Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Reselling. It was an act which was heavily criticized by many people. After all, what the reseller did was monopolize certain goods by buying them at their fixed price, and sell them at a higher price. Back when the society was still standing, monopolizing daily necessities, such as water, was nothing but impossible. Even if it were possible, the culprit would be punished severely by the law since the result they caused would be immense.

However, common sense did not work for those who were buying the bottled water from the auction house. They bought it for 30 to 40 points which was far higher than the normal price. That act became the trigger for people at the auction house who wanted to drink clean water to lash out their anger.

-Are you happy now that you successfully became a reseller?

-At least, you shouldn’t do it with drinking water!

-A bastard like this should really be torn limb to limb.

The cause of the current situation was drought. It hadn’t rained for the past two months in Korea, so everyone was out of drinking water.

Some even complained that they hadn’t even washed for 15 days.

-There is a limit to wiping our body with wet tissue. Please let us use soap too.

-Can’t you just wash yours with river water?

-The water in the fucking Han River is dirty! You want me to wash using it? Are you nuts?

-You can just go to the mountain and wash with the valley water.

-If it were that easy, everyone would go to the mountains, you assholes. Now tell me, is it really that easy to go to the mountains just to wash yourself?

Unless someone had a vast amount of experience, moving around in the apocalypse was something people had to be prepared to lose their life in. There were still a lot of places where the battle royale battlefield was active, so the stats and ability of people were drastically reduced there. If they tried to deal with powerful monsters with such poor stats, they would only revisit the taste of gloom they had desperately tried to escape from in the early days of the apocalypse.

By the way, the guys who always say ‘Why don’t you do this’ Or ‘ Why don’t you do that’ in the auction house strangely emphasize Koreans. When Koreans talk with each other, there’s no need to emphasize nationality between them. However, these friends continued to refer to Koreans and Korea.

-Seemed like it’s not just the country that is small, but the people’s brain living on it too. It’s our freedom to bid no matter how high. If you want it, why don’t you pay a lot?

-You guys have always bragged about how skillful you guys are, but it looks like you’re actually just poor people who just can talk!

-Living in this cramped place is like a curse. Koreans should just give us their place quickly!

The last comment was decisive. Someone accidentally uploaded it and blew up the auction item, but I saw it clearly.

“These bastards were Chinese.”

They occupied cities in the west coast even at this moment. I asked why they decided to be a reseller, but the answer came back saying they just did what they were told.

“If I killed half of them, they wouldn’t be able to do this shit.”

However, the number of Chinese currently in Korea was so large to the point it was almost impossible to actually kill half of them. Though, messing with them was a wide open option.

I called for the members who had little to nothing to do in the shelter.

“Put purified water into a bottle and sell it for 20 points. But don’t sell it too quickly. Give it enough time for people to buy in moderation. Keep in mind to continue buying empty bottles to stock up on.”

Just with those instructions, Yeowool noticed my intentions.

“You’re trying to get them to stock up on water and get rid of them later, right, Ahjussi?”

“Their points won’t be infinite, so their cute little acts will definitely end in one way or another.”

“Yeah. Since we can’t reduce demand, we can just increase the supply.”

The important thing was to sell the bottled water bit by bit until the Chinese ran out of points. If they took notice of the amount we have, they would stop buying, so we have to be careful.

“Yeowool, you take control of the whole operation. Keep your eyes open for information regarding the Chinese’s movement. If their buying spree starts to slow down and they start to sell the water at a high price, kill them.”

“Ahjussi, you’re evil.”

“They started it first.”

This time, Yoohyeon came forward.

“But Hyung, we have to stop other people from buying it too. Looking at it now, there are many people who want to buy it even if it is expensive… What should we do?”

“I’m going to spread our plan to the people through the Great Labyrinth.”

Currently, the first floor of the Great Labyrinth was a hub for people from all over the world. If the information was distributed directly there, the Chinese would have no way to know. There might be trolls leaking the information to them, but the odds that the Chinese would believe them were too low to count.

The demand was another problem, but I was thinking of using the Great Labyrinth to quench it moderately. I would use a large basin, place it in the Great Labyrinth shelter, and put a hose which was directed to the valley in it to fill it with water. Since the taste of the valley water was quite good, it could be considered as a sample for future customers.

