Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 67.1: Hero (1)

The people of the camp who resisted together, forming a human chain to stop the soldiers from advancing, were the ones who truly prevented Yang Sang-gil’s last-ditch effort.

There were men, women, and even small children, all of whom voluntarily joined the chain, and with their collective effort, they managed to repel the soldiers who couldn’t bring themselves to be as ruthless as they should have been.

Also, we can’t ignore the timing when people from another camp appeared behind the soldiers, blocking their retreat and shouting at them.

If they hadn’t gathered people at the right moment and blocked the soldiers, the resistance by the human chain could have been in vain.

There’s also a rumor that men, who had never been seen before, approached the soldiers and gave them orders, causing the soldiers to hesitate, but it remains nothing more than a rumor.

Regardless of what is true, I didn’t do anything during that process.

I only heard the facts from a friend who knew the plan and informed Fox Game. That was all.

I don’t think I deserve to be called a hero.

Yet, somehow, I became one.

ㅇㅇ: Who is SKELTON?

ㅇㅇ: Is he from Viva?

ㅇㅇ: Yeah. There was a strange guy wandering around in Viva. Always cracking some weird jokes.

ㅇㅇ: He must be at least in his 40s, right?

ㅇㅇ: Anyway, thanks to that guy, our camp survived.

...

...

Now, there isn’t anyone on Failnet who doesn’t know the name of SKELTON.

In the blink of an eye, SKELTON went from being an unheard-of nobody to a nationally recognized figure.

SKELTON: (The man himself) I just did what needed to be done.

If I said I didn’t feel good about this sudden shift, that would be a lie.

SKELTON: (The man himself) Lunch of the day.jpg

SKELTON: (The man himself) A day in the life of an alpha male.

SKELTON: (The man himself) Predicted collapse of The Hope. Science.

SKELTON: (The man himself) SKELTON’s beatboxing concept.txt

...

...

I relished it, just a bit.

The daily life of being named.

The life of an unknown user who couldn’t even get a single comment on anything they wrote felt like a dream from the past.

The reason SKELTON, once an unpopular user, became a "name" overnight was because he saved fifteen thousand lives.

But, am I truly a hero?

"Here’s today’s rations."

A family, doomed to die, looks at me with desperate faces.

"Is... is this it? What about firewood?"

Ignoring them with a mask of indifference, I turned away.

"······."

The true hero who deserves praise is in the makeshift tent.

*

"Really? What about that family’s daughter? Is her throat still sore? Oh my. She kept saying she would hang herself if she was kicked out, but it seems she never had the courage to do it, huh?"

For a moment, I mistook this person, Woo Min-hee, for someone else.

She seemed a little softened, but she remained as cruel and merciless to others as ever.

"Do you need some stimulation? Don’t you know any nearby raiders? I want them to feel the pain that ordinary people went through, just like that family did. Oh, you don’t? Hm. Well, there’s plenty of time."

Every morning, she would order me to report the daily activities of the Yang Sang-gil family.

Communicating with her daily is a positive sign in terms of survival, but I’m not so sure.

Is the heart of someone who reports others’ downfall really at peace?

At least one thing is fortunate: Yang Sang-gil didn’t recognize my face.

"Y-You?"

He vaguely remembered me, but he didn’t think I was important enough to remember my name or details.

He saw me as a mere watcher sent by Woo Min-hee.

The only thing he was curious about was one thing.

"When can I leave this place?"

Yang Sang-gil firmly believed he would leave this place.

"I’m very close to Supreme Leader Gong Gyeong-min in Jeju. I can contact him. If he knows about this, he will definitely release me. A mere Colonel Gu Min-cheol cannot send me, the Acting President, to this kind of exile! Please contact him, any way you can. I will personally make sure you and your family, everyone, gets sent to Jeju!"

He didn’t even know who had sent him here.

Well, there’s plenty I could ask him.

About the past, about the present, about my comrades.

But I shouldn’t waste words on him.

Yang Sang-gil is a man who’s spent his entire life securing his position and promotions by betraying others and stabbing them in the back.

As is the case with people who’ve lived so despicably, Yang Sang-gil never realized that he was a betrayer, and that he was doing something wrong.

No matter what he did, he convinced himself he was doing the right thing, thinking of himself as a moral person.

Crucially, Yang Sang-gil also had a radio.

Which means he could easily report everything I said to Woo Min-hee.

I gave him just enough food for a family to scrape by, and enough fuel to warm their bodies for about 10 minutes.

Aside from that, there was no further interference, conversation, or contact.

I simply watched them, monitoring whether they would leave the golf course or not. But I knew they would never escape the confines of the narrow world of the golf course.

Even if the external threats weren’t a concern, the fact that I was the one providing them with the tiniest morsel of food and fuel meant their survival depended entirely on the nutrients stored in their bodies.

That doesn’t mean Yang Sang-gil wasn’t trying to survive.

Beeeep--!

"CQCQ! This is Acting President Yang Sang-gil of the Republic of Korea. Yes, it’s me!"

Here we go again.

His futile struggles.

