Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 92



Only Krnovel

50. Giant Tree (1)

The fact that I had a brief working career before the war was something I had already made public through my honest and candid experience that I posted on our bulletin board.

There were two accountants in that company, one was the president’s lover and the other was a real accountant.

Although neither of them worked, the real one was the one who pretended to work. Although it wasn’t mentioned on our bulletin board, the real one seemed to be strongly attracted to Park Gyu.

“Look at this, Mr. Park Gyu.”

Maybe that’s why.

She showed me a community screen she frequently viewed.

I thought maybe her goal was to find common ground, but even now, I’m still not a very kind man to women.

“I don’t use the internet. I don’t use KakaoTalk or anything like that. I don’t log into messages at all.”

One reason is that she’s not my type, but that’s not the only reason.

“What’s in the group chat?”

“This is a business account. I want my privacy to be respected.”

Even if the attractiveness of accounting had been high, the results would not have been different.

My goal was to survive alone, and I never once considered luxury like surviving with a companion.

However, the community screen she showed me left a strong impression on Park Gyu, who was physically and mentally exhausted from worrying about what would happen if war broke out and from frequent debt collection.

I don’t know the exact name, but it was an anonymous bulletin board, and even though it was an anonymous bulletin board, it wasn’t completely anonymous.

The bulletin board had an unusual system that displayed the name of the company you worked for.

The most notable feature of the anonymous bulletin board was the idea of ​​creating a space where office workers can honestly share their workplace secrets, thereby protecting the right to know and rights of office workers.

The intention is good.

That sounds plausible.

But the system that I saw in my eyes looked like a re-run of the long-standing problems that South Korea had.

“Voila! This is how our company is doing!”

The real accountant posted an article.

Seafood Pancake Lv.1 (New Company): I’m so depressed ㅠㅠ

“It’s a new company!”

“New company?”

“Yes. Usually, our company······.”

She motioned for me to come closer.

“Just say it here.”

At my reaction, she made a quizzical expression, turned her head away, and said curtly.

“That piece of shit is floating like that.”

I logged onto the site without her knowing and applied for membership.

I was asked for a company business card and company phone number, but since the company didn’t even make business cards, I was barely able to create an account by making a business card myself using a form that cost 2,500 won per use and entering my company phone number and getting it verified.

After creating that account, I went to the site in question and got a feel for the situation.

As expected from a site where many office workers gather, it had a realistic feel to it, with practical information and the unique culture of office workers in their 30s and 40s, but even so, the familiarity I felt when I first saw it caught my throat.

SKELTON (New Company): Work is too hard

I wrote.

A similar post appeared 3 seconds later.

Sachuk A (Jeongpung Automobile Headquarters): Life is too hard (12)

There is no difference between the two texts.

But the number of comments is different.

While I didn’t get a single comment, the guy below me named Sa-chuk-A got 12 comments.

I read some of those comments.

ㅇㅇ (Cheolju Media): I’m having a hard time too ㅠ

Tomorrow’s Sun (Cocao): I have to go to work tomorrow too…

Satori Generation (CK Telecom): Ha…. Let’s cheer up

Slam Dunk 123 (Civil Servant): I want to take a vacation

…

…

“no.”

Even to me, who was not familiar with the Internet at the time, this situation seemed quite absurd.

I wondered what I did wrong, but I didn’t do anything wrong.

I can’t help but wonder, as I am also human, whether the phrase “new company” mentioned by our real manager might be the problem.

As I was refreshing the page with a feeling of discomfort, one article caught my eye.

Bonobono Hamjji (Doctor): Our Workplace Characteristics.txt (13)

-Work is hard

Pay less

I have to deal with only old people on a daily basis

I don’t know why I studied

“Is there a company called Doctor?”

I thought the company name was strange, so I wrote something similar.

SKELTON (new company): Our company features.txt

-I always arrive 10 minutes early, but they tell me to come out earlier.

I was out for a walk during lunch time when I suddenly got a phone call.

If you try to ask about something you don’t know, they say you can’t think for yourself, and if you don’t ask, they say you shouldn’t ask.

“?”

Even though I wrote a long post, I didn’t get a single comment.

Later, while skimming through the popular posts, I got a general feel for the atmosphere that was flowing in this direction.

The company name next to the nickname was the person’s identity.

