Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Battle Royale can be said as a lottery draw. Thousands of people invested their lives to buy lottery tickets and hoped they could be the sole winner. However, there were only a few people who could enjoy the joy of winning, and those who did not, will lose, or in this case, die.

Some will complain that they participated without knowing that. But what can they do? In the apocalypse, not knowing about something you will take part of, was a grave sin.

“I am a murderer.”

It was a truth that would not change, no matter how it was packaged. I have killed a lot of people until today, and will continue to do so in the future. Whether it’s an idiot, a killer who threatens my life, or a survivor who attacks a friend, I don’t care. If they touch what I considered as mine, they will die.

At that moment, the number 37 appeared in my field of view. That number indicates the amount of people the participants need to kill to get the resurrection scroll.

Though, not everyone will be killed as there’s bound to be some people who died to the monsters, or died because of some other reason. But it doesn’t change the fact that it was the thing they had to do to be the ultimate victor.

“Second one.” With a pop, a bolt pierced the chest of a man who was in front of me. He found me and tried to attack me with a club he got. But well, he died. He must be fuming in the afterlife.

“I feel like they are slowly realizing…”

Anyone can’t help but realize when they look at the limited status window, the numbers, and regenerated weapons that this place was a battlefield where they have to kill each other. If they only cry and scream, they will be turned into a prey.

“Ha!”

The woman who didn’t want to be prey attacked me. She threatened me with a rock which she floats in the air. It just came to mind now, but it seems that there were many women among the telekinetic users.

She hurled the stone at me as she also flew. However, unfortunately for her, I was already about to open my mouth.

“Open the portal.”

A blue dimensional door appeared in front of her and acted as a wall.

“ACKKKKK!” She banged her nose against the portal and collapsed to the ground. Of course, the stones that were flying around her also fell down. I closed the portal and fired my crossbow and the number went down once again, as it goes from 35 to 34.

“…” Nothing to loot, nothing to check. I walked away from the area and Dingo suddenly lowered his posture and growled towards one direction. When I looked towards it, I saw two people surrounding someone.

Where did I see that outfit again?

Ah, the two Chinese who ran away from me in Incheon!

Was the man’s unique skill brainwashing and the woman’s wind manipulation?

Poor him, brainwashing is a useless unique skill in this battlefield.

“Why are you attacking us without any warning?” The man with brainwashing skill asked halfway to screaming.

What the hell is he saying?

The besieged man shrugged his shoulders. “Because I have to. After all, no matter what I say, it wouldn’t change the fact that we need to kill each other.”

“What is this place! Tell us!” The woman cried out loudly.

“The battlefield of Battle Royale. This is a place where only one person can survive.”

They both flinched at his words.

Is this the moment when your conjecture turns out to be true?

By the way, I was quite surprised that there were other people other than me and Geom-in who knew about the Battle Royale event. The besieged suddenly moved and appeared in front of the man with brainwashing ability and struck him in the head with a club.

However, since the stats were limited, his next move was bound to be infinitely slow. The man fell to the floor, and the woman panicked and called for the wind.

“Wind? What is this…” The man muttered in despair as the dirt and rocks were being pushed away towards him.

I was also surprised the first time I saw it. The man rolled to the left as if he was used to this situation.

Should I kill her now?

No, It’s better to do it once the battle is over. It will only make my battle harder if I go out now and get attacked from both sides.

The two fiercely exchange attacks while using their unique skill. The ground was upturned here and there, and the woman rolled over the ground to avoid the man, who suddenly approached.

“Keuk!”

The woman, who was on the offensive seconds ago, was now pushed into her backfoot. However, the man was by no means in a better situation than her, since the blink ability took a lot of toll on the caster’s body if it was used consecutively.

“Ouch!”

The man pounded his head with his own hand and rolled to the side once again. Meanwhile, the woman raised her hands, seemingly not wanting to lose the opportunity.

Whoosh-!!

The wind that blew according to the movement of the woman’s hand lifted the man’s body into the sky. Instead of screaming at her, the man stretched out his arms to the branches of a nearby tree and clenched it tightly.

