Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 198



Only Krnovel

90. Fox Game (2)

It’s a good thing we know what kind of person Foxgame was before the war.

After all, the war changed everything, so digging up things from the past that will never return isn’t a very productive discussion.

Not only in Fox Games, but I also judged what kind of people my friends on the bulletin board were just by what they saw on the bulletin board.

Foxgame, in our eyes, is a grateful person.

Because he used his talents to provide us with various enjoyable activities to relieve our boredom, sentenced to an indefinite prison term called destruction.

I think our lives are richer because we have such talented people.

Of course, I too have enjoyed playing illegal conversion games distributed by Fox Games on the Internet.

I don’t know the title, but it was a land grab game where you bounce something like a marble to secure a certain area, and the hidden image of a healthy woman is revealed.

Fox Games had a good reputation and a respectable personality to match its reputation.

That’s the rough image I have of Fox Games so far.

After receiving Vivabot’s suggestion, I searched for a person named Foxgame.

I don’t want to know Foxgame’s past, but since I was asked to search for him, I needed to know what kind of person he was and what his personality was like.

There was a reason why Fox Games was mentioned more on Palenet than on our main bulletin board.

He was a fairly well-known figure in the gaming industry.

Foxgame’s true identity was revealed when he revealed a story from the past during the Monster Park incident when he was in a mental crisis.

Although ordinary people like me were unable to figure it out, it seems that those in the industry were able to confirm a clue that could lead them to discover the true identity of Fox Games.

ㅇㅇ: Ah~ It was this guy. Legacy Online PM. He’s a famous person. I thought he’d be alive, but I’m surprised he’s alive and well.

ㅇㅇ: In Viva! Apocalypse!, he was acting like a real adult.

ㅇㅇ: It’s rare to find someone who is as thorough in their cosplay as that person who pretends to be good.

ㅇㅇ: Even if that person can’t do it, didn’t he touch something like a hundred billion?

ㅇㅇ: Someone’s blood, sweat, and tears. As always.

I actually have no way of knowing if they are not industry professionals.

Maybe it’s just common jealousy, grumbling.

It’s not a new thing that people on PaleNet, who live anxious lives every day, have an inferiority complex and badmouth our bulletin board users.

However, it seemed true that Fox Games was a famous person who had worked for a fairly large company.

It is also true that he receives negative reviews from people in the industry.

According to Vivabot, there is a very high probability that Foxgame is alive.

Although he wasn’t active on the bulletin boards, Fox Games’ satellite network usage is so high that it’s hard to believe he’s dead.

VIVA_BOT014: Maybe it’s because of the game he made by linking to our server, but the only way to know the truth is to check it yourself. One thing for sure is that it’s not dead people’s traffic. He tries something new every time. Sometimes, it’s even suspected hacking.

The reason Vivabot chose me is because she knows my true identity.

In a dangerous world where looters, monsters, and mutations roam everywhere, not many people can roam freely.

A game like Fox Game would be enough of a reason to come out of the bunker.

I had been thinking about actually helping him for a while.

The icon is also coveted, but it’s not just because of the icon.

It doesn’t really matter to me what kind of person that Foxgame is.

At least this Park Gyu likes Fox Games.

*

The address of Fox Game confirmed by Vivabot is near Yeoju-si.

To be exact, it is the area around King Sejong’s Tomb, and Vivabot also sent high-resolution photos taken from a satellite.

The hideout of Fox Game, captured in the photo, was an abandoned house commonly seen in the countryside.

There were a few around my bunker too.

It was really hideous.

The owner was there, but no one lived there and there was no intention of selling it, making the already underdeveloped countryside even more unsightly.

Even when there was unfounded optimism that war would not break out, there were cases of YouTubers who visited haunted houses without permission, causing noise and light pollution and leaving behind large amounts of trash.

But Fox Game’s abandoned house will not be your typical abandoned house.

One of the common styles of bunkering discussed on bulletin boards before the war was to use an abandoned house in a rural area as a camouflage dummy house and build a bunker underneath it.

If there is a bunker on that side of the ruins, it would most likely be deep underground beneath the ruins.

The Yeoju area was once designated as an agricultural production area by the government, and large-scale farming was done there even after the war, but it was naturally abandoned when the government moved to Incheon.

