Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

One day, the scarabs came to my hideout together with their 10 promised gifts. Two chunks of the obsidian-like emeras, 2 glowstones, 2 ignition stones, 3 black charcoal, and 1 mithril ore. Black charcoal was similar to a normal charcoal, but it was more flammable and could burn for a longer period of time. Just one of these things could warm me up for a whole night. In short, it was a very good substitute for firewood.

Mithril ore was self-explanatory. It was an ore which contains mithril. The one in front of me though, seemed to contain quite a lot of mithril because it looks so silvery. Everything else was good, but how could I use this mithril ore…

The group of scarabs scrambled around my feet as if feeling worried. Then, they made a gesture as if saying ‘is this much okay?’.

“Oh, yeah. It's enough." Anyway, these guys were actually quite strong. The ignition stone was quite heavy even with my current strength, but they were able to carry it with only two of them. It seems like on top of being an intelligent scarab, they also have the strength to pair it.

I went to the cave and gave them two packs of jelly. “It’s just a gift, so take it.”

Sway-!! Sway-!!

The guys raised their front legs and took the jelly. Then, the leader scribbled a picture on the floor. It was a picture of a scarab holding a hammer and pounding an ore.

“You are willing to make something out of it for me?”

Nod-!! Nod-!!

If so, without any more delay, I drew the things I wanted and showed it to the scarab leader. It was a climbing hook. Because it would be made of magic metal, it won’t be affected by the corrosive disease, so it would certainly be a great tool to use on Earth.

“Can you make something like this?” The scarab leader tilted his head vaguely at my inquiry. Was it perhaps that the ore is not enough? I took out the mithril knife I looted from the goblin. “What if I add this?”

The scarab leader then nodded his head. What a relief… The mithril knife could be replaced with a ceramic knife anyway, so there would be no problem. It also won’t count as a waste because I got it from looting, not from purchasing it with points. I took out a paper and started to draw what I wanted in it.

6 hooks total?

Nod-!! Nod-!!

The length is about this long?

Nod-!! Nod-!!

“Isn’t Mithril pretty strong? then maybe something like this.”

After the planning phase was done, the scarabs started to make the hooks. Since I thought they would be cold if they made it outside, I asked them to enter the cave. They quickly came in and settled down around the brazier.

“Do scarabs get cold?” When I asked that, one of the guys staggered. It seems like their body couldn’t move well if they were cold. Well, it’s natural for any living thing which wasn’t made to live in the cold climate.

The scarabs warmed themselves around the brazier. Looking at them, I felt quite worried about their well-being. I think it was possible for us to live together. At first, I only wanted to keep a business partnership with them because I was quite scared of them since they were so intelligent. Now, however, I found out that they were harmless and yet powerful. They also excelled in metal-working. Although they were small, they could handle all the processes from extracting minerals from ores and making metal tools by themselves. It was almost like cheating.

Of course, they also have their limitations. They couldn’t fly and they were extremely weak to the point they couldn’t even defeat goblins. But I could easily cover their limitations. They could also help me with their mastery over metallurgy, or they can be a scout to find enemies or traps, like when we raided the goblin hideout.

“Do you guys have any thoughts of living here?” I said as I sat down beside the scarabs. The guys were startled at my word. It seems like I need to explain it more to avoid any misunderstandings.

“I got rid of the goblin nest, but there are still many dangers in this forest, right? You never know when things like goblins will appear again. If you stay here, you will be safe. It will also help me greatly, because you guys can make something like that.”

When I pointed at the mithril knife, the guys seemed to gather in one place and have a meeting. After a brief meeting, the captain drew on paper with my ballpoint pen. He seems to be asking if it is possible for me to provide a picture of jelly… in other words, food.

“Can’t you eat anything other than jelly?”

I put the scarabs in my hand and showed them the food warehouse. When I put them down, they picked up things that they could eat. And it was more diverse than I thought. It seems like the reason they only stole the sweet potato flavored jelly was because it was the most delicious.

Anyway, the scarabs finally decided to stay in my shelter. They had no luggage so moving wasn’t complicated at all. Their house was made of sandwich panels with soil inside. The scarabs dug in the soil, went inside, and made a room one by one. They're really cute guys.

This means that me, Dingo, and the four scarabs now share a shelter.

Let's keep doing well in the future.

