Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: 40. Luck (3)
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The results of the bottom-tier brawl are as follows.
My victory.
Reactions were mixed.
...
...
The world sure is small.
Of all people, the sniper mom and daughter saw this.
"Skeleton? Skeleton? You alive?!"
Rebecca, that kid. She even lurks on Korean boards.
To make matters worse, Soo jumped in too.
"I'm alive, so don't worry. I just called in an acquaintance because of a little trouble."
I cleared up the misunderstandings over the internet and radio at the same time, then checked the rest of the board reactions.
...
...
Just as expected.
The flow went exactly as my little Defender bro and I predicted.
Now people are confused about the identity of Skeleton—that's me—as someone else entirely.
Some know the truth, but their truth isn't 100% accepted by everyone.
Most folks tend to believe what they want to believe.
Confirmation bias, right?
That's also why m9 showed zero interest in this fight.
He was on Failnet.
On another battlefield called the "Jeju Island Board," where different confirmation biases clashed head-on.
*
Failnet's hot spot that shot straight to #1 from the 40s right after the government's Jeju Island evacuation plan announcement.
unicorn18 was the one who tipped me off that m9 was playing around there.
"......"
Tap tap
That was around the time the Defender siblings left my bunker like they were fleeing.
"S-see you next time."
"Skeleton. Don't get too sucked into the internet."
After they left, I searched what m9 was up to on the Jeju Island board.
Didn't even need to search hard.
He's wrecking the first page!
I lurked around the board for a bit to gauge the vibe.
The Jeju Island board was a total warzone.
The whole thing was split between optimists insisting the evac fleet would arrive safely in Jeju and get all the services the government promised, and pessimists claiming the fleet would sink in the ocean.
I probably had a hand in starting this fight.
Feeling a bit responsible, I quietly observed their arguments.
The pessimists laid out their logic, arguing the Jeju fleet was impossible.
Meanwhile, the optimists ignored the pessimists outright, dismissing their views as sour grapes from the have-nots.
In this ugly battlefield, the most impressive player was none other than our m9.
Even with his somewhat looked-down-upon cred as a Viva! Apocalypse! user, his survival in the death trap of The Hope for months gave him enough notoriety and influence to dominate the board.
With both hype and combat prowess, him becoming a Failnet big name was inevitable.
...
...
Every time m9 dropped a line, hordes of optimists swarmed like bees, hyping him up.
Drunk on it, m9 even tried playing sage.
"......What."
A worthless post gets 400 comments.
Couldn't stand it, so I posted something.
Got utterly ignored.
"......"
As expected.
This is m9's time right now.
He has concrete hope; we have nothing.
No matter how we criticize reality or analyze rationally with empty hands, to guys like m9, it's just beggars whining.
Sucks, but for m9 to fall here, we have to wait for the situation itself to change.
Didn't Woo Min-hee say it?
The Jeju fleet is a lie.
The real ones going to Jeju are the boys and girls she selected for Awayken aptitude—by plane, not ship!
But things were shifting in favor of the optimists, against my predictions.
The government kept releasing info on safe routes, housing schedules, job and income distribution, lottery winner perks—and in response, real-time updates on Jeju conditions and fleet cargo loading poured in.
Not many would deny Koreans are sharper than the global average.
Foreigners learn "ppalli ppalli" first, right?
People moved fast.
The used goods board, usually top 10, suddenly skyrocketed past Jeju board to #1.
...
...
Everyone wants a Jeju ticket.
As Kim Daram said, every surviving citizen was now desperately craving Jeju.
That massive hope became a current, swallowing up everyone not swept along bit by bit.
"......"
Even I was shaken.
Despite hearing the truth from Woo Min-hee, I wondered if she was lying and this flow the government announced—and people were following—was the real truth.
Sure enough, after about three days, the pessimists vanished from the Jeju board.
It solidified as the final victory for the optimists led by m9.
In that glorious moment, their hero m9 went silent for some reason.
The optimists' club that beat down pessimists daily just... disappeared.
While everyone wondered about him, an unexpected figure messaged me.
m9.
Why the hell is this guy messaging me?
Bad vibes, but I replied.
Thinking it over, this m9 guy.
Exposed his type for women.
Yeah, when I was heading to The Hope exec floor, he blabbed about lining up pretty girls or whatever.
Sure enough.
How can someone be so shameless?
"......"
They say dragons have one reverse scale.
Humans have a few more, apparently.
A wave of inexplicable disgust and rage hit me as I hammered the keys.
Slam tap slam!
This was the roar of my soul.
I had no idea back then.
That this little incident was the prelude to the ending about to unfold.
*
The big shot who'd left us had returned to our humble board.
At first, everyone thought it was a joke.
Figured m9 was trolling us for laughs.
Wait, why forget that?
Besides, m9 wasn't in The Hope—he was in a safe house by Incheon docks for winners with Jeju tickets, guarded by soldiers.
Hard to believe he'd lose his most precious stuff there.
Reading the reporter's post, I had a hunch what happened to m9.
"No way?"
Remembered a nature doc about some African bird building flashy nests to woo females.
m9 became one of those birds, aggressively sniffing around for a mate.
Messaging me was part of his grand mating ritual.
But finding a partner in this dangerous world ain't easy.
Especially for small-minded fools like m9 with no eye for people.
From what I gathered, one of his fanboys secretly hooked him up with a "hot chick" who approached him, set up a meet, and swiped all his biggest assets.
No proof pic, but he said he got beat so bad his nose twisted during the residence proof handover.
Tried complaining to the authorities, but no way they'd help a guy who ignored gov warnings and flaunted his precious ticket and proof.
We warm board users comforted him: at least you're alive.
...
...
The board's old warmth after so long.
I pondered a bit, then added my voice as one user.
A bit tough to type.
After the wave of support, m9 posted.
Like a lonely actor exiting the stage.
Looked like he was heading back to his one true home, "The Hope."
But m9 was stronger than we thought.
Tap tap
A new pessimist appeared on the Jeju board.
Shockingly, it was m9, the optimists' former club.
From the tilted apartment, m9 fights the optimists alone even now.
May new luck find him.