Chapter 12

11. Lottery

It has been one year and eight months since the war began.

It's a lazy spring day, with the air gradually warming up.

The sound of gunfire can be heard from afar.

Again?

How many bullets do they have? That mother and daughter?

It seems like they've fired thousands of rounds, and the constant barrage makes it seem like they have a bullet factory.

Recently, it appears that the mother has also taught her daughter how to shoot.

Occasionally, two gunshots in quick succession can be heard.

Perhaps it's early education for the apocalypse.

The mad sniper is indeed an excellent marksman.

While he drives ordinary people back with shots that make their blood run cold, such as aiming at the soles of their feet or the rearview mirrors of vehicles, he never fails to put a bullet between the eyes of direct threats like zombies or looters.

Not only bullets, but there are also plenty of flamethrowers.

The Humvee I saw before contained not only Claymores but also guided weapons like Javelins.

What recently annoys me is not the gunfire from the mother and daughter.

That has a good resonance.

What irritates me is the roar of the transport planes crossing the sky.

Recently, the number of transport planes has increased significantly.

To the extent that it can be compared to the period just before the war.

I thought the resistance on the Chinese side had disappeared, so what's the problem?

Recently, it seems that the lottery has become a trend in Seoul.

It's definitely a trend.

Anonymous848: I heard it's pretty good?

Kyle_Dos: I had a brief visit to Seoul, and everyone was talking about the lottery.

Anonymous458: I hear the grand prize is a real life-changer!

Given that our community members, who have prepared to isolate themselves from the world, are showing interest, it seems to be quite significant.

I thought of myself as a serious man.

Steady, I thought, someone who isn't easily swayed by the tides.

SKELTON: (Skeleton Question) Where can you buy the lottery?

But what to do with my curiosity.

If I don't know, I should ask.

Unfortunately, as an unpopular user, I rarely get replies.

What's the problem?

Surely (Skeleton Question) isn't the issue with the thread title?

Purely a feeling, but it seems that when I post normally, I get more replies than now...

Fortunately, someone replied before my anxiety reached its peak.

Defender: You don't buy it. You have to participate in national labor to get it.

"......"

The reply came from the human hunter.

I'm grateful, but this guy is still a bit off.

I wish he hadn't commented on my post.

However, this time, his reply had a reason.

Defender: Lottery Verification

This guy actually bought a lottery ticket.

<Hope Lottery>

His lottery verification was the prelude to the 'Lottery Series' he intended to write.

Defender: I'm starting a series on the lottery. If you want to read it, read it; if you want to ignore it, ignore it.

It's surprising.

This psychopath, who only posted murder verifications, is now writing about the hottest issue recently.

His action is well-known from the Demian04 incident, but the sudden good deed is probably related to the previous Christmas tree incident.

Not at the level of IAmJesus, but the human hunter posted a complaint after seeing the tree decorated with insults.

Defender: Didn't I do something wrong?

He seemed quite shocked by the tree filled with insults.

Seeing that, I was convinced this guy is a real psychopath.

Anyway, regardless of the reason, the human hunter's lottery series satisfied the information thirst of users like me, who are far from Seoul.

The Hope Lottery is surprisingly similar to the lottery.

However, while the lottery has 46 numbers, the Hope Lottery has 44, making the winning odds much higher.

This lottery cannot be bought with money; it is given to those who complete the required work in the national labor program, along with their wages. The draw is held every three days at designated locations in each district office.

Defender: The 5th prize was toilet paper.

By luck, the human hunter verified the toilet paper he won in the lottery.

Unlike the embossed, soft toilet paper I have in stock, this was made of newsprint, with a rough texture that could cause skin irritation and a low-quality color, like cheap toilet paper.

Even such low-quality toilet paper has value for Seoul citizens, who are running out of essentials, and can be exchanged for several meals.

The higher the rank, the better the prize, including sugar, rice, reserve oil, and even luxury items like cigarettes, alcohol, and medicine.

The grand prize is a quintessentially Korean trophy.

An apartment.

I thought it was strange that they would offer an apartment when there are so many ruined apartments around, but as expected, it's not an ordinary apartment.

Defender: It's like this apartment?

The human hunter added a photo.

Despite the useful information, his post received few comments, but the last photo was an exception.

<Apocalypse-era Future Housing: The Hope>

The photo shows a bird's-eye view of an apartment complex similar to the fortress of a wealthy family that everyone saw and was shocked by before.

The apartments are densely arranged around a concrete wall that encircles the entire area, with farmland and workshops in the center, sports facilities including a soccer field and basketball court, and a hall and ancillary facilities for various events in the middle.

Compared to the wealthy family's house, the mansion is replaced by multiple apartments, and the mini-golf course is changed to a soccer field, among other things.

Of course, the scale is thousands of times larger than the wealthy family's house for its members.

