Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: 72. Unicorn18 (1)
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Three years had passed since the war began.
Current temperature: minus 10 degrees Celsius.
In the old days, this would have meant thermal underwear flying off the shelves and headlines screaming about reserve power shortages, but by today's standards, it was downright balmy.
I stepped outside for the first time in a while to shake out my blankets and let them air in the sunlight.
Sipping hot instant coffee, I surveyed the surrounding mountains blanketed in white.
As always, just barren wasteland.
Aside from the occasional wild animal, the unchanging landscape made it feel like time itself had frozen.
While the winter sun filtered into every nook and cranny of the Evil Lair, I patrolled the perimeter to check its condition.
Once the patrol was done, I hitched a cargo trailer to the back of my motorcycle and headed down to the valley.
The stream was frozen solid like a sheet of ice, so I pulled out the electric drill from the trailer, bored a hole in the ice, used a hammer and chisel to break off chunks, hooked them with a rope, and hauled them into the trailer.
Those massive ice blocks would be my water for the day.
The water tank held up decently in the subzero temps thanks to some insulation hacks, but the pipes drawing groundwater from the tank had frozen solid, forcing me to manually top it off every morning like this.
Lately, I'd picked up the habit of leaving the radio on while working.
I tuned into several frequencies, but my favorite was still the Legion Wave's regular broadcast.
It had music, listener stories, and a pleasant voice.
"What a mild day for once. According to the weather team's forecast, this warmth should last about four days. Three days of harsh cold followed by four of mild—'Samhan Samon.' God, I miss that phrase these days."
"When I think of winter, I think of cold noodles, and with them, the fried skewers on the side. Instead of one of those so-called 'big three naengmyeon joints,' I loved this place in Dongdaemun Market run by a North Korean defector."
I had no idea who was in charge of the Legion Wave's propaganda these days, but they seemed pretty sophisticated.
Instead of slamming the Incheon government, they kept flaunting their own abundance and leisure.
Listening to the broadcast made the horrors popping up on Failnet from Incheon feel like news from another world.
Apparently, Incheon wasn't seeing protests anymore—just sporadic shootouts.
Not military clashes.
Random people gunning down random people.
Bodies littering the streets, funeral pyres rising from every corner of the city.
It was a perfect reenactment of the Hobbesian war of all against all I'd witnessed on Seoul's outskirts. Maybe the absence of hope had finally snapped people's last threads of patience.
Especially after Jeju Island, that supposed island of hope, turned out to be a mirage.
Urban security was barely hanging on for now, but Failnet updates painted a precarious picture. The fallout inevitably spilled over into our board too.
...
People were selling themselves.
On the doomsday prepper board that used to be the most reviled and finger-pointed-at corner of Korea's internet.
Maybe that's why I'd grown a bit scared to post lately.
Not just me.
...
Every time our board users posted, Failnet refugees swarmed, name-dropping usernames.
Of course, there were exceptions.
But they were rare outliers.
The board's vibe had turned so stifling and desperate you could barely post anymore.
To be honest...
It was disgusting.
Did John_nenon foresee this when he punched the hole between our board and Failnet?
Clunk—
A thick slab of ice broke free.
I hooked the chain to the pre-set anchor and yanked it up into the trailer.
Thud—
I didn't think so.
John_nenon's insight wouldn't have stretched that far.
Human insight has its limits, after all.
Just like patience does.
Unicorn18 finally snapped.
The guy who seemed like he'd spam nonsense no matter if war broke out, the world ended, or the sky fell—finally lost his temper.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
I chimed in on Unicorn18's righteous roar.
But you can't fight the tide.
Unicorn18's shout was buried under even more desperate pleas, vanishing without a trace.
Even that cry of anger was just another straw for the desperate clinging to life.
...
This couldn't go on.
Our board was made for doomsday prep users to pool wisdom, band together, and face the apocalypse—not for strangers to wail for salvation.
"Skeleton. The board's gotten pretty toxic lately, huh?"
Dajeong sounded like she'd thrown in the towel.
"Think I'll take a break from the board. Gotta prep live content. Wanna join, Skeleton?"
"Nah, I can't appear on live."
"Why? You'd crush it. Hunt a mutation. We'll film it."
"Eh, circumstances prevent it."
Truth be told, Woo Minhee had me by the balls about 90% already. No way I could risk more exposure. But even she was fed up with the current mess.
A shared sense that this had to stop started rippling through our users.
Sadly, Melon Mask was blocking messages.
Five days until Live!.
Five days.
Short in theory, but an eternity for board addicts staring at screens all winter day. Plus...
Defender was spot on.
Our board had folks crying shortages of food and fuel since summer.
Many seemed to join DSRA, but we'd cut ties, so details were fuzzy. Nearby users were mutual-aiding to scrape by, as far as I knew.
Whose life was worth more—Failnet randos or our boardmates? In our corner, definitely ours.
We'd all foreseen the end, prepped bunkers or equivalents, bonded over three years of the same posts and vibes.
If saving someone, wouldn't board users come first over Failnet?
But at this rate, we couldn't even help our own, let alone post properly.
Someone had to draw the sword.
I had one.
Probably.
I had ties to Viva.
And that thief Melon Mask owed me big time.
No replies, but a heart popped up.
Defender's, probably.
Or Dajeong's. Hard to tell.
After posting my declaration, I messaged VivaBot.
VivaBot replied quick.
Special treatment, as expected.
VivaBot ignored everyone else but chatted with me freely.
Fine, chalk it up to my past heroics for humanity. I cut to the chase.
A Korean user had linked Viva! Apocalypse! to this private site Failnet, flooding us with toxic users polluting the waters.
Sad to sever John_nenon's bridge between Failnet and Viva! Apocalypse!, but we'd die as a board otherwise.
Hell, it might even spark another Viva! Apocalypse! user hunt like before.
Those " celeb" or "idol trainee" posts? Probably dudes with guns or bats behind them.
I laid out a long explanation and waited.
Radio silence from Viva.
Checked the water tank, came back—new message.
"Hm?"
Similar request?
Someone else consulted VivaBot too?
But how? Melon and VivaBot whitelisted registered users only, right?
I got the greenlight ages ago, so I could chat.
Who else?
Dongtanmom maybe?
She had cred—star of Live! Apocalypse!'s debut.
"......"
This woman's no pushover.
Not an AI, surely?
Nah, I'd seen her in person.
Deep breath. Tossed another question.
Promises are made to be broken.
"What?"
Never saw that coming.
"Unicorn18...?"
Unicorn18 wasn't your average user.
Position: community bottom-feeder, much like this skeleton.
Always yapping about obscure moe anime no one cared for, hunting pure girls in this rape-filled hellscape, even flirted with me once. A bit dim.
And that guy was DMing VivaBot?
Double-checked the spelling.
Yup. unicorn18.
Strong confusion hit. Asked again.
"......"
Felt like a sledgehammer to the back of my skull.
Unicorn18—a Golden Fleece holder.
S-rank hunter badges: 12 Golden Fleeces worldwide.
Korea got three.
One to me, one each to Kang Hanmin and Na Hyein.
They were S-ranks too.
Awakening wasn't even a thing before them.
Free riders, kinda.
Soon after they got theirs, hunter system revamped, S-ranks and Fleeces vanished like a mirage.
But Unicorn18—board regular I knew well—had one too.
Two possibilities.
Unicorn18's Fleece real or fake.
If real, identity narrows to binary choice.
Kang Hanmin.
Or Na Hyein.
My bet: closer to Kang Hanmin.
Kang Hanmin...
Lurking on our board the whole time?
Sharing space with me for three years?
"......"
Heart pounding.