Chapter 74

43. Dilemma (1)

Monsters, mutations, humans, diseases, and food shortages.

One of the things I considered while building and expanding the bomb shelter was the types of threats that could come my way.

There will be a variety of threats.

Some can be prevented, some cannot, and there will certainly be some that seem threatening but just pass by.

What is the worst threat?

The erosion expanding to my territory?

No.

That's an inevitable fate.

It's like the end of a human's finite lifespan.

What I truly dread is becoming a target for a powerful group of humans.

That group will undoubtedly be diverse.

They could be desperate refugees, pioneers, or raiders.

But among them, there is one group that truly terrifies me.

The military.

I have turned the military into my enemy.

What should I do?

Should I abandon the bomb shelter, or should I die with it?

It's not a simple question.

Even if I run, where to?

Should I work as a lackey for Um Minhee, like Baek Seunghyun, just to survive?

Should I join an expedition team and drive others to death?

Or should I move in next to M9, tie ourselves together with ropes, and live by performing circus acts?

This is a critical decision I have to make.

But it seems I'm just a regular person.

The fact that I'm doing something trivial before making this important decision shows that.

It all started when I connected to the internet to cool my overheated mind, which was overwhelmed with worries.

There's also the option of PaleNet, but my heart is always with our home: Viva! Apocalypse! Korean Board.

I'm not the only one.

After being briefly lured by the vast content of PaleNet, our friends couldn't forget the warmth of home and gradually returned, continuing their daily lives in an even more vibrant atmosphere than before.

When I connected to the board, it was boiling with an interesting topic.

Anonymous 458: Let's talk about the worst thing we did before the war.

One of KyleDoss's friends, Anonymous 458, opened the discussion.

In other words, confessing bad deeds.

The thread about the battle in front of my house was fading, so the board users were excited to have a new topic.

Soon, the board turned into a massive confession booth.

Anonymous 458: I'll start with my bad deed.

ㅇㅇ: I'll confess too.

RKKArA: Confess.

Dolsingnam: Confess (A.K.A. Infidelity).

Da-young's Dad: This board is fun~ I'll confess too.

iamjesus: Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance.

...

...

The "before the war" qualifier is inevitable.

In almost every religion, murder is considered an unforgivable sin.

Unless you lived in an urban evacuation camp, people like us, who lived alone or in small groups in isolated areas, were always exposed to violence and had to protect ourselves.

It's rare to find someone who hasn't killed.

Even the late KyleDoss and Dragon didn't explicitly say it, but they must have killed a few people.

However, this "before the war" time limit not only prevents our sins from being reduced to the monotonous crime of murder but also, unexpectedly, evokes a sense of nostalgia for the times we can never return to.

Anonymous 848: (Confession) I drove drunk. I was so drunk that my blood alcohol level reached 0.1%...

Anonymous 848's confession of drunk driving is a case in point.

It's not a crime anymore.

There's no alcohol, no cars, and no roads to drive on after drinking.

In other words, it's a crime that is practically impossible to commit now.

This difference is intriguing to us who are living in the post-apocalyptic era.

ㅇㅇ: I skipped out on a bill at a bar when I was in college.

This is also a nostalgic memory now.

I never went to college, but it's a situation anyone can imagine and a story that sounds familiar.

These things remind us of the past we can never return to.

Foxgames: In high school, I stole 50,000 won from my father's wallet to buy a game console...

Foxgames' bad deed, while bad, had something that resonated with our emotions.

Unicorn18: In high school, I beat up a school bully so badly one night while wearing a mask. He begged for his life, crying and sniffling...

There were also unbelievable lies,

Defender: I was so hungry that I stole a hot dog from a convenience store.

And there was a friend whose bad deed seemed almost kind.

Joining this heated discussion felt like missing the red bean in a red bean bun.

Tap tap—

I had a mountain of work to do, especially dealing with Um Minhee's pleas for help, but I wrote a long post on the board to escape reality.

The story goes back to before the war.

*

My bomb shelter is recognized by anyone who has seen it as a formidable place.

While not on the level of Chairman Park Cheol-ju, I still managed to build the best fortress a regular person could create alone.

The first obstacle in the construction was my lack of skills and experience, but later, money became the problem.

After splurging on various things, I ran out of money.

They say that when people are in a difficult situation, they lose their conscience.

I thought I wouldn't be like that, but I was the same.

I took out a loan.

To be honest, it was fraud.

I had no intention of paying it back from the start.

Of course, I wasn't that bold at first.

I had a mentor.

a_few_good_man: How to build a bomb shelter with other people's money (1)

A_few_good_man was a user active before the war, and hasn't been seen since.

He must be dead now.

This friend, who is now in hell, inspired me.

a_few_good_man: When the war comes, everything ends. Why not borrow money? You don't have to pay it back.

