Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 124.2: Play (2)

"······."

Taptaptap.

Dr.emiless: Does the U.S. even have the capacity to send troops to Korea right now?

Dr.emiless: Our own data centers are under attack, and yet somehow, they’re deploying soldiers to Korea?

Dr.emiless: This isn’t fake news?

Preemptive strike.

By raising the suspicion myself, I could shut down any problems before they arose.

Dr.emiless: Something about these photos looks off.

This tactic had another advantage.

It increased the number of comments.

People were naturally drawn to posts with more engagement. It was a universal human instinct, transcending nationality, culture, and religion.

Even I tended to click on posts with more comments first.

Manipulating comment numbers was a classic attention-seeking strategy among online lunatics.

But engagement alone wouldn’t sustain the story.

There was a reason why watching fights was universally entertaining.

It was time for my second persona to step in.

CRAZY_HORSE: A military friend of mine sent these. Is there a problem?

CRAZY_HORSE: I went through the trouble of getting this valuable intel to share, and suddenly I’m under attack?

"······."

Taptaptap.

Dr.emiless: Hhhhhhhmmmmmmm.

Dr.emiless: I think it’s a reasonable concern.

Dr.emiless: Or is there something you’re hiding?

CRAZY_HORSE: It’s just a simple info share. Why so hostile?

roxanneGIRL: @Dr.emiless Stop with the baseless accusations.

Dr.emiless: Baseless accusations? I just pointed out something seemed off in the photo. Is that such a crime?

My bunker was in a state of complete chaos.

In addition to the underground satellite unit, three extra devices were lined up, cables sprawling across the floor. My desk was overflowing with desktop monitors and laptops. It was so cluttered that I had to close the toilet lid and place one of the laptops on it.

A true test of extreme multitasking.

Unfortunately, this was the only way to operate on Viva! Apocalypse!.

Each satellite device required its own separate computer.

Thanks to Ballantine, I had the necessary equipment, but keeping up was no easy task.

Jumping between different keyboards and switching personas was far more mentally demanding than one might expect.

Meanwhile, the impromptu flame war was heating up.

I didn’t fully understand American culture, but I did know that certain aspects of human nature remained consistent.

"······."

Taptaptap.

CRAZY_HORSE: Where do you live?

Americans probably challenged each other to real-life fights too.

Dr.emiless: Come to Texas.

They probably dropped their locations like this as well.

CRAZY_HORSE: Texas?

Not that they’d actually follow through, given the sheer size of the U.S.

roxanneGIRL: Guys, stop fighting!

Just as I was fully immersed in my extreme multitasking, someone suddenly opened the bunker door.

I had left it unlocked while communicating with Ballantine, and now someone had just barged in.

"These stairs are always so uneven. If you trip, you’d break your neck."

It was Hong Dajeong.

Of all times, she had to walk in while I was crouched over the toilet, role-playing as roxanneGIRL.

"Skelton...?"

"······."

"What the hell are you doing... there?"

We locked eyes in the most unfortunate of locations.

"Are you... sitting on the toilet?"

"······."

What should I say?

My goal was just.

I was performing a noble mission to save my neighbors, Rebecca and Sue, from certain death.

There was nothing to be ashamed of.

Besides, I always maintained my composure.

"What? Suddenly acting all casual?"

I got up, brushing myself off, trying to come up with an excuse.

But before I could, I noticed Dajeong’s gaze fixating on something else.

"What the—why do you have three Obelisks? Huh?!"

Right.

She was eyeing my spare satellite units with an unsettling amount of greed.

"!"

All my years of surviving near-death situations told me this was more dangerous than being caught doing toilet-based multi-accounting.

"Do you like coffee milk?"

"Skelton! You should’ve told me you had these! Do you know how annoying it is to share a satellite device with my brother?!"

"These are for a mission."

"A mission, my ass. Just give me one. I left SeamonkeyPAPA’s behind when I moved."

"They’re for something important."

"I’ll upvote all your posts. I’ll even back you up in flame wars."

...Now that was tempting.

Suddenly, the laptop on the toilet lid beeped with a notification.

"Skelton, did you seriously enable comment notifications?"

Dajeong tilted her head, confused.

"Why the hell would you do that? It’s not even a message notification..."

Because I, like many others thirsty for engagement, enabled comment notifications.

I ignored the latest philosophical debate with her and looked at the screen.

COOKIEMONSTER18: This? Is this real?

