Chapter 77
Meanwhile, after the post promising to open the Green Zone went up, the atmosphere in the Gallery was gradually becoming strange.
Title : The Green Zone opens tomorrow? I'm lining up starting today ㅇㅇ
(Roughly, a photo verifying the security gate. JPG)
Can you see it??
There are tons of people here besides me too ㅇㅇ
(Roughly, a verification photo. JPG)
I counted as best I could, and I think I'm around number 200 ㅇㅇㅇ
At least everyone up through me can get into the Green Zone!!!!
We can enter the Green Zone for free!!!!
Gallery users, come line up too!!!!
ㅁㅊ The barrier was real after all
ㄴ Ooh, that's fucking amazing...!!!
ㄴ So that's why those bug bastards couldn't get in!!!
ㄴ I'm running like crazy from the Orange Zone with my whole family right now ㅇㅇ
A chance like this has come in my lifetime...!!
ㄴ If we get inside, can we sleep in soft beds without paying mana stones?
ㄴ Seems totally possible ㅇㅇ
I heard they still trade using currency inside instead of mana stones... Is that true?
ㄴ Honestly, that sounds like bullshit
ㄴ I heard they just have supplies overflowing ㅇㅇ
The survivors, worn down by their long years living through the apocalypse, were all rushing toward the Green Zone at the news that it was opening and that its pre-apocalypse infrastructure had been maintained.
But even amid this fanatical rush, there were Gallery users who sensed something was off.
Title : Am I the only one who thinks this is suspicious?
Those bastards didn't do anything during Patch 2 ㅇㅇ
They've been saying “We don't know you, leh” and abandoning us from the very beginning, including during Patch 2.
And now we're supposed to willingly go inside just because they're accepting us...?
Where have all the comrades who cried out for revolution gone!!
ㄴ Be angry! Be angry!
What, are you guys battered wives?
ㄴ Why go there...?
ㄴ When did you all start stampeding over there just because they opened the door, after cursing out the Hunters?
ㄴ Remember this < Those guys just stood by and watched us ㅇㅇ
They've done nothing and just watched us suffer until now.
ㄴ And didn't you hear they killed Stalkers during Patch 2?
ㄴ Isn't it weird that people like that are accepting us now?!
ㄴ Who knows what they'll do to us if we go there?
ㄴ We know almost nothing about those guys.
Anyone going into the Green Zone right now is just an idiot;;
ㄴ ㅇㄱㄹㅇ
And I was watching those posts while organizing my thoughts for a moment.
“Tsk...”
The Green Zone people's promise to open their gates had blurred the anti-Hunter sentiment I'd stirred up.
That was because those guys, like me, had meticulously planned things and acted shrewdly.
I don't know what their abilities are, but I know exactly what weapon they possess.
The infrastructure remaining throughout an entire small city—something even I couldn't restore all at once with a click.
And they were ruthlessly exploiting the desperation of the people outside by using that infrastructure as bait.
“Hmm, so that's how it is.”
As a result, the users of the Survivors' Gallery had split into factions and were fighting once again.
Title : Then you guys can stay outside and suffer for the rest of your lives ㅇㅇ
I'm going inside, washing myself with nice hot water, and sleeping with the air conditioner on ㅇㅇ
Are the bastards who aren't going in right now idiots?
ㅁㅈ If you don't like it, just stay outside ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Keep scraping by like vermin for the rest of your lives
Clear one daily quest for a meal of Spam
ㄴ Live off filthy water and bug blocks for your other meal ㅇㅇ
No, but now it feels like they're trying to curry favor with the System and piggyback on it.
ㄴ ㄹㅇ Suddenly acting like saviors
No, you idiotsㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ What do those guys have to gain by currying favor with the System?
ㄴ ㅁㅈ They already have infrastructure they can restore, don't they?
And those guys don't have anything worth buying from the System ㅇㅇ
ㄴ They say they already have itㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Exactly ㅇㅇ What do they lack that would make them curry favor?
