Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Chapter 69

The fire in the brazier felt hotter than usual today. Slowly, winter was leaving the forest. I’m quite tired of seeing piles of snow anyway, so of course I welcomed the change with a happy heart.

I ground some ignition stones I had into powder in preparation to make some flame cans. Meanwhile, Dingo, who was lying on his stomach, fell asleep.

“They should’ve returned by now…” Unlike usual, there were no scarabs in the shelter right now, so something felt different. They went out on a mission to secure as many ignition stones as possible. Actually, I didn’t order them to do that. Scarabs always went outside daily to roam the forest, so I told them if they found an ignition stone, if it’s possible, bring it to me. However, it looks like they took my words as some kind of command.

“Shall I go out to check them out…” Though, I knew it was dangerous to go at night. If by accident I was caught by surprise by a bone creeper, I would be gravely injured. But the forest was quiet these days, so it doesn’t look like those guys will come out, as there should be no corpses for them to spawn with.

As I was about to stand up from my seat, I heard a squeak beyond the door. The guys are here. When I opened the door, I saw four scarabs carrying two ignition stones.

“Are you late because you need to dig this up? Next time, I’ll go with you, so you won’t have to come back late like this.” The guys scrambled inside and warmed themselves up. Even though winter was slowly leaving, it’s still freezing nonetheless, especially at night.

I took the ignition stone, placed it on the workbench, and gave them some honey. It’s nothing but cheap honey, but it’s a snack that they really like. It was said that if you give honey to an ordinary beetle, their tongue would harden, but it didn’t happen to these guys.

“Their tongues are strong enough to reshape metals.” The scarab filled their stomachs, and crawled into their bed. But at that moment, the scarab leader poked my leg. I think he has something to say.

“Hm? You found a cave? And it isn’t a normal cave?” It seems that these guys went even further than the old goblin nest to find the ignition stone. And on their journey, they found a cave which they mined the ignition stone from. There were also quite a few glowstones and black coals, so it would be good to go back there again.

“Then let’s go tomorrow.” I was relaxed, but the scarab leader was quite hurried. He drew an arrow as well as the cave.

“You have to go right now? Why?” Then, he drew a round fruit as well as a large scarab who was hand picking it. It seems that some kind of fruit that he wanted has grown enough to be ripe.

This place was an enchanted forest, so even if weird things came out or happened, I didn’t find it strange.

“If that’s so, then let’s go.” The kobolds could be easily beaten down, so I just had to watch out for the bone creepers. If I ever see something white popping out, I have to open the portal and run away immediately.

As I was eating a shadow grape and packing my bags, Dingo stretched his body and followed me. Even though I had gotten used to the forest and my night vision had improved considerably compared to the time I first came here, there’s still some sense of fear haunting me because of the darkness brought by the night. I’m not talking about ghosts, mind you, but a bone creeper that practically could one-shot me. If I find it even 1 second late, my life would be forfeited. Therefore, every step I took, I had no choice but to be very nervous. (E/n one-shot = gaming terms for when you only uses a single attack to kill something)

The scarab leader sat on my head and pointed out. Then we moved right away. Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any monsters on the way. And when we finally passed the now-empty goblin’s nest and passed unfamiliar terrain, an open space appeared. There, some unknown fruits and winter strawberries were waiting for me.

?Moon Tangerine?

?Effect: Agility +2 for 3 minutes?

?Winter Strawberry?

?Effect: Increases cold resistance?

Is it called moon tangerine because its branches extend toward the moon?

And the effect of the winter strawberry was just the same as how I remembered.

“The moon tangerines are amazing.” It’s buff increases a stat, which although temporarily, is still very amazing. If I ate this, orcs and werewolves won’t be able to just toss me around, like last time when I fought against the werewolf.

“If I also activate my Fighting Instinct skill, I feel like I can withstand a direct confrontation.” This does not mean that I would just fight them within melee range like an idiot. I would still use all sorts of means, including traps. Life is more important than glory, after all.

After I picked the moon tangerines and the winter strawberries, I recorded their location on the map, and then headed further north. After walking for a while, a cliff appeared.

“…you want me to go up there?” The scarab leader tapped my shoulder. He seemed to shout ‘You can do it! Fighting!’ Though, it didn’t seem that hard as there were many places to step on.

“It’s not that high.”

Maybe 4m at most? Considering that the floor was soft, it didn’t seem like I would die if I ever fell. It would be better if I could hang the hook somewhere though…

“Can you climb and put this up there?” I handed the hook to the scarab leader.

