Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 197



Only Krnovel

90. Fox Game (1)

It wasn’t that difficult to guess Chief Kim Byeong-cheol’s ID.

armeegruppe_B : attacking!

It already appeared during the IAMJESUS ​​incident.

Like the big names who showed up at the time, Kim Byung-chul also put in some effort to recruit I.M.Jesus.

At the time, we had no way of knowing who this person was, but it seems that we were already playing with a big shot who would dominate South Korea from that time on.

Anyway, contrary to my worries, Kim Byeong-cheol never approached me or contacted me on the bulletin board, and Kim Da-ram never made any unreasonable requests of me.

A week passed quickly and my daily life returned to normal.

“······.”

It’s good to be calm, but it’s also good to be too calm.

The Legion has absorbed people in both good and bad ways, so now there is not a single human shadow left.

Sometimes I think of beasts or mutations as adults.

As I sat blankly by the stream, watching the green rice growing rapidly, the fierce battle that had taken place last week felt like a midsummer dream.

On the bulletin board, there was often talk about how Kim Byeong-cheol was good at his job.

Unlike the previous government, they are providing decent jobs?

At the same time, there was a high frequency of dissing the former government, and after reading the content, I can understand it.

ㅇㅇ: All the key government officials were killed during the bombing of Sejong City, and only the ones who couldn’t go to Sejong City remained in Seoul. But what can those bastards do? They can’t do anything except watch what the National Assembly members think. So they just do what the National Assembly members tell them to do and run the country like a mess among themselves. That’s why they don’t have a representative. Why? Because they can’t think of a single person who can represent them.

I agree with this statement to some extent.

In fact, it seemed true that Kim Byeong-cheol had a certain enthusiasm for reviving Seoul.

Message from Defender: What a shame. I wanted to fight with you, but I ended up taking care of the rear guard. Anyway, my brother’s surgery was a success, so I don’t have to worry anymore. Once I get settled in Seoul, I’ll visit your house with my brother.

The Defender sent a message.

It seems that we can send messages like this because the situation has stabilized.

Anyway, the future will depend on what our Mrs. Kim does from now on, but at least in my opinion, unless it’s something very important, I don’t think my junior will call me.

I felt that way.

It was in the way he tried to arouse my pity by even wearing a fake blindfold.

While this realistic life was reaching a stable point, depressing things were unfolding in the Internet world.

Anonymous458: Doesn’t it feel like it’s been a while since you’ve seen Fox Games?

keystone: It disappeared in the winter, so the last post was from 3 months ago.

Anonymous1131: I played that guy’s game and ended up here······.

mmmmmmmmm : Oh no… Another unfortunate person has passed away. If he had come to our apartment, this wouldn’t have happened….

Rkkara: Is there anyone who knows the news?

…

…

Fox Games is gone.

Although he showed signs of gloom last winter, he eventually became one of the users who could not overcome the weight of life and did not log in for more than a month.

The last thing he wrote was as follows:

Fox_games : if killer_man [nx][ny][nz] == 0

killer_man[nx][ny][nz] = ‘true’

C, Z, Q = nx, ny, nz

count += 1

dir_count = 0

continue

else:

Fox_Games : false ; false ; false ;

It seems to be a code used when making a game, but I do not know what it means, and users who said they worked at a game company said they could not find any special messages in his final code.

But at least our bulletin board users can read at least one meaning in Foxgame’s last post.

The last unknown code of Foxgame.

It’s for each terminal before death.

In the face of the harsh realities of loneliness, fear, pain, illness, and, above all, indefinite imprisonment without a life sentence, even the strongest and most optimistic person cannot endure it and breaks down.

Such people are usually mentally damaged first, and then their bodies are also damaged later.

Fox Games was also repeating the same behavior as users on the verge of death.

However, one difference is that Foxgame, unlike other users, was a named user on our bulletin board and was liked by many users due to his moderate and kind personality.

Rkkara : RIP Foxgames

Yeah : RIP Foxgames

Anonymous424: RIP Foxgames

RokaGG : RIP Foxgames

DAJUNG : RIP Foxgames

Anonymous458: RIP Foxgames

tntn_Orthopedics : RIP Foxgames

mmmmmmmmm : RIP Foxgames

Defender : RIP Foxgames

…

…

Unlike other friends who left first, Fox Game’s final journey was followed by numerous memorial messages.