In the Joseon Dynasty, it seemed like a tool to divide people’s social classes, just like how the Ssangnom Yangban and Yangban were divided into military, civil, Noron, and Jonnaeron classes, and even more closely, how they were discriminated against based on apartment name or region.

People like me who are shitposters have to choose between not writing articles after seeing the names of big companies that other people are talking about, or writing articles prepared to be ridiculed. It’s rare for our opinions or thoughts to be taken seriously.

How many times have I seen someone who started a new company write a controversial article that seems objective, logical, and rational even to a third party, only to have it degenerate into the complaint of a nit-picker when a guy with a doctor’s label says, “Whoa!”

Well, maybe it was because I was running a new company and hadn’t received any comments and was mentally depressed by debt collection, so I felt more inferior than usual, but that was my impression and I never went back to that bulletin board again.

But something similar has happened again, two years and seven months after the war began.

The place was Palenet, a symbol of freedom.

*

ㅇㅇ(A13): Oh, what is this? Something strange suddenly appeared?

ㅇㅇ(B31): Really. What is this?

Yeah(F13): Purrrrrrr

ㅇㅇ(D07): Did you get an ID or something?

ㅇㅇ(E31) : Test

ㅇㅇ(E31): Huh? What? Why do you have the same letters at the end as me?

…

…

It was after I had showered and sat down in front of my laptop after working so hard that my body felt heavy as wet cotton that I heard about the strange incident at Palenet.

We woke up at dawn and started the work of filling up the main bunker that had been left open during the rainy season.

It wasn’t completely filled with dirt like before.

Because there is a high chance that I will use it in the future.

At most, two years?

To be honest, at that point, it was unclear whether I, the Legion Faction, or Kim Da-ram would survive.

So instead of filling the whole thing with dirt, we laid down plywood, covered it with a tarp, and then placed the bridge dirt on top of that.

After covering it with dirt, we planted weeds around it to camouflage it well, and left the rest to the blazing summer sun.

Wheeeeeeeeing-

The moment I turned on my laptop in the comfortable bunker, listening to the sound of the air conditioner running powerfully, I heard the sad news about the disaster at PaleNet.

A strange code-like thing appeared next to the nickname.

The idle and hungry users of PaleNet were arguing about what the code was, and soon an anonymous user cautiously guessed what the code was.

ㅇㅇ(D13): Isn’t this the camp code? We used to build base stations at each camp, right?

The user’s guess turned out to be true.

The code next to the nickname indicated the base station code that the user was connected to.

Meanwhile, our Viva! Apocalypse! user’s code for connecting back to the PaleNet via satellite communication is as follows:

ㅁㅁ(Unknown) : Test

Unknown.

So, I don’t know.

This means that even if Park Gyu-na or another user wears the mask of “ㅇㅇ,” their origins cannot be hidden.

In short, the possibility of a second Eom Chang-i appearing in Palenet has disappeared forever.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

ㅇㅇ(D13): Region by code.txt

One user figured out what the cell tower locations were based on the codes and compiled them into a handy list.

The intention was good, but those who received it probably interpreted the material in a sordid way that the writer had not intended.

For example, something like this.

ㅇㅇ(A18): Code-by-code rank.txt

The second post is a direct copy of the first post, with only one change made by the second writer.

Changed region into class.

As someone who has only been to the refugee camps, I don’t know, but it seems that there are differences between each camp in the Incheon refugee camps.

It seems that a strange conspiracy theory was circulating during the process.

At first glance, they all look like the same refugee camps, but in reality, the government categorizes people into different classes and accepts them: a place for the wealthy and capable, a place for the mediocre and mediocre, and a place for the unworthy and helpless.

The counterarguments to this were also considerable.

There was an opinion that in the chaotic period of Seoul’s destruction, there were bound to be differences between camps in the process of roughly gathering and teaching people, and that talking about averages based on that was an excessive leap in logic.

I also think the latter is correct.

There are no government representatives, so what kind of people would drag middle-aged people out and kill them?

In my opinion, it seems like the only people the government needs are those with the potential to awaken.

But logic often collapses into illogicality.

People in the relatively highly rated camps wanted to be superior to others just by being in a certain area, just like before the war, and they pushed their logic blindly as if it were right, and eventually the camp class theory spread throughout Incheon as if it were the truth.

The result is the following disaster.

