Chapter 307
Chapter 307
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 307
Chapter Title: Hiding a House in the Apocalypse
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The U.S. military camp near Daegu Airport was home to American soldiers and civilians who couldn't evacuate after the war.
Even after the war, transport planes had occasionally flown in to carry soldiers and civilians from the Daegu camp to their fleet in Okinawa. That much seems true.
The problem came after that.
It's now the fourth year since the war began.
Even a superpower with such superior geographical advantages—mocked as the "camp scam map"—is staggering and collapsing before the encroaching tide of destruction.
They have no time to worry about the fate of a few citizens left behind in Korea, a land that no longer holds any strategic value.
Fort Seignol.
The fortress for the stranded Americans is facing a slow death.
The surrounding area has already been eroded by waves of rifts extending from mass-produced rifts in Yangsan, and it's under threat from hostile civilians, zombies, and even monsters.
The fortress commander keeps misleading people by saying transport planes are coming soon, but apparently, none have shown up in two years—not even a glimpse.
A boy around Suu's age accessed the communication device logs and revealed that the fleet in Okinawa, which they trusted implicitly, had already withdrawn from Asia. But the adults didn't just disbelieve him—they branded him a traitor (he was of Chinese descent) and expelled him from the base.
Convincing Rebecca won't be easy.
From my experience, she's a simple person.
She has one or two goals and fixates on them stubbornly.
She has no interest in anything beyond what she envisions, and she doesn't try to change.
It took over a year just to ease her hostility toward me.
And that was entirely because I kept showing goodwill from my side.
Once you earn her trust, she becomes a reliable ally, but convincing that Rebecca now doesn't seem straightforward.
In the past, I would've flatly said no.
I like to think I've gained some experience points.
Yeah, experience in dealing with people.
I asked Suu to try talking to Rebecca.
It's just text, but her Korean feels improved.
Here, I'll show off my cred from dominating all three major boards.
I didn't pursue the conversation further.
No need.
Just understanding why Rebecca clings to the camp is enough.
Suu was right.
It's futile hope keeping Rebecca in a refugee camp doomed to extinction.
Objectively, her hope is impossible to realize.
This isn't just wishful thinking—it's fact.
Through daily contact with the Necropolis alongside Valentine, I've naturally learned far more detailed information about the situation in the U.S. than before.
According to that, the U.S. federal government collapsed long ago, and even state governments are crumbling.
A few sturdy state governments are holding on, but their collapse is only a matter of time.
Gangs, rebels, and warlords are rampant everywhere, and waves of refugees from fallen states are threatening to topple even these last bastions.
In the past, the U.S. built walls to block refugees crossing from Mexico. Now, they're building walls to block their own people.
That's just the human conflicts. Across America's vast territory, there are over 700 large and small rifts.
Rift erosion in the peripheries, monster outbreaks, rampant mutations, zombie problems.
Disasters that would have destroyed most countries long ago are marching toward death across the entire U.S.
In such a situation, the idea that the U.S. government would send long-range transport planes for the roughly 200 people left in Korea is unrealistic delusion.
But even if I told her this, Rebecca wouldn't listen.
She's the type who stubbornly fixates on the values she believes in.
Therefore, convincing her is impossible.
"..."
The art of moving people isn't just persuasion.
In fact, persuasion is an extremely low-success-rate, inefficient method.
Strictly speaking, us hunters are a kind of con artists too.
Since our identity revolves around deceiving monsters with the intimidation tactic.
Time to intimidation Rebecca.
Of course, the tool won't be guns—it's in the internet world.
*
Before the war, deepfake technology caused a social uproar.
Highly advanced AI was used to synthesize real-time videos of celebrities or politicians, mixed with fake news to manipulate public opinion in favorable or unfavorable ways.
Movie! Apocalypse!, which was experimentally featured on Viva! Apocalypse!, is a form of deepfake in the broad sense.
What we need now isn't that level of sophistication.
My goal is to create a series of videos and photos that look real: imaginary but authentic U.S. troops arriving by plane at the old U.S. airbase neighboring my territory and operating there.
I tinkered with AI image generation once when it was trending briefly on the boards.
As a test, I generated a few images using an AI image creation program.
The materials needed are three main things.
First, an overview shot of the U.S. airbase as the background; second, various photos of U.S. soldiers extracted from the old database; and finally, a transport plane proudly parked on the airbase runway.
I already have multiple shots of the U.S. airbase saved on my phone, and I can get new ones anytime if I want.
