Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: 72. Unicorn18 (2)
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Strongman Kang Han-min.
He was a disciple of Jang Gi-yeong, just like me.
He wasn't a particularly outstanding hunter, but he was lucky—and that luck saved his life on the battlefield.
His callsign, "Fool," meaning idiot or clown, was given to him personally by Jang Gi-yeong, who utterly despised Kang Han-min.
Kang Han-min experienced what was observed as the largest-scale Alpha Awakening in history on the Changping frontline, the final defensive line in central Beijing, making him one of the first Awakened.
Na Hye-in.
She had two masters: one was Go Jong-beom, who had gone to China, and the other was Jo Du-hong, who had little interest in the school's power struggles.
From her school days, she was an exceptional hunter who stood out, versatile enough to handle long-range, mid-range, and even close-quarters combat.
Her callsign was Alpha 1.
Unlike Jang Gi-yeong, Jo Du-hong—who lacked any literary sensibility and preferred the rigid command structure of military units—had given it to her.
She was the other protagonist of the Double Alpha Awakening on the Changping frontline alongside Kang Han-min, an event the Chinese called the "Great Opening."
Their Awakening levels are unknown, but it's the consensus that no Awakened is as strong as them.
There were rumors of an incredibly powerful Awakened in eastern Africa, but the war situation there was so dire that contact was lost amid the monster waves, so effectively, Kang Han-min and Na Hye-in were considered the strongest Awakened until the war's end—and that status likely holds to this day.
Unicorn18 could be one of those two.
Of the two, Kang Han-min is the more likely candidate, given his possession of the Golden Fleece and his ability to speak Korean.
I've seen him writing bizarre posts on the communal computer in the dorm cafeteria.
It's not just the elephant incident.
Even after that, I once caught sight of posts left by Kang Han-min on the dorm cafeteria's public computer.
Roughly what I remember is something like this:
KangHanNam: "Eat this for 10 billion won"
(A photo of a cute cat face with fake hamburger buns on top and bottom)
KangHanNam: "Life as an Alpha Male"
(A convenience store clerk asking a handsome guy for his number)
KangHanNam: "Call my posts retarded and regret it big time"
(Baiting for hate comments on purpose)
At first, I couldn't understand why this guy was posting such things, but reading them gave me this strangely addictive vibe. By the end of dorm life, I'd secretly check his posts whenever he stepped away.
Na Hye-in, like me, hardly used the internet.
She was so bad with computers that she couldn't even print documents properly and often asked her junior, Woo Min-hee, for help.
Min-hee would smile brightly and subtly trash-talk her every time.
"Senior, how do you not know how to do this~?"
Dorm life was so boring, and the only internet access was the cafeteria computer, so even she would sit there occasionally.
I'd glance over pretending to pass by, and she was mostly browsing Chinese news sites.
Unlike me, she was fluent in Chinese and very interested in current events there.
"......"
In my view, Unicorn18 is closer to Kang Han-min than Na Hye-in.
That doesn't matter.
The real issue is whether Unicorn18 really is Kang Han-min.
The Golden Fleece he showed could be a fake.
Before Awakened appeared, there were plenty of rumors in our hunter circles about people making fake Golden Fleeces to impersonate hunters.
So-called "hunter maniacs" cosplaying with gear knockoffs often made fake Golden Fleeces too.
Above all, Unicorn18's Golden Fleece hasn't been verified by VivaBot yet.
Unicorn18 could be scamming.
I think it's more likely he's a scammer than actually being Kang Han-min.
To confirm, I messaged Dajeong.
"Got a favor to ask."
"Sure. What? Want me to come over?"
"Nah, no need to come. You know Unicorn18?"
"Oh, that guy."
"I wanna know his identity."
"Why him all of a sudden? He's just an otaku troll. Doesn't even want real interaction."
Contacting Dajeong was the right call, as always.
True to her experience on communities since elementary school, even a light probe revealed vast fragments of knowledge.
