Chapter 5
Title: [Oda Water Bro] Me...? Me! What did I do wrong???
Why did the shop suddenly disappear!!!
Aaaaaaaaagh!!!!!!
LMAO
ㄴ This is what you call getting what you deserve~
ㄴ There’s no other way to put it: he got hit by his karma...
ㄴ You were having fun showing off, huh? lol
This bastard should’ve just quietly eaten by himself, yeah.
ㄴ He got way too cocky trying to show off for no reason lol
ㄴ If you stay put, you’ll at least get halfway there, yeah.
ㄴ For real lol
I think Oda Water Bro is just incredibly unlucky.
ㄴ Yeah lol
ㄴ Lol
Why are you the only one drinking it, you bastard?
ㄴ Getting something like that for 20 mana stones is absurd, yeah.
ㄴ Fair’s fair.
Meanwhile, as Oda Water Bro’s screams grew louder throughout the gallery.
“Hmm. What about this guy?”
I was lurking in the gallery and checking out customers who might make good members.
I hadn’t banned Oda Water Bro for nothing.
You have to make your humblebragging likable and entertaining.
When you show off that blatantly, it just pisses people off.
Oda Water Bro already posted a reselling thread.
ㄴ For real?
ㄴ Yeah, he said he bought five bottles of water.
ㄴ One of them is already up in the trading tab, yeah.
The shop system kicked him out because it was offended too, yeah.
ㄴ That’s the most likely explanation lol
ㄴ Fair indeed, how fair...
“And resellers deserve to be punished.”
Even after the system went so far as to set prices automatically to prevent anyone from gouging customers, he still resold it?
I’m opposed to resellers.
“He was rotten to the core.”
Someone like that obviously wouldn’t appreciate it and would only cause trouble.
Still, since he says he escaped, he shouldn’t have any complaints.
Title: But now that I think about the shop
Either Oda Water Bro is genuinely insane,
or he was lying?
What the fuck are you talking about?
ㄴ No, I’m asking whether anyone besides him got invited to the shop.
ㄴ Huh?
Wait, look—is the shop even real?
ㄴ Besides Oda Water Bro, no one else has been invited to or even seen the shop.
ㄴ Oh?
Huh. I guess you’re right?
ㄴ All we’ve seen is that one photo of the bottled water he claimed to have bought.
ㄴ How does that prove the shop actually exists?
True...
ㄴ Hmm, we went along with it because that water was unquestionably real, but...
ㄴ What if Oda Water Bro just got lucky farming bottled water in the Orange Zone and is making a fuss by himself?
[Oda Water Bro] No! I really saw the shop!!!
ㄴ [Oda Water Bro] I was going to buy more after I got home, but it really suddenly disappeared!!!!
ㄴ This bastard sounds like he’s lying.
ㄴ Don’t cry wolf, bro...
The gallery rumor was taking a strange turn.
The users began splitting into factions and chattering.
But he has no reason to lie.
ㄴ What if the system really got patched??
That would make the most sense, since he said it was a shop like a status window, right?
ㄴ That’s something only the system could do.
Some users said the system had been patched.
But if it was a system patch,
ㄴ Wouldn’t everyone have to see it, like when the tutorial ended or zones were designated?
ㄴ It makes no sense that only he could access it.
We just got played by another troll...
ㄴ For real, how many liars like this have we seen;;
ㄴ People like this should get a permanent ban...
Others insisted it was simply Oda Water Bro lying.
Or maybe Oda Water Bro had fallen victim to an abnormal phenomenon.
ㄴ I think this is more likely too.
I’m a newbie S-bung, but... abnormal phenomena are actually real??
ㄴ Yeah, they start appearing intermittently from the Orange Zone onward.
ㄴ They’re different from mutants too.
Don’t touch abnormal phenomena, guys.
ㄴ My uncle saw a swirling pattern on the floor and touched it out of curiosity, then got dragged into the ground in an instant (for real).
ㄴ Is this true?
ㄴ Yeah, for real. They’re different from mutants, and no countermeasure is known, so just run.
Some said it was an abnormal phenomenon inside a danger zone, but nobody could say for certain.
I merely laughed as I watched.
“That’s me, guys!!”
The greatest fun of browsing a gallery is tossing out bait and watching everyone burn over it.
I hadn’t intended it, but I was enjoying that fun to the fullest.
“This is it. This is what gallery browsing is all about.”
The person who knows the truth behind the suddenly appearing shop: (skull)
Needless to say, I had no intention of calmly telling them all my identity.
It was too dangerous, and besides, I had no reason to.
You don’t hide your identity for no reason after the apocalypse.
“Hmm. This isn’t easy, huh??”
