Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 126.1: Ghost (1)

In the short time that a new companion joined, I could feel the change of seasons.

The heat has subsided, and the sky looks unusually blue and high.

The breeze sweeping across the land now carries a chill, and the crops and grasses are turning brown, ripening or withering away.

Winter is coming soon.

The promised death of winter.

Since there’s no way to bring the Necropolis into play yet, I first warned the users I’m close with on the board about the upcoming cold wave.

Message from CrunchRoll: I know. We’re going to have another one of those this winter.

Message from CrunchRoll: I’ve already cut down a mountain and turned it into a barren hill. The whole city is covered in black smoke. We’re making charcoal.

As we can see from King’s reaction, anyone who uses our board, World! Apocalypse! has probably seen it at least once, and considering that the main topic of discussion there is usually countermeasures against the cold, this might be a pointless warning.

However, people are creatures of inertia and habit.

They tend to ignore things that are unfamiliar or strange, and for people whose daily lives are already a struggle, they won’t have the luxury of logging onto a board and gathering proper information.

In such a situation, messages are a vital means of guidance.

SKELTON: (Skeletal greeting) How’s life?

I checked in on my internet friend, IamJesus, after a long time.

Worrying about a friend who’s at least an over-10-level Awakened is as pointless as a commoner worrying about a celebrity before the war, but an Awakened is still a person.

If it gets cold, they’ll freeze to death.

A reply came shortly after.

Message from IamJesus: Beep—beep beep beep—beep—beep-----

Looks like they’re alive.

There must be plenty of fun friends there, so they probably don’t get bored.

By the way, there’s a friend I’ve been worried about recently.

None other than Mgu.

The friend who used to strut around with a shiny new armband has suddenly disappeared.

It’s been a whole 3 days since he vanished.

By our board’s standards, that’s enough time to assume that a user has embarked on a journey from which they’ll never return.

Of course, Mgu is a tough guy.

He once disappeared for a month and came back.

He used to survive off the supplies given by the Legion factions and soldiers, but now, I have no idea how he’s living.

One thing I do know for sure is that when I met him on a request from the Legion faction, his health was in great shape.

At least his nutritional state was flawless.

There was no sign of skin or eye changes from a deficiency in vitamins or essential nutrients, and there were no glaring signs of mental illness, which would inevitably appear from living in a tilted house—at least not at the time.

I sent a message to Mgu.

SKELTON: Mgu. Are you alive? You know about the winter preparations, right?

Message from mmmmmmmmm™: (Cheerful march-style BGM) Captain M9 speaking!

SKELTON: ?

What? This guy.

He’s alive.

But what was that just now?

The message was shining differently, and I think there was some unfamiliar wording.

“Hmm?”

Special······?

Did it say special······?

Message from mmmmmmmmm™: Skeleton, you’ve got a nose for this stuff.

If you step back, it’s nothing.

It’s really nothing.

Just the word “special” in the usual message.

But what’s this feeling? It’s like my heritage’s fields have been taken away.

Already, I feel defeat rising to my fingertips, and with difficulty, I hit the keyboard twice.

SKELTON: ?

Message from mmmmmmmmm™: A new household has moved into our apartment.

SKELTON: Ho~!!

Message from mmmmmmmmm™: Skeleton, are you on some meds or something? What’s with the tone? It’s suddenly gross.

“······.”

Oh.

I couldn’t properly separate myself from who I was on the Red Archive board and who I am on this board.

The fact that this Skeletal entity, capable of digesting up to four personalities, made such a simple mistake shows how impactful the word “special” was to me.

This is something I need to seriously inquire about with the VivaBot.

But that inquiry will have to wait.

A bigger problem has arisen.

Message from mmmmmmmmm™: Look (M9 is cocky)

Message from mmmmmmmmm™: (Photo)

Mgu sent me a photo.

In that photo, Mgu showed the image of the long-awaited new resident of the apartment after three years.

But those so-called new residents?

I know them.

“······.”

Ji Chang-soo and Ji Young-hee.

The once-proud spirits of the conglomerate family that had once poked around my place suddenly appeared in a crumbling apartment.

