Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Hiding a House in the Apocalypse
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Two years and eight months had passed since the war began.
The era had entered a phase of utter numbness, where nothing could surprise anyone anymore.
After nearly three years of witnessing all sorts of atrocities and bizarre events, the users on our board no longer batted an eye at most things.
The days when everyone recoiled in horror at Defender's murder certification shots now felt like a comedy sketch.
But one man's resurrection carried enough shock value to drag the entire board back to those razor-sharp early days.
m9 had come back from the dead.
And not just from mmmmmmmmm, but upgraded to MMMMMMMM.
Was this hinting at some kind of glow-up?
Anyway, no one could argue that m9, the sole resident of The Hope, wasn't an extraordinary figure in every sense.
Especially his terrifying survival skills—he'd proven time and again, through striking photos, that he was the ultimate survivor of this age.
I clearly remembered the shot of him tying a rope around his waist to live in that tilted house.
Our board users, who barely reacted to news of martial law in Incheon, protesters killing soldiers and soldiers killing civilians, jumped to their feet at the sight of an old friend resurfacing.
...
...
In short, m9—no, the reborn M9—is indeed the shareholder and sole resident of "The Hope," Korea's last standing mixed-use apartment complex, just as we knew.
Thicker inferiority complex than anyone, the patience to grit his teeth and bide his time despite it, and the vulgarity to reveal his true colors without restraint when opportunity knocks.
M9's return, the embodiment of plebeian capitalism, captured an entire era in all its vulgar glory.
*
Everyone knew the National Assembly government had played its worst hand.
Holding elections at the worst possible time came at a steep price.
The silently enduring citizens finally rose up, turning Incheon into a bloodbath.
But the chaos didn't last long.
Both citizens and government knew full well how dire Korea's situation was.
Citizen reps negotiated with government reps.
Elections postponed indefinitely, incumbent assembly members relinquish seats, secure support from the Jeju government, safety guarantees, secure survival essentials like food—the negotiations ended with all citizen demands met.
Protests dispersed, and citizens chose patience once more.
But the discontent wasn't fully quelled.
Some demanded clarity on the true nature of this "government" they were negotiating with.
One Failnet post laid bare the issue starkly.
This government was indeed hard to pin down—who was even in charge?
Since the president fled to Jeju with the top executive brass, most key posts were vacant, leaving the National Assembly to bizarrely handle government affairs.
It was blatantly malformed, but no one had time to care.
Not with civil war, monsters, and all sorts of crises erupting.
The outcry didn't last.
A bigger topic drowned it out.
The carrot the Seoul-Incheon government had been dangling to placate people for so long: the Jeju-bound evacuation fleet was departing soon.
The schedule predated the elections, but the new announcement advanced it by a full month—and as atonement to citizens, the government, military, and assembly released all their stockpiles.
Over 2,000 new seats unlocked.
And the event didn't stop there.
The Failnet photo showed thousands of container homes lined up endlessly across vast land, backed by the majestic Hallasan.
Crude, sure, but a thousand times sturdier than The Hope—at least in terms of feasible materials.
The government's placation efforts continued.
Through bulletins, posters, street broadcasts, even direct Failnet posts, they announced new policies.
Per the P.A. plan, they'd sequentially relocate Incheon's crammed populace to Jeju, assign jobs based on past careers, pay fair wages for labor, and rebuild the shattered economy.
To support this: develop advanced farming on Jeju's barren soil, resume trade with survival nations, build networks with local regions, with the ultimate goal of reclaiming Seoul and unreclaimed areas.
People were skeptical.
Empty promises repeated ad nauseam.
But this felt different.
The vibe. The momentum.
The flow.
The most symbolic change? The president himself.
On government LED screens, the president—who'd fled to Jeju ages ago—shamelessly reappeared.
"Fellow citizens! The long war is finally over! A ceasefire has been signed between China and Free China in Taiwan Taipei. The agreement encompasses all warring parties, fully freeing our nation from the threat of war. Trade between nations will soon resume..."
The president's sudden reemergence after vanishing since the war's start was striking—but also sparked questions.
Failnet buzzed briefly with president death rumors.
Theories abounded: National Crisis Committee Hunters iced him when he opposed their Jeju exodus; he bossed around committee bigwigs from Jeju and got ashed by an ashtray; plane crashed en route to Jeju.
Either way, Failnet users and Seoul citizens largely agreed he was dead.
Who wouldn't think that when the interview-loving prez vanished for years?
Whatever his true identity, our president resurrected like M9 and showered despairing citizens with gifts.
"It may not atone for the capital region's patient endurance, but our leadership has volunteered to relinquish some official residences and villas—via lottery—for incoming evacuees."
The Jeju government would lottery out luxury residences currently housing elites to citizens.
Opulent, lavish mansions—perfect luxury even pre-war.
Yet this setup eerily mirrored the government's past lottery fiasco, especially The Hope incident.
In drawing fierce reactions, focusing all eyes on the draw, and above all—our M9 striking gold again.
This was the real reason our M9 broke his long silence and returned.
Naturally, the board exploded again.
...
...
From a leaning apartment to a presidential villa.
Well, precisely as the reporter noted—not the actual presidential pad, but the largest Type 1 villa for top officials was M9's new digs.
"......"
At first, no real thoughts.
For real.
Until I came back from seeding the bunker rear and tending crops.
A message awaited.
"?"
"......"
I unwrapped the leg bandage, disinfected the wound.
"Ow."
Stings a bit.
Scraping out shrapnel myself had turned a belly wound into a navel.
Quack limits, I guess.
Redisinfected, rebandaged, cleared my mind, sat at the computer.
Tap.
Hand on keyboard.
Click.
Rare long post uploaded.
But meh response.
Even with my killer "Old Man's birthday has wiggle room" gag, no comments or likes.
My 15-minute magnum opus sank under floods of random Failnet drivel.
Ending in zero replies?
No—one comment.
Clicked with bated breath.
"Ha."
Fine so far.
My post was a sniper shot anyway.
But M9 went further.
"?!"
No doubt.
This was my assassination.
M9 grudge-sniping Skeleton!
And sure enough, comms blared.
"Hey. You watching Skeleton?"
"Hahahaha! Hilarious! For real!"
Defender siblings.
"What'd you do to M9 for him to single you out like that?"
I explained the misunderstandings between M9 and me.
Y'know, how I got The Hope truth from a contact, shared it in good faith, but M9 took it as malice and turned hostile. Sad tale.
Anyone could see M9 was wrong, but Defender disagreed.
"From M9's view, you might've seemed more annoying."
"What?"
"Ever hear 'the sister-in-law who stops the cursing is more hated than the cursing mother-in-law'?"
"Sister-in-law? Bernoulli?"
"That's why you're getting flak."
"?"
Speechless from absurdity, then Dajeong chimed in.
"Hey. Skeleton. Check the board. M9 picking a fight again!"
M9 posted anew.
Whatever else, M9 this human trash.
Consistent posting from that leaning house on Viva! Apocalypse!
When John_nenon hacked Viva! Apocalypse! networks, security weakened, letting our board wizard Foxgame add features—including polls.
Mostly wasted on meal votes or unicorn18's 2D waifu polls, but M9 dragged me into a showdown poll.
Anyway, M9 was in his second heyday.
Poll results showed the gap clear:
1. M9's better (22 votes, 88%)
2. Skeleton's better (3 votes, 12%)
"......No. This ain't right."
"Skeleton!"
Dajeong suddenly serious.
"Wanna turn this into an opportunity?"
"Opportunity?"
"I'll become Skeleton."
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