keystone: Let’s say soone showed up next to your bunker and built a small house. Not a raider or a thug—just soone decent and harmless.
Let’s also assu they’re not a young, attractive woman or anyone appealing like that. But their house is right next to your bunker. You have weapons, and they don’t.
In that situation, what would you do? What’s the right answer?
Keystone posted for the first ti in a while.
He explained that he hadn’t posted because of his neighbors.
For so reason, people kept settling near him, and this ti was no different. New neighbors moved in, and he had to tread carefully around them.
In the end, he barely endured by keeping the heat to a minimum until they froze to death.
At one point, he risked his life to leave his bunker and run his generator, even starting a wildfire in the process.
Classic oldbie behavior.
Although Keystone and I don’t get along, he’s one of the original forum mbers whose numbers are steadily dwindling.
Original forum mbers are those who, before the war, signed contracts with Star Obelisk and Viva! Apocalypse!, paying over 200,000 won a month for mbership.
It’s unfortunate, but the number of original mbers decreases by the day.
New users have been filling the gap, often acquiring satellite equipnt through bartering or other ans, but they don’t share the sa spirit as the originals.
We were doomsday preppers to the core—people who put our beliefs into action long before society collapsed.
Before the war, we debated countless strategies and plans for survival.
Every original mber has probably stayed up all night at least once, passionately discussing the nuances of preparedness.
Keystone’s post was a nostalgic nod to those tis.
But the dilemma he posed was an old one, with a clear answer:
Kill them.
Staying out of sight—low visibility—is our most sacred principle.
Having soone nearby threatens that principle and risks attracting raiders or other dangers.
Even if they’re unard now, that doesn’t an they’ll always be. They might have ard acquaintances visiting soday.
Interactions with neighbors during an apocalypse almost always end in disaster.
Even my relationship with Rebecca and her daughter took an exceptionally long ti to develop. And even that was because I unilaterally offered help.
Unless you’re prepared for such effort, it’s wiser to abandon the idea of neighbors altogether.
Lastly, they’re unard.
In other words, easy to kill.
There’s a vast difference between soone with a gun and soone without. No matter how strong, brave, or experienced they are at killing, it’s irrelevant.
When neighbors pose more risk than reward, and they’re unard, there’s no reason to hesitate.
Keystone even thoughtfully removed the complicating factor of “an attractive young woman” from the scenario.
Such individuals, while harsh to admit, hold different value than ordinary people and can’t be placed on the sa level.
Of course, to soone like Defender, they’re all just people.
Anyway, Keystone’s nostalgic question delighted the oldbies, who eagerly comnted:
mmmmmmmmm: Haven’t seen this scenario in ages.
berkut_break: I rember debating this topic.
Anonymous424: We concluded that killing is the answer, right?
Anonymous458: Yeah.
—(Blocked user comnt)—
DOLSINGMAN: Removing the attractive woman makes it an easier question.
I thought about comnting, but since I’m already well-known, there was no need to flaunt my oldbie status.
However, not all comnts were from oldbies.
Anonymous1311: Can’t you just live with them?
Before the war, anonymous usernas didn’t exceed three digits.
Now, usernas with four digits are either secondary accounts or new users.
Anonymous1311 is a textbook example of a new user.
Although they’re part of Viva! Apocalypse!, there’s an invisible barrier between original mbers and newcors.
Historically, this makes sense.
There have been nurous incidents involving stolen satellite equipnt.
The infamous Sunbi Incident, now half-legend, is one example.
Early raiders didn’t understand the value of our satellite gear—discarding it, disassembling it for scrap, or selling it.
But when PaleNet launched and the existence of Viva! Apocalypse! beca known, our satellite equipnt and accounts gained imnse value in trade.
Of course, this gear often ca from dead or murdered forum mbers.
In many cases, these new users were simply using the accounts of deceased forum friends they barely knew.
Even if we understand this rationally, it’s hard to accept emotionally.
The most common discrimination original mbers show newcors is deliberate neglect.
If a new user comnts, they’re ignored, even while oldbies engage with one another.
Keystone’s post is no exception.
Anonymous1311 offered a suggestion, but no one responded.
This wasn’t an isolated incident.
I rember Anonymous1311 because they’re unusually active for a newbie.
Such activity often correlates with receiving significant neglect and hostility from oldbies.
I, SKELTON, have experienced posts with no comnts before, but the reasons are entirely different.
In my case, it was jealousy or lack of agreent with my ideas.
For Anonymous1311, it’s pure prejudice—they’re dismissed solely because they’re a four-digit stranger.
Still, they remain undeterred, continuing to ask questions with their head held high.
Lately, they’ve been posting more self-aware content.
Anonymous1311: Why doesn’t anyone reply to my comnts?
Even that lant received no replies.
Instead, a new post mocking them appeared.
dongtanmom: Nom nom… No self-awareness? No common sense? Or neither? Nom nom…
The worst offenders aren’t newcors like Anonymous1311, but mid-tier users like Baek Seung-hyun.
These people, despite being newcors themselves, are even harsher toward those who joined later.
Among them, M9 is the most notorious.
Whenever M9 comnts on a post, they always complain:
mmmmmmmmm: Seems like the forum is full of finger princesses these days.
Finger princess—the slur has resurfaced.
The term Finger Princess (abbreviated Ping-Pru in Korean) refers to a notorious type of newbie often found in ga forums—people who are too lazy to search for easily accessible information and instead flood the forums with questions.
M9, a mid-tier user, had a habit of throwing around the term Ping-Pru whenever a new user showed up, using it to create an unspoken pressure against them.
mmmmmmmmm: Ugh, another Ping-Pru.
