Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Chapter 142: When a whale gets caught in a fight between shrimp (5)

Btw there’s a donation come in too… I’m going to announce it on next chap. And by that i mean, next friday!

There were some things that needed to be done before starting the distribution. It was clearing up the mess in front of the time shelter. I immediately left a comment for Bae Geom-in at the Auction House. Not long after, he arrived.

-If I remember correctly, you did say you have experimented about how to prevent zombie raids from happening in Incheon before, right?

-Uh… You mean the totem experiment?

A totem huh? Throughout my time playing Survival Life, it’s an item I never got my hands on; I only know about its existence through records and stuff. Geom-in explained that if I installed the totem, there would be no zombie raid happening in the area around it.

However, since the materials needed to make it were very rare, only one totem could be made at the moment.

-Lend me that. I’ll pay you back later.

-It’s kind of weird to hear something like ‘paying back’ between us. You can just use it.

Oh? Did I really just hear those kinds of words come out of him? Not bad. I bought the totem uploaded to the Auction House as soon as Geom-in put it up. The diameter of the totem was around the thickness of my arms. However, that’s not the most interesting part of it. What piques my interest the most was the face of a monster with bulging eyes and an open-wide mouth carved on it.

-It was made of a material called elderwood, a rare material I got from golden goblins.

Elderwood? Those gigantic trees in the Black Forest to the north?

As if his mouth was itchy, Geom-in proceeded to explain to me how he ended up making the totem.

-As for how I came to make it, I stumbled on its picture in an ancient book I looted at a dungeon.

Aha…

In dungeons, ancient books sometimes did appear. We can’t read it because it’s written in an unfamiliar language to us, but he must have been lucky enough to find a page with pictures.

-How large is the area of effect of this totem?

-Uh… It should be able to cover at least one house?

That’s a bit lacking. Seems like I would have to move the people around.

-There is something sticky on its surface… What did you paint it with?

-There’s a plant-type monster that likes to eat zombies, right? The ones we called zombie hell. If you cut off the stem of that monster, the sap will come out. I painted it with that.

Geom-in quickly taught me how to make it. And once his informative session was over, I thought that I would be able to make it myself if I found some zombie hells. The question is, how can I get an elderwood?

Back then, as soon as I laid my hand on the saw inside my bag, all the local beasts and monsters instantly stared dead straight at me. The atmosphere itself also changed from a tranquil, idyllic forest atmosphere into a bloody, horror one in the blink of an eye.

Anyway, it’s not the time to think about it. Now it’s time to use this to get rid of the zombies. When I took it to the cave, the stag beetles unexpectedly showed interest in it.

“Do you guys know what this is?”

They shook their heads at my question. However, I could feel that they were only pretending to not know about it. As we lived together, I realized that these guys were a tsundere. They pretend not to be interested, but if they see me struggling alone, they will come to help. They were the exact opposite of the scarabs who had always run right away to whatever fancy their curiosity.

I turned my back on them and touched the totem.

“There are rumors of how to make this circulating…”

Stag beetles gathered around me at those words. They were desperately pretending not to be interested, but I know that they really do care about it as their eyes are fixed on the totem. One guy unconsciously climbed onto my leg at that moment. Then, the moment the guy realized where it was, it quickly jumped down. At times like this, they act like a shy girl. Meanwhile, the scarabs… They looked like a good natured old man with a long beard…

“Hmmmm…” As I was fiddling with the totem in moderation, the chief stag beetle bit my hand hard.

It seemed to shout ‘Don’t touch it like that!’

“What’s the matter?”

According to the picture drawn by the chief stag beetle on the ground, this totem was a dangerous object. It was effective in chasing out certain monsters, but it also summons other types of monsters.

“What kind of monsters?”

After hesitating, the chief stag beetle drew a figure of a monster that I had never seen before.

“I haven’t seen this guy anywhere, isn’t it okay?” I queried.

