Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

The battle in front of the gym building was not that different from a real war. Goblins were trying to cross the barricade while the humans struggled to keep them away. Hyung-jun Hyung and Mikyung stopped the goblins from behind the barricade on the first floor while Sooyeon and Yoohyeon fired arrows on the second floor. However, the long balance struggle was broken, not by one of the two camps, but by a man who attacked the goblins with a bow from a distance.

Kieekk!

The goblins' attention quickly shifted towards Seongho, who was not inside the barricade.

Let's kill that guy!

A consensus was formed, and some goblins ran towards him. But, the moment those goblins took out their dagger and paralyzing darts from their pouch, the distance between them had widened, as he had moved backwards.

The goblins ran as fast as they could, trying to close the distance. But when they realized they were moving away from the barricade that they wanted to break down, they halted their steps and turned away, returning to their horde. But soon after, another arrow slithered towards them, killing another one of them. The goblins become angry when things keep repeating. Two of the goblins ran with wooden spears in their hands to catch the man. As soon as he saw the green creature rushing towards him, Seongho climbed up to the second floor of a nearby building.

Yoohyeon stopped shooting for a moment and tapped Sooyeon's shoulder.

“Noona, Noona. Did you see that?”

"See what?"

“The goblins came down 2 seconds after going up the stairs. Dead.”

"Really? Wow, that's no joke…"

Sooyeon wondered, how in the world did he kill two goblins in just 2 seconds? It was a pity that she couldn’t see it because the stairs were not clearly visible from where she stood. After killing the goblins, Seongho casually left the building and started pulling the arrow again. Every time the bowstring was released, another goblin dropped dead. If they use the barricade as a shield against his attack, Seongho would move and kill them one by one like a ghost. It makes no sense for her, but he actually is doing it. The power of the arrows he shoots was also really great, so great that the goblins that were shot by it got dragged with the arrow and were lodged at the barricade.

Sooyeon stared at the figure for a moment.

‘Well, he is someone who almost finished the murderer event all by himself.'

It wasn't until she became a member of the gym group that she realized just how awesome it was. Around the time Kyunghoon was still a member, he once emphasized the murderer event to the group immensely. He told them that if they ever hear a heartbeat, don't look back and leave the area immediately. According to Yoohyeon, when he said that, his usual bluffing appearance was gone and he became really serious.

It must mean that it was that dangerous…

‘Seongho seemed to know everything.’

At first, he said he didn't know much about things. However, the more she spent time with him or with people who knew him, it turned out he knew about many things. It was too strange to say that it was his first time experiencing this all. It felt as if everything was just normal to him. Looking back now, when they were facing Kwon, he predicted that his subordinate would come. It was truly a pity that she sent him right away when they returned to her room. She should’ve given him more thanks.

‘I should’ve been bolder.’ Obviously, she and Seongho weren't in a relationship where they could show affection to each other without hesitation. But in such a chaotic world, love could bloom suddenly and immediately. Mostly through bodily actions, though. She did not know what Seongho thought about her, but what she did know was that he’s an attractive person. His face was also not bad.

Should I try it next time?

However, the moment she thought about it, Mikyung came to mind. She didn't show it openly, but she was undoubtedly interested in Seongho. The Manager and Yoohyeon seem to not realize it, though.

Can I even compete with a 22-year-old?

Sooyeon thought so and then sighed. “Hah… What am I thinking, in this kind of situation.”

"Sorry? What situation?” Yoohyeon asked.

“No, nothing. Just keep shooting at them." Sooyeon said as she shook her head.

Anyway, thanks to Seongho's help, the number of goblins was rapidly decreasing. Hyung-jun and Mikyung, who were fighting at the barricade, finally took a breather. On top of that, when the goblins realized that they were at a disadvantage, they began to scamper off.

However, the battle wasn’t over just yet. It was because suddenly, a commotion lured the zombies to flock once again.

Growl-!!

They couldn't cross the barricades like goblins, but their advantage lay on numbers. Barricades that were made by a mishmashing of things began to get pushed back little by little. On the second floor, Yoohyeon, who was shooting arrows at the zombies while controlling his paper airplane at the same time, shouted.

“Noona, there’s a person running over there!”

“Where?”

"There! He's running towards us!"

It was a very serious matter for people to suddenly come in this situation. After all, who knows what he would bring together with him?

As soon as Sooyeon thought so, Seongho moved. He shot an arrow into the darkness. At the sight, Yoohyeon clenched his fist, his jaw fell a little bit.

“Seongho hyung is shooting at the zombies behind the man! Wow! How can he shoot like that?”