The moment the wind became weaker, the man moved to the front of her nose with a blink.

“You b**tch is so tough.”

Pak-!!

The man’s club hit the woman’s waist. Without being able to utter any words, even though she opened her mouth, she grabbed her waist. At that moment, the men’s club was already heading towards her head.

Now!!

I pulled out Togarev and shot the man.

Thud-!!

WIthout managing to hit the woman’s head, the man collapsed to the ground.

Damn, I shot it a little too fast. The woman didn’t seem to understand that the man had fallen, but a fraction of a second later, she seemed to finally realize and threw her body away.

She’s a quick-witted woman…

I aimed the Togarev at the woman, but dirt and bushes were obstructing my view. Therefore, it’s hard to figure out her whereabouts.

I tapped Dingo’s ass, who was crouching next to me. “Follow her.”

The guy ran right away, but he was just walking around the dusty area.

Did she already run away?

When I looked up at the sky, she had already disappeared from the tree.

“Her luck is good….” Well, I’m not overly concerned with this failure. On this battlefield, we are bound to meet each other again.

While checking the battlefield with the drone, I found that the generated items have risen in terms of quality. I quickly moved to take out the leather gloves that have the Dexterity increase option.

On this battlefield, it was impossible to bring in items affected by the system, so I had no choice but to wear the gloves. Since items generated in the battlefield were one-time use items, it will disappear after the Battle Royale is over. A small bow was also generated, but there’s no need for me to use it.

“In a bit, long-range weapons will also come out.”

Awooo-!!

Suddenly, I heard a wolf howl.

Is that coming from the pack of silver wolves we met last time?

Dingo pricked his ears at the howl. It would be nice to split the work using this situation. I sent Dingo out of the woods.

If all goes according to plan, Geom-in will have no choice but to enter the forest.

“I need you to do exactly that, Geom-in. So please cooperate.”

...

After round 1, the monster wall narrowed, making the battlefield smaller than earlier. Meanwhile, the remaining survivors finally realized the rules. They have to avoid monsters and kill each other using the generated items.

Some noticed that the numbers in their field of vision represented the remaining people. Those who were quick-witted began to arm themselves and ran out to the meadow. Their destination was to the snowy mountain and the lake.

However, since there was also the monster wall, they couldn’t go too far. Those who go too far were either killed by baptism of paralyzing darts from the goblins, or by the stones thrown by the stone monkeys.

And in the midst of that confusion, blood, and chaos, Bae Geom-in played the role of a predator.

“Stop!”

A man rushing towards him was caught in the light and came to a sudden stop. To tell you the truth, Geom-in’s restraint skill was by no means extraordinary. It couldn’t stop small movements and wouldn’t work if there’s an obstacle between the caster and their target. On top of it, the restarain will be undone if the caster loses their focus.

Geom-in realized it only after using it a few times. When he did it while aiming the bow, the arrow did not hit the man’s head and missed by quite a distance.

“You b*st*rd! You can’t even hit me when I’m standing still!”

“F**k you.”

Geom-on face flushed red when the Chinese slapped him with the insult. By the way, Geom-in did not even think that the marksmanship ability would be this mismatched with restrain ability. If you focus on one thing, the other will be undone.

At that moment, Geom-in was startled by the sound of a monster coming from his back. Because of that, the already weak restraints were released and the man rushed towards him.

Thanks to his unique physical strengthening skill, his movement was quick. Thankfully, Geom-in was able to concentrate and barely hold him back.

“You F*ck! Release this!”

“There’s no one who will do what you want if you curse at them, you b*ast*rd.”

After putting the man in his sight, Geom-in slowly retreated back. Suddenly, the number in his view declined once again.

Why is this happening?

When he first entered the battle royale battlefield, he was full of confidence. The Chinese know nothing about the event, so he thought he would have an absolute advantage. However, as soon as the Battle Royale started, that thought collapsed like a sand castle. After all, the number of survivors was rapidly declining.

Who the hell…

Could it be that there was someone among the Chinese who understood the situation and went hunting?