Anonymous848: This is it. This is it.

Kyle_Dos: No kidding? Is this real?

Anonymous458: This is like a mass-produced wealthy family's house, right?

The community users' reactions were friendly.

To the extent that even a user who had long believed in our cause began to doubt.

DocKim: I want to live in such a place.

qwer1234: If this existed before the war, I would have paid a lot of money to live there instead of digging a shelter.

mmmmmmmmm: Living in a shelter is getting tiring. Koreans should live in apartments.

Living in a shelter is indeed frustrating.

It's cold in winter and hot in summer.

It's humid, smelly, and infested with bugs, and it's cramped with no windows.

I often go outside to breathe fresh air because, no matter how well I arrange it, the shelter is still suffocating.

My beautiful shelter, which has been expanded through great effort and is more like an underground empire, is this level. How suffocating must it be for those living in standard-sized shelters?

The reason for the suicide of my favorite user, Anonymous337, was complex, but I believe the stress of the cramped and uncomfortable shelter life played a significant role.

On the other hand, my thoughts on the apartment "The Hope" are:

SKELTON: (Skeleton Reflection) The Hope, before discussing whether it's good or bad, is it even feasible?

A question mark.

As usual, no one responded to my opinion, but someone gave it a like.

In any case, the small ball thrown by the human hunter resonated in the hearts of our apocalyptic enthusiasts.

But is this guy capable of proper work?

It's even more terrifying.

*

About a week after the human hunter's Hope Lottery series ended, a post appeared on the community and quickly became popular.

"Seriously?!"

Seeing it become a popular post in real-time, I felt a significant sense of inadequacy.

The series on the wealthy family's story with the chairman of the Jeungbuhno, which I wrote before, only became popular in the last part, the third episode, and to be honest, there was a bit of technical manipulation involved.

I couldn't bear to see my carefully crafted long post buried, so I, Park Kyu, boosted the views by infinite clicking!

I think I increased the views by about 100.

Viva! Apocalypse! founder Melon Mask didn't foresee such a situation and didn't block the function of boosting views, making it a possible trick.

But this new popular post didn't need such tricks.

Everyone who saw it commented, and it received a high frequency of likes.

It was a straight pass to popularity.

With a bit of jealousy and despair, I clicked on the post.

mmmmmmmmm: I won the Hope Lottery! Hahaha

"Ah."

Indeed, it's a fitting content.

I savored it, feeling a sense of defeat.

- After reading Defender's post, I also came out of the shelter and applied for national labor. I went to the Jungnang district, and when the military police at the entrance asked for an entry fee, I was pissed, but I was so curious about the lottery that I joined the labor force in the square filled with non-apocalyptic beggars and got the lottery ticket after some hard work.

Luckily, it was a draw that day, and I confirmed the results at the district office square. The result is as follows!

<Congratulations! Hope Lottery 1st Prize Winner!>

mmmmmmmmm.

This owner of a meaningless and chaotic nickname won the 1st prize of the Hope Lottery issued by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

In other words, he has been granted the right to live in the future housing advertised by the government.

This means he can start a new life in a brand new, comfortable apartment with a great view, and even a quasi-wealthy family-level house, instead of living a miserable life in a suffocating shelter.

The winner was filled with anticipation.

There was no need to read his mind or guess his intentions.

mmmmmmmmm: Hey, where can I find a woman to marry now? "The Hope" winners will have a line of beautiful women, right?

He was extremely excited.

A prime example of someone who lived a life of nothing and then hit the jackpot.

But this guy.

After winning the lottery, he changed too suddenly and strangely.

mmmmmmmmm: It's next year for move-in, so do I have to endure another year here? Honestly, I feel like I'll go insane.

mmmmmmmmm: Thinking about it now, I didn't need to dig a shelter. If I had just hidden supplies in my original home, it would have been enough. It seems that there are rations in Seoul.

mmmmmmmmm: People need to stick together to survive. Living alone makes you an easy target for looters.

mmmmmmmmm: I only won the lottery, but the thought of staying in this hell makes me feel dizzy.

Now he is criticizing our methods and our comrades, as he is moving to a better place.

This guy, m9, has been known for quite a while, but he wasn't the type to write a lot or such controversial posts.

I understand his joy, but it feels a bit awkward.

So I said something.

SKELTON: (Skeleton Advice) m9. Is winning the lottery a promotion? Let's be reasonable.

It seems I wasn't the only one who felt this way, as several users gave him a heads-up, starting with Skeleton's advice.

However, our lottery winner (hereafter "m9") did not stop.

mmmmmmmmm: If you're envious, say so. Be honest. Don't you want to leave the shelter? Some of you are running out of supplies, and some almost froze to death last winter, and of course, there are no women. You're all failed losers.

m