Stagnant Water of Apocalypse - Chapter 23

“It was very difficult to find glasses without any metals on the joints.” Sooyeon said as she tapped on the new retro-style glasses fitted on her face.

“Ah. There’s metal parts in the joints, huh? I forgot about that.”

“That’s so. The optician said, ‘Why are you trying to find outdated glasses like that?’ and I said to him, ‘It’s beause i like the old style’”

Just like what she said, Sooyeon’s smiling face exudes the 80s vibe. It was so different from the chic looks she sported back when we met in front of the department store with Hyung-jun hyung.

“That glasses looks good on you.”

“Is that so? That’s a relief.” she subtly smiled. “By the way, after our last meeting, I looked around the internet again. It turns out that this matter was a lot more serious than I initially thought. I found that a lot of superhumans have appeared these days… are those things really true? And I also found out about the Silver Dragon Meteor.”

“Ah, Silver Dragon? If I remembered correctly, around two days ago, it split because of Jupiter’s gravitational force? I don’t know its current location, but I’m sure it’s on its way to Earth.”

Sooyeon’s face hardened after hearing my words. She then moved her hand to fanned her face. “Whew…”

At one point, Mikyung’s head which earlier popped out from her shop’s door had disappeared.

“Anyway, because of that, I couldn’t sleep all night looking for information. Those ‘Awakeners’ people… they are preparing for the end more systematically than I thought.”

“If you know that the end is coming, can you just stand still? Look at me, I do everything I can to increase my chance to survive.” I said.

“One of the pieces of information I read says that the end of the world is almost certainly going to happen. If it’s only one or two people who said it, I will simply brush it off as a lie, but thousands of people… now that’s worrying. Should I prepare for it or not?”

“Well, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Haha… that’s right. I came here after my shift in the hospital. I also turned my phone off so I won’t be called there again.” She shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

“The emergency room will be fine, right?”

“Even without me, the emergency room can still function perfectly. Anyway… I’m currently preparing for the apocalypse. While I’m doing it, I thought it would be good if I greet people who are also preparing like me.”

Ah, that’s why she came to me. Well, even a small connection like meeting through an acquaintance in front of a hardware store could be a valuable relationship in the apocalypse.

Sooyeon held her hand towards me.

“I am a doctor, so if I managed to survive, I would be of great use. Let’s make a deal. If Seongho helps me, I will also help Seongho.”

“It’s a deal.”

“Not a bad deal, right? it will be hard to find first aid in the apocalypse, afterall.”

Her words were right. And since that’s what I was planning to do to begin with, there was nothing wrong with helping each other. This kind of give and take relationship was certainly better than a relationship where you just one-sidedly helped someone.

I moved my hands towards her and grasped her hands with a smile in my mouth.

Then, after shaking it a few times. Sooyeon showed interest towards the rented motorcycle.

“Isn’t it impossible to drive a motorcycle because of the corrosive disease?”

“I haven’t got any chances to ride a motorcycle, So, if the world is going to end, I thought that at least I gotta try it.”

In fact, I intended to mainly use this motorcycle in the forest aside from using it in the few first hours of the apocalypse to loot the places which hold supplies I need.

Hearing my words, Sooyeon’s expression turned solemn.

“I think it would be romantic to ride it on the coastal road. Though, It would be impossible to do so if the world ended. Anyway, Seongho, see you next time.”

“Yes. Please do your best to survive.”

At my remark, Sooyeon smiled and left in her red sports car.

Now, I have to do what I had to do.

I left the Tamas—which had been with me for a long time—and decided to go to the shop with the SUV.

But before that,

“Why do I need so many things…” I made a list of all the necessary things to make homemade preserved food.

Canned food was unquestionably the most fitting long-term preserved food in the current situation. Smoked meat and dried fish were also the same as it could be stored for a long time. However, if someone took out those foods in an apocalyptic world, people would certainly think it’s odd.

Where did that person get such a thing? How did the metal can survive the corrosive disease? Such questions would arise in the minds of people who saw it.

That’s why I would need non-canned foods with me in case I met another group of survivors. Homemade preserved food was one of the options.

Anyway, in the chaotic apocalyptic world, I had no choice but to move actively in order to complete quests, events and earn points. Though, there’s still no guarantee that all elements from Survival Life would become reality. However, it was best to prepare in advance so when it started, I would be ready.

“I should keep all of these things on the second floor for now.” I would only bring it to the forest once the shelter in the forest was finished.

As I was thinking about this and that, Mikyung’s head popped out once again from the door of her store.

“Ahjussi, are you acquainted with the emergency room doctor?”

I guess that’s what she’s curious about.

“I met her for the first time not long ago when I met Hyung-jun Hyung in front of the hardware store. We talked a bit about weapons to use in the apocalypse.” I replied to her while busily noting down what I need to do in my notes.

“Then? What’s the conclusion of those talks?”

“I told them that a normal baseball bat is a no go and suggested they order a weapon made from reinforced plastic from a foreign site.”

“Hehe, I bought that too.” Mikyung said as he walked out from her store.

