Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

The paralyzing darts used by the goblins had an immediate effect of paralysing the body of its target. However, that’s not all it could offer; if the poison had been a little bit stronger, it could also cause the target to have some difficulty in breathing. The one used by goblins simply couldn’t reach that stage because of the goblins’ simplistic approach to it.

“I was wondering where the poison for the darts came from…” And it turns out I could get it from this kind of frog.

I brought an old tank from my home and put the poison frog in it. It would certainly be more comfortable for the frog to live inside the tank rather than going outside to hunt its own food.

For its first meal, I caught a bug from the bush right in front of the entrance and put it on the tank. In a matter of seconds, the frog stretched its tongue and gobbled up the bug. It seems like the guy has a pretty good appetite, just like me.

“I feed you and you give me your poison. It’s a good trade, isn’t it?”

I’m not sure if the frog agreed with me or not. But when I nudged it with a branch, it didn’t secrete any poison.

“Hm… It must be tired from the countless touch of the goblins. Get a good rest for now.”

I plucked some moss from the surrounding area, put it inside the tank for its bedding, and gave it a bowl of water. With this much, the frog should be able to live well.

By the way, I haven’t checked what else was in the pocket of the goblins.

“Hmm, isn’t this is a guaca fruit?”

It was the first time I saw the fruit in person. There’s also plenty of buds with vegetable oil.

Wait… This fruit cut looks fresh. It smells fine too.

“Seems like it hasn’t been long since they picked it up…”

If so, that means the fruit could be found around the vicinity of the cave.

And as the rest of the pocket was nothing but rubbish, I swiftly prepared my equipment and went out. I followed the footsteps of the goblins in reverse and carefully walked through the forest.

“If I use the cave as the centre, it seems those guys were walking from the west.”

If I go a little bit further, I should be in the vicinity of the valley.

After several minutes of walking, I found a small spring nestled in a majestic landscape.

“Wow.”

For some reason, I felt like deer and fairy would come to quench their thirst from this very spring. It was just that fantastic.

Next to it, a rather small tree with fruits hanging from its branch was growing.

「Guaca Tree」

“It looks like plum.”

I stretched my hand towards the fruit as I wondered what the taste would be like. However, as soon as I ate it, a bitter taste spread through my tongue.

It’s not edible at all!

「Active Buff: Health recovery」

「Some health has been restored due to the effect of guaca fruit」

The ‘health’ mentioned in the text means physical health. Afterall, it would make no sense if mental health could be restored through the effect of these fruits.

“Hmm…

I think it would be better to grind the guaca fruit and turn it into an ointment rather than ingesting it directly. It would be much better to make it into a potion though. But the problem is, I don’t know how to create potions.

“For now, let’s just turn it into an ointment.”

I harvested all the available fruits and put them in my backpack. Now, all I need are vegetable oils.

Looking around the spring, I quickly spotted it. It had a very strange appearance which I had never seen before on Earth.

“Ah right! This place is a fantasy world, isn’t it?”

The plant had a very long stem with a big bud on the end of it. Oil was seeping through the bud when I touched it.

With this finding, at least I didn’t have to worry about oil.

“If I only pluck the bud, I think It’ll die quickly.”

With that in mind, I took out a small gardening shovel from my backpack and carefully dug up the roots and then put the whole thing in the backpack.

“Now, I’ll be able to create many ointments…”

I moved towards the spring and then lightly scooped the water with my hands before sniffing it. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. I didn’t even see anything dirty on it either. Thinking I probably wouldn’t die from it, I gulped the water in my hand at once. What came next was a cool refreshing sensation in my throat.

“This place is pretty close to the cave.”

With this finding, the fear of dying from not having enough drinking water had disappeared from my thoughts. It was such a great feeling to be honest.

Reassured, I recorded the location of the spring on the map.

And when I turned around to leave, I flinched.

A bird, which I couldn’t identify whether it was an owl or anything else, sat on a tree nearby.

“Uh… You look cool, you know?”

It probably wouldn’t transform into an owlbear, right?

Then, I quickly returned to the cave and started to make my new bed.

.

.

.

The cave finally had a door!

I ordered it in a hurry after the incident with the bone creeper. But as the shape of the entrance was crooked, the door was not symmetrical at all.

“Though, it doesn’t matter much since I’m the only one who sees it anyway.”

