Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

It is a fact that, even when a gathering of people, no matter the size, is hostile to each other, they would gather under one banner when a new, foreign enemy approaches.
To Koreans living in Seoul, the Chinese were exactly that foreign enemy.
Although conversation could be established between the two parties, their habits, customs, and cultures were far too different..

At one time, Jang Won-taek had contacted several Chinese who were crying out for survival at the auction house and let them stay in Korea Shelter District 2.
He had the hope that they might start to get along well if he reached his hands toward them.
However, his hope was soon shattered.
After all, the nature of humans, the instinct to take more and more, was something no one could escape from.

The Chinese who entered District 2 tried to seize the initiative by using their superior numbers.
They argued that District 1 should send more supplies to them.

-Since the number of people has increased, shouldn’t the supply of materials increase as well?

-Supply of materials is being sent according to the number of people.

-Well, it is not enough.
Please increase it.

-It is impossible to one-sidedly increase the amount as it is supplied according to the number of people.

-Didn’t I tell you that the number of people has increased?

-How did the number of people increase? In the report we get, the number of people there remains the same.

Lee Beom-seok, who was in charge of District 2, personally went there to check the number of the Chinese.
Only then did he make a shocking discovery: The Chinese who entered District 2 had secretly brought in more people without permission from District 1.

Immediately, reports were sent to Jang Won Taek, and after much consideration, he issued an order of expulsion.

-The most important thing for us is trust.
Members who have betrayed our trust can no longer be respected.

However, there was no way the Chinese who had occupied one of the hideouts in District 2 would quietly nod their head.
They raised a fuss, saying that the reason why monsters were not approaching the shelter was all thanks to them being there, when in fact, it was the result of a transaction between Seongho and Ahn Geun-suk.

Lee Beom-seok, of course, notified them about it.
However, the Chinese refused to listen to the fact until the end.
So, as soon as he returned to Korea Shelter, he appealed to Jang Won-taek.

-They kept insisting that they are right.
It’s like watching a child running around in the market.
I don’t have the confidence to persuade them anymore… (E/n no idea what that parable means)

Jang Won-taek noticed that the situation was serious and looked at the movement of the auction house.
As expected, the Chinese in Incheon also kicked up a fuss at the auction house.
At first, they demanded the Koreans to return their points, but they gradually began to become more aggressive.

-Koreans stole our points!

-The point thieves are at their side!

-Everyone! Hear me! We have taken Korean soil! Therefore, we have the right to occupy the Time Shelter of this land! Let’s ask for the time shelter in western Seoul!

The Koreans at the auction house were stunned at their audacity.
The whole story of the water bottle incident in which a few Chinese people lost their money while trying to hoard resurfaced.
Naturally, some people started to mock the Chinese at the auction house.

-What the… didn’t they get robbed by Gimbap when they tried to monopolize? They want the points back?

-Aren’t they the ones who collected the points and gave it to their leader? Then that leader is the one responsible to give their point back.

-That so-called leader ran away to the Great Labyrinth and was chased by Gimbap…

-Ah…

-Then, how many points did Gimbap have now?

-I think he got around 70,000 to 80,000 points.

-The exact amount is closer to 110,000 points.
The two guys who ran away with the points were also killed by Seongho.

-My god…

This conversation which was shared by Koreans became known to the Chinese.
They began to flock to Seoul with excitement.
SInce they had lost all their points and suffered from insufficient food and drinking water, they were no longer scared of anything, as they had nothing to lose.
Of course, numerous monsters hindered them, but in the end, they managed to arrive at Gimpo Airport.

’

At about the same time, the Chinese living in their dorm in District 2 staged a protest.

-Give it to us! Give us what is ours!

That was their slogan.

At that moment, people truly realized.
Coexistence with the Chinese was simply impossible.
Chinese should just live on Chinese soil and Koreans should just live on Korean soil.
Back when the world was still normal, this wouldn’t be much of a problem, but the apocalypse incited the hatred that came from their long history.

Foreigners in District 2 also came to the same perception.
To them, Korea was a pretty decent place to live, a safe haven when compared to their homeland.
So, they had no choice but to come to the same conclusion.

Natalie read the mood of the Koreans and joined their force.
Together with a few other people, she tried to drive the Chinese out of District 2.
Since the reason she was able to endure the harsh apocalypse was to get revenge on a certain murderer, her level was quite high.
Therefore, The Chinese in District 2 were easily kicked out and killed by monsters while they were talking.

Upon hearing the news, the anger of the Chinese went to crescendo.
Their demand changed from ‘Give us stuff’ to ‘Kill everyone’ in an instant.

It was also at that time that Jang Won-taek urgently called Seongho’s shelter members.
After all, a war had just begun.

.

.

.

“They are really tenacious…”

“Sigh… Aren’t they tired of trying?”

