“That’s a problem?”
Hong Da-jeong averted her eyes, then locked eyes with Defender.
The siblings looked at and answered in unison.
“Yeah.”
*
There’s a saying.
Get famous first.
Then even if you shit, people will clap.
There’s so debate about whether an actual celebrity ever said that, but not many would deny the sheer power of fa.
Thanks to M9, the greatest Live! Apocalypse! broadcast of all ti rode the Rift’s wavelength and was transmitted via satellite across the entire world.
Just as I’d predicted from my hospital bed, SKELTON had beco a living legend.
Literally.
A walking myth.
But my na didn’t resound in Madison Square Garden, or so glitzy network studio, or even the sprawling Jamsil baseball stadium.
No—the place echoing with chants of my na was Viva! Apocalypse!, the post-apocalypse-tailored internet SNS platform created by the unparalleled entrepreneur, lon Mask.
Mangja34213: Has Skelton logged in today?
Mangja832: Skelton. Is he dead?
Mangja13311: Where is Skelton?
Anonymous3213: Skelton! Co back online! We know you’re alive!
L-V-R-M: Korean guys. Help! Can soone translate more of Skelton’s stuff? For so reason, only his posts are blocked from translation.
Anonymous458: Skelton’s alive... here in Seoul, they say he’s still alive.
Al_nasru_Alipasha: Praise be to God.
...
...
Even at a glance, the forum was flooded with people looking for SKELTON.
It reminded of the rabid fans who’d swarm K-pop idols back before the war.
But even in that short scroll, there were signs of trouble.
We figured out the full story after Defender fetched my laptop and satellite internet gear from my place.
While Hong Da-jeong peeled an apple from who-knows-where, I finally logged into Viva! Apocalypse! as my main account—SKELTON—for the first ti in a long while.
Ding~ Ding~ Ding~
Had to lower the volu imdiately. Too many notifications.
All DMs.
“Can I open your inbox?”
Defender may be a notorious, cold-blooded killer with blood on his hands 24/7, but at least when it cos to internet manners, he’s a sweet guy.
“...Go ahead.”
We opened the inbox.
As expected, hundreds of ssages had co in.
COOKIEMONSTER123: Skelton! You okay, right? Ha said you were, but since you weren’t online I was worried!
Anonymous458: (Park Penguin) Saw it all. Skelton. I knew what I saw that day wasn’t wrong. I’m sure Anonymous848 and Kyle Dos were watching you from the afterlife too.
dongtanmom: Nom nom...ㅋㅋ
Denis_Oldman: We never really talked or interacted on the board, so this might be # Nоvеlight # out of nowhere—but I just wanted to say, I saw it all. Skelton, you’re the pride of our board.
Dies_irae69: If you see this, please reach out.
Foxgas: Skelton! You were incredible! But what about that thing I asked before? I’ve got this killer item. Just connect with a governnt guy. I’ve got a presentation that can win them over in 10 minutes. Anyway, you were amazing—get back to when you can. Best regards.
...
...
Each ssage had its own tone and story, but one stood out—highlighted automatically.
From VivaBot.
I straightened up and asked Defender to scroll slowly.
VIVA_BOT014: Skelton! You’re alive, right? I granted your wish. I was against it to the end, but lon Mask insisted.
VIVA_BOT014: There were too many DMs coming your way, so I blocked all ssages from outside the Korean board. Too much spam and weird challenge posts from people trying to duel you or sothing.
VIVA_BOT014: And, well... this was my own idea. Since hundreds of millions of Viva users—and Necropolis users too—might try to find out who you really are, I blocked translation of your old posts. Also removed them from search results. Only you can search your own posts!
VIVA_BOT014: Anyway, thanks for your work! (VivaBot moved 🥺)
“......”
I choked up for a mont.
“Wow. Our Skelton’s tight with the board admin now? I kinda knew it already, but this is practically pillow talk.”