One of the long-standing unspoken rules of the bulletin board has been broken.

Until now, actions related to death, such as mourning, were prohibited when a bulletin board user died or disappeared.

It could be our turn next, and even though the world is going to shit, it’s the collective consciousness of our bulletin board members that we only want to see good and bright things.

But now the number of bulletin board users has decreased significantly.

There are definitely new users using dead people’s devices, but so many of the users I knew have disappeared.

Destruction was already fast approaching us, making it difficult to ignore it.

This incident gave our bulletin board users the opportunity to finally accept death, and it took the form of a memorial to the Fox user.

“······.”

I didn’t write a eulogy.

I think I have a bit of a special affinity with Fox Games.

Although we have never met face to face, I feel like he is my old friend.

Actually, I even got a super account from him.

I sighed and entered Monster Park, the last masterpiece of Fox Games.

I wasn’t really expecting to connect.

Quite the opposite.

Now, with no one mentioning it and even the game manager, Foxgame himself, missing, there’s no way the game can run.

But the connection was established.

[ Welcome to Monster Park! ]

So-called ASCII art, expressed in familiar messages and letters, floated empty on the monitor.

I felt a brief sense of joy, but that feeling soon disappeared.

There is no one.

In the lobby that was bustling with countless users, not a single active user could be found.

Knock knock

I tried to recall the command I remembered.

cmd number of users connected

When you type a command and press Enter,

The number of people currently connected appears.

There’s one person.

Are you saying that there is no one but me?

No one would want to enter the cyber world where updates have already been cut off and even the creators have gone crazy.

Originally, games of that type were fun because there were other people there, but once they lost their greatest asset, other people, people started leaving quickly, and it became a place where there was no one left.

The words of Fox Game crossed my mind without me realizing it.

My account is a special scam account, so I shouldn’t tell anyone else.

But what can I do if the game is ruined and my account is a super account or a fraudulent account?

It doesn’t make any sense.

It really doesn’t mean anything.

I was just blankly staring at a chunk of text that looked like a game on my monitor.

“······.”

Is another one going like this?

Looking back, there were many users who disappeared without a sound.

It’s just that we tried not to see it.

Maybe I too would have made such an abrupt exit.

But, how should I put it, I feel a little bit upset.

But I felt very sorry and frustrated that I couldn’t do anything for the person I was close with.

At least I could provide him with some kind of business trip service.

Of course, as long as it’s not too far away or in a dangerous area.

I was just blankly staring at the camera when I came back after leaving for a moment to make some coffee.

Suddenly a message came to mind.

“?”

The message disappeared like fog as soon as it appeared, and another message appeared.

The message also quickly disappeared from the monitor like a volatile substance.

*

I don’t know much about Monster Park.

So I have no choice but to ask for advice regarding that game.

This time, I would like to express my gratitude to the Legion Faction.

Because they saved PaleNet, many bulletin boards became active, and among them, game-related bulletin boards also came back to life at the same time.

There wasn’t a single user playing Monster Park on that game board anymore.

ㅇㅇ: Monster Park? That’s boring.

Yeah: For a text-based mud game, the content was a bit lacking.

ㅇㅇ: The job balancing failed too, so I just skipped all heavy.

ㅇㅇ: In my opinion, that kind of lineage-like game should be based on a rice-eating premise, but how could it be rice-eating in this day and age?

ㅇㅇ: It’s a fun game if there are people, but there aren’t any. To make matters worse, the operator’s mental state was ruined and he gave up on management.

ㅇㅇ: There are many other games to play besides that.

…

…

In my opinion, among those guys who only say bad things, there must have been one or two who stayed up all night playing Monster Park.

Although Monster Park is treated as trash even on Palenet, as I expected, there were one or two “game hunters” who enjoyed Monster Park quite a bit.

ㅇㅇ: Someone? Someone passed by and the message disappeared?

Yeah: That’s it. Camo item.

ㅇㅇ: Oh, right. There was something like that too. It didn’t come out that badly.

SKELTON: Camo item? What is that?

ㅇㅇ: It’s a camouflage item that was made to give some camouflage effect in a crappy game that only has text. As you can see, it displays who the account is and then the message disappears right away.

SKELTON: Aha!

