Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 76.1: Refuge (1)

SKELTON: (Celebration) Former board manager SKELTON returns with a bang!

Finally, the block has been lifted.

It wasn’t so much the result of my apology letter but rather the fruits of my patience after 72 hours.

During the long, arduous months of being blocked, not once did I fail to think about this moment of liberation.

I was sure there would be some kind of reaction.

It wouldn’t be warm and forgiving, like Christian forgiveness or enthusiastic support, but surely I’d get some sort of comment, even if it was a hateful one.

The reason didn’t matter; the fact was that I had become famous, right?

Apparently, the artist Andy Warhol once said that once you become famous, even if you turn your back, the public will still clap for you.

I thought something similar would happen to me.

But...

"······Hmm."

There was no reaction.

Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes passed, and not a single comment appeared.

Could it be that I’ve been buried?

It was 7:00 AM, and it had been some time since the block was lifted, but it was still a bit early.

After an hour, I posted again.

SKELTON: "Releases from prison) Hey, guys! I’m back! Tofu... huh~"

Now, surely, in Korea’s tiny internet world, no one would be unfamiliar with SKELTON.

After all, I was the first and last armband holder in the Viva! Apocalypse! Korean forum, so whether the comments were hateful or supportive, there should be at least a few.

I mean, don’t famous people always want attention and people swarming around them?

But again, no response.

Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes...

Alright. Fine. Then let's try some shock therapy.

SKELTON: "(Announcement) No comments? You’ll be tracked and blocked for 24 hours!"

"······."

Still, no comments.

It’s normal for me not to get comments—breathing, eating, and not getting comments are all everyday occurrences—but this coldness felt different from the usual dismissal I had experienced.

I mean, not even a single hateful comment?

Could it be that Viva blocked my posts from being visible to others?

I don’t know the reason, but it feels like that one foreigner with black hair, who has always had a strange dislike for me, might have personally imposed a private sanction to make me invisible. Could they have used their powers to make me transparent?

mmmmmmmmm: "That boring bastard. So shameless, really shameless. After pulling that stunt, he’s still posting here like nothing happened. Has he really lost his humanity...?"

...That doesn’t seem right.

It’s clear that "that boring bastard" refers to SKELTON, anyone who has spent some time on the forum would know that.

It’s a bit humiliating for a senior user like me to be mentioned directly by another user, but what can I do?

Even after the eventful return, with no comments at all, I decided to try a bit of friendly banter with m9.

SKELTON: "Peace offering handshake) m9, I understand your feelings now after being blocked, haha."

For the first time, my fingers felt heavy on the keyboard.

Each keypress felt as heavy as lifting a 90kg bench.

But this guy—he still didn’t react, even after I extended the olive branch.

mmmmmmmmm: "It’s getting warmer, maybe I’ll get some sun today~ You know? If you tilt the angle of the sunlight properly, the disinfectant effect of sunbathing increases."

A thorough snub.

Even though I extended the hand of reconciliation, he only responded with unrelated talk.

"······."

I guess I should’ve expected that from someone like him.

To be honest, the timing isn’t great.

It just so happens that the day I return coincides with the worst mood on the board.

As the temperature rises, the scale of damage from the cold snap becomes apparent.

Naturally, many people have died from freezing.

The resources are scarcer, the temperature lower, and the cold has lingered much longer than last year.

The situation at the refugee camps varies drastically.

With Yang Sang-gil, the acting president, dead, the camps in Incheon have essentially fallen into a situation of survival of the fittest. The organization and leadership of each camp have determined the fate of the people there, leading to a variety of outcomes.

Some camps recorded just a few frostbite cases, while others experienced total fatalities from the cold.

The camp that saw the least damage was the 13th shelter, where they made the bold decision to abandon the government-provided tents and housing to move to a nearby subway station when the cold arrived.

This wasn’t a decision anyone could make lightly, as it required immense courage.

The shelter leaders built a second winter camp on the subway tracks, risking suffocation and poisoning to light fires inside. They selected strong individuals to handle resource gathering and distribution, allowing all activities to be conducted within the subway.

The most impressive part of the 13th shelter’s winter activities was their huddling technique.

