Whether by intention, coincidence, or the will of lon Mask—who exists neither fully alive nor fully dead—we Viva! Apocalypse! users periodically receive pale photographs and the current coordinates of lon’s spaceship.
According to the latest post, lon Mask has passed Venus and is now heading toward Jupiter’s orbit.
His trajectory is to swing by Jupiter for acceleration, then break free of the solar system in one shot.
It’s certainly an extraordinary feat, but on the cosmic scale, his drifting is no different from countless specks of dust wandering space.
The only difference is that inside lies a soul and mory that were once alive—perhaps even still alive.
From Deadman_working’s perspective, that too is nothing but an echo.
He sent a photograph.
Until now, we had only exchanged text, images conjured in words. This ti he sent an actual picture.
The world in that photo was shrouded in ashen gray, as though snow had fallen and rotted away.
ssage from deadman_working: As you can see, it’s the end.
That the end is coming is undeniable.
Japan has collapsed nearby, scattering debris in all directions. Even North Arica, once considered humanity’s bulwark, is eroding day by day under unending assaults.
And yet, such stories feel distant.
Tens of millions dying out of sight and hearing—it’s no different than statistics in a book.
Only our country remains quiet.
But not for much longer.
Jeon Si-hoon is moving in earnest.
He’s demanding the submission of major survivor groups, starting with Park Penguin’s, and is now trying to exert influence over Sejong.
Sejong is especially dire.
As though to prove that two kings cannot coexist, Jeon Si-hoon has ramped up pressure on Sejong rather than touching the Incheon survivor coalition right beside him.
This unusually warm winter has revealed itself as a curse, not a blessing—its form, the military camps encircling Sejong.
Jeon Si-hoon’s soldiers have staged ard demonstrations with drones, recon teams, even armored vehicles. No blood yet, but Sejong’s soldiers say his n are likely from the infamous Skull Brigade, judging from the skull insignias marking them as practitioners of brutal white terror.
Yet people still don’t know Jeon Si-hoon’s true nature.
They can’t.
He controls everything—radio, broadcasts, dia, manpower.
And before his turn, he was a hero.
Official radio channels constantly announce how Jeon Si-hoon—or his lackeys—cleared monster hordes along the Han River, or rescued freezing, starving people and brought them safely into Seoul.
With perfect information control, we cannot know what’s really happening in New Seoul. But it’s unlikely to be anything beautiful.
Jeon Si-hoon has codified discrimination between Awakened and non-Awakened.
But people trapped in their mories still admire him, even trying to enter his city.
Erosion plays its part too.
The old VIP bunkers we once lived in are now completely swallowed, they say.
No people left inside.
Like the U.S. and Europe, maybe not as dramatic, but slowly and surely, erosion is devouring our land.
Yes.
We are truly standing at the edge of the end.
Though Deadman_working’s end is closer than mine.
ssage from deadman_working: What do you think the average lifespan is for soone left in an erosion zone?
ssage from deadman_working: China’s stats say three months. But new Arican data claims one month—by then you either go insane or vanish.
ssage from deadman_working: For reference, our region was eroded a month ago.
ssage from deadman_working: So my ti’s up. Terminal.
I wondered if even being in contact with him was a miracle.
Shalessly, I asked him about the problem currently plaguing —because if he died, I’d never have the chance again.
ssage from deadman_working: Hm. Can you do remote control? At least share your screen. Ah, and set the system language to English first.
Like magic, Deadman_working solved a problem even our top engineers couldn’t.
Though the connection wasn’t imdiate.
ssage from deadman_working: The flow is weakening.
ssage from deadman_working: Call it impurities, or backflow.
ssage from deadman_working: The clean current we once relied on is getting murky, sedint building up.
ssage from deadman_working: For now, keep it connected and watch how it develops.
According to him, within a week the new PaleNet (tentative) might be “chosen” by Necropolis transmissions.
He was vague, but he put the odds at over 90%.
Here, all we can do is trust the one true expert.
I was already surprised we connected at all. More so that he offered unprompted kindness—screen-shared advice.
Maybe that’s why, the whole ti he helped , I felt an itch in my throat, restless, like I wanted to say sothing.
Give and take.
I wanted to help him too.
Though I had no idea how.
Still, I asked.
SKELTON: (Skeleton cautious) Is there anything I can do for you?
Pure goodwill.
Nothing calculated.
ssage from deadman_working: No need. Don’t worry, don’t comfort .
Ordinarily, he was a cold man. He would’ve ended it there.
But facing the end, he had more to say.
ssage from deadman_working: In the end, all will remain as echoes like .
SKELTON: Hm...
ssage from deadman_working: Truth is, I had a chance to go to the Citadel.
SKELTON: Citadel?
ssage from deadman_working: The gastructure being built near Monterey.
SKELTON: Ah, that?
I’d seen ntion of it on the North Arica board.
A city in the sky, larger than anything humanity ever built, supposedly under construction by the U.S. governnt as the world ended.
The idea was simple: if the monsters rule the ground, then move people to the sky. Whether they were really building it, no one knew.
