Post-apocalypse chanics had gained a new ability—sothing chanics of the past never had.
“Let’s see here. The belt’s completely shot, and the radiator’s been busted for a while. The cylinder’s, well, about to blow.”
Even the expensive chanic the scavengers brought in had that sa ability.
“I’ll try to get it moving just a bit more.”
That ability was the power to make a dead vehicle run again—for a limited ti.
It’s a must-have skill for chanics in the end tis. According to the chanic, this kind of patchwork job brings in more money than proper repairs or restorations.
This, of course, stemd from the unavoidable reality.
It’s been over five years since the war, and usable spare parts are practically extinct. Any vehicles still running are already on the verge of total breakdown.
In these circumstances, giving up the car might seem right. But anyone who’s ever driven knows—the difference between having a vehicle and not having one is imasurable.
And that’s exactly the situation we’re in.
We have to load this junk bus with food and fuel for the winter and escape to a safer place.
The chanic, who’d been tearing through the engine for a while, finally muttered gruffly,
“If I patch it up, it’ll go about 30 kiloters.”
Thirty kiloters.
That’s nowhere near enough.
The straight-line distance to my bunker is 60 kiloters.
If we factor in winding roads, the actual distance exceeds 70 kiloters.
“Isn’t 30km a bit too little?”
“Can’t be helped. This thing’s already blown a few tis. It’s a miracle it got this far. I know the guy who sold it, and if it’d broken down on the way, he’d probably have just laughed and knocked the price down.”
“Still, we need it to go a bit farther than that.”
“Oh, the 30 kiloters I ntioned? That’s a conservative estimate. If you’re lucky or don’t stress the engine, you can go farther. But on the flip side, if your luck’s bad, it might not even last 10 kiloters. Still, don’t worry. I’ll make sure it runs clean for at least 30.”
The chanic, missing a few fingers like Seven, puffed on a cigarette with what fingers he had left and added:
“But once you cross that 30km threshold, the breakdown risk skyrockets.”
Nothing in this world ever goes the way you want it to—but when things don’t go your way at a desperate mont, it’s a particularly bitter pill.
Still, it’s also kind of fun.
People tend to think more clearly when they’re backed into a corner—or about to be.
And despite what people might think, I’m not completely devoid of that quality.
“......”
For now, I gave up on the address Kim Han-na had written down—for two reasons.
It was too far, and too dangerous.
Mostly the distance.
According to the note, it was more than 30km away—and in a direction completely opposite of where we were heading.
Holding onto them might help secure safety, but it would drain far too many resources.
There was also the matter of ti.
According to the chanic, there were rumors of a new powerful group that had been pushed out of the Seoul area and had now taken root on the outskirts.
The chanic insisted it was fine for now, but there were things he left unsaid.
Naly, that Minsik’s group might get overrun and driven out.
They’re scamrs and lowlifes, sure, but if they disappear, we’ll lose a lot of conveniences.
Not just our ties with the local neighbors, but access to roads, supplies, and critical intel—all of it gone.
So the right move is to leave while we’re still under their “blessing.”
Thanks to the chanic’s blessing, the bus is now operational.
Conservatively, it’ll run for 30km.
Could be more, could be less—but at least within that range, it can reach speeds of 50km/h or higher.
But once we go beyond that, the breakdown risk becos exponential, and if it dies again, not even the best chanic alive could bring it back.
“Senior. Here’s the calculated route to your bunker using currently drivable roads.”
Cheon Young-jae had asured the distance precisely.
95.7 kiloters.
The extra length ca from rerouting around danger zones, and factoring in bridges that still existed—and were safe to cross.
Our vehicle can barely go 30km, but the destination is over 100km away.
“So what now? Pretty obvious it’ll break down halfway.”
Cheon Young-jae didn’t look too anxious, but his eyes were fixed on the closed door.
He was probably worried about Kim Daram and her husband wavering after we’d gone through the trouble of convincing them.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“What? You’re still going? To a place 100km away in that junk bus?”