Sourcing U.S. soldier photos is just as easy.
Images from past wars or right after, showing U.S. troops in action, are plentiful on both English and Korean boards—enough to trip over.
I open a few in Paint and trace their outlines.
I chose a photo of U.S. soldiers in combat gear and helmets disembarking from a helicopter that just landed at an airport.
For the transport plane, I have perfect material.
The other day, when a transport plane heading to Jeju landed in my territory, I snapped it with my phone.
It's an American-made plane, so no tough compositing needed—it can be used almost as is with minimal edits.
I took multiple shots from various angles back then for combat planning, and now it's become an unexpected trump card.
Feed these materials into an AI image compositing tool and knead them well.
The process is simple.
Set the basic framework like composition, placement, day/night, etc., add appropriate command tags, and hit generate.
The tags I chose emphasize respecting the originals, summer filter, consistent color correction for harmony between composited images and background.
Click.
"..."
Once generation finishes, I inspect the image with my eyes.
Unlike human-drawn art, AI images often wander into vague, boundary-less realms like human dreams—except for a few specifics—so inspection is essential.
I just spotted something weird.
"Hm."
A perfectly normal U.S. soldier's hand looked like it had six fingers instead of five.
A well-known issue with AI image tools.
This way, I save the ones I like and tweak tags or regenerate the ones I don't.
"..."
Click click click.
I'm not drawing it myself, but getting the desired image takes plenty of time and effort.
To others, it looks like pointless mouse-clicking, but creating proper AI images is harder than it seems.
Like a baseball pitcher using the ball's seams to craft all sorts of breaking balls, AI images require fine adjustments with just a few tags to produce good results.
That's why "AI illustrator" isn't an empty term.
I send the completed images to Hong Da-jung.
Hong Da-jung is capable of so-called Photoshopping—image retouching.
"What is this? Huh? You want me to polish these photos to look real?"
"Yeah. Fix that six-fingered hand to five. Can you do it?"
She's the only one in my territory who's a rice-guzzler otherwise, so I might as well put her to work now.
"Please. It's important."
"...I don't know what you're using it for, but okay. I'll give it a shot."
Not "give it a shot"—she has to do it.
"I did as you asked. How's it? Like it?"
Hong Da-jung is surplus manpower outside of combat, but I have to acknowledge she handles assigned tasks quickly and properly.
She completed my request incredibly fast.
"Excellent."
I don't praise lightly, but her work deserves it.
"By the way, SKELTON. What are these for?"
"Hm, to help someone out."
"Who?"
"Remember the sniper who lived next door before?"
"Oh, them?"
"Yeah. Want to help those guys a bit."
"I see."
Lukewarm response.
Well, expected.
Rebecca and her kid are my neighbors, not the Defender siblings'.
Good thing I warned them beforehand to avoid crossing boundaries. Without me in the middle, either the Rebecca duo or the Defender pair—or both—wouldn't be in this world anymore.
"Since it's SKELTON's project, hope it goes well. Tell me anytime if you need more."
"Thanks."
Hong Da-jung's images are the most crucial props for the grand play I'm about to stage.
But it requires another preparation.
Namely, multiple satellite devices.
Besides my main one, I have three more satellite devices.
Others might ask why one person needs four, but as an internet master like me, I'd say it's obvious—you need them.
Because the number of satellite devices equals the number of my online alter egos.
I have a total of four satellite devices.
Meaning this SKELTON can operate as four separate personas.
I originally planned to distribute the extras to Ha Tae-hoon and others in my territory, but kept postponing for various reasons, eventually questioning if they really needed them.
In the end, not sharing the satellite gear was a wise choice.
"..."
Tap tap.
Time for my second internet persona, "CRAZY_HORSE," to take the stage.
Leveraging the melon mask's auto-translation to the max, I'll shape favorable public opinion on the English boards.
Deepfake fake news.
Like in Korea, English-speaking users tend not to click posts without comments.
Time for the third account to shine.
"..."
Tap tap.
My third internet persona.
Roxanne Girl.
As the name suggests, the third persona is female-coded.
Its purpose is classic astroturfing.
Of course, a little astroturfing like this won't lend full credibility to the grand play.
People think alike, and so-called "sockpuppeting" is a common sin among Korean and Western users alike.
That's where the fourth internet persona enters.
Dr. Emiless.
The characteristic of my fourth internet persona is...
...negative.
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