.

.

.

After I finished making the vegetable garden and a clumsy vinyl house in the shelter to plant the potato seedlings, the goblins finally appeared in reality. I could see some of them roaming the street as soon as I returned to my house on Earth. When they saw the zombies, they fired their paralysis darts, but when they realized that there were a lot of them, they quickly retreated. I don’t know just when exactly did they appear, but they were now occupying many streets, buildings, and empty houses.

“From now on, they will slowly make a nest with the hobgoblin at the center.” They will also sweep the city to look for food and various things that they found useful. Naturally, they would raid human shelters, so in the early days of survival life, there are battles between monsters and survivors raging all over the place.

“It should be okay to warn the gym group in advance…” I read the walkthrough that the government had sent once again. As it was printed on a single sheet of paper, there was not much information. However, it was still summarized so well to the point even I couldn't write better than this.

“If it’s only this much, I think it will be fine.” From now on, I need to find the goblin’s den event. If I succeed in finding it, I could get my hand on a great reward. Because even though I had a lot of experience under my belt, starting from level 15 onwards, it will be the hellish section. It was called the hellish section since, if originally 10 experience points were needed to level up from 14 to 15, it would take 20 experience points to level up from 15 to 16, and so on. There was a time when users asked the developer team if it was a bug. But it was announced that it was intentional, which left a lot of users stunned.

“Though, the reward is more important than the exp.” It was because within each and every den, there’s bound to be 1 unique item drop which couldn’t be seen normally in the store.

I put water on the brazier to make some coffee. At most, this luxury would only last for 2 years. The beans were indeed stored in a vacuum-packed packing, but it was unclear whether it would be fine even after two years. As I drank the strong roasted coffee, the caffeine registered into my system. My mind started to work and my eyes lit up.

“Dingo, let’s go.” I went out of the portal with Dingo. The current time was early in the night. I had to quickly find one of the goblin's den before late night, since at that time, the keeper and bone creepers would start to spawn.

“Where are you, goblins…” Huh? It’s here? I was confused since I found it way too easily. A portal was tucked away in the corner of the parking lot of a one-room building. Its size was smaller than my portal. And these kinds of portals will be the ones that will lead me to the goblin's den.

“If I open my portal inside, where will it lead me to, I wonder?” Will it be Earth? or the forest? Well, it’s no use to think about it. I can just try it myself. I pushed my ebony stick over the portal to make sure there were no problems and went in. Dingo followed me closely from behind. Then, once we crossed over, a narrow, dark cave greeted us.

“…”

Kieekk-!! Kieekk-!!

Shrieks of goblins could also be heard nearby. There seemed to be at least five or six of them. Without making any noises, I opened my portal. Once I entered it, I found that the forest was the place I arrived in. I quickly headed to my cave, took a metal nail and brought it with me to the den. It stayed intact and didn’t crumble. I’m not sure in what dimension this den is located, but it was confirmed that at least there was no corrosive disease here.

Because the cave was narrow, winding and dark, it was difficult to take advantage of the bow. If I blindly walked through the corner with bow in hand and met a goblin, I would be left with no way of retaliating. Although there’s Dingo and my Perception stats was quite high, if I was attacked first, it would be hard for me to win.

“I would need a shield.” A spear and a shield would be more helpful than a bow in this kind of place. If some paralyzing darts flew, I could just hide behind the shield. Every goblin usually only had two or three shots, so once I blocked it all with the shield, I could charge in to kill them all. In case I also need some space, I could utilize the crossbow.

I put all the necessary weapons and equipment in the slots. The net gun was also very good at covering the front in such a narrow area. But what if a hobgoblin shows up? Well, I'll probably just shoot it and stab it with a spear.

“Dingo will take care of those who come from the side or from behind.” When I put on the watch, my Perception stat rose to 14. Great. Since night vision goggles were useless here, I wear a helmet with a flashlight taped to the side of the helmet. This will undoubtedly expose my location, but I don't care as there will be a commotion anyway. I took out a shield and a crossbow from the slot and lifted them. When I finished, I turned on the flashlight fixed to the helmet, enabling me to see the front better.

Kieekk-!!