“No, that’s not what I ant.”
Plans are flexible.
Especially when survival is the goal, nothing else matters more than that.
My bunker was a top-priority target, sure—but if it’s no longer viable for survival, it doesn’t have to be considered.
“We’ll just change our destination.”
From the beginning, I’d kept the possibility open of going to a different bunker.
I’ve got a few candidates. But I’m ruling out both mine and Cheon Young-jae’s.
They’re too far to reach with this bus.
“What about staying here? It’s kind of a lukewarm suggestion, but...”
Cheon Young-jae offered a thought.
To a third party, it probably sounded the most rational.
“Maybe. But that’s an option I’ll only consider if there’s no alternative.”
Maybe the fissures will stay quiet all winter.
If so, great.
We’ll spend the winter in comfort—like a hotel.
Once the weather warms, anyone nearby will have frozen to death, and travel will be far safer.
But that’s way too uncertain.
Call it impatience, if you want.
I’m convinced—we have to leave this place.
“So where, then?”
Cheon Young-jae asked, his face tightening a little.
“Hmm.”
There’s one more place I’m considering.
“Foxgas.”
About 35km in a straight line.
It’s within range.
The question is—is Foxgas still alive?
According to the forum, he hadn’t logged in for over a month.
VivaBot said his account was technically logged in—but there had been no activity at all.
VIVA_BOT014: I marked it dormant just in case.
VIVA_BOT014: It’s a classic pattern for soone who died with the internet left running.
VIVA_BOT014: Still, just in case, I set it so that any activity on the forum would automatically reactivate the account.
VIVA_BOT014: After all, there’s precedent with Skelton, and I don’t have ti to sit in front of a screen all day anymore. Who knows?
As for how VivaBot got her position back—no one knows for sure.
Among the many theories, the one proposed by a North Arican user seed the most plausible.
That is: the monster onslaught triggered the collapse of the U.S. governnt; satellite internet infrastructure, once managed by the military, was abandoned; and surviving civilians rebuilt it from scratch.
One thing is clear: the satellite internet once monopolized by the military no longer has any military traits.
In fact, the U.S. military itself has likely collapsed.
Even now, the real-ti “End of Arica” threads fill the trending page—if that doesn’t convince soone the country is gone, nothing will.
As of now, all contact with the East Coast has been lost.
Washington and New York—the very symbols of the U.S.—have been swallowed by fissures.
There are still reports of small survivor groups and military units resisting in so areas, but they won’t last long.
At least the western region—where VivaBot is—is in better shape.
VIVA_BOT014: Think Foxgas is alive?
Who knows?
Was he?
Foxgas had ambition. He had the skills—not enough to reshape the world, but still formidable. Before Jeon Si-hoon revealed his true colors, Foxgas was at the peak of his life.
He’d grown beyond a re ga developer, building infrastructure and reputation rivaling Korea’s old portal sites. In fact, he and Skeleton were the only users VivaBot marked as dormant.
Objectively, he wasn’t on my level—but he’d grown big enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with .
His fall was instant.
The very world he was about to conquer vanished overnight.
The brutal rcs dragged in by Hong Jeong-ho, looking like ragged beasts, nevertheless crushed the last vestige of Korea’s political system—and blanketed the world in chaos.
Foxgas likely didn’t die then.
He’d always operated from inside his own bunker.
If he’s dead, it happened later.
Murder’s a possibility too.
His bunker’s location is known by DSIRA—who tended to post more frequently the worse the world got.
But I doubt DSIRA killed him.
Cold and chanical as he may be, DSIRA had a strange fondness for our forum.
He would’ve tried to recruit Foxgas—not kill him.
Personally, I think it was natural causes.
People die when ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) their spirit breaks.
It’s common in older n.
The mont his dreams crumbled to dust, Foxgas probably couldn’t find a reason to go on.
