Stagnant Water of Apocalypse - Chapter 186

 Chapter 186 – The Great Labyrinth is Dangerous (7)

There’s a lot of monsters inside the Great Labyrinth that normally cannot be found in the outside world. One of them was the ethereal-type monsters that appeared starting from the 5th floor. It includes strange monsters such as ghosts, wraiths, and screamers which are difficult to deal against.

In order to lower the effectiveness of their attacks, the survivors need to wear an item with a mental resistance option. If it was neglected, it’s safe to say that the fight couldn’t possibly be won from the survivor’s side. After all, no normal people would be able to attack ghosts that had changed their appearances to their allies.

Immunity was, of course, better than mere resistance. However, it’s simply a pie in the sky, as even I, someone who had played the game the longest, had never seen an item with such an option until now.

Another thing to note was that, in order to attack the ethereal-type monsters, something called an ‘ectoplasm coating’ was required. And the very item required to make it can only be found starting from the 5th floor. In other words, people would have to explore the 5th floor first without being able to do anything to the monsters that exist inside, before they would be able to start properly attacking the 5th floor.

“Just what kind of game is that…” Mikyung, who heard about it, grumbled.

“A really shitty one.”

“I know, right.”

We hid inside the portal a few steps away from the entrance to the 5th floor. As soon as we got down to the 5th floor, what greeted us was the screams of a screamer. When I heard it in the game, my vision would be blurred a little bit and my movement would be a bit slower, but when I actually heard it in real life, it was a huge blow.

Anyway, the reason we came here was to gather ectoplasm. If Mikyung can take me to where it was located with her blink, I would quickly put the ectoplasm and throw it inside the portal. To ensure our visibility, several flashes were tied together to make sure the lighting was strong enough. On top of it, Mikyung is also wearing an earplug to make sure she wouldn’t be affected by the screams of the monsters.

However, even though I already have a mental resistance item, my head became dizzy when I heard their literally-ear-piercing screams.

Mikyung grabbed my arm.

“Oppa, what should we do to beat those monsters?”

“We have to hit them before they can even scream. Of course, using weapons with ectoplasm coating.”

“What will happen if those monsters get out?”

“Well… Normal survivors will hallucinate when they are attacked by a ghost.”

“So, it’s like when people use ecstasy, huh?”

“Have you tried it?” I know ecstasy was sold in the Auction House these days.

Mikyung shook his head desperately. “No, no. I will never do something like that. I mean, I know it since the reviews about ecstasy were up on the Auction House…”

I turned my head and looked at the portal.

“It’s a good thing that you’re thinking that way. After all, if your mind were to be tampered and confused even for a little bit in this kind of world, it’s basically the same as suicide. There are no exceptions to that rule, even me.”

“I think Rapwi ahjussi wouldn’t die though…”

“Let’s not count that guy in.” I shrugged. That guy was a monstrous human being. He won’t die no matter how much he messes around because of how high his resistances and strength are. Even if he somehow died, he would return to life thanks to the effect of his unique skill. Thankfully, the guy held his craziness at bay while living in the shelter. It’s dangerous to imitate him, but thankfully no one in our shelter was crazy enough to imitate him in the first place.

By the way… I was worried about Mikyung, who kept holding my arm. I tried to pull my arm out, but she held her ground.

“Are you not feeling uncomfortable?”

“Nope. But oppa, since we’re doing this, aren’t we like lovers?”

“Probably more like siblings.”

“Hiing… I wore pretty clothes to look good to you today though.”

Wearing shorts in the apocalypse are a little bit… but well, it should not be a big problem since she’s mostly staying inside the shelter anyway.

I replied bluntly.

“Why are you doing something like this for a psycho like me? You know I was someone who had killed a lot of people.”

“I know that even though you are a scary person on the outside, you are a big softy on the inside. You never yelled at us even once, you know?”

“I believe I have, though.”

“Well, that was far back in the past…”

What did she mean by far back in the past… It’s only been a few months since they failed to defend the island. Still, seeing Mikyung whimpering while clinging to my arm calmed my heart a bit. Somehow, even for someone like me, who had killed countless people and went around doing a lot of bad things, fate decided to set me up in a relationship with a lot of good people. It might not be a strong relationship as strong as a lover or family bonds, but at least it’s not an empty relationship. Mikyung was standing at that vague borderline.

