Chapter 37

28. Seonbi (2)

There was a topic that had always been fiercely debated even before the war.

Would we survive as a group in the impending destruction? Or would we survive as individuals?

The long-standing debate was gradually tilting towards collectivism.

The argument from my side, the individualists, is that a collective system, which is inevitably visible, will face strong challenges and ultimately collapse.

Indeed, there have been collapses.

Take, for example, the fortress of Park Chul-ju, the leader of the conglomerate, which was a prime example of collective survivalism and has now been utterly destroyed.

However, individualism also had its share of significant problems.

These issues were more about human nature than external threats.

Not everyone has the qualities of a hermit.

I thought I did, but the reality that unfolded showed that I, too, am an ordinary person who needs others.

Spending years locked in a small room, living in fear of an unknown death, is not an easy task.

Peaceful days might continue.

But even a small change in daily life can lead to uncontrollable fear and worry.

My belief is that daily minor pains and inconveniences can lead to mental illness.

In my case, I prefer to eliminate the source of danger, but most people have to endure those minor pains and inconveniences.

There's no way to fix them.

Most of the discomforts and inconveniences of bunker life are determined from the moment the bunker is designed.

As a result, many people have given up halfway or have become strange.

Even I, who never participated in any community before the war, have become so dependent that I suspect I might have community addiction.

Death will also be different.

Even if you die someday, dying with someone fighting and dying beside you, or having someone bury and mourn your body, is fundamentally different from dying alone and in solitude.

There is another problem.

It is the flow of the times.

I thought Seoul would become like Beijing in China.

When the city collapses and the system disintegrates, millions of refugees would scatter in all directions, causing a chain of destruction.

But South Korea was different.

I don't know if it's because the government's lies were more convincing or if the people's trust in the government was stronger than that of the Chinese, but the citizens of Seoul chose to sit and die rather than migrate en masse in the face of the impending catastrophe.

They were incredibly optimistic.

Or perhaps, in an environment where it's hard to imagine anything other than hope, they made that choice.

Unlike China, where resources and land are abundant, the Korean Peninsula is small and plagued by various disasters.

If this trend continues, collectivism might prevail.

This isn't my mistake.

No one can see the future.

It's an overly result-oriented interpretation to say that because what happened in China didn't happen in Korea, it was wrong.

"Hello? This is Skeleton."

I tried to have conversations with people whenever I had the chance.

"Skeleton? Oh, you're younger than I thought."

"Are you Skeleton? You're nothing like what I imagined."

"Why would a normal person do such things on the bulletin board?"

But the reactions were strange.

I know I'm unpopular and have fallen to the bottom, but everyone I meet repeats the same thing.

"......"

Could it be that I'm not good with the internet?

"Hmm......"

Among them, one user showed particular friendliness towards me.

Anonymous848.

Even though it was late at night, he was wearing sunglasses and a mask, a suspicious outfit, and I couldn't see his face clearly, but from the parts not covered by the sunglasses, he seemed to be in his mid-40s.

"Do you know me?"

I asked casually, noticing he was watching me.

I wondered if there was someone who knew me.

Probably not.

Hunter information in South Korea is a secret, not just for me but for almost all hunters.

The cause was provided by our senior class.

During the period when China was strong and dealing with the disaster that had crossed over from India and the internal fractures in our country, China still made a lot of noise but reached into our country.

To be precise, they reached into our talent.

8th, 9th, and 10th generation hunters, who had been trained at great cost to specialize in demon monsters, left for China for money.

When the government lost these elite soldiers, they faced a barrage of public criticism from the media and ultimately classified the personal information of all Guard-trained hunters as secret.

Naturally, there was no way our faces would be known.

However, those who were not from my school or were deemed unfit during their school days were managed more loosely.

As a result, there were people who boasted about being hunters and made a living from it.

Like Jonnaen.

"No. I'm just curious. I heard Skeleton's story from Caildos sometimes."

"What?"

"Caildos said you might be a decent person, unlike your bulletin board image."

"Did he say he met you?"

"Never. Have you met him?"

"Before."

We chatted for a while.

I intentionally steered the conversation from Caildos to another topic.

"Army? I came from the west, but it's more of a neutral army than a legion."

"I see."

"I heard there were problems with the legion. It seems the legion's leader, Brigadier General Kwon Sung-tae, was in a helicopter that crashed with other commanders who followed him. A leaderless army. It's predictable, isn't it?"