I asked her.
About what it means for a troll not to seek communication.
It didn't click for me.
Trolling draws attention with weird antics—that's the dictionary definition—but not wanting communication from that attention felt contradictory.
"It's like this, Skeleton."
Dajeong kindly explained her internet philosophy.
"They want to scream at the faceless masses to make them look. But they don't want personal connections with those masses. Know the difference?"
"Hmm."
I didn't really get it.
The difference between the two.
"Not a perfect analogy, but think lonely hedgehog? Screaming to draw animals near, but spines keep an eternal gap at spine-length?"
"Doesn't feel right."
I gave my honest take.
"Why not?"
"Remember when you Skeleton-cosplayed at my place?"
"Yeah. That was fun."
"After that, Unicorn started flirting hard. DMs and all."
"Really?"
"Stalking my profile, messaging nonstop."
"Here's my thought."
Dajeong said with conviction.
"If you'd taken one step closer as Skeleton, he'd have backed off."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Probably not even his real intentions. Wanna test it? Pretend to be a girl approaching him as Skeleton. Could be fun."
"Nah, there's stuff to do first."
Since my professor days, this Park Gyu preferred stockpiling data before any fight.
Our mentor Jang Gi-yeong preached that hunters fight on guts and improvisation, but my experience showed meticulous prep and intel guaranteed success—and survival—rates best.
Dissecting the Viva! Apocalypse! Korean board user Unicorn18 was a prerequisite before direct contact.
One way to analyze Unicorn18:
His thousands—tens of thousands—of posts and comments on the board.
Even a non-communicative troll slips true self in a few amid thousands of nonsense posts.
This ironclad Park Gyu even wrote stuff Woo Min-hee could tease him about.
Product review tales, etc.
Kang Han-min's getting near-religious savior treatment now, but he'd leave openings.
I even know Unicorn18 posted on FailNet's Jeju board.
Message from unicorn18: Look! That m bastard's arguing on FailNet Jeju board!
Back when I was deep in netkama roleplay, that's what Unicorn messaged.
That's when Dajeong and I were plotting the Unicorn analysis plan.
"Hey, Skeleton."
Defender jumped into our chat.
"Sounds fun. Mind if I help?"
"More hands, the better."
No reason to refuse.
Defender's place has two satellite internet setups.
Meaning three of us could systematically investigate separate areas.
"Defender, check FailNet? Jeju board, grill board, popular ones. Unicorn18 uses the same nick, easy search."
"OK."
In this hellish winter dropping below -30°C at night, even mighty Defender was just a regular user with nothing to do.
Can't verify without monsters to kill.
He doesn't do house calls unless special circumstances.
Thus began the Skeleton-Defender siblings' trio teardown of Unicorn18.
We uncovered something unexpected.
This guy who seemed glued to boards 365 days a year had only been active 120 days.
Once every three days, roughly.
Even two-week gaps.
I assumed daily because on appearance days, he posted ten times more than average.
Defender's sister spotted the issue in post-comment ratio data I didn't know.
"Unicorn's post-to-comment ratio is 20:1."
Dajeong's voice was markedly serious.
"Post-comment what?"
"Post-to-comment ratio. Writes 20 posts, leaves 1 comment."
"That's a problem?"
"Comments are on others' posts, right? Proof you read, empathized. Posts are one-way blasts of your thoughts to the masses."
"......Hmm."
"Not 'hmm.' Check yourself? You write lots of posts? Comments?"
I comment more.
Early board days, I enjoyed reading others and commenting more than posting.
Started serious posting later.
Still comment more than post.
"Lots of comments."
"Normal. Human. Comments show empathy, feel good getting them, right?"
"Yeah."
"But Unicorn just spouts his piece. Barely comments. Ignores others, talks to walls."
"......"
"1:1 post-comment is weird. 1:2 odd. Normal line is 1:4."
"Such research exists?"
