Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

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After defeating every monster we found in the forest, we finally arrived in the meadow; a mesmerizing place which could easily refresh anyone’s heart with its beauty.

Driving through the green outstretched field, I could feel the warm wind caressing my body. Thankfully, the topography of the meadow was not too bumpy, so the ride was a pleasant one. Though, it was doubtful whether Captain Scarab, who flew into the air every time the ATV rumbled, would think the same.

When the ATV let out a loud noise, the animals which were busy drinking water from the lake ran away.

“Why are there so many animals here?”

The meadow was filled with animals I had never seen before. I wanted to catch one, but since they were all too far away from me, I had to swallowed my regrets.

Vrooom-!!

After driving along the river for quite some time, an enormous lake came into view. The distance between one side of the lake to the other was so far away, it made the group of wild boars on the other side of the lake seem tiny. Behind them, I could see a pack of silver wolves running towards them.

I stopped the ATV at that moment. Dingo got up from the trunk and placed his snout on my shoulder.

“Are they your relatives?” No matter how I look at it, they are the same species as Dingo; Silver Wolf.

The few wolves, who were not intimidated by the gigantic size of the wild boars, surrounded the group.

Does the hunt begin now?

Anyway, it will be dangerous if I stay here since ATVs can’t run quick enough on grasslands terrain. When I prepared to move away, I realized that luckily the wolves didn’t pay any attention to us. And the hunt was over in the blink of an eye.

Awoooo-!! Awooo-!! Awoooo-!!

The wolves attacked one wild boar from the pack while the other boars ran away. Looking through the telescope, the wild boar which was caught seemed to be the worst of the pack.

“No matter how you look at it, it seems like it’s being sacrificed…”

Several silver wolves retreated after the wild boar stopped breathing. The only one who stayed around the carcass was the largest silver wolf. Judging by its size, it was probably the alpha of the pack.

The large silver wolf started eating boar ravenously. There’s no need to interrupt its fun mealtime. I looked at the map and scanned the route once again. I could reach the flower colony without coming into contact with the swarm if I cross the lake.

But suddenly, Dingo ran out of the ATV.

“Huh? Dingo!!!!” I called, but he only gave me a simple glance before continuing to run straight to the wolf pack.

Maybe his instincts have awakened?

Even if that’s the case, it was still doubtful whether the group would accept him. If things went wrong, he could get attacked and die.

“Damn it.” Revving the ATV, I chased after Dingo. If push comes to shove, we could just open the portal and run away through it.

The pack of wolves noticed Dingo and the loud ATV and immediately stood on alert. When the alpha wolf let out a one long howl, the other guys also followed suit. Dingo also stopped and let out a howl.

Awwooooooo-!!

The choir of wolf howls instantly enveloped the area. The tension in my body ran high as I watched the wolf pack and Dingo come into contact with each other. It wasn’t noticeable earlier, but the size difference between the wolves in the pack and Dingo was huge. I thought Dingo had become quite large, but compared to the adult wolves, it seems like he was still nothing.

“You’re still a baby…”

The wolves showed their curiosity when they saw Dingo. However, only the alpha wolf marched forward and approached him.

Kererereung-!!

The two of them sniffed each other while maintaining some distance between them. From what I remembered, if Dingo makes even the slightest mistake here, they would attack him. However, Dingo sniffed loudly without being weighed down by the size of the other wolf.

Aigoo… You even want to smell Dingo’s ass?

Does this mean that Dingo will join the pack?

Just when that anxiety was budding in my heart, a relatively small silver wolf approached Dingo. Although small compared to other adult wolves, it was still 3 times bigger than Dingo. The small silver wolf exuded an excessive amount of aegyo. It panted while placing its feet next to Dingo and rubbing its body against Dingo.

[Aegyo means cuteness]

After glancing at me once, the alpha wolf bit the board and turned away. It left the two of them alone.

What the hell is this?

As I was bewildered by this development, Dingo and the new wolf ran towards me.

“Damn it.” I don’t have any doubt about Dingo, but there’s no guarantee that the new wolf won’t attack me. I pulled out my weapon and held it tight. When the two wolves arrived before me, they showed no hostility towards me. Both of them were busy biting and licking each other.

Wait a minute, is that wolf a female?

The shape of its ears and eyes are  slightly different from Dingo’s. If it’s truly the case, maybe the reason it came with Dingo was because it was searching for a mate.

While I was thinking so, Dingo jumped up and loaded himself into the ATV’s trunk. The new wolf looked at me softly, then bowed its head and sat down.

It seems like it means that if I leave, it will also follow.

I can't just feed something of that size easily. What should I do? Kicking it out was not an answer either, since it seems to like Dingo.

“Ugh… Whatever!!!” 

Let’s just take care of both of them for now. Though, the new wolf has to take care of her own meal, since I wouldn’t be able to do so.

As I sped up the ATV, the silver wolf chased after us. She was pretty fast, so it seems like I don’t have to worry about her falling behind.

I’m annoyed.

I have an unwanted companion.

.