To my question, the chief stag beetle responded by waving its claws. Seems like it was telling me to do whatever I wanted. Then it recommended that I craft a new totem.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not very good at this kind of thing.”

As I held out the totem, the chief stag beetle accepted it even while grumbling.

Does it know how to grumble?

Perhaps, it even knows how to pound its legs on the floor?

Come to think of it, these guys also showed a lot of interest in the elderwood longbow… Maybe they have ‘something’ for elderwood?

The stag beetles gathered and started to remodel the totem in an instant. They gnawed at the wood and made the totem smaller overall. There’s no zombie hell sap, so what are you going to use?

At that moment, one of the stag beetles brought the elderwood’s sap out from the storage and rubbed it on the totem.

“Hey, I was saving that!”

At my outburst, they all looked at me at once; their gaze was pricking me. I have no choice but to lower my tail. When the stag beetles continued their work, they drew a tooth on the totem. After some time, the chief stag beetle came to me and held the totem towards me.

“What changes did you make?”

According to the guy, the range of the totem had been expanded to three times its original range. However, it still wouldn’t work as it is as it needs to be fixed on the ground in order for it to work.

“Then… I have to make a separate stand, huh?”

Now I know why the ghouls who were working outside the fence did not run away.

As I was about to draw a picture of a stand in the ground, the chief stag beetles made a movement as if it was sighing before I even finished. Then, he walked away and quickly made a stand.

Cute guy.

At the time I left the shelter and went back to Earth, I had both the totem and stand in my hands. Now it’s time to start the distribution.

.

.

.

Some changes had happened in the building where the time shelter was located. Unlike before, a grayish banner was now spread out on the third floor of the department store. On it, some words were written.

‘If you need supplies, please come to the 3rd floor.’

People went abuzz at the words on the banner in an instant. Afterall, if all of them went together to the 3rd floor, they were sure that they wouldn’t be able to have a lengthy conversation because of the zombie raid that would happen immediately.

However, after some time, their concern was rendered null. The zombies and ghouls around the time shelter began to disappear. Monsters such as goblins and orcs were still there, but there were not as many as the zombies and ghouls, so it wouldn’t be a problem. After some hunting happened here and there, there were no monsters left around the time shelter.

“It’s really amazing…”

“If it was like this, wouldn’t we be safe to gather on the third floor?”

“But who’s in charge on the third floor…”

“I heard it was I Love Gimbap.”

“What kind of rights did he have to distribute the goods like he owned them?”

People were skeptical about it and headed to the third floor. However, when they arrived, they realized that they were late, as a few quick-acting people were already seated in a store on the third floor.

“…”

Everyone looked into each other’s eyes. The tension between them was no joke because they were people who had been fighting against each other just until recently. People kept coming overtime, and noises began to come from here and there.

“Hey, why are you looking at me like that?”

“I came first, so why are you telling me to not look at you? If you don’t want to be seen, just go somewhere else.”

“Let’s be quiet.”

“When will I Love Gimbap come out?”

As soon as someone said that, a figure of a man was seen walking down from the stairs leading to the fourth floor. The figure was clad in black, and his body size was bigger than anyone present. All around his body, all sorts of equipment that is a must-have for a survivor could be seen. The most noticeable one for the survivors present was naturally the elderwood longbow slung to his back. It was an expensive piece of equipment which everyone dreams of―A pie in the sky they couldn’t get.

He looked at the crowd and said:

“I don’t think everyone has come, so let’s wait a little bit.”

“Look here. By what rights do you dare to distribute the supplies here?” A man amongst the crowd stood up and said so. However, contrary to his pricking words, the man was breathing heavily, clearly feeling nervous.

“I was asked by a government shelter,” Seongho responded as he tapped on the blood-soaked longknife on his waist. “Is that all?”

“Government shelter? Did you become representative of all survivors? We should have been given the rights to freely use it! Why are you trying to control it?”

Seongho sighed. There’s this kind of guy everywhere.