Whether it was active suicide or passive decay, he likely knew he was on the path to death—and let it happen.
It’s sad, but not without a silver lining for .
His luxury bunker might not be safe from threats like DSIRA—but at least it’s far from the indiscriminate killing fields around here.
DSIRA.
The guy still makes my skin crawl on a genetic level, but when the ti cos, we’ll talk.
Not to negotiate—but at least to talk before we clash.
Unlike before, I now have Cheon Young-jae and Kim Daram as solid allies.
If the three of us strike first, we can deal a heavy blow to DSIRA’s faction.
In other words—we’re no longer just taking punches.
Anyway, before we go barging in, it’s only polite in the apocalypse to ssage the hoowner first.
“......”
Taptaptap
SKELTON: (Skeleton peeking) You still alive?
I sent a ssage to Foxgas.
Like I said—I wasn’t expecting much.
I planned to wait one day.
If no reply ca, I’d assu he was dead, just as VivaBot suspected.
With a faint bitterness, I turned away from the monitor.
Vrrrrrrr—
The engine roared to life.
Just as he’d warned, the chanic reminded us of the precautions again.
“30 kiloters. If you go past that, be ready for a breakdown at any mont. Oh, and the brakes aren’t great. They work, but not well. I’d prepare a handcart just in case.”
Looks like the warehouse haul with Sim Hyeong-bo paid off.
Even the route planning for the trip was personally arranged by Minsik’s crew.
The most touching part? We get to cross the river using a safe bridge.
It’s not owned by Minsik’s gang, but a friendly faction controls it.
This shortcut shaves off more than 20km.
We still can’t reach my bunker—but it gets us closer to Foxgas’.
“Still, isn’t it dangerous to go without a proper Awakener?”
Cheon Young-jae cautiously asked.
“Yeah, it is.”
I still had the mo Kim Han-na left .
But I chose not to follow it.
They’re south of the Han River.
And quite far west, too.
Apparently, they’re hiding out near the Incheon docks.
I don’t know the exact details, but just before going into hiding, they were seen moving with Kim So-uk’s group.
But anyone who knows Kim So-uk—or the dangers of Jeju—wouldn’t want to hop on that boat.
“Minsik’s group could be kicked out any mont. We can’t waste ti. If we’re going to et, we’ll think about it after crossing the river.”
“Right. The river. Damn.”
Cheon Young-jae clucked his tongue, looking at the stream in the distance.
“The Han River, man. It’s so damn wide and deep.”
“Well, yeah. It was the lifeline for twenty million Seoulites.”
“Insanely crowded, wasn’t it?”
We traded a few light jokes as we prepared to leave.
Kim Daram and her husband boarded the bus with their son.
Kim Daram walked over to and gestured for a private word.
“Seriously... I don’t know if leaving here is the right call. It’s hard to let go. It really is.”
“We don’t have much choice. I feel the sa. But the place we’re going might be smaller—but it might suit your tastes more.”
“Hmph.”
“It’s only civilian level, but it’s still pretty damn luxurious.”
“Well, we decided to go, so we’ll go. But if I don’t like it...”
Kim Daram turned with leopard-like agility and walked off.
“I’m gonna give you hell.”
“......”
A shiver ran down my spine for just a second.
To think even the Professor could feel fear like that...
I really have changed.
Let’s call it a positive change.
Fear keeps you alive.
With that personal pep talk, I headed back into the bunker to grab my computer one last ti.
I glanced at the monitor.
Didn’t expect anything.
But there was a sliver of hope—maybe Foxgas would reply.
And then—
“......”
I stared at the screen, dumbfounded, as if I’d been struck on the back of the head.
There it was.
ssage from foxgas: (Foxgas) Oh~ Skeleton~!
ssage from foxgas: You’re still alive?
ssage from foxgas: Why no reply? Don’t tell you’re asleep already? :)
He’s alive.
Foxgas.
That guy’s alive—and answering my ssage.
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