*

mmmmmmmmm™: Introducing the new residents of the last luxury complex in Korea, “The Hope”!

Worrying about celebrities is as pointless as worrying about Mgu.

This friend, who had survival skills beyond that of a cockroach, has come back after a three-day absence with a frightening level of popularity, bringing warmth to a dying board.

Our board friends, who had to be forcibly watching World News due to a lack of single-language topics, of course, showed hot responses.

Anonymous458: What? Is this real?

Rkkara: Why did they go there? Isn’t that the place Scavengers shook their heads and left?

Anonymous1702: Wow.

Berkut_break: People are coming to the crumbling hope. Is that a good sign? A bad sign?

tntn_Orthopedics: The girl’s pretty.

SKELTON: Oh wow.

Anonymous1844: Real beauty.

roxanneGIRL: This looks like a composite.

Dr.emiless: Hmmmm.

gijayangban: ?

...

The spirits of a conglomerate family that seemed to have nothing to do with us have now invaded our domain.

As a pure-blooded apocalypse extremist, this is hard to accept.

To some extent, I am indeed jealous, but the real important issue is the intention of the new residents.

A while ago, Ji Young-hee came to my territory, saying that the government had hidden a secret facility and supplies in Seoul and tried to force me to go with her.

If I were alone, a bloody incident would have been unavoidable, but thankfully I was with a group.

Why on earth did they go after Mgu?

Just as I was trying to make a reasonable deduction, another disturbance broke out on the board.

MELON_MASK: Oh! Mgu! You finally found a new resident! Congratulations!

MELON_MASK: From the Lagrange Point, with affection, Melon Mask.

Melon Mask.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The creator of our world commented on Mgu’s post.

“······.”

I didn’t know this.

I didn’t know that even I, Park Gyu, could get blinded with excitement.

“This is not right.”

Indeed, it is not right.

This is wrong.

This is not right.

Melon Mask and I have personally exchanged messages, but Melon Mask has never commented on my post even once.

But now, Mgu has managed to achieve what even I, the Twelve Squares, couldn’t? free𝑤ebnovel.com

“······.”

Tap tap

SKELTON: ?

I placed a question mark as a form of protest.

But no one paid attention to my question mark.

I had no choice but to summon another personality.

roxanneGIRL: ? A named user, SKELTON, has something to say?

Dr.emiless: SKELTON...? Ah, that's no ordinary user. I've heard of him.

gijayangban: ?

Why is Woo Min-hee suddenly getting involved here?

Was he influenced by living in a decayed area?

Anyway, despite my stern warning, Mgu and Melon Mask continued their camaraderie, which made my blood boil.

mmmmmmmmm™: Captain M9 speaking! Oh, Melon! Thanks for the congratulations! I wonder if this will be translated well, haha.

MELON_MASK: M9! What happened? Explain everything in detail! Everyone’s curious!

SKELTON: (SKELETON)

mmmmmmmmm™: Okay~ This is going to take a while, so I’ll post a new thread!

Soon after, Mgu posted a message.

The content reminded me of the story structure of "Tarzan," which had been constantly adapted in novels, movies, and anime.

In a post-apocalyptic Seoul, infested with monsters, zombies, and /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ mutations, a group of explorers, including a beautiful woman, was under attack by monsters and facing a crisis. Amidst it all, Mgu, the only resident of The Hope, the most dangerous place in the ruins of Seoul, showcased his usual skills, rescuing the woman and her group and bringing them to his hideout.

Even in the midst of urgency, Mgu had taken photos here and there to prove that his story was not fabricated.

In the photos, not only was there the Meatball – Caterpillar type that I had previously hunted and named, but also smaller breeds like necromancers and spiders, along with countless zombies, and a new type of monster I had never seen before.

Mgu’s story contained thrilling elements, with the urgency of the photos, the familiar fun from the typical story structure, the excitement of what’s to come, and curiosity about new monsters. Honestly, it was exciting, but for a discerning reader like me, there were plenty of points to criticize.

What bothered me most was the first-person perspective Mgu used.

“Me,” “I,” or even “myself,” but not “I,” “author” was what he used.

