Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Users who had played Survival Life always had this question.

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‘Just from where did these monsters, items, and labyrinths come from?’ Even though it was nothing but a game, at least a minimum setting was required to know the game better.
Unfortunately, there was no such setting listed on the homepage.
When the curious users made an inquiry about it, there’s also no response whatsoever from the developer team.

The weird thing is, while there’s no background setting regarding the earlier question, there’s actually a hidden setting about it in Survival Live.
However, until now, no one knows what kind of setting it was since all the books found in dungeons and labyrinths were written in an unknown language.
But for some reason, there was an aspect that surprisingly stimulated the desire of people to collect it.
Though, it was only me and Survivor 1 who managed to collect it.

“…” I entered the labyrinth and looked into the dark space in front of me.
In fact, this place was not even a proper labyrinth.
The deepest part of this place, or the finish line for the speedrun event, was actually not that deep.
Moreover, compared to the real labyrinth, the monsters here were stupid, there are too few traps installed around, and the road was too simple.
In short, this place could be said as nothing but a simulation that was made to prepare the users for the real labyrinths.

The reason I participated in this event was of course because just like that one guy said in the Auction House, the reward given for completing the event in first place was quite sweet.
The rewards will be a unique item which couldn’t be obtained through any normal means such as through Store or through the loot dropped from hunting.
Naturally, because the name of this event was ‘speedrun’, the shorter someone’s records are, the better the reward.

“I have to get it by all means.” I murmured.
In preparation for this event, I deliberately took off my stab-proof suit, backpack, and the helmet in order to make my body lighter.
I’ll just trust in my skills, items and run with everything I have.
Though, amongst all my skills, there’s some skill which was quite useless in this event, namely the Survival Instinct and Fighting Instinct skill.
Their effect was a potent one of course, but their aftereffect would badly affect my speed.
If only I had more solar apples with me now, the aftereffect wouldn’t matter much.
However, since I already consumed all of my stock, I didn’t have any on me at the moment.

“The aftereffect of Fighting Instinct is still quite fine, but the aftereffect of Survival Instinct is a bit…” I sighed.
It’s still a useful skill though, but only if I managed to time it right and crossed the finish line before the skill wore off and the aftereffect came.

I took a deep breath and tried to not think about anything else.
From now on, I will only run through while relying only on night vision buff, the Terrain Detection skill, my Perception stats and my experience from the game.

“Let’s go.” I lightly kicked the floor.
This event labyrinth was separated into 4 sections.
The first section was a long and straight corridor infested with zombies.
It’s so narrow to the point it’s difficult to move past the grouping zombies.
Even though it sounds simple, people who entered this kind of labyrinth for the first time in their life would surely be pressured by the sheer amount of the zombies coupled with the dark surroundings.

“Heup!” I swung the long knife at the zombie standing in the middle of the dark corridor.
Instantly, the cold metal cut through the rotting flesh on the neck of the zombie and lopped off its head.
The zombies in this labyrinth were nothing but a sandbag with an extremely suppressed ability to track organic matter.
Though, it didn’t mean that everyone could do the thing I just did.

“Slot 1.” I put the long knife into the slot while I keep on running.
The cheat-like capability of the slot shines brightly here.
I could easily call anything stored in the slot without stopping.
I called slot 0 and lit the dark corridor in front of me with a flash.
I stomped on the footsteps floating in various places in the puddle and crossed over to the other side.

“It feels good.” I smirked.
As a result of checking the video in advance, my speed was much faster than when I did this event back then.
After all, at that time, I was still a noob.

As I walked down the hallway, the space suddenly became wider.
A lot of zombies were swarming in the slightly wider corridor.
Even though it looks like there’s no way to pass through except by fighting your way through, there is no need for me to fight against all of them here.
With the right method, you can pass through this place safely without fighting.
In the game, I named this hall ‘disco club’.
It was because the place was slightly tinted with psychedelic lighting, and it looks like the zombies were dancing when they swarmed.

