formed at the entrance several times. Since there are many places to hide, and if I did not do this, there’s a possibility that I would be taken off guard when I enter the actual battle.

Once it’s done, I left the bathroom and looked for the labyrinth’s entrance. The subway passage was full of water. On top of it, lizardmen, serpents that inhabit the wetlands, and crying toads could be seen everywhere.

“Ah yeah, those guys are here too….” The monster was called a crying toad by the users because their exact name was unknown. Its appearance was, of course, a toad, but its size was quite large, comparable to a human’s upper body.

Their attack method was simple: curling up and attempting a headbutt when a creature which they considered as a threat appeared. The best course of action against it was to avoid it, because the range of the attack was not a joke, and a follow-up attack will soon follow after the headbutt.

“However, it was very difficult to avoid.” It was literally ‘you blink, you die’. There’s no way to avoid it if it flies to you from the outside of your detection range.

While I was thinking so, some serpents were fighting among themselves.

“How should I break through that, I wonder…” The passage was filled with water. Therefore, it’s simply impossible to use fireworks to distract them. As I was contemplating, something that was moving like a grasshopper suddenly came out of the dark passageway.

“How the hell did a reinforced ghoul come out here?” The Marsh Labyrinth had absolutely nothing to do with zombies or ghouls. Therefore, it’s baffling to see a grasshopper–a reinforced ghoul which jumps around–come out here. It was quite a dangerous monster because it stuck itself on any wall or ceiling, or even assimilating its own body to the surrounding terrain.

Fortunately, my Perception stats are quite high, so I found it quite soon. Though, it had already jumped my way. So, the only action I could take here was to block it with a dimension wall and kill it.

“Wait a minute…”

If it’s a ghoul, there’s a woman who loves them dearly, isn’t there?

I called Da-jeong through the Auction House. She grumbled and told me to stop hurrying her. But when I said that a grasshopper had appeared, she immediately left a comment that she was coming.

Well, I can just wait a little bit.

I waited for her as I used the grasshopper to practice turning the dimensional wall into the correct position.

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Not everyone in the government shelter welcomed Hwang Seokhyun’s return. Contrary to what the survivors outside of the shelter think, the government shelter had its own politics and factions, albeit its small size. And although their conflict was not apparent, under the surface, they were keeping each other in check.

Amongst those factions, some objected to Seokhyun’s return. Whatever the circumstances, it was only make sense that he had to leave because he had committed murder. President Jang Won-taek initially tried to persuade those factions, but gave up in the end. After all, there’s no conversation between them at all, since those factions only want Seokhyun to be kicked out, regardless of the danger that might befall the shelter as a whole. Thankfully, as Jang Won-taek continued to ignore them, their voices also gradually faded.

However, not everybody backed down. Geom-in’s friends: Lee Jang-Hoon, Kim Dae-Ho, and Chae Sang-Shin were the exception. However, although the three were in an amicable relationship with Geom-in, they were not in the state of completely trusting him. They just agreed to join forces with him in order to take a bigger part in the shelter once the corrosive disease disappears.

However, with Seokhyun’s case, the three and Geom-in had different opinions regarding it. Geom-in wanted him to stay in the shelter while the other three were desperately against it. On the surface, they made the excuse that they couldn’t just let a murder goes unpunished and need to set example so it won’t happened again in the future. But deep down, their reasoning was far from those. It was because they hated the very existence of Seokhyun, or to be exact, the existence of I Love Gimbap, who was behind him.

-Did they just let Seokhyun enter our shelter again? Don’t they know he will only make our shelter worse?

-In the past, that woman called Da-jeong was also here. It’s obvious why the three stagnant waters are obsessed with this place.

-That’s right, they want the guns here. After all, no matter what you are, stagnant waters or whoever, with only one shot in the head, they would die. Immortality? What’s so good about that if you can just keep shooting him?

-Anyway, he must be expelled. Everyone agree on that?

-Absolutely.

-I…

-Why can’t you speak, Geom-in ssi?

– Our Geom-in is changing… Didn’t you say you would become the ruler of the shelter? But why didn’t you show any effort?

A rift had arisen between Geom-in and his colleagues. However, he could not just say that he received help from I Love Gimbap, and that he had a connection with him because he was afraid of being insulted. After all, the three of them boasted a considerable fighting power, so he did not want to completely sever the relationship between them.

However, as soon as they heard the information regarding the labyrinth, they opened their mouths as soon as Geom-in returned to the shelter.

“Geom-in ssi? Did you hear the news?”

