Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

I'm not going to make any excuse for only uploading one chapter today. It's because that fookin K-drama called Hellbound. ISTG it's so good. Go watch it and forget about my laziness!!!

The survivors who were dragged into the deathmatch event and somehow still survived looked at the two people who broke into the deathmatch event voluntarily with incredulous eyes. They all thought that they were crazy. That's because the opponent of deathmatch was none other than Cheolseong, the infamous Murderer of Changwon who at the very least had killed 50 people.

Four survivors hid in the back of an office building quite far away from the fight. However, since their positions were also still quite far from the zombie wall, they could still hear the sound of the fight vividly.

“Hey, let's negotiate. There's no point for us to fight, isn't there?"

“What are you talking about? If we kill you, you'll die, and we will also get some skills and items.”

“Points and level too.”

“Oh yeah, that too. Anyway, you must die for us. Haven't you already killed enough people until now?"

The conversation between the two men and their former boss could only leave the four survivors dumbfounded. Not only did Cheolseong try to negotiate their fight, but the two men had also refused it. 

The survivors looked at each other to make sure that the conversation they had just heard was right.

“Hey, I didn’t hear it wrong, did I?”

“I think the boss was trying to negotiate with those two…”

“The boss who always kills whoever he wants and even tries to kill us, is trying to save his own life by negotiating… What a bastard. "

“Shh, be quiet. Let's Listen.”

“Heh heh… so your mind is set to kill me? It would be difficult with your strength, though.”

“Look into my eyes before you say that.”

“Yeah, you know what skill we've got when you look into our eyes, right?”

“I know. You've just acquired the Fighting Instinct skill. You'll move really fast with that.”

“Yep. and that speed is what we will use to beat you down. Especially this ahjussi..”

"Heuk!"

Suddenly a popping sound echoed through the area. Out of curiosity, the survivors stuck their heads out to peek and their eyes instantly went wide. It was due to what happened in front of them. The two men were literally flying around the hallway.

What kind of action movie are you two filming?

They all uniformly thought so. On top of that, they could also see Cheolseong-who boasted of overwhelming power-was also pushed back by his adversary.

“It’s really absurd…”

“What?”

"Look. The two of them are moving so fast..”

"Ah, yeah…"

The survivors watched the action movie performed live by the intruders and Cheolseong. Then, other survivors opened their mouths.

“Is that blink?”

“Ah, that makes no sense. You can't use blink one after another. Your head will hurt really bad if you do that.”

"I know, right. So how do they move that fast?”

“Hey, this isn’t the time for us to be like this… we need to run away..”

“We are surrounded by the zombie wall, so how can we run away… We have no choice but to hide.”

“If those people managed to kill Kim Cheolseong, it might be possible then.”

Now the four survivors were in a position to cheer for the two intruders. Of course, they can only do that inside their heart because they couldn't voice their support out loud, since it might put themselves in danger.

While such a commotion is taking place in real life. Dingo and the four scarabs were moving hecticly in the shelter in the forest. The three scarabs were turning the lever under the direction of the scarab leader. WIth every turn, the ballista on the stand turned around with a squeaky rattling noise.

Change of direction is complete!

Now it's Dingo's turn. The guy bit the ballista string and started running hard towards the opposite direction of where the ballista was pointing at. The ballista's bow, which even an adult man couldn't pull easily, immediately bent because of Dingo's strength.

When the string reached the detent, it clicked and locked into place. Two scarabs flicked a bolt from below, and the leader caught it and put it on the rail.

Ready to shoot!

WIth this, once the master's signal comes in, the scarab leader will pull the detent.

But when suddenly a hand came in through the portal, the signal was not the signal to shoot. The hand which came was clenched, a signal to prepare for a heavy attack.

The scarabs immediately threw explosives at the captain. This explosive was made by the scarabs by adjusting the mixing ratio of firecrackers, ignition stones, and black charcoal. The explosive power itself wasn't great, but if it explodes at close range, it would pack another set of attacks after the first explosion. The scarabs made the explosives with great effort, since after the griffon attack, the owner said that the bolts lacked destructive power.

The price the master would pay for the hard work was the search for emperor honey. It was the dream food that all of the scarabs want, and the master said he would go to find it when spring comes.