Rebecca had taken the bait.

I immediately excused myself and rushed to the desktop connected to my fourth persona.

Taptaptap.

Dr.emiless: Hmmmmmmmmm.

*

"So... you did all this just to help that sniper?"

Later, after sharing some of my emergency snack stash, I explained the situation to Dajeong and Defender.

Defender, having slipped into my bunker unnoticed, had given my setup a quick once-over. He was mildly surprised by the sheer amount of tech but showed no further reaction.

Like Dajeong, however, his gaze was drawn to the neatly lined-up satellite devices rather than my toilet-based multi-accounting.

As I continued explaining, I had an unsettling feeling that I might lose one of them.

"She’s stubborn. She only believes in what she wants to believe. She doesn’t listen to advice. So the only way to change her mind is through this."

I spoke carefully, but I could feel Dajeong’s gaze fixated on the satellites.

She wasn’t licking her lips, but she might as well have been.

And, of course—

"Give me one."

"What?"

"Why not? You were just going to use them for your multi-accounting, right?"

"Well, I mean..."

"Come on, don’t be stingy. It’s more efficient if more people are involved."

"······."

I looked at Defender.

Despite being a psycho, he and I usually saw eye to eye.

And, as expected—

"Dajeong."

Defender turned to her.

"Skelton needs those for something important. I mean, look at him—he’s so desperate, he’s working on the toilet."

He was on my side.

A natural result after I had saved his life multiple times.

But Dajeong wasn’t backing down.

"Skelton, people come first! This isn’t just about multi-accounting; more hands make for a better job!"

"······."

"Come on, trust me. You know I have over ten years of online shit-stirring experience."

"Ten years?"

"Probably more. I started in elementary school."

...What a horrifying childhood.

But honestly, I had already accepted my fate the moment she set her eyes on those satellites.

Might as well let her have one and save my pride.

"I was going to give you one anyway."

"Liar."

"Pick the one you like."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

And so, my collaboration with Hong Dajeong began.

It's true that Hong Dajeong is practically an idle presence in our group, but in the online world, she possesses exceptional skills.

At first, she was so passive that I began to wonder if she would just take my equipment and disappear. Just as those suspicions started creeping in, the formidable opponent I had anticipated appeared.

St.Ailens: What is this? A deepfake?

A true, homegrown troublemaker.

St.Ailens: There is no longer any strategic military force operating at a federal level in the U.S. Naturally, all overseas strategic assets have been withdrawn. The only place where forces remain is Germany, and that’s not because they didn’t want to leave, but because they couldn’t. So now, they’ve deployed strategic assets to Korea, a place with no strategic value?

St.Ailens: Which unit is this? The image is blurry, and the unit insignia and identification patches are conveniently obscured.

St.Ailens: And look at their uniforms and equipment. This looks pre-war. Back then, they could afford to deck themselves out in full gear, but after the war, even regular troops barely had better equipment than civilians. None of this stuff has been maintained, so why are they still wearing it?

St.Ailens: And most importantly, that transport plane. That model wasn’t used by the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines before the war. It was only sold to allied nations.

St.Ailens: Based on all of this, I’m willing to bet my bunker that this image is a deepfake.

I don’t know much about him, but he seems sharp.

Could he actually be ex-military?

On top of that, I wasn’t familiar with arguing against Americans online, so I had to take a moment to assess the situation. Just then, an unexpected ally appeared.

CRAZY_HORSE: St.Ailens, this guy. My notes say he’s a troll.

"Hmm?"

What? Notes?

CRAZY_HORSE: Let’s check.

St.Ailens: CRAZY_HORSE, what are you talking about?

CRAZY_HORSE: Search complete.

St.Ailens: What?

CRAZY_HORSE: LOL.

"LOL?"

CRAZY_HORSE: Just as I thought. This guy hops between popular posts stirring up trouble.

St.Ailens: What are you talking about? I don’t post without reason.

CRAZY_HORSE: Yeah, right! Your search history says otherwise. You really have nothing better to do, huh?

St.Ailens: CRAZY_HORSE, that is baseless slander. I demand an apology.

CRAZY_HORSE: Eat dirt, moron.

CRAZY_HORSE: What kind of guy are you? Some military nerd? Huh? One of those types who’s never fired a gun but knows more about the military than anyone?

CRAZY_HORSE: LOL.

St.Ailens: This is truly beneath me. This is why I avoid posting here.

