Chapter 100

55. 20 hours 30 minutes (1)

"Whichever side is the truth, we can just munch on some popcorn. Although we don't have any. Do you have popcorn?"

The authenticity of the satellite image of the Jeju evacuation fleet has become a massive scandal, stirring up not only the internet but the entire city of Incheon.

In my view, the real danger lies in the southern crack.

We can see this from the example of China.

The Beijing Military Region saw some of the fiercest battles since World War II, but the erosion never reached the Beijing area.

What pierced Beijing's defenses was the erosion that spread from the vulnerable rear areas.

While the front lines were celebrating victories, the rear was being annihilated, leading to the fall of Beijing. China was literally wiped out, except for the coastal areas, and was forced to choose the worst option of invading Taiwan.

The same goes for Korea.

The vulnerable rear has collapsed.

This means that the southern region will soon be overrun by erosion.

If Gyeongnam falls, Honam will fall too, and the repercussions will flow back to the capital region.

Despite the gravity of the situation, the world's attention is focused entirely on the evacuation fleet.

"......"

Ding-

The popcorn I put in the microwave is ready.

Crunch-

Well, in a way, it might be wiser to focus on the evacuation fleet.

What can we do if the south collapses?

I can't go out there alone with an axe and expect the monsters to retreat.

Crunch-

While eating the popcorn, I shifted my gaze to our bulletin board.

It was a chaotic scene, as expected.

In fact, that's why I logged in.

I was particularly looking forward to the reaction of the most excited guy, and as expected, our m9 did not disappoint me.

mmmmmmmmm: Hahaha

If I were m9, I would have been so scared by that photo that I wouldn't have been able to do anything all day, just shaking.

If he hadn't lost his residency rights in an accident, he would have been on that ship.

But our m9 is different.

If it's to his advantage, he's on your side; if it's not, he's the greatest traitor in the world.

m9, the embodiment of hypocrisy, was active on both Failnet and our bulletin board, acting like a triumphant general.

mmmmmmmmm: I heard it's the magnitude? The more people, the higher the magnitude? What's the point if there are more people? Even if I were the president, I wouldn't accept it.

Well, that was a predictable result.

Our m9 has long been a prominent critic of the Jeju evacuation fleet.

But this m9 picked the wrong target.

mmmmmmmmm: Snack snack, you little snack.

m9 is picking a fight with Dongtanmom – Baek Seung-hyun.

This Baek Seung-hyun is a real scumbag in a different sense from me.

If I'm in a position to receive all the hate, Baek Seung-hyun is in a position to invoke disgust.

At least, he has no right to ask anyone to stop hating.

Isn't it just a matter of not being a snack?

But this guy has picked up some strange habits, doing things he didn't do 10 years ago.

Anyway, even if I put aside my personal grudge against Baek Seung-hyun, he is a human weapon in himself.

Killing someone is no big deal for him.

I even tried to kill him myself.

Well, if the estimate is right, he came looking for me.

If he teamed up with an experienced raider and attacked me, I could have been in serious trouble.

It's quite dangerous for m9 to pick a fight with Baek Seung-hyun.

The only resident of The Hope, m9, is someone whose address has been exposed. If Baek Seung-hyun, harboring a grudge, brings an RPG or simply a gun and starts shooting at m9's house, where he hangs around and lives his daily life, it would be the end.

Sure enough, Baek Seung-hyun began to openly express his discomfort.

dongtanmom: Snack... m9, do you want to die...?

Crunch-

This is really dangerous.

Baek Seung-hyun is a guy who will kill if he wants to and has several unsavory friends.

But it's also a well-known fact that m9 has a big mouth.

mmmmmmmmm: Come on, kid. You're just a mouth, you know? Our apartment complex starts with a cliff, you know?

m9 doesn't flinch at Baek Seung-hyun's threats.

I want to give m9 some advice.

But it's obvious that m9 won't listen to me.

After all, m9 sees me as a very strange guy...

