Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 117.1: Next-Door Issue (1)

The forum is crawling with human garbage again today.

I’ve blocked three users and deleted their posts.

- Deleted Posts -

KIM_DONG_HUNG: Handsome guy out for a walk!

MORUS: A beginner’s guide to human taxidermy, Part 3

Anonymous1941: Collection of fingernail pics.jpg

Regrettable as it is, the longest I can block someone with my current permissions is only 24 hours.

It used to be a full week, but Melon Mask put a stop to that.

Still, if a community wants to survive, it needs new members.

On this subject, let’s borrow the words of Dajeong, who has recently been clashing with Bang Jae-hyuk’s mother.

"If the same people stay in the same place too long, things start to rot. Cliques form, and the ones left out either turn bitter or leave. That kind of thing happens less in larger groups. Just think of it like a fish tank. A single goldfish taking a shit in a 10-liter tank is completely different from a goldfish shitting in a 30-liter tank. If you want to avoid that problem, you need a steady influx of new members. But the thing is—those new members need to be good ones. If the only replacements for the idiots who leave are more idiots, then nothing changes."

Dajeong and Bang Jae-hyuk’s mother have been butting heads because of the latter’s intrusive behavior.

Bang Jae-hyuk’s mother sees Dajeong—who rarely leaves her bunker—as pitiful and wants to bond with her. Dajeong, however, finds these attempts annoying and coldly rejects them.

So far, the conflict has been minor.

But who knows what small tensions like this could snowball into?

I’ve already warned Bang Jae-hyuk to tell his mother to keep her distance, but she seems pretty stubborn.

I’ll keep watching and step in if necessary.

Returning to the Forum

Lately, I haven’t been too impressed with new users.

But not all of them are bad.

Anonymous1936: A group of ten or so refugees has settled near my home. They’re digging the ground, gathering wood and stone—it looks like they’re planning to build a permanent settlement. What’s the best course of action?

A newbie.

Anonymous1936 is one of the more interesting ones.

What draws me to him most is his fresh perspective.

He asks basic questions about things we consider common knowledge, reflecting concerns we had years ago when the war first broke out.

It’s like looking at a version of ourselves from the past.

Most likely, he lived in a relatively safe, well-maintained area even after the war.

The most plausible explanation? He’s from a former high-ranking Legion family.

From what he’s posted, his group consists of family, relatives, and a few close friends—about ten people in total.

They are well-armed and well-supplied.

And I’m not the only one intrigued by him.

Even users who rarely post have been showing up in his threads.

Anonymous458: Next-door issues are Keystone’s specialty. Keystone~ you alive?

ROKA_hun: Case by case. But if it were us, we’d strike at night and wipe them out.

Rkkara: Just bring a ball and invite them for a game of foot volleyball.

Dies_Irae69: Depends on the size of your community. If you have room, absorb them. If not, eliminate them.

Berkut_break: Human coexistence isn’t easy, especially in times like these.

Settlers next door.

I had experience with that in the early days.

And it wasn’t a good one.

Kicking a ball around wouldn’t have solved the problem.

In the end, I handled it the only way I could—total extermination.

Back then, it was the best option.

Now, with a stable group, I might have to reconsider.

It was only natural that Keystone—the forum’s expert on next-door issues—joined the discussion.

As soon as he saw Anonymous1936’s post, he started a new thread.

keystone: How to Deal with Neighbors.txt

I clicked on it.

1. Kill them.

2. Kill them.

3. Kill them.

"I’ve tried negotiating. I’ve tried being patient."

"Here’s how you should think about it."

"Imagine the area around your home is a hamster cage."

"A single hamster can live there just fine."

"But then one shows up. Then another. Then a whole group."

"What do you think they’re going to do?"

"Even if they can’t find your bunker or hideout, they’ll still take everything else—water, trees, crops, animals, fish, whatever resources you rely on."

"If you don’t act, you’ll die."

"And even if you do endure... you’ll still die."

Keystone had a point.

In a collapsed world, outsiders are always potential threats.

At best, they’re competition.

But he wasn’t entirely right.

Not all groups are battle-ready.

Some survivors aren’t fighters at all.

Take Foxgame.

That guy has zero combat ability and somehow still survives.

Everything depends on the situation.

And Anonymous1936 clearly had a different mindset.

Anonymous1936: Do we really have to kill them?

That single question perfectly encapsulated both why we liked him...

...and why he frustrated us.

Anonymous1936: They’re about 1.5km away. We rarely leave our base—maybe once a week.

Our home is well-camouflaged behind a concealed exterior wall.

We grow crops inside the perimeter and only go outside when we receive radio alerts about a marketplace or wandering traders.

Even then, we only go out at night.

His biggest concern?

Lack of confidence in combat.

Anonymous1936: We’re a family-based group. If we lose even one person, it would devastate us.

Unless they actively threaten us, there’s no need to attack first.

Besides, there are mutants in the area.

A boar the size of a truck roams nearby.

He wasn’t just afraid of fighting.

He was terrified of taking losses.

But the biggest thing shaping his worldview?

Old, outdated moral values.

Anonymous1936: We know how the world works now.

We understand that this is a world where survival means killing others.

The Carneades plank dilemma is real.

But our situation doesn’t feel like that.

Anonymous1936: I appreciate your advice, Keystone, but I believe there’s another way.

He still held onto values from the past.

The ones we lost... or are on the verge of losing.

Keystone responded.

keystone: So... they don’t know you’re there?

keystone: Do you realize how lucky you are?

I cracked my fingers and started typing.

Tap, tap, tap.

SKELTON: Hm...

An honored guest arrives.

Keystone immediately deleted my comment as soon as I posted it.