The guy put the hook on his horn before hugging the cliff and proceeded to climb up. Before long, he went down again and drew a hook tied in a pole on the ground.

Ah, you tied it to a pole?

Dingo climbed onto my backpack and I pulled the rope with force. Even after a few test pulls, it stayed steady. I nodded, it’s strong enough.

“Just what in the world did I do in the middle of night like this…”

Kung-!! Kung-!! Kung-!!

Right after that noise, Dingo loudly growled. Then, a tingling sensation assaulted my back. I grabbed the rope quickly and went up without looking back. For a brief moment, I could see something white under my feet. Then, together with a loud bang, the world momentarily brightens.

“Phew…” This is one of the ways to avoid a bone creeper’s self-destruct. It was also shown in the strategy the government gave on the day of the apocalypse, but it was difficult to implement it in the real world. After all, in the real world, one would normally encounter a creeper on a street, where there’s nothing to climb on. So, it would be better to raise the Perception stat to find it first before it could get close to us.

“I thought I was going to die.” I put strength on my shoulders and climbed up. When I arrived at the top, an entrance to a cave greets me.

“Oh! Oh…” I exclaimed as soon as I shone the flashlight towards it. There were quite a lot of ignition stones, black coals, and glowstones buried on the wall of the cave. Not only that, I could also see veins engulfing the entire cave.

Is this what people call hitting big?

I put down both the scarab leader and my backpack and prepared to dig mainly for the ignition stones. The wall was quite soft, so a simple pickaxe should do the job. Though, kobolds would definitely love it if they know someone is out here, working at night.

“Looking at the presence of the bone creepers, it seems like there are quite a few monsters here…”

It would be quite difficult to get up here again, but it was necessary to prepare. I put the scarab leader on Dingo’s head and said, “Don’t look up while I’m working, okay? Just keep watch in case something comes.”

Both of them nodded their heads. I reduced the light of the flashlight and started working. Not long after, banging sounds echoed through the forest. It seems like all the kobolds around the area were coming.

As soon as I dug up one ignition stone and put it in my backpack, Dingo barked loudly. When I went to the entrance, there were indeed a few kobolds walking around below. They would throw stones and spears to attack me, but they would not be able to reach this place. I collected stones around the entrance and threw them at the kobolds.

“Get lost, you punk!” A couple of them squealed as the stones hit their head, but they didn’t back down. If I still had at least one pepper bomb, I would have crushed them, what a pity…

“You just wait there. I’ll take care of you when I’m done with the work.” Of course, I didn’t seriously mean it. After all, If I have time to deal with them, I rather run away.

I continued to work, ignoring the noises of the kobolds. When I put the fifth ignition stones in my backpack, my shoulders drooped. I feel tired.

“…let’s just do this much today.” It was nice to hit a jackpot, but I need to sleep now so I can be active tomorrow. Dingo and the scarab leader were still watching the kobolds below. They also occasionally drop a stone towards them.

I stroked them both, “Good job. Now let’s go home. Unhook it when I arrived on the ground, okay?”

Going back would be tiring. Because I have to pass through 10 kobolds. I took out a firecracker, lit it, and threw it.

Puff-!! Puff-!!

Woof-!!

The kobolds closed their eyes because of the light. At that moment, I quickly descended the cliff with Dingo in my backpack.

“Scarab!” After a while, the scarab threw the hook and came down the cliff. I quickly put him on my shoulder and ran as fast as I could. I wanted to kill all the kobolds which were busy rubbing their eyelids, but running away is my priority right now.

After a while, we barely made it back to the shelter.

“I don’t want to do it again.”

nod nod.

Dingo and the scarab leader seem to have the same idea. It’s already late at night, so now I need to rest.

We crawled into our respective beds.

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Everyone must have this imagination at least once, coming to a sea with overflowing seafood where fish would bite after simply putting the hook in the water. It would be even better if they were the only ones who could go there. But for me, it’s not just an imagination. That sea was stretched far wide in front of me.

I strolled along the beach with Dingo and the scarab leader, looking for a place to throw a fish trap.

“I should throw it in a place with a moderate depth of water…” It takes about two hours to walk around at such a leisurely pace. The current time was early at dawn, the time when goblins start to wake up and the kobolds return to their nests. There was no keeper and creeper at sight, so it was quite reassuring.

After wandering around for a while, I threw the fish trap to a suitable place around the tidal rock. I tied the other end of the rope into the stone on the shore.

“I wonder what kind of sea creatures live here?” Looking at the octopus and crab I caught before, it seems the sea creatures here weren’t much different from Earth. The animals in this forest, such as wild boars and valley deers, also weren’t different from animals on Earth.