Of course, with this plan in mind, survivors who live in small cities or rural areas and had made their base there wouldn’t be able to enjoy it, as they wouldn’t be able to enter the Great Labyrinth. But I have no choice; There is no perfect plan that could satisfy everyone.

I stressed to the members. “It’s not about earning points, so there’s no need to sell the water too fast. The important thing is to get them to buy our water.”

“What should I do once I know their points are exhausted? Keep selling the water for 20 points?”

“That’s right. By the way, Mi-kyung should help me a little too. No, No, not now, later.”

Whenever I need to go somewhere, Mi-kyung ‘s the best choice out of everyone I know.

Mi-kyung smiled and put her arms around my arm.

“I think I’ve been going out a lot these days.”

“Don’t you normally go to the Korean Shelter?”

Since the second dimension door was open, the members could go to the Korean Shelter at any time without spending points.

“I did go there a lot, but that doesn’t count as ‘going out’ per se. After all, that place is like our second house.”

Well, she had a point…

Anyway, I finished my preparations and borrowed a basin from the Korean Shelter.

“The source of the commotion was you, Seongho?” Jang Won-taek asked.

“There is no one other than me who can sell out drinking water in bulk like that. Please keep it under wraps for the time being.”

“Seeing that you wanted to borrow a large basin, are you trying to bring water to the Great Labyrinth?”

Sometimes, I just feel that this guy is just so sharp… too sharp, even…

When I didn’t answer, Jang Won-taek chuckled, seemingly convinced.

“It seemed like that was indeed your plan. Okay. I’ll try to block the information from going out. But how long should I do it?”

“Until they lose. In other words, until they run out of points.”

“All right. By the way, is Seongho really planning to sell bottled water for 20 points?”

“There’s a lot of talk about water shortage these days.”

Jang Won-taek made a satisfied expression at my answer.

“There are two months left until the time shelters across the country opens. We just have to hold out until then.”

Even if the time shelters were opened, every problematic thing would not be solved instantly. The amount of materials it had would still be limited, but a human’s need for water was boundless. 3 to 4 liters of water a day was needed, half of which must be clean enough to be drinkable.

Of all the survivors, I was the only one who had the ability to supply it.

I left Jang Won-taek’s office and went to Hyung-jun hyung’s dorm. The bulge in sister-in-law’s belly grew even bigger than the last time I saw her. It was really fortunate that she could still move.

“Sister-in-law, can you go inside the dimensional door and do the quest now?”

Of course Hyung-jun hyung was worried. He was concerned whether she, who had less fighting power than Yeowool, would be able to do well.

“I have to give it my all.” She smiled faintly.

“I’ll give you two resurrection scrolls, so if things go south, you should come out right away.”

Then Hyung-jun hyung intervened.

“But Seongho… Does that mean that the baby in her belly can also be resurrected?”

I hadn’t even thought about it until now… Well, I should make sure that the worst case scenario didn’t happen.

I went into the shelter and brought a bunch of guns, items, and crops that gave buffs. On top of it, I also asked Dingo, Dingsoon, a scarab and a beetle to accompany her.

My sister-in-law took my hand.

“I hated Seongho at first, but for you to go this far for me…”

“It’s all in the past, so don’t worry. Let’s just get it done today.”

If we delay her quest any longer, she wouldn’t be able to do it until she gives birth to the baby. Once she reached that point, she wouldn’t be able to do it at all, because it means that she and their baby would be counted as two separate humans, and the baby wouldn’t be able to enter the shelter. After all, it’s impossible to ask a baby to do such a quest.

Hyung-jun hyung lowered his head at that moment.

“I should have been patient… I’m sorry, Seongho.”

“You shouldn’t worry too much, hyung. then…”

When I opened the portal, sister-in-law chewed on the crop and opened her eyes wide.

“Wha-what are these stats? It’s almost twice as much as my original stats.”

“You have to become a monster to fight monsters. Put your hand here, please.” After a while, the quest dimension door opened. Now she had to bring 3 aether stones by herself to pass the quest. Her stats have improved and the equipment I gave her was anything but weak. However, amidst that, she was still trembling. It was something she couldn’t stop even when she knew she would be okay.