“If you don’t like it, you can just leave this floor and walk straight to the time shelter.” Seongho pointed out. “Though, I doubt you will be able to go inside with your strength.”

Da-jeong’s ghouls were also affected by the totem, so it should be a little bit easier for them to attack the time shelter right now. However, it doesn’t mean that they would be able to do so, as Da-jeong herself was still a formidable fighter even without her ghouls.

The man paused and opened his mouth.

“No, I mean…”

“What?”

“Pardon?”

“Speak straight. So what? What are you going to do?”

As Seongho took a step closer to the man, the man instinctively stepped back. Looking at him up close, the feeling of intimidation he exudes was no joke.

Seongho looked at the man and said again. “Jang Won-taek asked me because he thought a lot of you would die fighting over supplies. If you understand, shut up.”

People were overwhelmed by him and held their breath at that moment.

“Geez, what a rude young man.” A tall, old man stepped out from the silent crowd murmuring so.

Seongho shifted his gaze to him. “I advise you, just sit down. Don’t do something that will embarrass yourself in front of people.”

The man chuckled at Seongho’s word.

“No, I admit that you’re strong… But, do you have something to say to us first?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you have to apologize to us first? It’s because of you that we became like this. We would have been in a better state if you had just spread the information you have.”

People murmured at the man’s word. They realized what the man was talking about.

“Continue.”

“…”

The man bit his mouth as soon as he didn’t receive the same feedback he had in his mind from Seongho.

Seongho stepped closer to him.

“There were quite a lot of people who said that. And after meeting a lot of those people, I’ve come to realize. It’s overwhelmingly more comfortable to forcefully make their mouths shut rather than to persuade them to change their view about me.”

It was foolish to explain and ask for forgiveness for them. Seongho had learned that without people there would be no change whatsoever in his daily lives.

“Killing you would make it quieter, wouldn’t it?”

“It won’t be easy…”

“Would you like to bet whether I can throw you out in ten seconds or not?”

The man clenched his teeth. He had only heard the news that the time shelter had been breached and that I Love Gimbap had appeared, so he did not know the details about what happened before. But he at least knew that I Love GImbap had painted the street in front of the department store with the Chinese’s blood. However, since he had come this far, he couldn’t back down because of people’s gaze.

He clenched his fists, ignoring his wet back.

“Let’s finish this quickly. With a trial case, people will become obedient.” Seongho said.

Sparks flashed in the eyes of the man. As a leader of a clan, he wasn’t someone who would take this treatment lying down.

“Hey!”

The tall man quickly narrowed the distance between him and Seongho. People expected a fierce fight would happen between the two, but they couldn’t be more wrong. The man who rushed towards I Love Gimbap was unilaterally beaten by him.

Puck, puck, puck!!!

The large man was beaten without being able to resist; He was just like a punching bag, A living and breathing punching bag. It wasn’t like he couldn’t throw any punch back either, it was just that all of it didn’t hit I Love Gimbap but only hitting air.

“Ouch!”

The man was beaten black and blue before he eventually passed out. Seongho grabbed the man by the collar and lifted him with one hand. At the same moment, he asked towards the crowd.

“If there’s someone else who wants to do this kind of shit, come out quickly. Let’s not waste time.”

“…”

After seeing the man, no one came out. Seongho put him down on the floor and saw Goo Myung-hoon, who joined late.

“There’s a lot of people from different clans here. Let’s classify them first.”

“Oh, yes.”

He nodded his head awkwardly.

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.

.

With the help of the members of the Gwangju’s strongest Clan, Seongho gave each person who came to the time shelter a large bag of sackcloth.

He also declared to the people.

“You just have to go in, fill the sack with food and go out. It doesn’t matter what or how you fill it.”

Those words mean that they could take one sack of food. People took the sack and were confused about what to bring. It was a quite large sack, so they would be able to carry quite a lot of things.

“But we don’t know what’s inside.”

“We have to bring water. We have no water.”