"Common knowledge on big boards. Anyway, consensus: over 1:1 ain't normal."
"......"
"Unicorn's 20:1? Not human."
Dajeong declared.
"That's why I called him a non-communicative troll. Ignores comments on his posts. Real issues there."
Later personal check: Defender's 1:1, mine 1:12. Anyway, Defender's sis deemed Unicorn18 abnormal by net standards.
His posts confirm: no normal user.
unicorn18: Nostalgic VTuber.rip
unicorn18: My little wriggler... grew again...
unicorn18: Check your TP before shitting, you idiots
unicorn18: Sick of three squares of the same slop...
unicorn18: Any decent girls around? (looks around)
Half diary-like, half anime topics, rest unreadable drivel.
But scanning his thousands of posts, this guy's thorough.
Thousands should slip real-life hints, but Unicorn18 leaked zero personal clues.
"......."
Unicorn18, once just laughable, looks different now.
Castrating "self" completely to churn that volume is inhuman, as Dajeong said.
Maybe not craving attention like me is key, but he skips daily gripes entirely.
No "human" in his posts.
Most human bit: unidentified wriggler hardened up. Not digging that...
"Scanned whole Jeju board. Unicorn posted just once."
Defender sent a link.
Clicked to FailNet Jeju board, read Unicorn's post.
Muttering a woman's name unconsciously at that cosmos.
"Na Hye-in?"
We barely talked, no connection—except cosmos.
Doesn't mean much to either of us.
"Hey."
Asked Dajeong.
"Yeah."
"Can someone who never touched internet..."
"Yeah."
"Suddenly turn into an internet freak like Unicorn18?"
"Who knows."
"Why?"
"Normal at work, weirdo online? Happens. Netkama guys existed 20 years back."
Silent Defender spoke up.
"Hey, Skeleton. You think Unicorn's an acquaintance?"
No need to lie here.
"...Probably."
"People change. Even Jong-chul living with me..."
"Please kick him out!"
Dajeong interrupted midway, but Defender chuckled past it.
"Patriot hotblood in China.
Gunned at team lead suggesting abandon wounded retreat.
Me now? Butcher-like. But school dissection? Trembled, failed."
"Really?"
"Everyone changes. You weren't like this starting Viva! Apocalypse!?"
Chest twinged.
True, this Park Gyu changed massively since war start.
Anyone who knew me wouldn't recognize now.
Maybe Woo Min-hee doesn't spot me due to professor-era vs. late-Skeleton gulf—like Andromeda.
But hunches don't reveal truth.
"......"
To uncover truth, contact the problematic 20:1 post-comment human Unicorn18—no other way.
End of <72. Unicorn18 (2)>
Recs: 123
Unicorn18 said this in Jeju:
"Can someone who never used internet suddenly turn into an internet freak like Skeleton?"
Recs: 66
Usually posts by Kang Han-min, sentimental Jeju post by Na Hye-in borrowing internet? lol
Recs: 42
Ch84 Na Hye-in callsign Minerva
Ch109 Na Hye-in master Go Jong-beom
Recs: 40
Typos/context fixes...
Na Hye-in callsign and master swapped? (Jo Du-hong → Go Jong-beom / Alpha1 → Minerva)
Says 1:1 post-comment ain't normal but his own is 1:1 lol Defender
Great read today.
Thanks for daily good stuff!
Recs: 33
Wasn't Na Hye-in Go Jong-beom's disciple?
Jo Du-hong? Instructor after Go went to China?
Callsign Minerva not Alpha1? Changed later?
Recs: 20
Unicorn18: Unicorn defiles pure maidens like a lech
18 prob swear. Guy who lost GF maybe.
Recs: 20
Unicorn18 is Kang Hye-in. Na Hye-in and Kang Han-min sharing account for sure.
Recs: 13
Gold apple's comments scarier each time. Like Defender..
Recs: 2
Jang Gi-yeong ghost story flood?