Not [N O V E L I G H T] that it mattered. freёnovelkiss.com

His cowardice aside, Keystone’s argument was solid.

Shortly after, he uploaded a new post—this time, showing a picture of himself.

keystone: The Price of Kindness.jpg

His body was thin but wiry, tanned bronze.

Across his chest was a deep, jagged scar.

It looked like it came from a sickle or a similar blade.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Not too wide, but deep enough that it could’ve killed him under the right circumstances.

Had he suffered tetanus or another infection, he wouldn’t have made it.

keystone:

You don’t strike me as the type to actually listen to what I’m saying, so I won’t bother anymore.

keystone:

You can’t protect everything.

keystone:

You can’t have everything.

keystone:

That so-called morality of yours? It’s a luxury.

keystone:

At the end of the day, it’s just another form of greed.

That was the last thing he said.

But their discussion lingered—one of the few engaging topics on the forum in recent days.

"What do you think, Skelton?"

The Defender siblings had shown up at my bunker to ask me that very question.

...For some reason, Dajeong seemed to be wearing nicer clothes than usual.

And was that... light makeup?

Now wasn’t the time to focus on that.

"Hm..."

It was a difficult issue.

Keystone was mostly right, but Anonymous1936 also had a point.

Especially if his group was truly unskilled in combat—launching a preemptive attack could mean losing everything.

Killing all of them would be cleanest.

But if that wasn’t guaranteed, then finding another solution might be better.

"What about you two?"

I turned the question around.

Not that I didn’t already know their answer.

"Kill them all."

Defender said it without hesitation.

"Keystone’s right."

His sister agreed instantly.

As expected.

A solid, unchanging conclusion.

I gave a dry smile but stayed silent.

Dajeong sighed deeply, practically sinking into the floor.

"Ugh. You know what’s actually pissing me off lately?"

I already knew what she was about to say.

"That woman. Bang Jae-hyuk’s mother."

She clicked her tongue in frustration.

"Why the hell does she keep acting like she’s my friend?!"

"I get that she’s probably just desperate to bond with the only other woman here, but I have absolutely zero interest in getting close to her."

She stared directly at me before tapping something onto her tablet and holding it up.

- You know I hate people, right? -

Yeah.

That checked out.

She didn’t just "avoid people"—she had an innate dislike for them.

Her personality was far from warm.

And while she was a comrade, both she and Defender had some of the worst moral compasses in our group.

Had I met them in a different order, under different circumstances, I might have killed them myself.

"I don’t really know Bang Jae-hyuk that well."

Defender muttered, arms crossed against a pillar.

"I know Young-jae, but I’ve never really talked to his mother. She always struck me as annoying."

He didn’t seem particularly interested in the minor conflicts within our group.

But he was aware of them.

I looked between them before speaking.

"I’ll talk to Bang Jae-hyuk."

"Or maybe directly to his mother."

"What you’re asking for is simple, right? You just don’t want to interact with her?"

Dajeong’s face lit up.

"I knew I could count on you, Skelton!"

She glanced sideways at Defender.

He pushed off from the pillar and silently slid out the door.

"I know a place with good equipment."

"Let’s go get it sometime."

That was all he said before leaving.

I turned to Dajeong.

...Somehow, I had expected her to follow him.

But she stayed behind.

And her gaze was a little too intense.

The darkness in the room blended with her makeup, amplifying her usual sharp features into something striking.

We were alone.

"Skelton, your bunker’s as amazing as ever."

Before the silence could become awkward, she started looking around the room.

"It feels different somehow... or maybe it doesn’t."

She studied the various objects that filled my bunker, each with its own story.

Then, her eyes met mine.

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"Seeing anyone?"

"Yeah. You’re pretty popular, you know?"

"..."

Popular, huh.

I mean...

Twelve Square.

A global hero.

But romance?

I wasn’t sure.

"A guy like you staying single is a national loss, if you ask me."

Her voice was low, almost sultry.

Our eyes met.

She smirked.

"Aren’t you lonely?"

I finally understood what she wanted.

It was a romantic approach.

She hadn’t said it outright, but the direction was clear.

To be honest...

I’d seen this coming.

Maybe even... expected it.

What man wouldn’t be tempted by a beautiful woman?

For one night of pleasure?

But not yet.

Not because I was some monk or a noble warrior.

I simply couldn’t calculate the consequences yet.

I had seen how one event could shift everything in an instant.

Anonymous848.

A forum user who never posted again.

Their fate had taught me something.

"I’m not that lonely."

I answered calmly, meeting her gaze.

"I have too much to do."

She was sharp.

She caught my rejection immediately.

But she just smiled.

"As expected of Skelton. The model user of our forum."

She stood up.

I let her leave.

Her footsteps were slow, deliberate.

I could feel a lingering sense of hesitation.

She stopped at the entrance.

"Hey, Skelton."

"I’ve been wondering for a while... Do you have someone you like?"

I hesitated.

"That’s—"

"Ah. Never mind. I don’t want to hear it right now."

She plugged her ears and hurried up the steps.

With a creak, the heavy metal door swung open.

And just before it closed, her voice reached me.

"I’m a mustelid, after all."

The bunker fell silent.

The familiar darkness swallowed me whole.

I sat there, lost in thought.

Did I have someone I liked?

A few faces floated to mind.

But that was it.

The important thing was...

"......"

I felt nothing special toward her.

Change would come.

But not yet.

A more pressing change awaited.

At dawn, I stood with Bang Jae-hyuk, staring toward the golf course ridge.

He wiped the dew from his goggles and pointed.

"There. Right there."

A group of refugees had entered my territory.

They had set up camp in the golf course.