Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 160.2: Tomorrow (2)

Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 160.2: Tomorrow (2)

In the pitch-black darkness, a faint silhouette could barely be made out.
It was the creator of our world—Melon Mask.
First of all, I want to apologize to him.
For once calling his actions hysterical.
In a way, he's the one person among all of humanity who's in the most dangerous situation.
Of course, there’s no way raiders or monsters could ever break into his space bunker.
But imagine this:
A man who, before the war, lived a life more luxurious, flamboyant, and successful than anyone else—now spending four entire years trapped inside a tiny, sealed chamber, practically a prison.
If he opens the hatch, what awaits him is a world beyond Earth, filled with cosmic radiation and a temperature of -270.4°C.
No birdsong. No rain, no snow. Not even drifting clouds—none of the ordinary things we’re so used to.
He could return to Earth, yes—but only by risking his life. And the odds of survival are minuscule.
Above all, his greatest pain must be the impossibility of meeting another human being.
Sure, online contact helped keep his spirit from running dry, but unlike us—who could risk everything to make contact with others—Melon Mask would have to travel 380,000 kilometers to reach another soul.
His only companion, Bumpy, is dead.
Whatever Bumpy was, it’s undeniable that he was the pillar holding up the precarious mental state of Melon Mask.
Now Bumpy is gone, and Melon’s mind has collapsed with him.
But just because he has collapsed... does that mean the world he created should collapse too?
That would be far too cruel for those left behind.
The dim silhouette in the darkness shifted slightly.
MELON_MASK: What is it?
I immediately typed:
SKELTON: Please revoke the shutdown of Viva! Apocalypse!
MELON_MASK: Why should I?
SKELTON: What do you mean why? You made it.
SKELTON: Do you know how many people were «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» saved thanks to you?
SKELTON: I’m one of those people you saved.
SKELTON: Melon, you're the second greatest person in the world.
MELON_MASK: Who’s the first?
SKELTON: Someone you know well.
MELON_MASK: Jesus, you mean?
I fought the urge to type “Ding~” and instead felt a small glimmer of hope.
Melon Mask was engaging in conversation.
So he acknowledged me after all.
Well... saying it out loud might be a little embarrassing, but among the many Vivarians, someone like me probably isn’t that common.
Whatever anyone says—Skelton is someone once called Professor, after all.
I was just preparing my next message with that in mind, when—
The silhouette suddenly stood, and the screen went completely dark.
MELON_MASK: The shutdown will proceed as scheduled, one week from now.
SKELTON: ?
[MELON_MASK has left the chat.]
The conversation was cut.
“......”
What the hell.
What went wrong?
As I calmly tried to pinpoint the problem, another message popped up.
VIVA_BOT014: Skelton...
Turns out VivaBot had also been in the private chatroom for Melon Mask.
VIVA_BOT014: What do we do now...?
Though she didn’t even show a silhouette, I could clearly feel her confusion and disappointment.
She must’ve had a sliver of hope.
That I, Park Gyu, would stop the shutdown of Viva! Apocalypse!, her lifeline.
But Melon had left before I could even reach out.
From VivaBot’s perspective, there was likely no hope to be found in this whole exchange.
But I wasn’t disappointed.
In fact, I never expected it to go smoothly in the first place.
On the contrary—I saw a positive sign in our conversation.
SKELTON: VivaBot.
VIVA_BOT014: Yes?
SKELTON: Did you know?
VIVA_BOT014: Know... what?
“......”
Tap tap tap
SKELTON: (Skelton proverb) No one who goes around yelling about suicide actually ends up dying.
VIVA_BOT014: ??
If someone’s really going to kill themselves, they don’t go around announcing it—they just quietly do it.
That’s how it is with Melon Mask too.
If Bumpy’s death had really shattered his soul like he said, stripping away his will to live, he would’ve already used his admin access to shut down our board completely and without warning.
But he didn’t do that.
He gave us a grace period.
Why?