The goblins noticed the light and started to scream. Come quickly you bastards, I'll kill you all. I held out my shield and moved forward. As soon as the light hit the corner in front, a goblin jumped out. Since they were living in this dark place, they were startled by the strong light. Without hesitation, I fired my crossbow and pulled out my spear. A popping sound was heard as the crossbow bolt was lodged in the goblin's side.

Kieekk-!!

"One down." Then, the sound of footsteps echoed through the narrow hallway. Two goblins popped out of the corner. I quickly moved. One of them was pierced in the stomach by my spear and died. The other one ran towards me with a cub.

“Slot #1.” I pushed the goblin away with my shield, pulled out a long knife from the slot, and stabbed the goblin.

Kie-!!

Without any resistance, the goblin died.

"Three down." After that battle, I continued to explore the den. I keep slaughtering goblins every time I meet one. Thankfully, I didn’t take any damage. Every time there was a fork in the road, I searched thoroughly before marking the location with a marker. Thanks to this, I was never lost in the den. It was not that difficult since it was a small event den.

“Though, if it were a dungeon or labyrinth, there would be so many traps…” The monsters inside also had various means to attack such as hit and run and throwing nets from above.

Once I cleared dozens of goblins, the space began to expand. Looks like this place was the hobgoblin’s nest. Since I already made quite a commotion here, there's no way he won't notice me. He's probably already waiting for me.

or not…

When I quietly walked inside, a strange sensation swept over me. Dingo instantly lowered his stance and growled. It seems like something was hiding behind the wall. In such a small den, where it was even difficult for goblins to pass through, they wouldn’t set a trap. However, there were often cases where those goblins repaired a naturally collapsed wall and used it as a trap. They would attack any users who passed through the said wall by jumping out from it. If their Perception stat was low, they would undoubtedly get hit.

“Where are you~” I smirked as I shot the flashlight to the wall. Something could be seen hiding in one of the holes. It's a little bit creepy, but there's nothing to be afraid of when you know it.

I quickly raised my long knife and stabbed the wall.

"What are you doing, not coming out?” When the wall crumbled, a hobgoblin walked out.

Roar-!!

But unfortunately for him, I had already pulled the net gun out of the slot. At the push of a button, the compressed nitrogen capsules burst out and pushed the net flying towards the hobgoblin. In the blink of an eye, the hobgoblin was caught in it. The guy frantically tried to tear the net, but to no avail. I put my long knife away, replaced it with a spear, and stabbed him with all my strength behind it.

One stab, two stab, three stab. When I kept stabbing him without mercy, the guy screamed in agony. And with a stab to his neck, the hobgoblin fell silent.

「You have earned 32 Points 」

What about level up? None?

“Fucking hell section.” I spat as I retrieved the arrow and my other weapons and put them into the slot. Now, even when I kill a hobgoblin, I couldn't even get a skill because there’s no level difference between him and me. To get one, I have to beat a stronger monster, which means I'll have to take a bigger risk.

“It’s ironic.” I went into the nest as I said those words. Rotten meat, half-eaten foods, and crude wooden weapons greeted me. After waiting for a while, a light began to appear in the air. It gradually became brighter and brighter before disappearing when it reached the peak of shininess. Dropping an arrow to the ground at the same time.

「Adamant Arrow: Increased penetration」

“Oh, this is good!” When a weapon or projectile had the ‘Increased Penetration' option, it would be able to pierce through pretty much any armor. With this option attached, the arrows I just got would be strong enough to pierce the thick owlbear’s hide. Though, the quantity was a little disappointing, as only 10 arrows were dropped.

“With these, even werewolves will be easy prey.” With a note that I could land a perfect hit on it, though. After all, most users would be hit by the werewolf while still aiming, since those things can move very fast. I went through the den one last time and came out through the portal. However, when I exited, the portal was still there, it didn’t disappear.

“I think this portal will last for quite some time.” No one knows when it will disappear. But I didn’t care about it anymore since I already cleared it. I put the adamant arrows into the slot and moved on.

Hmm…

Since this is an early event, some survivors might know about it. Let's hide and watch the portal a little bit longer.

.

.

.

30 minutes after Seongho leaves the goblin's den, a group of people consisting of 3 men and 2 women wearing hiking clothes found the portal. They were members of the group that Kyunghoon and Bora joined. Their leader’s name was Kim Cheol-jung, a user in his 30s who enjoyed Survival Life for quite some time.