Or is it another Korean?

What if…

The identity of the person who was reducing the number of survivors is Da-jeong or Gimbap?

His head throbs even more at those thoughts.

“I’ll cross the line when I have to…” He still needed to kill the man in front of him before that. When Geom-in notched an arrow to the string, a group of wolves suddenly appeared in the corner of his sight.

They were wolves with a huge body with a silver mane.

Awoooo-!!

The howling of a pack of wolves resounded across the battlefield.

“Damn it.” The stronger predators have appeared. Therefore, weaker predators have to flee. However, the swordsman could not make a decision and hesitated.

What’s the difference between dying from my arrow and being eaten alive by the wolves, anyway?

Crunch-!!

In the meantime, the pack of wolves attacked the man. The biggest wolf bit the man’s neck and a horrific scream rang out.

“Oh, don’t come!”

Geom-in mumbled as he returned his arrow to his back and ran away.

Awoo-!!

Several wolves under the command of the alpha pursued him. Therefore, Geom-in had no choice but to use his blink to get away. However when he was on the run, he saw a person waiting for him at the border between the forest and the meadow.

The man was dressed in black, wearing a mask and carrying a crossbow and gun.

The swordsman who saw the man was astonished.

Gun?

How did he get it?

The man in front of him raised the gun and aimed at him. It was a gun with an elongated silencer.

The swordsman did not even think to unsheathe his sword and only raised both of his hands.

However, unfortunately for him, the muzzle lit up.

...

“Run!” The man commanded him. Geom-in did not even dare to resist and ran through the forest as fast as he could. After all, the gun was more frightening than the monster wall.

‘Fuck, fuck!’

Why the hell did this happen! And who is that man?

All sorts of thoughts ran through his head. However, he soon became focused once again as he was tripped by tree roots and fell to the ground.

A gunshot rang out from his back accompanied by the heavy sound of the man.

“GET UP AND RUN!”

“F************CK.”

“Cut it out! All the monsters will come.”

The man consistently pushed Geom-in. However, even if he didn’t like it, he couldn’t dream of using the blink or the restraint. He concluded so as he saw the man’s action. He always makes sure to use a tree as an obstacle between them.

How did he know that restraint skill wouldn’t work if there was an obstacle?

Woof-!! Woof-!!

A dog ran next to him and threatened him. After wolves, humans, and now dogs. Just how small he is in the eyes of these guys?

Geom-in swallowed his anger and ran. Not long after that, he arrived right in front of the monster wall.

“Uh… What should I do now?”

“Just run!”

bang!

Two gunshots rang out after the man answered. Something flew past Geom-in’s left and right, startling him.

As he ran as hard as he could once again, oddly enough, the monster wall had disappeared. He just broke past the monster wall.

‘Wha-what?’

Something cold touched the back of his head as he stopped running.

“What are you doing instead of running?”

“Uh, how did you do it? The wall…”

“Is now the correct time to think about that? You are pathetic.”

Pathetic.

It was something Da-jeong often said to him. Geom-in groaned, but since he couldn’t possibly dodge the gun, he swallowed his anger back.

“The exit is still far. So keep running.”

The man’s words surprised him for the umpteenth time.

He does all this to take me out of the battlefield?

“Stay here and die or run. Your choice.” The masked man said as he threatened him by pushing his gun from behind.

“If I run, can I live?”

“That depends on how well you run, Bae Geom-in.”

He even know my name? Who the hell is it?

If it were a man who had the ability to overwhelm him and even had a gun… A person flashed through Geom-in’s mind.

“Gi-gimbap, is that you?”

“Don’t make any noises and just keep running. The longer you talk, the lower your chance of survival.”

Seongho pushed him harshly.

“Ugh!” He felt a bit sorry for pushing Geom-in to run more. But he had to do this in order to at least give him the chance to survive.

The location where Seongho led Geom-in towards was the location of the last monster. The reason was simple, it was because the bug will only occur once they killed the last monster in the area.