CRAZY_HORSE: Nerd~ Nerd~ Nerd~

Watching the intense keyboard battle, I found myself swallowing hard.

I glanced at Dajeong.

Her eyes glowed in the monitor’s light, lips curled into a triumphant smirk as her fingers moved across the keyboard with supernatural speed.

At that moment, I understood.

This girl was the real deal.

After that, St.Ailens never posted another comment.

With zero actual knowledge or logical argument, Dajeong had chased away what had seemed like a formidable foe.

Squatting in front of the toilet, watching the battle unfold, I stepped behind her as soon as it ended.

"How did you do that?"

"How?"

Dajeong grinned.

"He looked like an educated man, probably over fifty. People like that don’t engage in keyboard battles. If they’re attacked, they either ignore it or throw out a few insults before leaving."

"Really?"

"I’ve got my data."

"I... see."

"Keyboard battles are only fair fights when both sides are on equal footing. It’s an honorable duel."

Now that I think about it, back when more educated people were on our forum, keyboard battles were unheard of.

Even FoxGame didn’t argue—he just blocked me after cursing me out.

Well, I suppose getting older makes everything feel tiresome.

The longer you live, the easier it is to distinguish between what’s meaningful and what’s not.

But there was something else that piqued my curiosity.

"What’s this note thing?"

"Notes? You know when you check a user’s profile, and a little window pops up?"

"Yeah."

"Click in the blank space there. You can type."

I opened CRAZY_HORSE’s profile, clicked where she said, and typed something.

[Hong Dajeong]

"Now close it and reopen it."

I followed her instructions.

"What?"

Something surprising happened.

The text I had just entered was still there in the user info.

"What the hell? Is this a new feature?"

"No, it’s always been there."

"Seriously? I had no idea."

"This forum is full of loopholes. I found this by accident. I don’t think Melon meant for it to exist, but it’s similar to a feature from an old forum I used, so I just call it 'notes.'"

"I see."

Dajeong had proven her experience once again.

Her claim of ten years as an internet troll wasn’t an exaggeration.

By the way, 'LOL' apparently stands for "lots of laughs." It’s the English equivalent of "ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ."

Anyway, with the terrifying internet warlord Dajeong now on my side, there were no more obstacles in my way.

COOKIEMONSTER18: This place... I know this place. Can I trust this news?

The grand play for Rebecca was running smoothly.

Not long after, she messaged me directly.

COOKIEMONSTER18: Skelton! Are you there?

She was probably going to ask me to verify the images since I was near the military base.

The speed of her message told me something more than her words could express.

SKELTON: Yeah.

Maybe, deep down, she already knew her hope was futile.

That her hope had zero chance of coming true. But because zero wasn’t quite the same as "impossible," she had clung to it, trapping herself in a doomed reality.

COOKIEMONSTER18: That military base... Are there people there? Did the plane arrive?

People make foolish choices simply because the probability isn’t absolute zero.

And at the heart of those choices are always things they hold dear.

So, I couldn’t call her foolish.

"······."

SKELTON: Yes.

She was simply choosing the only option she could believe in.

COOKIEMONSTER18: I’ll be there soon! I’m bringing people!

I also know that the journey ahead will not be easy.

Bringing people along means deceiving that many more.

And of course, that too is a burden that must be dealt with.

"Senior, your house is almost finished, huh?"

Here, another person's effort is nearing completion.

It’s Ha Tae-hoon’s new house, which he has been building for a while.

Though he never liked his father, who was a construction worker, he must have inherited his skills and talent. Using only limited resources, he was managing to build a pretty decent house.

"This?"

Ha Tae-hoon wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, his eyes filled with pride as he looked ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) at his new home.

"Korean people should live in reinforced concrete buildings, after all."

He was usually indifferent and kept his distance from others, but at least when it came to his house, he seemed just as emotional as anyone else.

"Look at this, Park Gyu. The ceiling height. You see, I believe that for humans to live comfortably, the minimum ceiling height should be five meters."

"What about heating? They said this winter's going to be brutal."

"That? Well, what else can I do? I'll just have to endure it. We've got electricity, so what’s the problem? As long as there’s electricity, humans can survive anywhere."

It was three days later that Rebecca contacted me.

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: Skelton. Tomorrow, we’ll be heading your way with an advance team and an armored vehicle. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but be ready.

"......"

An American armored vehicle.

The true crisis of this grand play may only begin after Rebecca arrives in our territory.