Chapter 256
Chapter 256
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 256
Chapter Title: 105. Residence (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A gentle breeze blew through the slightly open window, rustling the white curtains.
In the vase, a nameless white flower swayed lightly in the wind alongside its long, straight leaves.
This was a hospital.
There had been a few messy and unpleasant incidents before arriving here, but there was no need to recount them one by one.
To cut to the chase: I had survived, Park Seung-su was facing disciplinary action for overstepping his authority, and above all, I had reunited with an old comrade—a wound I had wanted to forget.
Time had changed her appearance in subtle ways, but that didn't necessarily mean she looked ugly or that the years had been colorless.
Just as I was still Park Gyu, she was still Na Hyein.
In the big picture, we were no different from the day we met in that nameless hospital in China.
Given the circumstances, we hadn't had much chance to talk.
She had spent more time dealing with Park Seung-su and his gang than with me, and I had my own explanations to give to the follow-up troops and investigators.
Coming to the hospital wasn't so much because of injuries as it was the standard procedure for anyone who'd been in a dangerous area or gone through a major incident.
I underwent basic checks like blood tests and X-rays, plus an MRI—which I particularly disliked.
After that, it was nothing but rest.
It had already been two days since I arrived at this hospital.
The battle in that storm now felt like a dream.
"......"
My current worries weren't Park Seung-su's retaliation, the next move from the Jeju administration that was hostile toward me, or even a personal meeting with Na Hyein someday.
Those were just ordinary human encounters and events—nothing more, nothing less.
What was pressing hard on my mind was none other than Live! Apocalypse!
No one could deny that my performance that day was more grand and magnificent than any show ever broadcast on the live stream.
In the end, the live itself had proceeded successfully.
There were no interruptions like the phone dying or the broadcast cutting out for other reasons.
The evidence was still lingering in the corner of my phone.
Viva Bot had sent a personal message.
For that picky, haughty, and merciless woman to send a text like this meant my live had been that impressive.
But there was one problem.
That was it.
As incredibly regrettable as it was, it seemed the live had ended with Viva Bot's fan-like cheer.
It wasn't an issue with my phone or the obelisk.
The computer handling the terminal connection had run out of battery.
When I cleared the shattered bulletproof glass riddled with gunfire after dealing with the Executioner type and went in for close combat, the fierce storm winds through the wide-open window had filled the outpost with rainwater, and in the process, the already flickering computer finally gave out.
There was no data to salvage from a computer soaked through.
How flustered I was at that moment was evident even when Na Hyein came looking for me while talking to Park Seung-su.
"Professor. What are you doing? Looking for something urgent?"
I don't clearly remember what I said in response.
Anyway, to sum it up: this Skeleton's "hyper live" had ended after an epic performance worthy of legend, but unfortunately, I couldn't see the results.
In other words, I couldn't witness the flood of praise pouring in for this Park Gyu.
At that point, I thought of the two great admirals—Nelson and Yi Sun-sin—who achieved legendary victories but met their ends in battle.
The person who came to visit me, left alone in the hospital room, was someone completely different from who I expected.
"You're Mr. Park Gyu, right?"
She was a woman in her mid-twenties, someone I'd never seen before.
Her neat attire suggested she was from the government.
"Yes. That's me."
"Savior Na Hyein has already explained everything about your situation, and Park Seung-su's corruption has been confirmed, so to conclude, you have nothing to worry about."
So, I'd avoided a bad ending, more or less.
I glanced at the ID hanging around her neck and asked abruptly.
"What happens now?"
I'd escaped mortal danger, but that didn't make me like Jeju Island any better.
This stifling gray island still refused to feel familiar, no matter how hard I tried.
The woman fiddled with her tablet, checking the screen.
"Mr. Park Gyu, you're scheduled for Type 1 Zone."
"Type 1 Zone?"
"Yes. We actually considered Special Zone, but after evaluating your past merits, contributions upon arrival here, and expected future contributions, Type 1 Zone was selected."
"What do I do there?"
I asked with a shallow sigh.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Yes. You've been classified as exempt from all duties and training. Plus, you'll receive a pension of 300,000 credits per month."
I could see her face lighting up.
"It's not Special Zone, but it's still amazing. People who do nothing on Jeju are extremely rare. The upper echelons of the National Crisis Committee probably felt responsible for this incident and made an exceptional decision."
"......"
People think alike, and people see things similarly—but sometimes, I can't agree with that.
Like right now.
This woman was praising and envying me as if I'd won the lottery before the war, but... well.
I wasn't sure if this was good or bad.