“Didn’t you say you’ve scouted the West Sea before? How was it?”

Da-jeong sighed at Seokhyun’s question and ran a hand through her hair.

“The sea is messy because of the oil.
On top of it, there’s a lot of immigrants coming from China.
But, since they haven’t done anything wrong, I just let them go.”

Seokhyun turned his head and looked at the Chinese people lined up around Gimpo Airport and said in solemn voice.
“Their very existence is already wrong.”

Many people have learned this time that the two forces were simply incompatible.
However, no one could step forward because of the murderer system.
Thanks to that, the area around Gimpo Airport had become a mess due to the unending quarrel.

Seokhyun didn’t like that at all.

“I’ll take care of them.”

“How? Don’t tell me, using Seongho’s way?”

Seongho’s way was, of course, to just kill them all.
After all, he had this radical mindset that there would be no problem if the problem’s source didn’t exist.
It’s questionable whether people would agree to his way, but Seokhyun and Da-jeong sympathized with his idea since they too had felt the effect first hand.

However, killing all of the Chinese was impossible in the first place.
There were hundreds of people in Incheon alone, and god only knows how many Chinese there are in other areas.
There was also news that the main cities of Jeonnam were occupied by the Chinese.
In other words, there were simply too many of them to be dealt with.

But Seokhyun patted his fists as if he didn’t care.

“I will do it differently from Gimbap.
He would stop if he feels like he has achieved what he wanted, but I will not do so.”

“Don’t tell me… You will literally kill them all? Hey, be realistic for a second here.
That’ll never happen.”

“Why is it so?”

“You are directionally challenged!”

Neither seemed to disagree that killing was too much.

’

“I just need Yoohyeon to guide me with his paper airplane.”

“…”

Da-jeong couldn’t utter anything for a while and made the griffon circle around Gimpo Airport.
Several attacks were launched at them, but all missed the mark.

“It will take a long time.”

“I’ve been thinking, you know… About the future.”

“So, what conclusion did you arrive at?”

“We have a lot of work to do in Lotus.
There’s also Giudecca and Ahn Geun-seok.
On top of those two, we have to be prepared for more quests and the unknown monsters expansion patch.”

“Didn’t Seongho already prepare for it?”

All the shelter members, including the two, were completely entrusting their future to him.
He did whatever he asked them to do and did nothing that he didn’t want them to do.
So far, it has worked well and produced good results.
However, Seokhyun still thought that Seongho was too soft when it came to the Chinese.

“If we leave them alone, they will continue to be a problem.
They’re going to collide with us throughout the duration of this apocalypse.
I just need to kill them all and commit suicide to solved this problem.”

“Hmm…” Da-jeong could neither affirm nor deny his words.
It’s sure to be effective, but she thought it would be too much of a burden for him.

Then, Seokhyun stood up at the gryphon’s back.
The leather cloak he used as his sole protective layer fluttered behind his back.

“See you later.”

“Hey, hey! We are too high right now!”

Da-jeong tried to catch him, but he fell much faster.
Seokhyun landed in front of the Chinese who were holding their breath while surrounding Gimpo Airport.

“…”

The Chinese, who had been dazed, launched an attack at that moment.
Arrows rained down from all sides, but they couldn’t pierce Seokhyun’s skin.

He got to his feet and shouted, “Let’s fight, you bastard!!!!!!”

.

.

.

A monster suddenly jumped out of thin air.
However, Transcendence Knight Galitos knew the identity of the monster.
It’s a commonly known experimental subject produced in the Kingdom of Ruat.
The official name of it was Abomination, but in Ezekium, it was called the experimental object.

The purpose of the experiment was to check how far they could twist Giudecca’s power by injecting the power extracted from Giudecca into a human.
Although options such as polymorph and transformation were attached to the created monster, it was only a camouflage.
It also had the advantage of being mass-produced.
However, its fighting power was clearly inferior to that of ogres; It was not something three Transcendental Knights couldn’t handle.

Galitos felt like he had hit the jackpot with the appearance of the monster.

‘If I kill that guy… I will gain merit!’

The Abomination Plan was an issue that Ezekium forced on Ruat since they didn’t know what side effects would appear in the process of twisting and injecting Giudecca’s power.
However, the end of the world came and the whole plan was forgotten before it had managed to succeed.

That was why Galitos was glad when he saw the monster.
If he captured the monster alive, he would be able to one-up the Magic Tower which would lead him to a rise in rank.

Galitos tried to get up as soon as his thoughts reached that point.
However, he was more shocked than fired up.

“This is… ugh!”

’

A sharp pain came crept to his chest as if his ribs had been broken.
He hurriedly searched for the potion and shouted.

“Be careful! That monster is stronger than you think!”

“Leave it to me, Captain!”

“Didn’t we come here to kill the ogre?”