Why would someone who doesn't want to live anymore bother with formalities?
This guy has never been altruistic—not even once—back when he was still on Earth.
He wants something.
He’s asking for something to reignite that fading spark of will to live, something to soothe his lonely soul—just like always.
I read that desire in him during our brief conversation.
Not because I’m some psychic or psychology guru.
It’s just... because I’m also a lonely, isolated person.
That’s all. Just resonance.
SKELTON: There’s still room to talk.
SKELTON: His demands are a bit high, though.
VIVA_BOT014: What kind of demands?
SKELTON: :)
VIVA_BOT014: ??
The problem is—I don’t actually know what those demands are.
But do I need to know all of it?
This is the internet.
SKELTON: Let’s put our heads together.
We’re not alone.
SKELTON: Isn’t that what the internet is for?
*
If I’m being honest with myself—what I really wanted from this was to monopolize the opportunity and elevate the already-established name of Skelton to a legendary status, rivaling that of Melon Mask.
TwelveSquare and Skelton.
To become a being with two myths attached to his name.
Maybe I could afford that kind of luxury if I were still in the bunker.
But right now—I have something to protect.
Something just as important as Viva! Apocalypse!—my mission.
The world may not have acknowledged my worth, and that’s why I walked away.
But now, the world has given me another chance.
Viva! Apocalypse! is important, yes, but I won’t give up this opportunity.
With an inevitable battle ahead, my days are consumed with inspection and preparation.
“How are you feeling? Doing okay?”
I checked on the Regular Awakened suffering under the influence of the General-type and tested the new equipment designed to help them.
“It’s a lot better, Captain. But the mobile signal generator still feels too heavy.”
“I’ll talk with the engineers about that. If it’s too much, I’ll assign someone with real muscle to carry it.”
I also can’t neglect the soldiers—the ones who’ll form the frontline more important than even us.
“When you fire at monsters, aim a little off-center.”
I passed on tips I’d picked up at the rifts in China and Paju to the tank operators.
“There’s no theoretical proof about monsters, so nothing’s 100% accurate—but I heard this way causes less damage to the gun barrel. Even if it’s a dumb tank, if a reflected shell hits the barrel directly, it could be fatal, right?”
Watching veteran hunters—who’ve never stood at a podium—train rookies was part of my daily routine.
“Fighting monsters is different from fighting people. Monsters don’t just shoot because you’re looking at them. Take your time—but act with certainty. It varies by type, of course, but very few small-types ever preemptively attack a human target.”
The veteran hunter on stage, Sim Hyeong-do—I won’t call him an academy hunter anymore—glanced at me at the back of the room.
I quietly gave him a hidden thumbs-up.
In the lab, I exchanged intel with the researchers under Woo Min-hee.
“Technology that tells us what kind of monster is inside a capsule? Hmm, that’s not science—that’s an ability. It’s up to an Awakened with strong intuition to approach, touch it, and ‘sense’ what’s inside. About 50% accuracy.”
“Executioner type. It’s been ed in the rift, but we’ve never gotten detailed info from Jeju. They use intranet down there and are extremely reluctant to leak data.”
“Setting off a hydrogen bomb inside a rift won’t change anything. Seoul took several hits too. Let’s say you nuke Earth—does Earth cry? It’s meaningless.”
In the engineering lab, we discussed new methods for the upcoming battle.
“So? I thought hard about the danger of radio communication and came up with this modern reinterpretation of pre-radio tech.”
“What is this...?”
“It’s inspired by the semaphore communication system used before radios.”
They showed me a giant device with multiple joints that could be moved into various shapes.
“You move it to send signals.”
“Hm. I get the concept—it’s a visual signal system. But where do we place it? Needs to be somewhere clearly visible.”
The engineers exchanged glances.
“On the roof of The Hope.”
“The Hope...?”
“Yes. It’s tilted a bit, but it’s still the tallest and most visible building here, right?”
They smiled.