At least it wasn't the worst.
"Mr. Park Gyu? Why so quiet? Are you unhappy with this decision?"
"No. It's more like..."
How should I put it?
It felt slightly off.
It resembled what I wanted, but not quite what I truly desired—a subtle sensation.
The woman stared at me intently as she organized her documents.
"You must still be fatigued from the battle. Makes sense—there were multiple casualties, and you fought monsters. I was too hasty."
She stood up.
"Anyway, discharge is possible anytime. You can check the results and decide, or handle discharge procedures right away and head to your new residence. It's all up to you, Mr. Park Gyu."
"Wait."
I called out to her as she turned to leave.
"Yes."
I hesitated for a moment but quickly composed myself and asked.
"Where is Na Hyein?"
"S-Savior Na Hyein?"
"Yes. I'd like to meet Na Hyein."
"Oh, right!"
"?"
"Savior Na Hyein left something for you. It's too big, so it's outside. Check it out when you discharge. There's sure to be a message from her."
A message left by Na Hyein for me.
What could it be?
I was curious, but I'd assumed she would come looking for me here.
Maybe I even wanted to wait for her.
A day later, I completed discharge procedures.
I also got my health check results—no issues at all.
The doctor even asked in surprise.
"Weren't you on the mainland? How are you this healthy? Drugs aside, you don't even drink?"
To Jeju people, the mainland's image was something like that.
A place you couldn't endure without going mad.
Half-true, I suppose.
But I saw it differently.
I put on freshly laundered clothes and checked the luggage Na Hyein had left.
"Here it is."
The moment I saw the gear packed in a fairly large wooden plywood box, I couldn't help but smile.
The obelisk.
The satellite internet device leading to our forum was neatly packed inside the box.
*
Type 1 Zone, unlike Type 2, was laid out like an American suburban single-family housing development.
Beyond the wide-open roads, standard houses of identical design cradled soothing green lawns, each harboring its own life.
The freshness of the air, the surrounding scenery, and even the faces of passersby overflowed with leisure—unlike the gloomy boys and girls filling Type 2 Zone—and faintly glimmered with hope.
There were quite a few older people, all seeming to bear traces of their once-glorious pasts on their faces.
Of course, what mattered wasn't the scenery around the houses or their condition.
Speaking of condition, they were incomparable to the shack-like dumps in the old Type 2 Zone.
It felt like arriving at a resort condo.
Everything was tidy and clean.
You could even access the intranet inside the house!
This must have been the Jeju landscape once called paradise on the mainland.
But what I was most curious about and wanted to know right now was something else.
After hastily installing the obelisk, setting it up on a new computer, and linking it, I finally returned to my homeland—Viva! Apocalypse!
The new satellite device's nickname was as follows.
[Anonymous 544]
A different nickname from before, apparently.
I scanned the posts on the forum.
There weren't any mentioning Skeleton specifically.
Not surprising.
Three days had passed since my real-time live.
Even the juiciest bait starts to stink after three days—that's the nature of internet communities.
People were talking about Dongtanmom instead of this Skeleton, and one standout nickname caught my eye, so I'll excerpt his post briefly here.
Emgoo couldn't do his live after all.
Or maybe this Park Gyu's live was so long, intense, and above all, legendary in quality that Melon Mask herself stopped it there for Emgoo's sake.
"Hoo..."
Seeing Emgoo glow like this after so long really made it feel like home.
What was it? The place where I belonged.
Red Archive board nameds were nice, but I suited the forum better as the "Legendary Live Skeleton."
I wanted to check reactions to my legendary live, but there was something to do first.
Na Hyein had sent me a message.
No explicit text, but the satellite internet device itself was her message to me.
So, Na Hyein wanted to communicate with me through our forum.
"......"
I took a deep breath and typed.
"......"
For a brief moment, I felt grateful to Melon Mask.
To the man who had opened a channel of communication with someone so distant, someone I never thought I'd speak to again.
Of course, that bastard stealing my achievements was a separate matter.
Na Hyein's message made my heart flutter.
But what truly made it pound was now.
I waited eagerly for her next message, eyes full of anticipation.
"I see."
I closed my eyes, smiled, and leaned my head back.
My live had been rewarded.
The highest reward possible.
But this Park Gyu wasn't one to be satisfied with that.
Honor doesn't end with acquisition.
The essence of honor is more like a club you grip and swing than a trophy stored in a cabinet.
I immediately tried changing my nickname.
Oh, right.
My Skeleton account was still alive in my territory.
Skeleton was clean, but no choice.
*Click*
"......"
Here comes the king of lives.