Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

4/10

The werewolf broke the emeras spear and continued to wander around the portal. I showed my palm to the growling Dingo and checked the supplies I currently have.

“Slingshot, pepper bomb, Togarev…” And the emeras spear. It's broken because of the struggle earlier, but the penetrating power of the blade is still there. The problem was the timing. With my current stats, it was impossible to keep up with the werewolf's movements. That’s why I need to distract him before attacking him. It was not a fail-proof plan either. If I miss my timing, even for just a millisecond, his claws will surely tear me to pieces.

However, with the new weapon I just created, I was confident that I would be the one who came out victorious from this fight. When I took out the pepper bomb from the backpack, Dingo whined and quickly ran towards the corner.

“Dingo, stay there.” I loaded a pepper bomb into my slingshot and glared at the werewolf.

Are you running out of patience?

Do you want to find me and tear me apart that bad?

Growl-!!

The eyes of the werewolf were fierce. It looked like it was screaming for blood. It was proof that the guy had the Fighting instinct skill. 

After waiting patiently for quite a while, the guy began to slow down. It seems like the Fighting Instinct skill had been deactivated. I quickly pulled the string of the slingshot and waited. The guy moved closer and closer towards the portal. When his snout finally twitched in front of the portal, I released the slingshot’s string.The pepper bomb flew and shattered as soon as it hit the werewolf right on its snout. Taken aback, the guy frantically moved his limbs around and sniffed.

That was a big mistake, my friend…

The moment the werewolf took a deep breath of the bull pepper powder, he jolted crazily. The guy rubbed the back of its nostrils with its claws as he moved. Its blood and saliva splattered everywhere, and the dirt around it flew away.

After inhaling that dreadful powder deeply, it must feel like its soul was being expelled out of its body. Well, I don't really know whether werewolves have souls or not, though.

"Let’s start." I quietly exited the portal and opened the slot which the Togarev was in.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A total of three shots struck the werewolf's chest and head. But as expected, it didn’t die. After all, this guy was an extremely tough guy who was also quick on his feet.

I took the emeras spear and started running after closing the portal. Hide-and-seek wasn't a bad strategy either, but there was a risk that the guy would be fed up and escape instead. I can’t let that happen, since I had to kill him in order to get a skill.

As I ran with all my might, I heard quick footsteps echoing behind me. The distance was not that close, but if I let my focus slip off, the guy would definitely catch up in the blink of an eye. I know this because I've done this a lot.

“Cough! Cough!” I turned around and pulled out my pistol and fired.

Bang! Bang!

The running werewolf could not overcome the momentum of the bullet and collapsed. Originally, the guy would have been fine if the damage was only this much. However, that wasn’t the case right now, as he already took a lot of damage.

I continued to run for a while. Then, the moment I found a suitable tree, I took out the hook and threw it upwards. The hook wrapped around the sturdy branches and the ropes went taut. With all my power, I climbed using the rope as my support. It was extremely hard. However, the one that kept me going was the werewolf instructor, which is still chasing me while roaring.

The moment I arrived on top of the tree, the werewolf jumped to try to bite me. However, its sharp teeth didn’t even meet my foot. I looked down, supporting my weight with my arms.

The werewolf moved quite anxiously because it couldn’t attack me.

Its jumping reach was only about 3m, so it's too short to reach my current height. But suddenly, it seems like the guy realized that climbing the tree was the way to go rather than jumping as it started climbing with all of its limbs.

But didn’t you forget something?

The werewolf's nose twitched as I pulled out the pepper bomb. It was a moment he had to choose. Will it try to dodge the pepper bomb and fall? Or will he continue to pursue me? Of course, I already knew that the guy wouldn’t back off here. The werewolf opened his mouth and exposed his teeth, eyes full of hatred.

“Your mouth is so big. Eat this.” The bull peppers from the pepper bomb that I threw were precisely sucked into the guy's snout. As it shattered, the guy’s eyes widened and fell backwards.