But surely its scale had deteriorated from the grand concept art floating around. Even Arica couldn’t manage such a thing, not at the edge of collapse.
Regardless, his story continued.
ssage from deadman_working: Living there, sure, you might survive.
ssage from deadman_working: But even if you run from fate, you can’t escape becoming an echo.
ssage from deadman_working: Lately, I’ve been pondering what kind of echo I’ll leave.
ssage from deadman_working: Timing’s fitting. Were it any other ti, we wouldn’t be talking like this.
The founder of Necropolis. The giant who first discovered Rift transmissions. Deadman_working was preparing for death.
Like those who left great legacies, he wouldn’t allow his life to end in diocrity.
He wanted a special ending—no, one he could be satisfied with.
I understood.
The dying often rush to complete long-postponed tasks, like cramming for vacation howork.
But his chosen ending was unexpectedly modest.
ssage from deadman_working: You know, I’ve always been like this.
ssage from deadman_working: When I watch movies or play gas or read novels, if they’re boring I’ll finish them anyway. But when I really love sothing, I tend not to watch the ending.
ssage from deadman_working: When I try, it feels like the thrill fades. Maybe that reluctance blocked .
ssage from deadman_working: I had this strange belief: if I never saw the ending, the story would go on forever.
ssage from deadman_working: But now, at life’s edge, I want to finally see the endings I skipped.
ssage from deadman_working: Could you send them to ?
So the man who said he needed no help handed a list of “unfinished endings.”
So were gas or novels, but most were films.
Films are tricky—long, and minor ones can be even harder to find than gas.
Luckily, his tastes were mainstream.
Between my archive and Foxgas’s dia repository, I had most of what he wanted.
For example, one was Jas Caron’s Aliens (1986). I had three versions: theatrical, director’s cut, and director’s revision.
Another was David Hogan’s Most Wanted (1997). Obscure, but it happened to be in Foxgas’s folder.
But not all.
Of the 22 works he requested, 5 were missing.
He didn’t seem to mind, but when it ca to one particular missing title, he reacted unlike himself—sending multiple ssages that betrayed disappointnt.
ssage from deadman_working: Hm, so you don’t have that one.
ssage from deadman_working: Of all things, that one’s missing.
ssage from deadman_working: Not bad though.
ssage from deadman_working: Maybe leaving that ending forever unresolved isn’t such a bad thing.
It seed clear that, of all the works, this was the one he truly wanted.
And the missing one wasn’t a movie—it was a ga.
Or rather, a novel in ga form.
Unfortunately, I had no info on it, and even Foxgas’s archive lacked it.
So I asked what it was about.
ssage from deadman_working: Well, it’s about the end of the world—and the love between a boy and girl blooming in that end.
ssage from deadman_working: Looking back at my age now, clumsy and childish. But we’ve all felt it, haven’t we?
ssage from deadman_working: That ache of purity from youth, never to return, but longed for again?
Its title: Eternity Beyond the Wall.
That was all he knew. And soon, weary, he stopped answering my questions.
So I sought advice from soone likely to know—Cheon Young-jae, currently moonlighting as L-Miris.
“Hm... Yeah, that title screams late-90s/early-2000s visual novel. Definitely.”
Of course, he acted like he knew everything.
I narrowed my eyes and listened.
“Probably released in the early 2000s.”
“Why?”
“Because the vibe is pure turn-of-the-millennium.”
“And what does that an?”
“Korea had its own end-of-century mood, /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ but Japan had theirs too. You know—sekai-kei. The world’s ending, but the boy ets the girl, they have their sweet romance in the ruins. That vibe.”
“So it’s a romance?”
He nodded.
“Judging from the title, definitely bittersweet romance. Bad ending’s guaranteed. Best case, an open ending. That’s my bet.”
“So where can I get it?”
“How should I know? Even I don’t, and I’ve played most of the classics of that era.”
That was as far as his help went.
Typical Cheon Young-jae—lots of words, little substance.
Still, I gained a bit.
It was probably a Japanese visual novel from the early 2000s.
Ard with that, I logged onto the boards.
“...”
Tap, tap, tap.
I knew my mythical status had faded.
The Nesis War, the event that made a legend, was now history. People today fought their fate day by day.
Naturally, my na’s weight had eroded.
As humanity declines, so do the legends of its ssage boards.
Still, I thought I had so clout left.
SKELTON: (Skeleton query) Anyone know a ga called Eternity Beyond the Wall?
I posted on boards in every language.
The world might be ending in real ti, but the boards still worked.
And it was asking.
Skelton himself.
Sure enough, a reply ca quickly.
ssage from KONG_13: Skelton? Is that really you?
An unfamiliar nickna.
Written in Korean, so likely another Korean. But I’d never seen them before.
I hesitated over how to answer, weighed the stance of a Na, when another ssage popped up.
ssage from KONG_13: Why ask that out of nowhere, Park Gyu?
“?”
He knew my real na.
Impossible.
With a sinking feeling, I replied.
SKELTON: Who are you?
ssage from KONG_13: It’s Gong Gyeong-min.
The dying man’s final echo had reconnected to an unexpected tie.
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