Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Subway Station Labyrinth - 6
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The auction house had turned into utter chaos due to my attack.
"What bullshit, you psycho."
That's them.
I was hiding in the corner, watching the guys posting comments in the auction house.
If not for Deathbrand skill and Shadow Grapes, I might have missed them.
Commonly known as auction house death-stickers.
They're not called bamboo shoots because most are guys.
The ones who entered the labyrinth, and pretty much all who trash-talk me, are men.
They camped the auction house, trying to steer public opinion their way.
If they didn't like a price, they'd spam curses to pressure sellers.
Posting fake info to troll people was their specialty.
With a bit of Survival Life knowledge, they could spin plausible lies.
"Why are you defending that bastard?"
"Fuck, you're all accomplices."
"Scared of Kimbap Lover? No, if he shows up in front of me, I'll rip him apart."
I couldn't understand why they obsessed over the auction house even while being hunted.
Did they think they could just flee to the underwater cave nearby?
Time to teach them that's a mistake.
I pulled fireworks and matches from my dimension slot and lit them.
As the fuse burned, they flinched.
"Did you hear something just now?"
"Probably nothing..."
Sorry, but it's not nothing.
I carefully aimed and hurled the fireworks at their hiding spot.
Bang bang pop!
The fireworks exploded in bursts of sparks and smoke, sending them into total panic.
"Aaagh!"
"He's here! Run!"
I saw three of them bolting away.
They were quick on their feet, sure.
But they don't know my trait, do they?
They jumped into the water, grabbed the rope, and tried entering the underwater cave—but hit an invisible wall.
My dimension wall.
—!
The leader panicked wildly, flailing, while the two behind urged him on.
Bubbles surged up, and I watched from the water's edge.
"Like mudfish..."
Just like loaches wriggling into a narrow dark hole.
The three thrashed in the water until they couldn't hold their breath and surfaced.
I was waiting and gave each a solid kick.
Thwack!
"Hup!"
"Gweh..."
Hm, they each swallowed a mouthful of water.
They coughed violently, spewing water on the ground, unable to breathe properly.
A kick to the side sent them rolling across the gravel, groaning.
"Kuh..."
In the chaos, one leaped up and charged me.
His trait was physical enhancement, so he could take it.
As I reached out, he grabbed my hand and smirked.
"You messed up, kid. My strength is..."
"How strong?"
Combat Instinct and Ferocity skills activated, surging my stats.
I squeezed his hand, and his forehead crumpled.
"Uh, ah, no..."
"Yes."
I crushed his hand in one go.
Crunch—
A sickening sound rang out, and he broke into cold sweat.
He endured that.
Probably has pain tolerance.
Level 20 equivalent, I'd say.
"Thanks."
"For wha—?"
"For telling me Physical Enhancement Lv.20's extra effect is pain tolerance."
He twisted into a grin.
I yanked his limp hand and headbutted him.
Crack!
His nose bone collapsed with a sound, and he flew back.
Damn, that hurt me too.
Hard Skin Lv.2 isn't enough.
Then, one of the downed guys vanished.
Stealth trait?
Even Deathbrand couldn't detect him due to the extra effect.
"But you're too obvious."
If I can hear your footsteps, I can't pretend not to notice.
I placed a dimension wall in his path.
A thud and the gravel cratered.
Reaching for the fallen man, I grabbed something squishy.
"Heuk!"
Of all places...
Annoyed, I kicked him, breaking his invisibility as he collapsed.
"Pl-please spare me..."
The last one crawled to me, begging.
"I warned you. Get out."
"Ri-right now... I'll go... just spare my life..."
"If I let you go, you'll plot to kill me while grinding your teeth, right?"
"No... never, never..."
"Sorry, I don't trust you."
His face crumpled horribly.
People's true nature doesn't change—that's my belief.
Sure, some change with a pivotal event, rarely.
But not these guys.
I picked them off one by one with my ballista.
The physical enhancer squeezed out his last strength to flee to the underwater cave but drowned against the dimension wall.
"..."
Fifteen dead by my hand, and the labyrinth finally fell silent.
"South Korea's population drops again."
I couldn't fathom why nobodies ignorant of my trait picked fights.
"The ones in the dimension prison will warn them."
I spared two on purpose to spread word of this.
Dead is dead, fate.
I munched a Sun Apple and headed to where Seok-hyun waited.
The labyrinth at the subway station drew survivors' attention.
Too many people were freaking out.
Rumors flew: insanely hard, entrance blocked, total chaos.