Khaaaaakkk-!!

After that, the guy continued to jolt around without even being able to open his eyes. If someone who didn't know anything had seen it, they would have thought the guy had hurt himself.

I aimed and fired at the guy's head with the Togarev. After a few gunshots, the werewolf's movements slowed down considerably. No matter how strong his vitality is, he wouldn’t be able to stay unaffected after taking bullets on his head several times. The guy’s breath became rugged. His face was also dripping with blood.

Let’s finish this quickly.

I stabbed his heart with the emeras spear.

Stab-!!!

The werewolf let out one last breath as his body twitched before crashing to the ground, lifeless.

A message popped into my mind, and then I fell to the floor too.

“Cough… Cough…”

It was dangerous. Even though my body had become lighter, it was still quite a burden to climb up the rope alone. If it hadn't been for the two-stats ring given by Rapwi, I wouldn't have dared to do it.

“I’ll have to pay him back with something good next time.”

I rubbed my stiff shoulders and checked the kill notification.

「Level has risen to 16」

「You have earned 25 Points 」

「You have acquired ‘Fighting Instinct’ Skill」

"Yes." I clenched my fists and threw it into the air. The thing which made me excited was not the level nor the points, but the Fighting Instinct skill. This skill was what the users commonly referred to as a tier 2 skill.

“There aren’t many skills which raise stats.” The limit of stats in Survival Life was about 20. The developer team set it around that much because they said it was the limit of a normal human being's body. However, if one has a tier 2 skill, they could break through the limit in certain situations.

“Tier 1 is even more awesome.” One of the most common skills among tier 1 skills was ‘Stone Skin’, a skill which could be obtained after defeating an ogre. Its effect was reducing all damage afflicted to one's body by 50%. In the first place, ogres have tremendous stamina and defence. And with this skill activated, they would be even more difficult to kill.

“It will be like hitting a concrete wall with a bare fist.”

Anyway, Fighting Instinct adds 20% to Vitality, Strength, and Agility stat for 3 minutes. It was thanks to this skill that the werewolves who were walking around in front of the portal suddenly became faster. However, the trigger to this skill was a bit tricky. It was to have a fierce murderous intent.

Which means, if you fight against an enemy while being enshrouded in fear or confusion, or even without any intention of killing, the skill wouldn’t be activated.

“There’s a reason these werewolves have a bad personality.” Whatever it is, it's similar to my reason.

I called up the status window.

「Level: 16 Point(s): 505

Vitality: 12 (+2) 

Strength: 13 (+2)

Agility:9 

Dexterity:12(+2) 

Perception:10(+2)

Unique ability: Dedicated Dimension Door

Skills: Survival Instinct, Terrain Detection 2, Motionless Movement, Life Tracking, Paralyze Resistance 2, Fighting Instinct.

Active buff(s):- 」

If I get 4 more skills, my skill count would reach 10. Just as there’s a limit on the amount of items that can be equipped, there’s a limit of skills users could have, which is 10. Therefore, when a user reaches the limit and acquires a new skill, the oldest skill on their list would be replaced.

The first skill I acquired was the Survival Instinct skill from the orc. However, since my stamina had increased tremendously and was less likely to be surprise-attacked by some random monster because of how high my Perception stat is, the significance of the skill dropped immensely.

“It’s still a good skill, though.” As long as it was still usable, it was good. But, if a chance to get a better skill comes, it would be better to change it.

By the way, this werewolf doesn't give any items. That's too bad. Looks like I had to wait until the labyrinth speedrun event which would happen soon to get my hands on a new item.

I cut off the werewolf's ankle and threw it away. Then, I opened the portal.

“Dingo, Dingo.” The guy ran out excitedly but started to whine when he saw the werewolf corpse. When will this furball become strong enough to fight together with me, I wonder? Two seasons had passed yet he still wasn’t strong enough.

With that thought on my mind, I returned to the shelter with Dingo.

