Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Kig is back already guys~ And sorry, i got caught up with work last week… Hopefully this week will be better.

As soon as Da-jeong crossed the portal, a picturesque green meadow greeted her. Not a single cloud could be seen hanging on the blue sky, and a warm, cozy wind caressed her body.

‘Where the hell is this?’ She turned her head around to look for the white snowy mountain Seongho and Geom-in talked about, but it was nowhere to be seen. However, on the horizon, she can still see a mountain range, which wasn’t high enough to actually be called a mountain, and some kind of a golden inverted triangle above it.

‘What is this world…’ She was really amazed because of the golden inverted triangle floating on the top of the mountain. When she called for her status window, a quest window–which was usually not there–can be seen attached next to the status window.

What is this system quest interface? How did Survival Life become this user-friendly?

According to Seongho, there was a small update after everyone had left. Maybe this quest window was one of the features that came after the update.

‘Seems like his shelter is not around here.’ All dungeons that have appeared so far on Earth were always located on the same world. In other words, Seongho’s shelter was connected to them in some way. However, the problem was, she couldn’t simply go there because she didn’t know where exactly it was.

‘I shouldn’t have left the battle royale battlefield.’ Da-jeong sighed. Pushing down her regret, she made her way to the mountain in the distance with the scarab sitting on her head, as well as Dingsoon and the ghouls behind her. When she looked behind her, the portal she had crossed a moment ago had disappeared.

“If you poop in my head, you will be scolded, okay?”

Da-jeong expressed her intentions to the scarab who was pulling her hair. Strangely enough, those guys could understand Korean. Probably, the unknown power, which enables humans to converse regardless of their nationality, was also the one who was responsible for this phenomenon.

‘By the way, there is nothing here…’ Da-jeong, bored out of her mind, instructed her ghouls to make a chair and got on it. Then, she ordered her ghouls to run, in order for her to preserve time and strength. Behind the running ghouls, Dingsoon excitedly followed. It seems like she was happy to be able to sprint at full speed.

Da-jeong laid down on an angle and enjoyed the warm spring breeze. Seongho’s shelter must be hotter than here, right? Just thinking that she would be free from the cold weather of Earth made her mouth water.

“There’s forests, valleys, and sea…”

From what she heard alone, she was sure that she could enjoy a luxurious life there. However the shelter was the problem. After all, the owner, Seong-ho, kept saying there was nothing to look forward to there.

-I bet you will be disappointed once you enter. It’s hard to see the scenery from the shelter because of the piled-up stockpiles obstructing the view. The cave is also quite narrow.

He also said that he slept on a single mattress inside the cave. Which could only mean that his words about the cave were narrow is the truth.

‘Well… if there is no space, I can just make it.’ After all, she had 30 powerful workers ready to do her bidding. Of course, delicate work was out of the question for her zombies and ghouls, but at the very least they should be more than capable of carrying loads and doing some heavy work. The detailed work will then be done by the stag beetles and the scarabs.

When she was swimming in her imagination of building a log cabin for her and Seongho, she snapped back because of realization. ‘Isn’t that just working?’

It was unlikely that the thrifty Seongho would leave her alone because she had useful manpower. If she clears the quest, wouldn’t she become the only manpower that can go in and out of the shelter?

‘Well, I can’t help it. I’ll just do some work. A little… Very little.’ Just imagining that she was living in the forest with Seongho was thrilling enough. With only the two of them there, no one would care about what they do there; they would have all the freedom for themselves.

By the way…

Da-jeong, who had been sitting for a long time, got up with her waist aching. She looked for a landmark nearby, but couldn’t find anything.

“Seriously… Why is there nothing here?” The low mountain which she saw some time back now had now become barely visible. She grunted and sat back down in her ghoul chair. Dingsoon, who looked tired after running on top speed non-stop for a while, is now laying down while panting on top of her ghoul.

Finally, after walking some more, an unknown mountain appeared in front of her. The scarab then guided her to a cave in the middle of the mountain. In that cave, something shone like a star in the sky.