ㅇㅇ(A18): Code-by-code rank (final version).txt

-A01~10: Royalty

A11~23: Kwon Moon-se

B01~18: Clan

B19~33: Yangban

—-Yangban Maginot Line—-

C01~14: In the middle

C15~32: Commoners

—-Human Maginot Line—-

D~ : Slave

E~ : Slave

F~ : Zombie

“······.”

The value of the discussion has been undermined.

A class system was created on PaleNet, where anyone could freely and equally operate anonymously under the name ㅇㅇ.

Hyungwoo’s Dad (D18): This doesn’t seem right. There’s a difference between each camp. I’m going to Jeju Island.

ㅇㅇ(B11): Yes~ Next time~ Enjoy your dreams~

ㅇㅇ(A22): This rank chart fits so well, doesn’t it? There are a lot of doctors in our camp. There are also celebrities. I was also a fund manager in Yeouido.

ㅇㅇ (A23): We gathered a lot of survivors from Gangnam. It seems like the country has sorted them out and taken them in.

ㅇㅇ(E22): Are you kidding me? What the hell did you guys eat for lunch today? Did you eat beef and then start talking like this?

ㅇㅇ(A15): Ah~ E smell~ I feel sick~

ㅇㅇ(A02): Yum yum… You little beggars… Now they’re going to have some discipline on the bulletin board… Yum yum… You don’t even know the topic… Yum yum…

…

…

People who used to laugh and chatter together now check each other’s status by looking at the code table next to their nicknames.

This image reminded me of a company name displayed next to a nickname on a bulletin board I had seen before the war, but whose name I could not remember.

Upon seeing this situation, I immediately contacted John Nae-non’s subordinate.

SKELTON: What happened? There’s chaos on Palenet right now.

After a while, a call came from John Nae-non’s subordinate.

Message from 171cm54kg13cm: Ah, Mr. Skeleton······.

SKELTON: (Skeleton surprised) No, your nickname is······?!

Message from 171cm54kg13cm: This is like my account now. I don’t like lying.

SKELTON: (Skeleton takes a deep breath) Oh, I see.

SKELTON: (Skeleton) Anyway, what’s going on?

Message from 171cm54kg13cm: That’s it.

171cm told me what had happened.

It is said that during the recent rainy season, when the equipment broke down and they had to receive government assistance, they ended up bowing their head and submitting to the government.

It is true that John Nae-non has created a great site, but maintenance is necessary during the operation process, and that maintenance requires money and resources.

Those resources were almost exhausted during the rainy season.

He had no choice but to bend his convictions, bow his head to his country, and enter, which led to the terrible pandemonium we see today.

Message from 171cm54kg13cm: Oh, and.

It was just internet text, but for some reason, beyond the text, I could see the illusion of a skinny man wearing glasses hesitating.

As expected, he sent another message.

Message from 171cm54kg13cm: Jonnaenon. There’s really not much left now······. Maybe this month will be a turning point. It looks like it······ ㅠㅠ

“······.”

I closed my eyes tightly and sighed.

It’s what I expected in my head.

The first concept that came to mind when I saw him was death.

But now that that man of light is facing death, it feels like I’ve been hit in the head with a hammer.

To be honest, I wish he had lived a little longer.

Even though he said he is no longer active on the bulletin board.

SKELTON: I see……ㅠ

Message from 171cm54kg13cm: By the way, I’m also really suffering. Really….

SKELTON: Why?

Message from 171cm54kg13cm: Jonnaenon. You must be suffering so much. The site you created is being changed so horribly to suit the government’s taste······. You couldn’t sleep at all yesterday either, and you were panting while looking at the bulletin board. With eyes full of regret······.

That would be true too.

How miserable and disappointing it must be to see the utopia you have risked your life for being sullied by the government’s dirty feet.

“······.”

Another feeling of helplessness washed over me.

There is little I can do about this problem.

The point is that this is not a problem that can be solved by picking up an axe and going at it.

But when I think about it carefully, even if I were Awaken, there wouldn’t have been a good solution.

Unless you are in a position like Kang Han-min to control the entire country.

however.

“······for a moment.”

yes.

What is truly eloquent is what is truly eloquent.

As a long-time fan, I know the guy very, very well.

What he likes, what he wants.

Knock knock

SKELTON: (Zegal Skelton) A good idea just occurred to me.