Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Wood Elves.

It was the true identity of the stag beetles hidden under the veil of their curse. It was a race that currently occupied the forest of the Ruat Kingdom. Their appearance was quite different from what Geom-in originally imagined. They had dark skin, strangely long ears, slit eyes, and tattoos all over the body. Their warlike attitude also disappointed Geom-in deeply.

At any rate, the stagnant waters team recognized the need to reach out to them. All that was needed was a flag; a white flag, symbolizing peace.

However, after hearing the explanation from the Chief Stag Beetle that came with them, Seokhyun insisted that they shouldn’t do it.

“We won, so why are we the ones waving the white flag? I don’t wanna.”

“No, it’s not that we won, it’s just that they were beaten up during a confrontation. They ran away.”

“That’s a win in my dictionary. Anyway, I don’t want to do it.”

“You tell Seongho that.”

“What should we use as the flagpole?” Seokhyun’s attitude took a turn as soon as Seongho’s name was mentioned.

Da-jeong rubbed her temple and sighed as she watched Seokhyun ask the Chief Stag Beetle. Although he’s madman, it was fortunate that Seongho was able to control him.

The Chief made a flower shape by taking a large leaf with Geom-in.

“Even the flagpoles shouldn’t be made of wood, and it looks like we can only use branches that have fallen to the ground.”

The swordsman completed the flag and the two grumbled.

“Is this a Wood Elf who loves nature?”

“What’s the point of loving nature when they make a big tree as their home? What kind of concept are they using?”

“That tree is an Elderwood Tree? Huh? They live in the empty space in the middle of it?” Geom-in asked as he looked at the drawing that the Chief Stag Beetle made.

“There are only roots in our forest… What racism.”

“Think about what you did to it last time. If it were me, I would have thrown you to hell after spanking you a thousand times with my roots.” Da-jeong scoffed.

“But I would love that, though?”

Da-jeong sighed at Seokhyun’s kickback. She forgot that the man was a big pervert. She shut her mouth and the party entered the forest with the flag ahead of them. A stag beetle rested on Seokhyun’s head, who was in the lead, and a scarab sat on Geom-in’s head.

Da-jeong, who was following her from behind, looked up at the forest with leisure.

‘Wow…’

It was a very dense forest. Even so, the sunlight still penetrated through the foliage making the forest far from the word ‘gloomy’. It was a warm and cozy forest with little to no monsters at all. From what the Chief Stag Beetle told them, it was the Wood Elves who chased them away.

‘Of course, if they become too arrogant, they’ll fall over.’

Currently, Seokhyun was in charge of the scouting and tanking, and Da-jeong was in the position of restraining and supporting. So, if a battle suddenly happened, they would be ready.

“Hey, Rapwi!”

“What?”

“I need to buy a fruit basket. Let’s stop for a moment.”

“They are just elves, why bother… AGH….”

The Chief Stag Beetle sitting on Seokhyun’s head bit his ear right after he said that. From his point of view, it must have felt like a direct insult to him and their race.

Anyway, Geom-in posted a request on the Auction House, and the shelter members sent a fruit basket to them without delay.

The stag beetle’s eyes gleamed at it.

“Isn’t that too luxurious?”

“Jiman made it. If it’s someone else who did it, It wouldn’t be this pretty.” The fruit basket was decorated with various fruits as well as pretty flowers. Just getting close to it gives off a nice scent that makes people feel better.

Geom-in picked up the basket.

“This should be enough as an apology.”

“Hey, Geom-in, are you trying to seduce a Wood Elf?”

“Huh? No! I’m not.”

“So what’s with your face? Your desire to date an elf is all over it.”

Geom-in looked at the other members and shook his head, face flushed. He has grown up a lot, but when he’s with the other stagnant waters, he often shows his immature appearance.

Da-jeong giggled and teased him.

“Did you give up chasing Sooyeon unnie?”

“We didn’t fit each other… Her preferences are too grown up.”

“That’s why you don’t talk about games with the girl you like, you fool! So, are you changing course to an elf now? But have you thought about it properly? Don’t elves usually have a long lifespan? What if you dated a 200-year-old grandmother?”

“…”

Geom-in was shocked as soon as he heard Da-jeong’s words. Until now, he hadn’t thought about the age of the Wood Elves at all.