“You are good at finding this kind of thing, huh?” Da-jeong held up the glowstone and looked at it. To her surprise, the place she found the stone at was an ore vein. According to the scarab’s drawing, these magic metals were often gathered in one place. Just like the spring in Seongho’s forest, this vein was an area where the essence of the earth gathers.

Da-jeong pulled out a folding pickaxe from her backpack. Although the corrosive disease did not completely subside yet, Seongho said that this pickaxe wouldn’t get destroyed in an instant.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve touched this texture of metal…” She hadn’t touched it since July 20th. In other words, 5 months ago. When the scarab pointed at a particular area on the ground, Da-jeong slammed the pickaxe down.

Gang-!!

Gang-!!

Gang-!!

The high pitch sound of metal hitting the stone resounded in the cave. The progress was slow, and yet it was already evening. Da-jeong continued the work, relying on the light provided by the glowstone. A few ores came out, but the important Aether Stone was still nowhere to be seen. According to the scarab, Aether Stone was often nestled deep near the bedrock.

“Does that mean that I have to go through even more hard work just to find one?”

nod nod.

Da-jeong sighed and grumbled before she worked once again.

“I’m tired.” She was exhausted and fell to the floor. The darkness she saw on the entrance of the cave told her that it was already night. She took a blanket from the backpack, laid it out, and ate the meal Seongho packed for her.

The food had gone cold, but the side dishes were so delicious to the point she could forget the coldness. Meanwhile, Dingsoon was also eating her meal beside her, and the scarab was busy eating jelly.

In the cave where the glow of the glowstone could barely shoo the darkness away, Da-jeong felt loneliness creeping in. It was a feeling she had never felt before.

“Siighh…·”

Perhaps because she was lonely, the grains of rice taste like nothing but grains of sand. She put down the lunch box and wrote a comment calling for him.

-Hey, Gimbap!

-Your noona is calling for you! Why didn’t you appear?

-Kang Seong-ho nim!

-Honey, where are you?

She called for a while, but he didn’t show up.

“Just what the hell is he doing?”

Come to think of it, no one sees the Auction House for 24 hours a day. In particular, Seongho had a lot of work to do, so he probably won’t have enough time to check the Auction House. But still, Da-jeong hoped he would appear sooner.

Da-jeong brought her legs together and rested her chin on her knees. And when she saw Seong-ho’s comment, a smile bloomed on her face.

-Did you call for me?

-You are late! Do you know what my situation is right now?

-I bet you are busy digging in a cave somewhere.

It seems that the scarabs in the shelter had told him. She proceeded to say that the rice was cold and the side dishes were tasteless. However, rather than rebuking, Seongho just encouraged her.

-Cheer up. I’d love to help, but there’s nothing I could do. So, I’m cleaning the shelter for you.

-What should I do when I go in?

-First of all… since there’s not enough space for you to sleep, we should expand the shelter a bit.

-What? I have to work as soon as I get in?

-The cave is narrow, so there is nothing we can do about it. I’m going to have to build a house right now. I’m asking the stag beetles to make a blueprint…

Seongho told her what his plan for the future is. And just like Da-jeong thought, he was planning to use her ghouls as his worker. However, contrary to her initial feeling about working, she was happy because she felt needed by him.

-Before I finish here, clean up everything, take a bath, and wait for me, okay?

-Okay, so be careful and finish the quest.

The conversation was over and Da-jeong was able to stand up with a lighter mind.

Gang-!!

Gang-!!

Gang-!!

The pickaxe pounded the rock vigorously again, and after 30 minutes, a golden jewel showed up.

“YEEEESSSS!!!”

Hey hey!

Da-jeong and the scarab raised their hands and danced.

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.

.

Da-jeong reappeared on Earth 3 days after she went in. Her appearance was far messier than before. It was not far-fetched to say that currently, she looked like a beggar.