"I, Yang Sang-gil, have been kidnapped by unidentified terrorists and trapped in a remote place! I’ve been caught up in the coup of anti-government forces! I was arrested without trial, explanation, and exiled here! Please! Please save me and my family! I’ll pay generously! I’ll do everything I can for you..."

He’s been sending out distress signals to random channels every day since he was exiled here, except for the day he arrived.

But the radio signals sent to random channels only called for raiders, not rescuers.

A car approached the golf course.

An unfamiliar car.

In the current world, any unfamiliar car could be considered a raider.

I immediately contacted Woo Min-hee.

Normally, she wouldn’t respond right away, but now was different.

"Yeah. Senior. What’s up?"

She picked up the call immediately.

"Raiders are heading to Yang Sang-gil. What should we do? They might kill him."

"Well, that could be an ending. Ah, wait. Can you just handle it?"

"Me?"

"Senior, you gave me the oil and food as advance payment, right? Do you need anything else?"

"No, it’s enough."

"Always quick to understand, you know."

By the time I arrived on my motorcycle, the raiders were already inside Yang Sang-gil’s hastily set-up tent, causing havoc.

Yang Sang-gil and his wife were on the floor, their son cowering in a corner, and their daughter was being dragged into the tent by two raiders.

"Hey. Didn’t you hear that noise?"

A man with a rifle shouted as he scanned the surroundings, watching the other two dragging the woman into the tent.

"What? What noise?"

"You didn’t hear the engine sound?"

I hadn’t revved up the engine even once on the way here.

In other words, I had come here at a steady 50 km/h and turned off the engine.

The human ear is sensitive to change, but tends to ignore familiar sounds.

It seems they didn’t hear my arrival.

Still, these raiders were sharp.

Usually, raiders distracted by easy prey won’t notice much else, but at least one of them was keeping a lookout.

Today, however, luck wasn’t on their side.

I threw an axe at him.

The axe flew in an arc and hit the man in the back of the head, moving slowly like my motorcycle.

Thunk!

As soon as I saw the axe embed in his skull, I sprinted out from behind cover and aimed at the raider with a rifle.

There was only one left in front of me.

The other one was inside the tent, beating the woman.

He seemed experienced, wielding ruthless violence before even undressing her.

Bang!

The gunshot rang out, and the raider outside the tent fell, bleeding from his head.

"What?! Who’s there?"

These raiders were clearly seasoned.

They didn’t rush out immediately but instead made noise inside the tent to gather their weapons and plan a counterattack.

However...

Bang!

I had already seen their silhouettes.

A tent may hide your appearance, but it can’t block a bullet.

I saw a few blood splatters on the tent fabric before stepping out in front of Yang Sang-gil’s family.

"Hyeon-ah!"

Yang Sang-gil and his wife rushed into the tent in a hurry.

Yang Hyun-soo, who had been sitting in the corner, also noticed what was going on and entered the tent.

Soon, the family came out, hugging each other and crying.

They all bowed their heads to me.

"Thank you! Really, thank you!"

"...Don’t use the radio recklessly. You were lucky this time, but next time, I might not be able to save you."

I tried not to look at their faces.

I don’t give my gaze to people who want to lean on me.

It’s a habit that stuck with me when I was active in China.

Once you experience how quickly dependence can turn into resentment, you develop that kind of habit.

None of my other comrades treated civilians from the battlefield any differently.

Only one, Kim Daram, tried to show kindness to them until the very end.

When I asked her why, she answered bluntly.

"You can’t just walk past someone in need. It doesn’t feel right. You had a hard time too, didn’t you?"

It’s thought-provoking that the one who was the most humane among us became the coldest person.

"...Enough with the thanks. I’ll send you the food at the scheduled time tomorrow."

I saw Yang Sang-gil hesitating, wanting to say something.

I didn’t give him a chance to speak.

I got on my motorcycle and left.

As the sound of the wind swirled around, Yang Sang-gil’s voice faintly echoed in my ears.

"I think I know who you are!"

Hearing those words, I muttered to myself without thinking.

"...So what?"

The cold feeling I got wasn’t just from the dropping temperature.

*

"You know? You’ve heard of becoming famous overnight, right? This body recently experienced it."

But what about suddenly having your reputation crash to the bottom after waking up?

ㅇㅇ: Hey, aren’t you SKELTON?

ㅇㅇ: You lying piece of shit.

ㅇㅇ: I can see it now, just like the last post. What a scammer, fuck off!

Anonymous458: SKELTON... you...

ㅇㅇ: Just because it’s a similar nickname doesn’t mean you should impersonate him, tsk tsk.

...

...

Suddenly, the savior of 15,000 lives, SKELTON, became the target of criticism.

I quickly closed my laptop, drank some cold water, and tried to calm myself down before checking the board.

I soon found the source of the problem.

keystone: (SKELTON himself) I’m really SKELTON, proof attached.

Keystone.

What the hell is this?

Wasn’t this the guy always whining about refugees in front of his house?

Why hasn’t he died and started writing these posts?

I checked his proof with curiosity.

SKELTON: Status window

<SKELTON's Status>

Level: 28

Class: Heavy Jumper

Strength: 25 Agility: 8 Intelligence: 13 Charm: 1

...