“There’s nothing to worry about. I know you will do well. You fought well.”

Hyung-jun hyung comforted her.

“…” She nodded her head and went inside the portal without hesitation, closely followed by the 4 bodyguards.

Now, we just need to wait for her to come out.

“Will it be okay…?”

“Perhaps.”

“Jihye really wanted to go into the shelter since the others said it was nice there.”

Well, as expected from the good-hearted members of my shelter. Seokhyun and Da-jeong might be far from the definition of normal, but they did not behave recklessly to someone like sister-in-law. In particular, Seokhyun was unexpectedly polite to her. Sister-in-law would have fainted if he suddenly took off his panties.

“Sorry, I’ll have to smoke.”

My brother took out a cigarette and a match and lit it. He almost quit smoking these days as the supply of cigarettes was nowhere near as abundant as before, but it seemed that it was difficult to completely quit smoking.

As I was browsing through the auction house, both to waste time while waiting and to gather more information, something unexpected happened.

-Seongho, how is Jihye noona here?

It’s a comment written by Geom-in.

Just what the hell is he talking about?

-Da-jeong found her while we were flying.

-Is she with you now?

-Don’t worry! I picked all of them up on the gryphon!

There’s no doubt that the last comment was from Da-jeong.

When I told Hyung-Jun hyung about it, he collapsed as if his leg had loosened.

“Ha… what is happening…”

The quest location was completely random. Never in my wildest imagination have I thought that she would appear on Ruat Kingdom. She’s lucky that Da-jeong was on a scouting mission.

In any case, she was now together with the stagnant waters party. The chance of her dying had become 0. Seokhyun even handed her an aether stone the three had found before.

Just like that, sister-in-law’s quest was completed in just two hours. After her, Hyung-jun hyung also finished the quest and the two of them entered my shelter.

“Wow…”

“To think there’s a place like this in here…”

While the two admired the scenery of the shelter, I took Mi-kyung out.

“Let’s go now.”

“Let’s gooooo~”

That dragging voice, where have I heard it before?

We moved to the vicinity of the Great Labyrinth in an instant.

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.

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Recently, the Chinese in Incheon have been carrying out a certain order. It was to earn points by spending their points on items put up in the auction house.

To put it simply, it was a resale tactic. However, unlike the normal resale tactic, there were limits to the items they could use. The reason was because there were only a few items that were essential for humans to live and relatively stable in supply in this apocalyptic era.

Zhao Ziwei, who had become the ruler of Incheon, paid his undivided attention to the bottled water.

“The demand is high, but the supply is sorely lacking… If we monopolize it, we will surely make a lot of money.”

The auction house was a completely anonymous space, so there’s no risk whatsoever. On top of it, there’s even a comment function, which was a great help in provoking the other party.

“Buy everything that comes out. Don’t let those joseon bastards buy it.”

Zhao Ziwei ordered his men to buy all the bottled water that was put up in the auction house.

They laughed at the Koreans participating in the auction in a fit of fuss.

Do you have as many points as us, though?

After all, close to a thousand people give points to a small number of people to proceed with the plan. The Chinese in Incheon and the west coast united around Zhao Ziwei. It was caused by their fear of the Koreans. In particular, a large Korean man wearing black outfit and wielding a mithril blade was a problem. Hundreds of their people had lost their lives to him.

Zhao Ziwei tried to propose peace to him, but he didn’t even entertain the thoughts. He said that he would not cease hostilities until all the Chinese on the west coast were gone.

So Zhao Ziwei tried to use a different method.

“Give the points to a few people. If we buy and stock up on a lot of water, those joseon bastards will have no choice but to bow their heads to us.”

His plan stemmed from the fact that it’s difficult to get clean water in the world these days. He assumed that the bottled water that was coming out now was one of the very few items left.

Even though the Koreans almost gave up, the monopoly continued smoothly. There were still Koreans who participated in the auction, but when the people on his side raised the bid, they quickly gave up.

One of his men asked Zhao Ziwei.

“The price keeps going up… can we still buy it for 50 points?”