Fortunately, it seems that Baek Seung-hyun doesn't intend to kill m9.

dongtanmom: Snack... really... grapes... Can't go, so risking his life over a fake photo... Snack...

dongtanmom: Snack... Before believing in that photo, shouldn't he refute the video the government previously released? Snack... Refuting one claim with another... How ignorant and vulgar must one be to do that? Snack...

As Dongtanmom said, there's no guarantee that the satellite image is 100% true.

It looks real with high resolution and detail, but in the age of deepfakes, anyone with the right equipment, programs, and skills can manipulate such a photo.

I don't believe the photo either.

There's a possibility that someone who couldn't go to Jeju Island out of spite synthesized the photo, or perhaps the military faction spread it for internal purposes.

Moreover, why China?

Why send the fleet to China?

What about the sailors on board? Are they just being abandoned?

Would they obediently follow an order to go to their deaths?

How many people would follow an order to die?

If the people on the evacuation fleet are just cargo, wouldn't it be easier to sink them in the sea and blame it on a Chinese submarine?

Well, the truth is beyond that.

Umin-hee might know.

But would that sinister woman tell me the truth?

"What do you think, Skeleton?"

Da-jeong asked me about my stance on this situation via communication.

Crunch-

"Is Skeleton eating something? Is that the sound of popcorn?!"

"Kangnami."

"Kangnami...? I want to eat Kangnami too."

"That was the last one."

"I see. Anyway, what do you think, Skeleton?"

"Hmm. Well, let me explain."

My thought is that the photo is likely a composite.

"The photo is likely a composite, but there's no guarantee that the Jeju fleet went to Jeju Island."

"Well, are you thinking too much about it?"

"No, I mean, there's no reason to send it to China, right?"

Defender has been communicating a lot recently.

Since being kicked out of the named users on the bulletin board and becoming a lurker, he can no longer post his usual cynical comments, so he's venting his frustration on me, Skeleton.

"That's my opinion."

Well, it doesn't seem to be a bad thing.

While the internet is good, there's also a charm in people talking to each other.

"I see. So Skeleton thinks the government won't accept evacuees in Jeju Island. So the second fleet will be the same, right?"

"Yeah, the same."

The second fleet is said to carry 300,000 evacuees, more than the first fleet.

Combined with the first fleet, 500,000 people will be heading to Jeju Island.

"Probably, Jeju Island won't accept them, right?"

"Dongtanmom insists they will accept them."

"That guy is just a weirdo."

"Even Hunter?"

"There are many psychopaths among Hunters."

"Ah."

At this point, I was confident that the Jeju evacuation fleet wouldn't go to Jeju Island.

My confidence was strongly shaken by a message I received that afternoon.

Message from DragonC: I have something to tell you.

*

The second Dragon has been very helpful.

He consistently interpreted Dragon's works in his own style, deeply moving users on Failnet, our bulletin board, and even foreign users.

Making him the second Dragon was an excellent choice.

But time passed.

A period when guilt and hatred are diluted by the waves of time.

Especially in these times of impending doom, where each day brings us closer to the end.

The message he sent me contained a farewell I had momentarily forgotten but vaguely anticipated.

Message from DragonC: Someone from the government said they would send my family to Jeju Island as a professional entertainer.

Pilgrim88, the content creator, was a popular author known to everyone before the war.

He is a different level from our bulletin board's popular author, Dragon.

It's a plausible story that the government highly values his abilities and is taking him.

SKELTON: How many chapters are left?

Message from DragonC: About five chapters left if you count the storyboards, but I really like the original outline left by Dragon and the work, so I plan to continue working on it even in Jeju Island.

"......"

I used the coffee machine left by Dragon to brew a fragrant espresso and savored it.

Is it right to let him go?

My heart wants this friend to pay for killing Dragon forever in that land.

But would Dragon want that?

Looking at the goldfish, I feel his voice.

Maybe it's not necessary.

Actually, Pilgrim88's position is quite dangerous.

There are remnants of the Chinese army across the sea, and the city of I Am Jesus is in the south.

It won't be easy to live there with his family in such an unstable place.