If Geom-in did not disappear even after he killed the last monster…

Goo Woo-wook-

From somewhere, Seongho heard the cry of an owlbear. Hearing that sound, Geom-in was terrified and stopped.

Seongho, who became frustrated, shouted. “I told you to keep running!”

“Ah, it’s an owlbear…”

“It’s okay, so hurry up!”

Bang!

The bullet Seongho just shot barely passed Geom-in’s head. Thanks to that, he started running like crazy again. and then the owlbear appeared.

Woo woo woo-!!

As it spread its wings, the dog running next to Geom-in ran and barked towards it.

Seongho shouted loudly from behind.

“Restrain that guy!”

“Huh?”

“Don’t just stand there like an idiot and use your skill at it! There’s nothing between you guys to stop you!”

“Ah, okay!”

The swordsman concentrated and light shone from the owlbear. However, it didn’t last long as the power of the owlbear was dwarfing Geom-in’s power.

The moment the frightened Geom-in turned his head, Seongho threw his spear at the owlbear.

Kieeeeek-!!

The owlbear, which was struck by a spear in its stomach, roared. It flapped its wings, spreading away the dust around it towards Geom-in. Because of that, the restraint skill was undone and Seongho spit out abusive language before firing the revolver.

Bang-!! Bang-!!

In an instant, the cylinder rotated, and six shots were lodged in the owlbear’s body. Seongho had aimed at its head, but it missed.

In retaliation, the owlbear ran towards Seongho as if it had not taken any damage.

“Ugh!” Seongho threw his body to the side and rolled on the ground. When he came to his senses, he was surprised that Geom-in was shooting arrows at the owlbear instead of running away.

Looking at the situation, it seems like he had activated his other unique skill as the arrow accurately pierced the owlbear’s eye.

“Well done! Just kite it a little bit more!”

“Okay!”

Bae Geom-in bounced back and forth between his 2 unique skills without even knowing that he’s bleeding from the nose. He was currently maintaining a superhuman level of concentration.

When the owlbear approaches, he attacks with his bow, and when that’s over, he holds him with his restraint skill.

Thanks to this, the owlbear suffered from several arrows piercing its head. No matter how tough it’s vitality is, it’s difficult to endure that kind of damage. There was even a dog distracting it by barking next to it, so the owlbear should be extremely dizzy right now.

When Seongho finally took out a long sword from his backpack, the owlbear gave up and tried to run away.

“Restraint it!”

Geom-in used his unique skill, and Seongho charged with his longsword. Finally, when the long sword pierced through its chest area, it died. When it stopped moving, Seongho immediately raised his Togarev towards Geom-in.

“Don’t even think of using that skill on me…”

“Ye-yeah.”

“Walk over there.”

“…” Geom-in glanced at him and walked into the forest. He couldn’t help but wonder if he could really escape the battlefield and why the man was trying to save him.

Seongho said from behind. “The chance of getting out of the battlefield is low, but it’s better than being dead.”

“How much is the chance?”

“50 percent.”

“Oh my… So I have a 50 percent chance of dying?”

“If you don’t like it, you shouldn’t have come here.”

The man was right. But in his defense, he didn’t know that the man would participate in the event in the Incheon area.

“You roughly know who I am, right?” Seongho said to him.

“You are I Love Gimbap, aren’t you?”

“That’s right. You don’t know me, but I know you well. I know you have three unique skills. At the least.”

“Seems like Seokhyun and Da-jeong have told you everything…”

“It was something I found out by myself. Anyway, you’re in the palm of my hand, so you better not do anything useless.”

“What do you want? What are you doing this for?”

“Because you can’t die now.”

“Why?” Geom-in eyes shook violently at Seongho’s words.

“Think of it yourself. By the way, you were pretty good earlier.” Seongho said so and pushed Geom-in’s back with his gun. Light began to gather in his body, which had been pushed a few steps away.

At one point, Geom-in was no longer standing in the forest, but on a flat road.

“Huh?” To his surprise, he had escaped the Battle Royale’s battlefield. Geom-in collapsed to the ground as adrenaline left his body.

“Why did you save me…”

However, no one was there to listen to his question.