The two Transcendence Knights weren’t too nervous.
They thought that the Captain was simply caught in an unexpected surprise attack.
They had no doubt that they had a good chance of winning.
Their confidence stemmed from the fact that they had a few items that they prepared to catch the ogre: A potion and an elderwood rope that may never break.

“It’s the perfect gift for a test subject!” One of the Transcendence Knights threw the potion at Seongho.

Seongho, who had just turned around, could not avoid it and was hit by it on the cheek.
The bottle broke and the viscous liquid clung to his skin.
But surprisingly, it had no effect on him whatsoever.
Seongho’s toughness reduced most of the potion’s effectiveness.
In addition, the Limit Break and Primal Life skill were activated in an instant.

Grrr…

A monster worse than an ogre opened his eyes, showing its red pupils.
Of course, the Transcendence Knight, who thought the potion’s power was enough, opened their eyes wide at the occurrence.

“H-how…”

Before he could finish his words, Seongho charged and kicked him in the stomach.
The Transcendence Knight was unable to stand up after rolling over twenty meters on the ground.

The other one saw what happened and gulped.
He even thought that the Ruat guys were doing something stupid.

How can you make such a monster?

Meanwhile, Galitos stood up, enduring the pain.

“A Transcendence Knight knows no fear! Overcome your fear!”

“Sir yes sir!”

However, Seongho’s movements were enough to frighten them.

What the hell did those guys do to make something that big move so fast!

The subordinate Transcendence Knight focused on blocking the monster’s movements with his sword.
He thought that even if it was an experimental body, it would be powerless if its body was amputated, which would make it more careful against swords.

However, Seongho met the sword with his huge forearm without any fear.
His power was so strong to the point that the Transcendence Knight’s shoulders were broken.

“Keuk!”

The sword flew away and the Transcendence Knight glared at Seongho with disbelief.
His body, which had been strengthened by all kinds of magical enhancements, couldn’t stand its strength at all.

“This bastardddd!!!!”

Galitos charged from behind him.
Seems like his Squad Captain position was granted to him for a reason, as he was much quicker than his men.
However, Seongho still could read his attack trajectory easily.
Not with just his eyes, but also with the help of his Super Sense skill.

As Seongho pushed his chest in without hesitation, a smile formed on Galitos’ lips.

‘You seem to think this is a normal sword, huh? Let’s see if you still can smile after you die.’

His sword was not as good as the Ether Blade, but it still possessed tremendous cutting power.
It could tear through the skin of an ogre, much less an Abomination, which was much weaker.

‘No matter how strong a test subject is, it wouldn’t survive if its heart was pierced!”

’

Galitos believed in his fighting power and Ezekium’s magical enhancements.
So he jumped in front of Seongho and stabbed his sword with all his might.
But the expected muscle rupture sound was not heard.

“Huh?”

Even though Galitos was a veteran Transcendence Knight, he made strange noises like a newcomer.
After all, what he saw was simply not normal.
The sword he trusted so much could not pierce the skin.

He grit his teeth tightly and mustered all the strength he had left in his body.
However, after the sword entered a certain depth, it did not go further.

Seongho held Galitos in his arms.

“Ugh! Let go!”

Galitos struggled as hard as he could, but the monster’s ignorant forearms wouldn’t budge.

Crunch-!!

As terrible force was applied, he gaped his mouth and shivered.
Every bone in his body seemed to have been shattered.
Even his inhumane regeneration ability was meaningless in the current situation.

As Galitos fell to his knees, his men, whose shoulders were smashed, cried out in anguish.

“Captain!”

puck!

Seongho threw Galitos at him and the two became one.

‘It was dangerous.’

His big hand pulled the sword from his chest.
It was amazing that they were still able to inflict this much damage on him while he’s under the buff of all kinds of skills.

‘Let’s just kill them.’

30 seconds were left on his transformation.
When the transformation was released, aside from exhaustion, his murder count would also increase.

‘Wait, will it really increase?’

Seongho had never killed anyone in Lotus, so he wasn’t sure whether the murder count would increase or not.
Seongho grabbed his sword and killed the immobilized Transcendence Knights one by one.

When he thrust his sword into Galitos’s chest, he said his last words with difficulty.

“You… are not… a test subject…”

Seongho silently twisted the handle, and he died instantly.
When his transformation was released, the huge monster disappeared, leaving only a single human.

“Huuuuh…” Seongho sat down on the floor to cool his feverish body.

“…You’re wrong… I am a monster.”

Compared to the first time he transformed into an Abomination, there were no side effects whatsoever.

As he was about to stand up to move, Little Fist poked his head out from a cave far away.
Then, he strode towards Seongho.

“Friend, injured, I, treat you.”

“Do you have anything good?”

What Little Fist held out as his answer to his question was some kind of junk.
Seongho shook his head desperately and stood up.
He then searched through the belongings of the Transcendence Knights.