“You guys can use rainwater for water. First of all, you need to choose a combat food that is small in volume and high in calories.”

“If you eat that thing often, you will get constipated.”

Some people trembled and approached Seongho. They had witnessed him smashing people without blinking an eye, so they were all terrified.

“Can I bring anything other than that… food?”

Seongho was unexpectedly kind and answered.

“Of course, it could be daily necessities, books, clothes, etc. But isn’t it better to bring food first? You can get the other things next time.”

“AH!!”

“Time shelter doesn’t run away anywhere, so grab what’s urgent first and take it slowly later. There should be enough things for everyone inside.”

“Oh, yes.” People nodded awkwardly at Seongho’s explanation. Their first impression about him was that he’s very bloody, but he surprisingly had a gentle side.

Soon the distribution began. The entrance was opened and the five survivors entered the time shelter for the first time.

“Wow…”

“There are so many things…”

In fact, this material inside was nothing compared to what Seongho had taken from this time shelter. As soon as Da-jeong completed the expansion work, the things that were left and the ones they didn’t need were put back into the shelter. Still, it was enough to surprise the survivors. They dispersed from the crowd and packed a lot of different things inside each of their own sackcloth.

Meanwhile, Seongho was waiting at the entrance.

“Can you write a comment on the Auction House?”

“Yes? Okay…”

“I put a spam pack on the Auction House too, please buy it for 20 points.”

‘Why are you telling me to buy it?’ The man who Seongho talked with thought. But since he got enough food, he thought that he could use about 20 points, so he wrote a comment and bought a spam.

The reason why Seongho did this kind of thing was to prevent people from entering twice. There were more than 100 people so it’s impossible for him to remember each of their faces, so he decided to make use of the Eyes of Truth.

Distribution went smoothly, but halfway to the end of the line of people, a commotion occured. A woman who went out after receiving the rations came back and got caught by Seongho.

“Didn’t you enter already before?”

“N-no…”

When the woman tried to defend herself, Seongho called her by her name, making her speechless.

“Didn’t I say that people can only enter once for now?”

“Y-y-you saw the wrong person. I’m not Kim Ha-yeon.”

“You’ll really die if I found out you are Kim Ha-yeon.”

“T-that…” As she was about to say something, she lowered her head helplessly. “I-I’m, I’m sorry…”

“Put those things back and leave.”

Goo Myung-hoon, who was next to him, was internally astonished.

How the hell did he find out the name of someone he’d never met?

Is that some kind of skill?

When she left after a while, Seongho relaxed his face and treated people amicably again.

The news that a supply distribution was going on at a time shelter under Chonnam University naturally spread widely in the Auction House. People didn’t believe the words at first. After all, how can people gather when all kinds of monsters should be running rampant? However, since there were not only two people posting the article, the other people in the Auction House had no choice but to believe it.

Meanwhile, some people came up with a trick.

Why don’t we just hang around the area and attack the people who come out?

-They are going to be slow because they have to carry the bag of sackcloth. We just need to take care of it.

-Sweet!

The three people who came out with that plan waited around the area and looked for someone with a bag of sacks to come out from a nearby building.

Finally, one came out, and three instantly surrounded him.

“If you leave the sackcloth, I’ll let you go with your life.”

“N-no please…”

“Huh.”

Just as the three of them were about to take the sack, Da-jeong appeared. When she understood the situation, her face contorted.

“Oh my god. There are people who are more trashy than me.”

He came here because Seong-ho said she needed to leave the time shelter so that people wouldn’t feel pressured, but never in her wildest imagination did she ever think that she would find thieves like these guys instead.

The three’s faces twisted at her words.

“Trash?”

“What the fuck is this fucking bitch…”

“It seems like you don’t understand the situation you are in…”

Da-jeong sighed and snapped her fingers. And immediately, the three’s eyes widened when a huge ghoul and a grasshopper appeared.

“D-d-d don’t tell me…”