Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

A high-level survivor, Johnny the Flash.

For normal people, that kind of embarrassing title was bound to be something that they did not want others to find out. But in Japan, having such a nickname was normal. The Japanese who fought on Dot Island before also had a strange nickname.

Seokhyun pointed to his chest.

“If a mere level 31 like you are called Johnny the Flash, My nickname would be like Invincible One-Punch Man.”

“One-Punch Man my ass… It will be something like Bald Monster.”

“You read too much manga.”

“When you think of Japan, the first thing that pops out are manga and anime, isn’t it? By the way, since you are called the Flash, you should be fast, right? Are you that confident?”

Johnny looked at the group with a puzzled expression. From the way he dressed and looked he should be Korean too. On top of that, since he could make fun of himself, he should also have a high level…

Johnny got a little excited because he couldn’t find anyone stronger than him up until now.

“There is no one in this world who is faster than me.”

Da-jeong then punched Seok-hyeon’s butt.

“I think Rapwi is faster, though.”

“I don’t want to compete with someone who is merely level 31.”

“What level are you then?”

“Level 43.”

Is that real?

Johnny was stunned, but he tried to shoved all the emotions down to appear calm.

“That’s that, but you… How did you know my level?”

“Let’s stop here.” Seongho erased the smile from his face.

They had took the ogre, so they didn’t have any leeway to chat like this. The Japanese in front of him seemed to have a lot of questions, but he had no obligation to solve them.

“Let’s withdraw.”

“Already? Didn’t you say you want to kill the New Japan bunker bastards?”

“Seokhyun had turned it upside down. That’s enough. They’re not going to last long anyway.”

“Well, some of them are not even level 5, so their future is bleak.”

“Still, can’t they level up even when they use guns?”

“It will be worth watching when the bullets run out. They would die of frustration when they hunt with their unique skill.”

The Koreans talked among themselves, not caring about Johnny. Seeing them packing their luggage, they seemed to be withdrawing soon.

Johnny was aggravated by their carefree appearance.

‘I can’t be ignored like this!’

He admitted that they were stronger than him. But he didn’t think his level was that low.

When he made up his mind, his body moved on its own.

Clock up.

Time began to flow slowly except for his time.

When Seongho and his party took just one step, Johnny was already ahead of them.

‘As expected.’

Johnny looked excitedly at the hulking figure.

A slap on the cheek was too much of a joke. Should I just touch his hair?

But as soon as he saw the eyes of the hulking man, he stopped breathing.

It was because it followed his movements.

On top of that, those eyes were also saying this:

If you do stupid things, you will die.

Johnny deactivated his clock up ability and caught his breath. All of his skills were good, but the duration was very short and it was difficult to use them continuously. After all, It consumed a lot of stamina.

“Heo-eok, hee-eok…”

On the other hand, the other three were seized by a strange feeling.

“Huh? What did you just do?”

“That ahjussi seems to have used a strange ability?”

“Probably the speedometer ability. Just now, he moved faster than us.”

“I didn’t feel it.”

Seokhyun said so as he scratched his head.

He was the best in terms of stats among the four, but he did not have the super sense skills that Seongho have.

Seongho glared at Johnny, who was gasping for breath.

“I’ll warn you, don’t fool around. Else, you’ll die.”

“How on earth did you see me?”

“What’s the use even if you know.”

“If you see him, why are you not hitting him?”

“He has a new skill. Even if he hit that ahjussi lightly, it will be a fatal wound.”

“By the way, since ogre is this easy, the brutra shouldn’t be that difficult too, right?”

“This much is nothing. But brutra… Once it appears, it will easily kill the ogres.”

“That’s awesome.”

“I hope the expansion patch comes out soon.”

As the group passed by while ignoring him, Johnny gritted his teeth.

Has he, who was the best in Tokyo, ever felt this inferior?

But at the same time, he felt refreshed. He felt a strange feeling as if a wide road was opening in front of him.

Up until now, he had lived in Tokyo pretending to be a high-level person. However, he turned out to be a frog in a well.

‘Is it a river over there…’

Suddenly, backlight came from the four of them. Johnny finally made up his mind. It was to follow them. He thought that if he became friends with those who treated level 31 as nothing, he would be able to grow even more.

Johnny ran towards the four.

“Wait!”

“What?”

When Seongho asked bluntly, he said cautiously.

“I know I’m rude at first, but… can I go with you guys? No, can I go to Korea too?”

Everyone tilted their heads at his request.

Japan is not necessarily a bad place, so why?

However, Seongho had guessed his feelings to some extent.

“You are free to come, but I cannot help you.”

“That’s fine. I’ll take care of myself. The high-level survivors will understand if they hear me…”

“Do whatever you like.”

When Seongho turned around, Dajeong tapped him on the shoulder.

“He’s fast, right? Don’t you think he will be useful?”

“Well, it’s vague.”

