The Perfect Emergency Ration
The doomsday theory that started in our community—the Maelmang Gallery—gradually became the talk of the entire nation.
There wasn't anything particularly groundbreaking that sparked it. The government, realizing the situation's severity a bit too late, issued a statement about deleting it and harshly punishing anyone spreading unverified information.
"We will immediately shut down the site causing public anxiety and spreading false information, and severely punish those responsible."
But it wouldn't delete?
Whoa? And so, they failed to take down the site. Of course, they had their pride—no outright "GG" admission. But it had been days since the announcement, and the site still wasn't even blocked.
This is Korea we're talking about. The great nation of control that blocks adult content from adults themselves. Anyone paying attention had plenty of time to catch on. That this wasn't just some troll site.
Whether the government was struggling a bit or deletion was truly impossible didn't matter. The key was that the public was getting anxious.
Serious doomsday discussions started popping up online. Supermarkets saw sudden sell-outs of emergency rations and survival kits.
- Item sold out.
- Item sold out.
- Item sold out.
- Item sold out.
"Damn, people sure have power when they mobilize."
Korea always had dozens of online shops popping up just from searching "emergency rations." Some even did bargain sales for reasons unknown. But now, those rations were impossible to find.
Canned goods, being the most accessible, were a given.
Photos of sold-out disaster supplies and food became memes flooding the community. A temporary phenomenon from hoarders, but proof of how anxious people were.
These memes would only accelerate the anxiety. More hoarding, more anxiety from seeing it— a vicious cycle.
'Good thing I prepared ahead.'
Of course, I'd stockpiled massive amounts of food in my bunker before this blew up. Chocolate nutrition bars, combat rations, all sorts of cans. With a freezer, I could store meat and perishables frozen. I'd even hoarded vegetable seeds. No starving to death for me.
"Heh heh heh... the early bird gets the food."
Seeing people scramble now gave me a smug satisfaction. That one-step-ahead feeling. Though in Last Day, the doomed still die anyway.
'Ramen's not great as emergency food.'
They say ramen sells out first in disasters. But it's not ideal preservation food. Needs tons of water and fire—not to mention the oil oxidizes, shortening shelf life.
And sure enough, the comments weren't kind.
These folks taking doomsday prep seriously tore into it right away. I chuckled and dropped a comment too.
No forgiving Jinsun haters. Though I had a few boxes of ramen stashed too—more as treats than survival grub.
Stuffing in nutrients keeps the human machine running. But long-term? Bad call. Food brings real happiness. Screw up, and depression might hang you before starvation does.
Imagine 50 years of just combat rations... some might off themselves for real.
Anyway, we debated the crumbling world's food options bit by bit.
...And humans are creatures of harm and hope, huh. They started turning it into humor.
Maybe the ramen post got good vibes somehow. Tons of bizarre stockpile flexes poured in.
And one guy stood out with god-tier weirdness.
This ramen-for-three guy blew up for a reason: his poverty wasn't a gimmick—it was real. Unlike flexers hoarding for likes, he was scraping by on extremes. Frayed clothes, beat-up furniture, moldy walls told the story.
But no one called him out. No one was tone-deaf enough to shove reality in this fun guy's face.
Riding high on hype, he kept sharing his signature "recipes."
┕Nah, that's after proper sterilization and processing. Who boils raw bugs lololol
His bug mukbang shocked the board fresh.
...But is eating bugs that weird? Starve enough, you'll munch 'em. Nutty and tasty, surprisingly. Wish I'd posted mine if I'd known it'd pop off.
Regretting that while thinking I could top it—next post shocked even me.
┕Hey, paper's from trees!
┕Fills the gut, so hunger goes away at least
Had to concede this one. Weeds-box sandwich? Beyond normal brains like mine.
Edible? Helpful? Needs testing. But the shocking attempt and eat-proof photo wowed everyone.
His posts stopped after, though. No one thought it weird. People drop off forums all the time. World too harsh to cling to one board.
Me? Busy prepping survival gear.
Then, ages later, "Box Sandwich User" posted. Not the fun kind we hoped.
Just one photo. But it hit everyone.
One thing clear from the pic: he was eating something he absolutely shouldn't.
Mods nuked the post instantly. His others vanished too, like a scandal broke.
Board held back words, but everyone knew what happened from the pic and context. Doomsday preppers, but still normies. It shocked 'em hard.
"Hmm."
I bitterly eyed his now-empty post history. Our "peaceful" world of prepping? For some, apocalypse already hit.
Reminded of that, I took a bite of weeds-box sandwich.
"......Better than a rotten cheeseburger."
What was he thinking? Texture impossible to swallow, but I couldn't spit. Forced the chewy paper down my throat.