Three years have passed since the war began.
The current temperature is -10°C.
In the old days, such weather would have dominated the headlines with news about thermal underwear sales skyrocketing and warnings about power shortages. By today’s standards, though, it’s practically warm.
For the first ti in a while, I stepped outside to shake out my bedding and air it in the sunlight. Sipping on hot instant coffee, I surveyed the snow-blanketed wilderness surrounding .
As always, it was an unchanging wasteland.
The stillness made it feel like ti had frozen, a delusion broken only by the occasional sighting of a wild animal.
While the winter sunlight seeped into every corner of my bedding, I patrolled the periter to check its condition. After completing my rounds, I attached a trailer to the back of my motorcycle and headed down toward the valley.
Due to the frigid temperatures, the valley’s water had turned to solid ice. I pulled out the electric drill from the trailer, bore holes into the ice, and used a mallet and chisel to break it into manageable chunks. Then, I hooked the chunks with a chain and hauled them into the trailer.
These massive ice blocks would serve as my water supply for the day.
Although the water tank in my bunker had insulation to prevent freezing, the pipes drawing groundwater into the tank had succumbed to the subzero temperatures. As a result, I had to manually replenish my water supply each morning.
Lately, I’ve taken to listening to the radio while working. I flip between various frequencies, but my favorite is the Legion’s official broadcast.
It’s got music, stories, and a pleasant voice narrating it all.
"The weather is relatively mild today. According to the teorological Unit, this warm spell is expected to last about four days. Ah, how I miss the days of ‘three cold, four warm.’
"When I think of winter, I’m reminded of cold noodles paired with savory pancakes. I used to enjoy a bowl at this North Korean defector’s restaurant in Dongdaemun Market, rather than the so-called ‘Big Three Noodle Houses.’"
I don’t know who oversees the Legion’s propaganda, but they seem remarkably polished.
Instead of criticizing the Incheon governnt, they focus on subtly flaunting their wealth and comfort.
Listening to these broadcasts makes the horrors described on PaleNet about Incheon feel like tales from a distant land.
In Incheon, it’s no longer just protests; random shootouts occur regularly.
It’s not the military fighting civilians but civilians shooting each other indiscriminately.
Corpses litter the streets, and fires from burning bodies light up the cityscape.
It’s the “war of all against all” I once witnessed on Seoul’s outskirts, now playing out in Incheon.
Perhaps the collapse of hope has eroded the last shreds of humanity’s patience.
That hope was shattered the mont Jeju Island—the so-called “Island of Salvation”—was exposed as a mirage.
Although the city’s security is barely holding, PaleNet posts paint a precarious picture.
ㅇㅇ: “I’m young and pretty. Is there anyone who can take in? (Photo included).”
ㅇㅇ: “Forr idol trainee. Only looking for those with bunkers.”
ㅇㅇ: “I used to model. Is there soone who can co get ?”
MinjaePapa: “I’m so sorry to ask this, but is there anyone who can save my family? I’ll serve you for the rest of my life! Please, I beg you!”
ㅇㅇ: “I’m a forr actress.”
People are selling themselves.
Even on our doomsday survivalist board—once the most mocked and despised community in Korea.
Lately, it’s made reluctant to post anything.
SKELTON: (Skelton yawns) “Haaaah~”
Even this frivolous post prompted replies like:
MinjaePapa: “Skelton, where are you? I’m the father of a seven-year-old. My wife and child are dying. Please, I’m begging you—save my family! I’ll do anything you ask!”
It’s not just .
Keystone: “We’re a family of four—, my wife, son, and daughter. We’re good people. If you take us in, we’ll more than earn our keep!”
ㅇㅇ: “Anonymous458, where are you? Is your bunker close? How big is it? Do you have enough food?”
ㅇㅇ: “Foxgas, I’m sorry to ask, but where do you live? It’s so scary here. Could you please take my family in?”
Our board has beco a haven for desperate PaleNet refugees to beg for salvation, calling out usernas like lifelines.
Of course, there are exceptions:
MMMMMMMMMM: (The Hope: Now accepting new residents) “Co on in~ Oiso~ Irasshaimase~”
DongtanMom: “Yum…”
But they are rare.
The overall atmosphere is so desolate and oppressive that it’s becoming impossible to post anything.
Frankly, it’s disgusting.
Did John Nae-non foresee this future when he connected our board to PaleNet?
CLUNK!
A thick slab of ice broke loose.
I hooked it with a chain and hauled it onto the trailer.
THUD!