My curiosity has been satisfied.

Someone wrote the item, not an internet ghost.

But who is it?

In that dying game world, a person revealed his identity to me using a rather rare tool called a camo item.

Unfortunately, I can’t find anyone wearing that camo item.

The only one who can do that is Fox Games, the developer and manager, but Fox Games appears to be dead.

There’s a saying that’s been floating around our bulletin board for a long time.

If a user who writes every day doesn’t appear for a day, it could be a health problem.

If you don’t see him for 3 days, it’s a dangerous situation.

Possible death after a week.

And after a month, there is a 99% chance of death.

Fox Games, which has been gone for three months, is virtually dead.

Foxgame is a friend of our bulletin board, but he also had many followers on Palenet, so even after the first memorial was posted, users who played his games in the past on Palenet continued to visit and leave memorial messages.

Yeah : RIP Foxgames

Yeah : RIP Foxgames

Yeah : RIP Foxgames

Yeah : RIP Foxgames

Yeah : RIP Foxgames

…

The procession shows no sign of ending, but even in the midst of it all, it can be said to be the lowest point of humanity.

There were also people who looked down on living Fox users.

ㅇㅇ: Foxgame. I think I know who he is. He was the team leader of the Lexon Project. He cosplays as a good guy here, but he wasn’t really a good guy. I think he wrote a confession before, but he left out all his really ugly mistakes.

ㅇㅇ: You know what that kid does best? When a smart and bright newbie comes in, he acts like a life mentor to them and tries to please them, but when they start to share their life’s ideas, he just sucks them up and throws them away.

ㅇㅇ: Oh, that guy Park? I think I know. One person committed suicide because of him. It would have been better if he had died. I remember him becoming a half-cripple. Did he take off his clothes and build a bunker after that? LOL

He seems to be an industry insider.

Or maybe he’s just an ugly person who pretends to be an industry insider and just wants to rip people off, something you often see before the war.

No matter what they said, the memorial march continued, and even users of foreign language bulletin boards began to join in.

As the memorial service for Fox Games grew exponentially, I received a call from an unexpected person.

VIVA_BOT014 : Mr. Skeleton~~

“hmm?”

It’s Vivabot.

I started a direct chat.

But why are you looking for me?

I ignored her words, feeling a bad feeling coming from long experience.

VIVA_BOT014: It’s no use pretending it doesn’t exist. I know you were scrolling just a moment ago and saw dolsingman’s “Collection of South American beauties with tanned bodies.jpg”······.

Knock knock

SKELTON: (Skeleton clicks accidentally) Why······are you looking for me?

VIVA_BOT014: Well, I wanted to ask you a favor, Skeleton.

SKELTON: (Skeleton boundary) ······?

VIVA_BOT014: Please look for Fox Game.

SKELTON: Yes?

VIVA_BOT014: It’s chaos right now. Foxgame is dead. Melon Mask knows this too and is taking the situation seriously.

SKELTON: Is that so? To the extent that Foxgame knows about Melon Mask.

VIVA_BOT014: That’s not it. It’s the flow. Look. Our Viva! Apocalypse! was aiming for the hope of the people in the era of destruction, not a memorial for the dead, right?

SKELTON: But it seems like Foxgame is already dead.

VIVA_BOT014: A signal is being picked up. And it’s a signal that seems to be alive.

SKELTON: (Skeleton shocked) Huh!?

VIVA_BOT014: I don’t know what he’s doing, but he seems to be alive. The reason I’m asking you this is because you may seem a little lacking on the bulletin board, but you’re a great hunter in real life, right?

SKELTON: I think the Internet and reality are both great.

VIVA_BOT014: Yes~~ Since it’s already great, I’ll make it even better~~

Could this skeleton, who already has an unprecedented history of captaincy as a named user, get any better?

I thought that it was a bit of an absurd story and waited for Vivabot to speak next.

The next moment, Vivabot entered the chat.

VIVA_BOT014 : Ta-da~~

“?!”

Small changes.

But there is a definite change in sight.

There is a small icon next to Vivabot’s nickname.

Isn’t that the character from My Melody that I really hate, shrunken down to the size of a single letter, next to my nickname?

Soon, Vivabot told me what the picture was about.

VIVA_BOT014: If you solve this issue, I will grant you permission to put an icon next to your nickname~~