But inviting customers was harder than I’d expected.
[Current members available to invite: 100]
One hundred seemed like a lot and not a lot at the same time. It was hard to say.
You might think I could just invite people who are strong and rich.
“Not easy.”
This Survivor Gallery seemed to be considered practically essential among survivors.
It was obvious when you thought about it.
- Fuck, why is it so hard to find even a single walkie-talkie [44]
- It’s old, but I’m selling a walkie-talkie for 1,500 mana stones plus byproducts [15]
- Do communication devices drop in the Red Zone? [45]
In an apocalypse where cell phones no longer worked, the value of a community where people could communicate in real time was enormous.
Anyone know the going rate for satellite phones? There’s no information anywhere;;
ㄴ Pleease stop saying things like satellite phone!!!!
What guild are you with that you’re looking for a satellite phone?
ㄴ No, I’m forming two parties to go in this time, and it’s kind of a big operation;;
A telepathy Awakened is cheaper than a satellite phone.
ㄴ For real...
ㄴ Go to a temp agency; sometimes they have telepathy Awakened listings.
ㄴ Oh, gotcha, thanks.
Looking at the posts and comments, people even recruited telepathy users separately.
So people used this gallery as efficiently as possible, but a gallery was still a gallery.
- The post below made a lame joke [21]
- What happens when a cow goes up? lol [55]
- The post above has odd-numbered parents, yeah [3]
- Everyone, stretch your back after seeing this [131]
It was a place where order and chaos coexisted.
I almost died helping the soldiers when the defense line was breached today;;
ㄴ ? Were you west of the Pangyo defense line?
ㄴ Yeah, someone rescued me halfway through and I barely survived;;
Are you that guy in the orange hat who uses fire magic?
ㄴ Yeah, are you the guy in the hood?
ㄴ I was the one who rescued you lol
ㄴ Thanks, thanks.
Some users openly revealed their identities and went about their business like this, but most concealed theirs thoroughly.
[Speedrun] Faster!!
ㄴ Oh, this bastard’s back again.
ㄴ [Speedrun] (web message) You must respect me. I farmed canned food in the Jamsil Station Red Zone and came out in ‘11 minutes 31 seconds,’ and I hold the record for clearing Moran Station Exit 1 without taking a hit in ‘7 minutes 12 seconds.’ The only reason I am entertaining a room-bound Yellow Zone Stalker like you right now is because this is a fleeting moment of leisure permitted to me, and I have no more ‘time’ to waste on you.
ㄴ Don’t feed the troll.
ㄴ Get lost already;;
And then there were just plain weirdos.
“This guy is fucking hilarious.”
There’s a Speedu here or something.
Anyway, even for a ten-year gallery veteran like me, finding high-spec users in this chaotic place was no easy task.
Title: But there’s something I’m curious about
Do Hunter bros even look at this place?
Why is there nothing but information posted by S-bungs?
They do.
ㄴ The head mod is right there.
ㄴ Oh, right;;
They generally don’t depend on the gallery much.
ㄴ Rankers don’t really check the gallery, yeah.
ㄴ Why?
Why would they, when the information they get by running around or trading themselves is much higher-grade than gallery information?
ㄴ True;;
ㄴ Information is currency, so would they give it away for free on the gallery?
ㄴ Ahh.
But how do you know that?
ㄴ Have you ever met a Hunter?
ㄴ I just imagined it.
ㄴ Ah.
Besides, maybe because society had become such a ruthless survival-of-the-fittest place, the highest-spec users might not use my shop either.
“They already take good care of themselves.”
And, more importantly, I didn’t want to accept only overwhelmingly powerful users as members.
“Opportunities should be fair to everyone.”
I couldn’t call myself a good person.
But in a capitalist society, opportunities should at least be equally available to everyone.
Therefore, I planned to fill my member list with two types of people: quality customers who could benefit me.
And people who simply needed goods and help.
+
While keeping my identity completely hidden.
But how could I pull that off in this shithole of a gallery?
“Like this!”
I had an idea.
****
This really is a system patch, I’m telling you.
ㄴ Ah, no, it isn’t! Then we’d have to awaken too, wouldn’t we?
No, you idiots, you just saw a new abnormal phenomenon.
ㄴ This is definitely it, yeah.
Hey, you bastards, just ignore it and go pick up scrap.
ㄴ For real, an answer worthy of the question lol
ㄴ Is this the first time some weird rumor has gone around the gallery?
Shut up, you bastards.
ㄴ Do you know how badly we need that shop?
ㄴ Ugh, you raggedy bastards;;
The shop rumor began to die down as no one could reach a definitive conclusion.
But then a post suddenly appeared.
