Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 307



Only Krnovel

124. Play (1)

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: Seriously, my mother. Seriously. You’re so stupid. I want to hit you.

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: People like Mom are the biggest problem. It’s obvious to anyone that the Commander is lying, but they believe what he says like it’s a religion!

Inside the US military camp located near Daegu Airport, there were US soldiers and civilians who were unable to withdraw after the war.

It seems true that even after the war, transport planes occasionally carried soldiers and civilians from the Daegu camp to Okinawa, where their fleet was located.

The problem comes next.

It’s now been four years since the war began.

Even the superpowers with superior geographical conditions, so much so that they are called “maps of fraud by the boss,” are faltering and collapsing in the face of the approaching tide of destruction.

This means that there is no time to care about the fate of the citizens left behind in a land called Korea that no longer has any strategic value.

Port Segnole.

The remaining American bastions are dying a slow death.

The surrounding area has already been eroded by waves of cracks extending from the Yangsan Crack, and is under threat from hostile civilians, zombies, and even monsters.

The commander of the fortress is threatening the people that a transport plane will be arriving soon, but the transport plane has not been seen for two years.

A boy of Suu’s age accessed the communications device records and discovered that the Okinawan fleet they had so desperately believed had already withdrawn from Asia, but rather than believe him, the adults branded him a traitor – he was of Chinese descent – and banished him from the base.

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: If we keep going like this, we’re all going to die.

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: Skeleton needs to convince his mom!

Convincing Rebecca won’t be easy.

From my experience, she is a simple person.

A person who has one or two goals and stubbornly focuses on them.

They have no interest in anything other than what they think, and they make no effort to change themselves.

It took more than a year just to resolve Rebecca’s hostility.

This result was achieved entirely through favor on my part.

Once you’ve earned her trust, she becomes a trustworthy ally, but persuading Rebecca again doesn’t seem so easy.

In the past, I would have said outright that it couldn’t be done.

I think I’ve gained some experience too.

Yeah, I mean, those experiences of dealing with people.

I asked Suu to try to talk to Rebecca.

A message from COOKIEMONSTER18: Skeleton! Long time no see! Are you alive and well?

Although it is only a text, it feels like Rebecca’s Korean has improved.

Here, let’s show off our skills by covering all three bulletin board names.

SKELTON: I’ve been eating so well lately that I’m gaining weight.

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: Really?

SKELTON: I ate fried chicken yesterday too.

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: I want some too. Fried chicken.

SKELTON: How about your side? Is it a good environment for Swoo training?

A message from COOKIEMONSTER18: Not as much as I thought, but it’s okay. And above all, be safe.

SKELTON: You don’t seem to have any intention of coming out of there?

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: Yeah. The flight to the US is scheduled to arrive here.

SKELTON: I see.

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: My husband will be here soon.

SKELTON: Really?

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: Yeah, I said I was coming.

SKELTON: When?

A message from COOKIEMONSTER18: I don’t know when that will be, but I need to be here to wait for my husband who will come someday.

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: It’s a little difficult though.

The story did not progress any further than this.

It’s unnecessary.

It’s enough to know why Rebecca insists on going to camp.

It’s just as Suu said.

Rebecca’s remaining in the doomed refugee camp was a vain hope.

Objectively, her hope is unrealizable.

I’m not just saying what I want, it’s true.

As I interacted with the Necropolis every day with Valentine, I naturally learned more about the domestic situation in the United States than before.

According to this, the American Federation has long since collapsed and even state governments are collapsing.

A few solid state governments are holding the system together, but collapse is only a matter of time.

Gangs, rebels and warlords are gaining ground everywhere, and waves of refugees from already-collapsed states are threatening to topple the last bulwarks that are barely holding on.

In the past, the United States built a wall to stop refugees trying to cross the Mexican border, but now it is building a wall to keep out fellow Americans.

The conflicts between humans alone are this severe, but in the vast territory of the United States, there are over 700 large and small fissures.

Erosion of the rift periphery, monster eruptions, mutations running rampant, and zombie problems.

A disaster that would have destroyed most countries long ago is marching its death march across the United States.

In this situation, it is an unrealistic fantasy to think that the U.S. government will send a long-distance transport plane for the 200 or so people left behind in Korea.

But even if I tell Rebecca this fact, she won’t listen.

Because she is a person who only looks at the values ​​she believes in honestly.

So it is impossible to convince her.

SKELTON: No matter what I say, your mother won’t listen to me.

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: (Soo tears) Then what should we do······?

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: I don’t want to die here. I want to live a little longer.

“······.”

Persuasion isn’t the only skill that moves people.

Rather, persuasion is an inefficient method with a very low success rate.

SKELTON: I have an idea.

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: (Swoosh startled) Really?!

SKELTON: Do you know the movie called The Truman Show?

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: I don’t know.

SKELTON: I’m going to do a little play.

Message from COOKIEMONSTER18: A play?

SKELTON: So you’re committing fraud.

If you think about it, our hunters are also a kind of scammer.

That is, our identity is to deceive monsters with the deceptive tactic of intimidating.

I should try intimate dating with Rebecca.

Of course, the means are not guns, but the Internet.

*

Before the war, a technology called deep fake caused social controversy.

Highly developed AI technology was used in a malicious way to synthesize real-time video of celebrities or politicians and mix it with fake news to create public opinion that is unfavorable or favorable to one side.

The experimental movie Viva! Apocalypse! presented in the movie Apocalypse! is also a type of deepfake technology in a broad sense.

What we need now is not something that requires such advanced technology.

My goal is to create a series of videos and photos of fictional, yet real, US military personnel flying into and operating from an old US military base next to my territory.