“Uhhhhhhhhhhh… I thought I was going to die~” Da-jeong ran and hugged me as soon as she found me.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Suddenly, a golden jewel popped out of her backpack. Since I hadn’t heard anything about the Aether Stone’s appearance, I was quite surprised. I collected the jewel and showed it to the scarab to ask for more explanation. However, it did not give a proper answer. Since there’s no way they would willingly keep a secret from me, the reason for their silence must be some kind of restriction.

As I opened the portal to the forest, Da-jeong placed the three Aether Stones in her palm and pushed it towards the portal. Thankfully, her hand was sucked into the portal.

“Oh oh.” Da-jeong exclaimed as the Aether Stones disappeared. Then, a message appeared in my view as soon as she removed her hand.

「Someone has met the entry conditions. Do you want to allow them to access the portal? YES/NO」

If I choose NO here, Da-jeong would surely beat me to death and use my body as her ghoul. I picked YES with her burdensome gaze.

“Oh, it’s here… It’s here…”

It seems like a message appeared in front of her as she frowned for a moment and then said to me, “It appeared in the active buff column. Portal Contractor. But there was also a warning.”

“What warning?”

“it says ‘If you betray the owner of the portal, the contract will be terminated immediately.'”

“So it can read the minds of people who qualify to enter.” After all, without that ability, there’s no way the feeling of betrayal can be captured. Da-jeong couldn’t hide her awkward expression, but she looked happy nonetheless.

“Come on! Let’s just go!”

“As you please.”

I let go and Da-jeong finally entered the portal.

She said, “Contractor Duck Butt Goes Kwek Kwek will now enter the portal!!”

「You have earned 100 points」

The text also appeared in front of me. When I followed her, she just stood still while looking at the cave.

“Wow…you’ve been here all alone…”

“That’s right.”

“There’s really a lot…”

Da-jeong looked at the computers and laptops with a curious glance. And when she saw the basement, which was full of canned goods, she finally burst out.

“Why did you pile up so many of these things? You can’t finish all these things alone.”

“Canned food has a very long shelf life. So the more, the better.”

“There’s really no space here, just enough place to sleep.” It was already cramped even when only two of us were standing up inside here.

As she made her way to the front of the cave, she found the nest of the scarabs and stag beetles. The guys observed her with a glint in their eyes.

“Why did these guys stare at me like that? Is this a place where I can’t come?”

“It’s not like that. It’s because you’re the first person to come here other than me.”

“Ahh…”

She then happily wandered around the cave, but when she saw the weapon display, she stuck out her tongue. “Oh my gosh. You really have collected a lot, like a squirrel.”

However, without her knowing, the things she saw until now was just the tip of the iceberg. It’s because there’s still a really huge amount of material piled up outside the cave.

Da-jeong opened the door and went outside, and for the umpteenth time since she entered the shelter, her mouth hangs open.

“What is all of this…”

“It’s a warehouse made out of sandwich panels. And inside were things I looted from a hardware store, rice center, and fishing supply store . . .” There’s also a lot of oil stored inside. And to be honest, most of the shelter’s space was occupied by the warehouses. But since I have a limited supply of sandwich panels, there’s some warehouse which was made out of wooden boards.

Da-jeong muttered blankly.

“My luxury and celebrity country life…”

What the hell is a celebrity country life?

I put the shovel in her hand.

“Have you finished looking around? Let’s work now.”

Da-jeong couldn’t stand it and screamed.

“Hey!”

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.

.

Those who did not work shall not eat. It was a very famous saying, and it was also a saying that I could relate to. I intended to apply this mindset to everyone who enters the shelter.

The forest around the shelter was plentiful, but it was also dangerous. So, it would be difficult for anyone to enter this place unless it was someone who could bear that risk with me.

“As of now, I think Seokhyun is the only one who has qualified everything necessary to enter the shelter.” I said so as we were lying side by side on one mattress.

She turned to me “How about those people you send to government shelters?”

“I’m not sure… Here, simply working is not enough. They have to be strong enough to fight.”

“You don’t believe in them?”