“What about the supply?”

“There are still a few bottles coming out. Although the quantity has decreased a lot compared to before.”

Zhao Ziwei smiled, it was evidence that their stocks were running out.

“Keep buying. We can resell it at a higher price later.”

However, the plan soon met a hurdle. Even when there’s 1,000 people gathered, the points accumulated for the plan was only slightly over 120,000. Zhao Zhiwei was somewhat reluctant to keep buying the water with the dwindling numbers.

He shook his head and looked at the bottled waters stored in the corner of his office.

‘I already have over 500 bottles…’

The unit price was quite high because they raised the bid in order to defeat his competitor. More than 20,000 points had already been used, and complaints started to come out from his people.

I need to buy a weapon and bread now, why are you taking my points?

It made sense, so Zhao Ziwei had to make a big promise.

“I’ll pay you back twice as much later!”

There was a fee in the process, but it was unavoidable.

Zhao Zhiwei continued to encourage people to buy bottled water. The number of bottles in their stock quickly increased to 1,000, 1,500, and finally surpassed 2,000. Even though one corner of his office was full, he had no intention to drink even one of it. After all, the unit price was close to 60 points each, a hefty sum for mere water.

One day, someone secretly stole a bottle. When he was found out, the guy was brutally beaten by Zhao Ziwei.

“The traitor is here! You are our enemy! Let’s all hit him!”

The man who stole a bottle of water was tied to a pole and became a target of countless stones. Everyone got carried away and threw stones at him until he was covered in blood. The man died a violent death not long after.

Zhao Ziwei couldn’t hide his anxiety when he saw the man’s corpse. If things went wrong, he would be the one to be tied to the pole.

‘I’m barely controlling them with the few subordinates I have. I don’t know when these guys will rebel.’

Dictators tend to be cowards, and Zhao Ziwei was much worse. He did not trust his compatriots at all. Even his subordinates suffer the same fate, as he only trusts those who were closest to him.

Zhao Ziwei ignored the voices of the people and kept doing what he planned.

“I’m doing it for us! If you don’t like it, do you want to become like that guy?”

“N-n, no. I apologize.”

People were surprised by Zhao Ziwei’s threats and retreated. However, as the number of such people increased, Zhao Ziwei became more and more afraid.

“When will you give our points back? We are hungry too.”

“Or just give us some water.”

Zhao Zhiwei snapped at that point.

“Do you know how much it cost? Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Then, why did you buy it?”

“There is an opportunity to sell it at higher prices.”

“…that opportunity should come soon, then.”

“You dare to threaten me?”

Zhao Ziwei growled, but the people did not flinch.

“Do you think you will be safe if you keep doing this to us?”

“Let’s think and act well.”

After they left, Zhao Ziwei suffered from a feeling of helplessness for a while. As a result of spending all of their combined points on buying bottled waters, his image plummeted.

If he produced good results, he would become a hero.

However,

What if he fails?

‘I might be the one hanging on the pole…’ For now, the only things he could do was to hope.

When the number of water stocked in his office exceeded 2,200, the points finally ran out. If he squeezed the people out, he would be able to continue buying for a while, but in the current situation, that act was synonimous to suicide.

Zhao Ziwei gave instructions to his men, hiding his nervousness.

“Now we can sell it expensively. Those who want to drink clean water would have no choice but to buy our products.”

But a problem that made Zhao Ziwei’s heart sink arose at that moment. Hundreds of bottled water set on sale suddenly appeared in the auction house.

Where the hell did something like that come from?

They should have ran out of stock!

“This can’t be… that’s an empty bottle!”

One of his men bought the newly put up bottled water, tried it, and spoke cautiously.

“It’s the same as what we have… It’s drinkable water…”

Zhao Zhiwei glared viciously at the plastic bottle filled with water. That bottled water only cost 20 points. On the other hand, the unit price of the stocked water bottle on their side was close to 60 points. It was obvious which one people would prefer to buy.

‘I’ve been had!’

120,000 points shrank to 40,000 in an instant. If he informed the people about it, it was obvious he would not die easily.

Zhao Ziwei couldn’t overcome his dejection and fell to his knees. The thought that his life was completely over dominated his mind.