“Look there! I told you that it was there!”

“Ah, it really is. If we go inside, will we really arrive at the goblin’s den?” When the woman aside from Bora tried to enter the portal fearlessly, the leader, Cheol-jung grabbed her shoulder.

“Hey! Don’t go carelessly, who knows what is waiting for us inside that portal.”

“Then, oppa should go in first.”

“Hey, do you know what’s inside? In cases like this, it will be safer to put the stick first into the portal. Like this…” The man pushed the stick he wielded into the portal and moved it back and forth, causing the crowd to burst into low laughter because they knew what kind of action that he imitated.

Oh Yeon-hwa, the woman who tried to enter earlier, realized this and slapped the leader in the back. “Oppa, you are really a pervert.”

Cheol-jung giggled and pulled out the stick before going inside. Kyunghoon and Bora sighed and met each other gazes. Kyunghoon had decided to throw away gym group and joined this group in order to focus on hunting, but… he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. The atmosphere in this group was not very good. The leader, Cheol-jung, coveted Bora even though he already had a lover named Yeon-hwa, and so did the other men. Although it was clear what kind of relationship Bora had with Kyunghoon, their sticky gaze did not disappear.

The experience of Cheol-jung as a self-proclaimed veteran was not much different from Kyunghoon. It was about 200 hours. But, when both of them had a disagreement, Yeon-hwa and the other men always took Cheol-jung's side. Therefore, Kyunghoon’s idea never got approved.

His bad feeling grows day by day, but as he couldn't go anywhere if he left this group, he kept it for himself. After all, Kyunghoon didn’t think that this group would allow both him and Bora to leave with their share of supplies just like the gym group. Leaving in the middle of the night with their supply also didn’t seem viable because of the monsters that spawns only at night. So, Kyunghoon and Bora can only keep what is in their thoughts hidden while keeping up with whatever Cheol-jung is doing.

“Hurry, get in. The bone creepers are coming.”

“Don’t push.”

The three of them entered the portal, and Kyunghoon spoke softly soon after.

“If we clear this portal, an item will appear…”

“Will Cheol-jung give it to you?” Bora said in a tone of concern.

“He should. This time is my turn.”

“It is, but…” Bora muttered. There’s a chance that Cheol-jung would say some strange bullshit again to keep the item for himself. And since he was stronger than Kyunghoon, the two had no choice but to follow.

When Kyunghoon was about to enter, Cheol-jung came out from the portal, raging.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Who cleared this den!?”

As soon as Kyunghoon heard it, his anger also flared up.

“Who is it?”

“Of course, I don’t know! Is it perhaps your previous group?"

“You mean they came out at night, and immediately cleared this den? That’s impossible. They didn’t even dare to hunt those weak zombies because they are a bunch of cowards.”

“Is that so? Then, who is it?”

The other two came out and instantly said they had to find out who did it. At their words, Cheol-jung brows furrowed

“It seems like whoever cleared this place knows about the goblin’s den event. Then we'll be looking for another portal… and wait there until that bastard appears.”

“Wait, if you kill someone, you will be tagged as a murderer.”

“Killing just one person is fine. Don't you know about it?"

“That’s right! All competitors must be eliminated.”

Kyunghoon, who was about to refute that statement, quickly bit his mouth and swallowed his words back in. To be honest, he just wanted to find another goblin's den rather than chasing and killing people, but the atmosphere was so ferocious. It was simply impossible for him to give his opinion.

Knowing his lover’s turmoil, Bora patted him in the back. “We will still look for the portal, won't we? You just have to convince Cheol-jung oppa to enter rather than waiting for whoever cleared this den to get there.”

"Okay…" The two followed in the footsteps of the three who had walked away from the portal. When they disappeared, Seongho, who was hiding inside his portal attached to the wall across the goblin’s den portal, came out.

“They don’t look good.” He was certain that they were people he met in the camping supply store back in the D-day.

He remembered their words at that time.

-Are you going to leave him alone?

-Then what do you want me to do? kill him?

At that time, because looting was more important, they decided to leave him alone, but it’s different now. Those guys were the type who would turn into predators whenever necessary. They would undoubtedly attack the gym group and himself if they felt the pros outweigh the cons.

“Before that happens, it’ll be better to nip it in the bud.” Seongho muttered as he disappeared into the dark night.