"......"

That's information I didn't know.

Since the last contact with Kim Daram, the only way to get information about Seoul was through the community.

Some people feel a sense of accomplishment by exchanging information like journalists, but knowing that rumors can escalate into bigger problems, community users tend not to share information they're not sure about.

So the information was late.

"Defender......"

"Hmm? Why Defender?"

"No reason. Just thought of it."

I wonder if he's safe.

No matter how I think about it, the soldier he saw doesn't seem to be just a simple looter.

Could he have been caught?

Even him?

No, the probability is high.

If there was an Awakened among the siblings, it might be different, but blocking the attack of trained soldiers is a tough job even for me.

Anyway, while we were talking, we arrived at the area where Seonbi's bunker is located.

Like other outskirts, there was no sign of people, but because the city was relatively close, the dimly lit lamps on the hillside were visible.

On the other side, there were dim, grayish lights.

"......"

Is this an erosion zone next to a preserved city?

Judging by the shape, it seems to be a small-scale erosion caused by a settler, but the Gwangju area was designated as a strategic region and was managed more strictly than other areas. How did an erosion zone appear here?

This is evidence of poor management.

Evidence that monsters that could be killed were left unattended.

"Stop."

D.S.ira, who was leading us, gave a stop signal.

"There it is. It should be over there. As Dr. Orthopedic reported, there's a large ventilation shaft."

Sure enough, a ventilation shaft was visible.

It seemed to be for subway or sewer treatment rather than for a bunker.

A strong stench of sewage was wafting up.

"Let's go. We'll scout first. If enemies appear from the side, please provide covering fire."

D.S.ira was clearly a seasoned soldier.

"Wait. Is it a trap? I'll check first."

He must have a lot of war experience and has won many battles.

Where did he serve?

North Korea?

When North Korea fell, the South Korean army briefly recaptured Pyongyang.

Given his age and experience, he was likely a soldier from that era.

"Found the bunker. By the footprints, there are five inside. Two women and three men, judging by the shoe sizes?"

Everyone's faces hardened.

A battle was about to begin.

It meant losing the carefully prepared bunker and the life beyond it, and possibly ending up as cold corpses on the floor.

The tension made everyone's breath freeze, but it didn't last long.

Laughter was heard.

From inside the bunker.

"Ha ha ha ha!!"

"Kee hee hee!"

"Wow. Shit! Amazing!"

It was a roar of laughter.

A form of laughter we had lost.

The sound of many men and women laughing and shouting at the same thing.

"Should we kill them all?"

A man asked, his eyes filled with greed.

He must be Chochu, a user I've never met before because he rarely posts on the bulletin board, but reading his mind wasn't difficult.

"Women shouldn't be killed, right? The girl must have written that under threat from the boys."

He seems to be defending the girl, but in reality, he wants her.

Probably the cute girl who first posted a profile picture.

The next girl who showed her face was far from cute.

What does D.S.ira think?

"We should kill them all."

He answered without a moment's hesitation.

"Isn't that a waste?"

Chochu asked, frowning.

D.S.ira showed a subtle annoyance.

"If you insist, you can rape them once."

He seems to have grasped the intention immediately.

What else?

A rutting male often has the attribute of walking the path of destruction.

"No."

Chochu showed a wronged expression, but it didn't work.

"I'll keep watch. Just finish quickly."

"I only said to let them live."

"You have to kill them after raping. Dealing with the aftermath isn't as simple as you think."

"No, who said I'd rape them? Isn't it a bit much to just say let them live?"

"Then you can catch the women, take them, and do as you please."

I know D.S.ira killed all the dogs he raised.

Among them were young ones with only slight mutation symptoms, giving a small glimmer of hope.

He is definitely not an ordinary person.

"Let's start."

Without a moment's hesitation, he and his comrade from the same group took control of the entrance and moved the troops with hand signals to find the ventilation shaft.

He held up three fingers.

It meant the attack would start in three seconds.

"Ha ha ha ha! Look at this guy! This crazy guy. He went ballistic when I said his comic was boring."

"I think I know who this guy is. He couldn't get into the weekly webtoon and drew some boring stuff on a weird bulletin board, right?"

"Hey! Mr. Dragon! Shit! Your comic is boring!"

The shouts of boys and girls mixed together echoed through the heavy door of the bunker and out through the ventilation shaft.

D.S.ira curled his fingers.