Mikyung brought out an American Smasher… a black baseball bat made of reinforced plastic with studded things etched all over it. That weapon was very popular indeed.

“When I contacted the importer, they said that they had ordered a lot of these. So, the ahjussis in my group bought a lot of them.”

On the other hand, it seems that the Indian War Club had few orders, so if someone wants to buy it, they have to wait for quite some time for the importers to get them.

Mikyung leaned towards me and looked at my notes. I had to be blunt, looking at her leaning on me like this, she looked so cute like a squirrel who watched me while I was cooking.

“A homemade preserved food? we’re making it too.”

“Is that so? Well, it’s only natural.”

At this point, everyone should have known about how to make preserved foods as many survivalists had created a complete wiki about it. I was also someone who benefited from that.

In fact, the wiki was so popular amongst the people who knew about the impending zombie apocalypse because it was one of the few foods that can survive for long span of time, as the best type of preserved food, which was canned food, couldn’t be stockpiled because of the corrosive disease.

Mikyung turned her gaze from the notes and stared at my forearm.

“Wow, Ahjussi, your veins are bulging here.”

“Well, it’s because I lost a lot of weight.”

I replied to her while writing things on my notes. However, moments later, I felt something strange on my skin. When I turned my head, I saw Mikyung touching the veins with the tip of her finger.

“…”

A moment of silence passed between us. Then, moments later, as if she had noticed my gaze, Mikyung quickly ran away into the beauty salon.

Well… I’m not really bothered if you touch it… But, oh well.

I folded the notebook and put it in my pocket. Glass bottles and all the necessary things for making homemade preserved food could also be ordered online, but they would be too bulky.

“It’s also possible that it broke on the way… So, it’s better to go and buy it by myself.”

While in the store, I should also buy a vacuum packing machine. It will be winter soon in the forest, so if I stored the meat with a vacuum packing machine, I would be able to store the meat for quite a long time.

“At least, I could store it until early spring.” Around the time spring arrives in the forest, winter would have come to Korea. So, I would be able to store that meat in Korea. It won’t last long, but it will be good enough until I learn how to make smoked or dry goods.

Suddenly, I heard Dingo barking from the second floor. I guess he was worried as I went away for so long.

I climbed to the second floor, fed Dingo and set off to the grocery store.

.

.

.

Homemade preserved food was actually not a food for long-term storing. Its shelf life was considerably shorter than any regular canned food, around 1 or 2 years. Nevertheless, the reason why I made it was because of the forest’s climate.

“It’s going to be winter soon, but I also need to make a vegetable garden soon…” Even though it would be cold and probably snowy, there were quite a lot of crops that could grow even in those conditions. For example, potato, lettuce, spinach, onions, etc.

In the end of long deliberation, however, I decided to put it on hold because I didn’t know what winter would be like in the forest. If I make a vegetable garden, and snow actually piled up over the garden once the winter came, wouldn’t it be ridiculous?

It’s an easy problem to solve, however. I could just build a greenhouse.

“What if the winter is very long?” Just because right now, the season was the exact opposite to Korea, there’s no guarantee that it will continue to be so.

“I will need a lot of firewood.” and the reason for creating a new shelter had increased considerably.

In any case, vegetables that could provide me with various nutrients until spring came were needed.

By the way, making homemade preserved food was harder than I originally thought. There were a lot of things to worry about, such as temperature and air pressure.

Slowly, I proceed to cut ​​the cucumber into small pieces. The once spacious small living room was currently full of ingredients I bought at the mart.

While I was doing that, I saw that Dingo was showing an interest towards the peaches from the corner of my eyes.

“Uh-huh! It’s not something to be eaten right now.”

Woof! Woof!

As he has a great sense of smell, he must’ve smelled the heavenly sweet scent from the peaches. I tried to ignore his antics, but Dingo kept acting up by constantly rubbing his body towards me. In the end, I gave up and decided to give him one.

“It’s only one, okay? Only one.” When I sliced the peach, Dingo’s tail moved wildly as if it was a propeller.

“At this rate you will fly, you cute little fur ball!”

Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

Dingo quickly ate the peach before turning towards me once again and sent me a look of intense longing.

“No! This is something we will eat later.” I said as I showed my palm towards Dingo.

Seeing it, Dingo lowered his head and ceased all of his antics. It seems like he’s well aware of what my palm means by now. Maybe he thinks of me as the alpha of the group.

I continued to slice the fruits and vegetables before putting them inside the glass jar. It was difficult at first because I had to go through many trials and errors, but after doing it a few times, it was nothing but a simple repetition.

Once the jar is filled, I close it off with a plug before completely sealing it with a plastic wrapper.

As I was working, my ears were still wide open to the sounds coming from the TV. In the case that I heard news about unidentified monsters appearing, I’m going to ditch everything that I’m working on and immediately go to the monster’s location.

“It will be fine as long as the police didn’t arrive first…” News these days was filled with the public cursing the police and the government as they couldn’t properly respond to the sudden appearance of superhumans. I hope this time too, they won’t be able to react in a timely manner. Though, I also hoped that there’s no casualties from the civilian side.