...

"What the hell is this?"

The proof Keystone uploaded was Foxgame’s ambitious project - the Monster Park status window.

However, the nickname in the picture was,

SKELTON.

"······."

Visit fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm for the best novel reading experi𝒆nce.

There’s nothing more to add.

It’s just SKELTON.

This bastard, Keystone, who refuses to die, saw my rise to fame and immediately started impersonating me by buying the SKELTON nickname.

"This bastard...?"

Now that I think about it, when I was playing Monster Park, I wasn’t able to use the SKELTON nickname.

Because my account was a Super account, Foxgame prohibited it to avoid creating a sense of discomfort among others.

I had completely forgotten about that, but now Keystone has gone and done something so disgusting.

But it seems that my new fame really ate him up.

There are more like him.

More who are impersonating SKELTON!

mmmmmmmmm: (Real SKELTON) I’m SKELTON.

skelton: Status window

Level: 45

Class: Heavy Jumper

Strength: 44 Agility: 18 Intelligence: 13 Charm: 2

...

...

unicorn18: Actually, I’m... [SKELTON], though...?

SKE1TON: Status window

Level: 18

Class: Battlefield Idol

Strength: 14 Agility: 8 Intelligence: 6 Charm: 32

...

...

Even m9 and unicorn18 were impersonating me.

They made up fake nicknames in broken English.

I immediately reported this to Foxgame.

SKELTON: Damn, there are so many scammers! These bastards. Seriously.

Not long after I sent the complaint, I received a response.

Message from Foxgames: Sorry! Looks like I caused confusion by saying I was SKELTON in the game. I’ll post a correction notice right away!

Of course, a correction was the right thing to do.

After all, I saved 15,000 people with my godly typing skills in just 700 keystrokes.

But still, why did I feel so hesitant?

"······."

I replied to Foxgame.

SKELTON: No, just leave it for now.

Message from Foxgames: Why? You don’t mind them impersonating you?

SKELTON: Well, there’s something about it. I’ll think about it for a bit.

Message from Foxgames: Are you... Netmajo?

SKELTON: What’s Netmajo?

Message from Foxgames: It’s that thing on the internet... where people feel pleasure from getting cursed out...

SKELTON: (Strong denial) NO!

I, Park Gyu, haven’t fallen to the point where I get pleasure from being insulted on the internet.

It’s just that something doesn’t feel right.

Being treated like a hero and gaining followers overnight is nice, but being treated like a hero with no buildup or great actions, without earning it... it feels out of order.

The real hero at the center of all this is still Yang Hyun-soo, who is waiting for death at that golf course.

Moreover...

"······Huh."

Wasn’t this whole incident just a well-planned play?

It might be a stretch, but when I see Yang Sang-gil, who was left there without trial or process, it makes me think of this.

-Static-

The radio buzzed.

Public frequency.

Very close distance.

Is it Yang Sang-gil?

"CQ! CQ!"

It was indeed Yang Sang-gil.

What kind of pointless attempt is he making now?

"Park Gyu Hunter. It’s you, right? The one they called ‘the Professor.’"

He remembers quickly, doesn’t he?

"I definitely remember talking to you before the war, so why are you pretending not to know me? I was too overwhelmed back then, so I couldn’t remember, but now I do! Could you come here for a moment?"

And here he is.

So consistent in trying to worm his way into people’s hearts with his deceitful tongue, looking for any crack to save himself.

"I was going to send you to Jeju Island! You’re old-school, but with such a high criminal record and knowledge, how could I leave someone like you, who survived for over two weeks in the Rift Zone, here?"

I sighed and was about to turn off the radio when he said:

"But Han Min-gi strongly opposed it!"

This bastard.

"······Hah."

It wasn’t for no reason that I stayed in Jeju for so long.

<67. Hero (1)> End

ⓒ Road Warrior #dp8g

Major Comments

(JeYe*) - Recommend 101 -

I think Han Min-gi really did block the trip to Jeju... but based on the past depictions, it doesn’t seem like it was out of malice. With Jeju not being the paradise it was thought to be...

(Dreamer*) - Recommend 83 -

The impersonators gathering up and making fun of SKELTON is so funnyㅋㅋㅋㅋ They probably know everything.

(Unicorn*) - Recommend 68 -

Park Gyu is such a monster fighter that if he came in without being Awakened, he’d definitely die fighting, so he wasn’t brought to Jeju. Jeju isn’t a paradise... it’s more like a battlefield.

(Korang*) - Recommend 49 -

Han Min-gi probably wanted to bring him, but Yang Sang-gil strongly opposed it.

(OneTwo*) - Recommend 27 -

When asked, “What’s your name?”

Viva! users responded, “We are SKELTON.”

(S-Snowman*) - Recommend 24 -

They probably didn’t bring him because they told him to rest already.

(n695*) - Recommend 24 -

Is it Yang Sang-gil or Yang Gil-sang? Or Yang Lettuce?

(Metro*) - Recommend 11 -

(Skeleton Zerg) I am the swarm.