In terms of versatility, Mikyung was better. She could carry one person other than herself and even some baggage while blinking. Johnny might be a little ahead of her in terms of combat power, but it doesn’t mean much. Right now, Mikyung was level 38, and her fighting power had jumped up by getting Spiger’s web.

“You really don’t mind if I go, right? You promised!”

As he screamed, Seongho waved his hand.

“I don’t care, so do whatever you want.”

Four people who had even higher levels than the high level people in Japan disappeared.

Johnny then quickly ran to his hideout.

When he opened the auction house, it was full of comments asking for a live report.

‘They’re frogs in the well.’

In fact, he was one of the frogs as well. Their level was a bit high, but compared to the real ones, they were nothing. He had now seen the wider world and had no time to play with them.

Johnny entered a new comment in the comment section.

-There is no live report. And to the high level people reading this, please respond. Enter incognito mode.

Incognito mode was a grandiose name, but it was just a conversation using a password.

The high-level net, with whom he communicated frequently, flocked to his auction items.

-Hey, Johnny. Didn’t you say you are going into the bunker?
-I canceled that plan. I’ve seen a wider world. Now I can no longer return to the old way.
-Ha? What nonsense are you talking about?
-I met the real one. Four monsters that treat ogres like toys.
-Don’t joke. Are there any monsters like that?
-Tell us in detail.

Johnny explained to the high-level survivors about what he had seen. Everyone seemed shocked and cautiously continued their comments.

-No way… But I also don’t think Johnny saw it wrong.
-There was also news that the Monster Alliance was destroyed by just one person in the past. Maybe he’s back.
-So you are going to Korea? Leave us behind?
-If possible, I would like to go with you guys, but if circumstances don’t work out, I can’t help it.
-Hey, what are you talking about? We were meant to always be together.
-I wonder what kind of monster they are since Johnny said so.
-I’ll have to go check it out.

Of course, Johnny had no intention of returning. Japan was too narrow for him, who had already seen the wide world.

He packed up and exchanged comments with his colleagues. Thinking that the next time they meet, he will tell them his nerdy real name, Kotetsu.

.
.
.

We returned to Korea. We decided to postpone looting the New Japan Bunker until next time. I was tired from fighting many battles in a short period of time, but I thought I would be more tired to find the location.

At this point, there was also a need to reorganize and collect information. Especially for the actions of Giudecca and the Order. They seemed to be quiet right now, but anything could happen when this side was distracted.

I returned to the shelter and took out the ogre from the dimensional warehouse. Everyone’s mouths dropped open as I pulled the incredibly heavy guy out.

“Oh my god… that’s a real ogre…”

“So that ogre is Da-jeong’s pet?”

“To call it a pet is a bit…”

“The amount of food it needs should be crazy…”

“There’s going to be a lot of poop.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. He can hunt alone. Come here bone!”

I can’t even guess how the ogre got its name.

Anyway, the ogre carried Da-jeong on its shoulder and strode out of the shelter.

That’s cool.

As I was looking around, Hyung-jun hyung handed me a piece of paper.

“Sungho. I’ve heard stories from people who have been captured by the cult. I did a little summary.”

“Oh, this is unexpected.”

“In a situation like this, we have to move quickly.”

I thanked him and flipped through the paper.

Hmm…

As expected, the church was planning to launch an all-out offensive sooner or later. The two otherworlders were right when they said that the troops we dealt with were just an advance party. It would be nice to know when and where the gate would open, but there’s no way for us to know that…

…No.

The gate that was opened by the Archbishop was opened in Ilsan. That mean that the gate that would be opened by the Lotus side would also open near Ilsan in the future. If so, there was a need to scout the surroundings.

When I tried to call Yoohyeon, Hyung-jun hyung opened his mouth.

“We have to scout around Ilsan, right? I already told Yeowool about that. In my eyes, you looked like you want to rest a little.”

“I have a lot of work left to do.”

“It’s not something that had to be done now, right? Just rest because I’m going around. Don’t worry, we’re also making progress in building our shelters.”

Should I?

With hyung helping me, it wouldn’t be bad to recharge for a while.

Then I’ll have to deal with the little things.

I stopped by our dorm. I saw the scarabs and the stag beetles worked together to make weapons. There were quite a lot of cold weapons that was necessary to defend the shelter, but they also made quite a lot of bullets.

Their support accounted for a huge portion of the Korean Shelter’s ability to block monster attacks without suffering much damage. Originally, the stag beetles were reluctant to make weapons, but it seemed that they decided to compromise by only making those made of wood.

I summoned the two captains and showed them the curse removing scroll. A light shone in both of their eyes.

“As you can see, it’s a scroll to remove curses. I don’t know if it will actually work, but the possibility is there. Since there is only one scroll, you will have to decide who will use it.”

Captain Scarab and the Chief Stag Beetle looked at each other. I put the curse removing scroll in the middle and put my hand away. It was to emphasize that the choice was theirs to make.