I took out my fishing rod and put bait on its hook. It was none other than the intestines of the Hwajo I slaughtered a few nights back. Then, I cast the line into the sea. I didn’t know what would come out, so as I stood waiting for a bite, I thought about the method to attack water monsters.

“If the sea is this big, huge monsters should come out.” For several months I’d been here, the sea had not been touched by anyone. My guess was that it has likely been preserved in this condition for more than a few years.

While I was imagining happy thoughts, I suddenly felt a tug in the line.

“It’s here!” I clenched the fishing rod and jerked it up as hard as I could to make sure it was hooked up properly and reeled it in. Whatever is on the other side of the rod makes me use quite a bit of power as it tries to free itself away.

After a fierce push-and-pull war, the weakened fish appeared on the surface of the water.

“It’s big.” It was a rockfish with a length of around 2m. I only know the name of the fish, but I don’t know what its exact breed is. When I pulled the hook from its mouth and put it in an icebox, it wiggled vigorously.

“Weirdly enough, it looks quite similar to a mullet.” In particular, it looks similar to the yellow-eyed mullet. It seemed that it would be okay to sell it as a mullet in the market if the size was a little smaller.

“Its stomach is bulging, is it full of eggs?”

Aren’t mullet roe quite famous?

Though, since it was not a mullet, but a rockfish, it wouldn’t taste the same. But whatever, most fish eggs were edible anyway.

While I had those thoughts, Dingo was excited. It looks like he wanted to eat the rockfish, while the scarab leader was sitting on his head. I let him be and walked towards the seashore again.

“I think I will catch some fish again.” I cast the fishing rod again.

rockfish.

Again, rockfish.

“Another one, seriously?”

The sea continued to vomit only rockfish. Thanks to that, the icebox was full of rockfish. There were also quite a few of them that had eggs on their belly.

“It’s a rockfish jackpot.” Anyway, I’m not complaining at all, since it was still precious food. I immediately trimmed the rockfishes’ fins, opened the bag, and packed them in a plastic bag. When I finished, I saw the scarab leader clinging to a rockfish bone. When I asked what he’s doing, he answered me, which I take as him wanting to make something out of the bone.

“Oh, this is fine.” In real life, I couldn’t use normal needles because of corrosive disease, but bone-made needles should be fine. When I touched it with my fingers, it was quite hard. I would be able to catch some small fish with it.

The scarab leader looked up at me.

His eyes were asking ‘continue to make it or not?’

“Make a few more.”

The guy nodded his head and continued to work. Then, I returned to the seashore, and for quite some time was caught up in a rockfish frenzy.

“Wait a minute, what kind of sea is this?”

Although I tried to throw the line into various depths of the water, the only fish I caught  was rockfish.

Are these guys the only fish in this sea?

“Is it because of the bait?” It also might be because of my lack of skills in fishing. If I knew the sea better, I would be able to catch some good fish. But, when I looked at the two ice boxes full of rockfish, I shook my head. I am still glad I was able to catch this much.

The day was slowly getting brighter. I had to leave soon. When I pulled the fish trap, I was surprised at how heavy it was.

“Woahhh!” When I pulled the fish trap to the seashore, it was full of all kinds of seafood including octopuses, crabs, shrimps, and conches. The three octopuses were busy devouring the other guys inside.

“Hey hey hey.” I quickly put my hands inside and moved the octopuses to one of the iceboxes. When I checked the trap once again, a smile came to my lips.

“I really don’t have to worry about starving.” I wanted to put this on the Auction House and sell it. I don’t have any need to spend points right away, but there’s nothing bad about gathering some right now. I put all the seafood in the icebox and loaded it onto the ATV I drove to get here.

“It’s a jackpot here too. Jackpot!” Winter is coming soon to Earth, so I had to do my best to secure food for the time being.

Dingo and the scarab leader got up the ATV then sat above the ice boxes, then I started the ATV. The four-wheeled motorcycle crossed the beach.

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Seongho wasn’t the only one who went to a beach without people. In a certain beach on Earth, a certain man was also wandering the beach, collecting his traps. However, his trap, which he had just pulled to the land, had lost its shape and looked shabby.

“Hup.” When the man lifted the trap, sea water poured out from it. He collected another trap and walked with two of it in his shoulders. Still, he did not neglect to be vigilant about his surroundings. It’s been a long time since he had hunted all the zombies in the area, but lately, some monsters have appeared replacing them.

