Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

“Woah, the scenery is crazy.” That was the only word I could utter as soon as I saw the live feed on the laptop. The lush and beautiful unpolluted forest on the monitor was the place where I struggled.

“Is north in that direction??”

If I put the cave as the center, the sea which seems to be the source of smell that greets me when I first enter the forest was to the south while the mountain was closer to the northwest. It seems there’s a lot of snow piled up there, since the top of the mountain is filled with white.

“It’s not that far from here, huh?”

Even though I’m only seeing it through the drone’s camera, I can roughly guess the distance. if it was only that far, it would be worth visiting.

“Now, where is the valley…” I diligently moved the drone to search for the valley where I saw the red trouts and owlbears. I was only guessing the correct direction, but it seems that I managed to guess it right as I saw the view opened up and a valley was captured in the video.

“I was there before.” Dozens of fish the size of an arm could be seen swimming freely in the flowing stream. “I can live my life here by eating that.”

Though, it would only be possible if the owlbears weren’t anywhere close to the valley.

After moving the drone for a while, I finally found the pit where I buried the old goblin I killed last time. At that time, I was in a hurry because of the owlbear so I just pushed it away…

“Oh, where is it?” I couldn’t see the corpse or at least any remains of it. Even after looking around the pit for several minutes, I couldn’t find it.

Just where did it go?

Was it eaten by the owlbear? Or did the corpse turn into a bone creeper?

Or maybe…

Did other goblins see it and threw it away? If so, a group of goblins would pay me a visit sometime soon.

“And the bone creeper from back then wasn’t in the shape of a goblin skeleton…”

Moving the drone closer to the pit to check my conjecture, I could see numerous small footprints around it. It seems like my conjecture was correct. A group of goblins had come by.

“The distance from the valley to here is…” It was about 1km in a straight line, but taking into account that this place was a forest, it would be safe to assume that it was around 1.5km away. It’s not that far, but it’s not that close either.

“Since there is no GPS, I have to calculate these things one by one.” I proceeded to make a rough map of the surrounding terrain around the cave. “If they came to the valley, I should be able to find more traces.”

The scariest thing about goblins was that with their green skin, they were basically invisible in the forest. On top of that, they also use paralyzing darts, and know how to dig traps.

If I want to fight them, I have to somehow find them first with drones, telescopes, Perception stats and infrared detectors. Even if it’s not perfect, my stab-proof suit and motorcycle helmet should be able to block the paralyzing dart if they somehow managed to launch a surprise attack towards me.

And if I limit the battlefield just to around the cave, my chances of winning would considerably rise.

“This much should be enough to catch the goblins.”

I scoured through my list of videos and found the one where I was teaching a newbie how to deal with goblins.

―I Love Gimbap: Goblins were basically a cowardly monster. But Isn’t that a bit of a weird statement since goblins are known as creatures who love to gobble up players?

The answer was simple. It’s because goblins know how to grasp their opponent’s fighting power. They knew how to keep their eyes on the target unlike other monsters who mindlessly rushed in as soon as they saw a target.

But a monster would still be a monster. No matter what kind of trap they dug, or how far they plan to capture their target, they would still be outwitted and annihilated at the end of the day.

“For now, I should be safe as long as I’m in the cave because of the infrared detector outside.”

The real problem was if I ran into a group of goblins while roaming the forest.

Should I run away or…

“It would be nice if I could contain three or four goblins away from the fight.” The perfect tool for that purpose would be a net.

Humanity had improved a net so much to the point they had developed a net gun which could shoot nets using compressed nitrogen. Although it was pretty costly, it was a very powerful weapon with a very durable net on top of it. Those rusty daggers that the goblins use wouldn’t be able to tore through it.

I piloted the drone back to the cave before I returned to my house to search for the net gun on the internet.

“It looks like a flashlight.” It fires with the power of a disposable compressed nitrogen capsule and has a range of 5m to 20m. A total of four nets could be loaded to the gun at the same time, so it would be possible to shoot consecutively. After comparing the size of a goblin and the nets, I estimated about two goblins could be restrained in one shot.

“That means I can neutralize eight of them in one reload.”