A field without people quickly becomes covered with weeds.

The height of the weeds that take over the fields is proportional to the amount of residual fertilizer left in the fields. In the case of Yeoju-si, it seems that the weeds that were in the middle of farming were abandoned, and the grass was taller than me and spread out like a jungle.

The vast, open landscape with the blue mountains and rivers where not a single person can be found and the jungle of weeds lined up in a checkerboard pattern exudes a certain sense of tranquility, but it is difficult to lose yourself in the scenery.

Because the mutations lurking beneath that tall grass are far more dangerous and deadly assassins than monsters.

Clank-

I took out a domestically produced shotgun, one of the spoils I received from Kim Da-ram.

It was never adopted as a standard weapon because it was too heavy, but it had decent firepower, reasonable reliability, and the punch of a shotgun, making it a more reliable weapon than a rifle in these jungle areas.

As I was slowly walking along the road, looking for the abandoned Foxgame house, I saw something loitering on the embankment that jutted out of the plain like a green wall beyond the jungle of weeds.

It’s chicken.

And it’s incredibly huge.

It is easy to conclude that chicken mutations are bound to be numerous since chickens are the most commonly raised animal in Korea, but surprisingly, not many chicken mutations have been found.

There have been many hypotheses, but the most likely one is natural selection.

It is true that the chicken mutation has a large and strong body and high intelligence, but its body cannot be considered suitable for hunting like the dog or cat mutation.

During the chicken era, the main prey they hunted were insects, but I don’t think there have been any reports of mutations in insects or other lower animal species.

At least I haven’t seen a gecko mutation or a spider mutation in the three and a half years since the war.

So, the main argument of the theory of natural selection is that even if there were many mutations in chickens due to food problems, they would not have lived for long.

The huge chicken on the embankment, which looked like a hen, pecked at the ground and suddenly turned its head to look at me.

I know that birds’ eyesight is at least as sharp and better than that of dogs.

He found me.

But the guy went on his way, doing the typical chicken thing of turning his head and pecking at the ground, like a chicken would do to a cow.

The distance was over 800m and it didn’t show any hostile behavior, so I ignored it and passed by.

According to the Legion broadcast, chicken mutations have a tendency to form flocks, so there’s no need to make a fuss about it.

We resumed our search, keeping in mind that mutations were around.

I see a house that I remember.

It is a relatively modern building, probably built as a small country home for retirees.

The building was in good condition, but all the windows were broken and the yard was strewn with unidentifiable trash.

Among the trash were skeletons, and the sight of a rusty tricycle lying sideways in front of the skeletons left a strong impression.

Was it a house where children were raised?

The abandoned Fox Games building is around the corner.

I used a mirror to check the blind spot before turning the corner and then charged in.

Whenever you explore someone’s bunker, always keep in mind that the bunker is under hostile looters.

There are no signs of any particular threat, and not a single human figure can be seen.

The abandoned house where Foxgame lived was already a dilapidated house that was clearly an abandoned house even by pre-war standards.

Cobwebs and trash, rotten wooden beams that were blackened and crumbling, broken porches here and there, and twisted gaps that showed the house beyond.

The ruined house had all the typical characteristics of a haunted house.

Not only is it not very pleasant to search such places, but in the current situation, you also have to keep in mind the possibility of booby traps.

We searched for about 20 minutes.

There is no result.

Couldn’t find the entrance.

There are no visible bunker-specific auxiliary facilities, such as ventilation shafts.

It’s a tricky situation.

Apparently, Vivabot said that Fox Games lives in this abandoned building.

It’s not possible to ask Vivabot from this long distance where you can’t even use the bulletin board, and if you’re not careful, you’ll end up going home after seeing a chicken that won’t even be able to be made into chicken.

“······.”

Let’s take a slow look around.

Allied intelligence isn’t always accurate.

Sometimes even our allies can be wrong or give us incorrect information.

Even so, it is impossible to give up easily.

Other team leaders would have had no hesitation in requesting a retreat if it was confirmed that the information was incorrect, but at least I didn’t withdraw easily.

Even if it became clear that the dispatch had been made based on false information, they retreated only after considering all possible scenarios.

