Stagnant Water of Apocalypse - Chapter 172

 Chapter 172 – The Eroded World (3)

The ghoul flowers made the white powders to lure their poor victims. At first, people did not know about the existence of the powder, as it was hidden inside the fruits. On top of it, the surroundings of the flowers were extremely dangerous, so no one dared to venture towards the main body of the plant.

Ghoul flowers need organic matter to grow, so they used the fruits grown on their stems to bait all kinds of wild animals, so that they would go closer to it. Then, as monsters, who saw the flock of animals, would naturally be going as well, seeing so many defenseless prey flocking together, they would also get closer towards the vicinity of the ghoul flowers.

However, there are some people who fearlessly went to the ghoul flowers’ main body. They avoided the whip-like vines that extend far from the body, in order to collect the fruit that looks scrumptious. The white powder from the fruit was the one that turned the Auction House upside down.

-Ah… This is really a drug~ Ah~ I feel like flying~
-Doesn’t it taste a little funny?
-Where did you get it?
-There is an art museum in Hannam-dong. It was picked from the ghoul flower there. It was said that the fruit was as big as apples, so there was a lot of powder.
-Hmm, is that powder a drug? Is eating it all I should do to get the effect?
-No, No, they said you need to inhale it. but for more details…

-If you use the powder during sex, it’s awesome.
-Have you used it?
-Of course. The strange thing is, even though all my senses become dull, my little guy down there has become soooo sensitive! The effect will drop quickly, but if you inhale the powder again while doing it, it does not end!
-Hmmm, you are really a drug addict.
-What’s wrong with that? It’s not like it has any bad side effects.
-Is there really nothing?

Some people whined that they picked fruit from a ghoul flower near them, but it didn’t work as well as described.

-It’s true that it made me a little drowsy, but when it comes to sex, it’s nothing special.
-It’s probably because the ghoul flower is small.
-Ah, should I go to Hannam-dong?
-How big is the ghoul flower over there?
-It’s big enough to occupy the entire art museum’s building.
-Why is it so big?
-There’s an ogre corpse that I Love Gimbap killed there. The flower that grows there is absorbing it.
-That’s awesome.

The size of the ghoul flower tends to be proportional to the size of the carcass it was based on. The ghoul flower that occupied the ogre’s corpse was so huge that they covered the building. Thanks to that, the entire art museum was transformed into something which looked like it came out straight from a movie. All kinds of deformed plants covered the site, and all sorts of animals that people had never seen before, as well as monsters trying to prey on them, flocked in.

Everyone just decided that the danger that came from the plant is insignificant in comparison to the prize, and called those who picked the fruit as heroes.

The eyes of the Auction House people were focused on the Hannam-dong Art Museum.

-The place is worth living as long as you watch out for monsters and flowers, they said. There’s also a lot of animals in the area.
-Is it okay to eat the animals? I was so cautious to the point I didn’t dare to even catch it.
-Don’t hunt anything that looks weird; catch a deer or a wild boar.
-If you look properly, those animals are being chased by monsters every day, so it’s a bit hard to catch them…
-Come to the provinces. There aren’t many monsters in the province.
-And there’s also no people there… What are we going to do there?

This eroded world did not just bring despair to people. New ecosystems have been created, providing new fruits, crops and meat. People went hunting, and the Auction House became more active than ever.

Occasionally, there were people who bought strange things and got sick.

-Fucker who sell a f*cking weird meat yesterday, come out!
-Will that person really see this section?
-I said, Come out you f*cker! I’ll kill you.
-Bro, what did you do with the meat?
-I roasted it. After eating it, I vomited all day long… It felt as if all the liquid inside my body had been poured out.
-It was actually me who sold the meat.
-You fucker! Tell me where you live!
– I won’t tell you :p.

Since the Auction House was a place that guaranteed everyone’s anonymity. There have been many cases like that. Nothing could be resolved by complaining, so people had no choice but to be careful.

Meanwhile, the Korean Shelter started collecting information after receiving reports of poisonous plants and animals.

All in all, people were currently adjusting to the eroded world.

.
.
.

Thanks to Mikyung’s blink, we managed to forego the process of walking for hours and
moved to Hannam-dong in an instant. Oh Jung-min and Lee Min-soo, who heard the news that we are in Hannam-dong, quickly invited us to their bunker, but we turned it down. Afterall, we were here for that big-ass ghoul flower, not for a visit.