He might be even more anxious than in the city.

In the city, there were people to protect him, but there, he would have to bear the weight of his family as well as himself.

SKELTON: Are you sure you're going to Jeju Island?

I was also curious.

If Dragon really goes to Jeju Island in this situation where there's a heated debate about the authenticity of the Jeju fleet, it might end the long-standing argument.

Message from DragonC: Yes, definitely. I received a message.

SKELTON: From whom?

Message from DragonC: Ah, this is a secret.

SKELTON: ??

Message from DragonC: ?

SKELTON: From whom did you receive the message?

Message from DragonC: It's a journalist... It might be hard to believe, but he said he's from the government.

"Ah."

It seems to be true.

I couldn't describe my feelings in one word.

It was refreshing and disappointing at the same time.

It would be a lie to say I have no resentment towards Dragon.

But one person can't hold another person forever.

While it's not enough, he has completed 80% of Dragon's manuscript.

Whether he completes the remaining 20% is up to Pilgrim88 himself, but since the government has offered to take him, it's not a problem I can stop.

The only thing I can do here is to kill him before the government agent arrives, but what would that accomplish?

Wouldn't it be a more rational choice in this world filled with death to hang some hope on the slight possibility that Pilgrim will complete the remaining manuscript?

SKELTON: I'll escort you when you go to Incheon.

The beginning wasn't good, but I want to at least end it on a good note.

*

There's a saying that if I know a secret, others know it too.

I thought it didn't apply to me, once called Professor, but now as a regular user Skeleton, it does.

ㅇㅇ: (National Net Reprint) Special Selection for Human Cultural Heritage.txt

The controversial special selection system for entertainment talents that I heard from Dragon was first posted on National Net, a government-affiliated internet site, and then the same content appeared on Failnet.

This special selection for human cultural heritage is a plan to specially select talented artists for the evacuation fleet, allowing them to engage in safe artistic activities in Jeju Island and spread their positive influence to the people left on the Korean Peninsula, giving them hope.

The list includes not only webtoon authors like Pilgrim88 but also pianists, actors, musicians, trot singers, and film actors who were active before the war.

People were puzzled and slapped their foreheads, reminiscing about the bygone era, but as always, good intentions are often misinterpreted in strange ways.

ㅇㅇ: Hey, if this is true, isn't the Jeju fleet real too?

The Jeju fleet supporters used this selection system to launch a counterattack.

This issue was so convincing that even I, who had always been skeptical of the Jeju fleet, had to reconsider my stance.

Well, in my case, knowing the identity of the journalist, I couldn't help but believe it.

If Skeleton is wavering, how much more so for other users?

ㅇㅇ: Hey, this can't be doubted.

ㅇㅇ: That's right. If they bring famous people and kill them, it would be exposed immediately, right?

ㅇㅇ: Where are all the skeptics?

ㅇㅇ: Anyway, these guys. They kept popping up and spreading nonsense, but when a fake photo appeared, they were so happy they stripped naked and went crazy. Haha.

ㅇㅇ: Actually, if the evacuees are a burden, wouldn't it be more natural to just sink them in the sea rather than take them to China to abandon them?

...

...

The center of public opinion in South Korea.

On Failnet, the era of the supporters has arrived.

Naturally, the protruding stone gets hit.

m9, the leader of the skeptics, faced the strongest backlash.

At the center of it was Baek Seung-hyun.

dongtanmom: Snack... m9... Are you M9 because you're the ninth M? You said the Jeju fleet was sent to China? Say something... Snack...

dongtanmom: Snack... m9. Why are you silent? Is your head tilted because you live in a tilted house? Refute it quickly. Why gather these eccentrics to kill them in China... Snack...

Baek Seung-hyun, as if to vent the frustration he had endured, tore into the nearly defeated m9 more cruelly than anyone else.

To the point where even as a third-party observer, I was worried.

But even a worm will squirm when stepped on.

mmmmmmmmm: You little bastard...

Crunch-

mmmmmmmmm: Where do you live?