“Really? How long is your lifespan on average?” He cautiously approached the stag beetle, but he quickly hid behind Seokhyun’s rabbit ears. He doesn’t seem to want to talk.

Da-jeong clapped her hands.

“Come on, let’s stop flirting and work. Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

The group plunged deeper into a deep forest.

.

.

.

I left the shelter with the motorcycle together with Jiman. We only did that right after the shelter members returned from hunting. When I told them what I was about to do, everyone was excited. But, Jiman’s excitement was different from the other’s. Seemed like he felt more excited about the prospect of raising the cows more than the thought of eating it.

Dingo and Dingsoon walked behind us as we crossed back to Texas. When I introduced them to James and Paige, they were both surprised.

“I thought you only have one?”

“Her name is Dingsoon. She’s Dingo’s partner.”

“It’s big. For once, you have something that I couldn’t compare to.”

Of course he should be unparalleled in this world. After all, he’s a wolf who grows up in a fantasy world.

“Their fur is so pretty…” Paige said, admiring the silver wolf pair.

At that moment, Sangshin turned his head away from the laptop screen.

“If they chase a herd like that, the cattle will run away. After all, there’s only one group that is currently chasing after it.”

“It’s good for us if that happens. How’s the herd?”

“They went a little bit towards the south. But these people will be problematic…”

Those people were a group who chased the herd ahead of us. Judging from the fact that James didn’t know about them, they didn’t seem to be from the ranch.

In any case, they were constantly chasing the herd as if their precious treasure had been stolen by the herd. Even now, they were resting 2 or 3 km away from the herd.

James stroked his beard and checked the laptop screen.

“It doesn’t matter if we take about 20 or so… They can find another cow, can’t they?”

“Correct. But I don’t think they’ll just quietly accept it.” After all, there was no end to a man’s greed.

James pondered, and he made the offer.

“I will write a note. If we explain enough, they should understand.”

He seemed to think of claiming it and taking some away, but it won’t work. Moments later, the drone dropped a note and we witnessed a cowboy who seemed to be the leader raising his middle finger at us.

Paige was angry at the sight.

“Foolish bastard! Do you think all those cows belong to you?”

“They’ve been chasing them until now, it’s clear that those guys want them so badly. Let’s begin our preparation, then. Jiman, go ride Dingo and go towards their rear.”

“Okay.”

It’s a fact I didn’t know until recently, but the shelter members had often rode Dingo and Dingsoon around. Everyone was light in weight, so they said they would not be a burden for them. I don’t know if the wolf thought that way too, but seeing how Dingo’s expression didn’t change even after Jiman sat on top of him, it seemed to be true.

“James, take this bike.”

“Wow, this is a good bike.”

When I saw James let Paige sit in the back and started the engine, he looked like a ruthless biker. He grinned at me and put his thumb up.

“I’m feeling lucky to get to ride a bike like this in this apocalypse! Let’s go! Hee-ho!”

Vrooom-!!

Two bikes rushed through the meadow. Dingo and Dingsoon, along with Jiman, ran after us before changing direction. We were about to arrive at the front of the herd. It was truly spectacular to see a herd of over 200 cows with my own eyes.

But soon after, the hunters start to be seen at our back. They seemed to be very angry from the fact that their leader raised his weapon.

“Keep running! Keep going!”

“Yes!”

We don’t have to stop and give them a chance. But the cattles were the problem. Tired of being chased, the leading cow, Angus, stopped. Of course all the cows behind it follow suit.

Even though Jiman and Dingo approached it to try to herd it, it only stood still. Then out of nowhere, bubbles came out of Angus’s mouth. Looked like it didn’t listen because it was too tired.

“James!”

We stopped in front of the herd. If the plan went smoothly, we were going to rest for a while and run again, but the hunters followed us more persistently than I thought.

I took a pistol out of my backpack. After all, I couldn’t fight with all my power here since this place was still a battle royale battlefield.

After a while, the hunters appeared. They were startled by the pistol in my hand, but they did not back down.

They are this desperate?

Two of the hunters stepped forward.

“Those cows, it’s ours.”

“Too bad, son. They are mine. Look at those marks on the ear.”

James pointed to Angus’ fluttering ears, but the two men only snorted.

“What does pre-apocalyptic ownership matter now? The strong prevails, old man.”

“You spoke well.”

I pointed the gun at the scruffy man.

