Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: 60. Traitor (1)
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Dies_Irea69: Group Survivalist's Combat Power.jpg
The next photo Dies_Irea69 posted showed men armed with guns, faces hidden behind sunglasses or masks, striking proud poses in a lineup.
Behind them, the landscape visible through the photo looked like rugged mountain ridges at first glance.
"......Hmm."
What incredible confidence.
But isn't it a bit too much?
Our board is no longer the exclusive domain of us doomsday cultists.
Failnet buddies and groups far more powerful than us are lurking around, eyeing the board hungrily.
Someone like Dies_Irea69 couldn't possibly be unaware of that, so throwing down the gauntlet like this didn't quite make sense.
But if I thought about his goal slowly, it wasn't entirely without reason.
He was trying to build his own world through the internet—Viva! Apocalypse!—in the real world, not just online.
In that process, he clashed with Defender, but it fizzled out with Defender backing off.
But Defender has resurrected.
Using one family as a sacrifice.
Whether he learned a harsh lesson from the internet mob's backlash or craved that special "named" status again—who knows the details—but his recent videos show real effort put in.
The short video uploaded by the siblings captured that freakish feat they once told me about.
A man sprinting breathlessly across a field, gun in hand, with something chasing him from the sky.
The guy keeps glancing up at the sky in terror, despairing, then bolting again, but suddenly a massive object blots out the screen from above, plummeting down and revealing itself.
It was a brick.
The brick nailed him square on the crown of his head, and he convulsed rigid like he'd been electrocuted before collapsing.
Color photos have more life than black-and-white ones, and videos grab attention way more than photos.
Defender's fresh drone kill proof easily crushed Dies_Irea69's "proof" and rose to the top.
Maybe the catchy new wave trot song inserted into Defender's video was the secret to its popularity.
Dies_Irea69 showed no reaction whatsoever.
Is it unbecoming for someone who doesn't care about board popularity but obsesses over public opinion more than anyone?
Fortunately, their invisible mind games seemed to end in mutual indifference.
Defender uploaded another proof.
He's my internet friend, but I try my best not to look at his proofs.
Setting aside personal ties with the siblings, turning other people's deaths into internet fodder is still something I can't comprehend—or want to.
But that proof post racked up a ton of comments.
Over 200, even.
That's more than all the active posters on our board combined.
Either Failnet folks showed up, or a keyboard war broke out—but the latter seemed unlikely.
Unable to resist the tide, even I, Park Gyu, clicked on Defender's popular post.
The moment I saw the first photo filling the screen, I instantly understood why it had 200 comments.
The corpse in the photo was wearing Chinese military uniform.
*
These guys are pretending otherwise, but apparently their unpopular user days were pretty miserable.
He's even set up a dedicated Q&A post to answer everyone's questions, which is unlike him.
I skimmed Defender's Q&A post, then went back to his proof post and left a comment.
Packing a million emotions into two letters and ellipses isn't easy.
Anyway, a Chinese guy.
Wonder where he came from.
One thing's for sure: this proof from Defender is blowing up on Failnet, where reactions have been slowing down.
...
...
Failnet's reactions are pure rage.
Every single one seethes with killing intent and hatred, no different from the hatred I feel toward monsters.
Meanwhile, the vibe on our board is totally different.
...
...
Unlike Failnet users spewing pure hate and rage, they're objectively and pragmatically analyzing the situation, true to their "expert survivor community" status.
It even reminded me of the early days on our board.
Truth be told, anti-Chinese sentiment here isn't that strong.
China started the China-Taiwan war that dragged not just Korea but the whole remaining world into the abyss, so we hold the average Korean's negative view—but not to the point of Failnet, where they see a dead Chinese body and just vomit hate.
Probably because us board users all remember how society looked at us before the war.
If China hadn't started the war, doomsday preppers like me—who scraped together every penny for the future—would've been endlessly ridiculed on YouTube and TV.
I might even be in jail right now.
A so-called professor turned deadbeat crook rotting in a cell.
I didn't reach out to Defender about this specifically.
His Q&A satisfied my curiosity, and when I went to grab the communicator, the upbeat music from that drone brick-drop video made my hand flinch back—the one that smashed that fleeing guy's skull.
I've got plenty to prep for Rebecca and the kids' move.
Sure, Rebecca helped build a decent cabin, but installing the boiler, wiring, insulation, finishing— that's all on me.
Su made a special request too.
Can't avoid living with Mom, but she wants her own private room for privacy.
Can't add walls now that construction's done, so I'll scrounge plywood and make a room—which involves some design fun, actually.
Like that, I wrapped up the day with planning and labor, lay in bed like usual to sleep, when distant barking echoed from afar.
From Gold Pack territory—probably mutation dogs.
Hunting, maybe.
It was far off, and exhaustion hit hard, so I drifted off.
The next day.
After a quick wash and rinse, towel over my shoulder, I stepped out of the bunker to scout around.
Nothing unusual around the bunker.
Same as yesterday.
Beyond the bunker, around my territory—something unusual.
A man lay collapsed by the stream at the base of the hill.
Normally, finding a human near my turf would spark endless what-ifs: dead or alive? Armed if alive? Intent if armed? Allies? All leading to "preserve my territory."
But not this time.
The moment I saw the guy, I clicked my tongue involuntarily.
No choice—the clothes he wore matched the design on the corpse in Defender's proof.
That's right.
Chinese military.
Gun ready, I scouted carefully.
No other Chinese in sight.
Still cautious, I left him a full day.
The guy barely moved, sprawled there.
Dead already?
No, not dead.
His chest rose and fell faintly, rhythmically.
Bait, then?
Media demonized Chinese as devils when war loomed, but having worked in China long-term, I know their blood runs just as warm as ours.
Some even hotter than mine.
Anyway, even using a comrade as bait, they wouldn't usually go that far.
Plus, playing bait in thin fatigues under midday sun and chilly night without twitching? Tough.
Hunters like us don't get week-long survival endurance training like soldiers.
Though if needed, we grit it out on willpower.
"......"
Gun raised, I approached the downed Chinese soldier slowly.
No visible weapons.
Maybe a hidden pistol at most.
From the moment I showed myself, muzzle locked on him—never wavered, even up close enough to touch.
I flipped him over with my foot.
"Urk. Urk!"
I clicked my tongue again.
Wished he was dead instead.
Click-
If not dead, then make him dead.
Not out of hate for Chinese.
No reason to keep him alive.
What use is sparing an enemy soldier from a warring nation, not even an ally—language barrier and all?
Only harm comes to mind.
"Sp-spare me."
The guy said.
In pretty natural Korean.
The only mercy I can give is a quick death.
Muzzle to his forehead, finger easing pressure on the trigger.
"Seoul's in danger! Nuke! They're gonna detonate a nuke!"
The soldier rasped, gulping dryly in exhaustion.
"This country's done for too..."
I didn't kill him out of some naive compassion or humanity.
It's that pathological curiosity I can't shake even with age.