Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

I guess I'm probably screwed. Anyone who is being hanged upside down from a tree would think so. Especially when there's about 30 zombies circling around me below. Dajeong, who was sitting on the zombie chair, suddenly stood up and took her pants and panties down.

The queen then sits again on the zombie chair and looks at me.

If you cross your legs like that, your pelvis will be twisted.

“Are you going to run away again or not?”

“Hey… this is already the 10th time you're asking.”

“Are you going to run away again?” She repeated the question like a parrot.

I couldn't help but answer with a sigh, “I won’t run away.”

“Really?”

"Really. Real. Hontou. promise."

“Great." Dajeong then cut the rope and freed me. Thanks to that, I finally could sit on the floor.

"Huh… now I can finally say it. It’s nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. In the game, we not only meet often, but almost every day.”

“To be honest, I didn’t know you were such a person. I also never thought you were a woman.”

Dajeong’s eyes opened wide at my words.

"Really? I used to often think that I Love Gimbap would look like this. When I look at the way you normally talk, I can imagine your appearance.”

“What about Rapwi?”

“That guy is chaos itself, so imagination is meaningless.”

Well, both of you were similar. If Rapwi was 100% chaos, then you're about 90%. You might think that the difference wasn’t that much, but from my point of view, there’s a stark difference between the two.

By the way, it's amazing in many ways. We didn't ask each other's age. Knowing each other's name was enough and we used informal speech from the start. Even if Rapwi came, the three of us wouldn’t even ask each other’s age. We would still use informal speech to each other.

Dajeong got off her zombie chair and sat down on the floor. We were sitting right like the last time we met each other in the game.

“When we are still playing the game, I never thought this day would come.” Dajeong said as she ran her wavy hair behind her ear.

“Well, me too. I was preparing to hunt the new monster and was waiting for you guys to come online.”

“Did you wait for long?” Her voice turned into a tone of concern.

“Actually, I didn’t wait that long. Preparing to catch those new monsters by myself was also quite fun. But in the end, I didn’t hunt it.” I answered casually. 

“Did you fail even with all your stats and items back then?”

“If all four of us thoroughly prepare and fight, we have a chance of winning. Those guys were on a different level than even ogres.”

“Hey. That looks fun.”

“But now, I’m much weaker than you guys… I don’t know if I could be of help if those Brutras really appears…” As I said that, she stood up, grabbed my leg, and pushed her high heels towards my groin area.

"uh? Wai- wait a minute!”

“Wait a minute my ass. Get a grip, my friend!”

“Ackkk!” I groaned as I I felt pain radiating down my groin. To think that this crazy bitch was acting this way to a friend too! I should have been more careful!

The pressure was finally relieved as I pounded on the floor while shouting surrender.

"Gosh." I almost ended up not using ‘it' forever.

“Weakness doesn’t matter. What matters is what you decide to do, my friend.” She said looking straight into my eyes.

I shook my head. “You can say that because you don’t know my unique ability.”

“I don’t know about it and it doesn’t matter. Judging by how you kept disappearing and appearing randomly, I can say that you can somehow hide in a pocket space or something? And there must be a lot of strange things inside, including ice.”

“…” I keep my silence. Neither denying or affirming her words.

She knelt down on her knees and stroked my hair.

Isn't this what men usually do to women?

“Aren’t we friends? There is nothing that cannot be done if we trust each other and prepare. At least this world was still based on that game. Trust your back to us like before and there would be no monster we couldn’t hunt.”

“Really?”

"Yes."

“But you… you didn’t ask about my unique ability.”

“Because you didn’t tell me.”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“I'll just wait until you're ready to tell me later. You will tell me someday, right, my weak friend?”

"Yes." I answered. But… I'm concerned. I tried to ignore it, but it looked so disturbing I couldn't help it. I finally opened my mouth.

“Wear your panties please.”

She glanced under her and smiled. “Isn’t it cleaner than Rapwi’s panty?”