His comrade, wearing a tactical mask, threw a tear gas canister into the ventilation shaft.

Soon, the laughter inside the bunker stopped, and violent coughing sounds emerged.

"Cough! Cough!"

"What the hell? What is it?"

"Really, are they really here?"

"Those hardcore guys?!"

"Don't open the door!"

"No! I'm dying! I'm dying!!!"

Amid the惨烈的尖叫，门被打开了。

D.S.ira做了个手势。

砰！砰！砰！

D.S.ira和他的同伴的枪喷出了火。

不是三点射击，而是单发射击。

在弥漫着刺鼻烟雾中，人的身影纷纷倒下。

“救救我！”

一个女孩爬了出来，泪流满面，抓着D.S.ira的脚。

D.S.ira回头看了看。

他的目光投向了Chochu。

他似乎检查了一下Chochu的脸，然后将枪口对准了女孩的后脑。

“不，不要！不要杀女孩！”

Chochu试图阻止，但D.S.ira毫不犹豫地扣动了扳机。

砰！

枪响了，女孩的头歪了过去。

“为什么杀她！！！混蛋！！！”

Chochu大喊道。

有人可能会称之为谋杀。

但在我看来，这可能是出于慈悲。

从Chochu闪烁的目光来看，尽管他表现出遗憾，但他却无法移开目光，看着死去的女孩。

“......”

社区里也有这样的人。

这是我知道但不想承认的真相。

D.S.ira和他的同伴进入了充满刺鼻烟雾的剩余部分。

砰！砰！

又响起了两声枪声。

“清理完毕。”

战斗结束了。

嘲讽我们的人已经被清除。

“......先拿需要的东西。等会儿再聊。”

作为这场盛宴的主人，D.S.ira和他的同伴什么也没拿。

他似乎只是像一个慷慨的主人一样，满足于看着客人们享受。

他可能认为聚集在他身边的人更重要。

从他与医生、农民、工程师等人的单独交谈来看，这次聚会的真正目的可能是确认他团体所需的人才。

一个男人抱着一箱避孕套和大量食物走了出来，然后我进入了地下室。

脚下绊到了什么东西。

是Chochu。

他蹲在入口旁，摸着逐渐变冷的女孩的身体。

虽然脚下的尸体绊倒了我，但我没有特意去看他们的脸。

我并没有感到内疚。

只是感到厌倦。

这些朋友已经充分展示了末日的具体现实。

他们也不过是这种现实的一部分。

我的注意力集中在放在一旁的笔记本电脑上。

“你说你是Skeleton？”

D.S.ira第一次对我表现出兴趣。

“怎么了？这些东西？”

当大家都拿走食物、药品、衣服、纸巾、避孕套等生存必需品时，我拿走了笔记本电脑和卫星设备，这些东西似乎有些多余。

“你有一个。”

“是的。”

“难道你想给自己的帖子点赞？”

D.S.ira第一次露出了笑容。

“......我不是那样的人。”

我立刻严肃地回答。

*

新的Seonbi死了已经一周。

Defender没有联系。

我发了消息，但他没有回复。

“......”

在一个特别寒冷的下午，地下室的空气显得格外冰冷。

在论坛上，又发生了一个奇迹。

tntn_Orthopedics : 假Seonbi不是死了吗？

Guest3321 : 喂，这Seonbi看起来是真的。

死而复生的Seonbi再次出现了！

只是这次复活的地点不同。

第三个Seonbi出现在英语论坛上，犯下了刷屏的罪行。

SUNBI : KOREAN SUCKS

SUNBI : I HATE KOREANS

SUNBI : KOREAN, PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS

SUNBI : HELL ON EARTH : KOREA

SUNBI : 韩国真讨厌

SUNBI : 今天的午餐；)

...

...

“......”

我立刻打开了无线电。

“Skeleton？怎么了？”

Su问，天真无邪。

“换你妈妈接。”

“Skeleton？怎么了？我正忙。”

我叹了口气，说：

“好不容易给你弄到设备，你却在论坛上搞什么？”

“......”

英语论坛上出现了新的帖子。

SUNBI : 除了Skeleton :)

“......满意了？”

“立刻删除那个帖子，改个昵称。”

切断通信后，我从怀里掏出一张纸。

[Defender召唤券]

看着挂在墙上的弟弟画的我的画像，我近一年来第一次合掌祈祷。

愿他们像狙击手母女一样活着。

愿这干燥的末日不要带走他们。