“You said the strong prevails, so that should mean that those cows belonged to us, then?”

The man in a cowboy hat and vest grinned and turned his head.

“With that scrawny gun? This is what a true gun looks like.” Then they both pointed something like a pipe at me. I wanted to do something right away, but I saw James’ face turn stiff.

“Are those… Hand cannons? You point at people with those?”

“I can’t help it! We have to eat too.”

“Mr. Kang, that is a dangerous weapon. They are putting things like glass and stone in a pipe as ammunition. The lethality is great.”

It seemed it was the truth that Americans were good at making things by themselves.

Anyway, they seemed to have gained courage from seeing that I only have 1 gun. After all, I didn’t give James or Jiman a gun. I mean, at the end of the day, they wouldn’t need it since I would take care of all the things. If the worst were to happen, I would need Sangshin’s help, but that’s it. And I doubt this situation would boil down to that.

By the way, the cows were slowly recovering their energy. At the same time, the hunters started chattering, thinking I had shrunk away because of their threat.

“Hey! Isn’t the breasts of the girl in the back amazing?”

“Is she your lover? She’s fine. Give her to us, we’ll treat her well.”

James clenched his fist at the words.

“So, you guys are not just cow hunters but man hunters as well, huh?”

The cowboy hat men smirk.

“Isn’t that a common thing? In a situation like this… Wouldn’t it be better for you to eat together with us rather than with those two Asians?”

“Yeah. Look at his eyes… They were like this, like a shrimp!” A man behind the cowboy guy stretches the skin near his eyes, pretending to have the same eyes as Asian. What a common racist gesture.

People who did it seem to do it without much thought, but people who saw it would be offended.

I pulled out an emeras throwing knife and threw it right into his eyes.

“AKKKKKKKKKGGGGHHHH!”

The man screamed as the knives grazed the side of his head.

“Your eyes look better now.” I snickered.

The hunters around me quickly moved.

“Fuck! Do you want to die? Shall I tear you apart?”

“No, it’s you who are going to die.”

The reason why I’d been holding back until now was because the cows are tired. Now that they seem to have recovered, there’s no need to be quiet.

As I pointed the pistol in my hand towards them, the hand cannon focused on me.

“Shoot! Shoot!”

“Kill that bastard!”

Bang-!!

There was an explosion from the hand cannon. But I had already opened the portal before the cannons hit me. The transparent wall stopped the clutter from the hand cannon.

I pointed my pistol over the portal and pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Series of gunshots rang out, but to my surprise, the two of them clenched their teeth and held out.

Are they wearing bulletproof vests?

“Behind the motorcycle!”

James and Paige hid behind the motorcycle as soon as I shouted. Arrows flew at us, and I hid behind the portal and pulled out a long knife.

“Dingo!”

The hunters were terrified when Dingo and Dingsoon rushed in.

“What the f*ck?!? Is that a wolf?!”

“Load it quickly!”

Looked like they were unable to see them since they were obstructed by the cows. I rushed over to the cowboy who was hastily pouring shards of glass into the pipe and swung my long knife.

The hand cannon together with his hand floated into the air.

“AHHHHHHHH! My hand!”

“G-go away.”

When I kicked his chest, I could see the guy behind me was pointing a bow at me. Without thinking, I bowed my head. The arrow flew away and narrowly passed over my head.

Woof-!!

Finally, the two wolves attacked the hunters. Not only that, Arrows also flew from my back. James, Paige, and Jiman are giving me a supporting fire. Their accuracy was not great, but it did enough to break the momentum of the hunters.

I rushed to the group of hunters, which was still embroidered in chaos. Not long after that, only the hunter who was knocked down with an emeras throwing knife in his eye from before still remains. Even though one of his eyes was still left, he couldn’t see and struggled.

“Pl-please… spare me…”

I put my feet on his back and gave strength to it. The man fell down like a frog and struggled.

“Why don’t you mock my eyes again?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… that was a mistake…”

“I see. Then, let’s make it fair. I’m going to make a mistake as well.” I put a long knife around the man’s neck and slashed it at once. As his head rolled over, Paige closed his eyes and turned her head away.

“What a pain…” I was going to give about 20 cows to them, but things went awry. But I had regrets. If I didn’t have the strength, I would have died.

“Let’s go back to the ranch and eat some beef.”