The price…exceeded 100 million won as it wasn’t mass produced. Not only that, the net heads were also expensive, and the compressed nitrogen capsules cost around 9,000 won each.

“It is expensive, but not to the point where it’s not worth buying.”

Being able to temporarily tie up a monster was a really big advantage in a fight. Add some firecrackers on top of this and you would have no problem dealing with goblins.

“This is a must buy item.” I promptly ordered two net guns with additional accessories attached. It was guaranteed to be able to shoot at least 300 times, so I won’t have to worry about it for a while.

I would also need some firecrackers, but they didn’t have to be ordered in bulk. After all, during the week when the zombie apocalypse would happen, the Busan Fireworks Festival should be on-going. Those fireworks would just be left there to rot like trash while everyone is panicking during the apocalypse.

“As a good civilian, it’s my duty to clean up the trash.”

No one would say anything. Afterall, a lot of them would’ve become zombies.

With all my business at home finished, I return to the cave.

Let’s go see the sea.

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It’s the sea!

The sea I wanted to see was there on the monitor. It was stretching towards the horizon beyond with its emerald colour. It was majestic and serene, but at the same time reminded me of the lonely feeling of winter.

This sea of another world was something that no one had ever touched, it was clean from the ravaging hand of humanity. It would be a dangerous and cruel sea, but at the same time, it would contain a myriad of creatures and resources only for me.

My drone circulated along the coast while sending a 4K video to my laptop. It was deserted from any living creatures at first glance. However, I knew there are many unseen monsters here, hiding in plain sight.

“There’s a white sandy beach, mud rocks, and everything!”

In front of a virgin sea like this, anyone would naturally have the urge to fish. That’s also the case for me. Even though It’s been a while since I stopped fishing for various reasons, a fishing rod was still sleeping in the warehouse.

Are there any monsters?

I looked around the beach with the drone, but I couldn’t see anything. Then, in the middle of searching, the battery low notification popped up. Therefore, I direct it back to the cave before launching another drone.

But, even after searching with the new drone, I still couldn’t find any monsters. It was simply impossible that monsters weren’t present around the sea.

I’m guessing this wasn’t enough. So, while flying the drone back to the cave, I calculated the distance while setting its flying altitude to about 2.5m to record the surroundings.

“Let’s see… the maximum speed of the drone…”

The distance from the cave to the shore was about 900m. Of course, there’s a chance that my calculations were wrong since there’s no GPS satellite here. But the difference between my estimation and the real distance shouldn’t be that big.

“It’s not that far.”

And from what I saw from the video, there should be no dangerous terrain between the cave and the coast.

I quickly packed my backpack and prepared my weapon. I turned the infrared detector off with the remote control and turned it on again after leaving the entrance.

“Okay, let’s go.”

I looked at the map while leaving a white mark on the nearby tree. But even when I did all that, I didn’t forget to pay attention to my surroundings. No, to be exact, it was as if I was forced to hear all the sounds. The rustling of the bushes, the sound of the wind and the cry of insects were all louder than usual.

Was it the effect of the 2 points of Perception that got increased by my watch?

As I conclude it was indeed its effect, I continue my journey. My steps were rather quick as I already checked the road ahead with the drone. All I had to pay attention to were dangerous animals and monsters that would suddenly appear.

Rustle-!! Rustle-!!

Something is here.

I reflexively notched an arrow to the string and pointed my bow to the direction of the sound. It was the result of practicing this motion for a thousand times.

And finally, the bush parted with one last rustle. The bastard which appeared was a gigantic wild boar.

“What on earth did you eat to grow as big as that?”

I quickly prepare myself to run away. If I tried to hunt something like that with my current stats, I would be the one who got minced into pieces.

Meanwhile, the giant boar with a hump on its forehead glanced around its surroundings before looking back and made a strange noise. After a short moment passed, several wild boars which I presumed to be its family came out. There’s also a small wild boar cub in the pack.

“So cute…”

As it was shown on TV shows about wild animals, the boar cub was really cute. It looks like a fluffy bundle of fur trotting after its mother.

No, wait, no no, I can’t be like this. I shook my head and cleared my mind.