Any decent player from the Seoul area headed there themselves.
Weaker ones could only watch and suck their thumbs.
Then grim news from the labyrinth: everyone inside was dead.
By one person's hand.
With all records of the event auctioned off and gone, truth seemed buried.
Thirsty for info, people spotted repeated auction listings.
People wondered why the spam.
An ID simply meaning "Kimbap Lover"—hilarious, right?
But no one laughed.
Kimbap Lover was infamous in the Awakener community even before the apocalypse.
For not sharing info, he ate endless shit.
Probably more than all Awakeners combined.
It continued post-apocalypse.
The anonymous auction house was perfect for flaming.
Death-stickers, the main crowd, chewed him up like gum.
He'd get dragged into unrelated topics daily.
For example:
Such jokes were fine, but pad-lip was common too.
Anonymity emboldened them.
Kimbap Lover mentions meant death-sticker spam; others ignored.
Why read pure shit?
But now...
The trashed Kimbap Lover killed everyone in the labyrinth.
Dead were auction house death-stickers, per the sole survivor.
He sobbed for a while, then calmed and shared the horror.
Fleeing Kimbap Lover's attacks, suddenly plunged into a vast ocean.
No land, nothing but endless sea.
The comment vibe was mellow.
Likely because the usual trash-talkers vanished en masse.
Not all, but survivors lurked silently.
Obvious Kimbap Lover might see, so even one comment felt risky.
Consensus: poster's tale checked out.
Auction house leaned pro-Kimbap Lover.
Some even defended him.
Consensus formed.
Lee Beom-seok in the government shelter compiled comments and reported to Jang Won-taek.
"At least ten to twenty dead... horrific."
"Most who know say they got what they deserved."
"No one deserves death."
"Apocalypse rules. Death-stickers' antics were bad. All say good riddance."
"Fair..."
Jang leaned back, eyes closed.
Dozens lost, regrettable, but spilled milk.
Better ponder future than fret.
His fingers tapped the armrest.
"What about Geom-in? Dead too?"
"Unconfirmed."
"Seok-hyun's moves make the trio's stance on Geom-in ambiguous."
"This reveals it. They made contact."
"Yes..."
Jang rubbed his face.
Four from shelter entered; statuses unknown.
At least three dead.
Kang Sung-ho links meant deaths; problematic.
Pity the dead, but time for real countermeasures.
Uncertain if they'd work.
Lee shared new intel.
"Japanese landing in Busan... quite a few. Hundreds at least."
Jang frowned.
"Hundreds... why not stay in Japan?"
"Agent suspects radiation."
Bitter smiles.
Radiation refugees boat to Korea, land in Busan—already contaminated.
"Staying there?"
"No. Realized contamination, scattered. Some to Gijang, but..."
"All dead."
"High contamination likely."
"Other areas? Changwon, Gimhae?"
"Some forces entered Masan."
"No Korea maps, huh. Changwon fine too."
"Eyes full of venom."
"Hope no clashes... tell them no rash contact."
"Already advertised."
"Good... tomorrow's contact with Sung-ho left."
Maybe the veteran quartet together.
Prepare talks.
Jang stood.
I headed to the hideout with Seok-hyun, where two waited.
Locust guided us to the third floor of a one-room building.
The burly guard stepped aside; Da-jeong emerged.
"You didn't die?"
"Sorry to disappoint, alive and well. Geom-in?"
"Not eaten, don't worry."
Geom-in bolted up from bed spotting us.
His darting eyes showed anxiety.
Better get a pledge first.
I spoke.
"We say Geom-in helped you. Right?"
"Uh, yeah... grateful."
"But that doesn't make him a true comrade you can bare your soul to."
"..."
He bowed silently; others awaited my words.
"Your choice. You're rested, so government shelter's fine. Won't stop you."
"...Won't stop?"
"Yeah. Good for you—expand influence there. Just cuts ties with us forever."
Geom-in swallowed dryly.
Young, his thoughts showed plainly.
He stammered.
"Is... is there a second option?"
"Full friends with us. Spill everything, back to old days. Like playing Survival Life."
His face changed.
Recalling fun gaming times.
Much shelter-bound, but we hung out, eyed hoarded items.
I emphasized.
"Past events irrelevant. Back to before."
"Back to before..."
"Only choices. First, just leave. No one stops you, as said."
Seok-hyun and Da-jeong nodded.
Psychos keep promises.
Geom-in pondered long, then spoke.
"I..."
End of Subway Station Labyrinth - 6