The kobolds in particular, were very troublesome monsters since they loved to steal his haul at night. It would be fine if they just stole it, but they also broke his fish traps while they’re doing it. On top of them, there are also goblins. Cunning monsters which was a huge pain in the ass. However, that’s not the end as he was also worried because orcs and werewolves would soon appear.

Will he be able to survive with his weak unique ability?

He walked along the coastal road and came into a certain fishing village with only a few houses and pensions. The town hall in the centre of the village was his hideout. It was a very boring place because there’s no other survivors around, but he didn’t mind.

‘People are scary.’

Not long ago, he also lived in a shopping street with many survivors around. He tried to reach out to them by giving them some gifts, but after he gave them some more, the survivors started to look at him with a glint of greed. The survivors were salivating at his bio-friendly unique ability. It was a strange unique ability which would quicken the process and enchanted the quality of the crops grown near him. Moreover, animals would approach him without showing even a glint of fear towards him.

It’s not very helpful in battle, but it has a huge advantage in survival. Therefore, survivors tried their best to get him—or more precisely, his unique ability.

‘We are protecting you.’

‘So shouldn’t you be grateful, and pay us back?’

‘You want to run? Don’t do that. If you did that, I’m going to have to smash your legs.’

The person who said that added that it was a joke, but the 20-year-old couldn’t stand the oppressive atmosphere. So, when opportunity presented itself, he ran away. The place he came to after running away was this place, a fishing village. There wasn’t much to get by looting here, but it was still enough for a single person to survive. It was especially fortunate that there was a lot of bottled water.

The young man went up to the second floor of the city hall and then sealed the entrance with some furniture. This part of the building was used as a guest house, so it was perfect for him to stay. He had pushed all the furniture to the wall,and put all his supplies tidily. The young man has lived for 20 years and has not had much of a thing under his name. So, he became obsessed with tidying up.

‘First of all, let’s clean this up.’ The young man skillfully trimmed the seafood with a ceramic knife. It seems like, with everything he had just caught, he would be able to live well for a few days. But his worry did not go away completely.

‘The orcs and werewolves are coming soon.’ There were only a few days left. After he finished, the young man knelt in front of a crippled desk and opened a certain notebook. It was something he valued as important as his life. Inside, there was a lot of text written on it.

After he opened a few pages, a passage about orcs and werewolves appeared.

-In the case of orcs, their attack is always straight. They don’t care about other things. If they see even a sliver of your hair, they will immediately charge towards you. When that happens, don’t try to run away, because you can’t outrun them. Dodge sideways instead.

-The body of an orc is definitely similar to that of a gorilla. But the thing is, different from a gorilla, it has a very good throwing power. Wouldn’t you be surprised to see it throw a wooden spear at you?

-Werewolves… I only have one piece of advice for beginners: Just don’t go out at night. At all. Still, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a way to beat it.

“…” The young man tried to memorize the entire sentence. For him, who had little combat ability, this notebook filled with strategies which he got from watching I Love Gimbap’s broadcast was the most precious thing he had. Before the zombie apocalypse, he wrote down all of I Love Gimbap’s strategies in this notebook.

At one time, he even posted it on the internet, but all of them were ignored. It was unavoidable, because all kinds of fake strategies were circulating. But, after he informed a broadcasting station and the government’s task force, several people came to him. They said they were working for the government, but the young man had a hard time believing them. Afterall, they didn’t look like someone who worked for the government. The young man ran away from their pursuit and he never again had the thought to reveal the information.

He has been alone ever since he fled from the survivors who coveted his unique ability. His only friends were the sea and seagulls. His life wasn’t lacking much, but he still wanted one more thing.

A good friend. He wanted to live with a good friend, not someone who tried to restrain him and take advantage of him.

‘I think it would be fine if they were someone like I Love Gimbap.’ But it would be crazy. Although his identity was still unknown until now, it could easily be assumed that he’s one of the people with a strong unique ability.

Isn’t he the one who has played Survival Life longer than anyone else?

Poor Man thought so.

He closed the notebook and stood up. He looked out the window and felt autumn were ending and winter was fast approaching. But he had no worries. Because he’s someone who tolerates the cold well. Afterall, even when society was in good shape, heat or heating device was something he’s unfamiliar with. Therefore, even in the apocalypse, his life was not much different from before.

‘But sometimes, I feel lonely.’ He had no one to talk to. Once, he had picked up a cat and raised it, but it was killed by a monster. His only hope was the Auction House. It seemed like a lot of people would welcome him if he went there.

However, currently, he’s just level 6, so his goal of unlocking the Auction House is still far away. Which means, if he wanted to reach level 15, he had no choice but to hunt.

Jimin grabbed his weapon and went outside.