As long as they lived in this forest, those wild boars were nothing but prey. Wild boar, deer, rabbit… and many other animals would be my food. Whether it was using a bow or a trap, I must hunt them by all means.

“That would be my way of life.”

Fortunately, the giant wild boar didn’t seem to find me.

I carefully painted the surrounding trees with spray and updated the map.

―Where the wild boar family appeared.

A herd of animals had a fixed place where they chose to be their territory. Gathering information like this would surely come in handy someday.

After finishing it, I quickly continued my journey.

And finally, the blue sea stretched directly in front of my eyes.

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“Wow…”

It was so beautiful. It couldn’t get any better than this.

In an instant, I forgot about my fatigue and ran out into a rock formation on the edge of the beach. I was truly one step away from a virgin sea untouched by human hands.

“But it’s very cold here.”

Is it because there’s nothing to block the wind here unlike in the forest?

As winter was around the corner, the sea breeze was sharp and painful like a needle.

And as I couldn’t stand it any longer, I put clothes over my vest, put on a neck warmer, and even put on a hat.

“This is better.”

The waves crashed against the rocks and shattered. And at that moment a strong urge to cast a fishing rod washed over me. But I couldn’t do it, as it’s dangerous here.

There might be no monsters on the coast itself, but there should be plenty of them roaming around in the nearby forest. I don’t want to be attacked by monsters while fishing.

“I think it will be fine if I prepare for it.”

I looked around slowly. I caught sight of a small octopus and a crab fighting in a fairly large puddle of water. Like a certain wiseman said, watching fights when it didn’t have any relation to you was always fun.

Few moments later, the fierce battle ended with the victory of the octopus. The guy ignored the crab’s futile resistance and wrapped around it with its tentacles. Whenever it bites, a squeaking sound could be heard.

“When the weak become the food for the strong.”

As I watched their fight, I thought of the apocalyptic world that would soon unfold in the future. It would become a world where zombies and monsters fight against survivors. It will be thousands or even hundred of thousand times more fierce than the fight between the octopus and the crab.

To survive, one must become a predator. You have to trample on others.

“If you don’t do that, you will just be culled.” In the apocalypse, a single moment of weakness would mean death.

Just like this…

I moved my machete to the octopus that was eating the crab. It momentarily flinched as if sensing a threat, but the guy had nowhere to run. In an instant, the octopus, slightly larger than my fist, was dragged around by my machete. This slimy guy would become my side dish.

Then I thought carefully about how to use this sea.

“First of all, there doesn’t seem to be much difference from the Earth’s oceans.”

If I had brought a fishing rod and a pot here, I thought I would be able to at least prepare some seafood for myself.

Should I bring a rubber boat and go fishing in earnest?

…but a sea monster that might exist caught my mind.

At the very least, I would be able to run away through the portal, but the next time I passed through it, it would become a mess since I would be in the sea without a rubber boat.

“For now, let’s be content with fishing on the shore.”

With seafood collected from this coast, processed food I had bought and the food I would be able to procure from the forest, at least I would be safe from starvation.

“That alone isn’t enough…”

I wanted to make a garden and grow crops. I also want to raise chickens in the long run.

My heart fluttered as I imagined the rooster crowing at dawn.

“Though, I’m sure the monsters nearby would love it.”

Raising the chickens is a big no-no then.

While lost in those thoughts, I was walking around the seashore and picked up a few large clams from a pool of water.

“Today’s dinner will be seafood ramyun.”

I wanted to wander around some more, but the sun on the horizon was starting to dip. With a heavy heart, I returned to the cave, cleaned the seafood, and ate ramyun noodles.

Sluuurppp-!!

“Wow, this is a hella good seafood ramyun.”

The ramyun was very refreshing because there was plenty of seafood inside. I immediately thought of drinking, but it was simply impossible to do it.

Will there ever come a day when I can share a drink with the other stagnant waters in a safe shelter?

“Cheers for that day.”

I tilted my empty glass in the air and ate all the ramyun.

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It was said that if you lie down immediately after eating, you would become a cow, so, I guess I would be the first stagnant water to ever become a cow.

As I lay down on the bed, my body seems to melt.

“Ah… well…”

Let’s hope that I won’t get a ‘groaning’ morning.