Is she seriously going to react like that? She's definitely not normal.

Well, I guess I’m not normal too, then.

.

.

.

“Is it okay for you to kill that guy?”

“One kill should be fine.”

“It sounds like you’ve never done it before.”

“How about you?"

“…I did.. a lot. To those who threaten me.”

“Would you like me to praise you?”

“No, it’s okay. And over there, there are people who live with me.”

“So, you have a party?”

“No, not a party. We are just helping each other.”

“If it was like that, you can leave at any time, then.”

“What will they do if they find out who I am, I wonder?”

“Well, since you are kinda ‘the traitor of mankind' right now, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“But, traitor of mankind, huh? What a grand nickname.”

“Well, people are cursing you at the Auction House every time. Even if you only breathe, they will still curse at you. Though, after winning first place in the speedrun event, you gained some followers.”

“Those ‘followers' were the ones who insulted me not too long ago. Wouldn’t they try to stick a knife in my back if they get a chance?”

“You are a very suspecting person.”

“By doing so, I could keep my life and it’s working. Look at me now.”

We chatted as we hid in the forest and looked at the Gimhae Battalion. Dajeong had finally changed her clothes after my desperate begging. She wore jeans and a T-shirt. But she couldn't give up her high heels.

She claimed:

“I don't have to walk. So, I can wear high heels.”

“Good for you.”

“Is that so?”

“But you have to be careful. There are also reinforced zombies that can nullify unique abilities.”

Dajeong's eyes widened for the first time. “Seriously?"

“I call them Wi-Fi zombies. By their name alone, you know roughly what it looks like, right? I met one of those guys in the beginning of the tutorial, so his combat power isn’t strong. But if they turn into ghouls later, it'll become quite a headache. You have tk be especially careful, as your subordinate zombies might turn against you.”

"Those fucking developer team! Just what did they do with the patch?" Dajeong swears at the developer team.

After she calmed down, she spoke again. “So are you going to look for Rapwi?”

“I have to meet him. Though, it will be difficult to live together with him."

"Why? Rapwi wants to be with you.”

“Don’t say it like that, people might misunderstand. Let’s just do what we want to do together, without living together.”

“Anyway, it doesn’t change the fact that we should gather, right?”

“If we gather, people will know right away that I am I Love Gimbap.”

"Aha!" It seems like it was only then that Dajeong realized what the problem was.

I obviously want to meet up with him. And it wasn't like I didn't want to live with Rapwi. But if we do that, then people will know who I am. Afterall, if the three of us were together, it's obvious who's the only unknown face between the 2 most famous stagnant waters is… Even if I wanted to pretend to be Survivor 1, it was difficult to do so for long since the real one was in the government.

“You guys and I have different ways of solving problems. You guys just brute force yourself through it, and I like to plan ahead in order to have complete success.”

Dajeong furrowed her eyebrows. “I don’t like it.”

“I can’t help it. Since my unique ability is like that. And it was the way I’ve used while living in the apocalypse. You let those who attacked you live because you know they could never harm you, right? I'm different. I will kill them and destroy them thoroughly and pull out all of their roots because it will be dangerous for me if even a sliver of them survive.” And I will keep doing so in the future.

Dajeong did not say anything for a long time, but then she suddenly took my hand.

“But you trust us, right?”

Until recently, I had my doubts about them. But after meeting her in person… I realized I was wrong. Dajeong did not hesitate to kill someone for me. Perhaps Rapwi would be the same. So, shouldn't I repay them even if we can't live together?

"Yes, I trust you guys.” I said and gave her a smile. Then, I handed her a piece of paper. It was a list of coded words I made myself to communicate in the Auction House, just like what Kwon and his friends use.

“If we talk using this, other people won’t know what we’re talking about.”

“Um… Should we also tell Survivor 1 about this?”

“Let’s hold that for the time being. I need to keep watch on Survivor 1 for a bit longer.”

"Why? What's going on?"

