Jeju Airport Resembles a Crowded Parking Lot
The airport is packed with various aircraft—fighter jets, transport planes, and comrcial airliners—all cramd together, creating a chaotic atmosphere.
Yet, only a handful of them are actually operational.
Most are held in reserve or used as substitutes, with only a select few in active service.
According to a pilot I spoke with, before the fall of the southern regions, they had a stable supply of synthetic fuel, allowing for more frequent flights. However, under current conditions, air operations are now restricted to critical missions, such as defoliant dispersal and military flights.
"Does the Air Force still serve a purpose?"
Since it was taking so ti to prepare the aircraft that would take to my destination, I had the opportunity to engage in a leisurely conversation with the pilot.
This pilot was noticeably younger and of lower rank than the previous one I had encountered.
His gaunt fra and bloodshot eyes suggested a less-than-ideal quality of life, but he was polite and made an effort to treat well.
As he sucked on the remains of a cigarette, he answered my question.
"Yes. Occasionally, unidentified aircraft intrude into our airspace."
"Which country? I doubt it's China."
"There have been so from the Chinese side. More precisely, they were registered as Taiwanese aircraft, but since they don't respond to our radio calls, there's a possibility they were seized by China."
"Did China take over Taiwan?"
The winner of the China-Taiwan war was never clearly determined.
Both nations ceased to exist in the midst of their conflict, a classic case of mutually assured destruction.
However, I do rember news reports during the war stating that the Chinese military had successfully landed a large invasion force on Taiwan.
"They didn't take the entire island. But their marines did manage to secure the air force bases at the rear."
The pilot stared longingly at the spent cigarette before tossing it to the ground and shifting his gaze toward the window.
"Japanese aircraft have also been making occasional appearances."
"Military planes?"
"Yes, reconnaissance aircraft. They seed curious about our situation. Scrambles against them used to be a regular occurrence last year."
"Why?"
"They must have had their reasons. We tried to establish communication, but they feigned ignorance. Still, even their incursions have decreased significantly this year. Their own situation must have deteriorated."
A large civilian aircraft lifted off from the runway.
Once, it had carried passengers chasing dreams of overseas travel. Now, it sprayed defoliant over Jeju, killing off the vegetation.
Though the sky was clear and blue, the island’s signature dull, ashen atmosphere was inescapable—even at the airport.
Perhaps the empty corridors around us made the place feel even more desolate.
As I sat in silence, passing ti with the taciturn pilot, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed through the hall.
A woman in a white uniform.
She wore a Gukwiwon badge and walked straight toward .
"Are you Park Gyu?"
"Yes, I am."
Like most people in Jeju, she appeared to be barely in her early twenties. Yet, her deanor was ticulous, shaped by long years of experience.
She carefully compared my face to the tablet she held and requested a fingerprint scan, along with confirmation of my na and date of birth.
Once my identity was verified, she finally introduced herself.
"I'm Choi Hyun-joo from the Gukwiwon Immigration Bureau."
She ticulously reviewed my cargo manifest, the items I was required to return, and any other necessary procedures.
There were no missing items, and I had no lingering attachnts.
Finally, she confird my request.
"You’re planning to stay on the mainland for a year?"
"Yes, that’s correct."
I answered clearly, blinking as I did.
"Will you continue using your current residence?"
"Yes. I heard I can lease it out for up to a year while I'm away."
Of course, my real intention was to leave Jeju for good.
But officially, I was listed as conducting a year-long reconnaissance mission on the mainland.
I had no sentintal ties to this island—I could walk away without looking back.
Yet, there was a pressing reason I couldn’t just abandon everything so easily.
Choi Hyun-joo asked for the pilot’s understanding.
He took the opportunity to check on the aircraft’s maintenance and stepped away.
Now, only she and I remained in the vast, empty airport lobby.
She studied her records, then looked at with gleaming eyes.
"Is it true?"
"?"
"That you hunted a monster alone? That you took down an Executioner-type—one of the worst small-class variants—using nothing but lee weapons?"
Judging by her reaction, she wasn’t an Awakened herself.