Just like penguins in Antarctica, hundreds of refugees gathered together in a circle, using their body heat to block the wind and cold, surviving the harsh winter by sticking together and moving slowly.

The 29th shelter, on the other hand, faced the worst situation. Unlike the 13th shelter, they had relied on their heating and electric facilities, confident in their proximity to the district heating system.

However, disaster struck.

A temperature of -40°C hit, and their heating was cut off. They could’ve survived with the electricity alone, but their luck ran out.

A series of unfortunate events led to the power being cut, and their only means of communication, the radio, ran out of battery.

It was midnight, and the sky seemed to have abandoned them, with a terrible snowstorm.

A few strong individuals were sent to the government building, but for some unclear reason, they were returned, and eventually, the 29th shelter had to survive in -40°C solely on body heat.

On that day, when an unusually strong wind blew from the sea, the people in the shelter became no different from the snow and ice surrounding them.

There can be significant differences between these camps, but even within the same camp, people's fates vary greatly.

Families that were lucky enough to be assigned well-heated rooms were fortunate to survive the bitter cold, with no one going missing,

While families without proper heating met a tragic end: all family members froze to death, either separately or simultaneously.

Violence and murder were also daily events.

One man, a former martial artist who was quite strong in the camp, monopolized the electricity and hot water in an attempt to survive the winter. But three ordinary men attacked him with clubs and beat him to death.

The story of a family being sent to the coldest part of the camp, where they froze to death, was as common as the question of what you had for dinner the previous evening.

When the weather warmed up, the truth came out, and the bodies of those who froze to death were stacked in piles and either burned or, unbelievably, secretly recycled.

There’s not much for me to say about this tragedy.

It’s not just about me.

This is the future our doomsayers predicted.

If disasters like the cold wave or large monster outbreaks happen, it’s only natural that many people will die.

In fact, fewer people have died so far than we anticipated.

Human life force turned out to be much more resilient, tougher, and more stubborn than we had expected.

Every time people died in large numbers, we could at least say it was tragic, but that’s all.

Their deaths were tragic, but not our tragedy.

They and we, the doomsayers, were always people with different thoughts, and as such, their destinies were always meant to be different as well.

As I briefly looked around at the aftermath of the cold wave, I quickly became bored and found a new topic to resolve my boredom.

Above all, I craved comments.

Not from just anyone, but as a well-known user, the former board administrator, Skelton, who had finally returned from a long ban—shouldn’t at least one comment be posted?

I felt the impulse to ask Defender to comment, but I resisted, thinking that would be going too far.

So, in this somewhat gloomy return, I silently scrolled down.

Ding~

"Ah!"

A comment was posted.

Let's check it.

GingerCookie: Skelton, gather here! Come to the Animal Crossing board!

GingerCookie?

A name I’ve never seen before.

Looking at the Hangul nickname, they seem like a FailNet friend.

But what’s this Animal Crossing board? I’ve never heard of it.

I never saw this board while casually browsing FailNet either.

It’s definitely not in the rankings.

Given my routine of checking the top 20 boards on FailNet twice a day, I’d have noticed.

But since they’re showing interest in me during these tough times, it’s only right to respond. I did a quick search for the Animal Crossing board and entered.

"Hmm?"

It’s quite active.

I had expected it to be a deserted wasteland like a so-called "ghost board" since it wasn’t in the rankings, but surprisingly, many users were active.

Let’s take a look at the posts.

TempleTteokbokkiFaithful: "Don’t click!"

Platypus: What’s the name of this furniture?

MintChocoRice: It’s so cold today~ Is it really getting warmer?

Roaker: My game console won’t turn on. What should I do?

RollQueue: Finally cleared the snow and organized the house~

Ismail: ······

HairStylingWarrior: Today's Animal Crossing fan art jpg

···

There are several nicknames active here.

The posts are all from today, spanning several different time slots.

There are about 10 active users at least.

Considering the board’s ranking, it feels like a small but bustling space.

According to the board description, it seems to be a community for users who play the portable game Animal Crossing, but from the tone of the posts, it looks like the content here is more about daily life or trivial matters than about the game.