Title: [★Starplex★] You Are Invited
Capacity 0/100
Huh??
ㄴ What’s this?
ㄴ Hmm?
ㄴ Is this guy saying he’s the shop?
Ah, lol, just as the rumor was starting to die down.
ㄴ Now we’ve got a shop roleplayer;;
ㄴ This is fucking annoying lol
Head mod! This guy’s trolling!!!
ㄴ People like this need to get perma-banned at least once...
A post that explained neither its purpose nor its reason, merely saying that its capacity was 100.
So users didn’t think much of it.
Is this really an abnormal phenomenon???
ㄴ Ah, fuck, no, it isn’t!!!
ㄴ It’s obviously a roleplay lol
I’m serious! I’m telling you, this really is an abnormal phenomenon!!!
ㄴ Wait, are you saying an abnormal phenomenon has invaded the gallery too...?
ㄴ That’s fucking scary...?
We can tell whether it’s an abnormal phenomenon by banning it, yeah.
ㄴ The omnipotent head mod will take care of it, yeah.
ㄴ Head mod, just IRL-raid him.
[Head Mod] Hmm
ㄴ Head mod! Head mod! Shouldn’t a bastard like this get perma-banned!!
ㄴ A malicious troll like that deserves a perma-ban.
ㄴ Hey, don’t order the head mod around, or you’ll get IRL-raided.
Uh... does the head mod... not understand... the concept of... suggestions...?
ㄴ [Head Mod] ...!
ㄴ Don’t tell me he really doesn’t know...?
ㄴ There’s a euphemistic concept too...
Outskirts of the Orange Zone.
In front of the Stalkers’ base camp, a woman was intently looking through the gallery.
“Hmm...”
Wearing an old tracksuit thrown on carelessly, she had pulled a cap low over her tangled silver hair, as if trying to conceal her gleaming red eyes.
But even that couldn’t hide the deep, sunken dark circles beneath her eyes, as pronounced as her shabby clothes.
“Uh...! Hey, is that person, by any chance...!”
“Why is she here...”
“Hey, shh, shh! Keep it down!”
The people around seemed to recognize her as she passed, but they were too afraid even to say her name, hurriedly keeping silent.
Jingle-!
“Welcome.”
The employee greeted her as she opened the bar door and entered.
“Don’t order me around. I’ll take my time.”
“Huh...?”
The woman answered indifferently, then walked over with indifferent, heavy steps and sat in a corner chair.
“Uh... It’s been a while...”
The employee alternated glances between the two name tags hanging around the woman’s chest and froze.
The name tags were awkwardly attached, as if she wanted to tear them off but couldn’t be bothered, or someone had forcibly put them on.
[Hunter: Baek Eunwol]
[Administrator: Seoul]
Her name was Baek Eunwol.
A Hunter looked up to by everyone in this ruined world, and at the same time the absolute ruler of the Survivor Gallery.
“Would you like to order...?”
“The usual.”
A little later, the employee brought over a drink with trembling hands.
“Your Maxim Mocha Gold Zero Monster Coke A-Shot-Chu is here...!”
“Thank you.”
When Eunwol put the straw to her lips, the employee swallowed dryly and cautiously asked,
“Uh... Head Mod... did we perhaps do something wrong...? You look extremely displeased...”
“My head’s just a little crowded.”
She answered indifferently, staring fixedly into empty air.
Before Eunwol, a post and an invitation sent to her appeared simultaneously.
Title: [★Starplex★] You Are Invited
Capacity 0/100
[You have been invited to the Starplex Shop!]
[Accept] [Decline]
“...”
Eunwol narrowed her eyes and spoke.
“Trace user IP.”
As her red eyes flashed, a skill activated, tracking the target’s location through its unique IP.
At the same time, red sparks burst from the corners of Eunwol’s eyes.
“Eek!!”
Sensing the murderous aura, the employee flattened themself against the floor and screamed.
“I-I only posted one shitpost yesterday!! Aaaagh!! I’m sorry, Head Mod!!! Please, no IRL raid!!”
“...Not you. You’re noisy, so shut up.”
Eunwol looked down at the employee sprawled on the floor as if annoyed, then turned her gaze back and glared at the window in the air.
An unidentified account named [Starplex].
Just as the account’s coordinates were about to form in her red pupils.
“Th... that’s impossible...”
Eunwol murmured as if unable to believe it.
[Unable to trace the target’s unique IP and coordinates!]
[Error: IP does not exist on the network.]
“Th-this is...”
She looked again at the administrator menu as if unable to believe it, but the same warning appeared.
[Error: IP does not exist on the network.]
Eunwol muttered hollowly.
“You... What are you...?”