I moved the infrared detector away as an urge of wanting to install a CCTV blossomed in my heart. If I had it, I would be able to look outside with the door closed. However, to have such a system installed, a constant supply of power would be required. It would only be possible to have it after the solar panel was installed.

“Only one week left before the generator arrived.”

Only after the generator comes that the cave could be said to be complete.

I proceed to put two layers of floor mat I bought from the interior shop on the ground before putting a mattress on top of it. Because the floor was raised thanks to the mortar construction, even if it rained, there was little chance of flooding.

“I still have to dig a drain, though.”

Putting my mind into action, I shoveled hard around the cave. After It was finished, I brought all the daily necessities and weapons I had bought from my home to the cave.

With that, the cave was 80% done.

“Looks like I can live comfortably here.”

After 22 days, I really have to do it.

If it’s not here, I don’t think I would be able to sleep peacefully once the zombie apocalypse began. Afterall, all kinds of metal would be broken and you would never know when the zombies would attack. Moreover, the dark at night would make running away even more difficult. Turn a flashlight on and the zombies would certainly love it and chase you until you die.

“Now that I think about it, it’s definitely hell difficulty.” At the launch of Survival Life, no one broke through the tutorial even after several days passed. However, later on, the difficulty became lower as patches were implemented. I hope it was also the case in reality.

I returned to my house, ate lunch, and watched the news as well as the internet forum.

“There’s no news about the shootout.”

Just what the hell happened to the deserter?

The news had completely disappeared as if it was nothing but a dream. It was very odd.

When I looked up the thread created by the Awakeners, it seemed that they had all moved to one site.

“This is a site preparing for the end…” It was classified neatly into the likes of material preparation bulletin boards, tip bulletin boards, and strategy bulletin boards. The problem was that the correct information was not being uploaded at all.

The information released on the tip bulletin board were all posted by those who like to fuck other people over. On the video bulletin board, almost nothing was posted. Meanwhile, on the free bulletin board, there were a lot of people who were voicing their frustration at all the information which was posted on the sites.

―Those people who post on the tip bulletin board, just what kind of bastard are they? Just which one is right? Zombies reacting to light or not?

ㄴReact.

ㄴBut, didn’t they say zombie didn’t respond to light on the information posted today? They say something about their eyeballs being contaminated by spores or something.

ㄴTrust me, I’m a stagnant water who had played the game for 500 hours.

ㄴBro… You could only become a stagnant water once you play for more than 2,000 hours.

ㄴFuck you, you son of a bitch!

Something like this…

The truth is, zombies in the early stages could distinguish not only light but also human movement. They were able to do so because the spores haven’t completely taken over the body just yet. However, as time went on and all kinds of nutrient sources were consumed, the dominance of the spores would become stronger and the zombie would lose sight.

Although, their other senses would be enhanced as a trade.

There were even posts that had more than a thousand comments fighting over the difficulty. At a glance, the difficulty of the initial tutorial was the topic.

“There are so many patches, it’s just confusing.” There were only a handful of people who had respectable game time on Survival Life. Most people were only playing for a few dozen hours before quitting. So, no matter how good their memories were, they wouldn’t be able to remember all the difficulties.

It could be easily resolved if a stagnant water with proper information came in, but there seemed to be no such person.

“I. Love. Gim. Bap.”

When I searched for my ID, just like before, nothing but swear words came out.

―Are you sure that bastard has videos? Didn’t people say he was playing alone on the latter stage of the game?

ㄴThere was definitely a video on MeTube, but it was all deleted a few months ago.

ㄴFuck! Then, there’s no other place with his video?

ㄴIt’s hella annoying.

ㄴBy the way, what are you going to do when you guys meet I Love Gimbap?

ㄴWell, I don’t know? Maybe saying thank you for coming to my house?

ㄴLOLOLOLOLOL.

As expected, I should hold back from sharing any information.

By the way, why are you all swearing so much?

When I looked around the free bulletin board, there were people who introduced themselves along with the screenshots of their game time.

420 hours…

From my point of view, that much of game time was only the game time of someone who barely graduated from being a newbie, but for these people, it’s a little different. And not surprisingly, his popularity skyrocketed.

―This is an authentication shot. I had broken through the tutorial and even caught goblins, kobolds, and orcs. Werewolves were too difficult so I couldn’t catch them. There’s also a video where I played with I Love Gimbap.