No, I doubt John Nae-non anticipated this.
Unicorn18: “Enough already!”
For soone like Unicorn18—who seed like they’d never care about anything, even during a war—it was shocking to see him lash out.
Unicorn18: “What is this? A refugee board?! Take your pathetic, filthy stories sowhere else! Why do we have to be responsible for your lives?”
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
I couldn’t help but add my voice to his righteous outburst.
SKELTON: (Skelton angry) “Exactly! I wholeheartedly support Unicorn18’s statent!”
But the tide was unstoppable.
Unicorn18’s cries were buried beneath an avalanche of even more desperate posts.
ㅇㅇ: “Skelton, I’m begging you! I have a car—just tell your location!”
SKELTON: “My child is dying! If you don’t help, they’ll die!”
ㅇㅇ: “I swear on my life, I’ve never lied. Skelton, please—just help my family survive this winter. I’ll do anything!”
This couldn’t go on.
Our board was ant to prepare for disaster—sharing wisdom and resources to face the apocalypse. It wasn’t supposed to beco a space where strangers scread for salvation.
“Skelton, doesn’t the board feel so tainted these days?” Da-jeong said, clearly fed up.
“I think I’m going to take a break. I’ll focus on prepping for live content instead. Want to help?”
“No, I can’t appear in live broadcasts.”
“Why not? Soone like you would be a hit. Go hunt so Mutations—we’ll film it!”
“There’s... a reason I can’t.”
The truth is, I’m already 90% certain Woo Min-hee has figured out my identity. Exposing more of myself is too risky.
Even Woo Min-hee is annoyed by the current situation.
Gijayangban: “Look at what the board has beco…”
A shared frustration was brewing among the board mbers.
Anonymous458: “Can’t soone block PaleNet already? This is so f**ing unbearable.”*
Anonymous1181: “Seriously. Those jerks who mocked us as lunatics before the war are now begging us to save them. Hilarious.”
Berkut_Break: “Our board is so broken it can’t function. Soone needs to tell lon Mask.”
Unfortunately, lon Mask was unreachable.
Anonymous458: “If lon Mask doesn’t respond, can’t we contact another admin?”
Anonymous424: “I saw an admin during Live! Apocalypse!—wasn’t it VivaBot?”
Tntn_Orthopedics: “I just tried, but they’re rejecting ssages too.”
RkkaRa: “So we have to wait until the next live broadcast?”
The next live broadcast was five days away.
Five days.
The five days leading up to the next live broadcast might not seem long, but in this freezing winter, with the board’s users glued to their screens all day, it felt like an eternity. And worse yet—
Defender: “Because of all those PaleNet users, we can’t even see our own board mbers’ requests for help.”
Defender was right.
Since sumr, many of our mbers had been crying out about food and fuel shortages.
While so have likely joined DSIRAE, I wouldn’t know for sure—I’ve blocked them. I do know that nearby board users have been banding together to share resources and survive.
The value of a life—whether PaleNet user or our board mber—should theoretically be the sa.
But within the confines of our board, the equation is different.
We prepared for the apocalypse together, built bunkers or equivalent shelters, and shared years of knowledge, insights, and camaraderie.
If soone had to be saved, shouldn’t our board mbers take priority over the PaleNet refugees?
But in the current state of things, we couldn’t even support each other properly, let alone maintain our board’s function.
Soone needed to take action.
And if there was anyone with the ans to do so, it might as well be .
I’ve got my connections with Viva, after all.
Not to ntion, that thieving bastard lon Mask owes a favor.
SKELTON: (Skelton's declaration) “I’ll go negotiate with the admins!!!”
No one replied to my post, but it did get a single heart.
Whether it was from Defender or Da-jeong, I wasn’t sure.
Having declared my intentions, I sent a ssage to VivaBot.
SKELTON: “Got a mont to talk?”
The response was quick.
VIVA_BOTO14: “Did you get your package?”
As expected, I seed to be treated differently.
While others had reported being ghosted by VivaBot, it responded to right away.
Let’s chalk it up to all the hardships I’ve endured and my contributions to humanity’s survival. I cut straight to the point.
I explained the situation in detail:
How a Korean user had connected Viva! Apocalypse! to PaleNet, letting in a flood of toxic users who were wreaking havoc on the board.
I admitted it was unfortunate to sever the bridge John Nae-non had built, but if left unchecked, it would destroy our community.
It might even lead to more of the infamous “user hunts” that had plagued Viva! Apocalypse! in the past.