“It’s really big…”

Probably because it ate an ogre, it was bigger than any ghoul flower I had ever seen. Hundreds of stems wrapped around one building, turning it into something horrifying to look at. Vines which hung down from the top of the building were the whip wielded by the flowers.

“That looks more dangerous than anything else I’ve ever seen.”

When it comes to ghoul flowers, it’s easy for people to let their guard down. After all, it was nothing but plants. But once they got hit by its vines, they would change your mind without a doubt. The thorns on the vines secrete poison, so if it hits you, even just a scratch, you would be paralyzed and dragged into the flower. It’s not as potent as a goblin’s paralyzing sting, but it can’t be resisted with any skill. The end of those who were dragged like that was crystal clear. They would suffer for hours while their whole body melted away, turning them into nutrients for the flower.

“I’d rather commit suicide than dying that way.”

I asked Mikyung to look around for a while before paying attention to the Auction House.

“These bastards had gone crazy.” I murmured. They showed a behavior which could be seen in all drug cartels around the world: Fighting for control. The clan who was currently controlling the area was a clan from another area, not a chaebol group from Hannam-dong. They openly declared that the flower was theirs, and they were kicking a lot of fuss.

-Hello This is the Itaewon Clan. We would like to inform you that we are in control of the ghoul flower at the museum .

AIgoo…

-Our control period is 3 months, and the section consists of 3 roads leading to the museum. For reference, it is best not to approach the forest behind as it is teeming with monsters.

-The purpose of this control is to ensure a stable supply of “Ecstasy”, so we ask for your cooperation.

Ecstasy?

It seemed to be the name of the drug made from the ghoul flower’s powder.

-For reference, our Itaewon Clan joined hands with a bunker in Hannam-dong. We cannot guarantee your life if you approach it recklessly. That is all.

“Hmm.” I folded my arms and looked out. Clearly, the road leading to the museum was sealed off, as I couldn’t see anything roaming around. If a monster appears, it immediately gets turned into a beehive.

The Itaewon Clan has guns.

“They have joined hands with a faction, huh?”

Maybe it’s not people I knew. I don’t know all of the chaebols in Hannam-dong, so there’s nothing I could do on that front. But when it comes to the control policy the Itaewon Clan is enacting… I surely could do something.

The Itaewon Clan seemed to be monopolizing the Ecstasy and selling it to the Auction House. Ecstasy from other ghoul flowers was known to be weak. At the Auction House, there were several people who ranted about it, and said that the Hannam-dong Art Museum’s ghoul flower was the answer.

“Did they do something like this because we taught them how to make the totem?”

Korean Shelter have spread their zombie-fighting totem crafting recipes. Thanks to that, some shelters who got their hands on Elderwood had already made it. The Itaewon Clan seemed to be one of them. Zombie raids didn’t happen around the area no matter how many people stayed in the same place.

I looked at the ghoul flower covered in stems in the distance.

“I have to go inside…” The plant was enormous to the point that it’s hard to kill it with only one or two rockets. If I went inside and hit the core directly, the flower would die. The problem was that we didn’t know the structure inside. If it was that big, it might not just have one core, but several.

After waiting for a while, Mikyung appeared and fished out her phone from the depth of her pocket.

“Oppa, look at this, I took a picture.”

“Core pictures?”

“I don’t know if it’s the core, but it was some strange lumps.”

To think that someone as timid as her dared to go inside and took a risk just for a picture…

“Good job, very good job.” I praised her.

“Hehe.”

She showed me the picture while clinging to me. On the screen, I could see four large lumps wriggling inside a layered shell.

“It’s going to be hard to destroy those even with a rocket gun.”

“How did you do it in the game?”

“We didn’t kill those plants in the game. After all, if we let them grow for a long time, they would turn into a very fun attraction.”

“How so?”

“They’re absorbing living things right now, aren’t they? That energy goes to the roots. Once it has enough energy, the roots will extend all over the place and overturn the surrounding roads.”

“You leave such things alone?”

“Yeah. Because it was fun back in the game.” I smirked. The thing I described would not happen right away, so it should be okay to leave the ghoul flowers alone for a while.

In any case, the ghoul flowers destroy its surroundings and expand the ecosystem using that method. Then, the world will finally turn into a fantasy world for real.