The scarab leader fastened the explosives to the bolts.

Installation complete!

When will the launch signal come out?

After a tense period of time, the master's hand finally appeared and made a snapping gesture with his fingers.

The scarab leader immediately pulled the detent. The bowstring came loose and pushed the bolt out of the portal in an instant.

.

.

.

They got stronger.

Cheolseong charged and used his hand to block a long knife swung by Rapwi. Thanks to his power, which could be said to have already transcended human limit, the blade of the long knife shattered.

He instantly entered a power struggle with Rapwi, but unlike the previous fight, Rapwi was no longer pushed back by his unbelievable strength. When Rapwi's red eyes looked straight at him, Cheolseong laughed hard.

“To come back stronger like this…”

“Leveling up before fighting the boss is always an essential part of a game.”

“Thank you for calling me the boss… I must be the final boss, right?”

“No, just a middle boss. This game is quite hard after all.”

"Hahaha…."

Cheolseong gave strength to his whole body and tried to push Rapwi away. However, a wrinkle appeared on his forehead as his arm was pushed back little by little.

“Oh!”

Cheolseong lost his balance for a moment, and Rapwi, who had been waiting for it, jumped up and struck Cheolseong's jaw with his knee.

Boom-!!

With a loud sound which seemed like it wasn't produced by the collision of 2 human bodies, Cheolseong's body bounced back. Rapwi used the recoil to retreat, and it was Seongho who suddenly appeared in his place and threw some emeras throwing knives at Cheolseong.

“Keeuukkk!”

As the sharp blade pierced Cheolsong's body without mercy, the murderer was forced to scream. His body lost balance and rolled over.

Looking at the opportunity, Rapwi rushed with a long knife in hand.

Tang-!!!

Cheolseong blocked the attack with the handle of his long knife. It wasn't a perfect block though, as his knife handle was broken to pieces on Rapwi's second attack.

WIth no weapon left, Cheolseong blocked Rapwi's next attacks with his bare body. Naturally, he was the one who was defeated. Afterall, when two people with similar stats clashed, the one with a weapon will always win.

“Keuuk!”

"Ughhh!"

Cheolseong let out scream after scream and retreated. His body was bloodied as he was slashed all over. Nevertheless, his eyes did not lose their vicious light.

“Yeah, that’s what makes it fun.” 

His eyebrows twitched as Seongho spoke as he landed on the floor.

“Let me ask you one last question, are you I Love Gimbap?”

Seongho remembered the distance between them and the survivors. They were quite far away, and he might be able to say it in a low voice, but it was still dangerous to hold such a conversation.

Seongho said casually.

“You can think whatever you want.”

“Looks like I'm right.… If I die in a deathmatch against two of the four original stagnant waters, I can say it’s not unfair…”

“Aren’t your eyes too bright to think about something like that? What are you hiding?”

“It’s probably an updated murderer skill, who knows?” Cheolseong grinned. And the truth is, it was indeed the case. The skill was called ‘Death Defier', a skill which would allow the bearer to escape death and make him able to exert his maximum power for a short time when they receive a fatal wound.

For that stellar effect, however, the penalty was downright hell, so if the bearer couldn't kill the opponent even after activating it, they would suffer terrible damage.

That's the reason why he didn't use it when the huge bolt pierced him in the previous fight.

‘I'm going to use it here…' After all, these guys were getting stronger faster than he was getting stronger. He couldn't guarantee that if they meet again in the future, he will still have a chance to kill them. Therefore, he must kill them now.

For some reason, instead of finishing the fight, the two only looked at him, as if waiting for his wounds to heal.

What does I Love Gimbap mean by clenching his fists?

Now that the zombie wall is closing more and more, Cheolseong's vision has changed to resemble an infrared mode. He couldn't understand just why the two give him time to recover.

But, he would still thankfully take it.

"HAHAHA thank you for giving me time. Now, DIEEEE!!!.”

“It’s too predictable and cliche. You are relegated to being the first boss.”

Rapwi said with a disappointed face, and Cheolseong opened his eyes.

“Think whatever you want!!!!”

As he rushed, the two widened the space to the left and right.

Are you going to shoot the damn bolt again?