As I passed through the zombies, they stretched out their arms.

Growl-!!

Growl-!!

Their momentum was still quite fast, but their reaction time was very slow.
I danced among the zombies to pass through and occasionally swung my long knife to get points.

“I should’ve done the cossack dance here…” It could be said that dancing amongst the reinforced ghouls, rather than the ordinary zombies, was the true definition of being a stagnant water.
But let’s not do it since this is reality, and my life is precious.

“Heup! Heup!” After blowing the heads of the last two zombies on my way, my surroundings changed.
Instead of a solid stone wall, a mud wall surrounded me.
From now on, it was the realm of goblins: the Wildlands.

This place was so wide to the point it was hard to think that this place was inside a labyrinth.
Moreover, the ceiling wasn’t closed like the earlier section.
The ceiling was open, and you could see stars shining in the sky above. 

I could see goblins gathering around a bonfire in a group of three some distance away from me.
I quickly rushed to them and kicked the bonfire.

Kiek-!!

Kieeekk-!!

One of them covered the bonfire and screeched at me.
The reason I kicked the bonfire was to extinguish the fire.
Once it was extinguished, the goblins wouldn’t chase after me because they had a bad vision at night.

Without killing the goblins, I ran once again.
While I traversed the Wildlands, I kicked quite a lot of bonfires.

“Cough… Cough…!” I stopped right before the entrance of the goblin’s nest because I saw a trap often used by goblins.
If someone stepped on it while running, their ankle would instantly get wrapped by some rope-like things before they got paralyzed because the thorns in the trap were coated in paralyzing poison.
Well, once you see it, it’s actually quite easy to avoid it.
You just need to jump over the trap.

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When I sprinted as fast as I could after jumping through the trap, I heard some goblin noises from my back.
It seems like they decided to not pursue me.
Thank you very much.

But suddenly, I saw a goblin coming through the entrance while carrying a quite large pouch, considering the size of its body.
Which means, it was a golden goblin.
I jumped while running slightly and kicked the guy in the stomach.

Kiek-!!

“Open portal!” I said as soon as I took the large pouch off the goblin’s waist and threw it in.
As I was about to close the portal, a slice of solar apple suddenly rolled out.

Did the scarabs find this? What a great timing, I was feeling quite exhausted right now.
(E/n scarabs saves the day)

“Thanks.” I swung my hand inside the portal to take the rest of the slices before closing it and continued running.
Meanwhile, my mouth was busy savouring the crunchy and refreshing taste of the solar apple.

「Effect: Stamina Recovery」

「Stamina is restored through the effect of the solar apple」

If a lot of solar apples were consumed within a short amount of time, the effect would be reduced again and again to the point where it feels like it doesn’t activate at all.
I experienced it first-hand at the apocalypse D-day.
However, that doesn’t matter right now, as I would finish this labyrinth before I was exhausted to that point.

When I was about to leave the Wildlands, I could hear voices of two people.
One was quite high pitched, while the other one was low. 

“This is the land of the goblins…”

“Be careful!”

I was quite surprised when I saw them.
For a moment, I thought that my progress wasn’t as fast as I feel.
But then I remembered.
For someone to reach the last section, which was the finish line, they had to go through 3 sections first.
However, there’s no set order of sections which they’ll appear at when they enter.
For example, If I left the labyrinth now then re-enters it, there’s a chance I will start from just anywhere between the Corridor of Death, the Wildlands or the Silent Forest.
Of course, there was also the possibility of meeting people who had just entered one of those sections, like what just happened to me now.

“What the?”

“Huh?”

The boy and girl​ stopped by the tree.
It seems like they sensed me.

From their figure and face, I don’t think they were Korean.
Were they in Korea when D-day happened and somehow became an awakener? I wanted to ask, but sadly, I don’t have the time.
Therefore, I just passed by both of them.

“Something just passed by! Wha-what is that!”

“Maybe it’s a hobgoblin!”

Sorry guys, last time I checked, I was still human.