Sorry? Did you say you have a video of you playing with me?

When I looked at the comments, I felt itchy down to my ass.

The poster wrote a thread saying he would play the video on MeTube without even saying his ID. I guess the reason he put it on MeTube even though there’s a video bulletin board was to make some money.

“Even a small amount of information is huge right now.”

And as soon as the live broadcast on MeTube went on, a lot of people swarmed towards it.

By the way, just what kind of video do you have with me?

When I finally appeared on the screen, I unknowingly sighed as I massaged my head.

It was because the me on the video was only wearing a panty while showing skin painted in pink.

“It’s really embarrassing.”

However, my embarrassment didn’t last long as people who were crazier than me finally appeared on the video. No matter what I did, I wasn’t confident enough to catch up to the craziness of Rabbit Pwincess and Duck Buttock Goes Kwek Kwek.

However, when I saw the comments, I was surprised by the praise thrown by people towards us.

―Woah! Look, they are the real stagnant waters.

―Goddamn! Their stagnant water aura is overflowing.

―The majesty of 5,000 hours of game time hahahaha.

The video showed the zombies that had escaped from me and were filling the street. All of them were large and ferocious because they were the ones who had consumed nutrients and succeeded in evolving.

We called them ghouls.

―Wah, do we have to fight with those guys, too?

―Shit, I don’t think I would be able to catch even one without dying.

―No, those zombies are evolved zombies. They’re the ones who ate things at the supermarket and evolved.

―That’s right. Zombies like that wouldn’t appear in the beginning.

―Then, are you saying that zombies can even evolve? Doesn’t that mean it’s a losing game for humans?

The chat window was already full of wailing and worries.

Some of them did not even understand why the night was so dark.

―But isn’t it too dark? I can’t see anything.

―All the people at the power plant have become zombies, that’s the setting as to why there’s no light, as there is no electricity.

―Your words are too rude…

―Too rude my ass. Don’t tell me you’re preparing for the end by just piling up ramen and spam?

-Oop!

-Huh, how did you know?

– Don’t you even think about the corrosive disease? When all the contents are spilled, will you lick it up?

– Two more people who will be eaten by zombies hahahaha

– Then what? What should I prepare?

The whole chat window was a melting pot of chaos. I’m really worried about how they would survive, seriously.

“Well, it’s their business not mine.”

What I wanted to check was this person’s ID.

I had helped a lot of newbies to the point it was impossible to remember who he was, but It should be possible to remember if I knew his ID.

I kept watching the video, but then, the video stopped just when the me on the video started to run through the zombies.

—?

―What? Is that it?

―Ah, hello. This is the owner of this video. Zombieman. Are you all well prepared?

The owner finally appeared.

He cleared his voice and paused the chat window.

―I won’t talk much. I’ve been playing Survival Life for about 420 hours. I also have 5 videos. It was taken in the beginning of the tutorial, and there is a part where I Love Gimbap gave me a strategy.

He paused for a moment.

If he unpauses the chat window here, I bet he would get a huge response.

―The reason I revealed this is because I was preparing for the end by myself, so it was difficult. It costs a lot of money and there are many difficulties. So, I’m only releasing the video to ten people. The price for each person will be 10 million won. If you are interested, please message me, I would then inform you of the account you could wire your money to.

The live stream ended there.

However, on the MeTube system, the chat window wouldn’t disappear even when the live stream ends.

Then, the chat continued at a very rapid pace.

“…Most of them are insults.”

Such a violent reaction was understandable. Afterall, people who swarmed all the way here would have expected to get some useful information.

However, the person who turned on the broadcast acted for his own benefit. He looked for a sponsor after showing the public he indeed had the information.

There was no information greater than his at this point, unless the other stagnant waters suddenly popped up.

“Should I upload a video too?”

If I upload it now, I’m certain it would become the most popular video on MeTube. The money I would get would be huge too.

But it would also attract too many aggro. The thought of thousands of people re-selling my videos was terrifying enough.

Let’s just stop thinking about this.

“The money I have now is enough.”

It’s not insanely much, but it’s enough to quietly prepare for the end.

Anyway, I need to find that guy’s ID.

The period when I was using pink-painted skin and only wore panties was very short.

If I narrow down my memory of that period only…

Found it.

「Help me」

Ah… This guy was a freaking troll!