.

.

.

Yoohyeon's unique ability was doll making. It was a skill that enabled him to make a doll and move it freely. Moreover, he could also see as well as hear through them. Thanks to that, even though Yoohyeon did not have any combat capability, he was unmatched in the intelligence gathering field. The paper plane he often made had given him the ability to easily see the whereabouts of other survivors as well as monsters around the area.

Today, at Seongho's request, Yoohyeon and Mikyung climbed up to a nearby studio building and flew a paper airplane. The paper plane passed through the sky of the desolate one-room neighbourhood and headed for the golf club.

After flying the paper airplane in the sky of the gold club, Yoohyeon sighed.

“They are so territorial.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Mikyung, who was lying next to him without any care in the world.

“To give you a brief explanation… People who moved here from Busan would definitely be short on food, right? We're fine since Seongho Hyung is helping us…"

“Wait a minute. I’ve felt it for a long time, but you’re too explanatory.”

“There’s a need for build-up to make a story.”

“Yeah, yeah whatever. Just tell me quickly.”

“That guy named Kyung-joon is using that fact. Instead of giving them food for free, he urges them to do his bidding.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s… he told them to kill people.”

"WHAT?!?!" Mikyung's eyes widened. However, the moment before she could bombard him with questions, Yoohyeon raised his hands.

“Wait a minute. People are making quite a fuss there so I can’t hear well.”

“Okay, tell me quickly if you hear anything.”

After a while, Yoohyeon stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Wow… that guy called Kyung-joon was really awful.”

“What did he do?”

“That…”

The thing which Yoohyeon heard goes like this.

It could be said that Kyung-joon was a top dog in the area. And since he had been there for so long, and ruled the area like a king, he was displeased that so many survivors suddenly came to his area. It was because monsters would only spawn near people, so the more people there are, the more monsters there would be.

He told several people.

-Look at the desolate surroundings. What are you going to eat? On the other hand, there’s so many of you here! After a while, the zombies will certainly come in droves.

-Then what should we do?

-Let's reduce the number of survivors.

People were taken aback by his suggestion. After all, his suggestion means that he wants the people here to be murderers.

-You know that if you only kill one person, you wouldn’t be turned into a murderer, right? Kill, and I will give you food.

-Wait a minute, what are you talking about? How can you say something like that so casually…

-Shouldn’t you worry more about what is happening behind your back?

Kyung-joon chuckled. When the man turned around, he noticed that the people around him were looking at him with strange eyes. They were already falling for Kyung-joon’s words.

-Ah, no…

Kyungjoon laughed.

-Right now, it’s like I am choosing a supplier company for my main company. If you don't deliver, you'll either starve to death or attack others. How is that different from what I'm proposing? Don't you understand this simple thing?

The reason Kyung-joon was trying to manipulate people with food as bait was because he saw that most survivors who came here had only one backpack on their back. Which means, they only had enough food for a few days. On the flipside, Kyung-Joon had a bunker with him. The supplies stockpiled inside were also enormous.

Then, someone said,

-There is a rice centre nearby! Do not be shaken by his words!

-Are you planning on only eating rice for your whole life? Shouldn't there be a side dish? How about water? Are you sure that you can drink from the Nakdong River?

-We can just go to Gimhae or Jinhae…

-Ah yeah, people there who are already fighting for food among themselves will surely accept you. Please, by all means, go there.

The expression of the survivors wrinkled at his sarcasm. Then, Kyung-joon urged them.

-Think carefully. If you hold hands with me, even if the work is tough, you can still make a living. It's not bad.

-How can we trust you? Can’t you just kill us once you give us some food?

Someone said that, but Kyung-joon's eyes turned cold at that moment.

―You seem to be mistaken. The one who has to earn trust, is you guys. Not the opposite.

At that moment, people's reactions were split in half.

One side thinks, ‘Do I have to listen to this man?’