ㄴ System favor-farming is something those of us living outside do ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Ahㅋㅋ That's what Seo-jin fans, with plenty at stake, doㅋㅋ
And in the first place, does any of that even matter...?
ㄴ ㄹㅇ They say we can go to the Green Zone for now!!
ㄴ They say they'll accept us!!!
ㄴ When else are we supposed to enjoy an opportunity like this?
ㄴ ㅁㅈ... Am I supposed to enjoy it after I'm dead...?
And honestly, you guys blindly defending the System is kind of disgusting too.
ㄴ Compared to the Green Zone guys, the System is just an ordinary nobody ㅇㅇ
ㄴ We have to keep paying mana stones to the System, after all.
ㄴ And honestly, that is a burden.
ㄴ Sure, the prices are much cheaper ㅇㅇ But it isn't free.
ㄴ Exactly.
After this incident, I've honestly started thinking the System isn't any different from the Apocalypse System ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Isn't it just tossing us enough feed to keep us from dying out completely?
ㄴ This is exactly itㅋㅋㅋ If it's going to restore things, it should restore everything ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Instead, it's dribbling things out little by littleㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Green Zone Hunter bros >> Uh-huh~ We'll open the security gate for you~ Come inside where we've maintained the infrastructure~
ㄴ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
People who say they won't enter the Green Zone > Normal
ㄴ People who say they'll enter the Green Zone > Normal
ㄴ People who curse at those entering the Green Zone > Abnormal
ㄴ Your mom
ㄴ Above comment > Abnormal
Perhaps this was exactly the situation they had wanted.
Of course, I had a plan to turn this situation around.
And so I checked the administrators' group chat.
- [Speedrun] : I'll charge in alone. If the Head Mod isn't here, I'll do it. If it's me, I can wipe them all out.
- [Shop Wiki] : ...Even so, wouldn't it be better to share this situation with everyone?
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : No, no, that's not it. Speedrun, calm down for a moment and wait;;
- [Healer Union] : “It seems the guilds are confused too, now that the Head Mod is gone.”
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : Tsk... I know.
In a situation like this, posting that the Head Mod had been attacked wouldn't accomplish much.
No, the opposite. It would actually be bad.
“Because from that point on, I'd really be treated as nothing but a troll.”
Could the Green Zone people not have anticipated that? Wouldn't they actually welcome it?
That was also why the Gallery users were arguing among themselves right now. In the end, they didn't want to let go of this hope.
The hope of living as they had before the apocalypse.
The reason they had praised the System was also, ultimately, hope.
The hope of returning to the world before the apocalypse.
That was why I couldn't say I didn't understand the Gallery users' desire to enter the Green Zone.
But where's the Head Mod?
ㄴ Who knows?
ㄴ Did the Head Mod enter the Green Zone too?
ㄴ Gasp
Info : The Head Mod is also a former Hunter
ㄴ Did they return to their homeland like a salmon?
Weren't the Head Mod's guilds plotting something together?
ㄴ Exactly.
Could it be... that the Head Mod had heard in advance from the Hunters that they were opening the Green Zone?
ㄴ What if the Head Mod had shared that fact with the guild masters?
ㄴ What if they were planning to go inside first among themselves?
ㄴ What if they were going to enter with a free pass instead of lining up?
ㄴ Gasp
ㄴ Fuck
And there was an even worse problem.
“There is no proof.”
All I could show them right now was text with no force or evidence behind it.
Maybe the Head Mod hadn't even had time to write a post when they were attacked.
The Head Mod had sent me only a short message, and even that message had been cut off.
“It's okay.”
But they say a crisis can be an opportunity.
“Unite! Struggle!”
Now we knew the full, ugly truth about those people.
That meant the time had come to rally the survivors who were currently falling apart and wipe those bastards out in one fell swoop.
To do that, I too had been gathering energy for the Spirit Bomb.