Hong Da-jeong speared a slice of apple on a fork and handed it to .
I ate it without protest and tried moving my hand.
“Khhm...”
The rocket axe idea from my ntor, Jang Ki-young, had been the perfect counter to the telekinesis of the General-type—or rather, the Nesis-type—but my palm got scorched badly in the process.
The burning pain aside, I couldn’t even move my fingers properly.
Which ant I couldn’t unleash my signature move—posting 30 threads per second—or my legendary 1,000 keystrokes per minute typing speed.
Still, there was a reason VivaBot did all this.
VIVA_BOT014: Want to know why I took those actions? Click the link below.
VIVA_BOT014: [Link]
I clicked the link.
Mangja28211: Korean friends! What does “Kkomuli” an? In Skelton’s post, he says “my Kkomuli got chubby again.” Korean too hard!
“......”
Just from the title, it felt like a dagger to the throat.
The post was a screenshot of one of my old shitposts—one I’d uploaded without a single second of hesitation.
SKELTON: My Kkomuli got chubby again... .gif
Attached was a looping image of a horse showing its teeth and twitching violently.
There was more.
Hong Da-jeong sighed beside .
Defender looked like he didn’t even want to speak.
But this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Back before the war, there was a breed of internet users known as “wreckers.”
People who couldn’t create anything themselves, but hijacked other people’s stories and sold them as their own.
And lo and behold—one of them showed up here too!
mmmmmmmmm™: (Skelton’s friend – Captain M9) Translations of Skelton’s Past Comnts (13)
None other than M9.
I read what he’d translated.
SKELTON: Did you give birth? Or did I? I must’ve.
SKELTON: ? That bastard Dongtanmom. Who did he plagiarize this ti?
SKELTON: (Skelton serious) Honestly, am I the only one who finds Dongtanmom’s videos boring?
SKELTON: (Skelton New Year blessing) Tell Dongtanmom I said hi from the Dragon Palace~
SKELTON: Hmm... Is that all?
SKELTON: (Skelton rumor) Heard M9 wasn’t worth shit before the war.
SKELTON: (Skelton reasonable doubt) Mini? Isn’t Mini an ajumma? Totally seems like one...
SKELTON: (Skelton insight) Will that even help? :)
SKELTON: (Skelton performance) In celebration of the Hope Vessel reaching Shanghai, SKELTON’s Beatbox Inferno (3)
...
...
“......”
How.
How the hell did he collect only those?
Sure, I posted a lot of comnts—but capturing only those? That was clearly malicious.
M9.
I thought he was a friend.
Seething with betrayal, I sat in silence until Hong Da-jeong huffed:
“See? Skelton, you were always posting thoughtless comnts. Even when everyone else just scrolled past a lewd pic, you’d be the only one comnting, ‘Hmm...’”
Defender added:
“Skelton does post way too much. Though I guess it shows you’re a nice guy.”
They're a pair of murderers, but after cooling my head, I realized they weren’t wrong.
I had posted a lot.
Enough to be called a comnt angel.
I ant it in good faith, but I never thought it would co back like this.
“Should I delete them...”
I muttered unintentionally.
Co to think of it, what M9 uploaded was just the tip of the iceberg.
The records I left in Viva! Apocalypse! were massive.
Worse, I’d also copied posts I’d liked from the Red Archive board.
I searched one of them.
SKELTON: (Skelton) I’m bored. Guess I’ll climax.
SKELTON: UNGOOOOOOOT—
“Ah.”
Hong Da-jeong groaned.
Defender, too, looked pained.
The problem was, I’d posted tons of stuff like this.
Let be clear—I ant well.
I just re-uploaded posts I thought were funny from the Red Archive board.
The issue is, I was the only one who thought they were funny, and when I posted them, I was just a semi-known na—not a living legend.
But now, people with bloodshot eyes are digging through old posts to chase the myth of SKELTON.
“What should I do...”
I’m not in great shape right now.