At that time, the ghosts that had roamed around like a piece of cloth controlled through a string disappeared. I quickly tapped Mikyung on the shoulder as we quickly moved to where it was seconds ago. On the wall in front of us, there was something that looked like thin plastic with the texture of a jellyfish.

The thing was the very thing we look for: Ectoplasm.

According to the Survival Life background story, ectoplasm was said to be the shell of a ethereal-typemonster. But whatever it was, the only important thing I knew was the fact that I could inflict damage to ethereal-type monsters with it.

I took out a bucket from the dimension slot and filled it with the ectoplasm. Mikyung patted her arms and shuddered as the slime-like ectoplasm stretched when I pulled it.

“Ugh… that looks really weird…”

“You’ll find it weirder when you use it.”

I picked up a few more ectoplasms and put them in the bucket. At that time, several ghosts approached us. Mikyung panicked and hid behind me as the white sackcloth-like creature fluttered in the air.

“Open portal!”

Shortly after we fled to the shelter, an ominous light shot from the ghost struck the portal.

“You can’t hit me!!!!” Mikyung sticks out her tongue and laughs.

.
.
.

Coating weapons with ectoplasm was not hard. You can just put the weapon into the bucket full of ectoplasm. If we leave the weapon in it for a day or two, the weapon would soon have a white luster covering it, and if you check its stats, you’ll see an additional effect added to it.

「Mithril Blade: Permanent, Reduced Regeneration, Ethereal hit」

Just like this.

Sooyeon asked while squatting beside me.

“I was just thinking… can’t we use this ectoplasm on bullets too?”

“I’m not sure. There were no guns back in the game.”

“Can I try it?”

“Sure.”

With my permission, Sooyeon giggled and brought a heavy ammunition box. Normally she wouldn’t have been able to lift it. The reason she was able to do so was because she was currently wearing an item. I was staring at her and only then found out that her glasses were broken. She attached it with tape and some adhesive, but it couldn’t hide the fact that it would break again soon.

“How did your glasses break?”

She smiled sheepishly and brushed her hair behind her ear. “We were hunting, then this and that happened…”

That was precisely the problem for people who’s wearing glasses in the apocalypse. After all, they had to run and roll around constantly to survive, so would there be any case the glasses would stay fine?

She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes with her fingers.

“I don’t want to do Lasik surgery before. I regret it a lot now.”

“If you get Eye Of Gryphon skill, you will be fine.”

“Really? But I’m nearsighted…”

“That skill makes things that are far away clearly visible.” I explained.

Sooyeon’s expression softened, but then she stiffened a little.

“If I get that skill, other people would need to wait longer for their turn. I’ve heard that a gryphon is not a monster that appears often…”

“It’s okay. There must be a gryphon somewhere in this place. I’ve hunted wyvern before, so there must be a gryphon too.”

“Then… Thank you.” She said before ripping open the bullets package and carefully placing them in one of the ectoplasm buckets. If things went well, it meant that we wouldn’t have to fight directly against the ethereal-type monsters, which is a huge advantage.

Sooyeon turned on the faucet and washed her hands with it. She then said, “Seongho, have you heard about the situation in the Korean Shelter?”

“I have. The atmosphere is bad there these days.”

It was to the extent that I thought they got lucky when it ended only with the atmosphere getting worse. If the aftermath of the Battle Royale event was greater, it was possible that the Korean Shelter would no longer be a safe place where people would be able to use it as a gathering point.

Sooyeon said as she wiped her glasses with the hem of her clothes. “I also hear that a lot of bad things happened inside. Fighting and stealing are common things, even sexual assault…”

“Since factions have been formed, they will regard each other as enemies. It is indeed unfortunate.”

As there were so many people in the Korean Shelter, there were many stories and things happening. I came to know about it after listening to Sooyeon’s story that at least seven people had tried to kill each other.

“I thought about it from the perspective of those people, and it makes sense. If the person who killed your friend or family is staying in the same building with you…”

“I will hate it.”

That was precisely the aftermath of the Battle Royale event. People who were friendly up until they said temporary goodbye before the event became enemies when they got back. The fight in the restaurant was nothing more than a trickle of blood from an open wound. If the conflict erupts in earnest, even pus will leak out.

I wondered what Jang Won-taek was thinking right now… Using this event as a measuring stick, will he select new personnel or will he choose to lead the current personnel personally?