Unlike with Dongtanmom's snide remarks, Anonymous1311 seed visibly hurt by M9’s comnt.
Anonymous1311: I’m not a Ping-Pru… 😭
For so reason, Unicorn18 responded to the post.
unicorn18: ?!
What did they sense?
Regardless, the so-called Ping-Pru posted another question shortly afterward:
Anonymous1311: (Please answer!) Why doesn’t anyone live on deserted islands? Aren’t they the safest places?
“…”
I, Park Gyu, may have a reputation for being cold, but I don’t judge people by surface traits or discriminate against them.
Back when I was known as the Professor, I only cared about skills.
Of course, "skills" included qualities like obedience, cooperation, and courage necessary to carry out missions. However, personal flaws or allegations of civilian murders—none of that mattered to .
Now, as the forum-famous SKELTON, I’m no longer a Professor, but I like to think I’ve retained so of my old impartiality.
And honestly, isn’t this newbie a bit… endearing?
The little preface they added to their post seed inspired by . That tiny gesture moved to act.
SKELTON: …
A rare and distinguished presence deigned to comnt, exuding the aura of a reclusive martial arts master.
Unsurprisingly, the newbie was ecstatic.
Anonymous1311: SKELTON?! Whoa! Is it really SKELTON?
They were genuinely thrilled.
I understand that feeling. I rember the days when no one comnted on my posts. The excitent of seeing even one response—it’s akin to wanting to rush out barefoot to greet it.
Smiling faintly, I replied:
SKELTON: Why doesn’t anyone live on deserted islands?
Anonymous1311: Yeah, I really want to know! I’ve been curious ever since I got here. There are so many people here—why doesn’t anyone live on deserted islands?
SKELTON: (SKELTON Teacher Mode) Well, let explain...
For our dear Anonymous1311, I decided to give a proper lecture for the first ti in a while.
Deserted islands.
On the surface, they might seem like an ideal survival environnt.
Water could be scarce, but with isolation from outside threats and the right skills, one could secure food and remain safe from monsters. To my knowledge, no monsters cross the sea.
With the proper machines and knowledge, the water issue could also be resolved, and so deserted islands even have drinkable springs. Waste managent is straightforward.
But why don’t deserted islands work?
Because they’re deserted islands.
By nature, they’re cut off from trade.
Especially in terms of acquiring survival tools like weapons, islands are a dead end.
While isolated, they’re far from being low-visibility.
At sea, visibility often extends to the limits of the Earth’s curvature—tens of kiloters.
A single plu of smoke rising from an island can be seen and tracked from far away.
And islands don’t move.
They’re fixed locations, easy to find and differentiate.
If South Korea had isolated islands far out in the Pacific, like Japan or the U.S., it might be different. But most of Korea’s islands are near the mainland, and they’re not nurous.
In fact, their limited numbers make them even more dangerous.
What’s the issue?
Ultimately, it’s people.
A deserted island is nothing more than an easy, visible target for sea raiders.
This is a well-discussed issue on our forum.
During the early days of the war, so survivalists attempted to start on deserted islands. Few lasted more than a year.
Given the pre-war difficulty of obtaining weapons, most island preppers were unard. Later, they were wiped out by ard, sea-savvy raiders who knew the ocean better.
Deserted islands are scarier than land for one reason: there’s no concept of "passing by."
Each island is a specific, countable location, unlike the vast anonymity of a wasteland.
On land, no one counts the wasteland. But islands? They’re finite and limited.
Narrow, with few habitable areas, islands are easy targets for raiders equipped with drones and dogs to search every corner.
I recall one family who tried to survive on an island. We can all imagine their fate.
SKELTON: Sure, there might be soone surviving on a deserted island even now. But that person could survive anywhere.
Deserted islands might have worked before the war, but they’re hardly ideal now.
For once, I felt a twinge of nostalgia while answering a newbie’s question.
Anonymous1311: I see… (understanding)
Anonymous1311: Thanks so much, SKELTON! Really. This is the first ti anyone here’s responded so kindly to ! (wink)
What’s with this kid?
Their tone seems… odd.
Trying to act cute, maybe?
No wonder Unicorn18 reacted so strongly.
SKELTON: …
I signed off with the air of a reclusive master once again and left the thread.
Everyone knows what happened next:
Anonymous1311 continued to post questions.
And everyone continued to ignore them.
But no one knew who they were—not until later.
I rember the day clearly.
The day I saw black smoke rising in the sky from the attacked oil storage facility in Incheon, visible even from my territory.
On that day, Anonymous1311 posted a new thread.
Anonymous1311: You people are so cold-hearted.
They attached a photo.
Had it been an ordinary photo, the post would have been buried in the sa cold indifference as their others.
But it wasn’t ordinary.
The person in the photo was a woman.
And not just any woman—she was stunning.
How could she not be?
The woman in the photo was Yeo Sa-yul, one of South Korea’s most famous actresses.
mmmmmmmmm: (M9 trembling) Is that really Yeo Sa-yul?
dongtanmom: Nom?!
The sa people who had mocked Anonymous1311 suddenly tried to latch on to them.
Anonymous1311: Yep, she’s my sister. (wink)
For the record, Yeo Sa-yul is my age.
In any case, the verification post received ten comnts.
That might not sound like much, but the thread’s view count surpassed 3,000—far exceeding our forum’s average of 100 views per post.
Before the buzz from the shocking reveal subsided, the controversial newbie posted another question.
Anonymous1311: What is this?
“…”
Perhaps Anonymous1311 didn’t need to reveal their identity to get attention.
The object in the photo was a grayish sphere—a capsule.
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