.

.

The new silver wolf had proven that she could find a meal for herself. As soon as we arrived at the flower colony, both Dingo and her went hunting for a small rabbit. Then, once they caught it, they put it down in front of me and backed away.

Did she think I was the alpha?

Rabbits are small, not even enough to share.

After trimming it and throwing it at the two of them, they noticed it and ate it up. The distance between the new wolf and me seems to have decreased slightly.

Should I like this or not, I wonder?

Anyway, I arrived at the flower colony and checked the situation.

“I was curious about the name of the flower, but to think the name is this simple…”

Its name was Emperor Flower.

Could it be that Emperor Honey was called so because it was gathered by emperor bees from Emperor Flower?

Meanwhile, the Emperor Nectar had such an effect:

「Effect: Poison resistance for 3 minutes」

“It’s not paralyzing poison, but just poison.”

In my experience, there were several types of poisons that appear in Survival Life. Paralysis poison used by goblins, blinding poison used by some goblins in dungeons, and some other poisons which were fatal to the body.

Yet, this honey seemed to provide resistance to all of that.

“This is a jackpot!”

The 3 minutes active period was disappointing, but I know that if it lasts forever, it will destroy the balance.

By the way, should I gather nectar directly from the flowers or from the hive?

When I asked Captain Scarab about it, he said it was okay to eat it as it is, but he said that the honey in the beehive was the real thing. On top of it, the effect of the honey was incomparable to the effect of the nectar.

“Then, let’s try the nectar first.”

As I said that, Captain Scarab climbed onto my body and jumped towards the Emperor Flower. He pulled out a part of the flower, which looked like a toothpick, from the middle of the petals, and held them out to me.

Isn’t this similar to a Sage flower?

The official name of plants was Sage flower, but in Korea, it was more well-known as a red flower where people could directly suck honey from. I don’t know if it’s real honey or not, but I remember sucking on it when I was a kid.

As I sucked on the flower, a sweetness which was incomparable to the Sage flower came rushing in like a herd of Texas cows. And yet, from what Captain Scarab told- No hinted to me, Emperor Honey was tastier than this.

I turned my flashlight on and looked around for the beehive. Dingo and the new wolf also sniffed the honey and started walking around. Seeing the two of them moving together, they seemed like close friends. But it reminds me of a mature woman in her twenties and a teenage boy…

“Let’s call it Ding-soon.” That name was not sophisticated. But I don’t care since I was entitled to call her however I want.

As I was squatting on the floor and waiting, Dingo and Ding-soon barked. It seems like they had found it. I put Captain Scarab back in the trunk and drove the ATV to chase them. When I saw both of them, I also found a beehive in a large tree at the foot of the mountain.

“I’m certain that we will be stung if we take that hive.” Around the hive, dozens of emperor bees were flying. The buzzing of their wings could be heard even from our position, which was still some quiet distance away. Moreover, judging by the hive size, which was as big as my body, there must be a lot of bees inside.

But I have a secret weapon prepared. I took out the fireworks and a plastic bag from my backpack. The noise, light, and smoke from the firecrackers would definitely confuse the bees. In the meantime, I would wrap the beehive in the plastic bag and run away.

Pshhh-!!

Flames gobbled the wick after I lit it. At that moment, I flicked the fireworks under the beehive. To prevent the worst case scenario of being stung by hundreds of bees, I covered my body with gloves, jacket, and sunglasses.

Ding-soon suddenly barked at me.

Did she forget about me since my face was covered?

Puff-!! Puff-!!

Finally, sparks and smoke rose from the fireworks, and the bees scattered everywhere.

I quickly approached the hive and cut off the top of the hive with a long knife. Because honey was a liquid, most of it should be concentrated in the bottom part of the hive.

A large beehive fell from the tree, and the bees inside instantly went out of the hive. However, since the fireworks were still spewing out flames and smoke, they couldn’t focus their minds even if they had one.

I quickly covered the beehive with plastic and sealed it opening. Bees flew around me, but they didn’t make any major attacks.

“Run! Run!”

As I ran with the beehive on my hand, Dingo and Ding-soon followed me. I loaded it into the trunk hurriedly as soon as I arrived at where I had parked the ATV.

It’s time to run away.

There seemed to be a lot of wildlife in the lake, but there was no time to look around to figure it out.

We all ran straight into the forest.

.

.

.

“This is delicious.” As the scarabs had mentioned, the Emperor Honey boasted an out-of-this-world taste. I never thought that honey could taste this delicious. No matter how much I ate, I didn’t get tired of it.

I made eye contact with the scarabs who were busy separating the emperor honey from the honeycombs using the tools they had made. Their black eyes, which looked sad, were peering at me.

Let’s hold back. After all, the reason I brought this emperor honey was for the scarabs. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t eat it at all.

“How can I give up this effect?”

「Emperor Honey」

「Effect: Vitality +4, Poison Resistance for 3 minutes」

This Emperor Honey was the very first item outside the game that raised the stats by 4. It’s really worth the name. If I eat Moon Tangerine at the same time, in total, my stats will be raised by 6. It had the same effect as putting on 3 additional items.