Unless someone is trying to harm someone, even misinformation is likely created with its own basis and rationale by the agency interpreting the information, and if you think about that basis, it often ends up having a good result, even if it wasn’t the intention.

There is no lie in the statement that satellite signals were picked up from the abandoned house provided by Vivabot.

It’s true.

However, finding the satellite device – the obelisk – is not an easy task.

The Obelisk has an extremely powerful transmitter and receiver device that Melon Mask himself developed, so it can be used without any problems even if it is somewhat underground.

So I gave up on looking for satellite devices and instead looked towards the ventilation shafts that all bunkers had, and the sewers where all the looters were searching with their eyes wide open.

There are only a handful of doomsday thinkers like me who have built septic tanks.

Most domestic wastewater is simply discharged through pipes into nearby streams.

I looked for sewer pipes along the stream.

In a sense, this Park Gyu, who was looking for Fox Game, was not much different from a looter who was trying to find and loot a bunker.

After a fierce search, they found a pipe that was used for irrigation.

At least in this area, the sewer pipes sticking out are nowhere to be found.

“······.”

I thought for a moment with my arms crossed.

Could it be that Vivabot is wrong?

She took another look, even though it seemed very likely she was wrong.

What I noticed this time is something basic.

That is, it is a trace of the animal called human.

If you live around here, you’ve probably left your mark on the area in some way.

It is possible that, like me, they will patrol every day and erase traces of their daily lives, but such activities will be carried out depending on the situation.

If there are many refugees around or the situation is dangerous, I will desperately try to cover up my traces regardless of whether it is dawn or night, but in a peaceful time like now where there is no real danger, I tend to take it easy.

Looking at the peaceful scenery around him, even if Foxgame is a very diligent person, he would have taken care of things appropriately.

I walked around the ruins from the starting point with patience.

Footprints, broken branches, trash, food or smells.

Anything is fine.

When a large animal like a human takes action, that action inevitably leaves a mark on nature.

I put my ear to the floor and tried to find the faint sound of a generator.

After about 30 minutes of searching, my pursuit finally bore fruit.

I heard footsteps.

I held my breath as much as I could and followed the traces of those footsteps.

As soon as I cleared my mind, the other side also cleared their mind.

I reassessed the situation.

I’ve been caught and I’m being tracked.

I switched the shotgun’s safety to automatic and placed my finger inside the trigger guard.

The surrounding area is half jungle, filled with grass.

I deliberately entered the tall grass, estimating the location of my opponent, which I had already figured out.

The footsteps became urgent.

I walked sideways through the silent, tingling weeds, out of the jungle, my gun aimed.

“Put your hands up.”

Young men and women.

The man is holding an old-fashioned carbine rifle, and the woman is holding a crossbow called a Judge Killer.

“It’s a shotgun. Don’t even think about doing anything.”

pop!

A dangerous shot was fired once.

The man and woman looked at each other and exchanged glances at the unusual gunshot.

The woman seemed to want to fight back, but the man shook his head.

The two dropped their weapons and raised their hands.

“Turn around slowly.”

A man and a woman looked at me.

As far as I know, Foxgame is a mid-level game developer in his mid-40s.

According to people in the Paynet industry, he is in an important position where he could make hundreds of billions of won.

At least not in their 20s.

Even more so at this point, three years and six months after the war.

I could have just led them to the bunker, but before that I asked them a question that didn’t have much hope.

“Fox Games. Where is it?”

A man and a woman faced each other.

The woman asked me with her eyes wide open.

“Director, do you know?”

He asked with his eyes what kind of relationship they had.

The man and the woman spoke at the same time.

“This is Director Choi’s crew.”

“What are you doing here?”

I asked them again.

The man and woman answered simultaneously again.

“We are developing a game together.”

I just saw it.

The same ring is worn on both the man and the woman’s hands.

A child could be heard whining not far away.

A skinny middle-aged man with half his hair turned white appeared, along with the child.

A face I’m seeing for the first time.

But I think I know who he is.

“Fox game?”

He asked, putting the gun away.

The middle-aged man looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked back in a trembling voice.

“······D, D.S.I.A.E?!”

I tilted my head for a moment.

At the same time, I felt a sense of mission.

Today I have to impress upon this friend what the real image of a skeleton is.