“You know, I can see the IDs of the people who write at the Auction House.”

“…today, I’ve heard a lot of surprising things. Could it be… is that the speedrun reward?"

“Yeah, it’s a skill I got after winning the speedrun event. I can use points to find out their ID. I can’t use it in real life, though.”

“Ah, so that’s how you see what Survivor 1 wrote.”

“Yeah. Right now, he’s with the government. And he secretly tried to spread his fame and ID by praising himself. Was he that kind of person in the first place?”

“I felt like he was always immersed in his own world. Afterall, he would always be focused on decorating the shelter by himself.”

“It must have been that way… Anyway, for the time being, it would be better to just limit the communication to ourselves.”

Dajeong suddenly stood up and pulled her pants and panties down. While I was startled, she dangled her panties right in front of my eyes.

“Rapwi also uploaded his panty, so should I upload this too? We can post this as the keyword item for us!”

“Never, please, don’t do that… quickly get dressed.”

"Okay, I got it…"

She’s truly a difficult person to talk to.

I told her. "I can't live with Rapwi, but I'll have to meet him anyway."

“Do you want me to go to him?”

"No. I'll go. You are so gorgeous that everyone would recognize you.”

“Then you mean I will be stuck here?”

“Help those people for me. You just need to be by their side.”

“From the minions of the guy I killed?”

"Yes. Those guys originally wanted to kill our group.”

Dajeong looked into the battalion with my telescope and instantly screamed. “Who is that person over there? That beautiful man!”

“Let’s see… Ah it’s Yoohyeon.”

“Yoohyeon? He’s very handsome.”

“Why? Do you want him to be your lover?” He looks so kind and handsome, so there's no way she wouldn’t feel that way. However, contrary to my expectation,

“Oh no, I just want a dick! I’m going to flirt with Yoohyeon!” She jumped up and shouted.

In the end it was like that. She was a woman who wanted to flirt with monsters, so there's no way she would pass up the opportunity to do ‘that’ with someone as handsome as Yoohyeon.

How would he look if he found out that the famous Zombie Queen wants him, I wonder?

It seems I'll have to tell him to be careful. If it’s this woman, she might attack Yoohyeon at night while wearing some adult clothes.

"Calm down."

“If you want me to calm down, give me ice! And a lot of ‘em!"

"Alright, wait for a sec."

I made a note on a piece of paper and sent it into the portal. Dajeong was amazed when my hand entered the empty space.

“That must be the pocket space.”

“Well, yes.”

“What's inside? No, that should be left for later! I want to be surprised later!”

“Whatever…”

After waiting for a while, the scarabs put some ice in a basin and put it in my hand. Dajeong tilted her head as I pulled out the basin from the portal.

“Is there a world filled with ice inside?”

“It’s similar.” It's winter inside, so I guess ‘filled with ice’ was apt. Dajeong took off her high heels, dipped her feet into the basin and put a coke bottle he got from one of her zombies into the basin.

“How long have you been carrying it?”

"Probably a month? It shook so much that maybe all the soda had gone.”

“Put that away and drink this.” I took a bottle of cola from the scarab and gave it to her.

“Is your unique ability actually a vending machine?”

It seems like she has become quite unsure of my unique ability now, even though she already guessed it quite closely before. She would be even more surprised if she knew that there’s even a cave, forests, and scarabs that understands human words inside.

Though, I kept my mouth shut. I believe in Dajeong and Rapwi, But I couldn't be perfectly sure that jealousy wouldn’t arise within them if I told them my unique ability. As long as we're human, it's even weirder if we don't have that kind of feeling.

I was also afraid of information about me being spread, even if it’s accidental. Of course, the two won't divulge my information, but there’s still a chance. The safest way to keep my information under wraps was to not tell anything to others.

.

.

.