[ Photo 9 – Using a superconducting brain, calculated the speed of the monster group in 1.3 seconds using the Heidelberg equation. The author, in the best angle and path, leads the group to safety.]

[ Photo 13 – During a brief rest, the author levitates to replenish stamina.]

[ Photo 22 – After finishing a dangerous adventure, the author drinks coffee mix while watching the sunset on the tilted roof of The Hope.]

These are excerpts from Mgu’s post.

“······.”

I didn’t like it at all.

What bothered me more was the relationship between Mgu and Melon Mask.

MELON_MASK: M9! You really······!

SKELTON: (SKELETON)

MELON_MASK: "Miracle."

mmmmmmmmm™: Thanks!

I tilted my head while looking at the monitor, and a warning popped up on the screen.

VIVA_BOT014: SKELTON...

SKELTON: Captain SKELTON speaking!

VIVA_BOT014: Please stop...

Stop?

I have many things to say, but I will hold my tongue.

Well, I have plenty of ways to criticize, aside from this.

“······.”

Tap tap

roxanneGIRL: Looking at photo 9, the distance between the monsters and this side looks at least 1,500 meters.

Dr.emiless: Hmmmm. That’s a safe distance. Monsters generally lose interest in humans once the distance exceeds 1 km.

gijayangban: ?

roxanneGIRL: Is this all just fuss?

Dr.emiless: Looking at photo 12, the camera zoomed in as much as possible. It’s not really a dangerous situation, but exaggerated for dramatic effect. As a former hunter, I don’t see any dangerous situation in the photo at least.

Dr.emiless: Ah, except for the last one, from the tilted roof of the apartment.

gijayangban: ?

I have two sub-accounts.

Mgu’s story was indeed thrilling, but as Dr. Emiless, my other personality, said, it seems Mgu has never truly faced a crisis.

Dr.emiless: Should we analyze each photo from now on?

gijayangban: ?

Just as I was about to fully use my expertise to criticize, it happened.

[ Message cannot be entered. ]

“Hm?”

The comment I had carefully written didn’t post.

This familiar feeling—could it be...?

Blocked?

My ominous premonition quickly turned out to be true.

Message from VIVA_BOT014: Ha... This is why I told you to hide your identity, SKELTON.

SKELTON: What’s going on?

Message from VIVA_BOT014: Stop pretending you don’t know.

SKELTON: ㅇㅅㅇ?

Message from VIVA_BOT014: Seriously... What are you doing with multiple accounts? Aren’t you ashamed?

VIVA_BOT014: Even elementary students don’t do this...

SKELTON: (SKELETON knows)

Message from VIVA_BOT014: Take a break today. That’s the best thing for you.

“······.”

A 24-hour block.

Well, that’s a relief.

At least I now have some time to cool off.

For a moment, with blood rushing to my head, I had forgotten an important fact.

Mgu and Melon Mask’s public camaraderie was a big deal, but the core of this problem, from the start, involved the spirits of the conglomerate family I had warned about initially.

The area where Mgu lives had been labeled a dangerous zone even when Kim Byeong-cheol briefly retook the National Assembly.

Although large-scale erosion didn’t occur like in Fort Segnal, there were still many small species creating monster havens, and monsters as large as humans, like the Caterpillar type that tracks and kills humans, were abundant.

Ji Young-hee and Ji Chang-soo.

They didn’t show up in Mgu’s area for no reason.

I was able to gather information about them from an unexpected place.

“I’ve seen that woman before. It was her.”

Defender knew Ji Young-hee.

“The daughter of the Changsoo Food CEO. She was the woman that Heo Jong-chul was obsessed with when she worked under Team Leader Kim Daram. When she came before, it was so far away that I wasn’t sure, but after seeing the close-up photo, I’m sure.”

“Changsoo Food? What kind of business did they run?”

“They supplied mutation meat. The rumor was that when ten people went in, seven or eight would run out, and two would come out mad.”

That’s probably true.

I know from experience.

Anyway, thanks to Defender, I learned information about Ji Young-hee and Ji Chang-soo, people I had crossed paths with many times, but never cared about.

“People who are doing better after the war than before it.”

That’s the public opinion on Ji Chang-soo and Ji Young-hee.