Those posts from earlier—claiming to be forr celebrities or idols—might very well have been written by ard n waiting to ambush responders.
SKELTON: “The situation is critical.”
After sending my lengthy ssage, I waited for a reply.
VivaBot remained silent.
I went to check on the water tank, and when I returned, there was a new ssage.
VIVA_BOTO14: “Interesting. We’ve actually received a similar request recently.”
“Hmm?”
Soone else had already raised this issue?
That didn’t make sense.
Both lon Mask and VivaBot typically block random ssages, only accepting them from registered users.
I’d gained ssage privileges due to a prior arrangent, but who else could have done the sa?
Could it have been DongtanMom?
If so, it wouldn’t be surprising. As a beloved figure and one of the earliest contributors to Live! Apocalypse!, they would have that kind of pull.
SKELTON: “Was it DongtanMom?”
VIVA_BOTO14: “What? Why bring them up out of nowhere?”
SKELTON: “I an, the person who reported the PaleNet issue.”
VIVA_BOTO14: “No.”
SKELTON: “Then who?”
VIVA_BOTO14: “Curious?”
SKELTON: “Yes.”
VIVA_BOTO14: “Why don’t you create so content for us? Maybe then I’ll tell you.”
SKELTON: “Content? Like what?”
VIVA_BOTO14: “You’re one of the twelve holders of the legendary Golden Fleece. Why not record yourself taking down a Mutation? It would help improve the quality of the live broadcast.”
SKELTON: “And if I do?”
VIVA_BOTO14: “Block PaleNet? Sure. Why not?”
“......”
This Woman, She’s Sothing Else
Could she possibly be an AI?
No, she’s human—I saw her with my own eyes.
Taking a deep breath, I cald myself and asked her another question.
SKELTON: “I’ll think about it. Hunting, I an. So who was it? Who else contacted you about this issue?”
Promises are made to be broken.
But—
VIVA_BOTO14: “Unicorn18.”
“Huh?”
The answer caught completely off guard.
“Unicorn18...?”
Unicorn18 wasn’t your average user.
Their position in the community was similar to mine—lurking at the bottom of the boards.
They’d post incessantly about obscure ani no one cared about or ask bizarre, borderline absurd questions about finding pure won in a world where violence was as routine as breathing.
At one point, they even tried buttering up with sycophantic nonsense.
But that sa Unicorn18 was ssaging VivaBot?
Surely, this had to be so kind of mistake.
I checked the spelling.
It was correct.
It really was Unicorn18.
Reeling from the shock, I asked VivaBot again to confirm.
SKELTON: “Unicorn18? Seriously?”
VIVA_BOTO14: “Yes, seriously. Why do you sound so skeptical?”
SKELTON: “That user? Sending you ssages? Co on, they’re just a troll.”
VIVA_BOTO14: “That’s what I thought once, too. But you really don’t know?”
SKELTON: “Know what?”
VIVA_BOTO14: “Unicorn18 is a Golden Fleece holder.”
SKELTON: “...What?”
VIVA_BOTO14: “Are you serious? You really don’t know each other?”
I felt like I’d been punched in the back of the head.
Unicorn18, a Golden Fleece holder?
The Golden Fleece, the ultimate proof of being an S-class Hunter, was limited to just twelve in existence.
Three of those were allocated to South Korea.
One was mine.
The other two went to Kang Han-min and Na Hye-in.
In other words, they were also S-class Hunters.
Before their appearance, the concept of the “Awakened” didn’t even exist.
You could call it a kind of grandfather clause.
Shortly after Kang Han-min and Na Hye-in received their Golden Fleeces, the Hunter system was overhauled, and both the Golden Fleece and the S-class Hunter designation vanished like a mirage.
And yet here was Unicorn18—a user I knew well from the boards—holding one.
SKELTON: “What’s Unicorn18’s real na? Is it Kang? A relative of Kang Han-min?”
VIVA_BOTO14: “Nope. During their first live stream, they just flashed the Golden Fleece for a second and started acting so weird that we blocked them for 24 hours. I don’t know their na, face, or even their gender.”
Two possibilities ca to mind.
Either Unicorn18’s Golden Fleece was real, or it was fake.
If it were real, then their identity narrowed down to two options:
Kang Han-min or Na Hye-in.
In my mind, Unicorn18 was more likely to be Kang Han-min than Na Hye-in.
Could it really be Kang Han-min?
Had he been on our board this entire ti?
Spending three years in the sa space as ?
My heart pounded faster.
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