Once again, Christmas had co.
There were no cakes, no carols, and no motels in this world anymore. Yet, on our ssage board, we kept up an annual tradition since the war began—a small event of our own: decorating a virtual Christmas tree.
In the past, FoxGas would set up a tree site every Christmas season, allowing users to add ornants to the tree as a way to share heartfelt ssages with one another. But this year, there was no sign of such a gesture.
FoxGas had gone silent.
Since their magnum opus, Monster Park, had literally turned into a mountain of corpses, they seed to have lost all motivation. After admitting that running Monster Park was no longer sustainable, they hadn’t posted anything since.
The scattered graves in Monster Park had been moved to a central cetery, so FoxGas was presumably still alive. But it seed their spirit had been broken.
So users grumbled, saying they didn’t understand why FoxGas was acting so weak. After all, death had beco an annual event during winter.
But I understood.
Hearing about mass deaths and witnessing them firsthand are entirely different things.
Monster Park was FoxGas’ dream, a creation they poured their heart and soul into after the war. That dream had beco buried under death. Feeling defeated was only natural.
And it wasn’t just FoxGas whose resolve was wavering.
I felt a little uneasy myself.
The Defender siblings had set their moving date.
I heard the news just as I was riding the wave of popularity from my latest post—a sort of coback mont for .
Defender contacted .
“Sorry, this ca up suddenly.”
The exact date hadn’t been set, but they’d be leaving before the year was out. Less than a week.
If no delays cropped up, they might leave as soon as tomorrow. The schedule wasn’t up to them but decided by the Legion faction.
"..."
Even though I knew this day would co, the thought of people leaving my life hit harder than I’d imagined.
My forr teammates would’ve been shocked to see now.
The sa Park Gyu who could remain stoic while fighting alongside a dying comrade was now getting sentintal over soone moving away.
So might say I’d grown weak. Others might claim I’d simply aged.
But what could I do?
The truth was, I felt uneasy, and I had no intention of denying it.
In a world that was falling apart, showing weakness wasn’t a cri.
Pretending to be strong wouldn’t make the apocalypse go away.
And it wasn’t just the Defender siblings who were leaving.
Rebecca and her daughter were also planning to depart soon, heading toward others of their kind.
They’d heard about a fully operational U.S. military base near Daegu.
The base housed about 150 people—soldiers who hadn’t managed to evacuate and their families. It was well-equipped, closely collaborating with the city governnt, and even had its own school.
It was probably the school that swayed Rebecca.
One by one, the people around were leaving.
I used to think being alone was natural, but now that I was facing it again, I wasn’t so sure.
Even though I didn’t talk or interact much with my neighbors, just knowing I could reach out when I needed to was a significant difference.
VIVA_BOT014: We’re not planning to appoint a new board moderator~ And even if we did, we’d never pick you, Skelton~
Desperate for so form of connection, I reached out to VivaBot.
But that cruel, black-hearted foreigner had no intention of helping .
After so hesitation, I decided to contact Rebecca.
“Skelton, what’s up?”
“Hey, Rebecca. Today’s Christmas, and I was thinking…”
“No.”
“...?”
Her abrupt response caught off guard.
“Um, I was just wondering if we could grab a bite together or sothing.”
“No, Skelton. Don’t contact again today.”
The call ended.
What the hell was that?
Had I done sothing wrong?
Weren’t we the kind of neighbors who’d at least share a light al or a cup of tea on a day like this?
I thought about calling her back but decided against it.
In my already fragile ntal state, facing rejection again would likely leave lasting damage.
During my days as a professor, people used to whisper about how I had a heart of steel.
They couldn’t understand how I could remain so composed after a teammate died.
To so extent, they were right. I was shaless and selfish. I didn’t deny it.
But that didn’t an I was unaffected when soone I knew beca a cold corpse before my eyes.
I simply chose not to think about it.
It was like flipping a ntal switch.
I first discovered that switch when my family was massacred by monsters.
At their funeral, while listening to relatives argue over the ager inheritance my parents had left, I shut off the switch for the first ti.
You could call it escapism, but it worked.
The key was not to waver.
Focus only on what was happening now, not the reasons or the past. The important thing was .
As long as I didn’t falter, nothing else mattered.
Lost in thought, I noticed commotion on the board.
FoxGas: Sorry, I was recovering for a bit.
FoxGas had returned.
He had sothing to say.
FoxGas: I need to confess—I wasn’t a good person. Back at my company, I was heavily involved in manipulating probabilities.
He detailed the shaless tricks they pulled, like adding an impossible number to lottery draws to ensure no one could win.
FoxGas: Eventually, I grew disillusioned and quit. But once I left, I rembered my childhood dream—to create gas. Not rigged gambling systems, but real gas. You guys always thank , but I’m the one who’s truly grateful. Thanks for making my lousy gas enjoyable.
FoxGas: It’s late, but the Christmas tree is open! Please leave kind ssages only!
I nodded as I sipped my coffee.
This was what it was about.
This was why I had joined Viva! Apocalypse!—for monts of connection like this.
I logged into the Christmas tree site and added my ornant.
What ornant would you like to choose?
A stocking to fill with heartfelt wishes.
Enter a warm ssage.
Hang in there.
Short but powerful, signed with my handle, Skelton.
Ornants quickly filled the tree. Every ssage was warm, even humorous.
But soon, I received an alert.
SKELTON’s Tree (1)
Instead of kind words, my tree was filled with:
Gloom
Cold
Adversity
Hunger
Pain
Betrayal
Loneliness
Then ca a second tree.