She was just one of the fortunate, chosen ordinary citizens permitted to live in Jeju.
"...I had no other choice if I wanted to survive."
She glanced around before continuing in a hushed yet fervent voice.
"I've heard about you, Professor. They say you were the strongest hunter before the Awakened appeared—that the first generation of Awakened saw you as a threat."
Her enthusiasm didn’t co as a surprise.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
I had encountered countless people like her in the past.
And every ti, my response remained the sa.
"A protruding nail gets hamred down."
I answered the question but kept my tone detached.
There was no need to exaggerate, nor any reason to hide the truth.
Yet, it seed my reputation wasn’t just based on my past.
"You faced a monster just a few days ago, and now you’re volunteering for mainland ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) reconnaissance? That’s not sothing an ordinary person would do."
She respected not only my past achievents but also my recent choices.
"...The aversion to combat keeps growing. More and more people are feigning injuries, and Over-5 Level Awakened are using underhanded tricks to get classified as Level 4."
Choi Hyun-joo’s expression turned sour as she shook her head in frustration.
"Because of this, Rift closures keep getting delayed."
Then she looked at .
"In these tis, soone like you is a true role model."
I had no response to that.
I wasn’t much of a talker to begin with.
And more importantly, this woman had no idea why I was really leaving Jeju.
The truth was buried beneath the surface.
- PICKUP! - PICKUP! - PICKUP!
The gacha pull was a complete success.
I used a free 10-pull ticket, and on my first try, I managed to recruit the hottest characters in the ga.
But here was the catch—I had no idea how good they were.
I wasn’t even playing Red Archive seriously. I had only started participating in the board because it was more active and had fewer restrictions than other forums.
But even I knew one thing.
- No flexing.
That was one of the golden rules.
Posting obvious, childish brags—like soone taking a picture of their coffee while subtly including a Porsche steering wheel in the background—was a surefire way to get backlash.
And in Red Archive, the equivalent of a humblebrag was a gacha pull flex.
Yet, in my excitent, I made a mistake.
SKELTON: Just did a gacha pull~
At the ti, I didn’t realize my blunder.
Then, the comnts flooded in.
FruitStandNiceGuy: The hell?!
Credit: This bastard, posting sothing like this?!
CrumpledDrawing: Goodbye.
Sparrow: GG.
Quantuxplosion: ?! Skelton, delete it now!
And just like that, I was banned for 30 days.
A short ti, yet painfully long when you have no one to talk to on this godforsaken island.
So I turned to the appeal posts.
I saw others pleading for unbans, including a guy nad Bee, who was let off the hook after writing a single-sentence apology.
If that was all it took, then I would do the sa.
SKELTON: I'm sorry for flexing my gacha pull. I didn’t know the rules as a new user. Please give a second chance. I promise to follow the board etiquette from now on.
I made mine longer, more thoughtful—clearly the words of a mature user.
Surely, the mods would appreciate my sincerity.
But then...
"Hmm?"
My ban wasn’t lifted.
A whole day passed, and I remained locked out.
Then I checked the appeal thread again.
There was a reply.
Sparrow: Skelton, you’re not getting unbanned.
"?"
...Why the hell not?
SKELTON: If Quantuxplosion is the problem, then give a chance. If you unban , I’ll imdiately curse him out.
Sparrow: Really?
A miracle.
We’re actually having a conversation.
So, in the end, it all ca down to Quantuxplosion being the root of the problem.
The mont I regained my posting privileges, I fulfilled my promise to the admin without hesitation.
SKELTON: Look here, Quantuxplosion.
- I’m done with you. Don’t act friendly in my posts ever again.
“...”
I felt a little bad for him, but it couldn't be helped.
Sotis, you have to throw soone under the bus to survive.
Unfortunately, Quantuxplosion’s reaction was rather pitiful.
Quantuxplosion: ?
“Sorry,” I muttered aloud, even as I continued my denouncent.
SKELTON: I said don’t reply!
I could have gone harsher, but outright profanity would have damaged the “Kelton” image I had built. So, I kept my language as mild and vague as possible.