Meanwhile, Hyung-jun and Mikyung, who were stabbing zombies with wooden spears on the first floor, were confused. The footsteps they heard were obviously those of a human. What if whoever they are tried to jump over the barricade?

However, before they could answer their own question, someone’s voice echoed towards them.

“Help, help!”

Hyung-jun’s brows furrowed, as he tried his best to see the location of the man in the darkness. It wasn't in his nature to turn away from people who were asking for help. He said to Mikyung. “I’m sorry for asking you this, but can you help him?”

“Okay, Manager. I’ll be back.” She nodded her head and immediately disappeared. Moments later, she already returned with a man who looked weary in tow.

"Gosh." Mikyung sat on the floor. Her head was throbbing. Meanwhile, the people on the second floor clenched their teeth and kept raining arrows towards the flock of zombies. Little by little, the number of zombies decreases. It seems like they will be able to rest soon.

However, contrary to their expectation, suddenly Seongho shouted.

“Bone creeper! Run away!”

Bone creeper!?!?

People who heard Seongho’s shout were shocked and quickly looked for a place to hide. At the same time, a white skull popped out of the darkness on the street. It crackled for a few times before ramming into the barricade and exploded. Several zombies were blown away by the explosion, and one side of the barricade fell. It was truly a scary power. Fortunately, the people on the first floor who heard Seongho's shout had fled into the building. However, they did not come out completely unscathed. Hyung-jun, who used his body to cover the other two while entering the building, had two pieces of bones lodged in his back.

“Keuk-!” He groaned. Mikyung quickly ran towards him.

“Potion, potion!” She shouted.

The man who was saved by Mikyung looked at Hyung-jun. “We need to remove the bones first, can you stand it?”

“I’m quite strong, so it should be possible. Please take it all out at once.” Hyung-jun nodded his head. Cold sweat rolled over his face.

“Take this and bite it tightly.”

“Ugh.”

When the bones were pulled out, Hyung-jun limped. Fortunately, his unique ability helps him to endure and survive. After hearing the situation from Yoohyeon, Sooyeon rushed down to the first floor and treated Hyung-jun. Meanwhile, since the people of the gym stopped attacking, the zombies regained their momentum and completely destroyed the barricade.

It was getting dangerous. Seongho thought as he looked at the situation. He unsheathed the orichalcon long knife and entered close combat. With every swing, the limbs of zombies who rushed towards him flew to the air.

At the sight, Yoohyeon blinked several times in succession. He couldn't believe his eyes.

“The combat foresight ability is really great…” He murmured. However, no matter how he looked at it, Seongho’s movement couldn’t only be attributed to his unique ability. It seems like he was reacting to each and every move the zombies made. Though, since he only watched it through his paper plane, he couldn’t be sure. After all, his movement was too fast, so he could be wrong.

Yoohyeon drew the bowstring again without thinking about it further. Thanks to everyone's struggle, after a few minutes, the zombies around the barricade all fell down. After taking a stock into the surrounding area for one last time, Seongho jumped over the barricade and entered the building.

.

.

.

I laid Hyung-jun Hyung whom I supported with my shoulder on the floor.

“Hyung, are you okay?”

“I don’t think I’ll die. I should be fine," he groaned. By the way, there were six of us here.

It would be better for me to leave this place as soon as possible so that the zombies wouldn't be able to detect us. As I rose to my feet, Mikyung waved her hand.

“Me and Yoohyeon will go somewhere else. Please have a nice talk.”

"Why me?" Yoohyeon protested, but before long, both of them disappeared. It seems like Mikyung felt that something serious was going to happen and decided to run away.

The man bowed his head to everyone present in the room. "Thank you. Thanks to you, I lived. I thought I was prepared to die, but my body moved by itself, so I think it still wants to live.”

Hm… judging from his appearance, the man was a soldier who seemed to be in his early 30s. Lieutenant's epaulettes were attached to the granite patterned uniform. With that kind of face, he's a lieutenant? It doesn’t fit well, truly.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Captain Kim Hyun-woo.” He introduced himself.

“Captain? Aren’t you a lieutenant?”

When Sooyeon asked, he smiled awkwardly. “Well…”

Sooyeon did not understand about ranks in the military, but after listening to my explanation, she understood. It seems like I'll have to lead the conversation for the gym group here. After all, Hyung-jun Hyung was in no position to think straight and Sooyeon didn't know much about the military.

“May I ask which battalion you belong to?”

When I asked him, he made a shocking remark. “I was in the infantry battalion of the 5X Division. But my actual deployment site was at the Kori nuclear power plant.”

“Are you talking about that Kori nuclear power plant?”