The two looked at each other for a long time. Then the big stag beetle took a few steps back. It’s probably not tears that form in its black eyes.

“Why, give up?”

Nod.

A deep regret emanated from the way the guy turned its head. It was the only scroll of its kind that had been dropped ever since the apocalypse started. It was unknown when it would come out again.

I pushed the scroll to the Captain Scarab.

“You are sure, right? Just tore it.”

Finally, Captain Scarab grabbed the scroll and tore it apart. Then, a golden light enveloped him. After the light disappeared, a stocky dwarf stood in place of the small scarab.

Of course, I’d never seen a Lotos dwarf before. However, this being in front of me had an appearance that anyone would think of as soon as they thought of a dwarf.

He looked up at me with his eyes wide open.

“This…”

It seemed that he couldn’t believe his own appearance.

I reached out to him.

“Should I call you Gorgos now? You have been through a lot.”

A faint tear formed around his wrinkled eyes. His beard shook and he hugged me tightly.

He’s a bit strong?

“Thank you! thank you so much! I really thought I would spend the rest of my life as a scarab! You are my lifesaver!”

Although the appearance of scarabs was cute, they themselves had never intended to be turned into that thing.

“You have to work harder from now on. The other dwarves must also return to their original form.”

“That’s right… of course they should.”

Gorgos soon regained his solemn appearance. Maybe it’s because he felt the envy of others. Fortunately, there was a possibility of them returning to the original form.

Upon hearing the news, Margretha and Tibris hurriedly ran to their position. The two were surprised to see the dwarf.

“Gorgos… Your appearance is the same as the drawing I saw in the rock nest…”

He laughed heartily.

“Haha, thanks to this friend. Do you know that I want to tell you guys a lot of things? It’s really hard to communicate as a scarab.”

“I’m concerned about that because the curse removing scroll won’t come out that easily.”

To my concern, Tibris hurriedly took out the scroll book. It was given to me to research.

“This isn’t certainty, it’s just a possibility, a possibility.”

“So what do you mean? Don’t make the dwarves burst into tears and tell me quickly.”

Tibris opened the scrollbook.

Nothing was written on it, but the material was just like a scroll.

“This is the right paper for making scrolls. However, I have no idea what is written here. But who am I?”

“A wizard.”

“Yes! Wizard. I’m a wizard, so I have a rough idea of who made this scrollbook. He is a witch doctor.”

“A witch doctor… Perhaps?”

Our eyes focused on Tibris, and he felt uneasy.

“It is not certain yet. However, it is clear that the owner of this scrollbook is a wizard who is good at curses.”

“If we bring him, is it possible to complete it? Can we break the curse?”

“Uh… I’ll tell you it’s possible. Though, I don’t know how skilled the witch doctor who made this is.”

But it’s strange. The place where I looted this was the Mage Tower where Tibris’s laboratory was located. Even if they’re not co-workers, they probably know each other, right?

When asked about it, he smiled shyly.

“Wizards are humans who are originally distant from each other… Haha, in fact, I don’t even know who the wizard lived next to me.”

Margretha added.

“Wizard is always like that. There were quite a lot of people who were immersed in research and didn’t know what time it was. They are blind about etiquette, therefore, they tend to have trouble with the aristocrats.

That’s right. So, the conclusion has been decided. When they invade this place from Ezekium, they will find a witch doctor and bring them back.

If that’s the case, even if they couldn’t remove the curse right away, they would be able to give us a clue.

Then Mi-kyung appeared. She was startled to see Gorgos in the room.

“Who, who are you?”

“If I said Captain Scarab, would you remember me?”

Mikyung’s face brightened at Gorgos’ gentle smile.

“Ah… You are exactly the way I thought you would be!”

“Haha, thank you. Now that things have come to this, I should say goodbye. Let me go for a while.”

Seemed to notice that Mikyung had something to say, he quickly tried to make himself scarce. As expected, his wrinkles were not just for show.

After Mi-kyung looked around her, she said to me,

“Oppa, when I was wandering around… I met that programmer, Ahn Geun-seok.”

“Are you not hurt?”

She waved her hand.

“He didn’t even attack. Instead, he asked me to pass his message to you. He want to meet you.”

“What is he going to say again?”

Margretha stroked her chin.

“While you were in the Great Labyrinth, there was talk that Giudecca and its forces were separated. Perhaps he will offer something.”

If he wanted to offer me something in exchange for something else…

I have only one thing I can give him.

In Apocalypse, the only thing to give to a guy suffering from the disease of coexisting with monsters was a punch.

I can’t believe that he is separate from Giudecca. But It’s worth hearing what he had to say.

I apologized to the rest of the group and went outside with Mikyung. Ahn Geun Seok and Go Ho-kyung were standing on the roof of a half-collapsed building.

Looking at his expression, it was much worse than I thought.

It was clear that something had happened to Giudecca.