Cheolseong had a rough guess as to where it would come from. If he can let himself get hit enough to be fatally wounded and activate his Death Defier skill, the victory will belong to him,

And finally, when something popped out from the air. Cheolseong stopped and let his body get hit by it. And now, he was sure of his victory.

But, a moment later…

Boom-!!

Something exploded.

“···”

Cheolseong looked down at his tattered body. A bolt which pierced his stomach was the one which exploded. It wasn't a huge explosion by any stretch of meaning, but it was still enough to blow away a body which was made of blood and flesh. As a result, his upper body and his lower body were separated.

Thud-!!

When he fell to the floor, he could feel his Death Defier skill activating. However, his body refused to move.

"Haha…"

Eventually, blood gushed out of his mouth.

The last thing he saw was I Love Gimbap walking to him while wielding a long knife.

“You are still strong until the end…”

“That’s how you'll survive in this era.”

Swiish-!!

Cheolseong's head was separated from his body as Seongho cut his neck. Instantly, several messages appeared in his sight.

「Level has risen to 18」

「You have earned 600 Points 」

「You have acquired ‘Resolute Strike’ skill」

It seems that one item has been dropped from finishing the deathmatch event, but there was no time to check it up.

The two moved quickly and broke through the zombie wall. The remaining survivors naturally followed after them. However, as they were not strong and skillful enough, two of the four survivors were caught by the ghouls and died a tragic death.

But no one looked back.

.

.

.

We ran to a nearby officetel to catch our breath. I never thought that the operation of hunting Cheolseong would be this smooth. Credits really had to be given to the scarabs who made those explosives.

Seokhyun shook his head.

“What was the last thing that guy was going to do?”

“He must have tried to activate whatever skill he's hiding by deliberately getting hit."

“It’s worth trying as long as you don’t hurt your internal organs…”

“But he didn’t know the bolt was going to explode.”

I didn't even know it could be so powerful. And as it exploded when it was already inside Cheolseong's body, it seems that even Cheolseong's hard skin couldn't stand it.

Now I need to find that emperor honey for the scarabs as the payback.

I took things out of my backpack.

The Dexterity +2 Gloves have been upgraded and transformed into a three-stat item.

「Gloves

Strength +2, Perception +2, Dexterity +2 

The skill ‘Lethal Strike' has been automatically applied」

Seokhyun squatted and touched the glove, eyes twinkling.

“This is absolutely crazy stuff.”

“Do you want it?”

"No, this is yours. By the way, didn't you say that the skill you got is Resolute Strike?”

"Yeah."

“If they overlap, the power would be no joke.”

“Yeah… it’s my first time having skills that overlap.”

Resolute Strike adds weight to all of the bearer's attacks. Those who were hit would feel as if they were being beaten with a hammer. This skill was the reason why Seokhyun, who has considerable strength, was beaten by Cheolseong and could not retaliate.

The effect of Lethal Strike is slightly different, but it deals collateral damage.

For example, hitting the head with a fist makes the opponent feel dizzy.

Seokhyun seemed curious about what effect would be obtained by overlapping the two skills.

He stood up and pointed his finger at his cheek.

“Put on your gloves and hit me as hard as you can.”

“Ah, that’s a bit…”

“I’m immortal. On top of it, do you know how high my Vitality stat is? Even when that guy headbutt me, I'm fine.”

“Didn't your legs wobble?”

"You've seen too much…"

Seokhyun grabbed me by the collar as a joke. And only after I agreed to his craziness did he put me down.

When I picked up the gloves, he took a stance and said seriously.

“Don’t be concerned about me, just hit as hard as you can. Also! Activate the Fighting Instinct skill.”

“Let's not use that skill. I have no desire to kill you.”

“Sheesh, okay okay! Anyway, if I don't like your hit, I'll tell you to hit me again."

When I put the gloves on, the Motionless Movement skill was deactivated, replaced by the Lethal Strike skill. It was due to the fact that Motionless Movement is a skill with an activation condition.

As my preparation finished, I slapped Seokhyun's face as hard as I could.

puck!

He slumped against the opposite wall.

Did I hit too hard?

As I hurriedly ran to help him, his hands trembled.

“So-sorry. Is it painful?”

Seokhyun chuckled and lifted his thumb.

“Great effect.”

Is that so?