I recalled the time when I was playing in the middle of that fantasy ecosystem back in the game at that moment. “Later on, a giant tree that can bend well, almost like a rubber band, will come out. When one person hangs from the end of the tree, the other person will make a noose with a rope and put it on an ogre. Do you know what will happen next?”

After hearing my question, Mikyung rolled her eyes hard.

“Uh… if the ogre pulls the rope, the tree will bend, right?”

“At some point, the rope will snap. And then the tree will send people flying. Just like a catapult.”

“Oh my god!!!”

Mikyung’s face turned into a bewildered face.

“That’s how the three of us play back in the game.” I said with a tinge of embarrassment.

“Where is Geom-in? Was he being shunned?”

“It’s not like that. He joined us from time to time, but he mostly spent his days in his shelter. His collection is more important to him.”

“So that’s why he made a separate hut…”

“He had already made it?”

“Yep. Seokhyun oppa is currently helping me build mine.”

Seemed like they were working hard. Borrowing a hand to smash the ghoul flowers wouldn’t be an option, then. Let’s just figure it out on our own.

“Neither a grenade nor a rocket will do the job…” I murmured as I looked through the list of Yongsan bunker’s items I got from Jang Won-Taek. It’s also difficult to use a mithril blade against it. If I cut the stems, dangerous juices will splash out. I could surely survive it, but I don’t want to take an unnecessary risk.

After reading the paper some more, I found a particular weapon that made me murmured ‘This is it’.

It was a flamethrower.

“There is nothing better than this to burn plants.”

When I tapped the paper with my finger, Mikyung pointed to her chest.

“Oppa, I’ll bring it. Please tell me the location.”

There is a hole that goes down to the bunker, but…

“Will it be okay?”

“I can do that. Please leave it to me.”

After I let her go, I checked the Auction House. Oh Jung-min’s secretary, Kim Ji-eun, was calling me.

-Have you met Soye yet, Mister Seongho?
-I have.
-Uh… That’s it?
-I told her to wait because I need to get rid of the ghoul flower. She’s probably in the Korean bunker right now.
-Is that so? I understand.
-By the way, Ji-eun. Do you know which bunker is connected to the Itaewon Clan, by any chance?

The answer came a while later.

-I’m not sure…but it’s probably not from Hannam-East. After all, we don’t have enough supplies as is. So forget about selling it to others.

If that’s the case, I think it’s something they got from the spare shelter. There were rumors that people had found a reserve shelter in Gangbuk.

A new comment from Ji-eun appeared.

-You seem to be nearby, is it okay if we go there?
-It’s dangerous, so you’d better stay out of it.
-Now, the time has come for us to take that risk too… I will never resent you if we end up dead.

I didn’t fancy the idea of letting someone I didn’t trust to watch my back, so I refused it. However, undeterred, Ji-eun offered me some propositions.

-If you allow us to be there, we’ll give you a Russian sniper rifle. Of course, the bullets will be included too.

Just how much did these people prepare?

Anyway, I had no reason to refuse.

-That’s fine. The location is…

After telling her the location, Da-jeong and two werewolves appeared one after another from the opened portal. Shel called them Wolfies. Compared to the other monsters, they were really cool.

“Seongho, what are we doing here?”

“Killing that plant.”

She watched the ghoul flower outside the window. Then she stood in front of me and wrapped her arms around my neck.

“How about using Ecstasy other than the fire mushrooms? They say that it works great.”

“It’s a drug.”

“So what? No one can say anything about it.”

Da-jeong leaned close to me with her mouth puckered like a duck. Quickly, I moved my hands to cover her mouth with my palm.

“Yeah, maybe no one could say anything. But monsters will surely give an example to them. With death, no less. We all know eating anything that blurs our mind is not good.”

“Eup.”

As I pulled my palm away from her mouth, Mikyung suddenly appeared. She sees us hugging and her eyes widened.

Da-jeong stepped out of my arms and smiled.

“Oh my, our Albino is here. What is that?”

“I-it’s a flamethrower… Oppa wants me to get it.”

“Are you going to burn the ghoul flower with this thing?”

“Yeah.”

After I learned how to use the flamethrower, I put it into the dimension slot. Now I have to break through those bastards.

Da-jeong said.

“By the way, Rapwi goes to the Black Forest to collect Elderwood sap.”

“Did Yeowool go with him?”