“What news?” Geom-in pretended not to know. It was because the meeting he just got back from was a secret from everyone in the shelter. Before he left, he told them that he’s going to scout some area the President told him to. But unfortunately for him, the three didn’t believe his words. After all, he was someone who didn’t do the President’s order unless it was really necessary.

“A labyrinth has been opened. It’s located in the basement of Sindorim Station.”

“Let’s go there quickly. No need to scout in advance, after all, the Auction House will tell us what kind of labyrinth it is.”

“Yeah. There’s just that many fools in the Auction House.”

The blizzard had stopped, so Geom-in was tempted to just agree with their words. However, the fact that a growl was heard from the moment the labyrinth spawned made him hesitate. In his long playtime in Survival Life, he hadn’t seen an easy labyrinth appear when it was spawned together with a growl from a monster. On top of it, the fact that Seongho was near the station also made him hesitate. Obviously, he would enter the labyrinth, and if he made a mistake, there was a risk that his path would overlap with Seongho’s.

“…I just came back and I’m not feeling really well. Let me take a break before we go.” Geom-in pretended to be tired, but everyone didn’t believe his words.

“What are you talking about when you have a physical strengthening skill… Stop pretending and let’s go.”

“Aren’t you too much, Geom-in ssi? You always ask us to go with you whenever you want. But yet, you want to refuse our request?”

“SIgh… Let’s go then.” Geom-in sighed. At this point, he had no choice but to follow them. He just met Seongho and felt happy because he got to enjoy a delicious lunch. Yet, now, his mood had worsened considerably.

The four packed their backpacks and went out of the shelter. Sindorim Station was quite close to one of the exits of the shelter. Therefore, they were able to get there quite quickly. However, they realized the atmosphere was strange as soon as they arrived. It was due to the fact that a woman’s angry voice could be heard echoing throughout the basement. At the same time, screams of people could also be heard.

“There’s a crazy b*t*h down there, run away!!!”

“AGGHHHHHHH!!!”

The four rushed down the stairs and encountered a group of survivors. However, no matter how much they tried to ask them, it was of no use. The current situation was simply too chaotic for people to stop and talk with each other.

Kieeekkk-!!

People who were busy running away were startled by a high pitched shriek and stopped on their spot while quickly moving their hands into their respective weapon. Almost every single one of them heard the shriek for the first time in their life, except for one person: Bae Geom-in.

“It’s a grasshopper! Hide!”

“G-grasshopper? What is that?”

“It’s a reinforced ghoul!”

As soon as those words fell, a pair of disgusting long legs came down from the ceiling. When it landed on the ground, the long body and long arms of the ghoul finally could be seen. Without giving the time for the people to react, the ghoul shrieked as it blitzed towards the crowd.

Reinforced ghoul. It was a monster which was a league above normal ghouls in terms of stats and fighting capability. Not only that, they were also classified into several types, as every entity had a special ability. In the case of a grasshopper, its name itself was self-explaining; It has a very high mobility and a very agile body

“Hide!” When someone shouted, they all ran to the bathroom on the other side. To be honest, if they worked together, they would be able to fight against it. But who in their correct minds would want to work together with strangers in this chaotic world?

As they each hid in the men’s and women’s restrooms, a terrible scream was heard.

“AHHHHHH!” The person being chased by the grasshopper must have died. The rest of the survivors who heard the scream had to use every last of their wits to control their breathing and prayed that the reinforced ghoul would not come to their hiding place.

However, at that moment, a woman passed through the platform with leisurely steps. Everyone looked at her at the same time, and had the same thought in their head.

‘She’s crazy…’

Even though it was an insulting thought, no one can blame them. The monster called a reinforced ghoul was not a monster that an individual could face. In some ways, it was even stronger than a werewolf.

However, the woman didn’t even flinch and walked proudly towards the ghoul, which was busy devouring the corpse of whoever it had just caught moments ago.

Feeling the presence of the woman, the ghoul turned around to her direction and bare its teeth to her. At that moment, everyone who saw the scene was certain that blood would once again get spilled on the platform. However, as soon as people turned their heads in order not to look at the incoming grotesque scene, an amazing thing happened instead.

The grasshopper crawled towards the woman who had stopped and lowered its posture in front of her. Its long red arms and legs were bizarrely bent, and it was a very ugly sight for the eyes, but it was clear that it was showing its obedience to the woman.

At that scene, Geom-in finally realized who the woman was. How could he not? In Korea, or actually the whole world, there should be only one woman who can rule over zombies and ghouls.

Then someone shouted from the women’s restroom.

“You f*c*ing necrophiliac b*t*h!”

“…” Da-jeong’s expression, which exudes happiness just a moment ago turned sour as soon as she heard those words.