“I won’t get tired of fighting for a while now.”

I put the Emperor Honey in a bowl and gave it to the scarabs. The four of them gathered together and ate the honey. There were no immediate dramatic changes. But, probably, in the long term, they would grow bigger.

By the way, that girl Ding-soon, will she stay outside all the time?

She followed me to the shelter, but she did not enter the shelter and stayed outside. Seems like she still did not feel comfortable around me. Well, it was better for me too since I would feel burdened if an adult silver wolf was inside the shelter.

When I went outside, I saw a dead fawn outside the barbed wire fences. It seems like a gift. Meanwhile, the giver of the gift was sitting some distance away from the gift. Dingo, who was following me, stared blankly at his lover from the fences.

If you keep staring like that, the emperor honey will run out even before you taste it, you brat!

I trimmed the fawns, hung it upside down, and dug into the ground of the shelter to take out the food that had almost reached its expiration date. It’s better to sell them to the auction house and get some points rather than let it rot.

Looking at the food I had dug, it still looked fine.

“It also still smells good…”

However, since the weather was getting warmer and warmer with every passing day, I can’t bury it any longer. I moved them all to the cave and put them up in the auction house one by one. As soon as I uploaded it, people at the auction went into overdrive.

-Where did they get this fish cake? Isn’t it all rotten?

-It’s cheese!!! Cheese!!! Bet it will be delicious.

-It had already rotted. Don’t buy it!

-The seller… Is it you again? I Love Gimbap?

Yes, you are correct.

I ignored all the comments and just waited. No matter how loud they bark, I will still earn points. Not long after I put it up, some items were already sold. By that point, my points had already exceeded 7,000.

It sells well.

Meanwhile, people put up a separate auction item and started fighting there.

“It’s always fun to watch a fight.”

-You bastards! Just how desperate are you guys to buy something like that?

-Well, there are people who have spare points to buy it…

-It’s so funny lol I’m spending my own points to eat some cheese, so why do you care?

-Whether or not you are going to eat, I don’t care! But you have to admit that, that bastard is such a jerk for selling things like this.

-The cheese melts gently.

-It’s disappointing that there is only rice cake… Is there no tteokbokki set?

“Yes? Should I make one?”

I took down some items I auctioned and made a tteokbokki set with it. Since It’s cumbersome to add the cost of every single ingredient and decide the correct price, let's just put it at 200 points.

When people saw that the tteokbokki set could be eaten by 2 people, they instantly went into a frenzy.

-Hey fucker! Isn’t 200 points a little too much?

-200 points for a tteokbokki set, which is good for two people? Are you kidding me?

-To get 200 points, we have to kill 100 zombies.

-If you could only eat tteokbokki after working hard for a few days, it wouldn’t taste good.

-It seems like the guy who put up a wild boar before was an angel.

-You bastards, if you can’t afford this much, it means that it wasn’t posted for you! There are many people who have a lot of points in this world.

As if backing up that one last comment, the tteokbokki set sold out quickly. The same went for other groceries. After this, my points finally crossed 10,000.

This is magnificent…

Thinking I should check for any information, I left the raging comment section and looked at the comment section of other items.

-A portal has appeared in Gildong Station in Gangdong-gu.

It seems like a dungeon has finally appeared. Everyone was telling the poster to take his items down, but the registrant didn’t seem to have any intention of doing that.

-If I can’t clear it, you bastards also can’t!! Let’s get fucked together.

-You bastard… Why are you being annoying like this!!! There’s a zombie raid happening right now!!!

-LMAOOOOO

-Just now, one guy got hit by an arrow while trying to sneak into the dungeon.

These guys… Are they crazy? It’s not a laughing matter. Why did they laugh?

On top of the things which were mentioned in the comment, everyone had decided to prevent anyone from entering the dungeon.

“Where is Gildong Station?” 

I opened the map and checked the location where the dungeon appeared. It’s near my location, but the fact that it’s in the middle of Yangjae-daero made me hesitate a little. 

However, In the end I decided to check it out. I crossed the portal and packed my things. When I arrived at my destination, it was no exaggeration to say that the surrounding area was a mess. Hundreds of zombies violently combed through Yangjae-daero and those who were hit by the goblin's paralyzing darts were struggling hard to run away in order to survive.

In the meantime, a bluish portal showed its presence In the middle of Yangjae-daero. However, no one could approach it since arrows would rain on them if they approached it.

Suddenly, I could see someone rushing towards the portal with shields tied all over his body.

“Shoot him!” someone shouted through the window.

Eventually, the arrows poured out, and the man gave up on his attempt and ran away with countless drooling zombies chasing after him.

As the day turned a little dark, shines of glowstone could be seen from all over the area. On top of it, the area around the portal also became brighter than before. It seems like people deliberately brightened it up in order to prevent others from sneaking in.

“Aigoo… Thank you so much.”

No one will be able to enter for a while. But it was not like there was no way at all..