After losing Hyojong, the Gimhae Clan rapidly disintegrated. According to Yoohyeon, an internal conflict had arisen because of the information I spread, and they fought each other a lot because it has spread that they were loyal to a scammer. If Hyojong still existed, he would have taken control somehow, but he’s already dead. So, there was no one to calm the situation down.

Moreover, Zombie Queen Choi Dajeong’s appearance poured oil into the already burning house. She wandered from place to place, giving people anxiety. She fought monsters fiercely, and even caused zombie raids to happen a few times. Soon, people decided that this neighbourhood was not a good place to stay, so they packed up their belongings and started moving. Thanks to that, the place where the Gimhae Clan occupied was now empty. After finishing her mission, Dajeong came to me.

“End of expulsion.”

“Splendid job, my queen." It was a method I couldn't afford. Afterall, it only works because she knew the reputation of herself as the Zombie Queen and knew they would get fucked if they touched her.

Then, I discussed my future plans with her. “We can’t stay here long anyway. For the time being, we still have a lot of supplies to sustain ourselves so we can stay…"

“Changwon should be fine. There is a sea close by there.”

Seems everyone is thinking the same thing. We tentatively agreed to make Changwon as our destination. By the way, Dajeong had already introduced herselves to the gym members and soldiers.

‘I’m not hostile!’

Those who saw the Zombie Queen for the first time and had only heard of her were terrified beyond their wits but still welcomed her because they didn't see hostility from her. Yoohyeon showed interest in her, but when he saw her eyes shone in madness when looking at him, he quickly dipped.

‘Didn’t you see her eyes? It’s the eye of a predator who is trying to eat me!’

Well, it could be said she does want to ‘eat’ you, but in a different way, I guess. Of course, it would be Yoohyeon, not Dajeong, who gets eaten. He trembled and said that for the time being, he would share the same room with Hyung-jun Hyung.

Poor guy.

Anyway, thanks to her appearance, the area around Gimhae became quiet. Though, the monster didn't disappear. The zombies were still here as well, and the threats of goblins and kobolds were still there too. However, the fights between survivors should lessen considerably.

I headed to Gimhae’s new town with Mikyung. When I finished looking for Hyung-jun Hyung’s daughter and ex-wife, I was planning to go to Changwon and find a new hideout. After that, the Orc First Kill event would happen, and there will be a lot of other events too.

Surviving would become even more difficult when orcs and werewolves appear. Before they come out, we need to build a strong hideout to stay for a long time.

I looked around the new town with Mikyung, but couldn't find a clue. It seems that the entire apartment complex collapsed and the survivors took refuge elsewhere. When the two of us returned and talked about it, Hyung-jun Hyung grieved for quite some time, but managed to overcome it.

“I did think it’s unavoidable. So thank you. Now, I can let go…" I couldn't fully understand the feelings of Hyung-jun Hyung, as I didn’t have any family to begin with. However, it was clear that it would be difficult for us to try anything for a while.

In the meantime, Hyun-woo, Seong-tae and the two soldiers headed to Seoul. They knew we wouldn't stay at the Gimhae Battalion for long. So, they asked if it’s possible for us to distribute the supplies to the survivors that we’ve marked as ‘non-aggressive’ around. Of course, Hyung-jun Hyung accepted it.

Before they left, Commander-in-chief Seong-tae asked Mikyung for something, but she stubbornly refused. Maybe he wanted her to show him her dance. And after the rejection, Commander-in-chief Seong-tae went to Seoul with a gloomy look.

Then, I prepared to leave for Changwon. When I told the group I would go ahead to find a suitable place for a hideout, everyone was worried, but they didn't stop me. I guess they already got used to the fact I prefer traveling alone.

“If I go with you, we can arrive a whole lot faster.” Mikyung suggested, but I declined because I felt more comfortable being alone. It's definitely faster if we go together, but getting there was not my only goal. I had to meet Rapwi and prepare to get the first kill of the orcs, and it would be too difficult for her to follow.

Fortunately, she didn't cling any further.

I packed my things and left for Changwon with Dingo.