“W-we aren’t the one who said it!” The people in the women’s restroom quickly make an excuse. Geom-in also joined them by desperately pointing his index finger towards the men’s bathroom. However, Da-jeong’s expression didn’t change at all.

“Are you f*c*ing kidding me right now…”

Just before she exploded in anger, a sudden sound of footsteps was heard from the men’s restroom. Whoever it is, he seemed to have some stealth-type unique skill, as there’s no one at the place where the footsteps were heard.

“Do you think you can run away from me?” As Da-jeong snorted, she snapped her fingers. Her ghouls began to flock in from here and there towards the place where the footsteps were heard. Then people rushed out of the bathroom. Even though they were innocent, they just didn’t want to be there, in case they became a second-hand casualty.

Meanwhile, Geom-in, who couldn’t decide what to do, met the eyes of Da-jeong, who was passing by the bathroom.

“…”

“Da-jeong…” She glared at him without saying a word and then turned her body around abruptly. Eventually, the ghouls, who were chasing after the invisible man, returned to her.

“Th-thank you.”

“Tell them that if they run their mouths again like that next time, I will really kill them..”

He was so overwhelmed by her aura and just nodded, forgetting that whoever shouted those words just now was someone he didn’t know.

After living in the government shelter everyday, Geom-in’s senses had dulled considerably. It could be said that he’s like a frog while Da-jeong was the snake. No matter how big the frog becomes, in the end, it’s still a frog. It wouldn’t be a match against a snake.

Geom-in didn’t say anything and could only stare at her back as she walked away with his shoulders drooped.

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The news that a labyrinth was opened at Sindorim Station was widely spread. Since the location was quite accessible, many survivors who thought they could afford to enter it headed towards Sindorim Station.

But no one had successfully entered the labyrinth so far. The reason wasn’t because of the monsters, which come out from the labyrinth. It was simply because the Ghoul Queen had completely blocked the entrance by stationing her ghouls around the corridors.

If those guys were just normal ghouls, with so many people gathered around, they would surely be able to pass through it by fighting them. However, with just one reinforced ghoul added in the mix, it becomes impossible. The red grasshopper sprinted through walls and ceilings alike, chasing out those who had big enough balls to approach.

Even an awakener with body strengthening skill had to run away, so forget about those who had stealth or even non-combat related skills. Around that time, the Auction House turned into a madhouse.

-Is she crazy? Why the hell is she blocking the entrance?

-Someone from the government shelter, please ask her why is she doing this?

-It’s been a long time since she left the government shelter.

-Sh**. I heard people in Gangbuk had already entered.

-Is there an entrance in Gangbuk?

-The labyrinth has multiple entrances you f*c*ing id*ot!

-Why are you swearing?

-What? Do you have problem with me, you b*st*rd?

The atmosphere in the comment section kept becoming more tense as time went by. The labyrinth was in front of them, but since they couldn’t enter, it was only natural that they were angered.

Without knowing about the events in the Auction House, Da-jeong sat on top of her ghoul at an entrance of the labyrinth and blocked the survivors from entering. It was all because of Seongho’s request.

‘He asked me to block it just until he’s sure what type of labyrinth this labyrinth is, isn’t he?”

Some of the labyrinths completely block one of the user’s abilities. In that case, entering through the same entrance would be dangerous because people would run into each other often.

Da-jeong shouted to those who were running away from her ghouls.

“Come back next time! customer!”

“Oh f*ck!”

“I’m really going crazy…”

Sighs flowed from all over the platform. But there was no one who was brave enough to outrightly throw curses at Da-jeong. After all, her craziness was widespread through the Auction House, so no one wants to be the next one who tells the tales of her crazy moments.

However, after some time passed, people who ran out of patience decided to use the thing most people in that place avoid to do in order to aggro Da-jeong away from the labyrinth entrance. They thought that they would be able to enter the labyrinth if they only made Da-jeong leave the entrance for a fraction of second. So, one particular man started swearing at her from a distance.

But oh boy, they couldn’t be any more wrong.

The grasshopper, which had been hiding in the vent, jumped down. Its red limbs spread like a spider and attacked the man. The man who had some sort of acceleration skill tried to run away, but unfortunately for him, the grasshopper was faster. Its red limbs wrapped around the legs of the man and caught him, making him fall face-first to the ground.

As Da-jeong snapped her fingers, the ghoul dragged the man towards her.

“It’s easy to breathe these days because there is no fine dust, isn’t it? Shall we raise the fine dust concentration a bit, today?”

“Sa, save me… ah ah ah ah!”

One-sided beatings followed. His group’s miscalculation resulted with the man being the next person who will tell the violent tales of the Ghoul Queen.