I ran and entered the Silent Forest—the realm of the kobolds.
It was a gloomy space full of swamps and fog that kobolds loved.
An obstacle which was different from those found in the Corridor of Death or the Wildlands stood in my way.

If someone just ran through the swamp ignorantly, they would fall into a swamp and get caught by kobolds who hide in the bushes.
Once they were caught, well… the only thing waiting for them is death.

But passing through this swamp wasn’t difficult at all for me.

“See you later!” I smirked.
After the speedrun event ends, I would have to fight against kobolds in reality until I was sick of it.
Therefore, there’s no need to fight them here.
I quickly broke through the obstacles while kicking the kobolds and headed for the deepest part.

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“Huh, huh.” I finally arrived in the deepest part of this event labyrinth.
However, it was not an actual end, but a temporary space created for the event.
All users who had reached this part had to enter their name here.
Their name will also be engraved in this place.
Naturally, the rewards would be given in this place too.
I looked through the books covered in light on top of the altar and the number 00:38:45 was waiting for me.

“38 minutes.
Whoa…” I plopped down on the floor with a smile plastered on my face.
As a result of reviewing the video, I was able to clear this place in less than one hour.
I’m quite sure nobody is going to be able to break my records.

“It was only achievable because I was well-prepared.” Knowing the route in advance, using the appropriate skills, and the help of the solar apples as well as the shadow grapes was the integral factor to my success.
If it weren’t for those things, I would never have been able to clear this place under the 1 hour mark.

It feels like I was cheating, but what can I do? This world was an unfair place in the first place.

I wrote something in the column marked as 1st.
Instead of I Love Gimbap, I used a new name…

“This is fine.” Now it’s my turn to get my rewards.
As I was about to catch my breath, a thick pouch appeared next to the book.
It was a quality leather pouch which was miles better than the ugly ones the goblins carried.

“Is this real?” When I opened it, I found a scroll and a pair of leather shoes.
First, I inspected the shoes.

「Leather Shoes: Vitality +2, Dexterity +2

The skill “Light Gait” will be automatically applied when the shoes is equipped」

“Oh, this is good!” Two stats items were still rare at this stage, and only a handful of people who were crazy enough to look for it would have it, just like Rapwi.
Moreover, I liked the Light Gait skill very much.
It reduces stamina consumption considerably.

“It works well for traveling.” I would be able to march several tens of kilometers far as if I was just going around the neighborhood.
However, it was not very effective for upper body-oriented labor.

“The design isn’t bad either…” I put the shoes into the portal and opened the scroll.

「Eyes of Truth: With 10 points, you will be able to see the ID of person you wanted」

“Well…” It’s a bit ambiguous.
Does it work only on people in real life or can it work on people in the Auction House? Then, what about people who didn’t have an ID because they never played the game? Guess I had no choice but to do some research myself.

As I packed all my belongings and climbed onto the circular ornament in front of the altar, the light enveloped me.
When I came to my senses, I was already in the parking lot where I entered the portal from.
When I looked at the place where the portal was located, it was already gone.

I went back to my hideout and opened the Auction House.
As I expected, it was still quiet.

“They are probably busy running as hard as they can right now…” It will take at least an hour for them to finish the labyrinth, so I could use a break in the meantime, maybe resting in the forest hideout is good enough.

I went into the cave and cooked dinner.
I cooked some rice in a stone pot, scraped it off, and boiled the miso soup with it.
The savory taste was excellent as it was a mixture of nurungji and miso soup.

“This is really delicious.” When I take out one of the ripe kimchi out of the fermentation bottle it becomes more delicious. 

Right now, I was the happiest man alive.

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The speedrun event was attracting a lot of people’s attention.
After all, even if someone didn’t have a great fighting skill, it’s an opportunity to get something good if they had a suitable unique ability.
In particular, a lot of awakeners with mobility-oriented unique abilities, such as blink and stealth types, were very excited.
They insisted that the one who will get 1st place will be among them.