“Of course, we’ll add huge, flashy lights so it’s visible at night too.”
“No, that’s not the issue...”
“What? You think The Hope might collapse?”
“......”
“Well, if The Hope collapses, then Seoul would collapse too. Isn’t that how faith works? When your pillar falls, your faith falls with it.”
There’s still a mountain of other things to do.
Most of my day is spent inspecting the defense line.
It’s something that must be done.
Even if it doesn’t reveal any flaws, we have to keep doing it.
Because humans are never perfect.
After a whole day of work, I get back to my quarters around midnight—maybe 1 a.m. if late.
My internet time is extremely limited.
Because at 4 a.m., a new day begins.
Fighting off sleep, I read the messages that came in.
Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: Skelton! Message me if you see this.
Message from Defender: How about letting Melon try something this time? That guy’s never been the type to just sit back and watch. You know he likes the spotlight. I know you’re busy, but it just came to mind. —From Dajeong.
Message from foxgames: About what we discussed earlier—I don’t want to go to Seoul like a nobody. You know I’ve got an edge over others, right? Think you could talk to someone higher up for me?
Message from CrunchRoll: I tried talking to IAmJesus. But seriously, I can’t figure out what the hell that guy’s thinking.
Message from mmmmmmmmm™: So... I’ve been kinda flirting with Young-hee lately. It’s that “feels like it’s gonna work, but never does” thing. Tingly? Think Melon would like this as a story idea?
Message from Dies_irae69: Not sure where you are, but isn’t it time you joined our group already? Heard Seoul’s basically done for.
“......”
I don’t think I’ve had such a bad life on the internet.
Sure, my wit and humor helped with popularity, but I gave a lot back too.
Smiling faintly, I sent a message to the precious girl who first made my chest tighten with emotion.
SKELTON: (Skelton ㅇㅅㅇ) Just saw your message, but if you’re a good girl, you should be asleep by now, right?
Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: I’m not a good girl~ :(
SKELTON: Whoops
Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: Huhgks!
SKELTON: Haha... What’s up?
Wiping my face with a cloth dampened in soapy water instead of washing up properly, I glanced at the monitor with sleepy eyes.
Soon, a new message appeared.
Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: I’ve been thinking about what you said. About how to make that loser Melon Mask happy again?
SKELTON: Got a good idea?
She puts her head together with mine.
Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: Bumpy.
SKELTON: Bumpy?
I listen.
Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: He’s still at that station, right? What if we sent him back to Earth?
SKELTON: ?
Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: I mean, he died in space—but at least we could return his body to his homeland.
Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: He’s from the South American jungle, right?
Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: Lots of juicy fruit there.
SKELTON: !!
We gather and refine these ideas.
Message from Defender: Just like I said. I’m all for Skelton doing another power play, but maybe this time it’s better if Melon, that attention whore, gets to do something.
Message from Defender: That guy literally can’t stand not being the main character. Like being in space changed his trash personality—yeah right~?
And then, we pass it on.
Message from VIVA_BOT014: Huh? You want Melon Mask to personally return Bumpy’s remains to Earth and livestream it on Live! Apocalypse!?
It might not work out.
Message from VIVA_BOT014: I mean, how would that even be possible? Stick the corpse on a rocket? Even Melon doesn’t trust the rockets he’s supposed to ride himself.
There might be other opinions.
Message from VIVA_BOT014: I don’t know if you’re aware, but Melon’s orbit is about the same distance as the Moon...
And it’s those opinions that I believe show the true virtue of the internet.
If different thoughts exist, the whole point of our digital world is to quickly, easily, and globally realign and reshape those ideas.
That, I think, was the true intent of the one who first made this world.
SKELTON: Isn’t there an expert on the English board? We’ll ask for opinions. We’ll trade ideas. We’ll decide how to handle this together.
Message from VIVA_BOT014: (VivaBot pondering) Will... will this even work?
SKELTON: (Skelton sparkle eyes) Let’s find out.

Chapter 160.2: Tomorrow (2)