In contrast to the many fights in the gaming boards, this one has a warm atmosphere, with no signs of hostility—everyone feels friendly.

The game that inspired the board is a soft, peaceful game, and so this board feels warm too, with no common vulgar language or cursing.

"······."

How should I put this? It’s a totally different atmosphere from the rough boards I’ve been part of.

Just a moment ago, I was reading about people freezing to death in Incheon, and now I feel like I’ve stepped into a fairy tale world.

Just then, the user who led me here posted something.

GingerCookie: Roaker - Did you charge your game console?! It’s not dead again, is it?!

Are they chatting in real time?

FailNet doesn’t have a message function like ours.

There’s no concept of accounts, and everything is anonymous.

Roaker: Oh, it’s dead again~ Ugh, maybe it’s because it’s cold. It keeps dying so often ᅲᅲ

GingerCookie: You should’ve put it on a heating pad when you weren’t using it. The repairman’s gone now, so you’ll have to be careful while playing.

Roaker: Yup, yup ᅲᅲ

Real-time conversation is happening on the board.

There might not be many people, but the activity level seems enough.

For a board like this, the size doesn’t really match Skelton’s reputation, but it’s worth leaving a comment.

Tap tap tap

SKELTON: (Skelton blushes) Hey everyone~?

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I tried greeting them warmly in the style of this board.

What kind of response will I get?

There was no reaction for about a minute, but soon GingerCookie recognized me.

GingerCookie: Huh?! Skelton?! You really came!

GingerCookie: Guys! The famous user Skelton is here! Everyone say hi!

This was expected.

But then,

NoCommentGamer: Hi, Skelton! Nice to meet you!

QueueSkelton: Who’s this Skelton? What does he do? Anyway, nice to meet you!

Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.

Ismail: ·····

THE MAN: Oh! Skelton! A fun guy, huh?

TempleTteokbokkiFaithful: "Skelton, welcome!"

MintChocoRice: New here? Hello!

HairStylingWarrior: Even this remote board has people coming... Welcome, Skelton.

Roaker: A famous user, Skelton? Wow~ Impressive!

···

What’s going on? Am I dreaming?

Unlike the cold, harsh board where I returned after 72 hours of banishment with no comments, this Animal Crossing board is showing interest in me. Every user, although slowly, is paying attention.

GingerCookie: Welcome, Skelton - we’re so happy to have you here, do you play Animal Crossing?

SKELTON: Nah, I don’t do that. I don’t even have it.

GingerCookie: No worries, you’re welcome here no matter what! This is a place where everyone’s welcome!

MintChocoRice: Skelton! Welcome!

TempleTteokbokkiFaithful: "Skelton!"

Ismail: ·····

Roaker: Famous user Skelton!

···

Now, even now, this small board is giving me an overwhelming amount of attention with every move I make.

I told this kind, little discovery to Dajeong.

"What? People are warmly welcoming you on a small board?"

She, being the internet expert, was the one to explain my surprise.

And just as expected, she easily explained my situation with the knowledge she had in her mind.

"Yeah, there are places like that. It’s called sticking with your own kind. When small boards gather around a common hobby or topic, people are so rare that everyone gets along and it’s warm."

"Really?"

Such places exist.

Even in this cold and cruel internet world.

"Where is it? Animal Crossing? Oh, let me check it out. Oh~ So it’s like this?"

At the end of Dajeong’s sentence, there was a slight hint of mockery.

"So it’s just a remote social board."

"It does have that vibe."

"Animal Crossing, you said? I know that game. It’s too peaceful for me, so I didn’t play it, but if it suits you, it’s not a bad place to heal.

Being social in moderation is actually a good thing. In fact, even before the war, there were people who spent over 10 years on the same board, growing old together."

"Is that really true?"

"There are quite a few."

Hearing the voice full of confidence from Dajeong, the internet expert, made me feel somewhat embarrassed, but since I’ve worn the armband before, I guess I can handle it well.

Since we’re about to part ways, and the conversation was getting too long, I tried to wrap it up appropriately when suddenly Dajeong asked a question.

"But, are there no deaths there?"