Even if I were, this kind of situation calls for a professional.
The Defender siblings exchanged a glance.
Then nodded in sync and stared at .
Hong Da-jeong said:
“Let’s run a Cleaner.”
“A cleaner?”
“Yeah.”
“What is that?”
Cleaner.
A person or tool used to erase things—just like the na implies. According to Hong Da-jeong, it’s a tool used to wipe your internet footprint.
For soone like —honest and upright—it was sothing I’d never even heard of.
She was recomnding it because of how famous I’d beco.
“Skelton. Sure, maybe you weren’t funny, but you were still a hardworking, dedicated poster. But now you’re a big deal, right? Huh? You took down that huge-ass monster, huh? With an axe, right? You’re a hero of humanity. People want their heroes to be... I dunno, sacred? Stoic? It’s weird if soone like Skelton’s saying ‘UNGOOOOOOOT’ online, y’know?”
Crude as it was, she wasn’t wrong.
People want their heroes to be a little above them.
Maybe that’s why VivaBot separated TwelveSquare from .
“......”
I finally understood what VivaBot was trying to do.
I was way too vulnerable to attack.
And as VivaBot said, there are kids like Sue online too.
I’ve said it before—hope is more precious than food, water, or dicine in tis like this.
If my posts beco a problem, then maybe it’s not so bad to erase them.
VIVA_BOT014: It’s not difficult. If you want, I can delete all your old posts.
VivaBot said they’d gladly help.
No need for a separate program—a built-in Viva! Apocalypse! feature could do it.
But...
“...Hmm.”
That didn’t feel right.
Even if I had so past I’d rather hide—even if I didn’t want to shatter anyone’s image of —those dumb posts were still part of what made SKELTON.
All of them together created SKELTON.
Sure, my jokes may have missed the mark or been weird—but so people liked that Skelton.
Like the Defender siblings beside . Like the people who ssaged .
I didn’t want to erase that past for the sake of so myth.
I offered a compromise.
SKELTON: Sorry, but instead of deleting, could you just set them to private?
Deleting was out of the question.
Sure, I could archive them post-deletion—but SKELTON is built from those old posts.
I didn’t want to erase my presence in this little world called Viva! Apocalypse!
VIVA_BOT014: (VivaBot troubled) That might be a bit harder...
That’s human nature.
We all have monts we’d rather not revisit—so funny, so shaful.
No one’s perfect.
It’s okay to keep and rember those rough parts.
I’m sure VivaBot thought the sa.
VIVA_BOT014: Got it. I’ll try, even if it’s hard! After all, you’re my hero too, Skelton!
And so, SKELTON’s past was temporarily set to private.
Even if wreckers like M9 spread translations of my dumbest posts, so be it.
The SKELTON craze wasn’t dying down anyti soon.
*
A month had passed since I defeated the Nesis-type.
My wrecked body had healed quickly, and I could stand and walk now.
Though my hands weren’t healed enough to type yet.
Still, I could move a mouse and browse the web on my own.
The Skelton posts locked by VivaBot had faded into the distant, hard-to-find past.
People were still looking for SKELTON.
Because the idea that a regular, non-Awakened human could fight a monster like that—it gave people back a hope they’d lost.
Of course, ever since that event, I’ve maintained a mysterious silence.
My other self, “SKELTON,” had gone quiet.
And in that silence, I could feel the sa trace of fate that John Nae-non once walked.
That great board user had chosen to remain silent too.
But soday, my posts will be made public again.
VivaBot set the tir: five years.
Five years.
Long if it’s long, short if it’s short.
But one thing is clear.
If we make it through those five years, that will be a positive sign.
Proof that we, as humans, have adapted to the era of Rifts.
Of course, we humans can’t see even an inch ahead.
Beep—Beep—
Even I’m no different.
I checked my phone.
—Savior Kang Han-min is waiting for you.
It’s ti to et him.
Still no word on Woo Min-hee.
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