I’ve toyed around with AI image generation before, when it was briefly a message board fad.

As a test, I created a few images using an AI image generation program.

There are three main things to prepare.

The first is a panoramic view of the US military base that will serve as the background, the second is various photos of the US military extracted from the past database, and the last is a transport plane standing proudly on the runway of the US military base.

I already have a lot of US military base photos saved on my phone to use as backgrounds, and I can go and get new photos whenever I want.

The source of US military photos is also the same. They are easy to obtain.

There are countless pictures of war wounds from the past or of American soldiers active immediately after the war, both on English and Korean bulletin boards.

Open a few of these in Paint and outline them.

The one I chose is a photo of American soldiers in combat fatigues and helmets emerging from a helicopter that has landed at the airport.

Finally, there is a material that is perfect for the transporter.

I took this picture with my cell phone the other day when a transport plane heading to Jeju arrived in my area.

Since the transporter is made in the US, it can be used right away without any major modifications and without the need for a difficult synthesis process.

In the past, I took several photos from different angles to plan a battle, and it turned out to be a secret weapon in an unexpected place.

Put these materials into the AI ​​image synthesis tool and knead them well.

The method is simple.

After setting the basic outlines such as composition, placement, day and night, etc., press Create Image after using the appropriate command tag.

The tags I chose are respect for the original, one summer filter, and homogeneous color correction of the composite image and background.

Click

“······.”

Once the image creation is complete, you can visually check the image.

Unlike drawings by humans, AI images tend to wander in a vague area with no boundaries except for a few specific details, much like human dreams, so they need to be inspected.

I just discovered something strange.

“hmm.”

The healthy American soldier appeared to have five or six fingers.

This is a well-known problem with AI image tools.

In this way, if you like something, save it, and if you don’t like something, change the tag or try regenerating it.

“······.”

Click click click

I don’t draw pictures myself, but it takes a lot of time and effort to get the picture I want.

To others, it may seem like a trivial task involving just clicking a mouse, but creating a proper AI image is not as easy as it looks.

Just as a baseball player uses a few threads on a baseball to create a variety of breaking balls, AI images also need to be fine-tuned using a few tags to create a decent picture.

There’s a reason they call it AI illustrator.

The completed image is then sent to Hong Da-jeong.

Hong Da-jeong is a person capable of image retouching, so-called Photoshopping.

“What is this? What? You want me to edit these pictures so they look like real pictures?”

“Uh. I’d like to change this from six fingers to five. Is that possible?”

He’s the only one in my territory who only eats rice, so I have to use him even at times like this.

“Please. It’s important.”

“······I don’t know where you’re going to use it, but anyway, okay. I’ll try.”

Isn’t this something you have to do, not something you’ll just try?

“I did as I was told. What do you think? Do you like it?”

It’s true that Hong Da-jeong is a surplus of manpower except during battles, but we have to acknowledge that she does the work she’s asked to do quickly and properly.

She completed my request very quickly.

“Very good.”

Although she is not the type to praise others easily, her work deserves praise.

“But Skeleton. What are you going to use these for?”

“Well, there’s someone I want to help.”

“who?”

“Do you remember the sniper who used to live next door to us?”

“Ah. Those guys?”

“Yeah. I wanted to help those guys out.”

“okay?”

A lukewarm reaction.

Well, that’s to be expected.

Because Rebecca and her daughter are my neighbors, not the Defender siblings’ neighbors.

If I hadn’t told them in advance so they wouldn’t invade each other’s boundaries, one of the two groups, Rebecca and her daughter or the Defender siblings, would not have been in this world.

“I hope it goes well, since it’s Skeleton’s job. If you need anything else, just let me know.”

“thank you.”

Hong Da-jeong’s image is the most important preparation for the next work.

It’s a prop for a huge play that’s about to begin.

Here we need another preparation.

That’s right, multiple satellite devices.

I have three additional satellite devices in addition to the existing ones.

People might ask why one person would need four satellite devices, but Internet experts like me would say that it is definitely necessary.

Why, because it means that my other clones increase in number as much as the number of satellite devices.

I have a total of 4 satellite devices.

That means this skeleton can act as a separate entity with four personalities.

Originally, I was planning to give this extra satellite device to my colleagues in my area, including Ha Tae-hoon, but for various reasons, I kept putting it off day after day, and I began to wonder if it was really necessary to give it to those guys.

In conclusion, it was a wise choice not to give away the satellite equipment.

“······.”

Knock knock

[ Welcome to Viva! Apocalypse! ]

It’s time for my second internet personality, “CRAZY_HORSE” to become active.

Melon Mask makes full use of its automatic translation feature to present favorable public opinion on English bulletin boards.

CRAZY_HORSE : Army soldiers arriving in Korea.jpg

Fake news using deepfakes.

In Korea and English-speaking countries, people tend not to click on posts that don’t have comments.

This is when the third account comes into play.

“······.”

Knock knock

[ Welcome to Viva! Apocalypse! ]

My third internet personality.

roxanneGIRL : Wow?! Why are the US military in Korea?!

It’s Roxanne Girl.

As the name suggests, the third personality is female.

The purpose of this female personality is so-called wind catching.

roxanneGIRL : Is this really Korea?

roxanneGIRL : I can’t believe it. How did you get there?

Of course, you can’t give authenticity to a huge play with just this much wind catching.

The so-called “multi-tasking” of thinking that all people think similarly is an atrocity that is frequently committed not only in Korea but also by Western users.

This is where the fourth Internet personality comes into play.

Dr.emiless : ?

Dr. Emiris.

The characteristics of my fourth internet personality are,

Dr.emiless: Hmm.

It’s negative.