“It looks like he decided to take the kids one after another. But, I’m worried. Didn’t you say Elderwood was very picky?”

“Yeah. You can’t touch it by mistake.”

“That pervert… I’m worried about what he’s going to do.”

I’m kind of anxious about that, too. Still, I had no choice but to believe it because they must have taken a scarab or a stag beetle with them. Let’s just focus on my own job.

When I explained the situation, Da-jeong frowned.

“Territory battle? It’s not even an online game, why the hell would they do that?”

Then there was a commotion. I saw a group of people pouring out of the building and approaching the museum. Gunshots were heard, and to my amazement, several fell while grabbing their legs.

“Aww!”

“Fuck that’s hurt!”

It seems that the controlling side was focusing on shooting on the legs. Everyone’s strong, so they won’t die.

I organized my thoughts.

“First, let’s warn them through the Auction House. Who knows? Maybe they will be wise enough to leave.”

Da-jeong crossed his arms and snorted at my words. “They will back down after giving a warning by directly shooting at people? They will never do that.”

“Well, let’s just try.”

I found an auction with a warning from the Itaewon Clan. In the comment section, everyone was swearing.

-Fuck you bastards, go to hell!
-Just because you have guns!
-I’m sorry, but no matter how much you bark, we will not let go of our control. Don’t waste your time and just go back.

Ah, it seemed like the last guy was someone who was affiliated with the Itaewon Clan. He pretends to be polite, but I know that when his mask was removed there would be nothing but rotting flesh.

I wrote a comment after checking his name with Eyes of Truth.

-Seong Sang-geun. What did you get from looting the spare shelter?
-Is your name Seong Sang-geun?
-Are you the clan leader?

The answer came a while later.

-I don’t know who you are, but I will kill you if you act carelessly.
-But I’m I Love Gimbap?

When I identified myself, no one commented. However, moments later, a new comment from Seong Sang-geun was posted.

-It doesn’t matter even if you are I Love Gimbap. You were just lucky to be able to kill the ogre.
-Is that so? Do you think you’ll be able to kill it?
-I have a gun, so it’s possible.

Look at this bastard…

Da-jeong’s expression changed at that moment. She then posted her own comments.

-I’m Duck. Stop blocking the way so we can get rid of the ghoul flower.
-Just who do you think you are?

Huh?

Da-jeong and I looked at each other without uttering a single word. Seong Sang-geun then poured out comments which make it clear to us that he’s angry.

-Who are you to tell people what we should do? Do you want to be Jang Won-taek?
-It has nothing to do with that man.
-It doesn’t matter. I know that he said Ecstasy is bad for the body.

Look at this guy… It’s clear that he had planted a spy in the Korean Shelter. Well, that’s a matter for Jang Won-taek to figure out, not me.

I warned him.

-Just let us pass when we are still asking nicely.
-What is it for? Is it because you don’t like drugs? Get rid of that stupid sense of justice!
-Sense of justice? Will it feed me? I don’t have such things. I do it just because I need it.
-Tell me why you want to get rid of the ghoul flowers.
-Because I want to get rid of it. Isn’t that enough?
-Fuck you asshole. I always hate you. Just come if you dare, because I’ll kill you with bullets.

As always, talking with these kinds of guys was harder than talking with Da-jeong’s zombies. Well, if he wants a fight, I would bring it to him.

I said while making the Auction House window disappear. “Mikyung you should stay here, and Da-jeong, follow me.”

“Wow, will we do a frontal breakthrough? Bullets will come flying!”

“Let’s just use this opportunity for skill testing.”

I drank the Elderwood sap and ran towards the building I had seen beforehand. As I walked in the air, two men who had cigarettes in their mouths were startled. But it was too late.

I approached them through a broken glass window.

“You guys from Itaewon Clan?”

“Do-don’t come!”

The two of them looked frightened.

As I continued to approach, they both pointed their guns at each other.

“Don’t move or I’ll shoot!”

“Shoot.”

“I WILL REALLY DO IT!”

“Yeah, do it.”

bang!

Right after the explosion, I could feel pain in my right thigh. However, before long, the Primal Life skill was activated, and my skin was quickly restored and the bullet was slowly being pushed out. When regeneration was complete, the bullet fell to the floor.

My vision turned red and the Berserk skill was turned on.

Cigarettes fell from their mouths.