All of them who had this thought were well aware that it's dangerous and difficult to go anywhere else. Holding hands with the person in front of them wasn't a bad option at all.

There were, of course, many who were against it. They begged Kyung-joon several times to let them go, but to no avail. On top of it, Kyung-joon was surrounded by his ten subordinates, so it was difficult to attack him.

-Decide quickly. The raid will begin soon.

Currently, there were no zombies around, but one couldn’t be too sure when this many people gathered.

At Kyung-joon's urging, three people came to the front then shook hands with the gloved man. Then, their eyes changed drastically.

-Get rid of them.

At Kyung-joon’s command, thirteen people rushed towards the five. Moments later, a terrifying scream echoed across the golf course. One survivor hid in the surroundings using his stealth ability, but unfortunately for him, he was discovered when one of Kyung-joon’s men sprayed paint into the field. Promptly, Kyung-joon gave one of his subordinates a bow. Then, using that bow, his subordinate shoots at the last survivor.

Just like that, the five survivors died. Kyung-joon said to the remaining three.

-I am a person who will surely reward those who deserved it. Take this.

His subordinates put down three backpacks. When the 3 opened it, it was full of food and bottled water. They sighed in relief and grabbed the backpacks.

-Talk well and bring someone else with you. got it?

His order means that they need to bring a clean survivor to this place and kill them. It was a terrifying order, but no one could disobey Kyung-joon's words. It was because they were already in the same boat.

“The end.” Yoohyeon wrapped up his story.

“Wow… That kind of person exist?"

“Didn’t Sooyeon noona say it? He is the kind of person who sacrifices his subordinates without any thought just because he wanted to open the time shelter.”

“Then what should we do?”

"Even if you ask me… Seongho hyung just told me to monitor them, so we should just keep flying the plane."

“Even if it’s Seongho ahjussi, he won't be able to solve it alone. There’s too many people there…” Mikyung spoke in a worried voice.

“You’ve been hunting together with him but you still didn't believe he can’t do it?”

“No, it’s not like that…”

“Personally, I believe Seongho hyung can do it. Hyung is just different from us. Didn’t Sooyeon noona said it that as long as you don't betray him, he will help us?”

“…”

At that moment, Mikyung remembered how Seongho found a stockpile of food as soon as he arrived in this area. It was hard to believe that he just found so much food in the area which was ruled by a big faction like Kyung-joon’s faction. Surely, he's still hiding something from her and the rest of the group. However, Mikyung knew that trying to figure it out wasn’t a good decision. So, she decided to think that whatever Seongho was hiding, it was a good thing.

"Fine… Just hurry up and fly the plane to Ahjussi.”

“But why do you keep calling hyung Ahjussi? Sooyeon noona is older than him yet you called her unnie.”

“It’s up to me whether I want to call him hyung or ahjussi, why do you care?”

“Seongho hyung said that he was hurt because of that..”

"R-really?"

“Of course it's a joke! Huh? Your face turned red.”

"Hey!" While Mikyung was kicking Yoohyeon's ass, the plane flew into the sky.

Seongho caught the plane which came through the window of his room and looked at it. After reading the content written inside, Seongho drew a map of the golf course on paper and was immersed in thought.

‘I have to go inside even if I don’t want to.’ He thought. After all, it was almost impossible to drill through a strong bunker even if the door wasn't made of concrete. And even if he wanted to drill it, he didn’t have any machinery which could accomplish that task as of now.

‘Then, I have to subdue more than 10 people.’ If it was a few days ago, that many people would be quite burdensome for him. But it is no longer a problem, as currently, he had many useful items together with the new skill he just got from hunting the werewolf. If he played his card right, his possibility of winning would be quite high.

However, unlike last time, Seongho would surely kill Kwon this time. But, since there would be no monster inside the bunker, it would be hard to use the method that he often uses to kill others without him actively trying to kill them, which is to lure monsters and zombies towards them. But Seongho quickly figured out a new way to do it.

‘That should work.’