The Auction House, as always, was a mess.

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-Wait a minute, as someone who is more than level 15, you didn’t even know the structure of the labyrinth? Have you ever tried it before?

-hehe

-hehe

-What are you laughing at, you idiots?

– Then do you know about it?

-Actually, I don’t know either.

-Lol

Because it was an anonymous forum, the delivery of accurate information couldn’t be expected.
When a great record came out of a speedrun, people on the forum spit it as nothing but bullshit without even checking the facts.
Even if it turns out to be correct, there’s nothing to refrain them from doing that.

Anonymity was just that powerful.

No matter how they enjoyed Survival Life, everyone in the Auction House was at least a semi-stagnant water.
The reason they couldn’t call themselves stagnant waters was because the difference between them and the three original stagnant waters was too high.

-Only the following three persons are recognized as Stagnant Water: Rabbit Pwincess, Duck Buttock Goes Kwek Kwek and Survivor1.

-How about Gimbap?

-That bastard is just that bastard.

-LOL

Among the people, I Love Gimbap was a good object to mock.
The reason was simple.
They thought that since Gimbap didn’t reveal himself just like Rapwi or Duck Buttock, he must have gotten a bad ability.
Though his presence wasn’t as weak as Survivor 1, he must have been able to survive by hiding, so people were mocking him as a coward.
However, that’s not the only reason.
People were also still angry about the fact that he didn’t share his videos to the world.

-You dare to live well alone?

Though no one said so, there were probably quite a lot of people who thought so.

Anyway, at the Auction House, I Love Gimbap was treated as public enemy #1.
If he appeared in the Auction House, he would instantly experience just how colourful Korean curse words are.
It was all possible because the Auction House guarantees anonymity.

Anyway, the reason the speedrun event attracted quite a lot of people’s attention was because in this apocalyptic world, there were only a handful of things which were as fun as the event.
Most people thought that they should enjoy something like this to the fullest by either participating or just praising someone who got a good record or making fun of someone who did poorly.
It was an event which could take someone’s life if they’re not careful.
However, for the spectators, it was an irrelevant fact. 

-We just need to eat popcorn while waiting for the one who gets the first place.

-But there’s no popcorn…

-There’s only a lukewarm cola.

While people were chatting at the Auction House, users who had decided to try the speedrun event finally came back.
The comment section, which was messy as it is, turned even more chaotic as both real information and rumours came in.

-What kind of bastard can clear it in just 56 minutes? Is it really possible to do it in under one hour?

-You bastard, do you believe in that?

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-The fucking kobolds are the problem.
Those bastards live in a very dangerous swamp, so I spend all my time there.

-Can’t you just use your blink?

-What good is blink when there’s no vision at all?

…

-Woah… a few people just died.
They thought it was a goblin’s den and went in a group.

-You crazy bastard! Hahahahahahah! That portal could only be entered by one person at a time! Stop lying!

– So what’s going on? Is it finished yet? Who is the 1st place?

-People who had cleared the labyrinth, tell us the truth, how long is your record?

-It’s 1 hour and 52 minutes.
The kobold forest was a real challenge.

-When will the rankings come out?

-I heard that the ranking page will only appear when all the portals are closed.

-By the way, did you guys meet foreigners in the labyrinth?

-Ah right! I met some Japanese people.
The guys I met spoke Korean so well, so at first, I thought they were Korean.

-That’s worrying…

-However, the Japanese can’t play Seola, right?

-Hey! Hey! The ranking page is up.

When the information came, people immediately went to the ranking page almost at the same time.
Then, they lost all of their words. 

「1st place: That Bastard 

Clear time: 0:38:45」

-?

-What?

-Is that real?

-If it’s That Bastard, is it I Love Gimbap?

-That one is I Love Gimbap’s record?

-Is it really possible to clear it in under one hour? Everyone who had tried it said it’s impossible, though? Is it bugged?

-This is legit information.
I saw it too.

Soon after, all hell broke loose in the Auction House.