"Yes. I took on the role of escorting the workers at the Kori nuclear power plant until D-Day. After the incident, I watched the Kori nuclear power plant from nearby. And then I realized that something big had happened.”

"What is it, if I may ask?” Sooyeon asked. But before he could answer, he coughed violently. It seems like his throat was dry from all the running. When I took a water bottle out of my backpack and gave it to him, he emptied the entire bottle in an instant.

“Puhaaaa, thank you. Anyway, to continue the story… The worker I escorted had told me that the nuclear power plant had entered the emergency cooling process, but it is not perfect.”

“We know about that.” Because the president spoke about it directly on TV.

Captain Hyun-woo continued the story. “When the D-day comes, one of the workers joked and said: If you see smoke rising from the nuclear power plant, evacuate immediately.”

"Don’t tell me…"

Captain Hyun-woo bowed his head. “Your assumption is correct. Didn’t I mention that I had stayed at the nuclear power plant to watch over it? Just a few days ago… There's smoke rising from the power plant.”

“Did the core experience a meltdown?” Sooyeon asked urgently.

“I’m a soldier, not an engineer, so I don’t know the details. But I knew intuitively that something unusual had happened. So we evacuated quickly. I came here via the coastal road while notifying all the people I found. Then I met you guys.”

Hyung-jun Hyung, who had barely come to his senses, asked. “…then what should we do?”

At his question, Captain Hyun-woo took out a map from his pocket. It was a sophisticated military map that was only issued to military personnel. A circle was drawn all over the Busan area with the Kori nuclear power plant in the center.

“People inside this area must evacuate immediately.”

“…to Gimhae Airport?”

"You're right."

“Everyone in the area?”

"That’s right. You must evacuate quickly. If you don't, you may experience radiation exposure.”

Radiation exposure. It was as terrifying as being killed by a monster. It was proven by the fact that the faces of both Hyung-jun Hyung and Sooyeon were instantly dyed in fear as soon as they heard it. Of course, I feel the same too. After all, no one wanted to be exposed to the radiation which they had only heard on TV.

If so, should we follow Captain Hyun-woo’s order and evacuate right away?

Is it possible that he lied about all this?

At that moment, Yoohyeon's paper airplane slipped through the window. It seems like he wants to hear what's going on.

“So, to summarize, there is a problem at the nuclear power plant, and it is serious, right? And if we want to be safe, we need to run away from the Busan area?"

“Yes, that is my judgment. If your judgment is different, there is nothing we can do about it.”

Sooyeon asked in an urgent tone. “Did you perhaps come all the way here to inform people?”

“That’s right, people don’t treat me as well as your group does. I'm glad I didn't die this time." he said bitterly.

At his words, I couldn’t help but to admit that he’s a good person. After all, even if he’s a soldier back before the D-day, it doesn't mean that he still has to do his duties as a soldier when the world is literally fucked. However, Captain Hyun-woo didn’t forget his duty and was still doing it in earnest even though it was not clear whether the government or the army still existed.

Captain Hyun-woo massaged his tired eyes. “If you don’t believe it, then there is nothing I can do. I will find other people. But please, believe me.”

Hyung-jun Hyung looked at me. His eyes are saying that this man could be trusted. I wanted to believe it if possible, but I was still suspicious. I would have to check it out by myself.

“Then do we have to give up all the supplies we have stored here and go?” Hyung-jun Hyung asked cautiously.

“It must be so. Carrying those supplies with you will slow you down, which in turn would increase the chance of danger occuring…"

"Ah…" A sigh escaped from the mouths of Hyung-jun Hyung as well as Sooyeon. Yoohyeon and Mikyung, who were listening through the paper airplane, will probably have the same reaction.

Needless to say, there was a considerable amount of supplies in stock here. With their current stock, they would be fine for at least a year. So, the sheer amount of their supply made it impossible to be carried in a single backpack.

I could help them move it, but still. Water was the problem. It was quite heavy so it was impossible to carry it for a long distance. If it’s only myself, it was simple enough because I could just put it inside the portal before embarking.

Maybe this is a chance…

People were silent and looked at me. I wrote what I wanted to ask on the paper plane and flew it out. After a while, the paper airplane came back. When I unfolded it, number 8 was written inside. It means that Mikyung only needs 2 more levels until she gets a new additional effect. It would undoubtedly be an effect that will buff her blink, so it should be useful in this situation.

Sooyeon muttered as if she was frustrated. “It seems like the meal we ate a few days ago was our last supper here.”

Yeah, that sheep was delicious…

I clapped my hands to get their attention. “Let’s do it like this…”