“Hopefully there isn’t anyone who knows about it other than me…”

While I was slicing the fruit, I searched through the Awakened community forum on my laptop.

Hmm… Fortunately, there’s no news about the event whatsoever.

The free bulletin board, as always, was full with people who fought each other. The subject this time was whether apartments would collapse or not.

―You crazy bastards, don’t you know how sturdy apartments are these days? Does it make sense that it will collapse once the freaking corrosive disease spreads?

ㄴAren’t you the real crazy bastard here? Have you ever seen a tall building in Seola? There are none! They all fell and broke! (Note: Seola is short for Survival Live, do comment on whether should we just leave it as it is or change it into something like SL)

ㄴThat’s why I said that no matter how strong the corrosive disease is, and even if the reinforcing metal bars inside apartments disappeared, it doesn’t make sense for the whole apartment to crumble…

ㄴApartments are mainly reinforced by the concretes, not the reinforcing bars. The metal bars’ role is just as a base for the concrete to stick on and dry. Even if the reinforcing metal bars disappear, isn’t it natural that the concrete will support the weight of the apartments?

ㄴThen what about the new city?

ㄴWell, almost every building in the new city are apartments… All of them are going to collapse.

ㄴDamn, why the fuck did this information just come out now?

ㄴBut, it was said from a long time ago… You are the one who didn’t believe it you stupid bastard.

“Why do they like to swear so much?”

I could understand their state of mind to some extent though. As the apocalypse draws closer, they must have become impatient and react sensitively to any trivial matters. And cuss words were the best means to let it out.

Anyway, it seems that as people knew that there would be a lot of zombies in places like supermarkets and stores, they were curious whether they could loot around apartments or not.

Since apartments were heavily populated, it was possible to gain many things to loot from there. It may vary depending on the time of day, but there was a high possibility that there could be less zombies on each floor than what it should be.

“Though it was only possible to do so if the apartments didn’t collapse.” However, all apartments would collapse. I was certain of that as even after watching dozens of videos of the post-tutorial stage, I couldn’t see any tall buildings.

“I think the only things left would be around the 7th or 8th floor.” It could be said that aside from a commercial neighborhood building, everything will collapse. In other words, it was dangerous to be around tall buildings on the day of the zombie apocalypse.

Fortunately, there were no tall buildings around my place.

“Oh, here comes someone who knows about buildings.”

Amidst the fighting, someone who majored in architecture explained the reason why tall buildings would collapse in a detailed way. However, even after that, the awakeners could not give up their regret towards the collapsing apartments. Among them, there were people who said they were serious about robbing a private shooting range.

“Private shooting ranges are really mouth-watering places.”

But how are you going to store it? The moment the gun is exposed to air, the spores will attack it.

Then, one of the awakened came up with an idea.

-You just need to get a gun! If you dip it in an industrial oil, you can use it without any problem.

ㄴIs it really possible?

ㄴYou mean if a metal is covered in oil, the spores wouldn’t be able to destroy it?

ㄴBut, when can I use the gun?

ㄴNo one knows.

ㄴMaybe I Love Gimbab knows?

ㄴAh… that bastard.

“About six months to a year.”

It’s not only me who knows about it. If you were someone who often saw my broadcast, you would naturally be aware of this fact.

So, even if the storing method using the industrial oil mentioned worked, the gun would be still unusable for at least 6 months. And if someone who stored it like that died in the meantime, it’s just useless.

Anyway, the method itself was pretty good. It’s not of much use to me, but it seemed like something the awakeners would try.

The question was, where will they get the gun…

“Isn’t it almost impossible to break into a private shooting range?” However, it seems like if a few superhumans set their mind to it, they could easily outsmart a private security company or even the police.

When I hit refresh to see more comments, what appeared on my screen was only a notification which said the post has been deleted.

“Are they really going to do this?” To me, the act of deleting the post means that they are really going to do it, and they don’t want any more people to know about how to do it.

“I need a gun, too.” Going abroad to buy it was out of the question as it would take too much time. It was better to use those times to prepare. It was more convenient to use the chaos on the day of the outbreak and loot the nearby police station.

Aside from taking advantage of the chaos that would spread on the day of the outbreak, I also had another chance to procure a firearm, which wqs through the Russian fishing boat event which would happen in a few days.

Hopefully, I will get a good number of bullets and guns from it. The military base was also mouth-watering, but it’s too dangerous.

“There’s an infantry regiment nearby.” it’s likely that they would experience extreme chaos as well on the d-day. Afterall, the number of soldiers who will turn into zombies wouldn’t be only a few. Moreover, no matter how trained the soldiers are, it would be difficult for them to fight against the zombies in the beginning. Because the zombies in the beginning didn’t look like zombies in movies.

“To be exact, they’re closer to a madman, rather than a zombie.”

Will the superiors issue an order to fire?

And could the soldiers shoot towards the civilians-turned-zombies that attack them?

“I think there will be quite a lot of soldiers who choose to run away.” Even so, it would still be difficult even if I took that opportunity to loot some guns there.

However, if I did not give up and wait, the opportunity would surely come.

Just like in Survival Life.