Liver Cancer
Rheumatism
High Fever
Myocardial Infarction
Hemorrhoids
Tetanus
Neuralgia
"This is absurd."
It was clearly a deliberate act of malice by soone with a grudge.
I sighed deeply.
Just when I thought I’d regained so positivity, it all drained away.
Turning away from the screen, I was left with the heavy silence and darkness that had always surrounded .
The darkness I had chosen.
A darkness that now revealed itself fully.
And I knew—this darkness could drive people insane.
The ones who couldn’t endure it had died long ago.
I’d survived for years in the hellscape of the battlefield, so there was no way I couldn’t handle this darkness. Still, being consciously aware of it was far from what I wanted.
I had hoped to push this awareness aside—to a ti when everyone else was gone, leaving only behind to beco a legend in an empty world.
But now that it had revealed itself, there was no choice but to face it.
With my finger poised over the ntal switch, I stared quietly into the darkness enveloping my bunker.
"..."
The darkness seed to try and swallow whole.
I let it.
After all, it could consu all it wanted; nothing would change.
Tomorrow, I’d still be alive.
Whether that life had aning or joy, I couldn’t say.
Vrrrrroooom—
Suddenly, the sound of a vehicle reached my ears.
The noise ca from the southwest.
It wasn’t an ordinary car. The engine was loud, indicating a high-displacent, heavy vehicle.
The ti was 6:10 PM, with the temperature at -14°C.
Click.
I grabbed my firearm and peered through the periscope.
In the distance, headlights pierced the growing darkness. While I couldn’t make out the exact type of vehicle due to the early sunset, it seed military-grade.
Just one vehicle.
Equipped with a snow-camouflage poncho and recoilless rifle, I stepped out of the bunker.
The vehicle, its headlights blazing, approached my territory, following an unpaved road barely distinguishable from the snow-covered terrain.
"..."
Could they know my location?
Despite the lack of clear road markings, the vehicle stayed perfectly on course, heading directly for the dirt path leading to my domain.
One na flashed through my mind.
Kim Daram.
Was she here to kill ?
I’d done nothing to provoke her, but I had beco the object of her animosity.
Kim Daram was the type to strike first.
She was a ticulous woman.
And what timing—delivering a gift like this on Christmas.
With a bitter smile, I moved to a vantage point and aid my recoilless rifle.
There was no need for words.
Once the vehicle was in range, I’d simply fire and eliminate the threat.
The sound of chains on the tires, the vibrations, the glow of headlights—it all grew closer.
The engine noise, though slightly distorted, felt familiar.
A Humvee.
An Arican military vehicle.
As the word "Arican" registered, Rebecca and Sue’s faces flashed through my mind.
It was likely just an involuntary association, but thinking of them brought a small pang to my chest.
I hadn’t yet confird their true intentions. Whatever the case, the outco would reveal itself eventually.
Lying flat on the cold snow, I waited for the target to co into view.
It appeared.
One pull of the trigger, and the threat before would be eliminated.
But wait.
"..."
Was Kim Daram this careless?
I hadn’t taught her to be sloppy.
If it were —or her—I’d set up a death trap so well-hidden that by the ti the target noticed, it’d already be too late.
Stopping myself from pulling the trigger, I let the vehicle co closer.
It wasn’t like , but so foolish hope compelled to wait.
"Skelton!"
A young voice carried on the wind.
Sue’s voice.
The vehicle stopped in front of my bunker.
There was no doubt—it was Rebecca’s Humvee.
"Skelton! Where are you? Why didn’t you answer my calls?!"
Rebecca’s voice followed, sharp and urgent.
Slowly, I erged with my weapon still in hand.
"Skelton!"
Rebecca’s eyes locked onto the recoilless rifle.
"Are you insane?!"
"Uh, no. I just heard a vehicle—"
"Then why didn’t you answer the comms? I tried to contact you!"
"..."
I dodged her question, instead focusing on the Humvee.
"What’s going on with this?"
Sue hopped out of the vehicle, standing proudly as she tapped the engine hood.
"Mom and I fixed it."
"What?"
"We looked it up online."
"You fixed this using the internet?"
"I even fixed my bike, too."
Sue looked up at Rebecca with pride.
"Mom even quit her beloved internet for a while to get it done."
Rebecca, visibly flustered, averted her gaze.
"We’ve been taking so much from you, and since we’re leaving soon, we thought we should give sothing back. Consider it a Christmas gift."
"A juicy surprise gift," Sue chid in confidently.
The mother and daughter stood together, facing with expectant smiles.
"rry Christmas, Skelton!"
"..."
For a mont, I hesitated.
Should I flip the switch in my heart off or leave it on?
"...rry Christmas."
Let it be.
Let myself waver.
On this sacred day marking the birth of a savior, it was okay to be a little vulnerable.
The heavily-armored Humvee, complete with a 12.7mm machine gun, barely fit into the cramped garage. As I returned to my bunker, ready to shut down my computer, I noticed a notification.
Probably more insults.
Still, I figured I’d take a look.
Click.
"Hmm?"
Was it from the Defender siblings?
What’s with the heart?
There’s more.
"..."
So it was them.
The culprit behind the negative decorations on my tree.
mmmmmmmmm: Oops, you caught lol.
But it wasn’t just them.
Further down, more decorations appeared.
Ballantine: rry Christmas, Skelton!
And another simple ssage:
rry Christmas.
"..."
For a mont, I smiled.
Even in the cold, harsh world I’d chosen, there were still flickers of light.
rry Christmas.
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