As my finances were getting tight, I followed a_few_good_man, liking his posts and learning the secrets of becoming a malicious debtor.

The effort paid off.

Message from a_few_good_man: Start with your friends, relatives, parents, and siblings. 90% of fraudsters scam people they know.

a_few_good_man replied.

When I said I had no family to borrow from, he gave me a messenger ID, and we started chatting in real-time.

a_few_good_man: You're unemployed, right?

SKELTON: Yes, that's right.

a_few_good_man: First, get a job. Banks won't lend to the unemployed. Start by paying into the four major insurances. That's necessary to get the paperwork through.

Following a_few_good_man's advice, I got a job before borrowing money.

The company was a small to medium-sized enterprise that did a variety of jobs, to the point where even the boss couldn't explain what they did.

The workplace was a small warehouse building not far from my hideout, and I did a variety of tasks like wrapping, forklift driving, and loading and unloading.

Throughout my employment, I never understood what the company's purpose was.

Getting a job wasn't difficult.

I was in my late twenties, could drive a forklift, was physically healthy, and had no criminal record.

A good, clean-cut appearance was a bonus.

The salary was low, overtime was the norm, and it was a "family-like" company with a work schedule of Monday to Friday, Friday, Friday, but my mindset was as twisted as the boss's, so I had no reason to complain.

While working, I collected leftover industrial wrapping material.

The stretchable, strong, and large industrial wrapping material seemed useful for the future.

"Where are you going to use that?"

My supervisor, Manager Jo, was curious, but I didn't bother to answer.

After three months at the "family-like" company, I revealed my true colors.

I took out a full loan.

First, I took out credit loans, and each time, the loan officer asked the same question.

"Your address is in Busan, but your workplace is in Gyeonggi Province. Where do you actually live?"

Among the few assets I inherited from my late parents was a small villa in a local area.

It was a 15-pyeong old building in a sunny and scenic location, with a nuclear power plant visible in the neighboring town, but the price was dirt cheap due to the potential threat to the view and the large open space in the area.

It didn't sell well, and when I tried to liquidate all my assets, this one remained a bad listing.

But even dog poop has its uses.

I made this villa my registered address and casually wrote it down as my address on the loan application.

"It's in Busan's Gimhae District. I'm just on a temporary assignment here."

After taking out the loan, I continued to work at the company and worked hard.

The boss was in his forties and was rarely seen in the small, shabby factory.

He came to the office when he felt like it and often left early with a woman who was either his mistress or secretary after playing golf in his office.

For some reason, he patted me on the shoulder and gave me a pep talk.

"Park Daeri, you're doing well. Our company is small, so I can't offer much now, but we have a big deal coming up. If it goes through, it'll be game over. Game over."

"Game over?"

"Stock options, you know?"

"?"

"KOSDAQ listing. Look forward to it."

"?!"

KOSDAQ, my ass, a hole-in-the-wall with no technology.

From the next day, I stopped going to the company.

It wasn't because I was disappointed by the boss's words, but because I had taken out the last loan I could with my credit.

I didn't forget to leave a letter to delay my resignation.

I'm sorry.

I have a situation I can't talk about now, but I'll come back when it's resolved!

Park Kyu, written with tears

But the company wasn't easy to fool.

They must have seen many people like me, and they processed my resignation the next day.

The atmosphere in the company group chat was cold.

CEO Hoseop: Park Kyu, that bastard, probably wrote it with tears.

As soon as I read that, I quickly left the group chat.

Their quick action was unexpected, but my plan proceeded smoothly overall.

The first step was to faithfully pay the loan principal and interest for three installments.

Why three installments?

According to a_few_good_man, according to precedent, if you don't pay the first installment, it can be considered fraud, but if you pay more than three installments, it's not considered fraud.

After that, it was a matter of holding out.

The loan company contacted me.

It started with text messages, and then a short-term call center woman with a gentle but experienced voice asked when I would pay.

"I'll pay soon. I have some money coming in."

Of course, the bank was out of the question.

Three days after the third overdue payment, they exercised the mortgage on my only real estate.

It meant it was going to auction.

This was expected.

The important part was what came next.

According to a_few_good_man's advice, the most important thing in maintaining delinquency is to maintain close communication with the loan companies.

Most malicious debtors are likely to be penniless, and taking legal action against them is unlikely to recover the principal.

I answered the calls diligently.

"I'm really sorry! I'll definitely pay next time! I hurt my back doing manual labor, but once I recover, I'll definitely pay!"

They transferred the debt to a collection agency.

The credit information company was the one that did it.

Instead of the gentle woman's voice, a gruff voice echoed from my phone speaker.

"Mr. Park, you live in Busan, right? You're never home when I come by