Quantuxplosion: ...Why? 😢 (A cute girl crying emoji)
Quantuxplosion: I trusted you!
SKELTON: ...
I said nothing.
That was my answer.
It was a bitter thing, but such was the life of Skelton in Red Archive.
Soday, people would look back on this as just another forum drama.
But then—
Soone else ssaged .
Sparrow: LOLLLLLL
It was the admin.
I imdiately greeted him with enthusiasm.
SKELTON: (Absolute loyalty to Skelton) Is this enough?!
Sparrow: Damn, you’re really new, huh. Hey, dumbass. Do you even know who Quantuxplosion is?
SKELTON: ?
Sparrow: That idiot might seem dumb, but he’s a high-ranking official in Gukwiwon. He’s the reason our board got turned into a secret forum.
SKELTON: ?!
Sparrow: Well, goodbye, newbie.
As soon as the chat closed, a warning ssage popped up.
[Access to the Red Archive board has been denied.]
“?”
I suddenly couldn’t enter the board.
Was the program bugging out?
I reinstalled the Red Archive app using the file Na Hye-in had given .
Still nothing.
And when I finally got back in...
The Red Archive had changed into a bizarre, incomprehensible place.
No human language.
Only an endless flood of emojis.
“...”
Did they trick ?
Did the Red Archive admin set up, manipulating into turning on Quantuxplosion—only to use his influence as a high-ranking Gukwiwon officer to erase ?
I could think of no other explanation.
“...”
I took a solid hit this ti.
Sure, my ignorance was to bla, but that didn’t change the fact that in a place where ignorance equals death, I had no excuse.
And beyond everything else—this pissed off.
For the first ti in a while, a seething rage boiled over my usual cold detachnt.
At that mont, I recalled soone I had almost forgotten.
“...!”
That’s right.
John Nae-non.
Was this how my idol had felt?
When he was publicly humiliated in our forum—was this the anger that drove him into self-imposed exile?
If so, then fine.
Just as John Nae-non had done, Skelton would now walk the sa path.
ssage from Ballantine:
"Huh? Are you asking if it's possible to breach Jeju's intranet using Viva! Apocalypse’s satellite network?"
There was soone who had done it before.
An engineer so skilled that he had once broken into the Viva! Apocalypse network, sothing far more secure than Jeju’s.
ssage from Ballantine:
"I'll have to analyze it more, but it doesn’t seem that hard. Looks like they’re using outdated security protocols that haven’t been updated in ages."
"But unlike last ti, I’m working alone now, so it’ll take so ti. At the very least, I’ll need a powered-on computer with both satellite and intranet access. Also, I need so guarantee of my safety. :)"
SKELTON: Then please, do it.
This was why I had volunteered for a mainland reconnaissance mission.
"Flight 1083 is scheduled to depart soon. All passengers, please proceed to Gate 13 for boarding."
It was ti.
My luggage was already on the plane.
I just had to board.
"I wish you good health and safety on the mainland."
With Choi Hyun-joo’s polite farewell, I walked down the corridor.
Large screens lined the walls, playing broadcasts.
Normally, it was just governnt propaganda.
But today, it was different.
A breaking news alert was on the screen.
Then, a voice ca through the speakers—
"Kang Han-min, the savior, has erged from the Rift after a long mission."
I froze mid-step.
"..."
Kang Han-min?
He finally ca back from the Rift?
There were almost no ways to get news about him outside Jeju.
I turned to face the TV.
The screen showed a massive crowd.
But no Kang Han-min.
anwhile, the announcent played again.
"All passengers for Flight 1083, please proceed to Gate 13 imdiately."
Damn it.
Of all tis—
I wanted to see him, even just for a second.
But I had no ti left.
I started walking again.
Then, in the corner of my eye—
Amid the endless sea of people, a single man erged.
His face was blank. Gaunt. Expressionless.
It was a face I knew—
And yet, at the sa ti, one I didn’t know at all.
One thing was clear.
Kang Han-min.
At least to my eyes—
He no longer looked human.
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