“Well, looking at their specs alone, they are capable of hunting monsters in this forest. The problem is their attitude. Since they’d been living on the island until now, you can say that they’re quite… spoiled.”

They were just like Geom-in. They could kill monsters easily by cooperating with others, but if they had to do it alone, they would struggle and take the easy way out. The fact that they ran away without even thinking of fighting the Japanese proves it.

That’s why I sent them to the government shelter. If they follow my will and grow well, I will someday invite them to the shelter. If they didn’t grow as I expected…

Da-jeong whispered to me. “You don’t seem to be willing to give free food.”

“Of course I don’t. Everyone works hard and fights, so they shouldn’t just sit around doing nothing.”

“Well…” She dug into my arms. “It feels great lazing around like this, right?”

“To be honest, it’s a bit awkward for me since I lie here alone every day.”

Da-jeong’s ears perked up as she reached her hands out and turned on the music. “I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve heard this song. It’s really good…”

“Didn’t you say that you don’t like the shelter because it was too narrow?”

“That’s my first impression, but it can’t be helped, right? I just have to work hard to expand this shelter.”

“Wait a minute. Let’s make some plans.” We got up and I showed her the map of the forest.

“Look. This circle around the cave is almost 300 pyeong in size.”

“300 pyeong? It was actually bigger than any other country house site.”

Though, half of it was filled with oil while the other half was occupied by rice. Anyway, there’s no room for a house in this circle. So, we have to widen it, like this.” I scratched the outer line of the circle and redraw it before drawing a picture of a cabin.

Da-jeong tilted her head. “If we do it this way, the hut will be exposed, right?”

“Since there is no barbed wire… we will build a barrier instead. Let the ghouls defend from the outside.”

It will be easy to maintain because they could kill the monster and eat it.

“Ummm… I’ll put in about 10 for now and decide how to proceed after that. I can hear what the ghouls hear, so I can deal with any monsters quickly.”

That’s good. We proceed to paint a picture for the future. “We must also bring water from the valley. But we cannot build it 24 hours a day because of the monsters lurking in the forest.” Before this, since I was the only one who would work on this project, it was impossible because of the amount of monsters I had to fight and dispose of. However, in the near future, with Da-jeong’s ghouls and Rapwi, it will be possible.

Da-jeong nodded her head. “Yeah, in order to make something that can bring the water to this shelter, we would have to do a full-scale construction… Ah. It doesn’t matter because there’s a fork crane.”

“I had planned this after thinking about that.”

As she pondered, she raised her upper body. “Ah! Motorcycle! Do you have a motorcycle?”

“There is.”

I went out of the cave and took the cover off. One motorcycle and one ATV showed their presence. It could be operated for quite a long time as long as there were many repair parts and oil. However, the forest was so rugged that it was difficult to use a motorcycle. Da-jeong quickly climbed onto the ATV and beckoned to me.

“Hey, Driver Kang! Let’s go! Quickly!!” I smiled at her excitement. I started the ATV and headed to the snowy mountain. Some monsters followed us, but they couldn’t beat the speed of the ATV and fell behind.

Da-jeong smiled as she raised her middle finger to them. “Go faster, Oppa!! Kyahaha!”

Eventually, the ATV left the forest and entered the meadow around the snowy mountain. As she saw the battle royale battlefield she had seen before, she burst into laughter. “To that green meadow!”

Whoosh-!!

Then suddenly, a gale hit our body. When I looked up, a wyvern was chasing us from above.

“Dammit! It’s a wyvern!”

Let’s run away!

We indeed have become strong, but it is not on the level of fighting a wyvern without any preparation. I drove the ATV straight into the forest. The wyvern followed us but stopped because of the trees.

Quaaaaackkkkk-!!!

A loud roar poured out from the wide open snout of the wyvern, accompanied by a foul-smelling wind. I stopped the ATV and stared at the lower variant of dragon that is looking at us menacingly.

“Let’s catch that.” I said.

“What will we get if we kill it?”

“Something very good.”

If my memory serves me right, there’s only one skill players could get from a wyvern.

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