While I was thinking about it, Sooyeon rested her head on my shoulder.

“I feel lucky again. If I had been in a shelter in Korea, I wouldn’t have been able to live in this comfortable environment.”

“Sooyeon, you’re a doctor, and your unique skill is something related to healing. You’ll definitely be treated well anywhere you go.”

But her expression was pitiful.

“Is that so? It’s obvious what will happen to someone like me in this apocalypse. If I hadn’t met Seongho back then…”

Well… She would find herself in a very bad situation. Following that train of thoughts, I became worried about Hyung-jun hyung’s situation right now. Right now, he should be fine, because he’s currently inside the Great Labyrinth. But once he returned to the shelter…

When the shelter was still fine, there were a lot of men who were aiming at Hyung-jun hyung’s girlfriend, because she was one of the few women in the shelter. At that time, they wouldn’t even dare to do it, but there’s no doubt that now there will be some people who would try to do something.

I have something to receive from the President, so when I go to claim that…

When I was thinking about such things, Seokhyun suddenly jumped out of the open portal. A half-dead ghost was draped over his head.

“HOOOOOOOOOOOOO~”

“Kyaaaaaa”

“What the-!”

As a pervert with a white rag-like creature in his head ran around, the shelter became noisy.

“Why is this madman bringing a ghost here?”

Da-jeong knocked Seokhyun down with a flying kick, but he didn’t stop. Sooyeon was frightened and then secretly hid behind me.

“I-it’s a ghost. Will it be fine?”

“It’s half dead, so… it’ll be fine. Though, if you get too close, you will get hallucinations.”

By the way, the time has come to break through the 5th floor slowly.
It’s hard to get into the deepest part right now, but we have to break through to the 8th floor.
I brushed my knees and stood up.

.
.
.

Sooyeon’s suggestion was unexpectedly useful. The coated bullets pierced through the ghost’s body when I shot it. However, it was difficult to see whether the effect was good or not, because it was just a hole in their body.

I indiscriminately hunted monsters on the 5th floor while wearing a mental resistance ring. I also took out several normal rings on purpose with me while hunting in order to turn the rings into items. I must get at least one mental resistance item in order for another person to enter.

After hunting hard for two days, the item finally piled up.

“It’s fortunate that the drop rate is high.” If the drop rate had been low, I would have been hunting in this hell hole for a few days more.

After giving the ring to the others, the stagnant team finally shined. We swept the 5th floor like crazy and found the boss room. There’s no need to worry about the boss up to the 4th floor, but the difficulty increases from the 5th floor. The boss room was not located in a specific place, it was just an area where the strongest monsters wander.

I hid in the portal and waited for the boss to appear. However, even after half an hour, no sight of it could be seen.

“Where did this bastard go?”

“Why? Is it not here yet?” Seokhyun, wearing a ghost in his head, asked.

“It should have been around here, but… it’s not.”

The entrance to the 6th floor was on the opposite side of our current location, so the boss should have wandered around here.

Maybe someone came and killed it… or did the monster despawned or something?

When the two of us decided to leave, someone suddenly appeared in front of us from the darkness.

Before Seokhyun launched himself like always, I blocked his way.

“Who are you… No, I guess I shouldn’t have asked. After doctors and nurses, is it a programmer this time?”

The man who appeared in front of us had a very ordinary impression. If you walk around the downtown area, you can see several people similar to him every 10 minutes.

The man looked strange because he was wearing a shirt, slacks, and glasses that didn’t fit the situation.

“Nice to meet you. Are you Kang Seongho or Hwang Seokhyun? I’ve been waiting for you. Choi Da-jeong and Bae Geom-in are probably in the subspace.” He smiled at us.

“…you know a lot.”

When I clenched my fist, Seokhyun jumped out. However, when the man waved his hand lightly, Seokhyun’s figure disappeared through the wall.

What, is this a hallucination?

But wasn’t I wearing a mental resistance ring?

I pulled out the mithril blade and shotgun at the same time and aimed it at him.

“Is he dead?”

He spread his arms.

“Of course not. I don’t have that kind of powerful ability. I can only change things a little.”

It seems to be true that he was also caught up in an apocalypse because I heard something similar from the nurse. They both said that they didn’t have absolute power.

“Are you really a programmer?”

“Yes. I am the main programmer of Survival Life.”

You finally showed up, huh?