I checked my current quest window and mana stones.
[Building Master Main Quest 11: Achieve a total of 200 copied tiles]
[Current: 88 / 200]
[Reward: ???]
[Blueprint Copying LV. 7 > Lv.8]
[Upgrade Cost: 400,000 mana stones]
[Mana stones currently held: 1,545,650]
“Ah, damn, I'm a little short.”
But it looked like I would have enough after just a little more time.
Of course, for this plan to succeed, I needed help.
“All right. Shall we do this?”
That was why I sent a message to the administrators.
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : Anyway, this actually worked out well ㅇㅇ
- [Speedrun] : ?Are you saying it worked out well that the Head Mod was captured by them?
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : No, no, the Head Mod wasn't captured. They're just with those guys now.
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : First, listen to my plan.
.....
.....
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : Well, what do you think?
- [Healer Union] : Gasp!!!
- [Speedrun] : ...Interesting. I respect you, so I'll follow the plan.
- [Shop Wiki] : ......
But for this plan to succeed, the most important person had to agree.
“Please agree...!!”
It has to be you!
****
The next day.
As scheduled, the Green Zone opened.
“All right, don't push the person in front of you. Enter in single file!”
Part of the barrier surrounding the entire Green Zone opened, and the people who had been standing in a long line began filing in.
“Fuuuuuck!!! The rumors were true!!”
“The infrastructure was still intact!!”
“Look over there! A sign! It's a sign!”
“This is fucking amazing! I'm gonna piss myself!!”
Awakeners and ordinary people entered through the open security gate, marveling as they went.
Intact buildings and roads. Ordinary scenes from everyday life unfolded before them.
But even that was enough to awaken nostalgia for life before the apocalypse.
“How much... how much I missed this...”
“Our suffering is finally over...”
And so the people entered with tears in their eyes and hopeful smiles on their faces.
“Phew...”
Mixed in among those people was a young man.
The man's appearance was not merely ordinary—it was downright unremarkable.
The only remotely distinctive thing about him was the well-kept white dress shirt he wore, as though showing off that he was an intellectual.
“...Sigh... What a fate...”
As the man sighed, he looked over the conversation he had shared with Jobless Troublemaker yesterday once more.
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : No matter what we say, public opinion will only get more confused.
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : They're accepting people right now. Just by doing that, they've already succeeded in winning people's favor ㅇㅇ
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : Aside from what we were planning, it's clear they prepared and launched this plan thoroughly too.
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : But we need to use that to our advantage, and I think we can ㅇㅇ
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : ...? How? Obviously, by stirring things up ㅇㅇ
“...Stirring things up.”
The man mulled over Jobless Troublemaker's words.
“All right, next person, come in.”
“Number 583.”
He waited patiently for his turn to arrive.
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : What we need right now is clear information and their plan!
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : The key information needed to unite the guilds and the people who don't know the truth!
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : Just do exactly what I say and there won't be a problem (probably?)!!
- [Jobless Troublemaker] : So we have to do this! And you have to do it again!!!!
- [Speedrun] : Respect and trust Shop Wiki and me!!
He was right.
But.
“...I'm not a combat specialist!!”
I had never even set foot in the field, so I had never dreamed that I would be assigned a role like this.
“Oh, I'm so nervous...”
Not only had he never done anything like this.
It was also completely contrary to his usual personality, which was why he was so tense.
“...”
But after hearing Jobless Troublemaker's plan, even this man could not bring himself to refuse.
“...Jobless Troublemaker, you really are brilliant.”
There could be no more perfect plan at this point.
The man leaving a reply in the assistant administrators' chatroom was...
- [Shop Wiki] : I cannot agree with that claim.
Shop Wiki. Park Gi-tae.
“All right. I can do this.”
He fiddled with the object tucked inside his sleeve.
“All right, come in.”
“Number 678.”
And he headed inside the Green Zone.